Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. W. H. S. Jones, ed. H. A. Ormerod, ed. Gregory Nagy, 10.30

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1] Next Polygnotus has painted the daughters of Pandareos. Homer makes Penelope say in a speech that the parents of the girls died because of the wrath of the gods, that they were reared as orphans by Aphrodite and received gifts from other goddesses: from Hērā, wisdom and beauty of form; from Artemis, high stature; from Athena, schooling in the works that befit women.

[2] He goes on to say that Aphrodite ascended into the sky [ ouranos], wishing to secure for the girls a happy marriage, and in her absence, they were carried off by the Harpies and given by them to the Furies. This is the story as given by Homer. Polygnotus has painted them as girls garlanded with flowers and playing with dice and gives them the names of Cameiro and Clytie. I must tell you that Pandareos was a Milesian from Miletus in Crete and implicated in the theft of Tantalos and in the trick of the oath.

[3] After the daughters of Pandareos is Antilokhos, with one foot upon a rock and his face and head resting upon both hands, while after Antilokhos is Agamemnon, leaning on a scepter beneath his left armpit, and holding up a staff in his hands. Protesilaos is seated with his gaze fixed on Achilles. Such is the posture of Protesilaos, and beyond Achilles is Patroklos standing. With the exception of Agamemnon, these figures have no beard.

[4] Beyond them has been painted Phokos as a youth, and Iaseus, well bearded, is taking off a ring from the left hand of Phokos. The story about this is as follows. When Phokos, the son of Aiakos, had crossed from Aegina into what is now called Phokis and wished to gain the rule over the men living on that part of the mainland and to settle there himself, Iaseus conceived a great friendship for him. Among the gifts that Iaseus gave (as friends will) was a seal ring, a stone set in gold. But when Phokos returned, not long afterwards, to Aegina, Peleus at once plotted to kill him. This is the reason why in the painting, as a reminder of their great friendship, Iaseus is anxious to look at the ring, and Phokos has let him take it.

[5] Beyond these is Maera sitting on a rock. About her, the poem Returns says that she was still a maid when she departed this life, being the daughter of Proitos, son of Thersandros, who was a son of Sisyphus. Next to Maera is Actaeon, son of Aristaios, together with the mother of Actaeon; they hold in their hands a young deer and are sitting on a deer’s skin. A hunting dog lies stretched out beside them, an allusion to Actaeon’s mode of life, and to the manner of his death.

[6] Turning our gaze again to the lower part of the picture we see, next after Patroklos, Orpheus sitting on what seems to be a sort of hill; he grasps with his left hand a harp, and with his right, he touches a willow. It is the branches that he touches, and he is leaning against the tree. The grove seems to be that of Persephone, where grow, as Homer thought, black poplars and willows. The appearance of Orpheus is Greek, and neither his garb nor his headgear is Thracian.

[7] On the other side of the willow tree Promedon is leaning against it. Some there are who think that the name Promedon is as it were a poetic invention of Polygnotus; others have said that Promedon was a Greek who was fond of listening to all kinds of music, especially to the singing of Orpheus.

[8] In this part of the painting is Schedios, who led the men of Phokis to Troy, and after him is Pelias, sitting on a chair, with grey hair and grey beard, and looking at Orpheus. Schedios holds a dagger and is garlanded with grass. Thamyris is sitting near Pelias. He has lost the sight of his eyes; his attitude is one of utter dejection; his hair and beard are long; at his feet lies thrown a lyre with its horns and strings broken.

[9] Above him is Marsyas, sitting on a rock, and by his side is Olympus, with the appearance of a boy in the bloom of youth learning to play the aulos [‘double-reed’]. The Phrygians in Kelainai hold that the river passing through the city was once this great aulos player, and they also hold that the Song of the Mother, an air for the aulos [‘double-reed’], was composed by Marsyas. They say too that they repelled the army of the Gauls by the aid of Marsyas, who defended them against the barbarians by the water from the river and by the music of his aulos [‘double-reed’].

Description of Greece. Pausanias. ed. W. H. S. Jones, ed. H. A. Ormerod, ed. Gregory Nagy. . .

