Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.22.7

← 4.22.6 4.23.1 →

Passage 4.22.7: Aristocrates stoned and a stele erected at Zeus Lycaeus.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ὡς δὲ ἀπηγγέλθη ταῦτα ἐς ἅπαντας, αὐτοί τε τὸν Ἀριστοκράτην ἔβαλλον οἱ Ἀρκάδες καὶ τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις διεκελεύοντο· οἱ δὲ ἐς τὸν Ἀριστομένην ἀπέβλεπον. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐς τὴν γῆν ἀφορῶν ἔκλαιεν· τὸν δὲ Ἀριστοκράτην οἱ Ἀρκάδες καταλιθώσαντες τὸν μὲν τῶν ὅρων ἐκτὸς ἐκβάλλουσιν ἄταφον, στήλην δὲ ἀνέθεσαν ἐς τὸ τέμενος τοῦ Λυκαίου λέγουσαν πάντως ὁ χρόνος εὗρε δίκην ἀδίκῳ βασιλῆι, εὗρε δὲ Μεσσήνης σὺν Διὶ τὸν προδότην ῥηιδίως. χαλεπὸν δὲ λαθεῖν θεὸν ἄνδρʼ ἐπίορκον. χαῖρε Ζεῦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ σάω Ἀρκαδίαν.

English Translation

When this news was announced openly, the Arcadians themselves stoned Aristocrates and urged the Messenians to join; but the Messenians looked instead towards Aristomenes. Aristomenes, gazing down at the ground, wept. After stoning Aristocrates to death, the Arcadians cast him beyond their borders without burial. In the precinct of Zeus Lycaeus, they erected a stele with this inscription: "In time, justice found out the unrighteous king; And swiftly, aided by Zeus, Messene discovered the traitor. It is difficult for a perjured man to escape the notice of the god. Hail, Zeus, King, and protect Arcadia."

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Aristocrates (Ἀριστοκράτης) person
Aristomenes (Ἀριστομένης) person
Lykaion (Λύκαιον) place Q1878690
Messene (Μεσσήνη) place Q1022117
Messenians (Μεσσηνιοί) place
Arcadians (Ἀρκάδες) place Q11906401
Arcadia (Ἀρκαδία) place Q12898802
← 4.22.6 4.23.1 →