Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.14.7

← 1.14.6 1.15.1 →

Passage 1.14.7: Sanctuary of Aphrodite Ourania (origins and Pheidias' statue)

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

πλησίον δὲ ἱερόν ἐστιν Ἀφροδίτης Οὐρανίας. πρώτοις δὲ ἀνθρώπων Ἀσσυρίοις κατέστη σέβεσθαι τὴν Οὐρανίαν, μετὰ δὲ Ἀσσυρίους Κυπρίων Παφίοις καὶ Φοινίκων τοῖς Ἀσκάλωνα ἔχουσιν ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ, παρὰ δὲ Φοινίκων Κυθήριοι μαθόντες σέβουσιν· Ἀθηναίοις δὲ κατεστήσατο Αἰγεύς, αὑτῷ τε οὐκ εἶναι παῖδας νομίζων---οὐ γάρ πω τότε ἦσαν--- καὶ ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς γενέσθαι τὴν συμφορὰν ἐκ μηνίματος τῆς Οὐρανίας. τὸ δὲ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἔτι ἄγαλμα λίθου Παρίου καὶ ἔργον Φειδίου · δῆμος δέ ἐστιν Ἀθηναίοις Ἀθμονέων, οἳ Πορφυρίωνα ἔτι πρότερον Ἀκταίου βασιλεύσαντα τῆς Οὐρανίας φασὶ τὸ παρὰ σφίσιν ἱερὸν ἱδρύσασθαι. λέγουσι δὲ ἀνὰ τοὺς δήμους καὶ ἄλλα οὐδὲν ὁμοίως καὶ οἱ τὴν πόλιν ἔχοντες.

English Translation

Nearby is a sanctuary of Aphrodite Ourania. The Assyrians were the first of mankind to worship Ourania; after the Assyrians, the practice passed to the Paphian Cyprians and to the Phoenicians who inhabit Ascalon in Palestine. From the Phoenicians, the people of Cythera learned and adopted her worship. Among the Athenians, Aegeus established her cult, believing that his lack of offspring—for at that time he had none—and the misfortune which befell his sisters were due to the anger of Ourania. The statue that exists in my day is of Parian marble and is a work by Pheidias. Among the Athenians there is a deme known as Athmonia, whose inhabitants say that Porphyrion, who ruled even before Actaeus, founded the sanctuary of Ourania among them. Indeed, the traditions recounted in the demes differ considerably from those held by the inhabitants of the city itself.

Proper Nouns

Ourania (Οὐρανία) deity
Aphrodite Ourania (Ἀφροδίτη Οὐρανία) deity
Also in: 6.20.6
Kytherians (Κύθηροι) people
Paphian Cyprians (Παφίοι Κυπρίων) people
Phoenicians (Φοίνικες) people
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) people
Athmoneans (Ἀθμονεῖς) people
Assyrians (Ἀσσυρίοι) people
Aegeus (Αἰγεύς) person
Porphyrion (Πορφυρίων) person
Pheidias (Φειδίας) person
Actaeus (Ἀκταῖος) person
Also in: 1.2.6 1.5.3
Parian (Πάριος) place
Palestine (Παλαιστίνη) place Q23792
Also in: 9.19.8 10.12.9
Ascalon (Ἀσκάλων) place Q104664899
← 1.14.6 1.15.1 →