Pausanias Analysis

Current sentence-level mythic, historical, and other tags

Chapter 4.6

PassageSentenceBucketConfidenceGreekEnglishRationale
4.6.1 1 historical medium πρὶν δὲ ἢ συγγράφειν με τὸν πόλεμον καὶ ὁπόσα πολεμοῦσιν ἑκατέροις ὁ δαίμων παθεῖν ἢ δρᾶσαι παρεσκεύασε, διακρῖναί τι καὶ ἡλικίας ἔργα πέρι ἠθέλησα ἀνδρὸς Μεσσηνίου. Before writing my account of the war and of all that destiny caused each side to suffer or to achieve in its course, I wished to make clear one matter concerning the historical context, and particularly the achievements of the man of Messene. Refers to a war and to the deeds of a Messene man in historical framing.
4.6.1 2 historical high τὸν γὰρ πόλεμον τοῦτον γενόμενον μὲν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων πρὸς Μεσσηνίους καὶ τοὺς ἐπικούρους, ὀνομασθέντα δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιστρατευσάντων ὥσπερ γε ὁ Μηδικὸς καὶ ὁ Πελοποννήσιος, Μεσσήνιον δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν συμφορῶν, καθὰ δὴ καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ Ἰλίῳ κληθῆναι Τρωικὸν καὶ οὐχ Ἑλληνικὸν ἐξενίκησεν, τοῦτον γὰρ τῶν Μεσσηνίων τὸν πόλεμον Ῥιανός τε ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν ἐποίησεν ὁ Βηναῖος καὶ ὁ Πριηνεὺς Μύρων· For this war was fought by the Lacedaemonians and their allies against the Messenians and their supporters; yet it was not named after its aggressors, as were the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, but instead after the misfortunes of the defeated people, thus called Messenian—just as the war at Ilium earned the name "Trojan" from the sufferers rather than "Greek" from the attackers. Refers to a named war, comparing it to other historical wars; the passage is antiquarian rather than mythic.
4.6.1 3 historical high λόγοι δὲ πεζοὶ Μύρωνός ἐστιν ἡ συγγραφή. Regarding this war of the Messenians, Rhianus of Bene composed an epic poem, as did Myron of Priene; and there also exists a prose account of this war by Myron. Refers to the Messenian war and a prose account of it, i.e. a post-500 BC historical subject.
4.6.2 1 other high συνεχῶς μὲν δὴ τὰ πάντα ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐς τοῦ πολέμου τὴν τελευτὴν οὐδετέρῳ διήνυσται· Certainly, no one has written a complete, continuous account from beginning to end of the entire course of the war; rather, each historian chose only the portion which pleased him. A statement about historiography and how histories are composed, not a mythic or historical event.
4.6.2 2 historical high μέρος δὲ ᾧ ἑκάτερος ἠρέσκετο, ὁ μὲν τῆς τε Ἀμφείας τὴν ἅλωσιν καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς συνέθηκεν οὐ πρόσω τῆς Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτῆς, Ῥιανὸς δὲ τοῦδε μὲν τοῦ πρώτου τῶν πολέμων οὐδὲ ἥψατο ἀρχήν· One author composed the capture of Ampheia and subsequent events, extending not far beyond the death of Aristodemus. Refers to the capture of Ampheia and events tied to the Messenian wars and Aristodemus, which are historical/antiquarian rather than mythic.
4.6.2 3 historical high ὁπόσα δὲ χρόνῳ συνέβη τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις ἀποστᾶσιν ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων, ὁ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ τὰ πάντα ἔγραψε, τῆς μάχης δὲ τὰ ὕστερα ἣν ἐμαχέσαντο ἐπὶ τῇ τάφρῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Μεγάλῃ. Rhianus, however, did not touch at all upon this first conflict, and recorded instead only those later developments, long afterward, that led to the revolt of the Messenians from the Lacedaemonians; even these he did not recount fully, but focused mainly upon the events following the battle which was fought near the trench called the "Great." Refers to the Messenian revolt from the Lacedaemonians and a battle, both historical rather than mythic.
4.6.3 1 historical medium ἄνδρα οὖν Μεσσήνιον---τούτου γὰρ δὴ ἕνεκα τὸν πάντα ἐποιησάμην Ῥιανοῦ καὶ Μύρωνος λόγον---Ἀριστομένην, ὃς καὶ πρῶτος καὶ μάλιστα τὸ Μεσσήνης ὄνομα ἐς ἀξίωμα προήγαγε, τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἐπεισήγαγε μὲν ὁ Πριηνεὺς ἐς τὴν συγγραφήν, Ῥιανῷ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν οὐδὲν Ἀριστομένης ἐστὶν ἀφανέστερος ἢ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν Ἰλιάδι Ὁμήρῳ. Now, concerning the Messenian Aristomenes—for it was chiefly on his account that I related the whole dispute between Rhianus and Myron—this Aristomenes, who first and above all others raised the name of Messene to its height of honor, the historian from Priene introduced him into his narrative. Aristomenes is a post-classical Messenian hero-historical figure linked to the later history and honor of Messene, not a mythic landscape event.
