Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.33.7

← 9.33.6 9.34.1 →

Passage 9.33.7: Triton stream by the ivy-damaged temple where Athena was raised.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἄλλο ἐπʼ ἐμοῦ τοιόνδε ἐς κατάλυσιν τοῦ ναοῦ· κισσός οἱ προσπεφυκὼς μέγας καὶ ἰσχυρὸς διέλυσεν ἐκ τῶν ἁρμονιῶν καὶ διέσπα τοὺς λίθους ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων. ῥεῖ δὲ καὶ ποταμὸς ἐνταῦθα οὐ μέγας χείμαρρος· ὀνομάζουσι δὲ Τρίτωνα αὐτόν, ὅτι τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν τραφῆναι παρὰ ποταμῷ Τρίτωνι ἔχει λόγος, ὡς δὴ τοῦτον τὸν Τρίτωνα ὄντα καὶ οὐχὶ τὸν Λιβύων, ὃς ἐς τὴν πρὸς Λιβύῃ θάλασσαν ἐκδίδωσιν ἐκ τῆς Τριτωνίδος λίμνης.

English Translation

In my own time another incident of the following sort also happened to bring about the temple's destruction: a large and powerful ivy had grown upon it, loosening the joints of the structure and forcing the stones apart from each other. A stream runs by this place—not a large one, but a torrent-stream—which they call Triton, since, according to the tradition, Athena was raised by the river Triton. But they maintain it was this Triton, and not the river in Libya, which flows from Lake Tritonis into the sea off the Libyan coast.

Proper Nouns

Triton (Τρίτων) deity
Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ) deity
Libyans (Λίβυες) other
temple (ναός) other
Libya (Λιβύη) place Q2370577
Triton (Τρίτων) place
Also in: 8.26.6
Tritonis (Τριτωνίς) place Q158958
← 9.33.6 9.34.1 →