Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.38.9

← 1.38.8 1.39.1 →

Passage 1.38.9: Antiope's cave and spring at Eleutherae.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἀπωτέρω δὲ ὀλίγον σπήλαιόν ἐστιν οὐ μέγα, καὶ παρʼ αὐτὸ ὕδατος πηγὴ ψυχροῦ· λέγεται δὲ ἐς μὲν τὸ σπήλαιον ὡς Ἀντιόπη τεκοῦσα κατάθοιτο ἐς αὐτὸ τοὺς παῖδας, περὶ δὲ τῆς πηγῆς τὸν ποιμένα εὑρόντα τοὺς παῖδας ἐνταῦθα σφᾶς λοῦσαι πρῶτον ἀπολύσαντα τῶν σπαργάνων. Ἐλευθερῶν δὲ ἦν μὲν ἔτι τοῦ τείχους, ἦν δὲ καὶ οἰκιῶν ἐρείπια· δήλη δὲ τούτοις ἐστὶ πόλις ὀλίγον ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεδίου πρὸς τῷ Κιθαιρῶνι οἰκισθεῖσα.

English Translation

A little further on there is a cave, not large, and beside it a spring of cold water. It is said that Antiope, when she had given birth, placed her children in this cave, and that at the spring the shepherd, having found the infants, first washed them after releasing them from their swaddling clothes. As for Eleutherae, some of the city wall still remains, as well as ruins of houses. From these it is clear that this city was built slightly above the plain, towards Mount Cithaeron.

Proper Nouns

Antiope (Ἀντιόπη) person
Cithaeron (Κιθαιρών) place Q1147780
Eleutherai (Ἐλευθεραι) place Q124635130
← 1.38.8 1.39.1 →