Pausanias Analysis

Current sentence-level mythic, historical, and other tags

Chapter 4.9

PassageSentenceBucketConfidenceGreekEnglishRationale
4.9.1 1 historical high τοῖς δὲ Μεσσηνίοις μετὰ τὴν μάχην πονηρὰ γίνεσθαι τὰ πράγματα ἤρχετο· For the Messenians, following the battle, matters began to turn difficult. Refers to consequences following a battle, i.e. a historical event and its effects.
4.9.1 2 historical high δαπάνῃ τε γὰρ χρημάτων ἀπειρήκεσαν, ἃ τῶν πόλεων ἀνήλισκον ἐς τὰς φρουράς, καὶ οἱ δοῦλοι παρὰ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ηὐτομόλουν, τοῖς δὲ καὶ νόσος ἐνέπεσε καὶ ταραχὰς μὲν παρέσχεν ὡς εἴη λοιμώδης, οὐ μὴν ἐς ἅπαντάς γε ἐχώρησεν. They had become exhausted by the expense of money, which they spent from their cities for the guarding of fortresses, and their slaves were deserting to the Lacedaemonians; moreover, an illness fell upon them which, though provoking alarm as if contagion had broken out, did not affect everyone. Describes expense, slave desertion to Lacedaemonians, and a disease in a historical conflict context.
4.9.1 3 historical high βουλευομένοις δὲ πρὸς τὰ παρόντα ἐδόκει τὰ μὲν πολλὰ πολίσματα τὰ ἐς μεσόγαιαν πάντα ἐκλείπειν, ἐς δὲ τὸ ὄρος ἀνοικίζεσθαι τὴν Ἰθώμην. When they deliberated on their present circumstances, they resolved to abandon most of their inland settlements, withdrawing completely from the country, and to establish their residence on Mount Ithome. Describes a community’s strategic resettlement to Mount Ithome, a historical response to current circumstances rather than a mythic event.
4.9.2 1 other high ἦν δὲ καὶ πόλισμα αὐτόθι οὐ μέγα, ὃ καὶ Ὅμηρόν φασιν ἔχειν ἐν καταλόγῳ· καὶ Ἰθώμην κλιμακόεσσαν. There was also a small town there, which they say even Homer mentions in his catalogue: "and steep Ithome." Topographical description with a Homeric citation; not a mythic event or post-500 BC historical event.
4.9.2 2 historical medium Hom. Il. 2.729 ἐς τοῦτο τὸ πόλισμα ἀνῳκίζοντο, ἐπεκτείνοντες τὸν ἀρχαῖον περίβολον ἔρυμα εἶναι πᾶσιν αὔταρκες. Into this town they moved, enlarging the old circuit-wall to serve as a fortress sufficient to protect them all. Refers to a town being resettled and its wall enlarged, a settlement/history description rather than myth.
4.9.2 3 other high ἦν δὲ τὸ χωρίον καὶ ἄλλως ἐχυρόν· ἡ γὰρ Ἰθώμη μεγέθει τε οὐδενὸς ἀποδεῖ τῶν ὀρῶν ὁπόσα ἐντός ἐστιν ἰσθμοῦ καὶ δύσβατος κατὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα ἦν. And indeed, the site was otherwise naturally strong: for Ithome is not surpassed in height by any of the mountains within the Isthmus, and it was especially difficult of access. Purely geographical/topographical description of Ithome's natural strength and accessibility.
4.9.3 1 other high ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ θεωρὸν πέμψαι σφίσιν ἐς Δελφούς. And they decided also to send one of their people as a sacred envoy to Delphi. Describes a civic/religious decision to send an envoy to Delphi, not a mythic event or later historical event.
4.9.3 2 historical low ἀποστέλλουσιν οὖν Τῖσιν τὸν Ἄλκιδος, καὶ ἀξιώματι οὐδενὸς ὕστερον καὶ ὅτι προσκεῖσθαι μαντικῇ μάλιστα ἐνομίζετο. They therefore dispatched Tisis, son of Alcis, a man second to none in reputation, and renowned particularly for his talent in divination. Refers to a named person being dispatched; no mythic event, and it belongs to a narrative context after 500 BC.
