Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator), 4.26

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1]
Afterwards, as at all times, they were stirred by their hatred against the Lacedaemonians, and provided the most striking example of their hostility towards them in the war which took place between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians. For they offered Naupactus as a base against Peloponnese , and Messenian slingers from Naupactus helped to capture the Spartans cut off in Sphacteria .

[2] When the Athenian reverse at Aegospotami took place, the Lacedaemonians, having command of the sea, then drove the Messenians from Naupactus ; they went to their kinsmen in Sicily and to Rhegium , but the majority came to Libya and to the Euesperitae there, who had suffered severely in war with barbarian neighbors and were inviting any Greek to join them. So the majority of the Messenians went to them, their leader being Comon, who had commanded them in Sphacteria .

[3]
A year before the victory of the Thebans at Leuctra, heaven foretold their return to Peloponnese to the Messenians. It is said that in Messene on the Straits the priest of Heracles saw a vision in a dream: it seemed that Heracles Manticlus was bidden by Zeus as a guest to Ithome . Also among the Euesperitae Comon dreamt that he lay with his dead mother, but that afterwards she came to life again. He hoped that as the Athenians had recovered their seapower, they would be restored to Naupactus . But the dream really indicated the recovery of Messene .

[4] Not long afterwards the Lacedaemonians suffered at Leuctra the disaster that had long been due. For at the end of the oracle given to Aristodemus, who reigned over the Messenians, are the words:

Act as fate wills, destruction comes on this man before that,

signifying that he and the Messenians must suffer evil at the present, but that hereafter destruction would overtake Lacedaemon .

[5] Then after their victory at Leuctra the Thebans sent messengers to Italy , Sicily and to the Euesperitae, and summoned the Messenians to Peloponnese from every other quarter where they might be, and they, with longing for their country and through the hatred which had ever remained with them for the Lacedaemonians, assembled quicker than could have been expected.

[6] To Epaminondas it seemed in no way easy to found a city that could resist the Lacedaemonians, nor could he discover where in the land to build it. For the Messenians refused to settle again in Andania and Oechalia , because their disasters had befallen them when they dwelt there. To Epaminondas in his difficulty it is said that an ancient man, closely resembling a priest of Demeter, appeared in the night and said: “My gift to thee is that thou shalt conquer whomsoever thou dost assail; and when thou dost pass from men, Theban, I will cause thy name to be unforgotten and give thee glory. But do thou restore to the Messenians their fatherland and cities, for now the wrath of the Dioscuri against them hath ceased.”

[7] This he said to Epaminondas, and revealed this to Epiteles the son of Aeschines, who had been chosen by the Argives to be their general and to refound Messene . He was bidden by the dream, wherever he found yew and myrtle growing on Ithome , to dig between them and recover the old woman, for, shut in her brazen chamber, she was overcome and well-nigh fainting. When day dawned, Epiteles went to the appointed place, and as he dug, came upon a brazen urn.

[8] He took it at once to Epaminondas, told him the dream and bade him remove the lid and see what was within. Epaminondas, after sacrifice and prayer to the vision that had appeared, opened the urn and having opened it found some tin foil, very thin, rolled like a book. On it were inscribed the mysteries of the Great Goddesses, and this was the pledge deposited by Aristomenes. They say that the man who appeared to Epiteles and Epaminondas in their sleep was Caucon, who came from Athens to Messene the daughter of Triopas at Andania .

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.) — 4.26 focus

[1]
τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου τόν τε ἄλλον χρόνον ἐνέκειτό σφισι τὸ ἐς Λακεδαιμονίους μῖσος καὶ τὴν ἔχθραν ἐς αὐτοὺς μάλιστα ἐπεδείξαντο ἐπὶ τοῦ γενομένου Πελοποννησίοις πρὸς Ἀθηναίους πολέμου· τήν τε γὰρ Ναύπακτον ὁρμητήριον ἐπὶ τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ παρείχοντο καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ Σφακτηρίᾳ Σπαρτιατῶν ἀποληφθέντας Μεσσηνίων σφενδονῆται τῶν ἐκ Ναυπάκτου συνεξεῖλον.

[2] ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ πταῖσμα ἐγένετο τὸ Ἀθηναίων ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς, οὕτω καὶ ἐκ Ναυπάκτου τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἐκβάλλουσιν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ναυσὶν ἐπικρατοῦντες, οἳ ἐς Σικελίαν τε παρὰ τοὺς συγγενεῖς καὶ ἐς Ῥήγιον ἐστάλησαν, τὸ πλεῖστον δὲ αὐτῶν ἔς τε Λιβύην ἀφίκετο καὶ Λιβύης ἐς Εὐεσπερίτας· οἱ γὰρ Εὐεσπερῖται πολέμῳ κακωθέντες ὑπὸ βαρβάρων προσοίκων πάντα τινὰ Ἕλληνα ἐπεκαλοῦντο σύνοικον. ἐς τούτους τῶν Μεσσηνίων τὸ πολὺ ἀπεχώρησεν· ἡγεμὼν δέ σφισιν ἦν Κόμων, ὃς καὶ περὶ τὴν Σφακτηρίαν ἐστρατήγησεν αὐτοῖς. 0

[3]
ἐνιαυτῷ δὲ πρότερον ἢ κατορθῶσαι Θηβαίους τὰ ἐν Λεύκτροις, προεσήμαινεν ὁ δαίμων Μεσσηνίοις τὴν ἐς Πελοπόννησον κάθοδον. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἐν Μεσσήνῃ τῇ πρὸς τῷ πορθμῷ τὸν ἱερέα τοῦ Ἡρακλέους λέγουσιν ὀνείρατος ἰδεῖν ὄψιν—τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἔδοξε κληθῆναι τὸν Μάντικλον ἐπὶ ξενίᾳ ἐς Ἰθώμην ὑπὸ τοῦ Διός—, τοῦτο δὲ ἐν Εὐεσπερίταις Κόμων συγγενέσθαι νεκρᾷ τῇ μητρὶ ἐδόκει, συγγενομένου δὲ αὖθίς οἱ τὴν μητέρα ἀναβιῶναι. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐπήλπιζεν Ἀθηναίων δυνηθέντων ναυτικῷ κάθοδον ἔσεσθαί σφισιν ἐς Ναύπακτον· τὸ δὲ ἄρα ἐδήλου τὸ ὄνειρον ἀνασώσεσθαι Μεσσήνην.

[4] ἐγένετό τε οὐ μετὰ πολὺ ἐν Λεύκτροις Λακεδαιμονίων τὸ ἀτύχημα ὀφειλόμενον ἐκ παλαιοῦ· Ἀριστοδήμῳ γὰρ τῷ βασιλεύσαντι Μεσσηνίων ἐπὶ τελευτῇ τοῦ χρησμοῦ τοῦ δοθέντος ἐστὶν

ἕρδʼ ὅππῃ τὸ χρεών· ἄτη δʼ ἄλλοισι πρὸ ἄλλων·

ὡς ἐν μὲν τῷ παρόντι ἐκεῖνον δέον καὶ Μεσσηνίους κακῶς πρᾶξαι, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον καὶ Λακεδαίμονα ἐπιληψομένης τῆς ἄτης.

[5] τότε δὲ ἐν Λεύκτροις οἱ Θηβαῖοι νενικηκότες ἀγγέλους ἐς Ἰταλίαν τε καὶ Σικελίαν καὶ παρὰ τοὺς Εὐεσπερίτας ἀπέστελλον, ἔκ τε τῆς ἄλλης, εἴ πού τις Μεσσηνίων εἴη, πανταχόθεν ἀνεκάλουν ἐς Πελοπόννησον. οἱ δὲ θᾶσσον ἢ ὡς ἄν τις ἤλπισε συνελέχθησαν γῆς τε τῆς πατρίδος πόθῳ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐς Λακεδαιμονίους μῖσος παραμεῖναν ἀεί σφισιν.

[6] Ἐπαμινώνδᾳ δὲ οὔτε ἄλλως ἐφαίνετο ῥᾴδια ἀξιόμαχον πόλιν ἐποικίσαι Λακεδαιμονίοις οὔτε ὅπου χρὴ κτίσαι τῆς χώρας ἐξευρίσκει· τὴν γὰρ Ἀνδανίαν οἱ
Μεσσήνιοι καὶ Οἰχαλίαν οὐκ ἔφασαν ἀνοικιεῖν, ὅτι αἱ συμφοραί σφισιν ἐγεγόνεσαν ἐνταῦθα οἰκοῦσιν. ἀποροῦντι οὖν αὐτῷ πρεσβύτην ἄνδρα, ἱεροφάντῃ μάλιστα εἰκασμένον, νύκτωρ φασὶν ἐπιστάντα εἰπεῖν· “σοὶ μὲν δῶρά ἐστι παρʼ ἐμοῦ κρατεῖν ὅτῳ ἂν μεθʼ ὅπλων ἐπέρχῃ· καὶ ἢν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γένῃ, ἔγωγε ὦ Θηβαῖε ποιήσω μή ποτε ἀνώνυμον μηδὲ ἄδοξόν σε γενέσθαι. σὺ δὲ Μεσσηνίοις γῆν τε πατρίδα καὶ πόλεις ἀπόδος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸ μήνιμα ἤδη σφίσι πέπαυται τὸ Διοσκούρων” .

[7] Ἐπαμινώνδᾳ μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγεν, Ἐπιτέλει δὲ τῷ Αἰσχίνου τάδε ἐμήνυε—στρατηγεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ Ἀργεῖοι τὸν Ἐπιτέλην καὶ Μεσσήνην ἀνοικίζειν ᾕρηντο— τοῦτον οὖν τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκέλευεν ὁ ὄνειρος, ἔνθα ἂν τῆς Ἰθώμης εὕρῃ πεφυκυῖαν σμίλακα καὶ μυρσίνην, τὸ μέσον ὀρύξαντα αὐτῶν ἀνασῶσαι τὴν γραῦν· κάμνειν γὰρ ἐν τῷ χαλκῷ καθειργμένην θαλάμῳ καὶ ἤδη λιποψυχεῖν αὐτήν. ὁ δὲ Ἐπιτέλης, ὡς ἐπελάμβανεν ἡμέρα, παραγενόμενος ἐς τὸ εἰρημένον χωρίον ἐπέτυχεν ὀρύσσων ὑδρίᾳ χαλκῇ, καὶ αὐτίκα παρὰ τὸν Ἐπαμινώνδαν

[8] κομίσας τό τε ἐνύπνιον ἐξηγεῖτο καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸ πῶμα ἀφελόντα ἐκέλευεν ὅ τι ἐνείη σκοπεῖσθαι. ὁ δὲ θύσας καὶ εὐξάμενος τῷ πεφηνότι ὀνείρατι ἤνοιγε τὴν ὑδρίαν, ἀνοίξας δὲ εὗρε κασσίτερον ἐληλασμένον ἐς τὸ λεπτότατον· ἐπείλικτο δὲ ὥσπερ τὰ βιβλία. ἐνταῦθα τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν ἐγέγραπτο ἡ τελετή, καὶ τοῦτο ἦν παρακαταθήκη τοῦ Ἀριστομένους. τοῦτον τὸν ἐπελθόντα τῷ Ἐπιτέλει καὶ Ἐπαμινώνδᾳ καθεύδουσι
Καύκωνα εἶναι λέγουσιν, ὃς ἀφίκετο ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἐς Ἀνδανίαν παρὰ Μεσσήνην τὴν Τριόπα.

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.) — 4.26 focus

[1] Afterwards, as at all times, they were stirred by their hatred against the Lacedaemonians, and provided the most striking example of their hostility towards them in the war which took place between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians. For they offered Naupaktos as a base against Peloponnese, and Messenian slingers from Naupaktos helped to capture the Spartans cut off in Sphakteria.

[2] When the Athenian reverse at Aigospotamoi took place, the Lacedaemonians, having command of the sea, then drove the Messenians from Naupaktos; they went to their kinsmen in Sicily and to Rhēgion, but the majority came to Libya and to the Euesperitai there, who had suffered severely in war with barbarian neighbors and were inviting any Greek to join them. So the majority of the Messenians went to them, their leader being Komon, who had commanded them in Sphakteria.

[3] A year before the victory of the Thebans at Leuktra, the superhuman force [ daimōn] foretold [ pro-sēmainein] their return to Peloponnese to the Messenians. It is said that in Messene on the Straits the priest of Hēraklēs saw a vision in a dream: it seemed that Hēraklēs Mantiklos was bidden by Zeus as a guest to Ithome. Also among the EuesperitaiComon dreamt that he lay with his dead mother, but that afterwards she came to life again. He hoped that as the Athenians had recovered their seapower, they would be restored to Naupaktos. But the dream really indicated the recovery of Messene.

[4] Not long afterwards the Lacedaemonians suffered at Leuktra the disaster that had long been due. For at the end of the oracle given to Aristodemos, who reigned over the Messenians, are the words:“Act as fate wills, destruction comes on this man before that,” signifying that he and the Messenians must suffer evil at the present, but that hereafter destruction would overtake Lacedaemon.

[5] Then after their victory at Leuktra the Thebans sent messengers to Italy, Sicily and to the Euesperitae, and summoned the Messenians to Peloponnese from every other quarter where they might be, and they, with longing for their country and through the hatred which had ever remained with them for the Lacedaemonians, assembled quicker than could have been expected.

[6] To Epameinondas it seemed in no way easy to found a city that could resist the Lacedaemonians, nor could he discover where in the land to build it. For the Messenians refused to settle again in Andania and Oechalia, because their disasters had befallen them when they dwelled there. To Epameinondas in his difficulty it is said that an ancient man, closely resembling a priest of Demeter, appeared in the night and said: “My gift to thee is that thou shalt conquer whomsoever thou dost assail; and when thou dost pass from men, Theban, I will cause thy name to be unforgotten and give thee glory. But do thou restore to the Messenians their fatherland and cities, for now the wrath of the Dioskouroi against them hath ceased.”

[7] This he said to Epameinondas, and revealed this to Epiteles the son of Aeschines, who had been chosen by the Argives to be their general and to refound Messene. He was bidden by the dream, wherever he found yew and myrtle growing on Ithome, to dig between them and recover the old woman, for, shut in her bronze chamber, she was overcome and well-nigh fainting. When day dawned, Epiteles went to the appointed place, and as he dug, came upon a bronze urn.

[8] He took it at once to Epameinondas, told him the dream and ordered him to remove the lid and see what was within. Epameinondas, after sacrifice and prayer to the vision that had appeared, opened the urn and having opened it found some tin foil, very thin, rolled like a book. On it were inscribed the mysteries of the Great Goddesses, and this was the pledge deposited by Aristomenes. They say that the man who appeared to Epiteles and Epameinondas in their sleep was Kaukon, who came from Athens to Messene the daughter of Triopas at Andania.

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 4.26

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

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers