Pausanias Analysis

Current sentence-level mythic, historical, and other tags

Chapter 4.14

PassageSentenceBucketConfidenceGreekEnglishRationale
4.14.1 1 historical high Μεσσηνίων δὲ ὅσοις μὲν ἔτυχον ἐν Σικυῶνι οὖσαι καὶ ἐν Ἄργει προξενίαι καὶ παρὰ τῶν Ἀρκάδων τισίν, οὗτοι μὲν ἐς ταύτας τὰς πόλεις ἀπεχώρησαν, ἐς Ἐλευσῖνα δὲ οἱ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἱερέων καὶ θεαῖς ταῖς Μεγάλαις τελοῦντες τὰ ὄργια· Those of the Messenians who happened to have proxenies at Sicyon and Argos, as well as some among the Arcadians, withdrew to those cities; while to Eleusis withdrew those of the priestly lineage and those who performed the rites for the Great Goddesses. Describes the dispersal of Messenians to cities and Eleusis, a historical migration after conflict.
4.14.1 2 historical high ὁ δὲ ὄχλος ὁ πολὺς κατὰ τὰς πατρίδας ἕκαστοι τὰς ἀρχαίας ἐσκεδάσθησαν. The majority of the populace scattered, each group returning to their own ancestral homelands. Describes people dispersing to ancestral homelands, a non-mythic historical/social event.
4.14.2 1 historical high Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ πρῶτα μὲν τὴν Ἰθώμην καθεῖλον ἐς ἔδαφος, ἔπειτα καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς πόλεις ἐπιόντες ᾕρουν. The Lacedaemonians first razed Ithome to the ground, and afterward attacked and captured the remaining cities. Describes the Lacedaemonians razing Ithome and capturing cities, an event of the historical period.
4.14.2 2 historical high ἀνέθεσαν δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν λαφύρων τῷ Ἀμυκλαίῳ τρίποδας χαλκοῦς· From the spoils they dedicated bronze tripods at Amyclae. Dedication of bronze tripods from spoils is a historical votive act, not mythic narrative.
4.14.2 3 other high Ἀφροδίτης ἄγαλμά ἐστιν ἑστηκὸς ὑπὸ τῷ τρίποδι τῷ πρώτῳ, Ἀρτέμιδος δὲ ὑπὸ τῷ δευτέρῳ, Κόρης δὲ ἢ Δήμητρος ὑπὸ τῷ τρίτῳ. Beneath the first tripod stands a statue of Aphrodite, beneath the second Artemis, and beneath the third either Kore or Demeter. Describes the placement of statues under tripods; purely descriptive and topographical, not an event.
4.14.3 1 other high ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἀνέθεσαν ἐνταῦθα. These votive offerings, indeed, they set up there. Describes votive offerings being set up at a place; this is antiquarian/descriptive rather than mythic or historical.
4.14.3 2 historical high τῆς δὲ γῆς τῆς Μεσσηνίας Ἀσιναίοις μὲν ἀνεστηκόσιν ὑπὸ Ἀργείων διδόασιν ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ ταύτην ἣν καὶ νῦν ἔτι οἱ Ἀσιναῖοι νέμονται· But concerning the land of Messenia, to the people of Asine, expelled by the Argives, they granted the coastal territory which even now the Asinaeans inhabit. Describes the Argives expelling the Asinaeans and granting them land, a post-mythic settlement/historical land transfer.
4.14.3 3 historical medium τοῖς δὲ Ἀνδροκλέους ἀπογόνοις---ἦν γὰρ δὴ καὶ θυγάτηρ Ἀνδροκλεῖ καὶ παῖδες τῆς θυγατρός, φεύγοντες δὲ ὑπὸ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ Ἀνδροκλέους ᾤχοντο ἐς Σπάρτην--- τούτοις τὴν Ὑαμίαν καλουμένην ἀπονέμουσι. As for the descendants of Androcles—for Androcles had a daughter whose sons, after their mother's departure, at the death of Androcles fled into Sparta—to these descendants they granted a land called Hyamia. Genealogical and civic allocation of land to Androcles' descendants; no mythic event, but a historical settlement tradition.
4.14.4 1 historical high τὰ δὲ ἐς αὐτοὺς Μεσσηνίους παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ἔσχεν οὕτως. The conditions imposed upon the Messenians by the Lacedaemonians were as follows. Refers to imposed conditions on the Messenians by the Lacedaemonians, a historical political event.
4.14.4 2 historical high πρῶτον μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐπάγουσιν ὅρκον μήτε ἀποστῆναί ποτε ἀπʼ αὐτῶν μήτε ἄλλο ἐργάσασθαι νεώτερον μηδέν· First, they compelled them under oath never to revolt against them nor undertake any revolutionary action whatsoever. Describes a political oath and suppression of revolt, a historical event/action after the mythic age.
4.14.4 3 historical high δεύτερα δὲ φόρον μὲν οὐδένα ἐπέταξαν εἰρημένον, οἳ δὲ τῶν γεωργουμένων τροφῶν σφισιν ἀπέφερον ἐς Σπάρτην πάντων τὰ ἡμίσεα. Second, although they prescribed no fixed tribute, the Messenians were to deliver half of all the produce yielded by their cultivated lands into Sparta. Describes the Spartan subjugation of the Messenians and imposed economic terms, a post-mythic historical condition.
4.14.4 4 historical high προείρητο δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκφορὰς τῶν βασιλέων καὶ ἄλλων τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ ἄνδρας ἐκ τῆς Μεσσηνίας καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἐν ἐσθῆτι ἥκειν μελαίνῃ· Furthermore, it was also decreed that, at the funerals of kings and other officials, men and women from Messenia must attend dressed in black clothing. Describes a decree regulating funerary attendance for kings and officials, a post-mythic civic practice.
4.14.4 5 historical high καὶ τοῖς παραβᾶσιν ἐπέκειτο ποινή. And those who violated these conditions were subject to punishment. Refers to punishment for violating conditions, an institutional/historical matter rather than myth or geography.
4.14.5 1 historical high ἐς τιμωρίας δὲ ἃς ὕβριζον ἐς τοὺς Μεσσηνίους, Τυρταίῳ πεποιημένα ἐστὶν. Regarding the punishments and outrages they inflicted upon the Messenians, the following verses composed by Tyrtaeus exist: Refers to Tyrtaeus' verses about the historical Spartan-Messenian wars and their outrages, not mythic material.
4.14.5 2 other high ὥσπερ ὄνοι μεγάλοις ἄχθεσι τειρόμενοι, δεσποσύνοισι φέροντες ἀναγκαίης ὑπὸ λυγρῆς ἥμισυ πᾶν ὅσσων καρπὸν ἄρουρα φέρει. "Like asses oppressed by great burdens, under harsh necessity, they bore to their masters half of all that the land yields as fruit." A simile describing burdens and tribute; no mythic or historical event is narrated.
4.14.5 3 historical high ὅτι δὲ καὶ συμπενθεῖν ἔκειτο αὐτοῖς ἀνάγκη, δεδήλωκεν ἐν τῷδε. And that they were compelled even to join in mourning with their masters, he makes clear in these lines also: Refers to a social practice and its historical impact, not myth or geography.
4.14.5 4 other high δεσπότας οἰμώζοντες, ὁμῶς ἄλοχοί τε καὶ αὐτοί, εὖτέ τινʼ οὐλομένη μοῖρα κίχοι θανάτου. "Lamenting their lords, along with their own wives, whenever destructive fate brought death upon any." Generic lament over deaths; no specific mythic or historical event is described.
4.14.6 1 historical high τοιούτων οὖν οἱ Μεσσήνιοι κατειληφότων καὶ ἅμα ἐς τὰ μέλλοντα οὐδὲν ἐνορῶντες παρὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων φιλάνθρωπον, πρό τε δὴ τῶν παρόντων τεθνάναι μαχομένους ἢ καὶ τὸ παράπαν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου φεύγοντας οἴχεσθαι νομίζοντες αἱρετώτερα, ἀφίστασθαι πάντως ἐγίνωσκον. Since the Messenians had come to such desperate circumstances, and at the same time could foresee nothing humane from the Lacedaemonians in the future, they judged altogether preferable either to die fighting in immediate resistance or even to abandon the Peloponnese entirely. Refers to the Messenians and Lacedaemonians in a political-military crisis, a historical event rather than myth or mere description.
