Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.21.3

← 8.21.2 8.21.4 →

Passage 8.21.3: Kleitor and its sanctuaries of Demeter, Asclepius, and Eileithyia

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τῇ δὲ Κλειτορίων πόλει τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐτέθη τοῦ Ἀζᾶνος, οἰκεῖται δʼ ἐν ὁμαλῷ, κύκλῳ δὲ ὄρη περιέχοντά ἐστιν οὐ μεγάλα. Κλειτορίοις δὲ ἱερὰ τὰ ἐπιφανέστατα Δήμητρος τό τε Ἀσκληπιοῦ, τρίτον δέ ἐστιν Εἰλειθυίας εἶναι, καὶ ἀριθμὸν ἐποίησεν οὐδένα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς· Λύκιος δὲ Ὠλὴν ἀρχαιότερος τὴν ἡλικίαν, Δηλίοις ὕμνους καὶ ἄλλους ποιήσας καὶ ἐς Εἰλείθυιαν τε , εὔλινόν τε αὐτὴν ἀνακαλεῖ--- δῆλον ὡς τῇ πεπρωμένῃ τὴν αὐτήν---καὶ Κρόνου πρεσβυτέραν φησὶν εἶναι.

English Translation

The city of Kleitor took its name from the son of Azan, and lies situated in a plain surrounded in a circle by mountains that are not high. Among the Cleitorians the most notable sanctuaries are those of Demeter, of Asclepius, and the third is said to be that of Eileithyia, although its sacred songs have no orderly arrangement. Olen the Lycian, who lived in an earlier age, composed hymns for the Delians, including one to Eileithyia, in which he clearly calls her "spinner of destinies," thus evidently identifying her with Fate, and declares her to be older even than Cronus.

Proper Nouns

Asclepius (Ἀσκληπιός) deity Q83223
Demeter (Δήμητρα) deity Q40730
Eileithyia (Εἰλείθυια) deity Q94066
Cronus (Κρόνος) deity Q44204
Delians (Δήλιοι) other
Also in: 1.18.5 9.40.4
Azan (Ἀζάν) person
Also in: 6.8.5 8.4.3 10.9.5
Lycian (Λύκιος) person Q60234610
Olen (Ὠλὲν) person Q978308
Kleitor (Κλειτορίς) place Q2537130
← 8.21.2 8.21.4 →