Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. W. H. S. Jones, ed. H. A. Ormerod, ed. Gregory Nagy, 2.10

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[1] In the gymnasium not far from the marketplace is dedicated a stone Hēraklēs made by Scopas. There is also in another place a sanctuary of Hēraklēs. The whole of the enclosure here they name Paidizē; in the middle of the enclosure is the sanctuary, and in it is an old wooden figure carved by Laphaēs the Phliasian. I will now describe the ritual at the festival. The story is that on coming to the Sikyonian land Phaistos found the people giving offerings to Hēraklēs as to a hero. Phaistos then refused to do anything of the kind, but insisted on sacrificing to him as to a god. Even at the present day the Sikyonians, after slaying a lamb and burning the thighs upon the altar, eat some of the meat as part of a victim given to a god, while the rest they offer as to a hero. The first day of the festival in honor of Hēraklēs they name …; the second they call Herakleia.

[2] From here is a way to a sanctuary of Asklepios. On passing into the enclosure you see on the left a building with two rooms. In the outer room lies a figure of Sleep, of which nothing remains now except the head. The inner room is given over to the Carnean Apollo; into it none may enter except the priests. In the portico lies a huge bone of a sea-monster, and after it a statue [ agalma] of the Dream-god and [a statue of] Sleep, surnamed Epidotes (Bountiful), lulling to sleep a lion. Within the sanctuary on either side of the entrance is a statue [ agalma] of Pan seated, and, on the other side, [a statue of] Artemis standing.

[3] When you have entered you see the god, a beardless figure of gold and ivory made by Kalamis. He holds a staff in one hand, and a cone of the cultivated pine in the other. The Sikyonians say that the god was carried to them from Epidaurus on a carriage drawn by two mules, that he was in the likeness of a serpent, and that he was brought by Nicagora of Sikyon, the mother of Agasikles and the wife of Ekhetīmos. Here are small figures [ agalmata] hanging from the roof. She who is on the serpent they say is Aristodama, the mother of Aratos, whom they hold to be a son of Asklepios.

[4] Such are the noteworthy things that this enclosure presented to me, and opposite is another enclosure, sacred to Aphrodite. The first thing inside is a statue [ agalma] of Antiope. They say that her sons were Sikyonians, and because of them the Sikyonians will have it that Antiope herself is related to themselves. After this is the sanctuary of Aphrodite, into which enter only a female verger, who after her appointment may not have intercourse with a man, and a virgin, called the Bath-bearer, holding her sacred office for a year. All others are accustomed to behold the goddess from the entrance, and to pray from that place.

[5] The statue [ agalma], which is seated, was made by the Sikyonian Kanakhos, who also fashioned the Apollo at Didyma of the Milesians, and the Ismenian Apollo for the Thebans. It is made of gold and ivory, having on its head a polos, and carrying in one hand a poppy and in the other an apple. They offer the thighs of the victims, excepting pigs; the other parts they burn for the goddess with juniper wood, but as the thighs are burning they add to the offering a leaf of the paideros.

[6] This is a plant in the open parts of the enclosure, and it grows nowhere else either in Sikyonia or in any other land. Its leaves are smaller than those of the esculent oak, but larger than those of the holm; the shape is similar to that of the oak-leaf. One side is of a dark color, the other is white. You might best compare the color to that of white-poplar leaves.

[7] Ascending from here to the gymnasium you see in the right a sanctuary of Artemis Pheraia. It is said that the wooden image was brought from Pherai. This gymnasium was built for the Sikyonians by Kleinias, and they still train the youths here. White marble images are here, an Artemis crafted only to the waist, and a Hēraklēs whose lower parts are similar to the square Hermai.

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.) — 2.10 focus

[1]
ἐν δὲ τῷ γυμνασίῳ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὄντι οὐ μακρὰν Ἡρακλῆς ἀνάκειται λίθου, Σκόπα ποίημα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἑτέρωθι ἱερὸν Ἡρακλέους· τὸν μὲν πάντα ἐνταῦθα 0 περίβολον Παιδιζὴν ὀνομάζουσιν, ἐν μέσῳ δέ ἐστι τῷ περιβόλῳ τὸ ἱερόν, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ ξόανον ἀρχαῖον, τέχνη Φλιασίου Λαφάους. ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ θυσίᾳ τοιάδε δρᾶν νομίζουσι. Φαῖστον ἐν Σικυωνίᾳ λέγουσιν ἐλθόντα καταλαβεῖν Ἡρακλεῖ σφᾶς ὡς ἥρωι ἐναγίζοντας· οὔκουν ἠξίου δρᾶν οὐδὲν ὁ Φαῖστος τῶν αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ ὡς θεῷ θύειν. καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἄρνα οἱ Σικυώνιοι σφάξαντες καὶ τοὺς μηροὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ καύσαντες τὰ μὲν ἐσθίουσιν ὡς ἀπὸ ἱερείου, τὰ δὲ ὡς ἥρωι τῶν κρεῶν ἐναγίζουσι. τῆς ἑορτῆς δέ, ἣν ἄγουσι τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ, τὴν προτέραν τῶν ἡμερῶν †ὀνόματα ὀνομάζοντες Ἡράκλεια δὴ καλοῦσι τὴν ὑστέραν.

