Pausanias Analysis

Passage 6.23.8

← 6.23.7 6.24.1 →

Passage 6.23.8: The street called Silence named for Oxylus' spies' secret entry.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐκ δὲ τοῦ γυμνασίου πρὸς τὰ λουτρὰ ἐρχομένῳ διʼ ἀγυιᾶς τε ἡ ὁδὸς Σιωπῆς καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Φιλομείρακός ἐστιν Ἀρτέμιδος. τῇ μὲν δὴ θεῷ γέγονεν ἡ ἐπίκλησις ἅτε τοῦ γυμνασίου γείτονι· τῇ ἀγυιᾷ δὲ Σιωπῇ ὄνομα ἐπὶ λόγῳ τοιῷδε τεθῆναι λέγουσιν. ἄνδρες τοῦ Ὀξύλου στρατεύματος ἐπὶ κατασκοπῇ τῶν ἐν Ἤλιδι ἀποπεμφθέντες καὶ ἀλλήλοις διακελευσάμενοι κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ἐπειδὰν πλησίον γίνωνται τοῦ τείχους, φθέγγεσθαι μὲν μηδὲν ἔτι αὐτοί, ἐπακροᾶσθαι δὲ εἴ τι παρὰ τῶν ἐντὸς πυθέσθαι δυνήσονται, οὗτοι λανθάνουσι παρελθόντες ἐς τὴν πόλιν κατὰ τὴν ἀγυιὰν ταύτην καὶ ἐπακούσαντες ὁπόσα ἐβούλοντο ἐπανίασιν αὖθις ἐς τοὺς Αἰτωλούς· καὶ ἡ ἀγυιὰ τὸ ὄνομα εἴληφεν ἀπὸ τῶν κατασκόπων τῆς σιωπῆς.

English Translation

From the gymnasium, the way toward the baths leads along a street called Silence (Siopē), past a temple of Artemis Philomeirax. The goddess received this epithet because her temple is near the gymnasium. As for the street named Silence, they say it received the name from the following event. When men from Oxylus' army had been dispatched as spies to gather information about the Eleans, they instructed one another on the journey that as soon as they approached the walls they should be silent themselves and try to overhear anything they could from those inside. These spies, therefore, secretly passed unnoticed into the city by way of this very street, gathered the intelligence they desired, and returned again to the Aetolians. Thus, the street received its name "Silence" from the spies' secrecy.

Proper Nouns

Philomeirax (Φιλομείραξ) deity
Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) deity
Aetolians (Αἰτωλοί) people
Oxylus (Ὄξυλος) person
Siopē (Σιωπή) place
gymnasium (γυμνάσιον) place Q107031194
Also in: 6.24.1
Elis (Ἦλις) place Q217667
← 6.23.7 6.24.1 →