Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.27.1

← 9.26.8 9.27.2 →

Passage 9.27.1: The Thespians' ancient worship of Eros.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

θεῶν δὲ οἱ Θεσπιεῖς τιμῶσιν Ἔρωτα μάλιστα ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καί σφισιν ἄγαλμα παλαιότατόν ἐστιν ἀργὸς λίθος. ὅστις δὲ ὁ καταστησάμενος Θεσπιεῦσιν Ἔρωτα θεῶν σέβεσθαι μάλιστα, οὐκ οἶδα. σέβονται δὲ οὐδέν τι ἧσσον καὶ Ἑλλησποντίων Παριανοί, τὸ μὲν ἀνέκαθεν ἐξ Ἰωνίας καὶ Ἐρυθρῶν ἀπῳκισμένοι, τὰ δὲ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν τελοῦντες ἐς Ῥωμαίους.

English Translation

Among the gods, the Thespians honor Eros above all from the earliest times, and their most ancient image of him is an unwrought stone. Who it was that first established among the Thespians this particular veneration of Eros more than the other deities, I do not know. Eros is held in equal reverence by the Parians on the Hellespont, who originally migrated out of Ionia and Erythrae, and who in our times pay tribute to the Romans.

Proper Nouns

Eros (Ἔρως) deity
Thespians (Θεσπιεῖς) person
Parians (Παριανοί) person
Hellespontians (Ἑλλησπόντιοι) person
Also in: 10.31.6
Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι) person
Erythrai (Ἐρυθραί) place Q2714769 Pleiades
Ionia (Ἰωνία) place Q620874
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