Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.11.5

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Passage 9.11.5: Icarus' burial mound on an island beyond Samos.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

Ἰκάρῳ δὲ κυβερνῶντι ἀμαθέστερον ἀνατραπῆναι τὴν ναῦν λέγουσιν· ἀποπνιγέντα δὲ ἐξήνεγκεν ὁ κλύδων ἐς τὴν ὑπὲρ Σάμου νῆσον ἔτι οὖσαν ἀνώνυμον. ἐπιτυχὼν δὲ Ἡρακλῆς γνωρίζει τὸν νεκρόν, καὶ ἔθαψεν ἔνθα καὶ νῦν ἔτι αὐτῷ χῶμα οὐ μέγα ἐπὶ ἄκρας ἐστὶν ἀνεχούσης ἐς τὸ Αἰγαῖον. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἰκάρου τούτου ὄνομα ἥ τε νῆσος καὶ ἡ περὶ αὐτὴν θάλασσα ἔσχηκε.

English Translation

They say that due to Icarus steering incompetently, the ship capsized; after he drowned, the waves carried his body ashore onto an island beyond Samos that was then nameless. Heracles happened upon the corpse, recognized him, and buried him there. Even now a small mound for him remains on a headland projecting into the Aegean Sea. Thus, from this Icarus both the island and the surrounding sea received their names.

Proper Nouns

Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) person
Icarus (Ἴκαρος) person
Also in: 4.15.1 9.11.4
Aegean (Αἰγαῖον) place Q34575 Pleiades
Samos (Σάμος) place Q13580795
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