Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator), 6.22.6

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[6] The Eleans declare that there is a reference to this Pylus in the passage of Homer:

And he was descended from the river

Alpheius, that in broad stream flows through the land of the Pylians.

Hom. Il. 5.544
The Eleans convinced me that they are right. For the Alpheius does flow through this district, and the passage cannot refer to another Pylus. For the land of the Pylians over against the island Sphacteria simply cannot in the nature of things be crossed by the Alpheius, and, moreover, we know of no city in Arcadia named Pylus.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

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.) — 6.22.6 focus

[6] λέγουσι δὲ οἱ Ἠλεῖοι καὶ ἔπος ἐς τὴν Πύλον ταύτην ἔχειν τῶν Ὁμήρου,

γένος δʼ ἦν ἐκ ποταμοῖο

Ἀλφειοῦ, ὅστʼ εὐρὺ ῥέει Πυλίων διὰ γαίης,

Hom. Il. 5.544 καὶ ἐμὲ ἔπειθον λέγοντες· ῥεῖ γὰρ δὴ διὰ τῆς χώρας ταύτης ὁ Ἀλφειός, ἐς δὲ ἄλλην Πύλον οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπενεγκεῖν τὸ ἔπος· Πυλίων γὰρ τῶν ὑπὲρ νήσου τῆς Σφακτηρίας οὐ πέφυκεν ἀρχὴν διοδεύειν τὴν γῆν ὁ Ἀλφειός, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ Ἀρκάδων Πύλον ποτὲ ὀνομασθεῖσαν ἴσμεν πόλιν.

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.) — 6.22.6 focus

[6] The Eleians declare that there is a reference to this Pylos in the passage of Homer:

“And he was descended from the river
Alpheios, that in broad stream flows through the land of the Pylians.”

Iliad V 544

The Eleians convinced me that they are right. For the Alpheios does flow through this district, and the passage cannot refer to another Pylos. For the land of the Pylians over against the island Sphakteria simply cannot in the nature of things be crossed by the Alpheios, and, moreover, we know of no city in Arcadia named Pylos.

Pausanias Description of Greece 6.22.6

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

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