Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.29.9

← 9.29.8 9.30.1 →

Passage 9.29.9: Linus of Thebes—his tomb and his death at the hands of the young Heracles

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐκεῖνον μὲν δὴ αὖθις ἐξ ἐνυπνίων ἄλλων ὀπίσω τοῦ Λίνου τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐς Θήβας ἀποστεῖλαι, τὰ δὲ ἐπιθήματα τοῦ τάφου, καὶ ὅσα σημεῖα ἄλλα ἦν, ἀνὰ χρόνον φασὶν ἀφανισθῆναι. λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιάδε ὑπὸ Θηβαίων, ὡς τοῦ Λίνου τούτου γένοιτο ὕστερον ἕτερος Λίνος καλούμενος Ἰσμηνίου καὶ ὡς Ἡρακλῆς ἔτι παῖς ὢν ἀποκτείνειεν αὐτὸν διδάσκαλον μουσικῆς ὄντα. ἔπη δὲ οὔτε ὁ Ἀμφιμάρου Λίνος οὔτε ὁ τούτου γενόμενος ὕστερον ἐποίησαν· ἢ καὶ ποιηθέντα ἐς τοὺς ἔπειτα οὐκ ἦλθεν.

English Translation

And afterward again, following other dreams, they say that he [the dreamer] sent the bones of Linus back to Thebes. But as for the ornaments upon the tomb, and whatever other markers there had been, these vanished with time. The Thebans report other stories also, such as that after this Linus there was a later Linus, called the son of Ismenius, and that the young Heracles, while still a child, killed him, though he was his music teacher. But neither Amphimarus' Linus nor the one later born after him composed any epic poetry; or if indeed anything was composed, it did not survive into later times.

Proper Nouns

Thebans (Θηβαῖοι) other
Ismenios (Ἰσμήνιος) other
Also in: 2.10.5
Linos (Λίνος) person
Amphimaros (Ἀμφίμαρος) person
Also in: 9.29.6
Heracles (Ἡρακλῆς) person
Thebes (Θῆβαι) place Q11225429
← 9.29.8 9.30.1 →