Pausanias Analysis

Passage 9.5.7

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Passage 9.5.7: Amphion builds Thebes' walls by music and adds a fourth lyre string

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι τῷ λόγῳ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν τῇ Ὀδυσσείᾳ· οἳ πρῶτοι Θήβης ἕδος ἔκτισαν ἑπταπύλοιο πύργωσάν τʼ, ἐπεὶ οὐ μὲν ἀπύργωτόν γʼ ἐδύναντο ναιέμεν εὐρύχορον Θήβην, κρατερώ περ ἐόντε. Hom. Od. 11.263 ὅτι δὲ Ἀμφίων ᾖδε καὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἐξειργάζετο πρὸς τὴν λύραν, οὐδένα ἐποιήσατο λόγον ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσι· δόξαν δὲ ἔσχεν Ἀμφίων ἐπὶ μουσικῇ, τήν τε ἁρμονίαν τὴν Λυδῶν κατὰ κῆδος τὸ Ταντάλου παρʼ αὐτῶν μαθὼν καὶ χορδὰς ἐπὶ τέσσαρσι ταῖς πρότερον τρεῖς ἀνευρών.

English Translation

Homer in the Odyssey also supports my account, saying: "Those who first built the seat of seven-gated Thebes, and fortified it—for although they were strong, they could not inhabit broad-streeted Thebes without walls." But that Amphion sang and constructed the wall to the accompaniment of his lyre, Homer made no mention in his poetry. Amphion, however, acquired great fame for music, having learned from the Lydians, through his kinship with Tantalus, the harmony named after them, and having added a fourth string to the previous three.

Proper Nouns

Odyssey (Ὀδύσσεια) other
Odyssey 11.263 (Ὀδύσσεια 11.263) other
Lydians (Λυδοί) person
Tantalus (Τάνταλος) person
Amphion (Ἀμφίων) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
Thebes (Θῆβαι) place Q11225429
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