Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.33.1 Class: Historical

εἰ δὲ ἡ Μεγάλη πόλις προθυμίᾳ τε τῇ πάσῃ συνοικισθεῖσα ὑπὸ Ἀρκάδων καὶ ἐπὶ μεγίσταις τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐλπίσιν ἐς αὐτὴν κόσμον τὸν ἅπαντα καὶ εὐδαιμονίαν τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἀφῄρηται καὶ τὰ πολλά ἐστιν αὐτῆς ἐρείπια ἐφʼ ἡμῶν, θαῦμα οὐδὲν ἐποιησάμην, εἰδὼς τὸ δαιμόνιον νεώτερα ἀεί τινα ἐθέλον ἐργάζεσθαι, καὶ ὁμοίως τὰ πάντα τά τε ἐχυρὰ καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ καὶ τὰ γινόμενά τε καὶ ὁπόσα ἀπόλλυνται μεταβάλλουσαν τὴν τύχην, καὶ ὅπως ἂν αὐτῇ παριστῆται μετὰ ἰσχυρᾶς ἀνάγκης ἄγουσαν.

Proper Nouns:

Μεγάλη πόλις Ἀρκάδες Ἕλληνες

But if the Great City, though established by the Arcadians with the utmost enthusiasm and with the greatest hopes among the Greeks for its absolute splendor and ancient prosperity, has been stripped of all its glory and stands mostly in ruins in our time, I am not at all surprised; for I know that the divine power is always inclined to produce new events, and that fortune continually shifts everything alike—both strong and weak, things coming into existence as well as those perishing—and leads them wherever she wills by an irresistible necessity.

Passage 8.33.2 Class: Mythic

Μυκῆναι μέν γε, τοῦ πρὸς Ἰλίῳ πολέμου τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἡγησαμένη, καὶ Νῖνος, ἔνθα ἦν Ἀσσυρίοις βασίλεια, καὶ Βοιώτιαι Θῆβαι προστῆναι τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ ποτε ἀξιωθεῖσαι, αἱ μὲν ἠρήμωνται πανώλεθροι, τὸ δὲ ὄνομα τῶν Θηβῶν ἐς ἀκρόπολιν μόνην καὶ οἰκήτορας καταβέβηκεν οὐ πολλούς. τὰ δὲ ὑπερηρκότα πλούτῳ τὸ ἀρχαῖον, Θῆβαί τε αἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ ὁ Μινύης Ὀρχομενὸς καὶ ἡ Δῆλος τὸ κοινὸν Ἑλλήνων ἐμπόριον, αἱ μὲν ἀνδρὸς ἰδιώτου μέσου δυνάμει χρημάτων καταδέουσιν ἐς εὐδαιμονίαν, ἡ Δῆλος δέ, ἀφελόντι τοὺς ἀφικνουμένους παρʼ Ἀθηναίων ἐς τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὴν φρουράν, Δηλίων γε ἕνεκα ἔρημός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπων.

Proper Nouns:

Δήλιοι Δῆλος Θῆβαι Θῆβαι Θῆβαι Αἰγύπτιαι Μυκῆναι Νῖνος Ἀθηναῖοι Ἀσσυρίοι Ἕλληνες Ἴλιον Ὀρχομενός

Mycenae, it is true, once led the Greeks in the Trojan War; Nineveh had been the royal capital of the Assyrians; and the Boeotian Thebes was deemed worthy at one time to assume leadership of Greece. Yet these cities have fallen into complete ruin, and the name of Thebes itself is now confined merely to the acropolis, inhabited by only a few residents. As for other cities once conspicuous for their ancient wealth, Egyptian Thebes, Minyan Orchomenus, and Delos, formerly the common marketplace of all Greeks—these have declined into a state of well-being inferior even to that of an average private citizen. Delos, in particular, now lacks inhabitants altogether, since the Athenians removed the security garrison from the sanctuary, causing the people of Delos to abandon the island entirely.

Passage 8.33.3 Class: Historical

Βαβυλῶνος δὲ τοῦ μὲν Βήλου τὸ ἱερὸν λείπεται, Βαβυλῶνος δὲ ταύτης, ἥντινα εἶδε πόλεων τῶν τότε μεγίστην ἥλιος, οὐδὲν ἔτι ἦν εἰ μὴ τεῖχος, καθὰ καὶ Τίρυνθος τῆς ἐν τῇ Ἀργολίδι. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἐποίησεν ὁ δαίμων εἶναι τὸ μηδέν· ἡ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου πόλις ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἡ Σελεύκου παρὰ τῷ Ὀρόντῃ χθές τε ᾠκισμέναι καὶ πρῴην ἐς τοσοῦτο ἐπιδεδώκασι μεγέθους καὶ εὐδαιμονίας, ὅτι σφᾶς ἡ τύχη δεξιοῦται.

Proper Nouns:

Αἴγυπτος Βαβυλών Βῆλος Σέλευκος Τίρυνς Ἀλέξανδρος Ἀργολίς Ὀρόντης

Of Babylon, the sanctuary of Bel remains, but of Babylon herself, which the sun saw as the greatest of the cities of that time, nothing remained except its wall, just as is the case with Tiryns in Argolis. All these things have been reduced to nothing by divine power. But the city of Alexander in Egypt, and that of Seleucus on the Orontes, founded only yesterday or the day before, have grown now to such greatness and prosperity, because fortune favors them.

Passage 8.33.4 Class: Mythic

ἐπιδείκνυται δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷδε ἔτι τὴν ἰσχὺν μείζονα καὶ θαύματος πλείονος ἢ κατὰ συμφορὰς καὶ εὐπραγίας πόλεων· Λήμνου γὰρ πλοῦν ἀπεῖχεν οὐ πολὺν Χρύση νῆσος, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τῷ Φιλοκτήτῃ γενέσθαι συμφορὰν ἐκ τοῦ ὕδρου φασί· ταύτην κατέλαβεν ὁ κλύδων πᾶσαν, καὶ κατέδυ τε ἡ Χρύση καὶ ἠφάνισται κατὰ τοῦ βυθοῦ. νῆσον δὲ ἄλλην καλουμένην Ἱερὰν τόνδε οὐκ ἦν χρόνον. οὕτω μὲν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πρόσκαιρά τε καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐστιν ἐχυρά·

Proper Nouns:

Λῆμνος Φιλοκτήτης Χρύση Ἱερά

This phenomenon shows in yet another way a force greater and even more wondrous than the vicissitudes and prosperities of cities. For the island Chryse, lying at no great distance from Lemnos—where, according to tradition, the snake inflicted torment upon Philoctetes—was wholly overwhelmed by waves; Chryse sank and vanished beneath the depths. Moreover, at that time there was no other island called Hiera. Thus it is that human affairs are fleeting and utterly devoid of certainty.

Legend:

Chapter 8.33