Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.26.13

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Passage 7.26.13: Donoussa: small town between Aegeira and Pellene, named in Homer and mis-copied by Peisistratus.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

Αἰγείρας δὲ ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ καὶ Πελλήνης πόλισμα ὑπήκοον Σικυωνίων Δονοῦσσα καλουμένη ἐγένετο μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Σικυωνίων ἀνάστατος, μνημονεύειν δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρον ἐν καταλόγῳ τῶν σὺν Ἀγαμέμνονί φασιν αὐτῆς ποιήσαντα ἔπος οἵ θʼ Ὑπερησίην τε καὶ αἰπεινὴν Δονόεσσαν· Hom. Il. 2.573 Πεισίστρατον δέ, ἡνίκα ἔπη τὰ Ὁμήρου διεσπασμένα τε καὶ ἄλλα ἀλλαχοῦ μνημονευόμενα ἤθροιζε, τότε αὐτὸν Πεισίστρατον ἢ τῶν τινα ἑταίρων μεταποιῆσαι τὸ ὄνομα ὑπὸ ἀγνοίας.

English Translation

Between Aegeira and Pellene there was a small town called Donoussa, subject to the Sicyonians. Though it was destroyed by the Sicyonians, they say Homer mentions it in his catalogue of Agamemnon's forces: “and Hyperesia and steep Donoessa” (Homer, Iliad 2.573). But they claim that when Peisistratus was gathering together Homer’s verses, which had become scattered and preserved in separate locations, either Peisistratus himself or one of his companions mistakenly changed the town’s name through ignorance.

Proper Nouns

Iliad (Ἰλιάς) other
Peisistratus (Πεισίστρατος) person
Sicyonians (Σικυώνιοι) person
Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Aigeira (Αἴγειρα) place Q18363976
Donoussa (Δονοῦσσα) place
Donoessa (Δονόεσσα) place
Pellene (Πέλληνα) place Q2068130
Hyperesia (Ὑπερησίη) place Q3563508
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