Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 8.39

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[1]
παρὰ δὲ τὴν Λυκόσουραν ὡς ἐπὶ ἡλίου δυσμὰς ποταμὸς Πλατανιστὼν παρέξεισιν· ἀνδρὶ δὲ ἰόντι ἐς 0 Φιγαλίαν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα διαβῆναι τὸν Πλατανιστῶνα, μετὰ δὲ αὐτόν ἐστιν ἄνοδος ὅσον τε σταδίους τριάκοντα ἢ πλείους τῶν τριάκοντα οὐ πολλῷ.

[2] τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸν Λυκάονος Φίγαλον—οὗτος γὰρ δὴ τῇ πόλει τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐγένετο οἰκιστής—καὶ ὡς μετέβαλεν ἀνὰ χρόνον ἀπὸ Φιάλου Βουκολίωνος τὸ ὄνομα ἡ πόλις καὶ αὖθις τε ἀνεσώσατο τὸ ἀρχαῖον, τόδε μὲν καὶ πρότερον ἔτι ἐσήμαινεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος· λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα οὐκ ἀξιόχρεα ἐς πίστιν, ἄνδρα αὐτόχθονα εἶναι τὸν Φίγαλον καὶ οὐ Λυκάονος παῖδα· τοῖς δὲ εἰρημένον ἐστὶν ὡς ἡ Φιγαλία νύμφη τῶν καλουμένων εἴη Δρυάδων.

[3] Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἡνίκα Ἀρκάσιν ἐπεχείρησαν καὶ ἐσέβαλον ἐς τὴν Φιγαλίαν στρατιᾷ, μάχῃ τε νικῶσι τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους καὶ ἐπολιόρκουν προσκαθεζόμενοι· κινδυνεύοντος δὲ ἁλῶναι τοῦ τείχους ἐκδιδράσκουσιν οἱ Φιγαλεῖς, ἢ καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι σφᾶς ἀφιᾶσιν ἐξελθεῖν ὑποσπόνδους. ἐγένετο δὲ ἡ τῆς Φιγαλίας ἅλωσις καὶ Φιγαλέων ἡ ἐξ αὐτῆς φυγὴ Μιλτιάδου μὲν Ἀθήνῃσιν ἄρχοντος, δευτέρῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς τριακοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν Χίονις Λάκων ἐνίκα τὸ τρίτον.

[4] Φιγαλέων δὲ τοῖς διαπεφευγόσιν ἔδοξεν ἀφικομένοις ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐρωτᾶν ὑπὲρ καθόδου τὸν θεόν· καί σφισιν ἡ Πυθία καθʼ αὑτοὺς μὲν πειρωμένοις ἐς Φιγαλίαν κατελθεῖν οὐχ ὁρᾶν ἔφη κάθοδον, εἰ δὲ λογάδας ἑκατὸν ἐξ Ὀρεσθασίου προσλάβοιεν, τοὺς μὲν ἀποθανεῖσθαι παρὰ τὴν μάχην, Φιγαλεῦσι δὲ ἔσεσθαι διʼ αὐτῶν κάθοδον. Ὀρεσθάσιοι δὲ ὡς τὴν γενομένην τοῖς 0 Φιγαλεῦσιν ἐπύθοντο μαντείαν, ἄλλος ἔφθανεν ἄλλον σπουδῇ λογάδων τε τῶν ἑκατὸν αὐτὸς ἕκαστος γενέσθαι καὶ ἐξόδου τῆς ἐς Φιγαλίαν μετασχεῖν.

[5] παρελθόντες δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων φρουρὰν ἄγουσιν ἐς πάντα ἐπὶ τέλος τὸν χρησμόν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς λόγου μαχεσαμένοις ἀξίως ἐπεγένετο ἡ τελευτὴ καὶ ἐξελάσαντες τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας παρέσχον Φιγαλεῦσιν ἀπολαβεῖν τὴν πατρίδα.
κεῖται δὲ ἡ Φιγαλία ἐπὶ μετεώρου μὲν καὶ ἀποτόμου τὰ πλέονα, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κρημνῶν ᾠκοδομημένα ἐστὶ τείχη σφίσιν· ἀνελθόντι δὲ ὁμαλής ἐστιν ὁ λόφος ἤδη καὶ ἐπίπεδος. ἔστι δὲ Σωτείρας τε ἱερὸν ἐνταῦθα Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν λίθου· ἐκ τούτου δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ τὰς πομπάς σφισι πέμπειν κατέστη.

