Pausanias Analysis

Passage 10.38.8

← 10.38.7 10.38.9 →

Passage 10.38.8: Myonia (Locri): Meilichian night-sacrifices and a Poseidonion temple.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τούτων δὲ τῶν Λοκρῶν τοσαίδε ἄλλαι πόλεις εἰσίν· ἄνω μὲν ὑπὲρ Ἀμφίσσης πρὸς ἤπειρον Μυονία σταδίοις ἀπωτέρω τριάκοντα Ἀμφίσσης· οὗτοι καὶ τῷ Διὶ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ εἰσὶν οἱ ἀναθέντες Μυᾶνες τὴν ἀσπίδα. κεῖται δὲ τὸ πόλισμα ἐπὶ ὑψηλοῦ, καί σφισιν ἄλσος καὶ βωμὸς θεῶν Μειλιχίων ἐστί· νυκτεριναὶ δὲ αἱ θυσίαι θεοῖς τοῖς Μειλιχίοις εἰσὶ καὶ ἀναλῶσαι τὰ κρέα αὐτόθι πρὶν ἢ ἥλιον ἐπισχεῖν νομίζουσι. καὶ Ποσειδῶνός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν τέμενος καλούμενον Ποσειδώνιον, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ ναὸς Ποσειδῶνος· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐς ἐμὲ οὐκ ἦν.

English Translation

Of these Locrians, there are also the following other cities: above Amphissa, toward the interior, is Myonia, thirty stades distant from Amphissa. It is these Myonians who dedicated the shield at Olympia to Zeus. Their town is situated upon high ground, and they have a grove and an altar of the Meilichian gods. To these Meilichian gods they offer sacrifice by night, and their custom requires them to consume the sacrificial meat on the spot before sunrise. Above the city there is also a sacred precinct of Poseidon, called the Poseidonion, in which stands a temple of Poseidon; but at the time of my visit there was no image within it.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) deity
theoi Meilichioi (the Mild Gods) (θεοὶ Μειλίχιοι) deity
Locrians (Λοκροί) person
Myanes (Μυᾶνες) person
Also in: 6.19.5
Myonia (Μυονία) place
Poseidonion (Ποσειδώνιον) place
Amphissa (Ἄμφισσα) place Q470481 Pleiades
Olympia (Ὀλυμπία) place Q38888 Pleiades
← 10.38.7 10.38.9 →