Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.13.9

← 1.13.8 1.14.1 →

Passage 1.13.9: Pyrrhus buried at Delphi.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ Πύρρος τέθαπται. θαῦμα δὴ ποιοῦμαι τῶν καλουμένων Αἰακιδῶν τρισὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ συμβῆναι τὴν τελευτήν, εἴ γε Ἀχιλλέα μὲν Ὅμηρος ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου φησὶ τοῦ Πριάμου καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος ἀπολέσθαι, Πύρρον δὲ τὸν Ἀχιλλέως ἡ Πυθία προσέταξεν ἀποκτεῖναι Δελφοῖς, τῷ δὲ Αἰακίδου συνέβη τὰ ἐς τὴν τελευτὴν οἷα Ἀργεῖοί τε λέγουσι καὶ Λυκέας ἐποίησε. διάφορα δὲ ὅμως ἐστὶ καὶ ταῦτα ὧν Ἱερώνυμος ὁ Καρδιανὸς ἔγραψεν· ἀνδρὶ γὰρ βασιλεῖ συνόντα ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἐς χάριν συγγράφειν. εἰ δὲ καὶ Φίλιστος αἰτίαν δικαίαν εἴληφεν, ἐπελπίζων τὴν ἐν Συρακούσαις κάθοδον, ἀποκρύψασθαι τῶν Διονυσίου τὰ ἀνοσιώτατα, ἦ που πολλή γε Ἱερωνύμῳ συγγνώμη τὰ ἐς ἡδονὴν Ἀντιγόνου γράφειν.

English Translation

Pyrrhus is buried there as well. Indeed, I greatly marvel that three of those called Aeacidae encountered their deaths in the same way by divine intervention. Homer says that Achilles perished at the hands of Alexander, Priam's son, and Apollo. Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, was commanded by the Pythian oracle to be slain at Delphi, while the circumstances surrounding the death of the third Aeacid occurred as the Argives relate and as Lyceas has depicted. Yet these accounts differ from the version recorded by Hieronymus of Cardia; for a man closely connected to a king must necessarily write in a flattering way. And if Philistus can justly be censured for concealing Dionysius' most impious acts through hopes of returning to Syracuse, then surely much pardon must be granted to Hieronymus for writing what pleased Antigonus.

Proper Nouns

Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Kardianos (Cardian) (Καρδιανός) other
Aeacids (Αἰακίδες) person
Aeacides (Αἰακίδης) person Q403377
Dionysios (Διονύσιος) person
Lykeas (Λυκέας) person
Priam (Πρίαμος) person
Pythia (Πυθία) person
Pyrrhus (Πύρρος) person
Philistus (Φίλιστος) person
Also in: 1.29.12 5.23.6
Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος) person
Antigonus (Ἀντίγονος) person
Argives (Ἀργεῖοι) person
Achilles (Ἀχιλλεύς) person
Hieronymos (Ἱερώνυμος) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
Syracuse (Συρακοῦσαι) place Q4420718
← 1.13.8 1.14.1 →