Current edition Experimental

English (Jones and Ormerod; retranslated Gregory Nagy, CHS, 2018) (OCR draft) (English) (CHS Pausanias Reader retranslation by Gregory Nagy, based on Jones and Ormerod, with marked Greek terms, notes, quotations, and bibliographic attributions preserved.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Ἑλλάδος Περιηγήσεως Perseus (Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.) — 10.30 focus

[1]
ἐφεξῆς δὲ τὰς Πανδάρεω θυγατέρας ἔγραψεν ὁ Πολύγνωτος. Ὁμήρῳ δὲ ἐν Πηνελόπης λόγοις ἐστὶν ὡς ἀποθάνοιεν μὲν ταῖς παρθένοις οἱ γεινάμενοι κατὰ 0 μήνιμα ἐκ θεῶν, αὐτὰς δὲ ὀρφανὰς τραφῆναι μὲν ὑπὸ Ἀφροδίτης, λαβεῖν δὲ καὶ παρʼ ἄλλων θεῶν, Ἥρας μὲν φρονεῖν τε ἱκανὰς εἶναι καὶ εἶδος καλάς, μῆκος δὲ τοῦ σώματος Ἄρτεμίν φησιν αὐταῖς δωρήσασθαι, ἔργα δὲ γυναιξὶν ἁρμόζοντα ὑπὸ Ἀθηνᾶς διδαχθῆναι.

[2] Ἀφροδίτην μὲν οὖν ἐς οὐρανὸν ἀνέρχεσθαι, παρὰ Διὸς γάμον εὐδαίμονα ἐθέλουσαν ταῖς παισὶν εὕρασθαι, τὰς δὲ ἀπούσης ἐκείνης ἁρπασθῆναί τε ὑπὸ Ἁρπυιῶν καὶ Ἐρινύσιν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν δοθῆναι. τάδε μέν ἐστιν ἐς αὐτὰς Ὁμήρῳ πεποιημένα, Πολύγνωτος δὲ κόρας τε ἐστεφανωμένας ἄνθεσι καὶ παιζούσας ἔγραψεν ἀστραγάλοις, ὄνομα δὲ αὐταῖς Καμειρώ τε καὶ Κλυτίη. τὸν δὲ Πανδάρεων Μιλήσιόν τε ἐκ Μιλήτου τῆς Κρητικῆς ὄντα ἴστω τις καὶ ἀδικήματος ἐς τὴν κλοπὴν Ταντάλῳ καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ τῷ ὅρκῳ μετασχόντα σοφίσματος.

[3] μετὰ δὲ τοῦ Πανδάρεω τὰς κόρας Ἀντίλοχος τὸν μὲν ἕτερον ἐπὶ πέτρας τῶν ποδῶν, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπον καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἀμφοτέραις ἔχων ἐστίν, Ἀγαμέμνων δὲ μετὰ τὸν Ἀντίλοχον σκήπτρῳ τε ὑπὸ τὴν ἀριστερὰν μασχάλην ἐρειδόμενος καὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἐπανέχων ῥάβδον· Πρωτεσίλαος δὲ πρὸς Ἀχιλλέα ἀφορᾷ καθεζόμενος. καὶ ὁ Πρωτεσίλαος τοιοῦτον παρέχεται σχῆμα, ὑπὲρ δὲ τὸν Ἀχιλλέα Πάτροκλός ἐστιν ἑστηκώς. οὗτοι πλὴν τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος οὐκ ἔχουσι γένεια οἱ ἄλλοι.

[4] γέγραπται δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτοὺς Φῶκός τε ἡλικίαν μειράκιον καὶ Ἰασεὺς γενείων μὲν εὖ ἔχων, δακτύλιον δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς τοῦ Φώκου περιαιρούμενος χειρὸς ἐπὶ τοιῷδέ ἐστι λόγῳ. Φώκῳ τῷ Αἰακοῦ διαβάντι ἐξ 0 Αἰγίνης ἐς τὴν νῦν καλουμένην Φωκίδα, καὶ ἀνθρώπων τε ἀρχὴν τῶν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ ταύτῃ κτήσασθαι καὶ αὐτῷ θέλοντι ἐνταῦθα οἰκῆσαι, ἀφίκετο ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὁ Ἰασεὺς φιλίας, καί οἱ δῶρα ἄλλα τε ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς ἐδωρήσατο καὶ λίθου σφραγῖδα ἐνδεδεμένην χρυσῷ· Φώκῳ δὲ οὐ μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον ἀνακομισθέντι ἐς Αἴγιναν Πηλεὺς αὐτίκα ἐβούλευσε τοῦ βίου τὴν τελευτήν. καὶ τοῦδε ἕνεκα ἐν τῇ γραφῇ ἐς ἀνάμνησιν ἐκείνης τῆς φιλίας ὅ τε Ἰασεὺς τὴν σφραγῖδά ἐστιν ἐθέλων θεάσασθαι καὶ ὁ Φῶκος παρεὶς λαβεῖν αὐτήν.

