Pausanias Analysis

Passage 5.11.7

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Passage 5.11.7: Statue of Zeus by Phidias with Graces, Seasons, and a Theseus-Amazons frieze.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς ἀνωτάτω τοῦ θρόνου πεποίηκεν ὁ Φειδίας ὑπὲρ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ἀγάλματος τοῦτο μὲν Χάριτας, τοῦτο δὲ Ὥρας, τρεῖς ἑκατέρας. εἶναι γὰρ θυγατέρας Διὸς καὶ ταύτας ἐν ἔπεσίν ἐστιν εἰρημένα· Ὅμηρος δὲ ἐν Ἰλιάδι ἐποίησε τὰς Ὥρας καὶ ἐπιτετράφθαι τὸν οὐρανὸν καθάπερ τινὰς φύλακας βασιλέως αὐλῆς. τὸ ὑπόθημα δὲ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς τοῖς ποσίν, ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ καλούμενον θρανίον, λέοντάς τε χρυσοῦς καὶ Θησέως ἐπειργασμένην ἔχει μάχην τὴν πρὸς Ἀμαζόνας, τὸ Ἀθηναίων πρῶτον ἀνδραγάθημα ἐς οὐχ ὁμοφύλους.

English Translation

On the highest parts of the throne, above the head of the statue, Phidias has fashioned on one side the Graces and on the other side the Seasons, three of each. Indeed, in poetry these too are said to be daughters of Zeus. Homer, in the Iliad, depicted the Seasons as having charge over heaven, like guardians of a royal court. The footstool beneath the feet of Zeus—called thranion by the Athenians—is decorated with golden lions and shows the battle of Theseus against the Amazons, the Athenians' earliest heroic deed against foreign foes.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Charites (Χάριτες) deity
Horae (Ὧραι) deity
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) other
Amazons (Ἀμαζόνες) other
Iliad (Ἰλιάς) other
Theseus (Θησεύς) person
Pheidias (Φειδίας) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Attica (Ἀττική) place Q122443
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