Pausanias Analysis

Passage 3.8.2

← 3.8.1 3.8.3 →

Passage 3.8.2: Spartan disdain for poetic praise of their kings.

Historical Skeptical

Greek Text

δοκοῦσι δὲ οἱ Σπαρτιᾶταί μοι ποίησιν καὶ ἔπαινον τὸν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἥκιστα ἀνθρώπων θαυμάσαι· ὅτι γὰρ μὴ τῇ Κυνίσκᾳ τὸ ἐπίγραμμα ἐποίησεν ὅστις δή, καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Παυσανίᾳ τὸ ἐπὶ τῷ τρίποδι Σιμωνίδης τῷ ἀνατεθέντι ἐς Δελφούς, ἄλλο δέ γε παρὰ ἀνδρὸς ποιητοῦ Λακεδαιμονίων τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐς μνήμην.

English Translation

The Spartans, it seems to me, hold poetry and the praise derived from it in the least esteem of all men. Except for the epigram composed for Cynisca by someone or other, and an earlier one by Simonides inscribed upon the tripod dedicated at Delphi for Pausanias, there is nothing else composed by a poet to commemorate the kings of the Lacedaemonians.

Proper Nouns

Kyniska (Κυνίσκα) person
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) person
Pausanias (Παυσανίας) person
Simonides (Σιμωνίδης) person
Also in: 1.2.3 6.9.9 9.2.5
Spartiates (Σπαρτιᾶται) person
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
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