Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. W. H. S. Jones, ed. H. A. Ormerod, ed. Gregory Nagy, 9.24

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[1] On the straight road from Acraephnium to the Cephisian, or as it is also called, the Copaic Lake, is what is styled the Athamantian Plain, on which, they say, Athamas made his home. Into the lake flows the river Kephisos, which rises at Lilaea in Phokis, and on sailing across it you come to Copae, a town lying on the shore of the lake. Homer mentions it in the Catalogue. Here is a sanctuary of Demeter, one of Dionysus and a third of Serapis.

[2] According to the Boeotians there were once other inhabited towns near the lake, Athens and Eleusis, but there occurred a flood one winter which destroyed them. The fish of the Cephisian Lake are in general no different from those of other lakes, but the eels there are of great size and very pleasant to the palate.

[3] On the left of Copae about twelve stadium-lengths from it is Olmones, and some seven stadium-lengths distant from Olmones is Hyettos both right from their foundation to the present day have been villages. In my view Hyettos, as well as the Athamantian plain, belongs to the district of Orkhomenos. All the stories I heard about Hyettos the Argive and Olmus, the son of Sisyphus, I shall include in my history of Orkhomenos. In Olmones they did not show me anything that was in the least worth seeing, but in Hyettos is a temple of Hēraklēs, from whom the sick may get cures. There is an image not carefully carved, but of unfinished stone after the ancient fashion.

[4] About twenty stadium-lengths away from Hyettos is Cyrtones. The ancient name of the town was, they say, Cyrtone. It is built on a high mountain, and here are a temple and grove of Apollo. There are also standing images of Apollo and Artemis. There is here too a cool stream of water rising from a rock. By the spring is a sanctuary of the nymphs, and a small grove, in which all the trees alike are cultivated.

[5] Going out of Cyrtones, as you cross the mountain you come to Corseia, under which is a grove of trees that are not cultivated, being mostly evergreen oaks. A small image of Hermes stands in the open part of the grove. This is distant from Corseia about half a stadium-length. On descending to the level you reach a river called the Platanios, which flows into the sea. On the right of the river the last of the Boeotians in this part dwell in Halae-on-Sea, which separates the mainland of Lokris from Euboea.

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.) — 9.24 focus

[1]
ἐξ Ἀκραιφνίου δὲ ἰόντι εὐθεῖαν ἐπὶ λίμνην τὴν Κηφισίδα—οἱ δὲ Κωπαΐδα ὀνομάζουσι τὴν αὐτήν— πεδίον καλούμενόν ἐστιν Ἀθαμάντιον· οἰκῆσαι δὲ Ἀθάμαντα ἐν αὐτῷ φασιν. ἐς δὲ τὴν λίμνην ὅ τε ποταμὸς ὁ Κηφισὸς ἐκδίδωσιν ἀρχόμενος ἐκ Λιλαίας τῆς Φωκέων καὶ διαπλεύσαντί εἰσι Κῶπαι. κεῖνται δὲ αἱ Κῶπαι πόλισμα ἐπὶ τῇ λίμνῃ, τούτου δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐποιήσατο ἐν καταλόγῳ μνήμην· ἐνταῦθα Δήμητρος καὶ Διονύσου καὶ Σαράπιδός ἐστιν ἱερά.

[2] λέγουσι δὲ οἱ Βοιωτοὶ καὶ πολίσματα ἄλλα πρὸς τῇ λίμνῃ ποτὲ Ἀθήνας καὶ Ἐλευσῖνα οἰκεῖσθαι, καὶ ὡς ὥρᾳ χειμῶνος ἐπικλύσασα ἠφάνισεν αὐτὰ ἡ λίμνη. οἱ μὲν δὴ ἰχθῦς οἱ ἐν τῇ Κηφισίδι οὐδέν τι διάφορον ἐς ἄλλους ἰχθῦς 0 τοὺς λιμναίους ἔχουσιν· αἱ δὲ ἐγχέλεις αὐτόθι καὶ μεγέθει μέγισται καὶ ἐσθίειν εἰσὶν ἥδισται.

