Pausanias (
/pɔːˈseɪniəs/; grc-gre,
Παυσανίας; c. 110 – c. 180) was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
traveler and
geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
of the second century AD. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
from his firsthand observations. ''Description of Greece'' provides crucial information for making links between classical literature and
modern archaeology
Modern archaeology is the discipline of archaeology which contributes to excavations.
Johann Joachim Winckelmann was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the h ...
.
Biography
Not much is known about Pausanias apart from what historians can piece together from his own writing. However, it is mostly certain that he was born c. 110 AD into a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
family and was probably a native of
Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...
in Asia Minor. From c. 150 until his death in 180, Pausanias travelled through the mainland of Greece, writing about various monuments, sacred spaces, and significant geographical sites along the way. In writing ''Description of Greece'', Pausanias sought to put together a lasting written account of "all things Greek", or ''panta ta hellenika''.
Living in the Roman Empire
Being born in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, Pausanias was of Greek heritage. However, he grew up and lived under the rule of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. Although Pausanias was a subordinate of the Roman Empire, he nonetheless valued his Greek identity, history, and culture: he was keen to describe the glories of a Greek past that still was relevant in his lifetime, even if the country was beholden to Rome as a dominating imperial force. Pausanias's pilgrimage through the land of his ancestors was his own attempt to establish a place in the world for this new Roman Greece, connecting myths and stories of ancient culture to those of his own time.
Writing style
Pausanias has a noticeably straightforward and simple way of writing. He is, overall, direct in his language, writing his stories and descriptions in an unelaborate style. However, some translators have noted that Pausanias's use of various prepositions and tenses are confusing and difficult to render in English. For example, Pausanias may use a past tense verb rather than the present tense in some instances. It is thought that he did this in order to make himself seem to be in the same temporal setting as his audience.
Additionally, unlike in a traditional travel guide, in ''Description of Greece'', Pausanias tends to digress to discuss a point of an ancient ritual or to tell a myth that goes along with the site he is visiting. This style of writing would not become popular again until the early nineteenth century.
[ In the topographical aspect of his work, Pausanias makes many digressions on the wonders of nature, the signs that herald the approach of an ]earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
, the phenomena of the tides, the ice-bound seas of the north, and the noonday sun that at the summer solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...
casts no shadow at Syene (Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...
). While he never doubts the existence of the deities and heroes, he sometimes criticizes the myths and legends relating to them. His descriptions of monuments of art are plain and unadorned, bearing a solid impression of reality.
Pausanias is also frank in his confessions of ignorance. When he quotes a book at second hand rather than relating his own experiences, he is honest about his sourcing.
''Description of Greece (Hellados Periegesis)''
Pausanias' ''Description of Greece'' comprises ten books, each dedicated to some portion of Greece. He begins his tour in Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
(Ἀττικά), where the city of Athens and its deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...
s dominate the discussion. Subsequent books describe Corinthia
Corinthia ( el, Κορινθία ''Korinthía'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated around the city of Corinth, in the north-eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.
Geography
Cori ...
(Κορινθιακά), Laconia
Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...
(Λακωνικά), Messenia
Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...
(Μεσσηνιακά), Elis
Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...
(Ἠλιακῶν), Achaea
Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...
(Ἀχαικά), Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
(Ἀρκαδικά), Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...
(Βοιωτικά), Phocis
Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardo ...
(Φωκικά), and Ozolian Locris
Ozolian Locris ( grc, Ὀζολία Λοκρίς) or Hesperian Locris ( grc, Λοκρίς Ἑσπερία, 3=Western Locris) was a region in Ancient Greece, inhabited by the Ozolian Locrians ( grc-gre, Ὀζολοὶ Λοκροί; la, Locri Ozoli ...
(Λοκρῶν Ὀζόλων). The project is more than topographical: it is a cultural geography of Greece. Pausanias does not only describe architectural and artistic objects, but also reviews the mythological and historical underpinnings of the society that produced them.
Although Pausanias was not a naturalist by trade, he does tend to comment on the physical aspects of the Greek landscape. He notices the pine trees on the sandy coast of Elis
Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...
