Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.2.7

← 8.2.6 8.3.1 →

Passage 8.2.7: Niobe weeping on Mount Sipylus.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Νιόβην λέγουσιν ἐν Σιπύλῳ τῷ ὄρει θέρους ὥρᾳ κλαίειν. ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ἤκουσα, τοῖς γρυψὶ στίγματα ὁποῖα καὶ ταῖς παρδάλεσιν εἶναι, καὶ ὡς οἱ Τρίτωνες ἀνθρώπου φωνῇ φθέγγοιντο· οἱ δὲ καὶ φυσᾶν διὰ κόχλου τετρυπημένης φασὶν αὐτούς. ὁπόσοι δὲ μυθολογήμασιν ἀκούοντες ἥδονται, πεφύκασι καὶ αὐτοί τι ἐπιτερατεύεσθαι· καὶ οὕτω τοῖς ἀληθέσιν ἐλυμήναντο, συγκεραννύντες αὐτὰ ἐψευσμένοις.

English Translation

Similarly, they say Niobe, on Mount Sipylus, weeps during summertime. Besides this, I have also heard accounts of griffins having spots like those of leopards, and that Tritons utter sounds in human speech; some even say they blow through a pierced conch shell. People who delight in mythical tales naturally tend themselves toward wonders, and thus have corrupted truths by blending them with falsehoods.

Proper Nouns

Tritones (Τρίτωνες) other
Niobe (Νιόβη) person
Sipylus (Σίπυλος) place Q532698
← 8.2.6 8.3.1 →