Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 8.36

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[1]
τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ ἐς μνήμην οὐδὲν ἄλλο ὅτι εἰ μὴ αὐτὸ τὸ Μεθύδριον λείπεται· ὁδὸς δὲ ἐκ Τρικολώνων ἐς αὐτὸ στάδιοι τριῶν δέοντες τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν. ὠνομάσθη μὲν δὴ Μεθύδριον, ὅτι κολωνός ἐστιν ὑψηλὸς Μαλοίτα τε ποταμοῦ καὶ Μυλάοντος μέσος, ἐφʼ ᾧ τὴν πόλιν ὁ Ὀρχομενὸς ᾤκιζε· πρὶν δὲ ἢ συντελεῖν ἐς τὸ Μεγαλοπολιτικόν, γεγόνασι καὶ Μεθυδριεῦσιν ἀνδράσιν Ὀλυμπικαὶ νῖκαι.

[2] ἔστι δὲ ἐν Μεθυδρίῳ Ποσειδῶνός τε Ἱππίου ναός, οὗτος μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ Μυλάοντί ἐστι· τὸ δὲ ὄρος τὸ Θαυμάσιον καλούμενον κεῖται μὲν ὑπὲρ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Μαλοίταν, ἐθέλουσι δὲ οἱ Μεθυδριεῖς τὴν Ῥέαν, ἡνίκα τὸν Δία εἶχεν ἐν τῇ γαστρί, ἐς τοῦτο ἀφικέσθαι τὸ ὄρος, παρασκευάσασθαι δὲ αὑτῇ καὶ βοήθειαν, ἢν ὁ Κρόνος ἐπʼ αὐτὴν ἴῃ, τόν τε Ὁπλάδαμον καὶ ἄλλους ὅσοι περὶ ἐκεῖνον ἦσαν γίγαντες·

[3] καὶ τεκεῖν μὲν συγχωροῦσιν αὐτὴν ἐν μοίρᾳ τινὶ τοῦ Λυκαίου, τὴν δὲ ἐς τὸν Κρόνον ἀπάτην καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν λεγομένην ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἀντίδοσιν τοῦ λίθου γενέσθαι φασὶν ἐνταῦθα. ἔστι δὲ πρὸς τῇ κορυφῇ τοῦ ὄρους σπήλαιον τῆς Ῥέας, καὶ ἐς αὐτὸ ὅτι μὴ γυναιξὶ μόναις ἱεραῖς τῆς θεοῦ ἀνθρώπων γε οὐδενὶ ἐσελθεῖν ἔστι τῶν ἄλλων.

[4]
Μεθυδρίου δὲ ὡς τριάκοντα ἀπέχει σταδίους Νυμφασία πηγή· τοσοῦτοι δὲ ἀπὸ Νυμφασίας ἕτεροι πρὸς 0 τοὺς Μεγαλοπολιτῶν εἰσι καὶ Ὀρχομενίων τε κοινοὺς καὶ Καφυατῶν ὅρους.

[5]
Μεγαλοπολίταις δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ἕλος ὀνομαζομένων πυλῶν, διὰ τούτων ὁδεύουσιν ἐς Μαίναλον παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Ἑλισσόντα ἔστι τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ Ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ ναός· εἰ δὲ ἀγαθῶν οἱ θεοὶ δοτῆρές εἰσιν ἀνθρώποις, Ζεὺς δὲ ὕπατος θεῶν ἐστιν, ἑπόμενος ἄν τις τῷ λόγῳ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν ταύτην Διὸς τεκμαίροιτο εἶναι. προελθόντι δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἔστι μὲν γῆς χῶμα Ἀριστοδήμου τάφος, ὃν οὐδὲ τυραννοῦντα ἀφείλοντο μὴ ἐπονομάσαι Χρηστόν, ἔστι δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερὸν ἐπίκλησιν Μαχανίτιδος, ὅτι βουλευμάτων ἐστὶν ἡ θεὸς παντοίων καὶ ἐπιτεχνημάτων εὑρέτις.

