Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.12.7

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Passage 10.12.7: Herophile born in the Corycus cave at Erythrae

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

Ἐρυθραῖοι δὲ---ἀμφισβητοῦσι γὰρ τῆς Ἡροφίλης προθυμότατα Ἑλλήνων---Κώρυκόν τε καλούμενον ὄρος καὶ ἐν τῷ ὄρει σπήλαιον ἀποφαίνουσι, τεχθῆναι τὴν Ἡροφίλην ἐν αὐτῷ λέγοντες, Θεοδώρου δὲ ἐπιχωρίου ποιμένος καὶ νύμφης παῖδα εἶναι· Ἰδαίαν δὲ ἐπίκλησιν γενέσθαι τῇ νύμφῃ κατʼ ἄλλο μὲν οὐδέν, τῶν δὲ χωρίων τὰ δασέα ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἴδας τότε ὀνομάζεσθαι. τὸ δὲ ἔπος τὸ ἐς τὴν Μάρπησσον καὶ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Ἀϊδωνέα, τοῦτο οἱ Ἐρυθραῖοι τὸ ἔπος ἀφαιροῦσιν ἀπὸ τῶν χρησμῶν.

English Translation

The Erythraeans—who among the Greeks dispute most zealously about Herophile—point out a mountain called Corycus, and in this mountain a cave, claiming that Herophile was born therein and that she was daughter to a local shepherd named Theodorus and a nymph. They say the name of this nymph was Idaea, named thus for no other reason than that the thickly wooded places were then called “idae” by the inhabitants. However, the verse concerning Marpessus and the river Aidoneus, this verse the Erythraeans remove entirely from her oracles.

Proper Nouns

Theodoros (Θεόδωρος) person
Erythraeans (Ἐρυθραῖοι) person
Herophile (Ἡροφίλη) person
Idaia (Ἰδαία) person
Corycus (Κώρυκος) place
Marpessa (Μάρπησσα) place Q65040326
Aidoneus (Ἀϊδωνεύς) place Q131903567
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