Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.14.7

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Passage 4.14.7: Aristomenes honored as a hero by the Messenians.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐπετράφη δὲ νεότης καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, οἱ δὲ ἄριστοι καὶ ἀριθμὸν πλεῖστοι περὶ τὴν Ἀνδανίαν, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ Ἀριστομένης, ὃς καὶ νῦν ἔτι ὡς ἥρως ἔχει παρὰ Μεσσηνίοις τιμάς. καί οἱ καὶ τὰ τῆς γενέσεως ἐπιφανέστερα ὑπάρξαι νομίζουσι· Νικοτελείᾳ γὰρ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ δαίμονα ἢ θεὸν δράκοντι εἰκασμένον συγγενέσθαι λέγουσι. τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ Μακεδόνας ἐπὶ Ὀλυμπιάδι καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀριστοδάμᾳ Σικυωνίους οἶδα εἰρηκότας, διάφορα δὲ τοσόνδε ἦν·

English Translation

Elsewhere too within Messenia the young men were entrusted with responsibilities, but the best and the greatest in numbers were stationed around Andania. Among them was Aristomenes as well, who even now continues to receive honors from the Messenians as a hero. They consider him to have had a very distinguished birth, for they say that his mother Nicoteleia united with a divine being or god in the form of a serpent. I know that similar things have been said by the Macedonians regarding Olympias, and by the Sicyonians concerning Aristodama, but there was this distinction:

Proper Nouns

Macedonians (Μακεδόνες) person
Messenians (Μεσσήνιοι) person
Nicoteles (Νικοτέλεια) person
Sicyonians (Σικυώνιοι) person
Aristodama (Ἀριστοδάμας) person
Aristomenes (Ἀριστομένης) person
Olympias (Ὀλυμπιάς) person
Messenia (Μεσσηνία) place Q1247159
Andania (Ἀνδανία) place Q2537068 Pleiades
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