[6] πεποίηται δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ Βορέᾳ τῷ ἀνέμῳ τέμενος, καί οἱ Μεγαλοπολῖται θυσίας θύουσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος καὶ θεῶν οὐδενὸς Βορέαν ὕστερον ἄγουσιν ἐν τιμῇ, ἅτε σωτῆρα γενόμενόν σφισιν ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων τε καὶ Ἄγιδος. ἑξῆς δὲ Ὀικλέους τοῦ Ἀμφιαράου πατρὸς μνῆμά ἐστιν, εἴ γε δὴ ἐπέλαβεν αὐτὸν τὸ χρεὼν ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ καὶ μὴ τῆς ἐπὶ Λαομέδοντα Ἡρακλεῖ στρατείας μετασχόντα. μετὰ τοῦτό ἐστι Δήμητρος καλουμένης ἐν ἕλει ναός τε καὶ ἄλσος· τοῦτο σταδίοις πέντε ἀπωτέρω τῆς πόλεως, γυναιξὶ δὲ ἐς αὐτὸ ἔσοδός ἐστι μόναις.

[7] τριάκοντα δέ ἐστιν ἀπωτέρω σταδίοις Παλίσκιος ὀνομαζομένη χώρα· ἐκ Παλισκίου δὲ ἀφιέντι μὲν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τὸν Ἔλαφον ὄντα οὐκ ἀέναον καὶ προελθόντι ὅσον εἴκοσι σταδίους, ἄλλα τε ἐρείπια Περαιθέων 0 καὶ ἱερὸν λείπεται Πανός. ἢν δὲ τὸν χειμάρρουν διαβῇς, κατʼ εὐθὺ πέντε μὲν σταδίοις καὶ δέκα ἀπωτέρω τοῦ ποταμοῦ πεδίον ἐστί, διελθόντι δὲ τοῦτο, τὸ ὄρος ὁμώνυμον τῷ πεδίῳ τὸ Ναινάλιον. τοῦ δὲ ὄρους ὑπὸ τοῖς καταλήγουσι πόλεως σημεῖα Λυκόας καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστι χαλκοῦν Λυκοάτιδος·

[8] ἐν δὲ τοῖς κατὰ μεσημβρίαν τοῦ ὄρους Σουμητία ᾤκιστο. ἐν τούτῳ δέ εἰσι τῷ ὄρει καὶ αἱ καλούμεναι Τρίοδοι, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ Ἀρκάδος τοῦ Καλλιστοῦς ἀνείλοντο ἐντεῦθεν κατὰ τὸ ἐκ Δελφῶν μάντευμα οἱ Μαντινεῖς. λείπεται δὲ καὶ αὐτῆς ἔτι ἐρείπια Μαινάλου, ναοῦ τε σημεῖα Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ στάδιον ἐς ἀθλητῶν ἀγῶνα καὶ τὸ ἕτερον αὐτῶν ἐς ἵππων δρόμον· τὸ δὲ ὄρος τὸ Μαινάλιον ἱερὸν μάλιστα εἶναι Πανὸς νομίζουσιν, ὥστε οἱ περὶ αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπακροᾶσθαι συρίζοντος τοῦ Πανὸς λέγουσι.

[9] τοῦ δὲ τῆς Δεσποίνης ἱεροῦ καὶ Μεγαλοπολιτῶν τοῦ ἄστεως στάδιοι τεσσαράκοντα μεταξύ εἰσιν, ἥμισυ μὲν τῆς ὁδοῦ πρὸς τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ τὸ ῥεῦμα· διαβάντων δὲ μετὰ μὲν δύο ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ σταδίους Μακαρεῶν ἐστιν ἐρείπια, αὐτόθεν δὲ ἐς ἐρείπια ἄλλα τὰ Δασεῶν ἑπτά εἰσι στάδιοι, τοσοῦτοι δὲ ἐκ Δασεῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἀκακήσιον ὀνομαζόμενον λόφον.

