Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 9.11

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[1]
ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τῶν πυλῶν, ἃς ὀνομάζουσιν Ἠλέκτρας, οἰκίας ἐστὶν ἐρείπια ἔνθα οἰκῆσαί φασιν Ἀμφιτρύωνα διὰ τὸν Ἠλεκτρύωνος θάνατον φεύγοντα ἐκ Τίρυνθος· καὶ τῆς Ἀλκμήνης ἐστὶν ἔτι ὁ θάλαμος ἐν τοῖς ἐρειπίοις δῆλος. οἰκοδομῆσαι δὲ αὐτὸν τῷ Ἀμφιτρύωνι Τροφώνιόν φασι καὶ Ἀγαμήδην, καὶ ἐπίγραμμα ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἐπιγραφῆναι τόδε·

Ἀμφιτρύων ὅτʼ ἔμελλʼ ἀγαγέσθαι δεῦρο γυναῖκα

Ἀλκμήνην, θάλαμόν γʼ εἱλίξατο τοῦτον ἑαυτῷ·

Ἀγχάσιος δʼ ἐποίησε Τροφώνιος ἠδʼ Ἀγαμήδης.

[2] τοῦτο μὲν ἐνταῦθα οἱ Θηβαῖοι γραφῆναι λέγουσιν· ἐπιδεικνύουσι δὲ Ἡρακλέους τῶν παίδων τῶν ἐκ Μεγάρας μνῆμα, οὐδέν τι ἀλλοίως τὰ ἐς τὸν θάνατον 0 λέγοντες ἢ Στησίχορος ὁ Ἱμεραῖος καὶ Πανύασσις ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν ἐποίησαν. Θηβαῖοι δὲ καὶ τάδε ἐπιλέγουσιν, ὡς Ἡρακλῆς ὑπὸ τῆς μανίας καὶ Ἀμφιτρύωνα ἔμελλεν ἀποκτιννύναι, πρότερον δὲ ἄρα ὕπνος ἐπέλαβεν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ λίθου τῆς πληγῆς· Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ εἶναι τὴν ἐπαφεῖσάν οἱ τὸν λίθον τοῦτον ὅντινα Σωφρονιστῆρα ὀνομάζουσιν.

[3] ἐνταῦθά εἰσιν ἐπὶ τύπου γυναικῶν εἰκόνες· ἀμυδρότερα ἤδη τὰ ἀγάλματα· ταύτας καλοῦσιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι Φαρμακίδας, πεμφθῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς Ἤρας φασὶν ἐμπόδια εἶναι ταῖς ὠδῖσιν Ἀλκμήνης. αἱ μὲν δὴ ἐπεῖχον Ἀλκμήνην μὴ τεκεῖν· Τειρεσίου δὲ θυγατρὶ Ἱστορίδι σόφισμα ἔπεισιν ἐς τὰς Φαρμακίδας, ἐς ἐπήκοον αὐτῶν ὀλολύξαι, τετοκέναι γὰρ τὴν Ἀλκμήνην· οὕτω τὰς μὲν ἀπατηθείσας ἀπελθεῖν, τὴν δὲ Ἀλκμήνην τεκεῖν φασιν.

[4]
ἐνταῦθα Ἡρακλεῖόν ἐστιν, ἄγαλμα δὲ τὸ μὲν λίθου λευκοῦ Πρόμαχος καλούμενον, ἔργον δὲ Ξενοκρίτου καὶ Εὐβίου Θηβαίων· τὸ δὲ ξόανον τὸ ἀρχαῖον Θηβαῖοί τε εἶναι Δαιδάλου νενομίκασι καὶ αὐτῷ μοι παρίστατο ἔχειν οὕτω. τοῦτον ἀνέθηκεν αὐτός, ὡς λέγεται, Δαίδαλος ἐκτίνων εὐεργεσίας χάριν. ἡνίκα γὰρ ἔφευγεν ἐκ Κρήτης πλοῖα οὐ μεγάλα αὑτῷ καὶ τῷ παιδὶ Ἰκάρῳ ποιησάμενος, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ταῖς ναυσίν, ὃ μή πω τοῖς τότε ἐξεύρητο, ἱστία ἐπιτεχνησάμενος, ὡς τοῦ Μίνω ναυτικοῦ τὴν εἰρεσίαν φθάνοιεν ἐπιφόρῳ τῷ ἀνέμῳ χρώμενοι, τότε αὐτὸς μὲν σώζεται Δαίδαλος,

