Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.13.8

← 1.13.7 1.13.9 →

Passage 1.13.8: Pyrrhus' death and the sanctuary of Demeter at the spot

Historical Skeptical

Greek Text

μαχομένων δὲ πρὸς ἱεροῖς ἤδη καὶ οἰκίαις καὶ κατὰ τοὺς στενωποὺς καὶ κατʼ ἄλλο ἄλλων τῆς πόλεως, ἐνταῦθα ὁ Πύρρος ἐμονώθη καὶ τιτρώσκεται τὴν κεφαλήν. κεράμῳ δὲ βληθέντα ὑπὸ γυναικὸς τεθνάναι φασὶ Πύρρον· Ἀργεῖοι δὲ οὐ γυναῖκα τὴν ἀποκτείνασαν, Δήμητρα δέ φασιν εἶναι γυναικὶ εἰκασμένην. ταῦτα ἐς τὴν Πύρρου τελευτὴν αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν Ἀργεῖοι καὶ ὁ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἐξηγητὴς Λυκέας ἐν ἔπεσιν εἴρηκε· καί σφισιν ἔστι τοῦ θεοῦ χρήσαντος, ἔνθα ὁ Πύρρος ἐτελεύτησεν, ἱερὸν Δήμητρος·

English Translation

While the fighting was already taking place around temples, houses, narrow streets, and scattered places throughout the city, Pyrrhus became isolated and was wounded in the head. They say Pyrrhus died when struck by a roof-tile thrown by a woman; the Argives, however, claim it was not a woman who killed him, but Demeter herself, disguised in the form of a woman. The Argives themselves recount these details about Pyrrhus' death, and the local guide Lyceas has recorded them in verse. At the spot where Pyrrhus died there is a sanctuary of Demeter, as the oracle of the god had previously instructed them.

Proper Nouns

Demeter (Δήμητρα) deity
Lykeas (Λυκέας) person
Pyrrhus (Πύρρος) person
Argives (Ἀργεῖοι) person
← 1.13.7 1.13.9 →