[2]
ἐντεῦθέν ἐστιν ὁδὸς ἐς ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ. παρελθοῦσι δὲ ἐς τὸν περίβολον ἐν ἀριστερᾷ διπλοῦν ἐστιν οἴκημα· κεῖται δὲ Ὕπνος ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ, καί οἱ πλὴν τῆς κεφαλῆς ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἔτι λείπεται. τὸ ἐνδοτέρω δὲ Ἀπόλλωνι ἀνεῖται Καρνείῳ, καὶ ἐς αὐτὸ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἔσοδος. κεῖται δὲ ἐν τῇ στοᾷ κήτους ὀστοῦν θαλασσίου μεγέθει μέγα καὶ μετʼ αὐτὸ ἄγαλμα Ὀνείρου καὶ Ὕπνος κατακοιμίζων λέοντα, Ἐπιδώτης δὲ ἐπίκλησιν. ἐς δὲ τὸ Ἀσκληπιεῖον ἐσιοῦσι καθʼ ἕτερον τῆς ἐσόδου τῇ μὲν Πανὸς καθήμενον ἄγαλμά ἐστι, τῇ δὲ Ἄρτεμις ἕστηκεν.

[3] ἐσελθοῦσι δὲ ὁ θεός ἐστιν οὐκ ἔχων γένεια, χρυσοῦ καὶ ἐλέφαντος, Καλάμιδος δὲ ἔργον· ἔχει δὲ καὶ σκῆπτρον καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἑτέρας χειρὸς πίτυος καρπὸν τῆς ἡμέρου. φασὶ δέ σφισιν ἐξ Ἐπιδαύρου κομισθῆναι τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ ζεύγους ἡμιόνων 0 δράκοντι εἰκασμένον, τὴν δὲ ἀγαγοῦσαν Νικαγόραν εἶναι Σικυωνίαν Ἀγασικλέους μητέρα, γυναῖκα δὲ Ἐχετίμου. ἐνταῦθα ἀγάλματά ἐστιν οὐ μεγάλα ἀπηρτημένα τοῦ ὀρόφου· τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ δράκοντι Ἀριστοδάμαν Ἀράτου μητέρα εἶναι λέγουσι καὶ Ἄρατον Ἀσκληπιοῦ παῖδα εἶναι νομίζουσιν.

[4]
οὗτος μὲν δὴ παρείχετο ὁ περίβολος τοσάδε ἐς μνήμην, πέραν δὲ διʼ αὐτοῦ δὲ ἄλλος ἐστὶν Ἀφροδίτης ἱερός· ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ πρῶτον ἄγαλμά ἐστιν Ἀντιόπης· εἶναι γάρ οἱ τοὺς παῖδας Σικυωνίους καὶ διʼ ἐκείνους ἐθέλουσι καὶ αὐτὴν Ἀντιόπην προσήκειν σφίσι. μετὰ τοῦτο ἤδη τὸ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἐστὶν ἱερόν. ἐσίασι μὲν δὴ ἐς αὐτὸ γυνή τε νεωκόρος, ᾗ μηκέτι θέμις παρʼ ἄνδρα φοιτῆσαι, καὶ παρθένος ἱερωσύνην ἐπέτειον ἔχουσα· λουτροφόρον τὴν παρθένον ὀνομάζουσι· τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὁρᾶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐσόδου τὴν θεὸν καὶ αὐτόθεν προσεύχεσθαι.

[5] τὸ μὲν δὴ ἄγαλμα καθήμενον Κάναχος Σικυώνιος ἐποίησεν, ὃς καὶ τὸν ἐν Διδύμοις τοῖς Μιλησίων καὶ Θηβαίοις τὸν Ἰσμήνιον εἰργάσατο Ἀπόλλωνα· πεποίηται δὲ ἔκ τε χρυσοῦ καὶ ἐλέφαντος, φέρουσα ἐπὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ πόλον, τῶν χειρῶν δὲ ἔχει τῇ μὲν μήκωνα τῇ δὲ ἑτέρᾳ μῆλον. τῶν δὲ ἱερείων τοὺς μηροὺς θύουσι πλὴν ὑῶν, τἄλλα δὲ ἀρκεύθου ξύλοις καθαγίζουσι, καιομένοις δὲ ὁμοῦ τοῖς μηροῖς φύλλον τοῦ παιδέρωτος συγκαθαγίζουσιν.