4.14.6 2 historical high ἐνῆγον δὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐς τοῦτο καὶ οἱ νεώτεροι, πολέμου μὲν ἔτι ἀπείρως ἔχοντες, λαμπροὶ δὲ ὄντες τὰ φρονήματα καὶ ἀποθανεῖν προτιμῶντες ἐν ἐλευθέρᾳ τῇ πατρίδι, εἰ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα εὐδαιμόνως δουλεύειν παρείη. Consequently, they firmly resolved upon revolt. Describes a political revolt and wartime resolve, an event in historical context rather than myth.
4.14.7 1 historical medium ἐπετράφη δὲ νεότης καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, οἱ δὲ ἄριστοι καὶ ἀριθμὸν πλεῖστοι περὶ τὴν Ἀνδανίαν, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ Ἀριστομένης, ὃς καὶ νῦν ἔτι ὡς ἥρως ἔχει παρὰ Μεσσηνίοις τιμάς. Elsewhere too within Messenia the young men were entrusted with responsibilities, but the best and the greatest in numbers were stationed around Andania. Refers to Messenians and Aristomenes receiving heroic honors; Aristomenes is a post-classical local hero, and the focus is on historical cult practice rather than mythic narrative.
4.14.7 2 mythic high καί οἱ καὶ τὰ τῆς γενέσεως ἐπιφανέστερα ὑπάρξαι νομίζουσι· Νικοτελείᾳ γὰρ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ δαίμονα ἢ θεὸν δράκοντι εἰκασμένον συγγενέσθαι λέγουσι. Among them was Aristomenes as well, who even now continues to receive honors from the Messenians as a hero. Describes a divine/dragon-shaped being mating with the mother, a mythic birth story.
4.14.7 3 mythic high τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ Μακεδόνας ἐπὶ Ὀλυμπιάδι καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀριστοδάμᾳ Σικυωνίους οἶδα εἰρηκότας, διάφορα δὲ τοσόνδε ἦν· They consider him to have had a very distinguished birth, for they say that his mother Nicoteleia united with a divine being or god in the form of a serpent. Refers to divine/serpentine union as a birth story involving a god, i.e. mythic genealogy.
4.14.8 1 other high Μεσσήνιοι γὰρ οὐκ ἐσποιοῦσιν Ἀριστομένην Ἡρακλεῖ παῖδα ἢ Διί, ὥσπερ Ἀλέξανδρον Ἄμμωνι οἱ Μακεδόνες καὶ Ἄρατον Ἀσκληπιῷ Σικυώνιοι· For the Messenians do not claim Aristomenes as the son of Heracles or Zeus, as the Macedonians say Alexander was the son of Ammon, or as the Sicyonians assert Aratus was the son of Asclepius. Comparative genealogical remark about claimed divine parentage; not itself a mythic event or historical event.
4.14.8 2 other high Ἀριστομένει δὲ πατέρα Ἑλλήνων μὲν οἱ πολλοὶ Πύρρον φασὶν εἶναι, Μεσσηνίους δὲ οἶδα αὐτὸς ἐπὶ ταῖς σπονδαῖς Ἀριστομένην Νικομήδους καλοῦντας. Instead, most of the Greeks say that Aristomenes' father was Pyrrhus, but I myself know that the Messenians, when making oaths, call Aristomenes the son of Nicomedes. Genealogical naming and local tradition; no event is narrated.
4.14.8 3 historical high οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἀκμάζων ἡλικίᾳ καὶ τόλμῃ καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν ἐν τέλει παρώξυνον ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπόστασιν· At that time Aristomenes, in the prime of his strength and daring, and other leading men stirred them up into revolt. Describes Aristomenes and a revolt, a post-500 BC historical event.
4.14.8 4 historical high ἐπράσσετο δὲ ταῦτα οὐκ εὐθὺς ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ, κρύφα δὲ ἐς Ἄργος καὶ παρὰ τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἀπέστελλον, εἴ σφισιν ἀπροφασίστως καὶ μηδὲν ἐνδεεστέρως ἢ ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ προτέρου ἀμῦναι θελήσουσιν. These events did not immediately occur openly; rather, secret embassies were sent to Argos and among the Arcadians, asking whether these peoples would readily and no less eagerly than in the former war wish to come to their defense. Secret embassies to Argos and Arcadians concern political/military action in a historical conflict, not mythic matter.