Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.34.9

← 4.34.8 4.34.10 →

Passage 4.34.9: Dryopes (Asinaeans) defeated by Heracles and resettled in Asine and later Messenia

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

Ἀσιναῖοι δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς Λυκωρίταις ὅμοροι περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν ᾤκουν· ὄνομα δὲ ἦν αὐτοῖς, ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐς Πελοπόννησον διεσώσαντο, ἀπὸ τοῦ οἰκιστοῦ Δρύοπες. γενεᾷ δὲ ὕστερον τρίτῃ βασιλεύοντος Φύλαντος μάχῃ τε οἱ Δρύοπες ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους ἐκρατήθησαν καὶ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἀνάθημα ἤχθησαν ἐς Δελφούς· ἀναχθέντες δὲ ἐς Πελοπόννησον χρήσαντος Ἡρακλεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ πρῶτα μὲν τὴν πρὸς Ἑρμιόνι Ἀσίνην ἔσχον, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἐκπεσόντες ὑπὸ Ἀργείων οἰκοῦσιν ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ, Λακεδαιμονίων δόντων καὶ ὡς ἀνὰ χρόνον οἱ Μεσσήνιοι κατήχθησαν οὐ γενομένης σφίσιν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἀναστάτου τῆς πόλεως.

English Translation

The Asinaeans originally dwelt around Mount Parnassus, neighboring the Lycoreans. They had received the name Dryopes from their founder, which they preserved even after migrating into the Peloponnesus. Later, during the third generation, when Phylas was king, the Dryopes were defeated by Heracles in battle, brought as an offering to Apollo to Delphi, and then transported to the Peloponnesus by Heracles, following an oracle from the god. There they first occupied Asine near Hermione; but driven out from there by the Argives, they settled in Messenia, with the Spartans granting them land after the Messenians eventually had been reduced—though the original city had not been destroyed by them.

Proper Nouns

Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Dryopes (Δρύοπες) person
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) person
Lycoritae (Λυκωρίται) person
Messenians (Μεσσήνιοι) person
Phylas (Φύλαντος) person
Argives (Ἀργεῖοι) person
Asinaeans (Ἀσιναῖοι) person
Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) person
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
Messenia (Μεσσηνία) place Q1247159
Parnassus (Παρνασσός) place Q105261
Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος) place Q78967
Asine (Ἀσίνη) place Q1154474
Hermione (Ἑρμιών) place Q58401924
← 4.34.8 4.34.10 →