, the deer and the wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...
s in the oak woods of Phelloe, and the crows amid the giant oak trees of Alalcomenae. Towards the end of ''Description of Greece'', Pausanias touches on the products and fruits of nature, such as the wild strawberries of Helicon, the date palms of Aulis, the olive oil of Tithorea
Tithorea ( el, Τιθορέα), is an ancient place with more than 4,000 years of human history. A part of the municipality of Amfikleia-Elateia, in Phthiotis, Greece, it had a population of 630 in 2011, and is situated 156 km from Athens.
...
, as well as the tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
s of Arcadia and the "white blackbirds" of Cyllene.
Additionally, Pausanias was motivated by his interest in religion: in fact, his ''Description of Greece'' has been regarded as a "journey into identity",[ referring to that of his Greek heritage and beliefs. Pausanias describes the religious art and architecture of many famous sacred sites such as ]Olympia
The name Olympia may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games
* ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
and Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
. However, even in the most remote regions of Greece, he is fascinated by all kinds of depictions of deities, holy relics, and many other sacred and mysterious objects. For example, at Thebes, he views the shields of those who died at the Battle of Leuctra
The Battle of Leuctra ( grc-gre, Λεῦκτρα, ) was a battle fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebans, and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the vicin ...
, the ruins of the house of Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...
, and the statues of Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, Arion
Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...
, Thamyris
In Greek mythology, Thamyris (Ancient Greek: Θάμυρις, ''Thámuris'') was a Thracian singer. He is notable in Greek mythology for reportedly being a lover of Hyacinth and thus to have been the first male to have loved another male, but when ...
, and Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...
in the grove of the Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
s on Helicon, as well as the portraits of Corinna
Corinna or Korinna ( grc, Κόριννα, Korinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. Although ancient sources portray her as a contemporary of Pindar (born ), not all modern scholars accept the accuracy of this tradition ...
at Tanagra
Tanagra ( el, Τανάγρα) is a town and a municipality north of Athens in Boeotia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Schimatari. It is not far from Thebes, and it was noted in antiquity for the figurines named after it. The Ta ...
and of Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
in the cities of Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
.
Pausanias was mostly interested in relics of antiquity, rather than contemporary architecture or sacred spaces. As Christian Habicht, a contemporary classicist who wrote a multitude of scholarly articles on Pausanias, says:
In general, he prefers the old to the new, the sacred to the profane; there is much more about classical than about contemporary Greek art, more about temples, altars and images of the gods, than about public buildings and statues of politicians.
The end of ''Description of Greece'' remains mysterious: some believe that Pausanias died before finishing his work, and others believe his strange ending was intentional. He concludes his ''Periegesis'' with a story about a Greek author, thought to be Anyte of Tegea
Anyte of Tegea was a Hellenistic poet from Tegea in Arcadia. Little is known of her life, but twenty-four epigrams attributed to her are preserved in the ''Greek Anthology'', and one is quoted by Julius Pollux; nineteen of these are generally acc ...
, who has a divine dream. In the dream, she is told to present the text of ''Description of Greece'' to a wider Greek audience in order to open their eyes to "all things Greek".[
]
Different translations
Pausanias's ''Description of Greece'' has been translated into English by several scholars over time. A widely known version of the text was translated by William Henry Samuel Jones William Henry Samuel Jones (8 April 1876 – 4 February 1963) was a British writer, translator, and academic. He was nicknamed Malaria Jones, because of his theory that malaria was instrumental in the downfall of the classical civilizations of Gree ...
and is available through the Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...
. The Loeb Classical Library offers translations of Greek and Latin texts in a manner that is accessible to those who have knowledge of the languages and even those who do not. Translations are provided in English. The W. H. S. Jones's translation of ''Description of Greece'' comes in five volumes with the ancient Greek text included. It also includes an introduction that summarizes the contents of each book. Additionally, ''Description of Greece'' was translated by Peter Levi
Peter Chad Tigar Levi, FSA, FRSL (16 May 1931, in Ruislip – 1 February 2000, in Frampton-on-Severn) was a British poet, archaeologist, Jesuit priest, travel writer, biographer, academic and prolific reviewer and critic. He was Professor of P ...