[6] ἐν δὲ τῷ γυμνασίῳ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ ἀμπεχομένῳ μὲν ἔοικεν ἱμάτιον, καταλήγει δὲ οὐκ ἐς πόδας, ἀλλὰ ἐς τὸ τετράγωνον σχῆμα. πεποίηται δὲ καὶ Διονύσου ναός· ἐπίκλησις μέν ἐστιν αὐτῷ παρὰ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων Ἀκρατοφόρος, τὰ κάτω δὲ οὐκ ἔστι σύνοπτα τοῦ ἀγάλματος ὑπὸ δάφνης τε φύλλων καὶ κισσῶν. ὁπόσον δὲ αὐτοῦ καθορᾶν ἔστιν, ἐπαλήλιπται κιννάβαρι ἐκλάμπειν· εὑρίσκεσθαι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰβήρων ὁμοῦ τῷ χρυσῷ λέγεται.

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.) — 8.39 focus

[1]
By Lycosura to the west passes the river Plataniston. No traveller can possibly avoid crossing the Plataniston who is going to Phigalia . Afterwards there is an ascent for some thirty stades or so.

[2] The story of Phigalus, the son of Lycaon, who was the original founder of the city, how in course of time the city made a change and called itself after Phialus, the son of Bucolion, and again restored its old name, I have already set forth.¹ Another account, but not worthy of credit, is current, that Phigalus was not a son of Lycaon but an aboriginal. Others have said that Phigalia was one of the nymphs called Dryads.

[3] When the Lacedaemonians attacked the Arcadians and invaded Phigalia , they overcame the inhabitants in battle and sat down to besiege the city. When the walls were in danger of capture the Phigalians ran away, or perhaps the Lacedaemonians let them come out under a truce. The taking of Phigalia and the flight of the Phigalians from it took place when Miltiades was Archon at Athens , in the second year of the thirtieth Olympiad,² when Chionis the Laconian was victorious for the third time.

[4] The Phigalians who escaped resolved to go to Delphi and ask the god about their return. The Pythian priestess said that if they made the attempt by themselves she saw no return for them; but if they took with them one hundred picked men from Oresthasium, these would die in the battle, but through them the Phigalians would be restored to their city. When the Oresthasians heard of the oracle delivered to the Phigalians, all vied with one another in their eagerness to be one of the picked hundred and take part in the expedition to Phigalia .

[5] They advanced against the Lacedaemonian garrison and fulfilled the oracle in all respects. For they fought and met their end gloriously; expelling the Spartans they enabled the Phigalians to recover their native land.
Phigalia lies on high land that is for the most part precipitous, and the walls are built on the cliffs. But on the top the hill is level and flat. Here there is a sanctuary of Artemis Saviour with a standing image of stone. From this sanctuary it is their custom to start their processions.

[6] The image of Hermes in the gymnasium is like to one dressed in a cloak; but the statue does not end in feet, but in the square shape. A temple also of Dionysus is here, who by the inhabitants is surnamed Acratophorus, but the lower part of the image cannot be seen for laurel-leaves and ivy. As much of it as can be seen is painted . . . with cinnabar to shine. It is said to be found by the Iberians along with the gold.

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.) — 8.39 focus

[1] By Lykosoura to the west passes the river Plataniston. No traveller can possibly avoid crossing the Plataniston who is going to Phigalia. Afterwards there is an ascent for some thirty stadium-lengths or so.

[2] The story of Phigalus, the son of Lykaon, who was the original founder of the city, how in course of time the city made a change and called itself after Phialus, the son of Bucolion, and again restored its old name, I have already set forth. Another account, but not worthy of credit, is current, that Phigalus was not a son of Lykaon but an aboriginal. Others have said that Phigalia was one of the nymphs called Dryads.

[3] When the Lacedaemonians attacked the Arcadians and invaded Phigalia, they overcame the inhabitants in battle and sat down to besiege the city. When the walls were in danger of capture the Phigalians ran away, or perhaps the Lacedaemonians let them come out under a truce. The taking of Phigalia and the flight of the Phigalians from it took place when Miltiades was archon [ arkhōn] in Athens, in the second year of the thirtieth Olympiad, when Khionis the Laconian was victorious for the third time.

[5] They advanced against the Lacedaemonian garrison and fulfilled the oracle in all respects. For they fought and met their end gloriously; expelling the Spartans they enabled the Phigalians to recover their native land.Phigalia lies on high land that is for the most part precipitous, and the walls are built on the cliffs. But on the top the hill is level and flat. Here there is a sanctuary of Artemis Savior with a standing image of stone. From this sanctuary it is their custom to start their processions.

[6] The image of Hermes in the gymnasium is like to one dressed in a cloak; but the statue does not end in feet, but in the square shape. A temple also of Dionysus is here, who by the inhabitants is surnamed Acratophorus, but the lower part of the image cannot be seen for laurel-leaves and ivy. As much of it as can be seen is painted … with cinnabar to shine. It is said to be found by the Iberians along with the gold.

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 8.39

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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