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Pausanias · Description of Greece §7.25.1-7.25.6

Divine Wrath on Suppliant Violators and Cerynea

Passage 295 of 465 · Greek

Summary

Pausanias explains the severity of divine wrath against those who violate the sanctity of suppliants using the example of Helice and historical events, and then turns to describe the town of Cerynea and the history of the Mycenaean refugees who settled there.

§7.25.1τὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἱκεσίου μήνιμα πάρεστι μὲν τοῖς ἐς τὴν Ἑλίκην, πάρεστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις διδαχθῆναι πολλοῖς ὡς ἔστιν ἀπαραίτητον· φαίνεται δὲ καὶ ὁ θεὸς παραινῶν ὁ ἐν Δωδώνῃ νέμειν ἐς ἱκέτας αἰδῶ.
The wrath of the Suppliant is present to those who look at Helice, and it is possible for many others to be taught how implacable it is; and the god in Dodona also clearly advises ¦0│ showing respect to suppliants.
Ἀθηναίοις γὰρ ἐπὶ ἡλικίας μάλιστα τῆς Ἀφείδαντος ἀφίκετο παρὰ τοῦ ἐν Δωδώνῃ Διὸς τὰ ἔπη τάδε· " φράζεο δʼ Ἄρειόν τε πάγον βωμούς τε θυώδεις Εὐμενίδων, ὅθι χρὴ Λακεδαιμονίους σʼ ἱκετεῦσαι δουρὶ πιεζομένους.
For to the Athenians, particularly in the time of Apheidas, these verses came from Zeus in Dodona: "Take heed of the Areopagus and the fragrant altars of the Eumenides, where the Lacedaemonians, hard pressed by the spear, must supplicate you.
τοὺς μὴ σὺ κτεῖνε σιδήρῳ, μηδʼ ἱκέτας ἀδικεῖν· ἱκέται δʼ ἱεροί τε καὶ ἁγνοί. " §7.25.2ταῦτα Ἕλλησιν ἦλθεν ἐς μνήμην, ὅτε ἀφίκοντο ἐπὶ Ἀθήνας Πελοποννήσιοι, τότε Κόδρου τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις τοῦ Μελάνθου βασιλεύοντος.
Do not slay them with the sword, nor wrong suppliants; for suppliants are sacred and holy." These words came to the minds of the Greeks when the Peloponnesians marched against Athens, at the time when Codrus, son of Melanthus, was king of the Athenians.
ὁ μὲν δὴ ἄλλος στρατὸς τῶν Πελοποννησίων ἀπεχώρησεν ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ἐπειδὴ ἐπύθοντο τοῦ Κόδρου τὴν τελευτὴν καὶ ὅντινα ἐγένετο αὐτῷ τρόπον· οὐ γὰρ εἶναι νίκην ἔτι σφίσι κατὰ τὸ ἐκ Δελφῶν μάντευμα ἤλπιζον·
Now the rest of the Peloponnesian army withdrew from Attica when they learned of the death of Codrus and in what manner it had happened; for they no longer hoped for victory for themselves, according to the oracle from Delphi.
Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ ἄνδρες γενόμενοι μὲν ἐντὸς τείχους λανθάνουσιν ἐν τῇ νυκτί, ἅμα δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τούς τε ἑαυτῶν ἀπεληλυθότας αἰσθάνονται καὶ ἀθροιζομένων ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς τῶν Ἀθηναίων καταφεύγουσιν ἐς τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θεῶν αἳ Σεμναὶ καλοῦνται τοὺς βωμούς.
But some Lacedaemonian men, having got inside the wall, remained there undetected during the night; but at daybreak they realized that their own people had gone, and as the Athenians were gathering against them, they fled for refuge to the Areopagus and to the altars of the goddesses who are called the August Ones.
§7.25.3Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τότε μὲν διδόασι τοῖς ἱκέταις ἀπελθεῖν ἀζημίοις, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον αὐτοὶ οἱ ἔχοντες τὰς ἀρχὰς διέφθειραν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱκέτας τῶν Κύλωνι ὁμοῦ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν κατειληφότων· καὶ αὐτοί τε οἱ ἀποκτείναντες ἐνομίσθησαν καὶ οἱ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἐναγεῖς τῆς θεοῦ.
At that time, the Athenians allowed the suppliants to depart unharmed. But some time later, those who held the magistracies themselves put to death the suppliants of Athena, who had seized the Acropolis along with Cylon; and both the killers themselves and their descendants were considered accursed of the goddess.
Λακεδαιμονίοις δέ, ἀποκτείνασι καὶ τούτοις ἄνδρας ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν καταπεφευγότας τὸ ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος, οὐ μετὰ πολὺ ἐσείσθη σφίσιν ἡ πόλις συνεχεῖ τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἰσχυρῷ τῷ σεισμῷ, ὥστε οἰκίαν μηδεμίαν τῶν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ἀντισχεῖν.
And as for the Lacedaemonians, who also had killed men who had fled for refuge to the sanctuary of Poseidon at Taenarum, not long afterwards their city was shaken by a continuous and violent earthquake, so that not a single house ¦0│ in Lacedaemon withstood it.
§7.25.4ἐγένετο δὲ τῆς Ἑλίκης ἀπώλεια Ἀστείου μὲν Ἀθήνῃσιν ἔτι ἄρχοντος, τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς πρώτης Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐπὶ ταῖς ἑκατόν, ἣν Δάμων Θούριος ἐνίκα τὸ πρῶτον.
The destruction of Helice took place when Asteius was still archon at Athens, in the fourth year of the hundred and first Olympiad, in which Damon of Thurii won his first victory.
Ἑλικαέων δὲ οὐκέτι ὄντων νέμονται τὴν χώραν οἱ Αἰγιεῖς.
And as the Helicians no longer existed, the Aegians possess their land.
§7.25.5μετὰ δὲ Ἑλίκην ἀποτραπήσῃ τε ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἐς δεξιὰν καὶ ἥξεις ἐς πόλισμα Κερύνειαν·
After Helice, you will turn aside from the sea to the right and come to the small town of Cerynea.
ᾤκισται δὲ ὑπὲρ τὴν λεωφόρον ἐν ὄρει, καί οἱ τὸ ὄνομα ἢ δυνάστης ἐπιχώριος ἢ ὁ Κερυνίτης ποταμὸς πεποίηκεν, ὃς ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας καὶ ὄρους Κερυνείας ῥέων Ἀχαιοὺς τοὺς ταύτῃ παρέξεισι.
It is built on a mountain above the high road, and its name was given to it either by a local ruler or by the river Cerynites, which, flowing from Arcadia and the mountain Cerynea, passes by the Achaeans of this region.
παρὰ τούτους σύνοικοι Μυκηναῖοι κατὰ συμφορὰν ἀφίκοντο ἐκ τῆς Ἀργολίδος.
To them, Mycenaeans came to dwell together as fellow-citizens owing to a disaster, from Argolis.
Μυκηναίοις γὰρ τὸ μὲν τεῖχος ἁλῶναι κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν οὐκ ἐδύνατο ὑπὸ Ἀργείων, ἐτετείχιστο γὰρ κατὰ ταὐτὰ §7.25.6τῷ ἐν Τίρυνθι ὑπὸ τῶν Κυκλώπων καλουμένων, κατὰ ἀνάγκην δὲ ἐκλείπουσι Μυκηναῖοι τὴν πόλιν ἐπιλειπόντων σφᾶς τῶν σιτίων, καὶ ἄλλοι μέν τινες ἐς Κλεωνὰς ἀποχωροῦσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν, τοῦ δήμου δὲ πλέον μὲν ἥμισυ ἐς Μακεδονίαν καταφεύγουσι παρὰ Ἀλέξανδρον, ᾧ Μαρδόνιος ὁ Γωβρύου τὴν ἀγγελίαν ἐπίστευσεν ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἀπαγγεῖλαι· ὁ δὲ ἄλλος δῆμος ἀφίκοντο ἐς τὴν Κερύνειαν, καὶ δυνατωτέρα τε ἡ Κερύνεια οἰκητόρων πλήθει καὶ ἐς τὸ ἔπειτα ἐγένετο ἐπιφανεστέρα διὰ τὴν συνοίκησιν τῶν Μυκηναίων.
For the wall of the Mycenaeans could not be taken by force by the Argives, since it had been fortified in the same manner as that in Tiryns by the so-called Cyclopes; but of necessity the Mycenaeans abandoned their city, as their provisions failed them; and some of them withdrew to Cleonae, while more than half of the people fled for refuge to Macedonia, to Alexander, to whom Mardonius, son of Gobryas, entrusted the message to be delivered to the Athenians; and the rest of the people came to Cerynea, and Cerynea became both more powerful in the number of its inhabitants and more famous thereafter, because of the cohabitation of the Mycenaeans.

