Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.24.14

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Passage 8.24.14: Homer's mixed fortune symbolized by Zeus' two jars

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἄνδρα δὲ συμφορῶν ἀεὶ στάντα ἐκτὸς ἢ τὰ πάντα οὐρίῳ ναῦν χρησαμένην πνεύματι οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως δυνησόμεθα ἐξευρεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ὅμηρος κατακείμενον παρὰ τῷ Διὶ ἀγαθῶν πίθον, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον κακῶν ἐποίησεν, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς θεοῦ δεδιδαγμένος, ὃς αὐτόν ποτε Ὅμηρον κακοδαίμονά τε προσεῖπε καὶ ὄλβιον ὡς φύντα ἐπὶ ἀμφοτέροις ὁμοίως.

English Translation

It is impossible for us to find a man who has always stood apart from misfortune, or a ship that has sailed entirely with a favorable wind. Homer himself represented this when he attributed to Zeus two jars, one filled with good and the other with evil, having learned this from the god at Delphi, who once called Homer himself unhappy but also fortunate, as one equally endowed with both conditions from birth.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Delphi (Δελφοί) place Q75459 Pleiades
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