Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.31.6

← 8.31.5 8.31.7 →

Passage 8.31.6: Wooden Hermes and the mixed-material Aphrodite called Machanitis.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐποίησεν Ἑρμῆν ξύλου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ξόανον· καὶ ταύτης χεῖρές εἰσι λίθου καὶ πρόσωπόν τε καὶ ἄκροι πόδες. τὴν δὲ ἐπίκλησιν τῇ θεῷ Μαχανῖτιν ὀρθότατα ἔθεντο ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν· Ἀφροδίτης τε γὰρ ἕνεκα καὶ ἔργων τῶν ταύτης πλεῖσται μὲν ἐπιτεχνήσεις, παντοῖα δὲ ἀνθρώποις ἀνευρημένα ἐς λόγους ἐστίν.

English Translation

He made a wooden figure of Hermes, and also a carved image of Aphrodite; her hands, face, and the tips of her feet are of stone. And their surname for the goddess, "Machanitis" ("Deviser"), seems to me exceedingly appropriate; for it is because of Aphrodite and her deeds that most contrivances have been devised, and these contrivances discovered by humankind are of every kind imaginable.

Proper Nouns

Machanitis (Μαχανῖτις) deity
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη) deity
Hermes (Ἑρμῆς) deity
← 8.31.5 8.31.7 →