[5]
ὑπὲρ τούτους Μαῖρά ἐστιν ἐπὶ πέτρᾳ καθεζομένη· περὶ δὲ αὐτῆς πεποιημένα ἐστὶν ἐν Νόστοις ἀπελθεῖν μὲν παρθένον ἔτι ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, θυγατέρα δὲ αὐτὴν εἶναι Προίτου τοῦ Θερσάνδρου, τὸν δὲ εἶναι Σισύφου. ἐφεξῆς δὲ τῆς Μαίρας Ἀκταίων ἐστὶν ὁ Ἀρισταίου καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἀκταίωνος μήτηρ, νεβρὸν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἔχοντες ἐλάφου καὶ ἐπὶ δέρματι ἐλάφου καθεζόμενοι· κύων τε θηρευτικὴ παρακατάκειταί σφισι βίου τοῦ Ἀκταίωνος ἕνεκα καὶ τοῦ ἐς τὴν τελευτὴν τρόπου.

[6]
ἀποβλέψαντι δὲ αὖθις ἐς τὰ κάτω τῆς γραφῆς, ἔστιν ἐφεξῆς μετὰ τὸν Πάτροκλον οἷα ἐπὶ λόφου τινὸς Ὀρφεὺς καθεζόμενος, ἐφάπτεται δὲ καὶ τῇ ἀριστερᾷ κιθάρας, τῇ δὲ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ ἰτέας ψαύει· κλῶνές εἰσιν ὧν ψαύει, προσανακέκλιται δὲ τῷ δένδρῳ. τὸ δὲ ἄλσος ἔοικεν εἶναι τῆς Περσεφόνης, ἔνθα αἴγειροι καὶ ἰτέαι δόξῃ τῇ Ὁμήρου πεφύκασιν· Ἑλληνικὸν δὲ τὸ σχῆμά ἐστι τῷ Ὀρφεῖ, καὶ οὔτε ἡ ἐσθὴς οὔτε ἐπίθημά ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ Θρᾴκιον.

[7] τῷ δένδρῳ δὲ τῇ ἰτέᾳ κατὰ 0 τὸ ἕτερον μέρος προσανακεκλιμένος ἐστὶν αὐτῇ Προμέδων. εἰσὶ μὲν δὴ οἳ νομίζουσι καθάπερ ἐς ποίησιν ἐπεσῆχθαι τὸ Προμέδοντος ὄνομα ὑπὸ τοῦ Πολυγνώτου· τοῖς δὲ εἰρημένον ἐστὶν ἄνδρα Ἕλληνα ἔς τε τὴν ἄλλην ἅπασαν γενέσθαι φιλήκοον μουσικὴν καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ᾠδῇ μάλιστα τῇ Ὀρφέως.

[8] κατὰ τοῦτο τῆς γραφῆς Σχεδίος ὁ Φωκεῦσιν ἡγησάμενος ἐς Τροίαν καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Πελίας ἐστὶν ἐν θρόνῳ καθεζόμενος, τὰ γένεια ὁμοίως καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν πολιός, ἐνορᾷ δὲ ἐς τὸν Ὀρφέα· ὁ δὲ Σχεδίος ἐγχειρίδιόν τε ἔχων καὶ ἄγρωστίν ἐστιν ἐστεφανωμένος. Θαμύριδι δὲ ἐγγὺς καθεζομένῳ τοῦ Πελίου διεφθαρμέναι αἱ ὄψεις καὶ ταπεινὸν ἐς ἅπαν σχῆμά ἐστι καὶ ἡ κόμη πολλὴ μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, πολλὴ δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν τοῖς γενείοις· λύρα δὲ ἔρριπται πρὸς τοῖς ποσί, κατεαγότες αὐτῆς οἱ πήχεις καὶ αἱ χορδαὶ κατερρωγυῖαι.

[9] ὑπὲρ τούτου ἐστὶν ἐπὶ πέτρας καθεζόμενος Μαρσύας, καὶ Ὄλυμπος παρʼ αὐτὸν παιδός ἐστιν ὡραίου καὶ αὐλεῖν διδασκομένου σχῆμα ἔχων. οἱ δὲ ἐν Κελαιναῖς Φρύγες ἐθέλουσι μὲν τὸν ποταμὸν ὃς διέξεισιν αὐτοῖς διὰ τῆς πόλεως ἐκεῖνόν ποτε εἶναι τὸν αὐλητήν, ἐθέλουσι δὲ καὶ εὕρημα εἶναι τοῦ Μαρσύου τὸ Μητρῷον αὔλημα· φασὶ δὲ ὡς καὶ τὴν Γαλατῶν ἀπώσαιντο στρατείαν τοῦ Μαρσύου σφίσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους ὕδατί τε ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ μέλει τῶν αὐλῶν ἀμύναντος.

