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Pausanias · Description of Greece §3.11.6-3.11.11

Deeds of Tisamenus and Monuments around the Agora

Passage 115 of 465 · Greek

Summary

This chunk relates the deeds of the prophet Tisamenus, who guided Sparta to five military victories after understanding an oracle, and describes various temples, monuments, and tombs around the Spartan marketplace.

§3.11.6Τισαμενῷ δὲ ὄντι Ἠλείῳ τῶν Ἰαμιδῶν λόγιον ἐγένετο ἀγῶνας ἀναιρήσεσθαι πέντε ἐπιφανεστάτους αὐτόν.
To Tisamenus, who was an Elisian of the Iamidae, there came an oracle that he himself would win five most glorious contests.
οὕτω πένταθλον Ὀλυμπίασιν ἀσκήσας ἀπῆλθεν ἡττηθείς, καίτοι τὰ δύο γε ἦν πρῶτος· καὶ γὰρ δρόμῳ τε ἐκράτει καὶ πηδήματι Ἱερώνυμον τὸν Ἄνδριον.
Therefore, having trained for the pentathlon at Olympia, he came away defeated, although in two indeed he was first; for he won in running and jumping against Hieronymus of Andros.
καταπαλαισθεὶς δὲ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἁμαρτὼν τῆς νίκης συνίησι τοῦ χρησμοῦ, διδόναι οἱ τὸν θεὸν μαντευομένῳ πέντε ἀγῶνας πολέμῳ κρατῆσαι.
But having been thrown by him and having missed the victory, he understood the oracle, namely, that the god, when he consulted the oracle, was granting him to win five contests in war.
§3.11.7Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ—οὐ γὰρ εἶχον ἀνηκόως ὧν Τισαμενῷ προεῖπεν ἡ Πυθία—πείθουσι μετοικήσαντα ἐξ Ἤλιδος μαντεύεσθαι Σπαρτιατῶν τῷ κοινῷ·
And the Lacedaemonians—for they were not ignorant of the things which the Pythia had foretold to Tisamenus—persuaded him to migrate from Elis and to act as prophet for the commonwealth of the Spartans.
καί σφισιν ὁ Τισαμενὸς ἀγῶνας πολέμου πέντε ἐνίκησε, πρῶτον μὲν Πλαταιᾶσιν ἐναντία Περσῶν, δεύτερον δὲ ἐν Τεγέᾳ πρὸς Τεγεάτας καὶ Ἀργείους μάχης Λακεδαιμονίοις συνεστώσης, ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ ἐν Διπαιεῦσιν Ἀρκάδων πάντων πλὴν Μαντινέων ἀντιτεταγμένων· οἱ δὲ Διπαιεῖς ἐν τῇ Μαιναλίᾳ πόλισμα Ἀρκάδων ἦσαν.
And Tisamenus won five contests of war for them: first indeed at Plataea against the Persians; second at Tegea against the Tegeans and Argives, when a battle arose for the Lacedaemonians; and in addition to these, at Dipaea against all the Arcadians except the Mantineans, who were drawn up against them; now the Dipaeans were a small town of the Arcadians in Maenalia.
§3.11.8τέταρτον δὲ ἠγωνίσατο πρὸς τοὺς ἐξ ἰσθμοῦ ἐς Ἰθώμην ἀποστάντας τῶν εἱλώτων· ἀπέστησαν δὲ οὐχ ἅπαντες οἱ εἵλωτες, ἀλλὰ τὸ Μεσσηνιακὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων εἱλώτων ἀποσχισθέντες· καί μοι καὶ τάδε ὁ λόγος αὐτίκα ἐπέξεισι.
Fourthly, he fought against those of the helots who revolted from the Isthmus to Ithome; and not all the helots revolted, but the Messenian element, having separated themselves from the ancient helots; and my narrative will go into detail also about these things presently.
τότε δὲ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς ἀποστάντας ἀπελθεῖν ὑποσπόνδους εἴασαν Τισαμενῷ καὶ τῷ ἐν Δελφοῖς χρηστηρίῳ πειθόμενοι· τελευταῖον δὲ ὁ Τισαμενὸς ἐμαντεύσατο ἐν Τανάγρᾳ σφίσι πρὸς Ἀργείους καὶ Ἀθηναίους γινομένης συμβολῆς.
At that time, the Lacedaemonians allowed the revolters to depart under treaty, obeying Tisamenus and the oracle at Delphi; and finally, Tisamenus acted as prophet for them at Tanagra when an encounter took place against the Argives and Athenians.
§3.11.9τὰ μὲν Τισαμενοῦ τοιαῦτα ἐπυνθανόμην ὄντα·
Such, I learned, were the affairs of Tisamenus.
Σπαρτιάταις δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς Πυθαέως τέ ἐστιν Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Λητοῦς ἀγάλματα.
And for the Spartans, there are on the marketplace statues of Apollo Pythaeus, Artemis, and Leto.
Χορὸς δὲ οὗτος ὁ τόπος καλεῖται πᾶς, ὅτι ἐν ταῖς γυμνοπαιδίαις—ἑορτὴ δὲ εἴ τις ἄλλη καὶ αἱ γυμνοπαιδίαι διὰ σπουδῆς Λακεδαιμονίοις εἰσίν—ἐν ταύταις οὖν οἱ ἔφηβοι χοροὺς ἱστᾶσι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι.
This whole place is called Choros, because at the Gymnopaidiae—which is a festival, if any other, of great concern to the Lacedaemonians—at these, then, the youths set up choruses in honor of Apollo.
τούτων δὲ οὐ πόρρω Γῆς ἱερὸν καὶ Διός ἐστιν Ἀγοραίου, τὸ δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς Ἀγοραίας καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ὃν ἐπονομάζουσιν Ἀσφάλιον, καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος αὖθις καὶ Ἥρας·
Not far from these is a temple of Earth and of Zeus of the Marketplace, and another of Athena of the Marketplace and of Poseidon whom they surname Asphalius, and again of Apollo and Hera.
§3.11.10ἀνάκειται δὲ καὶ Δήμου τοῦ Σπαρτιατῶν ἀνδριὰς μεγέθει μέγας.
There is also dedicated a statue of the People of the Spartans, great in size.
καὶ Μοιρῶν Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐστὶν ἱερόν, Ὀρέστου δὲ τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος πρὸς αὐτῷ τάφος· κομισθέντα γὰρ ἐκ Τεγέας τοῦ Ὀρέστου τὰ ὀστᾶ κατὰ μαντείαν θάπτουσιν ἐνταῦθα.
And there is a temple of the Fates for the Lacedaemonians, and near it the tomb of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon; for having brought the bones of Orestes from Tegea in accordance with an oracle, they bury them here.
παρὰ δὲ τοῦ Ὀρέστου τὸν τάφον ἐστὶν εἰκὼν Πολυδώρου τοῦ Ἀλκαμένους, ὃν βασιλέων ἐς τοσοῦτο τιμῆς προήχασιν ὥστε οἱ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχοντες, ὁπόσα δεῖ σημαίνεσθαι, τοῦ Πολυδώρου σημαίνονται τῇ εἰκόνι.
Beside the tomb of Orestes is a likeness of Polydorus, the son of Alcamenes, whom of the kings they have advanced to such great honor that those who hold the offices seal with the likeness of Polydorus whatever needs to be sealed.
§3.11.11ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἑρμῆς Ἀγοραῖος Διόνυσον φέρων παῖδα, καὶ τὰ ἀρχαῖα καλούμενα Ἐφορεῖα, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς Ἐπιμενίδου τοῦ Κρητὸς μνῆμα καὶ Ἀφαρέως τοῦ Περιήρους· καὶ τά γε ἐς Ἐπιμενίδην Λακεδαιμονίους δοξάζω μᾶλλον Ἀργείων λέγειν εἰκότα.
There is also Hermes of the Marketplace carrying Dionysus as a child, and the old buildings called the Ephoria, and in them the monument of Epimenides the Cretan and of Aphareus, the son of Perieres; and as for the stories about Epimenides, I think the Lacedaemonians speak more plausibly than the Argives.
ἐνταῦθα, ἔνθα αἱ Μοῖραι, καὶ Ἑστία τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐστὶ καὶ Ζεὺς Ξένιος καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ Ξενία.
There, where the Fates are, there is also for the Lacedaemonians an altar of Hestia, and Zeus Xenios, and Athena Xenia.

