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Pausanias · Description of Greece §8.21.1-8.21.4

Route to Cleitor, the Singing Fish, and City Sanctuaries

Passage 325 of 465 · Greek

Summary

The author describes the route from the springs of the Ladon to the city of Cleitor, sharing his own experience regarding the rumored 'singing fish' of the Aroanius River. He also details the origin of Cleitor and its notable sanctuaries dedicated to Demeter, Asclepius, Eileithyia, the Dioscuri, and Athena.

§8.21.1ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω λέγουσι·
Thus indeed they say.
τοῦ Λάδωνος δὲ τῶν πηγῶν ἀπέχει στάδια ἑξήκοντα ἡ Κλειτορίων πόλις, ἡ δὲ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν πηγῶν τοῦ Λάδωνός ἐστιν αὐλὼν στενὸς παρὰ τὸν Ἀροάνιον ποταμόν.
The city of the Cleitorians is sixty stades distant from the springs of the Ladon, and the road from the springs of the Ladon is a narrow valley along the river Aroanius.
πρὸς δὲ τῇ πόλει διαβήσῃ ποταμὸν καλούμενον Κλείτορα.
Near the city you will cross a river called Cleitor.
ἐκδίδωσιν οὖν ὁ Κλείτωρ ἐς τὸν Ἀροάνιον, οὐ πλέον τῆς πόλεως σταδίους ἀπέχοντα ἑπτά.
Now the Cleitor empties into the Aroanius, which is distant not more than seven stades from the city.
§8.21.2εἰσὶ δὲ ἰχθῦς ἐν τῷ Ἀροανίῳ καὶ ἄλλοι καὶ οἱ ποικιλίαι καλούμενοι·
There are fish in the Aroanius, both others and those called "poikiliai".
τούτους λέγουσι τοὺς ποικιλίας φθέγγεσθαι κίχλῃ τῇ ὄρνιθι ἐοικός.
They say that these poikiliai utter a sound similar to the thrush, the bird.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἀγρευθέντας μὲν εἶδον, φθεγγομένων δὲ ἤκουσα οὐδὲν καταμείνας πρὸς τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ ἐς ἡλίου δυσμάς, ὅτε δὴ φθέγγεσθαι μάλιστα ἐλέγοντο οἱ ἰχθῦς.
I saw them when they were caught, but I heard no sound from them, although I waited by the river even until sunset, when indeed the fish were said to sing most.
§8.21.3τῇ δὲ Κλειτορίων πόλει τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐτέθη τοῦ Ἀζᾶνος, οἰκεῖται δʼ ἐν ὁμαλῷ, κύκλῳ δὲ ὄρη περιέχοντά ἐστιν οὐ μεγάλα.
The city of the Cleitorians received its name from the son of Azan, and it is situated on a plain, with hills of no great height surrounding it.
Κλειτορίοις δὲ ἱερὰ τὰ ἐπιφανέστατα Δήμητρος τό τε Ἀσκληπιοῦ, τρίτον δέ ἐστιν Εἰλειθυίας εἶναι, καὶ ἀριθμὸν ἐποίησεν οὐδένα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς·
The most famous sanctuaries of the Cleitorians are that of Demeter and that of Asclepius, and thirdly there is a sanctuary of Eileithyia. And he made no number for them.
Λύκιος δὲ Ὠλὴν ἀρχαιότερος τὴν ἡλικίαν, Δηλίοις ὕμνους καὶ ἄλλους ποιήσας καὶ ἐς Εἰλείθυιαν, εὔλινόν τε αὐτὴν ἀνακαλεῖ— δῆλον ὡς τῇ πεπρωμένῃ τὴν αὐτήν—καὶ Κρόνου πρεσβυτέραν φησὶν εἶναι.
But Olen the Lycian, who was of an earlier age, composed hymns for the Delians, including one to Eileithyia, and he calls her "the sweet-spinner"—clearly identifying her with Fate—and says she is older than Cronus.
§8.21.4Κλειτορίοις δὲ καὶ Διοσκούρων, καλουμένων δὲ θεῶν Μεγάλων ἐστὶν ἱερὸν ὅσον τέσσαρα ἀπέχον στάδια ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως· καὶ ἀγάλματά ἐστιν αὐτοῖς χαλκᾶ.
The Cleitorians have also a sanctuary of the Dioscuri, who are called the Great Gods, about four stades distant from the city; and they have bronze images.
πεποίηται δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ ὄρους κορυφῆς σταδίοις τριάκοντα ἀπωτέρω τῆς πόλεως ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμα Ἀθηνᾶς Κορίας.
There is also built, on the summit of a mountain thirty stades away from the city, a temple and image of Athena Coria.

Notes

  1. 8.21.1ἀπέχοντα — The present participle ἀπέχοντα is masculine singular accusative, agreeing with the river name Ἀροάνιον (masculine singular accusative). Thus it modifies the river Aroanius as being 'not more than seven stades distant from the city.'
  2. 8.21.2φθεγγομένων — A genitive plural participle of φθέγγομαι, functioning as the object of the verb of perception ἤκουσα ('I heard'). Verbs of hearing regularly take the genitive of the source of the sound; here the noun 'fish' (ἰχθύων) is understood.
  3. 8.21.3καὶ ἀριθμὸν ἐποίησεν οὐδένα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς — The subject of the verb ἐποίησεν ('he made/specified') is not explicitly mentioned in the text. In context, it is presumed to refer to a poet (such as Homer or Hesiod) mentioned in a portion of the text that has been lost just prior to this clause.

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §8.21.1-8.21.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.21.1-8.21.4

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