[5] Ἰκάρῳ δὲ κυβερνῶντι ἀμαθέστερον ἀνατραπῆναι τὴν ναῦν λέγουσιν· ἀποπνιγέντα δὲ ἐξήνεγκεν ὁ κλύδων ἐς τὴν ὑπὲρ Σάμου νῆσον ἔτι οὖσαν ἀνώνυμον.
ἐπιτυχὼν δὲ Ἡρακλῆς γνωρίζει τὸν νεκρόν, καὶ ἔθαψεν ἔνθα καὶ νῦν ἔτι αὐτῷ χῶμα οὐ μέγα ἐπὶ ἄκρας ἐστὶν ἀνεχούσης ἐς τὸ Αἰγαῖον. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἰκάρου τούτου ὄνομα ἥ τε νῆσος καὶ ἡ περὶ αὐτὴν θάλασσα ἔσχηκε.

[6] Θηβαίοις δὲ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀετοῖς Πραξιτέλης ἐποίησε τὰ πολλὰ τῶν δώδεκα καλουμένων ἄθλων· καί σφισι τὰ ἐς τὰς ὄρνιθας ἐνδεῖ τὰς ἐπὶ Στυμφάλῳ καὶ ὡς ἐκάθηρεν Ἡρακλῆς τὴν Ἠλείαν χώραν, ἀντὶ τούτων δὲ ἡ πρὸς Ἀνταῖον πάλη πεποίηται. Θρασύβουλος δὲ ὁ Λύκου καὶ Ἀθηναίων οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ τυραννίδα τὴν τῶν τριάκοντα καταλύσαντες—ὁρμηθεῖσι γάρ σφισιν ἐκ Θηβῶν ἐγένετο ἡ κάθοδος—Ἀθηνᾶν καὶ Ἡρακλέα κολοσσοὺς ἐπὶ λίθου τύπου τοῦ Πεντελῆσιν, ἔργα δὲ Ἀλκαμένους, ἀνέθηκαν ἐς τὸ Ἡρακλεῖον.

[7]
τοῦ δὲ Ἡρακλείου γυμνάσιον ἔχεται καὶ στάδιον, ἀμφότερα ἐπώνυμα τοῦ θεοῦ. ὑπὲρ δὲ τὸν Σωφρονιστῆρα λίθον βωμός ἐστιν Ἀπόλλωνος ἐπίκλησιν Σποδίου, πεποίηται δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς τέφρας τῶν ἱερείων. μαντικὴ δὲ καθέστηκεν αὐτόθι ἀπὸ κληδόνων, ᾗ δὴ καὶ Σμυρναίους μάλιστα Ἑλλήνων χρωμένους οἶδα· ἔστι γὰρ καὶ Σμυρναίοις ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν κατὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς τοῦ τείχους Κληδόνων ἱερόν.

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.) — 9.11 focus

[1]
On the left of the gate named Electran are the ruins of a house where they say Amphitryon came to live when exiled from Tiryns because of the death of Electryon; and the chamber of Alcmena is still plainly to be seen among the ruins. They say that it was built for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, and that on it was written the following inscription:—

When Amphitryon was about to bring hither his bride

Alcmena, he chose this as a chamber for himself.

Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.

[2]
Such was the inscription that the Thebans say was written here. They show also the tomb of the children of Heracles by Megara . Their account of the death of these is in no way different from that in the poems of Panyassis and of Stesichorus of Himera. But the Thebans add that Heracles in his madness was about to kill Amphitryon as well, but before he could do so he was rendered unconscious by the blow of the stone. Athena, they say, threw at him this stone, which they name Chastiser.

[3] Here are portraits of women in relief, but the figures are by this time rather indistinct. The Thebans call them Witches,¹ adding that they were sent by Hera to hinder the birth-pangs of Alcmena. So these kept Alcmena from bringing forth her child. But Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the Witches, and she uttered a loud cry of joy in their hearing, that Alcmena had been delivered. So the story goes that the Witches were deceived and went away, and Alcmena brought forth her child.

