Pausanias Analysis

Passage 2.12.6

← 2.12.5 2.13.1 →

Passage 2.12.6: Phlias—son of Dionysus (mother Araethyrea), one of the Argonauts.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

Φλίαντα δέ, ὃς τρίτον τοῦτο ἐποίησεν ὄνομα ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ τῇ γῇ, Κείσου μὲν παῖδα εἶναι τοῦ Τημένου κατὰ δὴ τὸν Ἀργείων λόγον οὐδὲ ἀρχὴν ἔγωγε προσίεμαι, Διονύσου δὲ οἶδα καλούμενον καὶ τῶν πλευσάντων ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀργοῦς καὶ τοῦτον γενέσθαι λεγόμενον. ὁμολογεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τοῦ Ῥοδίου ποιητοῦ τὰ ἔπη· Φλίας αὖτʼ ἐπὶ τοῖσιν Ἀραιθυρέηθεν ἵκανεν, ἔνθʼ ἀφνειὸς ἔναιε Διωνύσοιο ἕκητι πατρὸς ἑοῦ, πηγῇσιν ἐφέστιος Ἀσωποῖο. Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica 1.115-117 τοῦ δὲ Φλίαντος Ἀραιθυρέαν εἶναι μητέρα, ἀλλʼ οὐ Χθονοφύλην· Χθονοφύλην δέ οἱ συνοικῆσαι καὶ Ἀνδροδάμαν γενέσθαι Φλίαντι ἐξ αὐτῆς.

English Translation

As for Phlias, who thirdly gave his own name to this land, I, for my part, do not in the first place accept at all the Argive account that he was the son of Ceisus son of Temenus; rather, I know that he was called a son of Dionysus and was himself counted among those who sailed on the Argo. In agreement with me are the verses of the poet of Rhodes: “Next came Phlias from Araethyrea, where he dwelt in wealth by the grace of his father Dionysus, beside the springs of Asopus.” The mother of Phlias, according to Apollonius Rhodius (Argonautica 1.115–117), was Araethyrea and not Chthonophyle; but Chthonophyle was his wife and bore him a son, Androdamas.

Proper Nouns

Dionysus (Διόνυσος) deity
Asopos (Ἀσωπός) deity
Argives (Ἀργεῖοι) other
Argo (Ἀργώ) other
Rhodian (Ῥόδιος) other
Also in: 6.14.1
Cisus (Κεῖσος) person
Temenos (Τήμενος) person
Phlias (Φλίας) person
Also in: 2.6.6
Chthonophyle (Χθονοφύλη) person
Also in: 2.6.6
Androdamas (Ἀνδροδάμας) person
Also in: 2.6.6 2.7.6
Arathurea (Ἀραιθύρεια) place
← 2.12.5 2.13.1 →