. This translation is also popular among English speakers, but is often thought to be a loose translation of the original text: Levi took liberties with his translation that restructured ''Description of Greece'' to function like a general guidebook to mainland Greece, which was not Pausanias’ original intention.[ ]Sir James George Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.
Personal life
He was born on 1 Janua ...
also published six volumes of translation and commentary of ''Description of Greece''; his translation remains a credible work of scholarship to readers of Pausanias today.
Lost in history
''Description of Greece'' left very faint traces in the known Greek corpus. "It was not read," Habicht relates, "there is not a single mention of the author, not a single quotation from it, not a whisper before Stephanus Byzantius
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
in the sixth century, and only two or three references to it throughout the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
."[ The only surviving manuscripts of Pausanias are three fifteenth-century copies, full of errors and lacunae, which all appear to depend on a single manuscript that managed to be copied. ]Niccolò Niccoli Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion".
There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The f ...
, a collector of manuscripts from antiquity, had this archetype in Florence around 1418. After his death in 1437, it was sent to the library of San Marco, Florence
San Marco is a religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent. The convent, which is now the Museo Nazionale di San Marco, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the pa ...
, ultimately disappearing after 1500.
Modern views of Pausanias
Until twentieth-century archaeologists concluded that Pausanias was a reliable guide to the sites which they were excavating, classicists largely dismissed Pausanias as of a purely literary bent: following their usually authoritative contemporary Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature ...
, they tended to regard him as little more than a purveyor of second-hand accounts, and they believed that Pausanias had not visited most of the places that he described. Modern archaeological research, however, has tended to vindicate Pausanias.[
Additionally, a multitude of scholars have sought to discover the truth about Pausanias and his ''Description of Greece''. Many books, commentaries, and scholarly articles have been written on this ancient figure, and Pausanias's recorded travels still serve as a tool to understanding the relationship between archaeology, mythology, and history.][
]
References
*
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Howard, Michael C. (2012). ''Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies: The Role of Cross-Border Trade and Travel''. McFarland. p. 178.
* Hutton, William. Describing Greece: Landscape and Literature in the Periegesis of Pausanias. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Akujärvi, J. (2005). ''Researcher, Traveller, Narrator: Studies in Pausanias’ Periegesis.'' Studia graeca et Latina lundensia 12. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
*
*
* Arafat, K. (1996). ''Pausanias’ Greece: Ancient Artists and Roman Rulers.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
*
*
*
* Hutton, W. E. (2005). Describing Greece: Landscape and Literature in the Periegesis of Pausanias. Greek Culture in the Roman World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Pirenne-Delforge, V. (2008). ''Retour à la Source: Pausanias et la Religion Grecque.'' Kernos Supplément 20. Liège, Belgium: Centre International d‘Étude de la Religion Grecque.
*
*
* Pretzler, Maria (2007). Pausanias: Travel Writing in Ancient Greece. Classical Literature and Society. London: Duckworth.
External links
*
*
*
''Pausanias Description of Greece''
tr. with a commentary by J.G. Frazer, 6 volumes (1898) (als
at the Internet Archive
* Pausanias at the Perseus Project
Greek
English (Jones trans. 1918)
Jones translation at Theoi Project
New translation
by Gregory Nagy
Gregory Nagy ( hu, Nagy Gergely, ; born October 22, 1942 in Budapest)["CV: Gregory Nagy"](_blank)
''gr ...
of Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies (incomplete). (archived, 2020)
Bibliography (in French)
"The Oldest Guide-Book in the World"
Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley (9 December 1859 – 4 March 1930) was an English literary journalist and author. In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler (they had married sisters). He also recommended ...
in ''Macmillan's Magazine'', Vol. LXXVII, Nov. 1897 to Apr. 1898, pp. 415–421.
Andrew Stewart, ''One Hundred Greek Sculptors, Their Careers and Extant Works''
* G. Hawes, ''Rationalizing myth in antiquity''. Oxford: OUP, 2013 contains much discussion of Pausanias’ sceptical approaches to myth.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pausanias
Ancient Greek geographers
Ancient Greek travel writers
Roman-era geographers
2nd-century writers
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
2nd-century geographers