A Sampling of Comments on Pausanias

Abridged comment… The ‘Pelasgian’ Wall as noted by Pausanias here corresponds to what archaeologists today call the ‘Cyclopean’ Wall, traces of which were visible even in the Class ... Continue reading

Pausanias is referring here to Iliad 23.677–679. ... Continue reading

§1. The first two sentences of the whole narrative, as I have translated them here, are crafted in such a way as to set the trajectory for everything that will be narrated hereafte ... Continue reading

Island of Patroklos... Our first impression, as we read the name Patroklos, may be that the referent here is the Homeric hero Patroklos. As we read on, however, we are quickly defa ... Continue reading

As one enters the city, there is a tomb [mnēma] of Antiope the Amazon... We have already seen that first impressions of the visual kind are very important to Pausanias. In the case ... Continue reading

On the myth about the abduction of Kephalos by Eos, see the commentary at O.15.250–251 as presented inhttps://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/6718. On the myth about the abduct ... Continue reading

I highlight here the linking of a river named Ēridanos with the ancient Gauls—Galatai in Greek. Although Pausanias is vague about the location of this river, he is explicit about l ... Continue reading

Here and elsewhere, I avoid translating phūlē as ‘tribe’, which is a misleading rendition. See Nagy 1990b:277–293. ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

We see here an abrupt transition from the narrative about Pyrrhos, which has just come to an end at 1.13.9. ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Abridged comment… On this ship, I epitomize from MoM 2§115 (where I give further references):On the occasion of the spectacular quadrennial parade known as the Panathenaic Processi ... Continue reading

spelling of Greek names... I offer a general comment on the spelling of Greek names, with primary reference to the name of Themistocles here at 1.1.2... The name of this famous Ath ... Continue reading

archon [arkhōn]... As we see later in our readings, Pausanias 4.5.10, this word ‘archon’ [arkhōn], meaning literally ‘leader’, was the Athenian title of an official who was appoint ... Continue reading

thalassocracy... In the history of Athens, the era of the Athenian Empire was most noted for the city’s maritime power, the Greek word for which was thalassokratiā or ‘thalassocrac ... Continue reading

ship-sheds [neōs oikoi]... In the glory days of the Athenian Empire, a most celebrated visual marker of the magnificence as well as the power of its thalassocracy was the architect ... Continue reading

Magnesia-at-Maeander... The city of Magnesia, contiguous with the river Maeander, is situated on the mainland of Greek Asia Minor. In the time of Themistocles, Magnesia was part of ... Continue reading

tomb of Themistocles at Peiraieus... This detail in Pausanias 1.1.2 is of special interest to me. I find it intriguing that Pausanias, visiting Athens in the second century CE, is ... Continue reading

Parthenon... The political as well as the cultural significance of the Parthenon here is made evident by the context. We see here in Pausanias 1.1.2 his first mention of the Parthe ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Pausanias here mentions two separate myths having to do with Amazons. One of the myths has already been mentioned by him at 1.2.1 and will be mentioned again at 1.17.2 and at 1.25. ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

I have already noted the passing reference made by Pausanias here at 1.17.2 to the Amazonomachy. And I have also already noted the previous references made by Pausanias, at 1.2.1 a ... Continue reading

The mystical vision experienced by the daughters of Kekrops, as narrated here at 1.18.2 by Pausanias, is relevant to the identity of Kekrops himself, their father, whose form is hu ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The Niobids (1923), by Károly Patkó (Hungarian,1895–1941). Image via Wikimedia Commons. ... Continue reading

Abridged comment…The visibility of the spear tip of Athena Promakhos, as noted here by Pausanias, is relevant to Pausanias 1.1.1, as argued at §7 of the comments there.Abridged com ... Continue reading

worthy of viewing [théā]... To translate this phrase as ‘worth seeing’ is to blur the significance of théā ‘viewing, seeing’ as a ritual activity. ... Continue reading

