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Pausanias · Description of Greece §7.22.6-7.22.11

Triteia's Sights and the Coastal Routes of Achaea

Passage 290 of 465 · Greek

Summary

Describes the geography, the tomb decorated by Nicias, the founding legends, and the temples of Triteia, before detailing the coastal routes of Achaea and the unique property of the river Charadrus regarding animal breeding.

§7.22.6Τρίτεια δέ, Ἀχαιῶν καὶ αὕτη πόλις, ἐν μεσογαίῳ μὲν ᾤκισται, τελοῦσι δὲ ἐς Πάτρας καὶ αὐτοὶ βασιλέως δόντος·
Triteia, this also being a city of the Achaeans, is built in the interior; they themselves are also subject to Patrae by the gift of the emperor.
στάδιοι δὲ ἐς Τρίτειαν εἴκοσί τε καὶ ἑκατόν εἰσιν ἐκ Φαρῶν.
From Pharae to Triteia is a hundred and twenty stades.
πρὶν δὲ ἢ ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἐσελθεῖν, μνῆμά ἐστι λευκοῦ λίθου, θέας καὶ ἐς τὰ ἄλλα ἄξιον καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐπὶ ταῖς γραφαῖς αἵ εἰσιν ἐπὶ τοῦ τάφου, τέχνη Νικίου· θρόνος τε ἐλέφαντος καὶ γυνὴ νέα καὶ εἴδους εὖ ἔχουσα ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ, θεράπαινα δὲ αὐτῇ προσέστηκε σκιάδιον φέρουσα· §7.22.7καὶ νεανίσκος ὀρθὸς οὐκ ἔχων πω γένειά ἐστι χιτῶνα ἐνδεδυκὼς καὶ χλαμύδα ἐπὶ τῷ χιτῶνι φοινικῆν· παρὰ δὲ αὐτὸν οἰκέτης ἀκόντια ἔχων ἐστὶ καὶ ἄγει κύνας ἐπιτηδείας θηρεύουσιν ἀνθρώποις.
Before entering the city, there is a monument of white stone, well worth seeing for other reasons, and not least for the paintings upon the tomb, which are the work of Nicias: a throne of ivory, and a young and beautiful woman upon the throne, and by her stands a maidservant carrying a sunshade; and a young man standing upright, not yet having a beard, wearing a tunic, and over the tunic a scarlet cloak; beside him is a servant holding javelins and leading dogs suitable for men who hunt.
πυθέσθαι μὲν δὴ τὰ ὀνόματα αὐτῶν οὐκ εἴχομεν· ταφῆναι δὲ ἄνδρα καὶ γυναῖκα ἐν κοινῷ παρίστατο ἅπασιν εἰκάζειν.
Their names we could not learn; but that a man and a woman were buried together in common occurred to everyone to conjecture.
§7.22.8Τριτείας δὲ οἰκιστὴν οἱ μὲν Κελβίδαν γενέσθαι λέγουσιν, ἀφικόμενον ἐκ Κύμης τῆς ἐν Ὀπικοῖς· οἱ δὲ ὡς Ἄρης συγγένοιτο Τριτείᾳ θυγατρὶ Τρίτωνος, ἱερᾶσθαι δὲ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τὴν παρθένον, Μελάνιππον δὲ παῖδα Ἄρεως καὶ Τριτείας οἰκίσαι τε ὡς ηὐξήθη τὴν πόλιν καὶ θέσθαι τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ τῆς μητρός.
As for the founder of Triteia, some say that it was Celbidas, who came from Cyme in the territory of the Opici; others say that Ares had intercourse with Triteia, the daughter of Triton, and that this maiden was a priestess of Athena, but Melanippus, the son of Ares and Triteia, founded the city when he grew up, and named it after his mother.
§7.22.9ἐν Τριτείᾳ δὲ ἔστι μὲν ἱερὸν καλουμένων Μεγίστων θεῶν, ἀγάλματα δέ σφισι πηλοῦ πεποιημένα· τούτοις κατὰ ἔτος ἑορτὴν ἄγουσιν, οὐδέν τι ἀλλοίως ἢ καὶ τῷ Διονύσῳ δρῶσιν Ἕλληνες.
In Triteia there is a temple of the gods called the Greatest, and their images are made of clay; to these they celebrate a festival every year, in no way differently from what the Greeks do for Dionysus.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ναός, τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα λίθου τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν· τὸ δὲ ἀρχαῖον ἐς Ῥώμην, καθὰ οἱ Τριταιεῖς λέγουσιν, ἐκομίσθη.
There is also a temple of Athena, and the image of our day is of stone; but the ancient one was carried to Rome, as the Triteans say.
θύειν δὲ οἱ ἐνταῦθα καὶ Ἄρει καὶ τῇ Τριτείᾳ νομίζουσιν.
The people here make it a custom to sacrifice both to Ares and to Triteia.
§7.22.10αἵδε μὲν οὖν θαλάσσης τέ εἰσιν ἀπωτέρω πόλεις καὶ ἠπειρώτιδες βεβαίως·