4.6.3 2 other high διάφορα οὖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρηκότων, προσέσθαι μὲν τὸν ἕτερόν μοι τῶν λόγων καὶ οὐχ ἅμα ἀμφοτέρους ὑπελείπετο, Ῥιανὸς δέ μοι ποιῆσαι μᾶλλον ἐφαίνετο εἰκότα ἐς τὴν Ἀριστομένους ἡλικίαν· But in Rhianus' poem Aristomenes is no less prominent than Achilles is in Homer's Iliad. A literary comparison about Rhianus and Aristomenes/Achilles, not a mythic event or historical incident.
4.6.4 1 other high Μύρωνα δὲ ἐπί τε ἄλλοις καταμαθεῖν ἔστιν οὐ προορώμενον εἰ ψευδῆ τε καὶ οὐ πιθανὰ δόξει λέγειν καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐν τῇδε τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ συγγραφῇ. One can observe in other passages also that Myron was not concerned beforehand whether his statements might seem false and improbable, and not least in this work on Messenia. Metanarrative remark about the author’s reliability, not a mythic or historical event.
4.6.4 2 mythic high πεποίηκε γὰρ ὡς ἀποκτείνειε Θεόπομπον τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τὸν βασιλέα Ἀριστομένης ὀλίγον πρὸ τῆς Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτῆς· For he made Aristomenes slay Theopompus, the king of the Lacedaemonians, somewhat before the death of Aristodemus. Refers to the legendary killing of the Spartan king Theopompus by Aristomenes, a mythic-historical narrative element.
4.6.4 3 historical high Θεόπομπον δὲ οὔτε μάχης γινομένης οὔτε ἄλλως προαποθανόντα ἴσμεν πρὶν ἢ διαπολεμηθῆναι τὸν πόλεμον. But we know that Theopompus did not die beforehand, either in battle or otherwise, until the war had completely ended. Refers to Theopompus and the ending of a war, a post-500 BC historical matter.
4.6.5 1 historical high οὗτος δὲ ὁ Θεόπομπος· ἦν καὶ ὁ πέρας ἐπιθεὶς τῷ πολέμῳ· This Theopompus was also the one who brought the war to its conclusion. Refers to Theopompus concluding a war, a post-mythic historical event.
4.6.5 2 historical high μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὰ ἐλεγεῖα τῶν Τυρταίου λέγοντα ἡμετέρῳ βασιλῆι θεοῖσι φίλῳ Θεοπόμπῳ, ὃν διὰ Μεσσήνην εἵλομεν εὐρύχορον. My assertion is supported by Tyrtaeus' elegiac verses, which say: "to our king dear to the gods, Theopompus, whom we seized wide-rich Messene." Refers to Theopompus and the seizure of Messene, a historical Spartan conquest and its effect on the landscape.
4.6.5 3 historical medium ὁ τοίνυν Ἀριστομένης δόξῃ γε ἐμῇ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ ὑστέρου· καὶ τὰ ἐς αὐτόν, ἐπειδὰν ἐς τοῦτο ὁ λόγος ἀφίκηται, τηνικαῦτα ἐπέξειμι. Aristomenes, in my opinion at least, belongs to the later war; I shall deal with what concerns him at the appropriate place in my narrative. Refers to Aristomenes and the later war, a historical narrative placement rather than myth or description.
4.6.6 1 historical high οἱ δὲ Μεσσήνιοι τότε, ὡς τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἄμφειαν ἤκουον παρʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀποσωθέντων ἐκ τῆς ἁλώσεως, συνελέγοντο ἐς Στενύκληρον ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων. The Messenians, at that time hearing of the events at Ampheia from those who had escaped from its capture, gathered together from their cities at Stenykleros. Describes a wartime gathering in response to the capture of Ampheia, a historical event.
4.6.6 2 historical high ἀθροισθέντος δὲ ἐς ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ δήμου καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ τελευταῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς παρεκελεύετο μήτε τῆς Ἀμφείας καταπεπλῆχθαι τὴν πόρθησιν, ὡς τὸν πάντα ἤδη κεκριμένον διʼ αὐτῆς πόλεμον, μήτε ὡς τῆς σφετέρας κρείσσονα τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων δεδοικέναι τὴν παρασκευήν· When the people had assembled in assembly, various magistrates spoke, and last of all the king addressed them, urging them neither to be discouraged by the capture of Ampheia, as though the entire war had already been decided by it, nor to fear the military preparations of the Lacedaemonians as surpassing their own. Describes a Spartan assembly and king’s speech in the historical Peloponnesian War context, including the capture of Ampheia.
4.6.6 3 other high μελέτην μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνοις τῶν πολεμικῶν ἐκ χρόνου πλείονος, σφίσι δὲ εἶναι τήν τε ἀνάγκην ἰσχυροτέραν ἀνδράσιν ἀγαθοῖς γίνεσθαι καὶ τὸ εὐμενέστερον ἔσεσθαι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀμύνουσι τῇ οἰκείᾳ καὶ οὐκ ἀδικίας ἄρχουσιν. For he said that, although the Spartans had long and practiced experience in warfare, the Messenians had the stronger motivation, which naturally leads brave men to greater deeds, and could count upon greater support from the gods, being defenders of their own territory and not initiators of injustice. A strategic reflection on warfare and divine favor, not a mythic event or a post-500 BC historical event.