[10] ὑπὸ τούτῳ δὲ τῷ λόφῳ πόλις τε ἦν Ἀκακήσιον Ἑρμοῦ τε Ἀκακησίου λίθου πεποιημένον ἄγαλμα καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῦ λόφου, τραφῆναι δὲ Ἑρμῆν παῖδα αὐτόθι καὶ Ἄκακον τὸν Λυκάονος γενέσθαι οἱ τροφέα Ἀρκάδων ἐστὶν ἐς αὐτὸν λόγος· διάφορα δὲ τούτοις 0 Θηβαῖοι καὶ αὖθις οὐχ ὁμολογοῦντα τοῖς Θηβαίων Ταναγραῖοι λέγουσιν.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

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.) — 8.36 focus

[1]
From this point nothing remains to be recorded except Methydrium itself, which is distant from Tricoloni one hundred and thirty-seven stades. It received the name Methydrium (Between the Waters) because there is a high knoll between the river Maloetas and the Mylaon, and on it Orchomenus built his city. Methydrium too had citizens victorious at Olympia before it belonged to Megalopolis .

[2] There is in Methydrium a temple of Horse Poseidon, standing by the Mylaon. But Mount Thaumasius (Wonderful) lies beyond the river Maloetas, and the Methydrians hold that when Rhea was pregnant with Zeus, she came to this mountain and enlisted as her allies, in case Cronus should attack her, Hopladamus and his few giants:

[3] They allow that she gave birth to her son on some part of Mount Lycaeus, but they claim that here Cronus was deceived, and here took place the substitution of a stone for the child that is spoken of in the Greek legend. On the summit of the mountain is Rhea's Cave, into which no human beings may enter save only the women who are sacred to the goddess.

[4]
About thirty stades from Methydrium is a spring Nymphasia, and it is also thirty stades from Nymphasia to the common boundaries of Megalopolis , Orchomenus and Caphyae.

[5]
Passing through the gate at Megalopolis named the Gate to the Marsh, and proceeding by the side of the river Helisson towards Maenalus, there stands on the left of the road a temple of the Good God. If the gods are givers of good things to men, and if Zeus is supreme among gods, it would be consistent to infer that this surname is that of Zeus. A short distance farther on is a mound of earth which is the grave of Aristodemus, whom in spite of his being a tyrant they could not help calling the Good and there is also a sanctuary of Athena surnamed Contriver, because the goddess is the inventor of plans and devices of all sorts.

[6] On the right of the road there has been made a precinct to the North Wind, and the Megalopolitans offer sacrifices every year, holding none of the gods in greater honor than the North Wind, because he proved their saviour from the Lacedaemonians under Agis. Next is the tomb of Oicles, the father of Amphiaraus, if indeed he met his end in Arcadia , and not after he had joined Heracles in his campaign against Laomedon. After it comes a temple of Demeter styled in the Marsh and her grove, which is five stades away from the city, and women only may enter it.

[7] Thirty stades away is a place named Paliscius. Going on from Paliscius and leaving on the left the Elaphus, an intermittent stream, after an advance of some twenty stades you reach ruins of Peraethenses, among which is a sanctuary of Pan. If you cross the torrent and go straight on for fifteen stades you come to a plain, and after crossing it to the mountain called, like the plain, Maenalian. Under the fringe of the mountain are traces of a city Lycoa, a sanctuary of Artemis Lycoan, and a bronze image of her.

[8] On the southern slope of the mountain once stood Sumetia. On this mountain is what is called the Meeting of the Three Ways, whence the Mantineans fetched the bones of Arcas, the son of Callisto, at the bidding of the Delphic oracle. There are still left ruins of Maenalus itself: traces of a temple of Athena, one race-course for athletes and one for horses. Mount Maenalus is held to be especially sacred to Pan, so that those who dwell around it say that they can actually hear him playing on his pipes.

[9] From the sanctuary of the Mistress to the city of Megalopolis it is forty stades. From Megalopolis to the stream of the Alpheius is half this distance. After crossing the river it is two stades from the Alpheius to the ruins of Macareae, from these to the ruins of Daseae seven stades, and seven again from Daseae to the hill called Acacesian Hill.

