Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.20.2

← 1.20.1 1.20.3 →

Passage 1.20.2: Phryne claims Praxiteles' Eros by observing his agitated reaction.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

Πραξιτέλης δὲ αὐτίκα ἔθει διὰ θυρῶν ἔξω καί οἱ καμόντι οὐδὲν ἔφασκεν εἶναι πλέον, εἰ δὴ καὶ τὸν Σάτυρον ἡ φλὸξ καὶ τὸν Ἔρωτα ἐπέλαβε· Φρύνη δὲ μένειν θαρροῦντα ἐκέλευε· παθεῖν γὰρ ἀνιαρὸν οὐδέν, τέχνῃ δὲ ἁλόντα ὁμολογεῖν τὰ κάλλιστα ὧν ἐποίησε. Φρύνη μὲν οὕτω τὸν Ἔρωτα αἱρεῖται· Διονύσῳ δὲ ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῷ πλησίον Σάτυρός ἐστι παῖς καὶ δίδωσιν ἔκπωμα· Ἔρωτα δʼ ἑστηκότα ὁμοῦ καὶ Διόνυσον Θυμίλος ἐποίησεν.

English Translation

Immediately Praxiteles rushed out through the doors, saying that he had labored in vain if indeed the flames had taken both the Satyr and the Eros. But Phryne urged him to be calm and remain, since no harm had occurred, yet by his agitation he unknowingly revealed to her clearly which pieces he considered the most beautiful of all he had made. By this stratagem, Phryne chose for herself the Eros. As for the Satyr, it is represented in the nearby temple of Dionysus—the figure of a boy offering a drinking-cup. And Thymilos created the group showing the standing figures of Eros and Dionysus together.

Proper Nouns

Dionysus (Διόνυσος) deity
Eros (Ἔρως) deity
Satyrs (Σάτυρος) other
Also in: 1.23.5 1.23.6
Thymilos (Θυμίλος) person
Praxiteles (Πραξιτέλης) person
Phryne (Φρύνη) person
← 1.20.1 1.20.3 →