Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.24.2

← 10.24.1 10.24.3 →

Passage 10.24.2: Homer's bronze statue and traditional tomb on the island of Ios.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ἐνταῦθα ἔγραψαν τὰ εἰρημένα, θεάσαιο δʼ ἂν καὶ εἰκόνα Ὁμήρου χαλκῆν ἐπὶ στήλῃ καὶ ἐπιλέξει τὸ μάντευμα ὃ γενέσθαι τῷ Ὁμήρῳ λέγουσιν· ὄλβιε καὶ δύσδαιμον---ἔφυς γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέροισι---, πατρίδα δίζηαι. μητρὶς δέ τοι, οὐ πατρίς ἐστιν. ἔστιν Ἴος νῆσος μητρὸς πατρίς, ἥ σε θανόντα δέξεται. ἀλλὰ νέων παίδων αἴνιγμα φύλαξαι. δεικνύουσι δὲ οἱ Ἰῆται καὶ Ὁμήρου μνῆμα ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ ἑτέρωθι Κλυμένης, τὴν Κλυμένην μητέρα εἶναι τοῦ Ὁμήρου λέγοντες.

English Translation

Here indeed these words are inscribed; and you might also see a bronze statue of Homer upon a pedestal, with an inscription containing the oracle said to have been given to Homer: "Fortunate and yet unfortunate—for you were born to both—you seek your native land; but yours is a mother's land, not a father's. The island of Ios is your mother's homeland, and it will receive you after death. But beware the riddle of the young children." The people of Ios also show a tomb of Homer on the island, and elsewhere that of Clymene; they say that this Clymene was Homer's mother.

← 10.24.1 10.24.3 →