Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator), 2.6

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1]
Corax died without issue, and at about this time came Epopeus from Thessaly and took the kingdom. In his reign the first hostile army is said to have invaded the land, which before this had enjoyed unbroken peace. The reason was this. Antiope, the daughter of Nycteus, had a name among the Greeks for beauty, and there was also a report that her father was not Nycteus but Asopus, the river that separates the territories of Thebes and Plataea .

[2] This woman Epopeus carried off but I do not know whether he asked for her hand or adopted a bolder policy from the beginning. The Thebans came against him in arms, and in the battle Nycteus was wounded. Epopeus also was wounded, but won the day. Nycteus they carried back ill to Thebes , and when he was about to die he appointed to be regent of Thebes his brother Lycus for Labdacus, the son of Polydorus, the son of Cadmus, being still a child, was the ward of Nycteus, who on this occasion entrusted the office of guardian to Lycus. He also besought him to attack Aegialea with a larger army and bring vengeance upon Epopeus; Antiope herself, if taken, was to be punished.

[3] As to Epopeus, he forthwith offered sacrifice for his victory and began a temple of Athena, and when this was complete he prayed the goddess to make known whether the temple was finished to her liking, and after the prayer they say that olive oil flowed before the temple. Afterwards Epopeus also died of his wound, which he had neglected at first, so that Lycus had now no need to wage war. For Lamedon, the son of Coronus, who became king after Epopeus, gave up Antiope. As she was being taken to Thebes by way of Eleutherae, she was delivered there on the road.

[4] On this matter Asius the son of Amphiptolemus¹ says in his poem:—

Zethus and Amphion had Antiope for their mother,

Daughter of Asopus, the swift, deep-eddying river,

Having conceived of Zeus and Epopeus, shepherd of peoples.

Asius, unknown work Homer traces their descent to the more august side of their family, and says that they were the first founders of Thebes , in my opinion distinguishing the lower city from the Cadmea.

[5] When Lamedon became king he took to wife an Athenian woman, Pheno, the daughter of Clytius. Afterwards also, when war had arisen between him and Archander and Architeles, the sons of Achaeus, he brought in as his ally Sicyon from Attica , and gave him Zeuxippe his daughter to wife. This man became king, and the land was named after him Sicyonia, and the city Sicyon instead of Aegiale. But they say that Sicyon was not the son of Marathon, the son of Epopeus, but of Metion the son of Erechtheus. Asius confirms their statement, while Hesiod makes Sicyon the son of Erechtheus, and Ibycus says that his father was Pelops.

[6] Sicyon had a daughter Chthonophyle, and they say that she and Hermes were the parents of Polybus. Afterwards she married Phlias, the son of Dionysus, and gave birth to Androdamas. Polybus gave his daughter Lysianassa to Talaus the son of Bias, king of the Argives; and when Adrastus fled from Argos he came to Polybus at Sicyon , and afterwards on the death of Polybus he became king at Sicyon . When Adrastus returned to Argos , Ianiscus, a descendant of Clytius the father-in-law of Lamedon, came from Attica and was made king, and when Ianiscus died he was succeeded by Phaestus , said to have been one of the children of Heracles.

[7] After Phaestus in obedience to an oracle migrated to Crete , the next king is said to have been Zeuxippus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Syllis. On the death of Zeuxippus, Agamemnon led an army against Sicyon and king Hippolytus, the son of Rhopalus, the son of Phaestus . In terror of the army that was attacking him, Hippolytus agreed to become subject to Agamemnon and the Mycenaeans. This Hippolytus was the father of Lacestades. Phalces the son of Temenus, with the Dorians, surprised Sicyon by night, but did Lacestades no harm, because he too was one of the Heracleidae, and made him partner in the kingdom.

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.) — 2.6 focus

[1]
Κόρακος δὲ ἀποθανόντος ἄπαιδος ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν καιρὸν Ἐπωπεὺς ἀφικόμενος ἐκ Θεσσαλίας ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν. ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος στρατόν σφισι πολέμιον λέγουσιν ἐς τὴν χώραν τότε ἐλθεῖν πρῶτον, τὰ 0 πρὸ τοῦ πάντα τὸν χρόνον διατελέσασιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ. αἰτία δὲ ἥδε· Ἀντιόπης ἐν Ἕλλησι τῆς Νυκτέως ὄνομα ἦν ἐπὶ κάλλει, καί οἱ καὶ φήμη προσῆν Ἀσωποῦ θυγατέρα, ὃς τὴν Θηβαΐδα καὶ Πλαταιίδα ὁρίζει, καὶ οὐ Νυκτέως εἶναι.

