Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator), 1.30.3

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[3]
Not far from the Academy is the monument of Plato, to whom heaven foretold that he would be the prince of philosophers. The manner of the foretelling was this. On the night before Plato was to become his pupil Socrates in a dream saw a swan fly into his bosom. Now the swan is a bird with a reputation for music, because, they say, a musician of the name of Swan became king of the Ligyes on the other side of the Eridanus beyond the Celtic territory, and after his death by the will of Apollo he was changed into the bird. I am ready to believe that a musician became king of the Ligyes, but I cannot believe that a bird grew out of a man.

Description of Greece. Pausanias. W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1918-1935.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Description of Greece (English) (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.)

Editions (1)

Ἑλλάδος Περιηγήσεως Perseus (Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.) — 1.30.3 focus

[3]
Ἀκαδημίας δὲ οὐ πόρρω Πλάτωνος μνῆμά ἐστιν, ᾧ προεσήμαινεν ὁ θεὸς ἄριστον τὰ ἐς φιλοσοφίαν ἔσεσθαι· προεσήμαινε δὲ οὕτω. Σωκράτης τῇ προτέρᾳ νυκτὶ ἢ Πλάτων ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαί οἱ μαθητὴς ἐσπτῆναί οἱ κύκνον ἐς τὸν κόλπον εἶδεν ὄνειρον· ἔστι δὲ κύκνῳ τῷ ὄρνιθι μουσικῆς δόξα, ὅτι Λιγύων τῶν Ἠριδανοῦ πέραν ὑπὲρ γῆς τῆς Κελτικῆς Κύκνον ἄνδρα μουσικὸν γενέσθαι βασιλέα φασί, τελευτήσαντα δὲ Ἀπόλλωνος γνώμῃ μεταβαλεῖν λέγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐς τὸν ὄρνιθα. ἐγὼ δὲ βασιλεῦσαι μὲν πείθομαι Λίγυσιν ἄνδρα μουσικόν, γενέσθαι δέ μοι ἄπιστον ὄρνιθα ἀπʼ ἀνδρός.

Translations (1)

English (Jones and Ormerod; retranslated Gregory Nagy, CHS, 2018) (OCR draft) Experimental (CHS Pausanias Reader retranslation by Gregory Nagy, based on Jones and Ormerod, with marked Greek terms, notes, quotations, and bibliographic attributions preserved.) — 1.30.3 focus

[3] Not far from the Academy is the tomb [ mnēma] of Plato, to whom the god [ theos] foretold [ pro-sēmainein] that he would be the best [ aristos] when it comes to philosophy. The manner of the foretelling [ pro-sēmainein] was this. On the night before Plato was to become his pupil Socrates dreamed that he saw a swan [ kuknos] fly into his insides [ kolpos]. Now the swan is a bird with a reputation for the art-of-the-Muses [ mousikē], because, they say, a practitioner-of-the-art-of-the-Muses [ mousikos] by the name of Swan [ Kuknos] became king of the Ligyes on the other side of the Eridanos beyond the Celtic territory, and after his death by the will of Apollo he was changed into the bird. I am ready to believe that a practitioner-of-the-art-of-the-Muses [ mousikos] became king of the Ligyes, but I cannot believe that a bird was generated out of a man.

New Alexandria Commentaries

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

Scroll I. Attica

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Pausanias Description of Greece 1.30.3

W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator)

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