Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.17.11

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Passage 7.17.11: The birth and upbringing of Attis

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ὡς δὲ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἀναφῦσα ἀμυγδαλῆ εἶχεν ὡραῖον τὸν καρπόν, θυγατέρα τοῦ Σαγγαρίου ποταμοῦ λαβεῖν φασι τοῦ καρποῦ· ἐσθεμένης δὲ ἐς τὸν κόλπον καρπὸς μὲν ἐκεῖνος ἦν αὐτίκα ἀφανής, αὐτὴ δὲ ἐκύει· τεκούσης δὲ τράγος περιεῖπε τὸν παῖδα ἐκκείμενον. ὡς δὲ αὐξανομένῳ κάλλους οἱ μετῆν πλέον ἢ κατὰ εἶδος ἀνθρώπου, ἐνταῦθα τοῦ παιδὸς ἔρως ἔσχεν Ἄγδιστιν. αὐξηθέντα δὲ Ἄττην ἀποστέλλουσιν ἐς Πεσσινοῦντα οἱ προσήκοντες συνοικήσοντα τοῦ βασιλέως θυγατρί·

English Translation

And when an almond tree sprang up from them bearing beautiful fruit, they say that the daughter of the river Sangarius picked from its fruit. After she placed the fruit into her bosom, it suddenly vanished, and she herself conceived. When she gave birth, a goat tended to the infant who had been exposed. As the child grew, his beauty surpassed that belonging merely to human shape, and Agdistis fell in love with him. When Attis had grown to manhood, his relatives sent him to Pessinus to marry the daughter of the king.

Proper Nouns

Agdistis (Ἄγδιστις) deity
Attis (Ἄττης) person
Pessinus (Πεσσινοῦς) place Q728353
Also in: 7.17.10
Sangarius (Σαγγάριος) place Q217466
Also in: 1.4.5 8.9.7
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