Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.32.17

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Passage 10.32.17: A profane man enters Tithorea's sanctuary and dies after seeing phantoms.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

πομπεύει τε δὴ πάντα ὅσα ἔθυσαν καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον τὰ ἱερεῖα ἐσπέμπουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἔμπροσθε τοῦ ἀδύτου καθαγίζουσι τὰς σκηνὰς καὶ ἀποχωροῦσιν αὐτοὶ σπουδῇ. καί φασί ποτε ἄνθρωπον οὐ τῶν καταβαινόντων ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον, βέβηλον δέ, ἡνίκα ἤρχετο ἡ πυρὰ καίεσθαι, τηνικαῦτα ἐσελθεῖν ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον ὑπὸ πολυπραγμοσύνης τε καὶ τόλμης· καί οἱ πάντα ἀνάπλεα εἰδώλων φαίνεσθαι, καὶ ἀναστρέψαι μὲν αὐτὸν ἐς τὴν Τιθορέαν, διηγησάμενον δὲ ἃ ἐθεάσατο ἀφεῖναι τὴν ψυχήν.

English Translation

Then they proceed solemnly with all the sacrificial rites, and while some send the victims into the inner sanctuary, others set fire to the tents in front of the sanctuary and hastily withdraw. And they say that once, when the pyre had just begun burning, a man—not one of those who descend into the holy place, but a profane person—entered the sanctuary, driven by excessive curiosity and boldness. And the sanctuary appeared to him filled completely with phantoms, and when he returned to Tithorea and recounted what he had seen, he immediately gave up his life.

Proper Nouns

Tithorea (Τιθορέα) place Q56697763
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