Translations (1)

Description of Greece Perseus (Pausanias. Pausanias Description of Greece, Volumes 1-4. Jones, W.H.S. (William Henry Samuel), translator; Ormerod, Henry Arderne, translator. London, New York: W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1918-1935.) — 10.30 focus

[1]
Next Polygnotus has painted the daughters of Pandareos. Homer makes Penelope say in a speech¹ that the parents of the maidens died because of the wrath of the gods, that they were reared as orphans by Aphrodite and received gifts from other goddesses: from Hera wisdom and beauty of form, from Artemis high stature, from Athena schooling in the works that befit women.

[2] He goes on to say that Aphrodite ascended into heaven, wishing to secure for the girls a happy marriage, and in her absence they were carried off by the Harpies and given by them to the Furies. This is the story as given by Homer. Polygnotus has painted them as girls crowned with flowers and playing with dice, and gives them the names of Cameiro and Clytie. I must tell you that Pandareos was a Milesian from Miletus in Crete , and implicated in the theft of Tantalus and in the trick of the oath.

[3] After the daughters of Pandareos is Antilochus, with one foot upon a rock and his face and head resting upon both hands, while after Antilochus is Agamemnon, leaning on a scepter beneath his left armpit, and holding up a staff in his hands. Protesilaus is seated with his gaze fixed on Achilles. Such is the posture of Protesilaus, and beyond Achilles is Patroclus standing. With the exception of Agamemnon these figures have no beard.

[4]
Beyond them has been painted Phocus as a stripling, and Iaseus, well bearded, is taking off a ring from the left hand of Phocus. The story about this is as follows. When Phocus, the son of Aeacus, had crossed from Aegina into what is now called Phocis , and wished to gain the rule over the men living on that part of the mainland, and to settle there himself, Iaseus conceived a great friendship for him. Among the gifts that Iaseus gave (as friends will) was a seal-ring, a stone set in gold. But when Phocus returned, not long afterwards, to Aegina , Peleus at once plotted to kill him. This is the reason why in the painting, as a reminder of their great friendship, Iaseus is anxious to look at the ring and Phocus has let him take it.

[5]
Beyond these is Maera sitting on a rock. About her the poem Returns says that she was still a maid when she departed this life, being the daughter of Proetus, son of Thersander, who was a son of Sisyphus. Next to Maera is Actaeon, son of Aristaeus, together with the mother of Actaeon; they hold in their hands a young deer, and are sitting on a deer's skin. A hunting dog lies stretched out beside them, an allusion to Actaeon's mode of life, and to the manner of his death.

[6]
Turning our gaze again to the lower part of the picture we see, next after Patroclus, Orpheus sitting on what seems to be a sort of hill; he grasps with his left hand a harp, and with his right he touches a willow. It is the branches that he touches, and he is leaning against the tree. The grove seems to be that of Persephone, where grow, as Homer thought,² black poplars and willows. The appearance of Orpheus is Greek, and neither his garb nor his head-gear is Thracian.

[7] On the other side of the willow-tree Promedon is leaning against it. Some there are who think that the name Promedon is as it were a poetic invention of Polygnotus; others have said that Promedon was a Greek who was fond of listening to all kinds of music, especially to the singing of Orpheus.

[8] In this part of the painting is Schedius, who led the Phocians to Troy , and after him is Pelias, sitting on a chair, with grey hair and grey beard, and looking at Orpheus. Schedius holds a dagger and is crowned with grass. Thamyris is sitting near Pelias. He has lost the sight of his eyes; his attitude is one of utter dejection; his hair and beard are long; at his feet lies thrown a lyre with its horns and strings broken.

[9] Above him is Marsyas, sitting on a rock, and by his side is Olympus , with the appearance of a boy in the bloom of youth learning to play the flute. The Phrygians in Celaenae hold that the river passing through the city was once this great flute-player, and they also hold that the Song of the Mother, an air for the flute, was composed by Marsyas. They say too that they repelled the army of the Gauls by the aid of Marsyas, who defended them against the barbarians by the water from the river and by the music of his flute.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy, Editors: Angelia Hanhardt and Keith DeStone, Web producer: Noel Spencer, Consultant for images: Jill Curry Robbins, \[\[Noel gives this a separate URN\]\]

Pausanias Description of Greece 10.30

ed. W. H. S. Jones, ed. H. A. Ormerod, ed. Gregory Nagy

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers