Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.30.6

← 10.30.5 10.30.7 →

Passage 10.30.6: Orpheus seated in Persephone's willow grove, playing a lyre.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἀποβλέψαντι δὲ αὖθις ἐς τὰ κάτω τῆς γραφῆς, ἔστιν ἐφεξῆς μετὰ τὸν Πάτροκλον οἷα ἐπὶ λόφου τινὸς Ὀρφεὺς καθεζόμενος, ἐφάπτεται δὲ καὶ τῇ ἀριστερᾷ κιθάρας, τῇ δὲ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ ἰτέας ψαύει· κλῶνές εἰσιν ὧν ψαύει, προσανακέκλιται δὲ τῷ δένδρῳ. τὸ δὲ ἄλσος ἔοικεν εἶναι τῆς Περσεφόνης, ἔνθα αἴγειροι καὶ ἰτέαι δόξῃ τῇ Ὁμήρου πεφύκασιν· Ἑλληνικὸν δὲ τὸ σχῆμά ἐστι τῷ Ὀρφεῖ, καὶ οὔτε ἡ ἐσθὴς οὔτε ἐπίθημά ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ Θρᾴκιον.

English Translation

Looking again toward the lower part of the painting, next after Patroclus is depicted Orpheus sitting as if upon some hillock; he touches a lyre with his left hand, while with his other hand he grazes a willow. It is the branches of the tree he touches, and he leans against it. The grove appears to be the grove of Persephone, where poplars and willows have grown, following the Homeric tradition. Orpheus himself is portrayed in Greek manner: neither his clothing nor the covering upon his head is Thracian.

Proper Nouns

Persephone (Περσεφόνη) deity
Thracian (Θρᾴξ) other
kithara (lyre) (κιθάρα) other
Hellenic [War] (Ἑλληνικός) other
Also in: 4.6.1
Patroclus (Πάτροκλος) person
Orpheus (Ὀρφεύς) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
← 10.30.5 10.30.7 →