Pausanias Analysis

Current sentence-level mythic, historical, and other tags

Chapter 5.2

PassageSentenceBucketConfidenceGreekEnglishRationale
5.2.1 1 mythic high τῷ δὲ Ἡρακλεῖ πρὸς τὸν Αὐγέαν πολεμοῦντι οὐδὲν ὑπῆρχεν ἀποδείκνυσθαι λαμπρόν· Heracles gained no distinguished advantage while waging war against Augeas; for the sons of Actor, excelling both in courage and in the vigor of youth, continually routed the forces allied with Heracles, until such time as the Corinthians proclaimed the Isthmian truce. Heracles’ war against Augeas is a mythic event and the Isthmian truce is part of the mythic narrative context.
5.2.1 2 mythic high ἅτε γὰρ καὶ τόλμῃ καὶ ταῖς ἡλικίαις τοῦ Ἄκτορος τῶν παίδων ἀκμαζόντων, ἐτρέπετο ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἀεὶ τὸ συμμαχικὸν τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, ἐς ὃ Ἰσθμικὰς σπονδὰς Κορινθίων ἐπαγγειλάντων καὶ θεωρῶν ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐρχομένων τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Ἄκτορος ἀπέκτεινε σφᾶς λοχήσας ὁ Ἡρακλῆς ἐν Κλεωναῖς. When the sons of Actor came as spectators to attend the games, Heracles ambushed and killed them at Cleonae. Heracles ambushing and killing the sons of Actor is a mythic episode affecting the story of the landscape/games.
5.2.1 3 mythic high ἀφανοῦς δὲ ὄντος τοῦ εἰργασμένου τὸν φόνον μάλιστα ἐποιεῖτο ἡ Μολίνη σπουδὴν τῶν παίδων τὸν αὐτόχειρα ἐξευρεῖν. Since the perpetrator of this crime remained unknown, their mother Moline made every possible effort to discover who had actually committed the murder of her sons. Refers to a mythic family murder and its aftermath, not a historical event.
5.2.2 1 mythic high ὡς δὲ ἔμαθεν, ἐνταῦθα οἱ Ἠλεῖοι δίκας τοῦ φόνου παρὰ Ἀργείων ἀπῄτουν· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἔτυχεν Ἡρακλῆς ἐν Τίρυνθι οἰκῶν. When the Eleans learned of this, they demanded satisfaction from the Argives for the murder, since at that time Heracles happened to be dwelling in Tiryns. Refers to Heracles dwelling in Tiryns and a murder of mythic figures, so this is mythic narrative.
5.2.2 2 historical high μὴ διδόντων δέ σφισι δίκας τῶν Ἀργείων, οἱ δὲ δεύτερα ἐνέκειντο Κορινθίοις ἔκσπονδον τὸ Ἀργολικὸν πᾶν τοῦ ἀγῶνος γενέσθαι τοῦ Ἰσθμικοῦ. As the Argives refused to grant them justice, the Eleans next urged the Corinthians to exclude the entire Argive people from participating in the Isthmian contests. Refers to contest regulations and civic action in the historical period, not mythic material.
5.2.2 3 mythic medium ὡς δὲ ἡμάρτανον καὶ τούτου, Μολίνην θέσθαι φασὶν ἐπὶ τοῖς πολίταις κατάρας, ἢν Ἰσθμίων μὴ θέλωσιν εἴργεσθαι. When this effort also failed, it is said that Molione pronounced a curse upon her fellow-citizens if they refused to abstain from the Isthmian games. A curse pronounced by Molione belongs to mythic tradition rather than historical fact.
5.2.2 4 mythic high φυλάσσουσι δὲ τῆς Μολίνης καὶ ἐς τόδε ἔτι τὰς κατάρας, καὶ ὅσοι τὰ σώματα ἀσκοῦσιν Ἠλείων, οὔ σφισιν ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐσελθεῖν καθέστηκε τὸν Ἰσθμικόν. Even to the present day, the Eleans observe this curse of Molione, and none of them who practice athletics are permitted to enter the Isthmian competitions. The sentence refers to the curse of Molione, a mythic event whose continuing effects are described.
5.2.3 1 other high διάφοροι δὲ τῷ εἰρημένῳ δύο εἰσὶν ἄλλοι λόγοι. There are two other traditions differing from that already mentioned. This is a metatextual note introducing alternative traditions, with no mythic event or historical event described.
5.2.3 2 historical high τούτων δὲ ὁ μὲν Κύψελον τὸν τυραννήσαντα Κορινθίων φησὶν ἄγαλμα ἀναθεῖναι τῷ Διὶ χρυσοῦν ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν, προαποθανόντος δὲ τοῦ Κυψέλου πρὶν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναθήματι τὸ ὄνομα ἐπιγράψαι τὸ αὑτοῦ, τοὺς Κορινθίους παρὰ Ἠλείων αἰτεῖν δοῦναί σφισιν ἐπιγράψαι δημοσίᾳ τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναθήματι, οὐ τυχόντας δὲ ὀργῇ τε ἐς τοὺς Ἠλείους χρῆσθαι καὶ προειπεῖν σφισιν Ἰσθμίων εἴργεσθαι. One of these accounts says that Cypselus, tyrant of the Corinthians, dedicated a golden statue to Zeus at Olympia; but as Cypselus died before inscribing his own name upon the offering, the Corinthians asked permission of the Eleans to inscribe publicly upon the offering the name of their city. Cypselus was a historical tyrant of Corinth; the sentence concerns a historical dedication and inscription at Olympia.
