Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.17.6

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Passage 7.17.6: Dyme (the city) and Oebotas of Dyme's commemorative statue at Olympia

Historical Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ τὰ μὲν ἀρχαιότερα Πάλεια· ἐχόντων δὲ ἔτι Ἰώνων ὄνομά οἱ μετέθεντο τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν, σαφῶς δὲ οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἐπιχωρίας Δύμης εἴτε ἀπὸ Δύμαντος τοῦ Αἰγιμίου. ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ ἐλεγείου τοῦ Ὀλυμπίασιν ἐπὶ τῇ εἰκόνι τῇ Οἰβώτα οὐ προαχθείη ἄν τις ἐς ἀλογίαν. Οἰβώτᾳ γὰρ ἀνδρὶ Δυμαίῳ, σταδίου μὲν ἀνελομένῳ νίκην Ὀλυμπιάδι ἕκτῃ, εἰκόνος δὲ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ περὶ τὴν ὀγδοηκοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα κατὰ μάντευμα ἐκ Δελφῶν ἀξιωθέντι, ἐπίγραμμά ἐστιν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ λέγον·

English Translation

In earlier times, the city was called Paleia; but when the Ionians still inhabited it, they changed the name to that which it bears today. But I cannot clearly determine whether it was named after a local woman, Dyme, or after Dymas, the son of Aegimius. Moreover, considering the elegiac verses inscribed at Olympia upon the statue of Oebotas, no one could reasonably argue otherwise. For Oebotas of Dyme, who won the stadium race at the sixth Olympiad, was finally honored by a statue at Olympia around the eightieth Olympiad, after an oracle from Delphi so commanded. Upon this statue there is an inscription which reads:

Proper Nouns

Olympiad (Ὀλυμπιάς) other
Aegimius (Αἰγίμιος) person Q4893810
Also in: 2.28.6
Dymian (Δυμαῖος) person
Dymas (Δύμας) person
Oibotas (Οἰβώτας) person
Also in: 7.17.7 7.17.14
Ionians (Ἴωνες) person
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
Dyme (Δύμη) place Q1231662
Paleia (Πάλεια) place
Also in: 7.17.7
Olympia (Ὀλυμπία) place Q38888 Pleiades
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