Pausanias Analysis

Passage 3.24.2

← 3.24.1 3.24.3 →

Passage 3.24.2: The cave of Asclepius at Kyphanta.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

προελθόντι δὲ ἀπὸ Ζάρακος παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν ἑκατόν που στάδια καὶ ἐπιστρέψαντι αὐτόθεν ἐς μεσόγαιαν καὶ ἐπαναβάντι σταδίους ὡς δέκα, Κυφάντων καλουμένων ἐρείπιά ἐστιν, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς σπήλαιον ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ, λίθου δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὕδατος ψυχροῦ κρουνὸς ἐκβάλλων ἐκ πέτρας· Ἀταλάντην θηρεύουσαν ἐνταῦθά φασιν, ὡς ἠνιᾶτο ὑπὸ δίψης, παῖσαι τῇ λόγχῃ τὴν πέτραν καὶ οὕτω ῥυῆναι τὸ ὕδωρ.

English Translation

About one hundred stades after setting out from Zarax along the seacoast, turning from there inland and ascending roughly ten stades, one finds the ruins of a place called Kyphanta. Among these ruins is a cave sacred to Asclepius, and within stands an image made of stone. Here, too, a spring of cold water gushes forth from the rock. They say that Atalanta, while hunting in this place and suffering from thirst, struck the rock with her spear, and thus caused the water to flow.

Proper Nouns

Asclepius (Ἀσκληπιός) deity
Atalanta (Ἀταλάντη) person
Zarakos (Ζάρακες) place Q3558269 Pleiades
Kyphantoi (Κύφαντες) place
← 3.24.1 3.24.3 →