[10] At the foot of this hill used to be a city Acacesium, and even to-day there is on the hill a stone image of Acacesian Hermes, the story of the Arcadians about it being that here the child Hermes was reared, and that Acacus the son of Lycaon became his foster-father. The Theban legend is different, and the people of Tanagra , again, have a legend at variance with the Theban.

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.) — 8.36 focus

[1] From this point nothing remains to be recorded except Methydrium itself, which is distant from Tricoloni one hundred and thirty-seven stadium-lengths. It received the name Methydrium (Between the Waters) because there is a high knoll between the river Maloitas and the Mylaon, and on it Orkhomenos built his city. Methydrium too had citizens victorious at Olympia before it belonged to Megalopolis.

[2] There is in Methydrium a temple of Horse Poseidon, standing by the Mylaon. But Mount Thaumasios (Wonderful) lies beyond the river Maloitas, and the Methydrians hold that when Rhea was pregnant with Zeus, she came to this mountain and enlisted as her allies, in case Kronos should attack her, Hopladamos and his few giants:

[3] They allow that she gave birth to her son on some part of Mount Lykaios, but they claim that here Kronos was deceived, and here is where they say that the storied substitution of a stone for the child happened. On the summit of the mountain is Rhea’s Cave, into which no human beings may enter save only the women who are sacred to the goddess.

[4] About thirty stadium-lengths from Methydrium is a spring Nymphasia, and it is also thirty stadium-lengths from Nymphasia to the common boundaries of Megalopolis, Orkhomenos and Caphyae.

[5] Passing through the gate at Megalopolis named the Gate to the Marsh, and proceeding by the side of the river Helisson towards Mainalos, there stands on the left of the road a temple of the Good God. If the gods are givers of good things to men, and if Zeus is supreme among gods, it would be consistent to infer that this surname is that of Zeus. A short distance farther on is a mound of earth which is the tomb of Aristodemos, whom in spite of his being a tyrant they could not help calling the Good and there is also a sanctuary of Athena surnamed Contriver, because the goddess is the inventor of plans and devices of all sorts.

[6] On the right of the road there has been made a precinct to the North Wind, and the Megalopolitans offer sacrifices every year, holding none of the gods in greater honor than the North Wind, because he proved their saviour from the Lacedaemonians under Agis. Next is the tomb of Oikles, the father of Amphiaraos, if indeed he met his end in Arcadia, and not after he had joined Hēraklēs in his campaign against Laomedon. After it comes a temple of Demeter styled in the Marsh and her grove, which is five stadium-lengths away from the city, and women only may enter it.

[7] Thirty stadium-lengths away is a place named Paliskios. Going on from Paliskios and leaving on the left the Elaphus, an intermittent stream, after an advance of some twenty stadium-lengths you reach ruins of Peraethenses, among which is a sanctuary of Pan. If you cross the torrent and go straight on for fifteen stadium-lengths you come to a plain, and after crossing it to the mountain called, like the plain, Maenalian. Under the fringe of the mountain are traces of a city Lykoa, a sanctuary of Artemis Lykoan, and a bronze image of her.

[8] On the southern slope of the mountain once stood Sumetia. On this mountain is what is called the Meeting of the Three Ways, whence the Mantineians fetched the bones of Arkas, the son of Kallisto, at the bidding of the Delphic oracle. There are still left ruins of Mainalos itself: traces of a temple of Athena, one race-course for athletes and one for horses. Mount Mainalos is held to be especially sacred to Pan, so that those who dwell around it say that they can actually hear him playing on his pipes.

[9] From the sanctuary of the Mistress to the city of Megalopolis it is forty stadium-lengths. From Megalopolis to the stream of the Alpheios is half this distance. After crossing the river it is two stadium-lengths from the Alpheios to the ruins of Macareae, from these to the ruins of Daseaiseven stadium-lengths, and seven again from Daseaito the hill called Acacesian Hill.

[10] At the foot of this hill used to be a city Acacesium, and even today there is on the hill a stone image of Acacesian Hermes, the story [ logos] of the Arcadians about it being that here the child Hermes was reared, and that Acacus the son of Lykaon became his foster-father. The Theban tell it differently, and the people of Tanagra, again, tell their tale at variance with the Theban.

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 8.36

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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