Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I

Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

Of Pausanias personally we know very little, but that he lived during the Reign of the Antonines, and travelled all round Greece, and wrote his famous Tour round Greece, or Description of Greece, in 10 Books, describing what he had seen and heard. His chief merit is his showing to us the state of the works of art still remaining in his day in the Greek cities, which have since been swept away by the various invasions that have devastated that once happy land. When Pausanias travelled through Greece, during the age of the Antonines, about 1690 years ago, he found every city teeming with life and refinement; every Temple a Museum of Art; and every spot hallowed by some tradition which contributed to its preservation. The ruthless destruction of these works of art, in subsequent ages, has reduced them to a small number; and the Traveller now pauses, with a melancholy interest, to reflect upon the objects described by Pausanias, but which no longer exist.[1] Pausanias Description of Greece is also full of various information on many topics. It is for example a mine of Mythology. For its various matter it has been happily compared to a County History. There is often a quiet vein of humour in Pausanias, who seems to have been almost equally a believer in Providence and in Homer. I have translated from Schubarts Text in the Teubner[Pg vi] Series, (1875), but have taken the liberty always, where the text seemed hopeless, to adopt a reading that seemed preferable from any other source. I have constantly had before me the valuable edition of Siebelis, (Lipsi, 1827), to whom I am much indebted, especially for his Illustrations, still veracity obliges me to state that occasionally he too gives one reason to remember the famous lines of a well-known Rector of Welwyn in the Eighteenth Century. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 68946
Author: Pausanias, active approximately 150-175
Release Date: Sep 9, 2022
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: George Bell and Sons
Publication Date: 1886
Publisher Country: UK

Contributors

Translator: Shilleto, A. R. (Arthur Richard), 1848-1894