Notes

  1. 3.11.6διδόναι οἱ τὸν θεὸν μαντευομένῳ πέντε ἀγῶνας πολέμῳ κρατῆσαι — An infinitive clause in indirect discourse dependent on the main verb `συνίησι` (understands). `διδόναι` (to give) represents the ongoing action of the god's grant. The dative participle `μαντευομένῳ` agrees with the pronoun `οἱ` (referring to Tisamenus) and functions temporally ('when he consulted the oracle'). `κρατῆσαι` is an infinitive of purpose/result depending on `διδόναι`.
  2. 3.11.7οὐ γὰρ εἶχον ἀνηκόως ὧν Τισαμενῷ προεῖπεν ἡ Πυθία — The idiom `ἀνηκόως` (adverbially with `ἔχω`) or the neuter plural accusative of `ἀνήκοος` used adverbially with `εἶχον`, governing the genitive. The relative pronoun `ὧν` has undergone genitive attraction from an original accusative `ἃ` with the omission of its antecedent `τούτων` (meaning 'of the things which').
  3. 3.11.8ἀπέστησαν δὲ οὐχ ἅπαντες οἱ εἵλωτες, ἀλλὰ τὸ Μεσσηνιακὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων εἱλώτων ἀποσχισθέντες — An anacoluthon based on construction according to sense (constructio ad sensum). Although the subject `τὸ Μεσσηνιακόν` is a neuter singular collective noun, the subsequent participle `ἀποσχισθέντες` is masculine plural, treating the subject as 'the Messenians' (plural individuals).
  4. 3.11.10ὃν βασιλέων ἐς τοσοῦτο τιμῆς προήχασιν — Analysis of the governing relations. `βασιλέων` is a partitive genitive indicating 'of the kings (the class from which they advanced him)'. `ἐς τοσοῦτο` expresses degree, with `τοσοῦτο` further governing the genitive of noun `τιμῆς` (of honor), literally meaning 'to such a degree of honor'.
  5. 3.11.11καὶ τά γε ἐς Ἐπιμενίδην Λακεδαιμονίους δοξάζω μᾶλλον Ἀργείων λέγειν εἰκότα — The main verb `δοξάζω` (I think) governs an accusative and infinitive construction (`Λακεδαιμονίους ... λέγειν`). `εἰκότα` (plausible things) is the direct object of the infinitive `λέγειν`. `Ἀργείων` is a genitive of comparison introduced by `μᾶλλον`, meaning 'more than the Argives (speak)'.

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §3.11.6-3.11.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.11.6-3.11.11

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