Pausanias Analysis

Passage 2.18.7

← 2.18.6 2.18.8 →

Passage 2.18.7: Heracleidae claim Argos and Messenia from Tisamenus

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ Τισαμενοῦ τούτου κατίασιν ἐς Πελοπόννησον Ἡρακλεῖδαι, Τήμενος μὲν καὶ Κρεσφόντης Ἀριστομάχου, τοῦ τρίτου δὲ Ἀριστοδήμου προτεθνεῶτος εἵποντο οἱ παῖδες. Ἄργους μὲν δὴ καὶ τῆς ἐν Ἄργει βασιλείας ὀρθότατα ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἠμφισβήτουν, ὅτι ἦν Πελοπίδης ὁ Τισαμενός, οἱ δὲ Ἡρακλεῖδαι τὸ ἀνέκαθέν εἰσι Περσεῖδαι· Τυνδάρεω δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκπεσόντα ἀπέφαινον ὑπὸ Ἱπποκόωντος, Ἡρακλέα δὲ ἔφασαν ἀποκτείναντα Ἱπποκόωντα καὶ τοὺς παῖδας παρακαταθέσθαι Τυνδάρεῳ τὴν χώραν· τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς Μεσσηνίας ἕτερα ἔλεγον, παρακαταθήκην Νέστορι δοθῆναι καὶ ταύτην ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους ἑλόντος Πύλον.

English Translation

In the reign of this Tisamenus the Heracleidae came down into the Peloponnese, that is, Temenus and Cresphontes the sons of Aristomachus, and the children of Aristodemus, the third brother, who had already died. They made a truly just claim, it seems to me, to Argos and the royal authority therein; for Tisamenus was a Pelopid, whereas the Heracleidae, on the other hand, were originally Perseids. They pointed out, moreover, that Tyndareus himself had once been driven out by Hippocoon, and that Heracles, after killing Hippocoon and his sons, had entrusted the country to Tyndareus as a sacred trust. Similarly they asserted different claims regarding Messenia, that it had also been left as a trust with Nestor after Heracles had conquered Pylos.

Proper Nouns

Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) deity
Cresphontes (Κρεσφόντης) person
Nestor (Νέστωρ) person
Pelopid (Πελοπίδης) person
Also in: 5.4.3
Perseidae (descendants of Perseus) (Περσεῖδαι) person
Temenos (Τήμενος) person
Tisamenus (Τισαμενός) person
Tyndareus (Τυνδάρεως) person
Aristodemos (Ἀριστόδημος) person
Aristomachus (Ἀριστόμαχος) person
Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι) person
Hippocoön (Ἱπποκόων) person
Messenia (Μεσσηνία) place Q1247159
Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος) place Q78967
Pylos (Πύλος) place Q3904982
Argos (Ἄργος) place Q13533353
← 2.18.6 2.18.8 →