Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9125

Pausanias, Description Of Greece, 9.30.12

ὅστις δὲ περὶ ποιήσεως ἐπολυπραγμόνησεν ἤδη, τοὺς Ὀρφέως ὕμνους οἶδεν ὄντας ἕκαστόν τε αὐτῶν ἐπὶ βραχύτατον καὶ τὸ σύμπαν οὐκ ἐς ἀριθμὸν πολὺν πεποιημένους· Λυκομίδαι δὲ ἴσασί τε καὶ ἐπᾴδουσι τοῖς δρωμένοις. κόσμῳ μὲν δὴ τῶν ἐπῶν δευτερεῖα φέροιντο ἂν μετά γε Ὁμήρου τοὺς ὕμνους, τιμῆς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ θείου καὶ ἐς πλέον ἐκείνων ἥκουσι. 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.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

14 results
1. Herodotus, Histories, 2.81 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) 2.81. They wear linen tunics with fringes hanging about the legs, called “calasiris,” and loose white woolen mantles over these. But nothing woolen is brought into temples, or buried with them: that is impious. ,They agree in this with practices called Orphic and Bacchic, but in fact Egyptian and Pythagorean: for it is impious, too, for one partaking of these rites to be buried in woolen wrappings. There is a sacred legend about this.
2. Plato, Republic, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
3. Horace, Odes, 3.1.1 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
4. Plutarch, Lycurgus, 6.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 6.1. So eager was Lycurgus for the establishment of this form of government, that he obtained an oracle from Delphi about it, which they call a rhetra. And this is the way it runs: When thou hast built a temple to Zeus Syllanius and Athena Syllania, divided the people into phylai and into obai, and established a senate of thirty members, including the archagetai, then from time to time appellazein between Babyca and Cnacion Probably names of small tributaries of the river Eurotas. and there introduce and rescind measures; but the people must have the deciding voice and the power.
5. Plutarch, Themistocles, 1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 1. Thus Probably Plutarch began with his favourite tale of Themistocles’ remark (dealing with the festival day and the day after) to the generals who came after him; cf. 270 c, supra, and the note. rightly spoke the great Themistocles to the generals who succeeded him, for whom he had opened a way for their subsequent exploits by driving out the barbarian host and making Greece free. And rightly will it be spoken also to those who pride themselves on their writings; for if you take away the men of action, you will have no men of letters. Take away Pericles’ statesmanship, and Phormio’s trophies for his naval victories at Rhium, and Nicias’s valiant deeds at Cythera and Megara and Corinth, Demosthenes’ Pylos, and Cleon’s four hundred captives, Tolmides’ circumnavigation of the Peloponnesus, and Myronides’ Cf. Thucydides, i. 108; iv. 95. victory over the Boeotians at Oenophyta-take these away and Thucydides is stricken from your list of writers. Take away Alcibiades ’ spirited exploits in the Hellespontine region, and those of Thrasyllus by Lesbos, and the overthrow by Theramenes of the oligarchy, Thrasybulus and Archinus and the uprising of the Seventy Cf. Xenophon, Hellenica, ii. 4. 2. from Phyle against the Spartan hegemony, and Conon’s restoration of Athens to her power on the sea - take these away and Cratippus An historian who continued Thucydides, claiming to be his contemporary (see E. Schwartz, Hermes, xliv. 496). is no more. Xenophon, to be sure, became his own history by writing of his generalship and his successes and recording that it was Themistogenes Cf. Xenophon, Hellenica, iii. 1. 2; M. MacLaren, Trans. Amer. Phil. Assoc. lxv. (1934) pp. 240-247. the Syracusan who had compiled an account of them, his purpose being to win greater credence for his narrative by referring to himself in the third person, thus favouring another with the glory of the authorship. But all the other historians, men like Cleitodemus, Diyllus, Cf. Moralia, 862 b; Müller, Frag. Hist. Graec. ii. 360-361. Philochorus, Phylarchus, have been for the exploits of others what actors are for plays, exhibiting the deeds of the generals and kings, and merging themselves with their characters as tradition records them, in order that they might share in a certain effulgence, so to speak, and splendour. For there is reflected from the men of action upon the men of letters an image of another’s glory, which shines again there, since the deed is seen, as in a mirror, through the agency of their words.
6. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 5.19.19-5.19.21 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
7. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.22.7, 1.31.4, 1.37.4, 3.14.2, 4.1.5-4.1.7, 4.31.9, 8.6.5, 8.15.1, 8.37.5, 8.37.8, 9.27.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 1.22.7. and in the picture are emblems of the victory his horses won at Nemea . There is also Perseus journeying to Seriphos, and carrying to Polydectes the head of Medusa, the legend about whom I am unwilling to relate in my description of Attica . Included among the paintings—I omit the boy carrying the water-jars and the wrestler of Timaenetus An unknown painter. —is Musaeus. I have read verse in which Musaeus receives from the North Wind the gift of flight, but, in my opinion, Onomacritus wrote them, and there are no certainly genuine works of Musaeus except a hymn to Demeter written for the Lycomidae. 1.31.4. Such is the legend. Phlya and Myrrhinus have altars of Apollo Dionysodotus, Artemis Light-bearer, Dionysus Flower-god, the Ismenian nymphs and Earth, whom they name the Great goddess; a second temple contains altars of Demeter Anesidora (Sender-up of Gifts), Zeus Ctesius (God of Gain), Tithrone Athena, the Maid First-born and the goddesses styled August. The wooden image at Myrrhinus is of Colaenis. 1.37.4. Across the Cephisus is an ancient altar of Zeus Meilichius (Gracious). At this altar Theseus obtained purification at the hands of the descendants of Phytalus after killing brigands, including Sinis who was related to him through Pittheus. Here is the grave of Theodectes A pupil of Isocrates of Phaselis, and also that of Mnesitheus. They say that he was a skilful physician and dedicated statues, among which is a representation of Iacchus. On the road stands a small temple called that of Cyamites. Cyamos means “bean.” I cannot state for certain whether he was the first to sow beans, or whether they gave this name to a hero because they may not attribute to Demeter the discovery of beans. Whoever has been initiated at Eleusis or has read what are called the Orphica A poem describing certain aspects of the Orphic religion. knows what I mean. 3.14.2. There is a place in Sparta called Theomelida. In this part of the city are the graves of the Agiad kings, and near is what is called the lounge of the Crotani, who form a part of the Pitanatans. Not far from the lounge is a sanctuary of Asclepius, called “in the place of the Agiadae.” Farther on is the tomb of Taenarus, after whom they say the headland was named that juts out into the sea. Here are sanctuaries of Poseidon Hippocurius (Horse-tending) and of Artemis Aiginaea (Goat-goddess?). On returning to the lounge you see a sanctuary of Artemis Issoria. They surname her also Lady of the Lake, though she is not really Artemis hut Britomartis of Crete . I deal with her in my account of Aegina . 4.1.5. The first rulers then in this country were Polycaon, the son of Lelex, and Messene his wife. It was to her that Caucon, the son of Celaenus, son of Phlyus, brought the rites of the Great Goddesses from Eleusis . Phlyus himself is said by the Athenians to have been the son of Earth, and the hymn of Musaeus to Demeter made for the Lycomidae agrees. 4.1.6. But the mysteries of the Great Goddesses were raised to greater honor many years later than Caucon by Lycus, the son of Pandion, an oak-wood, where he purified the celebrants, being still called Lycus' wood. That there is a wood in this land so called is stated by Rhianus the Cretan:— By rugged Elaeum above Lycus' wood. Rhianus of Bene in Crete . See note on Paus. 4.6.1 . 4.1.7. That this Lycus was the son of Pandion is made clear by the lines on the statue of Methapus, who made certain improvements in the mysteries. Methapus was an Athenian by birth, an expert in the mysteries and founder of all kinds of rites. It was he who established the mysteries of the Cabiri at Thebes, and dedicated in the hut of the Lycomidae a statue with an inscription that amongst other things helps to confirm my account:— 4.31.9. The Messenians have a temple erected to Eileithyia with a stone statue, and near by a hall of the Curetes, where they make burnt offerings of every kind of living creature, thrusting into the flames not only cattle and goats, but finally birds as well. There is a holy shrine of Demeter at Messene and statues of the Dioscuri, carrying the daughters of Leucippus. I have already explained in an earlier passage Paus. 3.26.3 that the Messenians argue that the sons of Tyndareus belong to them rather than to the Lacedaemonians. 8.6.5. Farther off from Melangeia, about seven stades distant from Mantineia, there is a well called the Well of the Meliasts. These Meliasts celebrate the orgies of Dionysus. Near the well is a hall of Dionysus and a sanctuary of Black Aphrodite. This surname of the goddess is simply due to the fact that men do not, as the beasts do, have sexual intercourse always by day, but in most cases by night. 8.15.1. The people of Pheneus have also a sanctuary of Demeter, surnamed Eleusinian, and they perform a ritual to the goddess, saying that the ceremonies at Eleusis are the same as those established among themselves. For Naus, they assert, came to them because of an oracle from Delphi, being a grandson of Eumolpus. Beside the sanctuary of the Eleusinian has been set up Petroma, as it is called, consisting of two large stones fitted one to the other. 8.37.5. By the image of the Mistress stands Anytus, represented as a man in armour. Those about the sanctuary say that the Mistress was brought up by Anytus, who was one of the Titans, as they are called. The first to introduce Titans into poetry was Homer, See Hom. Il. 14.279 . representing them as gods down in what is called Tartarus; the lines are in the passage about Hera's oath. From Homer the name of the Titans was taken by Onomacritus, who in the orgies he composed for Dionysus made the Titans the authors of the god's sufferings. 