Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.39.11

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Passage 9.39.11: Descent into the oracle of Trophonius

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ὁ οὖν κατιὼν κατακλίνας ἑαυτὸν ἐς τὸ ἔδαφος ἔχων μάζας μεμαγμένας μέλιτι προεμβάλλει τε ἐς τὴν ὀπὴν τοὺς πόδας καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιχωρεῖ, τὰ γόνατά οἱ τῆς ὀπῆς ἐντὸς γενέσθαι προθυμούμενος· τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν σῶμα αὐτίκα ἐφειλκύσθη τε καὶ τοῖς γόνασιν ἐπέδραμεν, ὥσπερ ποταμῶν ὁ μέγιστος καὶ ὠκύτατος συνδεθέντα ὑπὸ δίνης ἀποκρύψειεν ἂν ἄνθρωπον. τὸ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν τοῖς ἐντὸς τοῦ ἀδύτου γενομένοις οὐχ εἷς οὐδὲ ὁ αὐτὸς τρόπος ἐστὶν ὅτῳ διδάσκονται τὰ μέλλοντα, ἀλλά πού τις καὶ εἶδε καὶ ἄλλος ἤκουσεν. ἀναστρέψαι δὲ ὀπίσω τοῖς καταβᾶσι διὰ στομίου τε ἔστι τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ προεκθεόντων σφίσι τῶν ποδῶν.

English Translation

Therefore, the one going down reclines himself upon the ground, holding cakes kneaded with honey; he thrusts his feet into the hole, and then advances himself, eager to have his knees pass inside the opening. Immediately the rest of his body is drawn through and swiftly pulled down after the knees, just as might a man, caught by a whirlpool, be swiftly hidden away by the greatest and quickest of rivers. From this point onward, for those who find themselves within the chamber, there is not one single nor identical manner in which they are instructed about the future; rather, one sees something, another hears something else. Those who have descended return back through the same opening, feet first and extended ahead of them.

Proper Nouns

river (ποταμός) other
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