4.9.3 3 historical high τοῦτον τὸν Τῖσιν ἐπανιόντα ἐκ Δελφῶν λοχῶσιν ἄνδρες Λακεδαιμονίων ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Ἀμφείᾳ φρουρᾶς· As Tisis was returning from Delphi, men from the Lacedaemonian garrison stationed at Ampheia set an ambush for him. Refers to a Lacedaemonian garrison and an ambush, i.e. a historical military action rather than myth or mere description.
4.9.3 4 other high λοχήσαντες δὲ---οὐ γὰρ ὑπεῖκεν αἰχμάλωτος γενέσθαι--- περιμένοντα οὖν ἀμύνεσθαι καὶ ἀνθεστηκότα ἐτίτρωσκον, ἐς ὃ γίνεται βοή σφισιν ἐξ ἀφανοῦς "τὸν χρησμοφόρον μέθες." Once ambushed—since he refused to allow himself to be taken captive—he waited to defend himself and resisted bravely. They wounded him, until suddenly a voice came to them out of the unseen, saying clearly, "Release the bearer of the oracle." A battle ambush scene with a voice from the unseen; this is narrative action tied to an oracle-bearer, not a mythic aetiology or post-500 BC historical event.
4.9.4 1 historical high καὶ Τῖσις μὲν ὡς ἀπεσώθη τάχιστα ἐς Ἰθώμην καὶ τὴν μαντείαν παρὰ τὸν βασιλέα ἀνήνεγκε, μετʼ οὐ πολὺ ὑπὸ τῶν τραυμάτων τελευτᾷ· And Tisis, as soon as he reached Ithome safely, immediately reported the oracle's answer to the king; shortly thereafter, due to his wounds, he died. A messenger dying from wounds after delivering an oracle report is a narrative event in the historical/legendary frame, not geography or pure mythic landscape impact.
4.9.4 2 historical high τοὺς δὲ Μεσσηνίους συναθροίσας ὁ Εὐφαὴς ἐπεδείκνυ τὸν χρησμόν· Euphaes, having gathered the Messenians, disclosed to them the words of the oracle: Euphaes is a historical Messenean king; the sentence concerns his consultation and disclosure of an oracle in a historical narrative.
4.9.4 3 mythic high κόρην ἄχραντον νερτέροισι δαίμοσι, κλήρῳ λαχοῦσαν Αἰπυτιδῶν ἀφʼ αἵματος, θυηπολεῖτε νυκτέροισιν ἐν σφαγαῖς. "To the underworld powers, offer a pure maiden chosen by lot from the bloodline of the Aepytidae, making night sacrifices." A sacrificial instruction to underworld powers involving a maiden from a mythic royal bloodline belongs to mythic ritual context.
4.9.4 4 mythic medium ἢν δὲ σφαλῆτε, καὶ παρʼ ἀλλοίου τότε θύειν, διδόντος ἐς σφαγὴν ἑκουσίως. "But if you fail, thereafter you must sacrifice another, one voluntarily giving himself up to be slain." Ritual sacrifice of a voluntary victim belongs to mythic/religious legend rather than historical narrative.
4.9.5 1 mythic high ταῦτα τοῦ θεοῦ δηλώσαντος αὐτίκα ἐκληροῦντο ὅσαι παρθένοι τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν γένους ἦσαν· When the god had made this clear, at once all the maidens of the race of the Aepytidae drew lots. The god’s revelation and the maidens drawing lots belong to a mythic episode.
4.9.5 2 mythic medium καὶ ἐπελάμβανε γὰρ Λυκίσκου θυγατέρα ὁ κλῆρος, ταύτην Ἐπήβολος ὁ μάντις ἀπηγόρευεν ὡς οὐ δέοι θύειν, οὐ γὰρ εἶναι Λυκίσκου· Although the lot fell upon the daughter of Lykiskos, Epebolos the seer declared she should not be sacrificed, for she was not truly the child of Lykiskos. A sacrificial lot and a seer’s intervention concern a mythic ritual episode.
4.9.5 3 other high τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα ἣ Λυκίσκῳ συνῴκησεν, ὡς τεκεῖν οὔκουν οἵα τε ἦν, ἐν τούτῳ τὴν παῖδα ὑποβαλέσθαι. He revealed that Lykiskos' wife, unable herself to bear children, had introduced another's child as her own. An antiquarian anecdote about a household matter; not mythic or post-500 BC historical event.
