Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.31.12

← 10.31.11 10.32.1 →

Passage 10.31.12: Polygnotus' painting of Tantalus and the suspended stone.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ὑπὸ τούτῳ δὲ τῷ πίθῳ Τάνταλος καὶ ἄλλα ἔχων ἐστὶν ἀλγεινὰ ὁπόσα Ὅμηρος ἐπʼ αὐτῷ πεποίηκεν, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῖς πρόσεστίν οἱ καὶ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ἐπηρτημένου λίθου δεῖμα. Πολύγνωτος μὲν δῆλός ἐστιν ἐπακολουθήσας τῷ Ἀρχιλόχου λόγῳ· Ἀρχίλοχος δὲ οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε ἐδιδάχθη παρὰ ἄλλων τὰ ἐς τὸν λίθον εἴτε καὶ αὐτὸς ἐς τὴν ποίησιν ἐσηνέγκατο. τοσαύτη μὲν πλῆθος καὶ εὐπρεπείας ἐς τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἥκουσα ἡ τοῦ Θασίου γραφή·

English Translation

Beneath this jar stands Tantalus, enduring all the grievous punishments that Homer attributed to him; and in addition to these sufferings, there is upon him also the terror of the suspended stone. Polygnotus evidently followed here the tradition of Archilochus; but whether Archilochus learned from others the story of the stone, or introduced it himself into his poetry, I cannot say. Such is the scale and beauty to which the painting of the Thasian has attained.

Proper Nouns

Thasian (Θάσιος) other
Also in: 6.11.2 6.15.3
Polygnotus (Πολύγνωτος) person
Tantalus (Τάνταλος) person
Archilochus (Ἀρχίλοχος) person
Also in: 7.10.6
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
← 10.31.11 10.32.1 →