Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator), 7.19.2

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[2] Now the story is that once upon a time it happened that the priestess of the goddess was Comaetho, a most beautiful maiden, who had a lover called Melanippus, who was far better and handsomer than his fellows. When Melanippus had won the love of the maiden, he asked the father for his daughter's hand. It is somehow a characteristic of old age to oppose the young in most things, and especially is it insensible to the desires of lovers. So Melanippus found it; although both he and Comaetho were eager to wed, he met with nothing but harshness from both his own parents and from those of his lover.

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.) — 7.19.2 focus

[2] λέγουσιν οὖν συμβῆναί ποτε ὡς ἱερᾶσθαι μὲν τῆς θεοῦ Κομαιθὼ τὸ εἶδος καλλίστην παρθένον, τυγχάνειν δὲ αὐτῆς ἐρῶντα Μελάνιππον, τά τε ἄλλα τοὺς ἡλικιώτας καὶ ὄψεως εὐπρεπείᾳ μάλιστα ὑπερηρκότα. ὡς δὲ ὁ Μελάνιππος ἐς τὸ ἴσον τοῦ ἔρωτος ὑπηγάγετο τὴν παρθένον, ἐμνᾶτο αὐτὴν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός. ἕπεται δέ πως τῷ γήρᾳ τά τε ἄλλα ὡς τὸ πολὺ ἐναντιοῦσθαι νέοις καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐς τοὺς ἐρῶντας τὸ ἀνάλγητον, ὅπου καὶ Μελανίππῳ τότε ἐθέλοντι ἐθέλουσαν ἄγεσθαι Κομαιθὼ οὔτε παρὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ γονέων οὔτε παρὰ τῶν Κομαιθοῦς ἥμερον ἀπήντησεν οὐδέν.

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.) — 7.19.2 focus

[2] Now they say that once upon a time it happened that the one who was serving-as-priestess [ hierâsthai] for the goddess was Komaitho, a most-beautiful [ kallistē] virgin [ parthénos]. Melanippos—that was his name—was-passionately-in-love [ erân] with her. He was far better in good looks than others of his age. When Melanippos led the girl [ parthénos] to a degree of passionate-love [ erōs] that reached the point of being equal to his own [ es tò ison], he approached her father, seeking-permission-to-marry [ mnâsthai] her. Somehow old age has a way of opposing the young in very many things, and, most of all, it has a way of being insensitive-to-the-pain [ an-algēton] with regard to those who are-passionately-in-love [ erân]. That is how it was for Melanippos. Even though Komaitho was ready and willing to get married off just as he was ready and willing to marry her, the response he got even from his own parents, not only from the parents of Komaitho, was anything but gentle [ hēmeron].

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

Here commences the love story about Komaitho the young priestess of Artemis and his young seducer Melanippos. The reaction of the disapproving parents of the young couple is evocative here of comparable situations found in love stories as retold in the work of Parthenius—and, more generally, in erotic novels.

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Pausanias Description of Greece 7.19.2

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

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