Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.44.4

← 8.44.3 8.44.5 →

Passage 8.44.4: Subterranean mingling and separation of the Eurotas and Alpheios rivers.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

τοῦ δὲ Εὐρώτα τὸ ὕδωρ ἀνακεράννυταί τε πρὸς τὸν Ἀλφειὸν καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ εἴκοσι σταδίους κοινῷ προΐασι τῷ ῥεύματι· κατελθόντες δὲ ἐς χάσμα ὁ μὲν αὐτῶν ἄνεισιν αὖθις ἐν τῇ γῇ τῇ Λακεδαιμονίων ὁ Εὐρώτας, ὁ δὲ Ἀλφειὸς ἐν Πηγαῖς τῆς Μεγαλοπολίτιδος. ἔστι δὲ ἄνοδος ἐξ Ἀσέας ἐς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Βόρειον καλούμενον, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ἄκρᾳ τοῦ ὄρους σημεῖά ἐστιν ἱεροῦ· ποιῆσαι δὲ τὸ ἱερὸν Ἀθηνᾷ τε Σωτείρᾳ καὶ Ποσειδῶνι Ὀδυσσέα ἐλέγετο ἀνακομισθέντα ἐξ Ἰλίου.

English Translation

The water of the Eurotas mingles with that of the Alpheios, and for about twenty stadia they flow onwards in a single, common stream; but afterward, descending underground into a chasm, one of them, the Eurotas, comes up again within the land of the Lacedaemonians, while the other, the Alpheios, emerges at Pegae in the territory of Megalopolis. From Asea there is an ascent to the mountain called Boreion, and at its summit there are visible remains of a sanctuary; it is said that Odysseus, after returning home from Troy, founded the sanctuary there for Athena Soteira and Poseidon.

Proper Nouns

Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν) deity
Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ) deity
Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς) person
Boreion (Βόρειον) place Q112301773
Eurotas (Εὐρώτας) place Q119152
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) place Q16157161
Megalopolitan territory (Μεγαλοπολίτις) place
Pegai (Πηγαί) place Q935675
Also in: 1.44.4 8.54.3
Alpheios (Ἀλφειός) place Q941745
Asea (Ἀσεα) place Q60791566
Ilion (Ἴλιος) place Q22647
← 8.44.3 8.44.5 →