Humanitext Reader

Pausanias · Description of Greece §8.20.1-8.20.4

Springs of the Ladon and the Legend of Daphne

Passage 324 of 465 · Greek

Summary

After introducing the springs of the River Ladon and its beauty, Pausanias recounts the myth of Daphne associated with the river, focusing on Leucippus who disguised himself as a maiden to win her love but was eventually exposed and killed due to Apollo's jealousy.

§8.20.1προελθόντων δὲ σταδίους ὡς πεντήκοντα ἐκ Λυκουρίας, ἐπὶ τοῦ Λάδωνος ἀφίξῃ τὰς πηγάς·
When you have gone forward about fifty stades from Lycuria, you will come to the springs of the Ladon.
ἤκουσα δὲ ὡς τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ λιμνάζον ἐν τῇ Φενεατικῇ, κατερχόμενον ἐς τὰ βάραθρα τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν, ἄνεισιν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ποιεῖ τῷ Λάδωνι τὰς πηγάς.
I have heard that the water which forms a lake in the Pheneatic territory, going down into the chasms in the mountains, rises here and makes the springs of the Ladon.
τοῦτο μὲν δὴ οὐκ ἔχω σαφῶς εἰπεῖν, εἴτε οὕτως εἴτε ἄλλως ἐστὶν ἔχον· ὁ δὲ Λάδων ποταμῶν τῶν ἐν Ἑλλάδι ὕδωρ παρέχεται κάλλιστον, ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἐς ἀνθρώπους φήμην Δάφνης τε εἵνεκα καὶ †τὰ ᾀδόμενα ἐς τὴν Δάφνην.
Now I cannot say for certain whether this is so or otherwise; but the Ladon provides the most beautiful water of any river in Greece, and besides, it has a famous reputation among men on account of Daphne and the things sung about Daphne.
§8.20.2τοῦ λόγου δὲ τοῦ ἐς Δάφνην τὰ μὲν Σύροις τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν ἐπὶ Ὀρόντῃ ποταμῷ παρίημι, λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιάδε ὑπὸ Ἀρκάδων καὶ Ἠλείων.
Of the story about Daphne, I pass over the part belonging to the Syrians who dwell on the river Orontes, but other things of the following kind are told by the Arcadians and the Eleans.
Οἰνομάῳ τῷ δυναστεύσαντι ἐν Πίσῃ Λεύκιππος ἦν υἱός.
To Oenomaus, who ruled in Pisa, Leucippus was a son.
οὗτος ἐρασθεὶς Δάφνης ὁ Λεύκιππος ἐκ μὲν τοῦ εὐθέος μνώμενος γυναῖκα ἕξειν ἀπεγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἅτε ἅπαν τὸ ἄρσεν γένος φεύγουσαν· παρέστη δέ οἱ τοιόνδε ἐς αὐτὴν σόφισμα.
This Leucippus, having fallen in love with Daphne, despaired of winning her for his wife by wooing her openly, since she fled from the whole male sex; and the following trick occurred to him against her.
§8.20.3ἔτρεφεν ὁ Λεύκιππος κόμην τῷ Ἀλφειῷ· ταύτην οἷα δὴ παρθένος πλεξάμενος τὴν κόμην καὶ ἐσθῆτα ἐνδὺς γυναικείαν ἀφίκετο ὡς τὴν Δάφνην, ἐλθὼν δὲ Οἰνομάου τε ἔλεγεν εἶναι θυγάτηρ καὶ ὡς συνθηρᾶν ἐθέλοι τῇ Δάφνῃ.
Leucippus was growing his hair for the Alpheius; having braided this hair as a maiden would do, and having put on a woman's dress, he came to Daphne. And having come, he said that he was a daughter of Oenomaus, and that he wished to share the hunt with Daphne.
ἅτε δὲ εἶναι παρθένος νομιζόμενος, καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ὑπερβεβλημένος παρθένους γένους τε ἀξιώματι καὶ σοφίᾳ τῇ ἐς τὰ κυνηγέσια, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῇ θεραπείᾳ περισσῇ χρώμενος, ἐς φιλίαν ἰσχυρὰν ἐπάγεται τὴν Δάφνην.
Since he was thought to be a maiden, and excelled the other maidens in the dignity of his birth and in his skill in hunting, and moreover, since he paid her extraordinary attention, he drew Daphne into a strong friendship.
§8.20.4οἱ δὲ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνος ἔρωτα ἐς αὐτὴν ᾄδοντες καὶ τάδε ἐπιλέγουσιν, Ἀπόλλωνα Λευκίππῳ νεμεσῆσαι τῆς ἐς τὸν ἔρωτα εὐδαιμονίας.
Those who sing of Apollo's love for her add this also, that Apollo was angry with Leucippus because of his success in his love.
αὐτίκα δὲ ἐπεθύμησεν ἐν τῷ Λάδωνι ἡ Δάφνη καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ παρθένοι νήχεσθαι, καὶ τὸν Λεύκιππον ἀποδύουσιν ἄκοντα· ἰδοῦσαι δὲ οὐ παρθένον τοῖς τε ἀκοντίοις αὐτὸν καὶ ἐγχειριδίοις τύπτουσαι διέφθειραν.
And immediately Daphne and the other maidens desired to swim in the Ladon, and they stripped Leucippus against his will; and seeing that he was no maiden, they killed him by striking him with their javelins and daggers.

Notes

  1. 8.20.1προελθόντων — Genitive absolute. The implied subject is indefinite people in general ("when people have gone forward"). Although it does not agree in person or number with the following second-person singular verb ἀφίξῃ ("you will arrive"), it functions to set a general condition for a traveler.
  2. 8.20.2τοῦ λόγου δὲ τοῦ ἐς Δάφνην τὰ μὲν Σύροις ... παρίημι — τοῦ λόγου δὲ τοῦ ἐς Δάφνην is a genitive of the whole (or genitive of topic) depending on the partitive accusative τὰ μὲν, which is the direct object of παρίημι ("I pass over"). The structure means "Of the story about Daphne, I pass over the part belonging to the Syrians."
  3. 8.20.2ἀπεγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἅτε ἅπαν τὸ ἄρσεν γένος φεύγουσαν — ἀπεγίνωσκεν means "to despair of" or "give up hope of." It takes the future infinitive ἕξειν ("to have/win as wife") and the accusative object αὐτήν ("her"), which is modified by the participle φεύγουσαν ("since she fled"). The structure means "he despaired of winning her as his wife since she fled from all males."
  4. 8.20.3ἔλεγεν εἶναι θυγάτηρ — The predicate θυγάτηρ of the infinitive εἶναι is in the nominative case instead of the accusative because the subject of the infinitive is identical with the subject of the main verb ἔλεγεν ("he said"). This follows the standard rule of attraction in Classical Greek.
  5. 8.20.4Ἀπόλλωνα Λευκίππῳ νεμεσῆσαι τῆς ἐς τὸν ἔρωτα εὐδαιμονίας — An accusative-and-infinitive construction (accusative Ἀπόλλωνα + infinitive νεμεσῆσαι) introducing indirect speech. The verb νεμεσάω takes a dative of the person (Λευκίππῳ) and a genitive of the cause (εὐδαιμονίας), meaning "to be angry at or grudge someone for something."

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §8.20.1-8.20.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.20.1-8.20.4

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