[6] ἔνεστι δὲ ὁ παιδέρως ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τοῦ περιβόλου πόα, φύεται 0 δὲ ἀλλαχόθι οὐδαμοῦ γῆς, οὔτε ἄλλης οὔτε τῆς Σικυωνίας. τὰ δέ οἱ φύλλα ἐλάσσονα ἢ φηγοῦ, μείζονα δέ ἐστιν ἢ πρίνου, σχῆμα δέ σφισιν οἷον τοῖς τῆς δρυός· καὶ τὸ μὲν ὑπομελαίνει, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον λευκόν ἐστι· φύλλοις δʼ ἂν λεύκης μάλιστα εἰκάζοις τὴν χροιάν.

[7]
ἀπὸ τούτων δὲ ἀνιοῦσιν ἐς τὸ γυμνάσιον, ἔστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ Φεραίας ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιδος· κομισθῆναι δὲ τὸ ξόανον λέγουσιν ἐκ Φερῶν. τὸ δέ σφισι γυμνάσιον τοῦτο Κλεινίας ᾠκοδόμησε, καὶ παιδεύουσιν ἐνταῦθα ἔτι τοὺς ἐφήβους. κεῖται δὲ λίθου λευκοῦ καὶ Ἄρτεμις τὰ ἐς ἰξὺν μόνον εἰργασμένη καὶ Ἡρακλῆς τὰ κάτω τοῖς Ἑρμαῖς τοῖς τετραγώνοις εἰκασμένος.

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.) — 2.10 focus

[1]
In the gymnasium not far from the market-place is dedicated a stone Heracles made by Scopas.¹ There is also in another place a sanctuary of Heracles. The whole of the enclosure here they name Paedize; in the middle of the enclosure is the sanctuary, and in it is an old wooden figure carved by Laphaes the Phliasian. I will now describe the ritual at the festival. The story is that on coming to the Sicyonian land Phaestus found the people giving offerings to Heracles as to a hero. Phaestus then refused to do anything of the kind, but insisted on sacrificing to him as to a god. Even at the present day the Sicyonians, after slaying a lamb and burning the thighs upon the altar, eat some of the meat as part of a victim given to a god, while the rest they offer as to a hero. The first day of the festival in honor of Heracles they name . . . ; the second they call Heraclea .

[2] From here is a way to a sanctuary of Asclepius. On passing into the enclosure you see on the left a building with two rooms. In the outer room lies a figure of Sleep, of which nothing remains now except the head. The inner room is given over to the Carnean Apollo; into it none may enter except the priests. In the portico lies a huge bone of a sea-monster, and after it an image of the Dream-god and Sleep, surnamed Epidotes (Bountiful), lulling to sleep a lion. Within the sanctuary on either side of the entrance is an image, on the one hand Pan seated, on the other Artemis standing.

[3]
When you have entered you see the god, a beardless figure of gold and ivory made by Calamis.² He holds a staff in one hand, and a cone of the cultivated pine in the other. The Sicyonians say that the god was carried to them from Epidaurus on a carriage drawn by two mules, that he was in the likeness of a serpent, and that he was brought by Nicagora of Sicyon , the mother of Agasicles and the wife of Echetimus. Here are small figures hanging from the roof. She who is on the serpent they say is Aristodama, the mother of Aratus, whom they hold to be a son of Asclepius.

[4] Such are the noteworthy things that this enclosure presented to me, and opposite is another enclosure, sacred to Aphrodite. The first thing inside is a statue of Antiope. They say that her sons were Sicyonians, and because of them the Sicyonians will have it that Antiope herself is related to themselves. After this is the sanctuary of Aphrodite, into which enter only a female verger, who after her appointment may not have intercourse with a man, and a virgin, called the Bath-bearer, holding her sacred office for a year. All others are wont to behold the goddess from the entrance, and to pray from that place.

[5] The image, which is seated, was made by the Sicyonian Canachus, who also fashioned the Apollo at Didyma of the Milesians, and the Ismenian Apollo for the Thebans. It is made of gold and ivory, having on its head a polos,³ and carrying in one hand a poppy and in the other an apple. They offer the thighs of the victims, excepting pigs; the other parts they burn for the goddess with juniper wood, but as the thighs are burning they add to the offering a leaf of the paideros.

[6]
This is a plant in the open parts of the enclosure, and it grows nowhere else either in Sicyonia or in any other land. Its leaves are smaller than those of the esculent oak, but larger than those of the holm; the shape is similar to that of the oak-leaf. One side is of a dark color, the other is white. You might best compare the color to that of white-poplar leaves.

[7]
Ascending from here to the gymnasium you see in the right a sanctuary of Artemis Pheraea. It is said that the wooden image was brought from Pherae. This gymnasium was built for the Sicyonians by Cleinias, and they still train the youths here. White marble images are here, an Artemis wrought only to the waist, and a Heracles whose lower parts are similar to the square Hermae.

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 2.10

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

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