Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.26.4

← 4.26.3 4.26.5 →

Passage 4.26.4: Spartan defeat at Leuctra and its fated origin in Aristodemus.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐγένετό τε οὐ μετὰ πολὺ ἐν Λεύκτροις Λακεδαιμονίων τὸ ἀτύχημα ὀφειλόμενον ἐκ παλαιοῦ· Ἀριστοδήμῳ γὰρ τῷ βασιλεύσαντι Μεσσηνίων ἐπὶ τελευτῇ τοῦ χρησμοῦ τοῦ δοθέντος ἐστὶν ἕρδʼ ὅππῃ τὸ χρεών· ἄτη δʼ ἄλλοισι πρὸ ἄλλων· ὡς ἐν μὲν τῷ παρόντι ἐκεῖνον δέον καὶ Μεσσηνίους κακῶς πρᾶξαι, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον καὶ Λακεδαίμονα ἐπιληψομένης τῆς ἄτης.

English Translation

Not long afterward occurred the disaster of the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra, an event long overdue. For its origin goes back to Aristodemus, who had reigned over the Messenians, and at his death an oracle had foretold: "Act as fate ordains; ruin comes upon various men at various times." At that time, accordingly, destruction was fated for Aristodemus himself and for the Messenians, but at a later period it was to overtake even Lacedaemon.

Proper Nouns

Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) person
Messenians (Μεσσήνιοι) person
Aristodemus (Ἀριστοδήμος) person
Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων) place Q5690 Pleiades
Leuctra (Λεῦκτρα) place Q56761602
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