Pausanias Analysis

Passage 2.31.8

← 2.31.7 2.31.9 →

Passage 2.31.8: The booth of Orestes at Troezen.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τοῦ δὲ ἱεροῦ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστιν οἰκοδόμημα ἔμπροσθεν, Ὀρέστου καλούμενον σκηνή. πρὶν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ αἵματι καθαρθῆναι τῆς μητρός, Τροιζηνίων οὐδεὶς πρότερον ἤθελεν αὐτὸν οἴκῳ δέξασθαι· καθίσαντες δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἐκάθαιρον καὶ εἱστίων, ἐς ὃ ἀφήγνισαν. καὶ νῦν ἔτι οἱ ἀπόγονοι τῶν καθηράντων ἐνταῦθα δειπνοῦσιν ἐν ἡμέραις ῥηταῖς. κατορυχθέντων δὲ ὀλίγον ἀπὸ τῆς σκηνῆς τῶν καθαρσίων φασὶν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἀναφῦναι δάφνην, ἣ δὴ καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἔστιν, ἡ πρὸ τῆς σκηνῆς ταύτης.

English Translation

In front of the temple of Apollo stands a building known as "the booth of Orestes." For before he was purified from the guilt of his mother's blood, none among the Troezenians wished to receive him into their home; instead, intending to cleanse him, they placed him here and entertained him while performing rites of purification until he was freed from pollution. Even now, the descendants of those who purified him take their meals there on appointed days. They say that after the purification rites were buried a short distance from this booth, a laurel sprang up from them, and this very laurel still grows in front of the booth even today.

Proper Nouns

Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Orestes (Ὀρέστης) person
Troezenians (Τροιζήνιος) place
← 2.31.7 2.31.9 →