Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.6.3

← 7.6.2 7.6.4 →

Passage 7.6.3: Achaeans: major at Troy but absent from Thermopylae and Salamis.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τὰ δὲ ἐς πόλεμον τοιάδε ἦν τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς. κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἐς Ἴλιον ἐπιστρατείαν Ἀγαμέμνονος Λακεδαίμονα ἔτι καὶ Ἄργος οἰκοῦντες μεγίστη τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ μοῖρα ἦσαν· κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ξέρξου καὶ Μήδων ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ὁδὸν οὔτε Λεωνίδᾳ τῆς ἐξόδου τῆς ἐς Θερμοπύλας εἰσὶν οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ δῆλοι μετεσχηκότες οὔτε Ἀθηναίοις ὁμοῦ καὶ Θεμιστοκλεῖ πρὸς Εὐβοίᾳ καὶ Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχήσαντες, οὐδὲ σφᾶς κατάλογος συμμάχων ἔχει Λακωνικὸς ἢ Ἀττικός.

English Translation

The Achaeans' role in warfare was as follows. At the time of Agamemnon's expedition against Ilium, when they still inhabited Lacedaemon and Argos, they formed the greatest portion of the Greek forces. However, during the invasion by Xerxes and the Medes into Greece, the Achaeans are nowhere recorded to have participated either in Leonidas' expedition to Thermopylae or in the sea battles alongside the Athenians and Themistocles near Euboea and Salamis; nor do they appear in the lists of allies made by the Lacedaemonians or the Athenians.

Proper Nouns

Themistocles (Θεμιστοκλῆς) person
Leonidas (Λεωνίδας) person
Medes (Μῆδοι) person
Xerxes (Ξέρξης) person
Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων) person
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) person
Achaeans (Ἀχαιοί) person
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) person
Euboea (Εὔβοια) place Q173096
Thermopylae (Θερμοπύλαι) place Q194450 Pleiades
Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων) place Q5690 Pleiades
Laconia (Λακωνική) place Q11931074
Salamis (Σαλαμίς) place Q767089
Attic (Ἀττικός) place Q758056
Also in: 5.25.13 6.3.5
Argos (Ἄργος) place Q13533353
Hellas (Ἑλλάς) place Q7798
Ilion (Ἴλιος) place Q22647
← 7.6.2 7.6.4 →