Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.31.3

← 9.31.2 9.31.4 →

Passage 9.31.3: The Museia and Eros competitions on Mount Helicon

Mythic Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἑλικῶνι καὶ ἄλλοι τρίποδες κεῖνται καὶ ἀρχαιότατος, ὃν ἐν Χαλκίδι λαβεῖν τῇ ἐπʼ Εὐρίπῳ λέγουσιν Ἡσίοδον νικήσαντα ᾠδῇ. περιοικοῦσι δὲ καὶ ἄνδρες τὸ ἄλσος, καὶ ἑορτήν τε ἐνταῦθα οἱ Θεσπιεῖς καὶ ἀγῶνα ἄγουσι Μουσεῖα· ἄγουσι δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἔρωτι, ἆθλα οὐ μουσικῆς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀθληταῖς τιθέντες. ἐπαναβάντι δὲ στάδια ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄλσους τούτου ὡς εἴκοσιν ἔστιν ἡ τοῦ Ἵππου καλουμένη κρήνη· ταύτην τὸν Βελλεροφόντου ποιῆσαί φασιν ἵππον ἐπιψαύσαντα ὁπλῇ τῆς γῆς.

English Translation

On Helicon there are other tripods, including a very ancient one, which they say Hesiod once received at Chalcis upon the Euripus, having won victory in a poetic contest. Men dwell around the grove, and there the Thespians hold a festival and perform the contest called the Museia. They also hold a competition in honor of Eros, offering prizes not merely for music but also for athletic events. At a distance of about twenty stades above this grove is the spring called Hippocrene ("Horse's Fountain"); they say that this was produced by the horse of Bellerophon, which created it by striking its hoof against the ground.

Proper Nouns

Eros (Ἔρως) deity
Mouseia (Μουσεῖα) other
Horse [referring to Pegasus] (ἵππος) other
Bellerophon (Βελλεροφόντης) person
Thespians (Θεσπιεῖς) person
Hesiod (Ἡσίοδος) person
Euripus (Εὔριπος) place Q1137741
Chalcis (Χαλκίς) place Q21235810
Helicon (Ἑλικών) place Q215516
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