Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.38.2

← 8.38.1 8.38.3 →

Passage 8.38.2: Mount Lykaion (Cretea), the Arcadian mountain claimed as the place where Zeus was nurtured.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Δεσποίνης τὸ ὄρος ἐστὶ τὸ Λύκαιον· καλοῦσι δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ Ὄλυμπον καὶ Ἱεράν γε ἕτεροι τῶν Ἀρκάδων κορυφήν. τραφῆναι δὲ τὸν Δία φασὶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ· καὶ χώρα τέ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ Λυκαίῳ Κρητέα καλουμένη---αὕτη δὲ ἡ Κρητέα ἐστὶν ἐξ ἀριστερᾶς Ἀπόλλωνος ἄλσους ἐπίκλησιν Παρρασίου---καὶ τὴν Κρήτην, ἔνθα ὁ Κρητῶν ἔχει λόγος τραφῆναι Δία, τὸ χωρίον τοῦτο εἶναι καὶ οὐ διὰ τὴν νῆσον ἀμφισβητοῦσιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες.

English Translation

To the left of the sanctuary of Despoina is Mount Lykaion; some Arcadians call this peak also Olympos, and others name it the Holy Peak. They say that Zeus was nurtured on this mountain, and there is a region on Lykaion called Cretea—this Cretea lies to the left of the grove sacred to Apollo, surnamed Parrhasios. The Arcadians maintain that it is this place called Cretea, rather than the island of Crete, which is referred to in the Cretan tradition as the place where Zeus was nurtured, and accordingly they dispute the island’s claim.

Proper Nouns

Despoina (Δέσποινα) deity
Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Apollo (Ἀπόλλων) deity
Cretans (Κρῆτες) person
Arcadians (Ἀρκάδες) person
Crete (Κρήτη) place Q34374 Pleiades
Kreteia (Κρητέα) place Q137386922
Lykaion (Λύκαιον) place Q1878690
Parrhasios (Παρράσιος) place
Hiera (Ἱερά) place
Olympus (Ὄλυμπος) place Q290144
← 8.38.1 8.38.3 →