Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.27.10

← 1.27.9 1.28.1 →

Passage 1.27.10: Theseus sacrifices the Cretan bull on the Acropolis.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

κομισθῆναι μὲν δὴ τὸν ταῦρον τοῦτόν φασιν ἐς Πελοπόννησον ἐκ Κρήτης καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ τῶν δώδεκα καλουμένων ἕνα καὶ τοῦτον γενέσθαι τὸν ἆθλον· ὡς δὲ ἐς τὸ πεδίον ἀφείθη τὸ Ἀργείων, φεύγει διὰ τοῦ Κορινθίου ἰσθμοῦ, φεύγει δὲ ἐς γῆν τὴν Ἀττικὴν καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐς δῆμον τὸν Μαραθωνίων, καὶ ἄλλους τε ὁπόσοις ἐπέτυχε καὶ Μίνω παῖδα Ἀνδρόγεων ἀπέκτεινε. Μίνως δὲ ναυσὶν ἐπʼ Ἀθήνας πλεύσας---οὐ γὰρ ἐπείθετο ἀναιτίους εἶναι σφᾶς τῆς Ἀνδρόγεω τελευτῆς---ἐς τοσοῦτον ἐκάκωσεν, ἐς ὃ συνεχωρήθη οἱ παρθένους ἐς Κρήτην ἑπτὰ καὶ παῖδας ἴσους ἄγειν τῷ λεγομένῳ Μίνω ταύρῳ τὸν ἐν Κνωσσῷ Λαβύρινθον οἰκῆσαι· τὸν δὲ ἐν τῷ Μαραθῶνι ταῦρον ὕστερον Θησεὺς ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἐλάσαι καὶ θῦσαι λέγεται τῇ θεῷ, καὶ τὸ ἀνάθημά ἐστι τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Μαραθωνίων.

English Translation

They say that this bull was brought from Crete into the Peloponnese, and that capturing it was also one of the so-called twelve labours of Heracles. When it was set free in the plain belonging to the Argives, it fled through the Isthmus of Corinth and made its way into Attica, finally reaching the territory of Marathon. There it slew whomever it encountered, including Androgeos, a son of Minos. Consequently Minos, sailing with his fleet against Athens—since he refused to accept that the Athenians were blameless in the death of Androgeos—caused them so much distress that it was ultimately agreed that they would send seven maidens and an equal number of youths to Crete, to feed the bull reputedly belonging to Minos that inhabited the Labyrinth in Knossos. Later, they say, Theseus drove the bull from Marathon to the Acropolis and sacrificed it to the goddess, and the offering belongs to the people of Marathon.

Proper Nouns

Labyrinth (Λαβύρινθος) other
Theseus (Θησεύς) person
Minos (Μίνως) person
Androgeos (Ἀνδρόγεως) person
Also in: 1.1.2 1.1.4
Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) person
Knossos (Κνωσός) place Q173527 Pleiades
Corinthian Isthmus (Κορίνθιος ἰσθμός) place
Crete (Κρήτη) place Q34374 Pleiades
Marathon (Μαραθών) place Q212150 Pleiades
Marathonians (Μαραθώνιοι) place Q398180
Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος) place Q78967
Athens (Ἀθῆναι) place Q844930
Attica (Ἀττική) place Q122443
← 1.27.9 1.28.1 →