Pausanias Analysis

Passage 5.20.1

← 5.19.10 5.20.2 →

Passage 5.20.1: Dedications at Olympia: Hippodameia's couch and the discus of Iphitus bearing the Olympic truce.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἔστι δὲ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἄλλα ἀναθήματα, κλίνη τε μέγεθος οὐ μεγάλη, τὰ πολλὰ ἐλέφαντι κεκοσμημένη, καὶ ὁ Ἰφίτου δίσκος καὶ τράπεζα ἐφʼ ἧς προτίθενται τοῖς νικῶσιν οἱ στέφανοι. τὴν μὲν δὴ Ἱπποδαμείας λέγουσιν εἶναι παίγνιον· ὁ δὲ τοῦ Ἰφίτου δίσκος τὴν ἐκεχειρίαν, ἣν ἐπὶ τοῖς Ὀλυμπίοις ἐπαγγέλλουσιν Ἠλεῖοι, ταύτην οὐκ ἐς εὐθὺ ἔχει γεγραμμένην, ἀλλὰ ἐς κύκλου σχῆμα περίεισιν ἐπὶ τῷ δίσκῳ τὰ γράμματα.

English Translation

Here too are other dedications, including a couch of modest size, mostly decorated with ivory, the discus of Iphitus, and the table on which the crowns for the victors are set out. The couch, they say, was a plaything of Hippodameia. On the discus of Iphitus is inscribed the truce, which the people of Elis proclaim during the Olympic Games; but the inscription is not written straight, for the letters are arranged in a circular shape around the discus.

Proper Nouns

Olympic Games (Ὀλύμπια) other
Eleans (Ἠλεῖοι) person
Iphitus (Ἰφῖτος) person
Also in: 5.8.5 10.13.8
Hippodameia (Ἱπποδάμεια) person
← 5.19.10 5.20.2 →