5.2.3 3 historical medium πῶς ἂν οὖν Κορινθίοις αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀγῶνος μετῆν τοῦ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ, εἰ δὴ ἄκοντάς γε Ἠλείους ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰσθμίων εἶργον; When this permission was refused, the Corinthians became angry with the Eleans and declared beforehand that they were barred from the Isthmian Games. Refers to the Corinthians and Eleans in the context of the Isthmian Games, a historical civic-athletic dispute rather than myth.
5.2.4 1 mythic medium ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ἔχει τῶν λόγων Προλάῳ παῖδας ἀνδρὶ παρὰ Ἠλείοις δοκίμῳ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ Λυσίππῃ Φίλανθον καὶ Λάμπον γενέσθαι· Another of the accounts says that Philanthus and Lampus were sons of Prolaus, born to a notable Eleian man and his wife Lysippe. Genealogical account of offspring of Prolaus; mythic/legendary family tradition rather than historical report.
5.2.4 2 historical high τούτους ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐλθόντας τῶν Ἰσθμίων παγκρατιάσοντας ἐν παισί, τὸν δὲ αὐτῶν παλαίσοντα, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν, πρὶν ἢ ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐσελθεῖν, ἀποπνιγῆναι σφᾶς ἢ καὶ ἄλλῳ τῷ τρόπῳ διαχρησθῆναι· When these two came to compete in the boys' pankration at the Isthmian Games—one intended to wrestle—they were strangled or otherwise murdered by their rivals before they entered the competition. Accounts of competitors at the Isthmian Games being killed before competing are a historical anecdote, not a mythic event.
5.2.4 3 mythic high καὶ οὕτω τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς Ἠλείοις, ἢν Ἰσθμίων μὴ ἑκόντες εἴργωνται, Λυσίππης ἀρὰς εἶναι. Thus arose the curse pronounced by Lysippe upon the Eleians, if ever they should unwillingly abstain from the Isthmian Games. Refers to a curse by Lysippe, a mythic aetiological cause affecting the Eleians.
5.2.4 4 other high δείκνυται δὲ καὶ ὅδε εὐήθης ὢν ὁ λόγος. This story too clearly shows itself to be absurd. A meta-comment on the story's absurdity, not a mythic event, historical event, or landscape description.
5.2.5 1 other high Τίμωνι γὰρ ἀνδρὶ Ἠλείῳ γεγόνασι πεντάθλου νῖκαι τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησιν ἀγώνων, καί οἱ καὶ εἰκών ἐστιν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ καὶ ἐλεγεῖον, στεφάνους τε ὁπόσους ἀνείλετο ὁ Τίμων λέγον καὶ δὴ καὶ αἰτίαν διʼ ἥντινα Ἰσθμικῆς οὐ μέτεστιν αὐτῷ νίκης· For the Elean, Timon, won victories in the pentathlon at the Greek games, and he has a statue in Olympia as well as an elegiac couplet. Records athletic victories, a statue, and an epigram for an historical individual; this is antiquarian/descriptive rather than mythic or historical event narrative.
5.2.5 2 historical high καὶ ἔχει τὰ ἐς τοῦτο τὸ ἐλεγεῖον· This elegy records how many crowns Timon won, and indeed describes also the reason why he did not participate in an Isthmian victory. Refers to Timon’s athletic victories and an Isthmian contest, which are historical/antiquarian rather than mythic.
5.2.5 3 mythic high Σισυφίαν δὲ μολεῖν χθόνʼ ἐκώλυεν ἀνέρα νείκη ἀμφὶ Μολιονιδᾶν οὐλομένῳ θανάτῳ. The elegiac couplet includes this verse: Refers to the Molionidae and a death in heroic/mythic conflict, so it belongs to mythic material.
5.2.5 4 other high τάδε μὲν ἡμῖν ἐς τοσοῦτο ἐξητάσθω· "But a quarrel over the deadly fate of the Molionidae prevented the man from going to the land of Sisyphus." A closing transitional phrase with no mythic or historical event; it is merely a narrative limit on the discussion.