Pausanias Analysis

Passage 3.11.9

← 3.11.8 3.11.10 →

Passage 3.11.9: Spartan agora with shrines and Gymnopaediae choruses

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τὰ μὲν Τισαμενοῦ τοιαῦτα ἐπυνθανόμην ὄντα· Σπαρτιάταις δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς Πυθαέως τέ ἐστιν καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Λητοῦς ἀγάλματα. Χορὸς δὲ οὗτος ὁ τόπος καλεῖται πᾶς, ὅτι ἐν ταῖς γυμνοπαιδίαις---ἑορτὴ δὲ εἴ τις ἄλλη καὶ αἱ γυμνοπαιδίαι διὰ σπουδῆς Λακεδαιμονίοις εἰσίν---ἐν ταύταις οὖν οἱ ἔφηβοι χοροὺς ἱστᾶσι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι. τούτων δὲ οὐ πόρρω Γῆς ἱερὸν καὶ Διός ἐστιν Ἀγοραίου, τὸ δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς Ἀγοραίας καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ὃν ἐπονομάζουσιν Ἀσφάλιον, καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος αὖθις καὶ Ἥρας·

English Translation

Such were the things I learned concerning Tisamenus. In the Spartan marketplace there are images of Pythaeus, Apollo, Artemis, and Leto. This entire place is called Chorus because during the Gymnopaediae—a festival which the Lacedaemonians celebrate with particular seriousness—the youths form choruses in honor of Apollo. Not far from these is a sanctuary of Earth and Zeus Agoraeus, as well as sanctuaries of Athena Agoraea, and Poseidon surnamed Asphalius, and again of Apollo, and of Hera.

Proper Nouns

Ge (Earth) (Γῆ) deity
Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Leto (Λητώ) deity
Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) deity
Pythaeus (Πυθαεύς) deity
Also in: 2.35.2
Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ) deity
Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) deity
Hera (Ἥρα) deity
Asphalios (Ἀσφάλιος) other
Also in: 7.21.7
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) person
Spartiates (Σπαρτιάται) person
Tisamenus (Τισαμένης) person
Also in: 6.14.13
← 3.11.8 3.11.10 →