Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.27.2

← 7.27.1 7.27.3 →

Passage 7.27.2: Pellene's Athena temple with Phidias' ivory-and-gold cult statue and underground chamber.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐς αὐτὴν τὴν πόλιν ἐστὶν Ἀθηνᾶς λίθου μὲν ἐπιχωρίου ναός, ἐλέφαντος δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα καὶ χρυσοῦ· Φειδίαν δὲ εἶναι τὸν εἰργασμένον φασὶ πρότερον ἔτι ἢ ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει τε αὐτὸν τῇ Ἀθηναίων καὶ ἐν Πλαταιαῖς ποιῆσαι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τὰ ἀγάλματα. λέγουσι δὲ οἱ Πελληνεῖς καὶ ἄδυτον τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς καθήκειν ἐς βάθος τῆς γῆς, εἶναι δὲ τὸ ἄδυτον τοῦτο ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγάλματος τῷ βάθρῳ, καὶ τὸν ἀέρα ἐκ τοῦ ἀδύτου νότιόν τε εἶναι καὶ διʼ αὐτὸ τῷ ἐλέφαντι ἐπιτήδειον.

English Translation

On the road leading into the city itself is a temple to Athena, built from the local stone, but the statue is of ivory and gold. They say Phidias crafted this image even earlier than the statues of Athena he made on the Acropolis in Athens and at Plataea. The Pelleneans also say that a sanctuary chamber of Athena extends downward beneath the earth, situated beneath the statue's pedestal, and that the air from this underground chamber is moist and thereby beneficial to the ivory.

Proper Nouns

Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ) deity
Pelleneans (Πελληνεῖς) other
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) other
Pheidias (Φειδίας) person
Plataea (Πλαταιαί) place Q742538
Acropolis (ἀκρόπολις) place Q131013
← 7.27.1 7.27.3 →