Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.12.1

← 10.11.6 10.12.2 →

Passage 10.12.1: Herophile the Sibyl at Delphi's prophetic rock

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

πέτρα δέ ἐστιν ἀνίσχουσα ὑπὲρ τῆς γῆς· ἐπὶ ταύτῃ Δελφοὶ στᾶσάν φασιν ᾆσαι τοὺς χρησμοὺς γυναῖκα ὄνομα Ἡροφίλην, Σίβυλλαν δὲ ἐπίκλησιν. τὴν δὲ πρότερον γενομένην, ταύτην ταῖς μάλιστα ὁμοίως οὖσαν ἀρχαίαν εὕρισκον, ἣν θυγατέρα Ἕλληνες Διὸς καὶ Λαμίας τῆς Ποσειδῶνός φασιν εἶναι, καὶ χρησμούς τε αὐτὴν γυναικῶν πρώτην ᾆσαι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Λιβύων Σίβυλλαν λέγουσιν ὀνομασθῆναι.

English Translation

There is a rock projecting above the ground; the Delphians say that on this rock a woman named Herophile, surnamed the Sibyl, stood to chant her oracles. Examining earlier traditions, I found that this woman was particularly similar to an earlier one whom the Greeks declare to have been the daughter of Zeus and Lamia, herself child of Poseidon, and they say that she was the first woman to chant prophecies and was named Sibyl by the Libyans.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) deity
Libyans (Λίβυες) other
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) other
Lamia (Λαμία) person
Sibyl (Σίβυλλα) person
Herophile (Ἡροφίλη) person
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
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