Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.12.2

← 10.12.1 10.12.3 →

Passage 10.12.2: Herophile the Sibyl's prophecies of Helen and her hymn to Apollo.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἡ δὲ Ἡροφίλη νεωτέρα μὲν ἐκείνης, φαίνεται δὲ ὅμως πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου γεγονυῖα καὶ αὕτη τοῦ Τρωικοῦ, καὶ Ἑλένην τε προεδήλωσεν ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς, ὡς ἐπʼ ὀλέθρῳ τῆς Ἀσίας καὶ Εὐρώπης τραφήσοιτο ἐν Σπάρτῃ, καὶ ὡς Ἴλιον ἁλώσεται διʼ αὐτὴν ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων. Δήλιοι δὲ καὶ ὕμνον μέμνηνται τῆς γυναικὸς ἐς Ἀπόλλωνα. καλεῖ δὲ οὐχ Ἡροφίλην μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἄρτεμιν ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν αὑτήν, καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος γυνὴ γαμετή, τοτὲ δὲ ἀδελφὴ καὶ αὖθις θυγάτηρ φησὶν εἶναι.

English Translation

Herophile was younger than that Sibyl, yet she also appears to have lived before the Trojan War. In her prophecies she foretold of Helen, declaring that she would be raised in Sparta for the ruin of Asia and Europe, and that through her Ilium would fall to the Greeks. The Delians preserve memory of a hymn composed by this woman addressed to Apollo. In its verses she names herself not only Herophile but also Artemis, and states that sometimes she is Apollo's wife, sometimes his sister, and at other times his daughter.

Proper Nouns

Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) deity
Trojan War (Τρωικὸς πόλεμος) other
Delians (Δήλιοι) person
Also in: 8.33.2
Helen (Ἑλένη) person
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) person
Herophile (Ἡροφίλη) person
Europe (Εὐρώπη) place Q46 Pleiades
Sparta (Σπάρτη) place Q5690 Pleiades
Asia (Ἀσία) place Q210718
Ilium (Ἴλιον) place Q22647
← 10.12.1 10.12.3 →