Pausanias Analysis

Passage 3.22.1

← 3.21.9 3.22.2 →

Passage 3.22.1: Argos lithos (stone where Orestes was cured of his madness)

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

Γυθίου δὲ τρεῖς μάλιστα ἀπέχει σταδίους ἀργὸς λίθος· Ὀρέστην λέγουσι καθεσθέντα ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ παύσασθαι τῆς μανίας· διὰ τοῦτο ὁ λίθος ὠνομάσθη Ζεὺς Καππώτας κατὰ γλῶσσαν τὴν Δωρίδα. ἡ δὲ νῆσος ἡ Κρανάη πρόκειται Γυθίου, καὶ Ὅμηρος Ἀλέξανδρον ἁρπάσαντα Ἑλένην ἐνταῦθα ἔφη συγγενέσθαι οἱ πρῶτον. κατὰ δὲ τὴν νῆσον ἱερόν ἐστιν Ἀφροδίτης ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ Μιγωνίτιδος, καὶ ὁ τόπος οὗτος ἅπας καλεῖται Μιγώνιον.

English Translation

About three stades from Gythium is a stone named "Argos lithos" ("inactive stone"). It is said that Orestes sat down there and was relieved of his madness; thus, in the Dorian dialect, the stone is called Zeus Kappotas. Opposite Gythium lies the island of Cranae, where Homer says that Alexander, after abducting Helen, first united with her. On the island there is a temple dedicated to Aphrodite Migonitis on the mainland, and the whole place is called Migonium.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Kappotas (Καππώτας) deity
Migonitis (Μιγωνίτις) deity
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη) deity
Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος) person
Helen (Ἑλένη) person
Orestes (Ὀρέστης) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Gytheion (Γύθειον) place Q56398303
Doris (Δωρίς) place
Kranae (Κρανάη) place Q5181876
Migonion (Μιγώνιον) place Q110372255
Also in: 3.22.2
← 3.21.9 3.22.2 →