[2] ταύτην οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε γυναῖκα αἰτήσας εἴτε θρασύτερα ἐξ ἀρχῆς βουλευσάμενος Ἐπωπεὺς ἁρπάζει· ὡς δὲ οἱ Θηβαῖοι σὺν ὅπλοις ἦλθον, ἐνταῦθα τιτρώσκεται μὲν Νυκτεύς, ἐτρώθη δὲ κρατῶν τῇ μάχῃ καὶ Ἐπωπεύς. Νυκτέα μὲν δὴ κάμνοντα ὀπίσω κομίζουσιν ἐς Θήβας, καὶ ὡς ἔμελλε τελευτᾶν, Λύκον ἀδελφὸν ὄντα παραδίδωσι Θηβαίων ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἄρχειν· Λάβδακον γὰρ τὸν Πολυδώρου τοῦ Κάδμου παῖδα ἔτι αὐτός τε ἐπετρόπευεν ὁ Νυκτεὺς καὶ τότε ἀπέλιπεν ἐπιτροπεύειν ἐκείνῳ. τοῦτον οὖν τὸν Λύκον ἱκέτευσε στρατῷ μείζονι ἐπὶ τὴν Αἰγιάλειαν ἐλάσαντα τιμωρήσασθαι μὲν Ἐπωπέα, κακοῦν δὲ εἰ λάβοι καὶ αὐτὴν Ἀντιόπην.

[3] Ἐπωπεὺς δὲ τὸ μὲν παραυτίκα ἐπινίκια ἔθυε καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ᾠκοδόμει ναόν, ἐπʼ ἐξειργασμένῳ δὲ εὔξατο ἐνδείξασθαι τὴν θεὸν εἴ οἱ τετελεσμένος ἐστὶν ὁ ναὸς κατὰ γνώμην· μετὰ δὲ τὴν εὐχὴν ἔλαιον λέγουσι ῥυῆναι πρὸ τοῦ ναοῦ. ὕστερον δὲ καὶ Ἐπωπέα κατέλαβεν ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ τραύματος ἀμεληθέντος κατʼ ἀρχάς, ὡς μηδὲν ἔτι Λύκῳ δεῆσαι πολέμου· Λαμέδων γὰρ ὁ Κορώνου βασιλεύσας μετὰ Ἐπωπέα ἐξέδωκεν Ἀντιόπην. ἡ δὲ ὡς ἐς Θήβας ἤγετο τὴν ἐπʼ Ἐλευθερῶν, ἐνταῦθα καθʼ ὁδὸν τίκτει.

[4] καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ πεποίηκεν Ἄσιος ὁ Ἀμφιπτολέμου· 0

Ἀντιόπη δʼ ἔτεκε Ζῆθον καὶ Ἀμφίονα δῖον

Ἀσωποῦ κούρη ποταμοῦ βαθυδινήεντος,

Ζηνί τε κυσαμένη καὶ Ἐπωπέι ποιμένι λαῶν.

Asius, unknown work Ὅμηρος δὲ σφᾶς ἀνήγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸ σεμνότερον τοῦ γένους καὶ Θήβας φησὶν οἰκίσαι πρώτους, ἀποκρίνων τὴν κάτω πόλιν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς Καδμείας.

[5] Λαμέδων δὲ βασιλεύσας ἔγημεν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν γυναῖκα Φηνὼ Κλυτίου· καὶ ὕστερον γενομένου οἱ πολέμου πρὸς Ἄρχανδρον καὶ Ἀρχιτέλην τοὺς Ἀχαιοῦ συμμαχήσοντα ἐπηγάγετο Σικυῶνα ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, καὶ θυγατέρα τε συνῴκισεν αὐτῷ Ζευξίππην καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου βασιλεύσαντος ἡ γῆ Σικυωνία καὶ Σικυὼν ἀντὶ Αἰγιάλης ἡ πόλις ὠνομάσθη. Σικυῶνα δὲ οὐ Μαραθῶνος τοῦ Ἐπωπέως, Μητίονος δὲ εἶναι τοῦ Ἐρεχθέως φασίν. ὁμολογεῖ δέ σφισι καὶ Ἄσιος, ἐπεὶ Ἡσίοδός γε καὶ Ἴβυκος, ὁ μὲν ἐποίησεν ὡς Ἐρεχθέως εἴη Σικυών, Ἴβυκος δὲ εἶναι Πέλοπός φησιν αὐτόν.

[6] Σικυῶνος δὲ γίνεται Χθονοφύλη, Χθονοφύλης δὲ καὶ Ἑρμοῦ Πόλυβον γενέσθαι λέγουσιν· ὕστερον δὲ αὐτὴν Φλίας ὁ Διονύσου γαμεῖ, καί οἱ παῖς Ἀνδροδάμας γίνεται. Πόλυβος δὲ Ταλαῷ τῷ Βίαντος βασιλεύοντι Ἀργείων Λυσιάνασσαν τὴν θυγατέρα ἔδωκε· καὶ ὅτε Ἄδραστος ἔφευγεν ἐξ Ἄργους, παρὰ Πόλυβον ἦλθεν ἐς Σικυῶνα καὶ ὕστερον ἀποθανόντος Πολύβου τὴν ἐν Σικυῶνι ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν. Ἀδράστου δὲ ἐς Ἄργος κατελθόντος Ἰανίσκος ἀπόγονος Κλυτίου τοῦ Λαμέδοντι
κηδεύσαντος ἐλθὼν ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐβασίλευσεν, ἀποθανόντος δὲ Ἰανίσκου Φαῖστος τῶν Ἡρακλέους λεγόμενος παίδων καὶ οὗτος εἶναι.