As an example of the relationship between court poets and their patrons, Pausanias here at 1.2.2 refers to a Homeric passage at O.03.267–271. The generic aoidos ‘singer’, as repres ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Pausanias says here that the name Marathon applies to a cult hero, that is, to a figure who is worshipped by the local population, and that the locale of Marathon is named after hi ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

In Nagy 2017.06.10 1§§50–51, supplemented by 1§§18–23, I have analyzed the details of the monumental wall painting as described by Pausanias at 1.17.3. I give here an epitome:{1§50 ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Painting on a lekythos attributed to the Pan Painter, dated around 470 BCE (Taranto IG 4545). The line drawing, presented in rollout mode, is by Tina Ross. The myth about the aba ... Continue reading

The picturing of Niobe as a rock exuding the tears of a fresh-water mountain stream is attested in the Homeric Iliad 24.614–617: νῦν δέ που ἐν πέτρῃσιν ἐν οὔρεσιν οἰοπόλοισιν ἐν Σι ... Continue reading

Pausanias at 1.27.3 is engaged in correlating a ritual with a myth, thus pointing to a traditional aetiology. Unlike other interpreters of this passage, who are legion (there is a ... Continue reading

heroes... So, already at this early stage in his narrative, Pausanias shows a special interest in hero cults. ... Continue reading

those, however, who pay special attention to the study of their local-antiquities [enkhōria] know that... We see here Pausanias in the role of a researcher interested in epichoric ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

On the form Philomēlā: grammarians in the ancient world (for example, Herodian 3.1 p. 255 line 14 ed. A. Lentz 1867) called attention to the exceptional ending ā instead of the exp ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The mythological theme of being tied down or bound (as in the wording Prometheus Bound) is expressed by such verbs as deein (deesthai), which conveys the mystical idea of cosmic as ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The building next to the Theater of Dionysus, rebuilt after its destruction in first century BCE, is none other than the Odeum of Pericles, a spectacular structure that projected t ... Continue reading

On observations made by Pausanias about the cultural identity of Ionia and the Ionians in Asia Minor, I have comments on one of the examples in Nagy 2017.06.25 §33, with reference ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

In his narrative, Pausanias will focus here on the ancient Celtic people known as the Gauls, called Galatai in Greek, as they existed in the third century BCE. By maintaining this ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The syntax of the preposition epi (+ dative case) is analyzed in my comment at 1.14.6. In the context of 1.14.6, the dative case that goes with the preposition epi there involves t ... Continue reading

The use of the verb ekhein (ekhesthai) ‘hold back’ is parallel here to the use of the verb deein (deesthai) ‘tie down’, seen earlier, in conveying the mystical idea of cosmic as we ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Pausanias is reminded here in passing of his homeland, Magnesia in Asia Minor, and of the mountain looming over the land. See the comment at Pausanias 1.1.1, §5, about Magnesia-at- ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

The myth of the hero Erikhthonios, as mentioned here at 1.14.6, was already mentioned at 1.2.5, where Pausanias reported that Erikhthonios was born, so they say, not of anthrōpoi ‘ ... Continue reading

Although Pausanias has demystified the myth about the immobilization of Theseus in Hadēs, the verbs he uses in referring to the hero’s return from Thesprotia are more appropriate t ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Abridged comment… Pausanias does not specifically mention the cave of the Eumenides/Erinyes. Still, the reference here to these deities as hupo-gaioi ‘under-earth’ conveys the idea ... Continue reading

On Procne and Philomela, sisters of Aigeus, see the comment on 1.5.4.On Procne and Philomela, sisters of Aigeus, see the comment on 1.5.4. ... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

... Continue reading

Abridged comment… The tension here between Minos and Poseidon has to do with genealogy: Minos is son of Zeus, while his rival Theseus is son of Poseidon.Abridged comment… The tensi ... Continue reading

On the Palladium as mentioned here by Pausanias, I offer this epitome from HC 1§§93–94:{1§93} According to the local mythology of the city of Argos, as we learn at a later point fr ... Continue reading