[4]
Here is a sanctuary of Heracles. The image, of white marble, is called Champion, and the Thebans Xenocritus and Eubius were the artists. But the ancient wooden image is thought by the Thebans to be by Daedalus, and the same opinion occurred to me. It was dedicated, they say, by Daedalus himself, as a thank-offering for a benefit. For when he was fleeing from Crete in small vessels which he had made for himself and his son Icarus, he devised for the ships sails, an invention as yet unknown to the men of those times, so as to take advantage of a favorable wind and outsail the oared fleet of Minos. Daedalus himself was saved,

[5] but the ship of Icarus is said to have overturned, as he was a clumsy helmsman. The drowned man was carried ashore by the current to the island, then without a name, that lies off Samos . Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where even to-day a small mound still stands to Icarus on a promontory jutting out into the Aegean . After this Icarus are named both the island and the sea around it.

[6] The carvings on the gables at Thebes are by Praxiteles, and include most of what are called the twelve labours. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds and the cleansing of the land of Elis by Heracles are omitted; in their place is represented the wrestling with Antaeus. Thrasybulus, son of Lycus, and the Athenians who with him put down the tyranny of the Thirty,² set out from Thebes when they returned to Athens , and therefore they dedicated in the sanctuary of Heracles colossal figures of Athena and Heracles, carved by Alcamenes in relief out of Pentelic marble.

[7]
Adjoining the sanctuary of Heracles are a gymnasium and a race-course, both being named after the god. Beyond the Chastiser stone is an altar of Apollo surnamed God of Ashes; it is made out of the ashes of the victims. The customary mode of divination here is from voices, which is used by the Smyrnaeans, to my knowledge, more than by any other Greeks. For at Smyrna also there is a sanctuary of Voices outside the wall and beyond the city.

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.) — 9.11 focus

[1] On the left of the gate named Electran are the ruins of a house where they say Amphitryon came to live when exiled from Tiryns because of the death of Electryon; and the chamber of Alkmene is still plainly to be seen among the ruins. They say that it was built for Amphitryon by Trophonios and Agamedes, and that on it was written the following inscription:

“When Amphitryon was about to bring hither his bride
Alkmene, he chose this as a chamber for himself.
Anchasian Trophonios and Agamedes made it.”

[2] Such was the inscription that the Thebans say was written here. They show also the tomb of the children of Hēraklēs by Megara. Their account of the death of these is in no way different from that in the poems of Panyassis and of Stesichorus of Himera. But the Thebans add that Hēraklēs in his madness was about to kill Amphitryon as well, but before he could do so he was rendered unconscious by the blow of the stone. Athena, they say, threw at him this stone, which they name Chastiser.

[3] Here are portraits of women in relief, but the figures are by this time rather indistinct. The Thebans call them Witches, adding that they were sent by Hērā to hinder the birth-pangs of Alkmene. So these kept Alkmene from bringing forth her child. But Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the Witches, and she uttered a loud cry of joy in their hearing, that Alkmene had been delivered. So the story goes that the Witches were deceived and went away, and Alkmene brought forth her child.

[4] Here is a sanctuary of Hēraklēs. The image, of white marble, is called Champion, and the Thebans Xenokritos and Eubios were the artists. But the ancient wooden image is thought by the Thebans to be by Daidalos, and the same opinion occurred to me. It was dedicated, they say, by Daidalos himself, as a thank-offering for a benefit. For when he was fleeing from Crete in small vessels which he had made for himself and his son Icarus, he devised for the ships sails, an invention as yet unknown to the men of those times, so as to take advantage of a favorable wind and outsail the oared fleet of Minos. Daidalos himself was saved,

[5] but the ship of Icarus is said to have overturned, as he was a clumsy helmsman. The drowned man was carried ashore by the current to the island, then without a name, that lies off Samos. Hēraklēs came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where even today a small mound still stands to Icarus on a promontory jutting out into the Aegean. After this Icarus are named both the island and the sea around it.

[6] The carvings on the gables at Thebes are by Praxiteles, and include most of what are called the twelve labors. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds and the purifying of the land of Elis by Hēraklēs are omitted; in their place is represented the wrestling with Antaios. Thrasyboulos, son of Lykos, and the Athenians who with him put down the tyranny of the Thirty, set out from Thebes when they returned to Athens, and therefore they dedicated in the sanctuary of Hēraklēs colossal figures of Athena and Hēraklēs, carved by Alkamenes in relief out of Pentelic marble.

[7] Adjoining the sanctuary of Hēraklēs are a gymnasium and a race-course, both being named after the god. Beyond the Chastiser stone is an altar of Apollo surnamed God of Ashes; it is made out of the ashes of the victims. The customary mode of divination here is from voices, which is used by the Smyrnaeans, to my knowledge, more than by any other Greeks. For at Smyrna also there is a sanctuary of Voices outside the wall and beyond the city.

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 9.11

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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