Pausanias Analysis

Passage 3.1.1

← 2.38.7 3.1.2 →

Passage 3.1.1: Lelex and early Laconian kings; Eurotas drains the plain, forming the Eurotas.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

μετὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἑρμᾶς ἐστιν ἤδη Λακωνικὴ τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέρας. ὡς δὲ αὐτοὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσι, Λέλεξ αὐτόχθων ὢν ἐβασίλευσε πρῶτος ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου Λέλεγες ὧν ἦρχεν ὠνομάσθησαν. Λέλεγος δὲ γίνεται Μύλης καὶ νεώτερος Πολυκάων. Πολυκάων μὲν δὴ ὅποι καὶ διʼ ἥντινα αἰτίαν ἀπεχώρησεν, ἑτέρωθι δηλώσω· Μύλητος δὲ τελευτήσαντος παρέλαβεν ὁ παῖς Εὐρώτας τὴν ἀρχήν. οὗτος τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ λιμνάζον ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ διώρυγι κατήγαγεν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν, ἀπορρυέντος δὲ---ἦν γὰν δὴ τὸ ὑπόλοιπον ποταμοῦ ῥεῦμα--- ὠνόμασεν Εὐρώταν.

English Translation

After the Herms, going westward, you come presently to the part called Laconia. According to the accounts of the Lacedaemonians themselves, Lelex, an earth-born native, was the first king who ruled this land, and from him the Leleges, the people he governed, derived their name. Lelex had two sons, Myles and a younger one, Polycaon. On another occasion I shall explain where Polycaon went and why he left the country. On the death of Myles, his son Eurotas succeeded to the throne. Eurotas channeled off the standing water that filled the plain by cutting a canal to the sea; and when this water had drained away, the stream that remained became a river, which he named Eurotas after himself.

Proper Nouns

Hermes (Ἑρμῆς) deity
Eurotas (Εὐρώτας) person Q111157900
Also in: 3.1.2 3.18.6
Leleges (Λέλεγες) person
Also in: 1.39.6 7.2.8 7.4.1
Lelegos (Λέλεγος) person
Lelex (Λέλεξ) person
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) person
Myles (Μύλης) person
Also in: 4.1.1
Polycaon (Πολυκάων) person
Laconia (Λακωνική) place Q11931074
← 2.38.7 3.1.2 →