Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.43.8

← 1.43.7 1.44.1 →

Passage 1.43.8: Coroebus founding Tripodiscus and his tomb in Megara.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐς μὲν δὴ τὸ Ἄργος ἀναστρέφειν οὐκ εἴα Κόροιβον ἡ Πυθία, τρίποδα δὲ ἀράμενον φέρειν ἐκέλευεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ ἔνθα ἂν ἐκπέσῃ οἱ φέροντι ὁ τρίπους, ἐνταῦθα Ἀπόλλωνος οἰκοδομῆσαι ναὸν καὶ αὐτὸν οἰκῆσαι. καὶ ὁ τρίπους κατὰ τὸ ὄρος τὴν Γερανίαν ἀπολισθὼν ἔλαθεν αὐτοῦ ἐκπεσών· καὶ Τριποδίσκους κώμην ἐνταῦθα οἰκῆσαι. Κοροίβῳ δέ ἐστι τάφος ἐν τῇ Μεγαρέων ἀγορᾷ· γέγραπται δὲ ἐλεγεῖα τὰ ἐς Ψαμάθην καὶ τὰ ἐς αὐτὸν ἔχοντα Κόροιβον, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐπίθημά ἐστι τῷ τάφῳ Κόροιβος φονεύων τὴν Ποινήν. ταῦτα ἀγάλματα παλαιότατα, ὁπόσα λίθου πεποιημένα ἐστὶν Ἕλλησιν, ἰδὼν οἶδα.

English Translation

The Pythia did not permit Coroebus to return to Argos; instead, she ordered him to take up a tripod from the sanctuary and carry it off, instructing him to build a temple to Apollo and dwell wherever it should fall from his hands. As Coroebus was carrying the tripod, it slipped unnoticed from him and fell upon Mount Gerania; there he founded the village called Tripodiscus. Coroebus has a tomb in the market-place of Megara, upon which are inscribed elegiac verses explicitly mentioning both Psamathe and Coroebus himself, along with an inscription indicating, "Coroebus, the slayer of Poine." These images are the most ancient statues of stone that I have seen among the Greeks.

Proper Nouns

Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Poine (Ποινή) other
Also in: 1.43.7
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) other
Koroibos (Κόροιβος) person
Pythia (Πυθία) person
Psamathe (Ψαμάθη) person
Also in: 1.43.7 2.19.8
Gerania (Γερανία) place
Also in: 1.40.1
Megara (Μεγαρέαι) place Q42307600
Tripodiskoi (Τριποδίσκοι) place
Argos (Ἄργος) place Q13533353
← 1.43.7 1.44.1 →