Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.25.7

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Passage 7.25.7: Sanctuary of the Eumenides at Ceryneia.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐν Κερυνείᾳ δὲ ἱερόν ἐστιν Εὐμενίδων· ἱδρύσασθαι δὲ αὐτὸ Ὀρέστην λέγουσιν. ὃς δʼ ἂν ἐνταῦθα ἢ αἵματι ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ μιάσματι ἔνοχος ἢ καὶ ἀσεβὴς ἐσέλθῃ θέλων θεάσασθαι, αὐτίκα λέγεται δείμασιν ἐκτὸς τῶν φρενῶν γίνεσθαι· καὶ τοῦδε ἕνεκα οὐ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἡ ἔσοδος οὐδὲ ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ἐστι. τοῖς μὲν δὴ ἀγάλμασι ξύλων εἰργασμένοις μέγεθός εἰσιν οὐ μεγάλοι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἔσοδον ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν γυναικῶν εἰκόνες λίθου τέ εἰσιν εἰργασμέναι καὶ ἔχουσαι τέχνης εὖ· ἐλέγοντο δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἱέρειαι ταῖς Εὐμενίσιν αἱ γυναῖκες γενέσθαι.

English Translation

In Ceryneia there is a sanctuary of the Eumenides, which they say was founded by Orestes. Anyone who enters this place either stained by blood or defilement of another kind, or even who is impious and yet desires to look upon it, is immediately said to become driven out of his senses by terrors. For this reason, entrance is not permitted to everyone, nor casually. The statues, which are of wood, are not large in size, but at the entrance to the sanctuary there are images of women carved from stone and skillfully crafted. The locals say that these women were priestesses of the Eumenides.

Proper Nouns

Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες) deity
Orestes (Ὀρέστης) person
Ceryneia (Κερύνεια) place Q12879058
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