8.37.8. When you have gone up a little, beside the temple of the Mistress on the right is what is called the Hall, where the Arcadians celebrate mysteries, and sacrifice to the Mistress many victims in generous fashion. Every man of them sacrifices what he possesses. But he does not cut the throats of the victims, as is done in other sacrifices; each man chops off a limb of the sacrifice, just that which happens to come to hand. 9.27.2. Most men consider Love to be the youngest of the gods and the son of Aphrodite. But Olen the Lycian, who composed the oldest Greek hymns, says in a hymn to Eileithyia that she was the mother of Love. Later than Olen, both Pamphos and Orpheus wrote hexameter verse, and composed poems on Love, in order that they might be among those sung by the Lycomidae to accompany the ritual. I read them after conversation with a Torchbearer. of these things I will make no further mention. Hesiod, Hes. Th. 116 foll. or he who wrote the Theogony fathered on Hesiod, writes, I know, that Chaos was born first, and after Chaos, Earth, Tartarus and Love.
8. Arnobius, Against The Gentiles, 5.19 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
9. Macrobius, Saturnalia, 1.18.22 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
10. Macrobius, Saturnalia, 1.18.22 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
11. Demosthenes, Orations, 18.259
12. Epigraphy, Ig Ii2, 3559, 2670
13. Orphic Hymns., Fragments, 474, 576, 1
14. Vergil, Aeneis, 6.258 6.258. “0, guide me on, whatever path there be!

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
aegeids	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
alcaeus	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
allegory,allegorical	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
asia minor	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 36
bacchoi	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29
boio	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
callimachus	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
catabasis	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 32
demeter	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 42
despoina	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
dionysus	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 36, 42, 162, 163
dromena	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
eleusinian,orpheus,orphic,samothracian	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
eleusis	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 42, 162, 163
empedocles	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 162, 163
epic poetry	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
eschatology	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 36
festivals	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
gnostic/ gnosticism	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 162
gold leaves / gold tablets	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29
greece	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 42
henotheism	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 36
herodotus	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
hieroi logoi	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 42
initiates	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
klision	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
klismos / klision	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
kouretes	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
leschê,names with	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
leschê	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
lycia	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
lycosoura	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
lykomids	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
lyra	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
mantinea	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
megara	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
melanopus of kyme	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
meliastai	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
mens house	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
messene	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
musaeus	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29
orpheus,literary author	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
orpheus	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
orphic,see hieros logos	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
orphic	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
orphics	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29
panorphism / orpheoscepticism	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 32, 36
phyla	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
plato / (neo-)platonism	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29, 32
poetry	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
praise	Gagne (2021), Cosmography and the Idea of Hyperborea in Ancient Greece, 118
profane,uninitiated	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
ptolemies	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29
pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29, 32, 36
rhapsodies	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 32, 162
rites,ritual	de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 4
rites	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29, 42, 162, 163
ritual taboo	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 42
sethians	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 162, 163
syncretism	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 36
telestêrion'	Bremmer (2008), Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East, 158
telete	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 29
theogonies	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 32
titans	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 42, 162
zeus	deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 36, 42, 162, 163