Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.9.5

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Passage 4.9.5: Lykiskos flees to Sparta with a falsely claimed daughter

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ταῦτα τοῦ θεοῦ δηλώσαντος αὐτίκα ἐκληροῦντο ὅσαι παρθένοι τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν γένους ἦσαν· καὶ ἐπελάμβανε γὰρ Λυκίσκου θυγατέρα ὁ κλῆρος, ταύτην Ἐπήβολος ὁ μάντις ἀπηγόρευεν ὡς οὐ δέοι θύειν, οὐ γὰρ εἶναι Λυκίσκου· τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα ἣ Λυκίσκῳ συνῴκησεν, ὡς τεκεῖν οὔκουν οἵα τε ἦν, ἐν τούτῳ τὴν παῖδα ὑποβαλέσθαι. ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ οὗτος ἀνεδίδασκε τὰ ἐς αὐτήν, ἐν τοσῷδε ὁ Λυκίσκος ἀπαγόμενος ἅμα καὶ τὴν παρθένον ηὐτομόλησεν ἐς Σπάρτην.

English Translation

When the god had made this clear, at once all the maidens of the race of the Aepytidae drew lots. Although the lot fell upon the daughter of Lykiskos, Epebolos the seer declared she should not be sacrificed, for she was not truly the child of Lykiskos. He revealed that Lykiskos' wife, unable herself to bear children, had introduced another's child as her own. While the seer was disclosing these matters concerning the girl, Lykiskos, who had meanwhile set off, fled with the maiden to Sparta.

Proper Nouns

Aipytides (descendants of Aipytos) (Αἰπυτίδης) person
Lyciscus (Λυκίσκος) person
Epibolos (Ἐπήβολος) person
Also in: 4.9.8 4.10.5
Sparta (Σπάρτη) place Q5690 Pleiades
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