These, then, are the cities far from the sea and strictly inland.
πλέοντι δὲ ἐς Αἴγιον ἐκ Πατρῶν ἄκρα πρῶτόν ἐστιν ὀνομαζομένη Ῥίον, σταδίους Πατρῶν πεντήκοντα ἀπέχουσα, λιμὴν δὲ ὁ Πάνορμος σταδίοις πέντε καὶ δέκα ἀπωτέρω τῆς ἄκρας.
But for one sailing to Aegium from Patrae, first there is a cape named Rhium, fifty stades distant from Patrae, and the harbor Panormus is fifteen stades further than the cape.
τοσούτους δὲ ἀφέστηκεν ἑτέρους ἀπὸ Πανόρμου τὸ Ἀθηνᾶς καλούμενον τεῖχος.
At the same distance again from Panormus is the place called the Wall of Athena.
ἐς δὲ λιμένα Ἐρινεὸν ἐξ Ἀθηνᾶς τείχους παράπλους ἐνενήκοντά εἰσι στάδιοι, ἑξήκοντα δὲ ἐς Αἴγιον ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἐρινεοῦ· ὁδὸς δὲ ἡ πεζὴ σταδίους τεσσαράκοντα μάλιστα ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀποδεῖ τὸν εἰρημένον.
From the Wall of Athena to the harbor Erineus the voyage is ninety stades, and sixty from Erineus to Aegium; but the journey on foot falls short of the mentioned number by about forty stades.
§7.22.11οὐ πόρρω δὲ τοῦ Πατρέων ἄστεως ποταμός τε ὁ Μείλιχος καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Τρικλαρίας ἐστίν, ἄγαλμα οὐδὲν ἔτι ἔχον.
Not far from the city of Patrae is the river Meilichus and the sanctuary of Triclaria, which no longer has any image.
τοῦτο μὲν δή ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ, προελθόντι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Μειλίχου ποταμός ἐστιν ἄλλος· ὄνομα μὲν τῷ ποταμῷ Χάραδρος, ὥρᾳ δὲ ἦρος πίνοντα ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὰ βοσκήματα ὀφείλει τίκτειν ἄρρενα ὡς τὰ πλείω συμβαίνει, καὶ τοῦδε ἕνεκα οἱ νομεῖς ἑτέρωσε αὐτὰ τῆς χώρας μεθιστᾶσι πλήν γε δὴ τὰς βοῦς· ταύτας δὲ αὐτοῦ καταλείπουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ, διότι καὶ πρὸς θυσίας οἱ ταῦροί σφισι καὶ ἐς τὰ ἔργα ἐπιτηδειότεροι θηλειῶν βοῶν εἰσιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις κτήνεσι τὸ θῆλυ ἐπὶ πλέον τετίμηται.
This is on the right, and as you go on from the Meilichus there is another river; the name of the river is Charadrus, and in the spring season the cattle that drink from it are bound to bring forth males for the most part, and for this reason the shepherds move them to another part of the country, except indeed the cows; these they leave there by the river, because bulls are more suitable for sacrifices and for work than female cattle, whereas in the case of other livestock the female is more highly valued.

Notes

  1. 7.22.6βασιλέως δόντος — "by the gift of the emperor." The "emperor" (βασιλεύς) here refers to the Roman Emperor Augustus, who was mentioned in §7.22.1 as having given the jurisdiction of Pharae to Patrae.
  2. 7.22.7παρίστατο ἅπασιν εἰκάζειν — "it occurred to everyone to conjecture." The imperfect middle-passive verb παρίστατο is used impersonally with the dative ἅπασιν and the infinitive εἰκάζειν, literally meaning "it presented itself to all to guess."
  3. 7.22.10ἀποδεῖ τὸν εἰρημένον — "falls short of the mentioned number." The verb ἀποδέω with an accusative of measure indicates a deficit of that amount from a standard. Here it means that the journey on foot is about forty stades shorter than the previously calculated sea route (90 + 60 = 150 stades).
  4. 7.22.11ὀφείλει τίκτειν — "are bound to bring forth." The verb ὀφείλω, which normally means "to owe" or "to be obliged," is used here to denote a natural law, inevitable consequence, or general tendency: "are destined to bring forth" or "naturally tend to bring forth."

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §7.22.6-7.22.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.22.6-7.22.11

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