[3]
Κωπῶν δὲ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ σταδίους προελθόντι ὡς δώδεκα εἰσὶν Ὄλμωνες, Ὀλμωνέων δὲ ἑπτά που στάδια Ὕηττος ἀφέστηκε κῶμαι νῦν τε οὖσαι καὶ εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς· μοίρας δὲ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν τῆς Ὀρχομενίας εἰσὶ καὶ αὗται καὶ πεδίον τὸ Ἀθαμάντιον. καὶ ὅσα μὲν ἐς Ὕηττον ἄνδρα Ἀργεῖον καὶ Ὄλμον τὸν Σισύφου λεγόμενα ἤκουον, προσέσται καὶ αὐτὰ τῇ Ὀρχομενίᾳ συγγραφῇ· θέας δὲ ἄξιον ἐν μὲν Ὄλμωσιν οὐδʼ ἐπὶ βραχύτατον παρεῖχον οὐδέν, ἐν Ὑήττῳ δὲ ναός ἐστιν Ἡρακλέους καὶ ἰάματα εὕρασθαι παρὰ τούτου τοῖς κάμνουσιν ἔστιν, ὄντος οὐχὶ ἀγάλματος σὺν τέχνῃ, λίθου δὲ ἀργοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἀρχαῖον.

[4]
Ὑήττου δὲ στάδια ὡς εἴκοσιν ἀπέχουσι Κύρτωνες· τὸ δὲ ἀρχαῖον ὄνομα τῷ πολίσματί φασιν εἶναι Κυρτώνην. ᾤκισται δὲ ἐπὶ ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ, καὶ Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα ναός τε καὶ ἄλσος· ἀγάλματα δὲ ὀρθὰ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδός ἐστιν. ἔστι δὲ αὐτόθι καὶ ὕδωρ ψυχρὸν ἐκ πέτρας ἀνερχόμενον· νυμφῶν δὲ ἱερὸν ἐπὶ τῇ πηγῇ καὶ ἄλσος οὐ μέγα ἐστίν, ἥμερα δὲ ὁμοίως πάντα ἐν τῷ ἄλσει δένδρα.

[5]
ἐκ δὲ Κυρτώνων ὑπερβάλλοντι τὸ ὄρος πόλισμά ἐστι Κορσεία, ὑπὸ δὲ αὐτῷ δένδρων ἄλσος οὐχ ἡμέρων· πρῖνοι τὸ πολύ εἰσιν. Ἑρμοῦ δὲ ἄγαλμα οὐ μέγα ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τοῦ ἄλσους ἕστηκε. τοῦτο ἀπέχει Κορσείας ὅσον τε ἥμισυ σταδίου. καταβάντων δὲ ἐς τὸ χθαμαλὸν ποταμὸς Πλατάνιος καλούμενος ἐκδίδωσιν 0 ἐς θάλασσαν· ἐν δεξιᾷ δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Βοιωτῶν ἔσχατοι ταύτῃ πόλισμα οἰκοῦσιν Ἁλὰς ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ, ἣ τὴν Λοκρίδα ἤπειρον ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐβοίας διείργει.

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.) — 9.24 focus

[1]
On the straight road from Acraephnium to the Cephisian, or as it is also called, the Copaic Lake, is what is styled the Athamantian Plain, on which, they say, Athamas made his home. Into the lake flows the river Cephisus, which rises at Lilaea in Phocis , and on sailing across it you come to Copae, a town lying on the shore of the lake. Homer¹ mentions it in the Catalogue. Here is a sanctuary of Demeter, one of Dionysus and a third of Serapis.

[2] According to the Boeotians there were once other inhabited towns near the lake, Athens and Eleusis , but there occurred a flood one winter which destroyed them. The fish of the Cephisian Lake are in general no different from those of other lakes, but the eels there are of great size and very pleasant to the palate.

[3]
On the left of Copae about twelve stades from it is Olmones, and some seven stades distant from Olmones is Hyettus both right from their foundation to the present day have been villages. In my view Hyettus , as well as the Athamantian plain, belongs to the district of Orchomenus . All the stories I heard about Hyettus the Argive and Olmus, the son of Sisyphus, I shall include in my history of Orchomenus .² In Olmones they did not show me anything that was in the least worth seeing, but in Hyettus is a temple of Heracles, from whom the sick may get cures. There is an image not carefully carved, but of unwrought stone after the ancient fashion.

[4]
About twenty stades away from Hyettus is Cyrtones. The ancient name of the town was, they say, Cyrtone. It is built on a high mountain, and here are a temple and grove of Apollo. There are also standing images of Apollo and Artemis. There is here too a cool stream of water rising from a rock. By the spring is a sanctuary of the nymphs, and a small grove, in which all the trees alike are cultivated.

[5]
Going out of Cyrtones, as you cross the mountain you come to Corseia, under which is a grove of trees that are not cultivated, being mostly evergreen oaks. A small image of Hermes stands in the open part of the grove. This is distant from Corseia about half a stade. On descending to the level you reach a river called the Platanius, which flows into the sea. On the right of the river the last of the Boeotians in this part dwell in Halae-on-Sea, which separates the Locrian mainland from Euboea .

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 9.24

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

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