Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.15.3

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Passage 10.15.3: Oracle foretelling Attalus' defeat of the Gauls

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἦ τότʼ ἀμειψάμενος στεινὸν πόρον Ἑλλησπόντου † αὐδήσει Γαλατῶν ὀλοὸς στρατός, οἵ ῥʼ ἀθεμίστως Ἀσίδα πορθήσουσι· θεὸς δʼ ἔτι κύντερα θήσει πάγχυ μάλʼ, οἳ ναίουσι παρʼ ἠϊόνεσσι θαλάσσης--- εἰς ὀλίγον· τάχα γάρ σφιν ἀοσσητῆρα Κρονίων ὁρμήσει, ταύροιο διοτρεφέος φίλον υἱόν, ὃς πᾶσιν Γαλάτῃσιν ὀλέθριον ἦμαρ ἐφήσει. παῖδα δὲ εἶπε ταύρου τὸν ἐν Περγάμῳ βασιλεύσαντα Ἄτταλον· τὸν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ ταυρόκερων προσείρηκε χρηστήριον.

English Translation

Then, having crossed the narrow strait of the Hellespont, the destructive army of the Gauls shall utter its voice; they will impiously ravage Asia. Yet the god will bring upon them sufferings even harsher still, indeed upon all who dwell briefly by the shores of the sea. Soon afterward, Cronion will send against them a helper, the beloved son of a bull fostered by Zeus, who shall bring a day of destruction upon all the Gauls alike. By "son of a bull" the oracle meant Attalus, who reigned as king in Pergamon; it is this very man whom the oracle elsewhere named "bull-horned."

Proper Nouns

Son of Kronos (i.e., Zeus) (Κρονίων) deity
god (θεός) deity
Galatians (Γαλάται) person
Attalus (Ἄτταλος) person
Pergamum (Πέργαμον) place Q18986
Also in: 2.26.9 6.24.8
Asia (Ἀσία) place Q210718
Hellespont (Ἑλλήσποντος) place Q1250462
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