4.9.5 4 historical high ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ οὗτος ἀνεδίδασκε τὰ ἐς αὐτήν, ἐν τοσῷδε ὁ Λυκίσκος ἀπαγόμενος ἅμα καὶ τὴν παρθένον ηὐτομόλησεν ἐς Σπάρτην. While the seer was disclosing these matters concerning the girl, Lykiskos, who had meanwhile set off, fled with the maiden to Sparta. The sentence describes Lykiskos fleeing with the maiden to Sparta, an action in the narrative after the seer's disclosure; it is not mythic and concerns a later human event.
4.9.6 1 mythic high ἐχόντων δὲ ἀθύμως τῶν Μεσσηνίων ὡς Λυκίσκον ἀποδράντα ᾔσθοντο, ἐνταῦθά σφισιν Ἀριστόδημος ἀνὴρ καὶ γένους τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν καὶ Λυκίσκου τῇ τε ἄλλῃ δόξῃ καὶ τὰ ἐς πόλεμον ἐπιφανέστερος ἐδίδου τὴν θυγατέρα ἑκὼν θῦσαι. When the Messenians became disheartened upon learning of Lykiskos' flight, Aristodemus, a man descended from the Aipytidai, who surpassed Lykiskos both in general renown and conspicuously in deeds of war, willingly offered his daughter for sacrifice. Aristodemus' voluntary sacrifice of his daughter is part of the Messenian heroic myth cycle.
4.9.6 2 historical high τὰ δὲ ἀνθρώπων καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τὸ πρόθυμον ἡ πεπρωμένη κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἐπικρύπτει καὶ εἰ ψηφῖδα ἐπιλαβοῦσα ἰλὺς ποταμοῦ, ὅπου καὶ τότε Ἀριστοδήμῳ διασώσασθαι Μεσσήνην ἀγώνισμα ποιουμένῳ τὸ ἐμπόδιον ἐπήγαγε τοιόνδε. But fate, which conceals human affairs—especially earnest efforts—as effectually as river mud obscures a pebble it covers, then indeed imposed an obstacle of this sort upon Aristodemus, precisely as he was striving to accomplish the deliverance of Messenia. Refers to Aristodemus and the deliverance of Messenia, a historical event/cause rather than myth.
4.9.7 1 historical medium ἀνὴρ τῶν Μεσσηνίων---τὸ δὲ ὄνομα οὐ λέγουσιν---ἐρῶν ἔτυχε τοῦ Ἀριστοδήμου τῆς θυγατρός, τότε δὲ ἤδη ἔμελλε καὶ γυναῖκα ἄξεσθαι. A man among the Messenians—whose name they do not mention—happened to be in love with the daughter of Aristodemus, who at that time was already betrothed and soon to marry. Refers to Aristodemus and a Messenian family situation in a post-heroic historical setting.
4.9.7 2 other high οὗτος κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν Ἀριστοδήμῳ προῆλθεν, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐγγυήσαντά οἱ μηκέτι εἶναι κύριον τῆς παιδός, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐγγυησάμενος κυριώτερος ἐκείνου γίνεσθαι. At first this man entered into a dispute with Aristodemus, declaring that Aristodemus, having already given the pledge, was no longer master over his daughter, while he himself, having received the pledge, now had greater authority than the father over her. A marriage/pledge dispute is social and descriptive, not mythic or historical narrative.
4.9.7 3 other high δεύτερα δὲ ὡς τοῦτο οὐχ ἑώρα οἱ κατορθούμενον, ἐπʼ ἀναίσχυντον τρέπεται λόγον· But as he saw that he was not successful in this claim, he turned to disgraceful talk: A narrative action and speech change with no mythic or historical event; it is purely descriptive.
4.9.8 1 mythic high ξυγγενέσθαι τε τῇ παιδὶ καὶ κύειν ἐξ αὐτοῦ. He had intercourse with the girl and she became pregnant by him. A sexual encounter leading to pregnancy in a mythic narrative is part of a mythic event, not a historical report.
4.9.8 2 mythic high τέλος δὲ ἐς τοσοῦτον Ἀριστόδημον προήγαγεν ὡς ἐκμανέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ θυμοῦ τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποκτεῖναι· In the end, Aristodemus was driven into such fury that, enraged by his anger, he killed his daughter. A violent deed by Aristodemus belongs to a mythic narrative and its consequences, not to historical events.
