Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.15.6

← 9.15.5 9.16.1 →

Passage 9.15.6: Elegiac inscription on Epaminondas' statue: founder of Messene, liberator of Greece

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τῷ δὲ ἀνδριάντι τοῦ Ἐπαμινώνδου καὶ ἐλεγεῖα ἔπεστιν ἄλλα τε ἐς αὐτὸν λέγοντα καὶ ὅτι Μεσσήνης γένοιτο οἰκιστὴς καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὑπάρξειεν ἐλευθερία διʼ αὐτοῦ. καὶ οὕτως ἔχει τὰ ἐλεγεῖα· ἡμετέραις βουλαῖς Σπάρτη μὲν ἐκείρατο δόξαν, Μεσσήνη δʼ ἱερὴ τέκνα χρόνῳ δέχεται· Θήβης δʼ ὅπλοισιν Μεγάλη πόλις ἐστεφάνωται, αὐτόνομος δʼ Ἑλλὰς πᾶσʼ ἐν ἐλευθερίῃ. τούτῳ μὲν τοσαῦτα ἦν ἐς δόξαν·

English Translation

Upon the statue of Epaminondas there are additional elegiac verses inscribed, recounting among other things that he was the founder of Messene and that through him freedom was granted to the Greeks. These elegiac lines read thus: "By our counsels Sparta’s fame was sheared away; Sacred Messene now at last receives her children. The Great City was crowned by Theban arms, And all of Hellas freely governs itself in liberty." Such was Epaminondas' reputation.

Proper Nouns

Epaminondas (Ἐπαμινώνδας) person
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) person
Thebes (Θῆβαι) place Q11225429
Megalopolis (Μεγάλη Πόλις) place Q36024972
Messene (Μεσσήνη) place Q1022117
Sparta (Σπάρτη) place Q5690 Pleiades
Hellas/Greece (Ἑλλὰς) place Q41 Pleiades
← 9.15.5 9.16.1 →