Notes

  1. §7.25.1πάρεστι μὲν τοῖς ἐς τὴν Ἑλίκην, πάρεστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις διδαχθῆναι πολλοῖς — Interpretation of the verb `πάρεστι`. In the first clause `πάρεστι μὲν τοῖς ἐς τὴν Ἑλίκην`, it means "is present/clear" taking the dative `τοῖς ἐς τὴν Ἑλίκην` (the matters concerning Helice / those in the state of Helice). In the second clause `πάρεστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις διδαχθῆναι`, it functions as an impersonal verb meaning "it is possible," taking the passive infinitive `διδαχθῆναι` as its subject, thereby linking two different syntactic uses with the same verb.
  2. §7.25.1μηδʼ ἱκέτας ἀδικεῖν — An "infinitive of command" (imperative infinitive) used in the poetic oracle instead of an imperative verb. It responds to the preceding direct imperative `μὴ ... κτεῖνε` (do not slay) and expresses a strong negative command ("nor wrong suppliants").
  3. §7.25.2οὐ γὰρ εἶναι νίκην ἔτι σφίσι ... ἤλπιζον — An accusative with infinitive construction (indirect discourse) introduced by the verb `ἤλπιζον` (they expected). The accusative `νίκην` serves as the subject of the infinitive `εἶναι`, combined with the dative `σφίσι` (for themselves), translating to "for they expected that there was no longer victory for them." The Greek verb `ἐλπίζω` means not only "to hope" but also neutrally "to expect."
  4. §7.25.5ἐτετείχιστο γὰρ κατὰ ταὐτὰ τῷ ἐν Τίρυνθι — A comparative construction using the dative introduced by `κατὰ ταὐτά` (in the same manner). The dative article `τῷ` refers to the omitted neuter noun `τείχει` in the phrase `ἐν Τίρυνθι [τείχει]` (the [wall] in Tiryns), serving as the standard of comparison with the previously mentioned wall of Mycenae.

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §7.25.1-7.25.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.25.1-7.25.6

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