Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.2.3

← 8.2.2 8.2.4 →

Passage 8.2.3: Lycaon sacrifices an infant to Zeus Lycaeus and is turned into a wolf.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ὁ μὲν γὰρ Δία τε ὠνόμασεν Ὕπατον πρῶτος, καὶ ὁπόσα ἔχει ψυχήν, τούτων μὲν ἠξίωσεν οὐδὲν θῦσαι, πέμματα δὲ ἐπιχώρια ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ καθήγισεν, ἃ πελάνους καλοῦσιν ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς Ἀθηναῖοι· Λυκάων δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν τοῦ Λυκαίου Διὸς βρέφος ἤνεγκεν ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἔθυσε τὸ βρέφος καὶ ἔσπεισεν ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ αὐτὸν αὐτίκα ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ γενέσθαι λύκον φασὶν ἀντὶ ἀνθρώπου.

English Translation

For he was the first to name Zeus the Supreme, and judged none of the creatures possessing life worthy to be sacrificed to him; rather, he consecrated upon the altar certain local cakes, which the Athenians even to our day call "pelanoi." But Lycaon brought to the altar of Zeus Lycaeus an infant human, slew the child as a sacrifice, and poured its blood out upon the altar; immediately upon performing the sacrifice, they say, he himself changed from human into a wolf.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Lycaean Zeus (Λύκαιος Ζεύς) deity
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) other
Lycaon (Λυκάων) person
Hypatos (Ὕπατος) place Q107243158
Also in: 9.19.3
← 8.2.2 8.2.4 →