Pausanias, Description of Greece (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Paus.]. | ||
<<Paus. 9.30.2 | Paus. 9.31.3 (Greek) | >>Paus. 9.32.4 |
But when it seemed good to the god the following events befell the citizens. About midday a shepherd was asleep leaning against the grave of Orpheus, and even as he slept he began to sing poetry of Orpheus in a loud and sweet voice. Those who were pasturing or tilling nearest to him left their several tasks and gathered together to hear the shepherd sing in his sleep. And jostling one another and striving who could get nearest the shepherd they overturned the pillar, the urn fell from it and broke, and the sun saw whatever was left of the bones of Orpheus.
9.30.11Immediately when night came the god sent heavy rain, and the river Sys (Boar), one of the torrents about
Whoever has devoted himself to the study of poetry knows that the hymns of Orpheus are all very short, and that the total number of them is not great. The Lycomidae know them and chant them over the ritual of the mysteries. For poetic beauty they may be said to come next to the hymns of Homer, while they have been even more honored by the gods.
ch. 31
9.31.1
On Helicon there is also a statue of Arsinoe, who married Ptolemy her brother. She is being carried by a bronze ostrich. Ostriches grow wings just like other birds, but their bodies are so heavy and large that the wings cannot lift them into the air.
Here too is Telephus, the son of Heracles, represented as a baby being suckled by a deer. By his side is an ox, and an image of Priapus worth seeing. This god is worshipped where goats and sheep pasture or there are swarms of bees; but by the people of
On Helicon tripods have been dedicated, of which the oldest is the one which it is said Hesiod received for winning the prize for song at The Boeotians dwelling around Helicon hold the tradition that Hesiod wrote nothing but the Works There is another tradition, very different from the first, that Hesiod wrote a great number of poems; the one on women, the one called the Great Eoeae Opposite stories are also told of Hesiod's death. All agree that Ctimenus and Antiphus, the sons of Ganyctor, fled from So widely different are the traditions of Hesiod himself and his poems. On the summit of Helicon is a small river called the Lamus. note In the territory of the Thespians is a place called Donacon (Reed-bed). Here is the spring of Narcissus. They say that Narcissus looked into this water, and not understanding that he saw his own reflection, unconsciously fell in love with himself, and died of love at the spring. But it is utter stupidity to imagine that a man old enough to fall in love was incapable of distinguishing a man from a man's reflection. There is another story about Narcissus, less popular indeed than the other, but not without some support. It is said that Narcissus had a twin sister; they were exactly alike in appearance, their hair was the same, they wore similar clothes, and went hunting together. The story goes on that Narcissus fell in love with his sister, and when the girl died, would go to the spring, knowing that it was his reflection that he saw, but in spite of this knowledge finding some relief for his love in imagining that he saw, not his own reflection, but the likeness of his sister.
, and even of this they reject the prelude to the Muses, saying that the poem begins with the account of the Strifes. note They showed me also a tablet of lead where the spring is, mostly defaced by time, on which is engraved the Works
.
, the Theogony
, the poem on the seer Melampus, the one on the descent to Hades of Theseus and Perithous, the Precepts of Chiron
, professing to be for the instruction of Achilles, and other poems besides the Works and Days
. These same Boeotians say that Hesiod learnt seercraft from the Acarnanians, and there are extant a poem called Mantica
(Seercraft), which I myself have read, and interpretations of portents.
Pausanias, Description of Greece (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Paus.]. | ||
<<Paus. 9.30.2 | Paus. 9.31.3 (Greek) | >>Paus. 9.32.4 |