Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.13.1

← 10.12.11 10.13.2 →

Passage 10.13.1: Bronze Paeonian bison dedicated at Delphi by King Dropion.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

βίσωνος δὲ ταύρου τῶν Παιονικῶν χαλκοῦ πεποιημένην κεφαλὴν Δρωπίων Λέοντος ἔπεμψεν ἐς Δελφοὺς βασιλεὺς Παιόνων. οὗτοι οἱ βίσωνες χαλεπώτατοι θηρίων εἰσὶν ἁλίσκεσθαι ζῶντες, καὶ δίκτυα οὐκ ἂν οὕτω γένοιτο ἰσχυρὰ ὡς ἀντισχεῖν τῇ ἐμβολῇ. θηρεύονται δὲ οὗτοι τρόπον τοιόνδε. ἐπειδὰν χωρίον οἱ ἀγρεύοντες πρανὲς εὕρωσι καθῆκον ἐς κοιλότητα, πρῶτα μὲν φράγματι ἰσχυρῷ πέριξ ὠχυρώσαντο, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ κάταντες καὶ τὸ περὶ τῷ πέρατι ὁμαλὸν αὐτοῦ νεοδάρτοις βύρσαις κατεστόρεσαν· ἢν δὲ τύχωσιν ἀποροῦντες βυρσῶν, τότε καὶ τὰ αὖα τῶν δερμάτων ὑπὸ ἐλαίου σφίσιν ὀλισθηρὰ ποιεῖται.

English Translation

A head made from bronze, depicting a Paeonian bull known as the bison, was sent to Delphi by Dropion son of Leon, king of the Paeonians. These bisons are the hardest of all beasts to capture alive, and there is no net strong enough to withstand their charge. They are hunted in the following way. The hunters first look for a place sloping downward into a hollow; having found this, they build a strong fence around it. Then they lay freshly-flayed hides over the downward slope and the level ground at its foot. If they are unable to obtain fresh hides, they soak dry skins in olive oil and thus make them slippery.

Proper Nouns

Paeonian (Παιονικός) other
Dropion (Δρωπίων) person Q5308451
Leon (Λέων) person
Paeonians (Παίονες) person
Also in: 9.21.2
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
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