Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.18.1

← 7.17.14 7.18.2 →

Passage 7.18.1: The Achaean city of Olenos and its abandonment

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

σταδίους δὲ ὅσον τεσσαράκοντα προελθόντι ἐκ Δύμης ποταμὸς Πεῖρος ἐς θάλατταν κάτεισι, καὶ Ἀχαιῶν πόλις ποτὲ Ὤλενος ᾠκεῖτο παρὰ τῷ Πείρῳ. ὁπόσοι δὲ ἐς Ἡρακλέα καὶ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ πεποιήκασιν, ἔστιν οὐκ ἐλάχιστά σφισι δείγματα τοῦ λόγου Δεξαμενὸς ὁ ἐν Ὠλένῳ βασιλεὺς καὶ ὁποίων Ἡρακλῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ ξενίων ἔτυχε. καὶ ὅτι μὲν ἦν πόλισμα ἐξ ἀρχῆς μικρὸν ἡ Ὤλενος, μαρτυρεῖ τῷ λόγῳ μου καὶ ἐλεγεῖον ἐς Εὐρυτίωνα Κένταυρον ὑπὸ Ἑρμησιάνακτος πεποιημένον· ἀνὰ χρόνον δὲ τοὺς οἰκήτορας ἐκλιπεῖν ὑπὸ ἀσθενείας φασὶ τὴν Ὤλενον καὶ ἐς Πειράς τε καὶ ἐς Εὐρυτειὰς ἀποχωρῆσαι.

English Translation

About forty stadia from Dyme, the river Peirus meets the sea, and beside the Peirus once stood Olenos, a city of the Achaeans. Among those who have recounted the deeds of Heracles and his labors, Dexamenos, king in Olenos, offers no small confirmation of their stories and of the hospitality that Heracles received from him. That Olenos was originally a small settlement is confirmed by what Hermesianax wrote in his elegy about Eurytion the Centaur. In due course, the inhabitants are said to have abandoned Olenos due to its weakness and migrated to Peirai and Euryteiai.

Proper Nouns

Centaur (Κένταυρος) other
Dexamenos (Δεξαμενός) person Q1207186
Also in: 5.3.3
Eurytion (Εὐρυτίων) person
Also in: 5.10.8
Achaeans (Ἀχαιοί) person
Hermesianax (Ἑρμησιάναξ) person
Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) person
Dyme (Δύμη) place Q1231662
Euryteias (Εὐρυτειάς) place
Peiras (Πειράς) place
Peiros (Πεῖρος) place
Also in: 7.22.1
Olenos (Ὠλενος) place Q11939304
Also in: 7.22.1
← 7.17.14 7.18.2 →