Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.31.6

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Passage 4.31.6: Mother of the Gods statue by Damophon in the Messenian marketplace.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

Μεσσηνίοις δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ Διός ἐστιν ἄγαλμα Σωτῆρος καὶ Ἀρσινόη κρήνη· τὸ μὲν δὴ ὄνομα ἀπὸ τῆς Λευκίππου θυγατρὸς εἴληφεν, ὑπορρεῖ δὲ ἐς αὐτὴν ὕδωρ ἐκ πηγῆς καλουμένης Κλεψύδρας. θεῶν δὲ ἱερὰ Ποσειδῶνος, τὸ δὲ Ἀφροδίτης ἐστί· καὶ οὗ μάλιστα ἄξιον ποιήσασθαι μνήμην, ἄγαλμα Μητρὸς θεῶν λίθου Παρίου, Δαμοφῶντος δὲ ἔργον, ὃς καὶ τὸν Δία ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ διεστηκότος ἤδη τοῦ ἐλέφαντος συνήρμοσεν ἐς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον· καί οἱ δεδομέναι τιμαὶ παρὰ Ἠλείων εἰσί.

English Translation

In the marketplace of the Messenians there is a statue of Zeus Soter ("Zeus the Savior") and a spring called Arsinoe. It took its name from the daughter of Leucippus, and water runs into it from a spring called Clepsydra. There are also sanctuaries of gods: one of Poseidon, and another of Aphrodite; and most deserving of mention is a statue of the Mother of the Gods carved from Parian marble, the work of Damophon, who also restored the ivory of the statue of Zeus at Olympia when it had come apart, connecting it again with the greatest precision. Honors were accordingly given to him by the Eleans.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Mother of the Gods (Μήτηρ θεῶν) deity
Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) deity
Soter (Σωτήρ) deity
Also in: 8.30.10 8.31.7
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη) deity
Damophon (Δαμοφῶν) person Q1158742
Leucippus (Λεύκιππος) person
Arsinoe (Ἀρσινόη) person
Eleans (Ἠλεῖοι) person
Klepsydra (Κλεψύδρα) place Q117826120
Also in: 4.33.1
Messene (Μεσσήνη) place Q1022117
Parian (Πάριος) place
Olympia (Ὀλυμπία) place Q38888 Pleiades
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