Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.3.3

← 4.3.2 4.3.4 →

Passage 4.3.3: Heraclidae seize Messenia; Cresphontes claims it.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

διαπολεμηθέντος δὲ τοῦ πρὸς Ἴλιον πολέμου καὶ Νέστορος ὡς ἐπανῆλθεν οἴκαδε τελευτήσαντος, Δωριέων στόλος καὶ ἡ κάθοδος Ἡρακλειδῶν γενομένη δύο γενεαῖς ὕστερον ἐξέβαλε τοὺς Νηλέως ἀπογόνους ἐκ τῆς Μεσσηνίας. καί μοι ταῦτα ἐγένετο ἤδη τῷ λόγῳ προσθήκη τῷ ἐς Τισαμενόν· πλὴν τοσόνδε ἔτι δηλώσω. Τημένῳ τῶν Δωριέων Ἄργος ἐφέντων ἔχειν, Κρεσφόντης γῆν σφᾶς ᾔτει τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἅτε καὶ αὐτὸς Ἀριστοδήμου πρεσβύτερος.

English Translation

After the completion of the war against Ilium, and after Nestor had returned home and died, the expedition of the Dorians and the return of the Heracleidae, occurring two generations later, expelled the descendants of Neleus from Messenia. These events already came up as an addition in my discussion of Tisamenus, but I will still clarify this point further. When Temenus and the Dorians allotted Argos to themselves, Cresphontes requested for his people the land of Messenia, especially as he himself was older than Aristodemus.

Proper Nouns

Dorians (Δωριεῖς) person
Cresphontes (Κρεσφόντης) person
Nestor (Νέστωρ) person
Neleus (Νηλεύς) person
Temenos (Τήμενος) person
Tisamenus (Τισαμενός) person
Aristodemos (Ἀριστόδημος) person
Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι) person
Messenia (Μεσσηνία) place Q1247159
Argos (Ἄργος) place Q13533353
Ilium (Ἴλιον) place Q22647
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