4.9.8 3 mythic medium μετὰ δὲ ἀνέτεμνε καὶ ἐπεδείκνυεν αὐτὴν οὐκ ἔχουσαν ἐν γαστρί. Afterwards, he cut her open and showed that her womb contained no child. Violent examination of a womb in a narrative context reflects a mythic/legendary episode rather than historical description.
4.9.8 4 mythic high παρὼν δὲ Ἐπήβολος ἐκέλευεν ἄλλον τινὰ τὸν θυγατέρα ἐπιδώσοντα γενέσθαι· τῆς γὰρ τοῦ Ἀριστοδήμου πλέον εἶναί σφισιν ἀποθανούσης οὐδέν· Epibolos, who was present, urged the people to assign another to hand over his daughter, since the death of Aristodemus's daughter had been of no benefit to them. Refers to a legendary sacrifice involving Aristodemus's daughter, part of the mythic aftermath of heroic events.
4.9.8 5 mythic high φονεῦσαι γὰρ τὸν πατέρα αὐτήν, θεοῖς δὲ οἷς ἡ Πυθία προσέταξεν οὐ θῦσαι. He explained that Aristodemus had murdered his own child, yet had not sacrificed her to the gods as the Pythian oracle had commanded. Oracle-commanded family murder and sacrifice belong to mythic narrative.
4.9.9 1 historical medium τοιαῦτα εἰπόντος τοῦ μάντεως τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Μεσσηνίων ὥρμησεν ἀποκτενοῦντες τὸν μνηστῆρα τῆς παιδός, ὡς Ἀριστοδήμῳ τε μίασμα εἰκαῖον προσάψαντα καὶ σφίσι τῆς σωτηρίας τὴν ἐλπίδα ἀμφίβολον πεποιηκότα. After the seer had said these words, the multitude of the Messenians rushed forth intending to kill the suitor of the maiden, accusing him of having unjustly imputed pollution to Aristodemus and thereby having cast doubt on their hopes for deliverance. Refers to the Messenians' collective response to a seer's warning in a quasi-historical narrative after the mythic setting.
4.9.9 2 historical high ἢν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ οὗτος ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τῷ Εὐφαεῖ φίλος· But this man was particularly dear to Euphaes. Refers to a specific person's relationship to Euphaes, a historical figure, with no mythic content.
4.9.9 3 mythic high πείθει οὖν τοὺς Μεσσηνίους Εὐφαὴς τόν τε χρησμὸν ἔχειν τέλος ἀποθανούσης τῆς παιδὸς καὶ σφίσιν ἀποχρᾶν τὰ ὑπὸ Ἀριστοδήμου πεποιημένα. So Euphaes persuaded the Messenians that the oracle's fulfillment would come about through the death of the maiden, and that the actions already performed by Aristodemus were sufficient for their needs. Mentions an oracle and the maiden's death as fulfillment of it, which belongs to mythic/religious narrative.
4.9.10 1 other high λέγοντος δὲ ταῦτα ἔφασαν τὰ ὄντα λέγειν ὅσοι τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν γένους ἦσαν· When he had said these things, all those from the family of the Aepytidae affirmed that he spoke the truth. A genealogical remark about the Aepytidae affirming a speaker’s statement; it is antiquarian and descriptive, not a mythic event or historical event.
4.9.10 2 mythic medium ἀπεῖναι γάρ σφισι τὸ δέος τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ ἕκαστος ἔσπευδε. For each of them was eager for the fear concerning his own daughter to be removed. Refers to a daughter and fear affecting a family situation, which is more in the realm of mythic narrative than later historical description.
4.9.10 3 historical medium καὶ οἱ μὲν τοῦ βασιλέως τῇ παραινέσει πειθόμενοι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν διαλύουσι καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς πρός τε θυσίας θεῶν καὶ ἑορτὴν τρέπονται· So, persuaded by the counsel of the king, they dismissed the assembly, and from there turned towards sacrifices to the gods and to celebration of the festival. Refers to a king, assembly, and civic action; this is historical rather than mythic, though the festival/sacrifice detail is incidental.