Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.17.3

← 8.17.2 8.17.4 →

Passage 8.17.3: White blackbirds at Cyllene.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

παρέχεται δὲ καὶ θαῦμα τοιόνδε ἡ Κυλλήνη· κόσσυφοι γὰρ οἱ ὄρνιθες ὁλόλευκοί εἰσιν ἐν αὐτῇ· οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ Βοιωτῶν καλούμενοι γένος ἄλλο πού τί εἰσιν ὀρνίθων, οὐκ ᾠδικόν. ἀετοὺς μὲν οὖν ὀνομαζομένους κυκνίας μάλιστα ἐοικότας κύκνῳ λευκότητα οἶδα ἐν Σιπύλῳ θεασάμενος περὶ λίμνην καλουμένην Ταντάλου· ὗς δὲ ἀγρίους λευκοὺς καὶ ἄρκτους τῶν Θρᾳκίων λευκὰς ἤδη που καὶ ἄνδρες ἐκτήσαντο ἰδιῶται·

English Translation

Cyllene offers also the following marvel: there the birds called blackbirds are altogether white. Those which the Boeotians call by this name, however, are a different kind of bird entirely, not songbirds. I myself have seen near Sipylus, by the lake called Tantalus' lake, certain birds called swan-eagles, resembling swans especially in whiteness. Moreover, white wild boars and white bears from Thrace have already at times been kept by private individuals.

Proper Nouns

Boeotians (Βοιωτοί) person
Thracians (Θρᾷκες) person
Tantalus (Τάνταλος) person
Kyllene (Κυλλήνη) place Q56650616
Sipylus (Σίπυλος) place Q532698
← 8.17.2 8.17.4 →