Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.19.7

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Passage 9.19.7: Aulis: the Homeric plane tree and its sacrificial customs.

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

πλατάνου δέ, ἧς καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ἰλιάδι ἐποιήσατο μνήμην, τὸ ἔτι τοῦ ξύλου περιὸν φυλάσσουσιν ἐν τῷ ναῷ. λέγεται δὲ ὡς ἐν Αὐλίδι πνεῦμα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὐκ ἐγίνετο ἐπίφορον, φανέντος δὲ ἐξαίφνης ἀνέμου σφίσιν οὐρίου θύειν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι ὅ τι ἕκαστος εἶχε, θήλεά τε ἱερεῖα καὶ ἄρσενα ὁμοίως· καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου διαμεμένηκεν ἐν Αὐλίδι πάντα τὰ ἱερεῖα εἶναι δόκιμα. δείκνυται δὲ καὶ ἡ πηγή, παρʼ ἣν ἡ πλάτανος ἐπεφύκει, καὶ ἐπὶ λόφου πλησίον τῆς Ἀγαμέμνονος σκηνῆς οὐδὸς χαλκοῦς·

English Translation

They still preserve in the temple a remnant of the wood from the plane tree that Homer also mentioned in the Iliad. It is said that the Greeks at Aulis lacked favorable wind, but when suddenly a fair wind appeared, each man sacrificed to Artemis whatever he had at hand, both male and female victims alike. Ever since then it has remained customary at Aulis that every sacrificial victim is acceptable. They also show the spring beside which the plane tree once grew, and on a nearby hill a bronze threshold of the tent of Agamemnon.

Proper Nouns

Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) deity
Iliad (Ἰλιάς) other
Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων) person
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Aulis (Αὐλίς) place Q4821780
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