[7] Φαίστου δὲ κατὰ μαντείαν μετοικήσαντος ἐς Κρήτην βασιλεῦσαι λέγεται Ζεύξιππος Ἀπόλλωνος υἱὸς καὶ νύμφης Συλλίδος. μετὰ δὲ Ζεύξιππον τελευτήσαντα Ἀγαμέμνων στρατὸν ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ Σικυῶνα καὶ τὸν βασιλέα Ἱππόλυτον Ῥοπάλου παῖδα τοῦ Φαίστου· δείσας δὲ τὸν στρατὸν ἐπιόντα Ἱππόλυτος συνεχώρησεν Ἀγαμέμνονος κατήκοος καὶ Μυκηναίων εἶναι. Ἱππολύτου δὲ ἦν τούτου Λακεστάδης. Φάλκης ταμφάλκης δὲ ὁ Τημένου καταλαβὼν νύκτωρ Σικυῶνα σὺν Δωριεῦσι κακὸν μὲν ἅτε Ἡρακλείδην καὶ αὐτὸν ἐποίησεν οὐδέν, κοινωνὸν δὲ ἔσχε τῆς ἀρχῆς.

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.) — 2.6 focus

[1] Korax died without issue, and at about this time came Epopeus from Thessaly and took the kingdom. In his reign the first hostile army is said to have invaded the land, which before this had enjoyed unbroken peace. The reason was this. Antiope, the daughter of Nykteus, had a name among the Greeks for beauty, and there was also a report that her father was not Nykteus but Asopos, the river that separates the territories of Thebes and Plataea.

[2] This woman Epopeus carried off but I do not know whether he asked for her hand or adopted a bolder policy from the beginning. The Thebans came against him in arms, and in the battle Nykteus was wounded. Epopeus also was wounded, but won the day. Nykteus they carried back ill to Thebes, and when he was about to die he appointed to be regent of Thebes his brother Lykos for Labdacus, the son of Polydoros, the son of Kadmos, being still a child, was the ward of Nykteus, who on this occasion entrusted the office of guardian to Lykos. He also besought him to attack Aigialeia with a larger army and bring vengeance upon Epopeus; Antiope herself, if taken, was to be punished.

[3] As to Epopeus, he forthwith offered sacrifice for his victory and began a temple of Athena, and when this was complete he prayed the goddess to make known whether the temple was finished to her liking, and after the prayer they say that olive oil flowed before the temple. Afterwards Epopeus also died of his wound, which he had neglected at first, so that Lykos had now no need to wage war. For Lamedon, the son of Koronos, who became king after Epopeus, gave up Antiope. As she was being taken to Thebes by way of Eleutherai, she was delivered there on the road.

[4] On this matter Asios the son of Amphiptolemos says in his poem:

Zethus and Amphion had Antiope for their mother,
Daughter of Asopos, the swift, deep-eddying river,
Having conceived of Zeus and Epopeus, shepherd of peoples.

Homer traces their descent to the more august side of their family, and says that they were the first founders of Thebes, in my opinion distinguishing the lower city from the Kadmeia.

[5] When Lamedon became king he took to wife an Athenian woman, Pheno, the daughter of Klytios. Afterwards also, when war had arisen between him and Arkhandros and Arkhiteles, the sons of Achaeus, he brought in as his ally Sikyon from Attica, and gave him Zeuxippe his daughter to wife. This man became king, and the land was named after him Sikyonia, and the city Sikyon instead of Aigiale. But they say that Sikyon was not the son of Marathon, the son of Epopeus, but of Metion the son of Erekhtheus. Asios confirms their statement, while Hesiod makes Sikyon the son of Erekhtheus, and Ibycus says that his father was Pelops.

[6] Sikyon had a daughter Khthonophyle, and they say that she and Hermes were the parents of Polybus. Afterwards she married Phlias, the son of Dionysus, and gave birth to Androdamas. Polybus gave his daughter Lysianassa to Talaos the son of Bias, king of the Argives; and when Adrastos fled from Argos he came to Polybus at Sikyon, and afterwards on the death of Polybus he became king at Sikyon. When Adrastos returned to Argos, Ianiskos, a descendant of Klytios the father-in-law of Lamedon, came from Attica and was made king, and when Ianiskos died he was succeeded by Phaistos, said to have been one of the children of Hēraklēs.

[7] After Phaistos in obedience to an oracle migrated to Crete, the next king is said to have been Zeuxippos, the son of Apollo and the nymph Syllis. On the death of Zeuxippos, Agamemnon led an army against Sikyon and king Hippolytus, the son of Rhopalus, the son of Phaistos. In terror of the army that was attacking him, Hippolytus agreed to become subject to Agamemnon and the Mycenaeans. This Hippolytus was the father of Lacestades. Phalkes the son of Temenus, with the Dorians, surprised Sikyon by night, but did Lacestades no harm, because he too was one of the Herakleidai, and made him partner in the kingdom.

Notes on the current edition

Description of Greece

1. fl. 640-617 B.C.

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 2.6

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

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers