Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 2.19

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[1]
τὰ μὲν οὖν Κρεσφόντου καὶ τῶν Ἀριστοδήμου παίδων οὐκ ἤπειγεν ὁ λόγος με ἐνταῦθα δηλῶσαι· Τήμενος δὲ ἐκ μὲν τοῦ φανεροῦ Δηιφόντῃ τῷ
Ἀντιμάχου τοῦ Θρασυάνορος τοῦ Κτησίππου τοῦ Ἡρακλέους στρατηγῷ πρὸς τὰς μάχας ἐχρήσατο ἀντὶ τῶν υἱῶν καὶ σύμβουλον ἐς πάντα εἶχεν, ἅτε αὐτόν τε ἐκεῖνον πεποιημένος πρότερον ἔτι γαμβρὸν καὶ τῶν παίδων ἀρεσκόμενος τῇ Ὑρνηθοῖ μάλιστα, ὑπωπτεύετο δὲ ἤδη καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐς ἐκείνην καὶ Δηιφόντην τρέπειν. ἐπεβουλεύθη δὲ τούτων ἕνεκα ὑπὸ τῶν υἱῶν· ἐκείνων δὲ αὐτῷ Κεῖσος πρεσβύτατος ὢν ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν.

[2] Ἀργεῖοι δέ, ἅτε ἰσηγορίαν καὶ τὸ αὐτόνομον ἀγαπῶντες ἐκ παλαιοτάτου, τὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας τῶν βασιλέων ἐς ἐλάχιστον προήγαγον, ὡς Μήδωνι τῷ Κείσου καὶ τοῖς ἀπογόνοις τὸ ὄνομα λειφθῆναι τῆς βασιλείας μόνον. Μέλταν δὲ τὸν Λακήδου δέκατον ἀπόγονον Μήδωνος τὸ παράπαν ἔπαυσεν ἀρχῆς καταγνοὺς ὁ δῆμος.

[3]
Ἀργείοις δὲ τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει τὸ ἐπιφανέστατόν ἐστιν Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερὸν Λυκίου. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄγαλμα τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν Ἀττάλου ποίημα ἦν Ἀθηναίου, τὸ δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς Δαναοῦ καὶ ὁ ναὸς καὶ τὸ ξόανον ἀνάθημα ἦν· ξόανα γὰρ δὴ τότε εἶναι πείθομαι πάντα καὶ μάλιστα τὰ Αἰγύπτια. Δαναὸς δὲ ἱδρύσατο Λύκιον Ἀπόλλωνα ἐπʼ αἰτίᾳ τοιαύτῃ. παραγενόμενος ἐς τὸ Ἄργος ἠμφισβήτει πρὸς Γελάνορα τὸν Σθενέλα περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς. ῥηθέντων δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ δήμου παρʼ ἀμφοτέρων πολλῶν τε καὶ ἐπαγωγῶν καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον δίκαια λέγειν τοῦ Γελάνορος δόξαντος, ὁ μὲν δῆμος ὑπερέθετο—φασὶν— ἐς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν κρίνειν·

[4] ἀρχομένης δὲ ἡμέρας ἐς βοῶν ἀγέλην νεμομένην πρὸ τοῦ τείχους ἐσπίπτει λύκος, 0 προσπεσὼν δὲ ἐμάχετο πρὸς ταῦρον ἡγεμόνα τῶν βοῶν. παρίσταται δὴ τοῖς Ἀργείοις τῷ μὲν Γελάνορα, Δαναὸν δὲ εἰκάσαι τῷ λύκῳ, ὅτι οὔτε τὸ θηρίον τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις σύντροφον οὔτε Δαναός σφισιν ἐς ἐκεῖνο τοῦ χρόνου. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν ταῦρον κατειργάσατο ὁ λύκος, διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Δαναὸς ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν. οὕτω δὴ νομίζων Ἀπόλλωνα ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγέλην ἐπαγαγεῖν τῶν βοῶν τὸν λύκον, ἱδρύσατο Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερὸν Λυκίου.

[5] ἐνταῦθα ἀνάκειται μὲν θρόνος Δαναοῦ, κεῖται δὲ εἰκὼν Βίτωνος, ἀνὴρ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων φέρων ταῦρον· ὡς δὲ Λυκέας ἐποίησεν, ἐς Νεμέαν Ἀργείων ἀγόντων θυσίαν τῷ Διὶ ὁ Βίτων ὑπὸ ῥώμης τε καὶ ἰσχύος ταῦρον ἀράμενος ἤνεγκεν. ἑξῆς δὲ τῆς εἰκόνος ταύτης πῦρ καίουσιν ὀνομάζοντες Φορωνέως εἶναι· οὐ γάρ τι ὁμολογοῦσι δοῦναι πῦρ Προμηθέα ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ ἐς Φορωνέα τοῦ πυρὸς μετάγειν ἐθέλουσι τὴν εὕρεσιν.

[6] τὰ δὲ ξόανα Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἑρμοῦ, τὸ μὲν Ἐπειοῦ λέγουσιν ἔργον εἶναι, τὸ δὲ Ὑπερμήστρας ἀνάθημα. ταύτην γὰρ τῶν θυγατέρων μόνην τὸ πρόσταγμα ὑπεριδοῦσαν ὑπήγαγεν ὁ Δαναὸς ἐς δικαστήριον, τοῦ τε Λυγκέως οὐκ ἀκίνδυνον αὑτῷ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡγούμενος καὶ ὅτι τοῦ τολμήματος οὐ μετασχοῦσα ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς καὶ τῷ βουλεύσαντι τὸ ὄνειδος ηὔξησε. κριθεῖσα δὲ ἐν τοῖς Ἀργείοις ἀποφεύγει τε καὶ Ἀφροδίτην ἐπὶ τῷδε ἀνέθηκε Νικηφόρον.

[7] τοῦ ναοῦ δέ ἐστιν ἐντὸς Λάδας ποδῶν ὠκύτητι ὑπερβαλλόμενος τοὺς ἐφʼ αὑτοῦ καὶ Ἑρμῆς ἐς λύρας ποίησιν χελώνην ᾑρηκώς. ἔστι δὲ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ναοῦ βόθρος πεποιημένα ἐν τύπῳ ταύρου μάχην ἔχων καὶ λύκου, σὺν δὲ αὐτοῖς παρθένον ἀφιεῖσαν 0 πέτραν ἐπὶ τὸν ταῦρον· Ἄρτεμιν δὲ εἶναι νομίζουσι τὴν παρθένον. Δαναὸς δὲ ταῦτά τε ἀνέθηκε καὶ πλησίον κίονας καὶ Διὸς καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ξόανον.

[8]
τάφοι δέ εἰσιν ὁ μὲν Λίνου τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ψαμάθης τῆς Κροτώπου, τὸν δὲ λέγουσιν εἶναι Λίνου τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὰ ἔπη. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐς τοῦτον οἰκειότερα ὄντα ἑτέρῳ λόγῳ παρίημι τῷδε, τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸν Ψαμάθης ἡ Μεγαρική μοι συγγραφὴ προεδήλωσεν. ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐστὶν Ἀπόλλων Ἀγυιεὺς καὶ βωμὸς Ὑετίου Διός, ἔνθα οἱ συσπεύδοντες Πολυνείκει τὴν ἐς Θήβας κάθοδον ἀποθανεῖσθαι συνώμοσαν, ἢν μὴ τὰς Θήβας γένηταί σφισιν ἑλεῖν. ἐς δὲ τοῦ Προμηθέως τὸ μνῆμα ἧσσόν μοι δοκοῦσιν Ὀπουντίων εἰκότα λέγειν, λέγουσι δὲ ὅμως.

Description of Greece. Pausanias. ed. Friedrich Spiro. Leipzig. 1903.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

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

Translations (2)

Description of Greece Perseus (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.) — 2.19 focus

[1]
It is not to my purpose that I should set forth here the history of Cresphontes and of the sons of Aristodemus. But Temenus openly employed, instead of his sons, Delphontes, son of Antimachus, son of Thrasyanor, son of Ctesippus, son of Heracles, as general in war and as adviser on all occasions. Even before this he had made him his son-in-law, while Hyrnetho was his favorite daughter; he was accordingly suspected of intending to divert the throne to her and Delphontes. For this reason his sons plotted against him, and Ceisus, the eldest of them, seized the kingdom.

[2] But from the earliest times the Argives have loved freedom and self-government, and they limited to the utmost the authority of their kings, so that to Medon, the son of Ceisus, and to his descendants was left a kingdom that was such only in name. Meltas, the son of Lacedas, the tenth descendant of Medon, was condemned by the people and deposed altogether from the kingship.

[3] The most famous building in the city of Argos is the sanctuary of Apollo Lycius (Wolf-god). The modern image was made by the Athenian Attalus,¹ but the original temple and wooden image were the offering of Danaus. I am of opinion that in those days all images, especially Egyptian images, were made of wood. The reason why Danaus founded a sanctuary of Apollo Lycius was this. On coming to Argos he claimed the kingdom against Gelanor, the son of Sthenelas. Many plausible arguments were brought forward by both parties, and those of Sthenelas were considered as fair as those of his opponent; so the people, who were sitting in judgment, put off, they say, the decision to the following day.

[4] At dawn a wolf fell upon a herd of oxen that was pasturing before the wall, and attacked and fought with the bull that was the leader of the herd. It occurred to the Argives that Gelanor was like the bull and Danaus like the wolf, for as the wolf will not live with men, so Danaus up to that time had not lived with them. It was because the wolf overcame the bull that Danaus won the kingdom. Accordingly, believing that Apollo had brought the wolf on the herd, he founded a sanctuary of Apollo Lycius.

[5] Here is dedicated the throne of Danaus, and here Is placed a statue of Biton, in the form of a man carrying a bull on his shoulders. According to the poet Lyceas, when the Argives were holding a sacrifice to Zeus at Nemea , Biton by sheer physical strength took up a bull and carried it there. Next to this statue is a fire which they keep burning, calling it the fire of Phoroneus. For they do not admit that fire was given to mankind by Prometheus, but insist in assigning the discovery of fire to Phoroneus.

[6] As to the wooden images of Aphrodite and Hermes, the one they say was made by Epeus, while the other is a votive offering of Hypermnestra. She was the only one of the daughters of Danaus who neglected his command,² and was accordingly brought to justice by him, because be considered that his life was in danger so long as Lynceus was at large, and that the refusal to share in the crime of her sisters increased the disgrace of the contriver of the deed. On her trial she was acquitted by the Argives, and to commemorate her escape she dedicated an image of Aphrodite, the Bringer of Victory.

[7]
Within the temple is a statue of Ladas, the swiftest runner of his time, and one of Hermes with a tortoise which he has caught to make a lyre. Before the temple is a pit³ with a relief representing a fight between a bull and a wolf, and with them a maiden throwing a rock at the bull. The maiden is thought to be Artemis. Danaus dedicated these, and some pillars hard by and wooden images of Zeus and Artemis.

[8]
Here are graves; one is that of Linus, the son of Apollo by Psamathe, the daughter of Crotopus; the other, they say, is that of Linus the poet. The story of the latter Linus is more appropriate to another part of my narrative, and so I omit it here, while I have already given the history of the son of Psamathe in my account of Megara . After these is an image of Apollo, God of Streets, and an altar of Zeus, God of Rain, where those who were helping Polyneices in his efforts to be restored to Thebes swore an oath together that they would either capture Thebes or die. As to the tomb of Prometheus, their account seems to me to be less probable than that of the Opuntians,⁴ but they hold to it nevertheless.

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.) — 2.19 focus

[1] It is not to my purpose that I should set forth here the history of Kresphontes and of the sons of Aristodemos. But Temenus openly employed, instead of his sons, Delphontes, son of Antimakhos, son of Thrasyanor, son of Ktesippos, son of Hēraklēs, as general in war and as adviser on all occasions. Even before this he had made him his son-in-law, while Hyrnetho was his favorite daughter; he was accordingly suspected of intending to divert the throne to her and Delphontes. For this reason his sons plotted against him, and Ceisus, the eldest of them, seized the kingdom.

[3] The most famous building in the city of Argos is the sanctuary of Apollo Lykios (wolf-god). The modern statue [ agalma] was made by the Athenian Attalos, but the original temple and wooden-statue [ xoanon] were the offering of Danaos. I am of opinion that in those days all statues called xoana, especially Egyptian ones, were made of wood. The reason why Danaos founded a sanctuary of Apollo Lykios was this. On coming to Argos he claimed the kingdom against Gelanor, the son of Sthenelas. Many plausible arguments were brought forward by both parties, and those of Sthenelas were considered as fair as those of his opponent; so the people, who were sitting in judgment, put off, they say, the decision to the following day.

[4] At dawn a wolf fell upon a herd of oxen that was pasturing before the wall, and attacked and fought with the bull that was the leader of the herd. It occurred to the Argives that Gelanor was like the bull and Danaos like the wolf, for as the wolf will not live with men, so Danaos up to that time had not lived with them. It was because the wolf overcame the bull that Danaos won the kingdom. Accordingly, believing that Apollo had brought the wolf on the herd, he founded a sanctuary of Apollo Lykios.

[5] Here is dedicated the throne of Danaos, and here Is placed a statue of Biton, in the form of a man carrying a bull on his shoulders. According to the poet Lykeas, when the Argives were holding a sacrifice to Zeus at Nemeā, Biton by sheer physical strength took up a bull and carried it there. Next to this statue is a fire which they keep burning, calling it the fire of Phoroneus. For they do not admit that fire was given to mankind by Prometheus, but insist in assigning the discovery of fire to Phoroneus.

[6] As to the wooden images of Aphrodite and Hermes, the one they say was made by Epeios, while the other is a votive offering of Hypermnestra. She was the only one of the daughters of Danaos who neglected his command, and was accordingly brought to justice by him, because be considered that his life was in danger so long as Lynkeus was at large, and that the refusal to share in the crime of her sisters increased the disgrace of the contriver of the deed. On her trial she was acquitted by the Argives, and to commemorate her escape she dedicated an image of Aphrodite, the Bringer of Nike.

[7] Within the temple is a statue of Ladas, the swiftest runner of his time, and one of Hermes with a tortoise which he has caught to make a lyre. Before the temple is a pit with a relief representing a fight between a bull and a wolf, and with them a maiden throwing a rock at the bull. The maiden is thought to be Artemis. Danaos dedicated these, and some pillars hard by and wooden images of Zeus and Artemis.

[8] Here are tombs; one is that of Linos, the son of Apollo by Psamathe, the daughter of Krotopos; the other, they say, is that of Linos the poet. The story of the latter Linos is more appropriate to another part of my narrative, and so I omit it here, while I have already given the history of the son of Psamathe in my account of Megara. After these is an image of Apollo, God of Streets, and an altar of Zeus, God of Rain, where those who were helping Polyneikes in his efforts to be restored to Thebes swore an oath together that they would either capture Thebes or die. As to the tomb of Prometheus, their account seems to me to be less probable than that of the Opuntians, but they hold to it nevertheless.

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 2.19

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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