Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.5.2

← 9.5.1 9.5.3 →

Passage 9.5.2: Cadmeia, the citadel of Thebes founded by Cadmus

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

τοῖς μὲν οὖν Ἄοσι κατὰ κώμας ἔτι ἦσαν αἱ οἰκήσεις· Κάδμος δὲ τὴν πόλιν τὴν καλουμένην ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς Καδμείαν ᾤκισεν. αὐξηθείσης δὲ ὕστερον τῆς πόλεως, οὕτω τὴν Καδμείαν ἀκρόπολιν συνέβη τῶν κάτω γενέσθαι Θηβῶν. Κάδμῳ δὲ γάμος τε ἐπιφανὴς ὑπῆρξεν, εἰ δὴ θυγατέρα Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἄρεως κατὰ λόγον τὸν Ἑλλήνων ἔσχε, καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες εἰλήφασιν αὐτῷ φήμην, Σεμέλη μὲν τεκεῖν ἐκ Διός, Ἰνὼ δὲ θεῶν εἶναι τῶν θαλασσίων.

English Translation

The Aones still inhabited villages at that time, but Cadmus founded the city which even down to our day is known as Cadmeia. Later, when the city had grown larger, Cadmeia became accordingly the citadel of Thebes, which lay below it. Cadmus had a notable marriage indeed, if, according to the tradition of the Greeks, he took the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite as his wife. His daughters also gained renown: Semele for bearing a child to Zeus, and Ino as one of the sea-deities.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη) deity
Ares (Ἄρης) deity
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) other
Kadmos (Κάδμος) person
Semele (Σεμέλη) person
Ino (Ἰνὼ) person
Thebes (Θῆβαι) place Q11225429
Cadmeia (Καδμεία) place Q1276854
Aoos (Ἄοος) place Q81503
← 9.5.1 9.5.3 →