Pausanias Analysis

Passage 2.35.7

← 2.35.6 2.35.8 →

Passage 2.35.7: Cow sacrifice by four old women whose victims all fall the same way.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τέσσαρες δὲ ἔνδον ὑπολειπόμεναι γρᾶες, αὗται τὴν βοῦν εἰσιν αἱ κατεργαζόμεναι· δρεπάνῳ γὰρ ἥτις ἂν τύχῃ τὴν φάρυγγα ὑπέτεμε τῆς βοός. μετὰ δὲ αἱ θύραι τε ἠνοίχθησαν καὶ προσελαύνουσιν οἷς ἐπιτέτακται βοῦν δὲ δευτέραν καὶ τρίτην ἐπὶ ταύτῃ καὶ ἄλλην τετάρτην. κατεργάζονταί τε δὴ πάσας κατὰ ταὐτὰ αἱ γρᾶες καὶ τόδε ἄλλο πρόσκειται τῇ θυσίᾳ θαῦμα· ἐφʼ ἥντινα γὰρ ἂν πέσῃ τῶν πλευρῶν ἡ πρώτη βοῦς, ἀνάγκη πεσεῖν καὶ πάσας.

English Translation

Inside remain four old women whose duty it is to dispatch the cow; for one of them, whoever happens to do so, cuts the throat of the cow with a sickle. Thereupon the doors are opened, and those who are appointed bring forward a second cow, and upon this a third, and another, a fourth. The old women then dispatch them all in the same manner. Moreover, a further marvel accompanies the sacrifice: whichever side the first cow falls upon, all the others must necessarily fall upon that same side.

Proper Nouns

sickle (δρέπανον) other
← 2.35.6 2.35.8 →