Pausanias_Travel_Writing_in_Ancient Greece [Maria_Pretzler]

7. Describing a City
of Herodotos’ account where the Spartans finally gain the upper hand over
Tegea by bringing the bones of Orestes to Sparta. 41
The story of Auge and Telephos also left several traces in the Tegean
landscape. In this case objects in the temple provide only additional
references, and the places where parts of the story had actually taken
place are more significant. A statue of Herakles with a wound sustained
in a battle against the sons of Hippokoon is a reminder of the reason why
the hero came to Tegea: he was on his way to attack Sparta and asked
Aleos for support. 42 Pausanias points out a spring where Herakles subsequently
raped the king’s daughter. The story continues at a temple of
Eileithyia in the agora: Aleos had found out that his daughter Auge was
pregnant and ordered her to be exposed at sea. The sanctuary marked the
place where she gave birth as she was being dragged away, and it was
therefore called ‘Auge on her knees’. Mother and child were then put into
a wooden chest which was thrown into the sea, which, incidentally, is a
long way from Tegea. There was another version of the story in which Auge
secretly gave birth to Telephos and the child was exposed alone, surviving
because he was suckled by a deer (elaphos) which conveniently supplied
an etymology for his name. 43 The Tegean landscape also had room for this
alternative version: on the road to Argos there was a sacred precinct
(temenos) of Telephos which marked the place where the infant had been
found. Pausanias notes the contradiction between the stories, but he does
not declare either of them invalid and he notes that both versions were
current among the Tegeans. The existence of monuments supporting each
version made it difficult to come to a definite conclusion. 44
Other historical ‘layers’ of the Tegean landscape can be identified,
especially a range of monuments connected to the three founding heroes. 45
Pausanias’ choice of monuments and his historical introduction represent
the same selection process, probably a combination of his own preferences
and choices made by the locals over the centuries. A few items without
links to these main themes were also included, namely the memorial of
Philopoimen, monuments honouring Tegean lawgivers and an Olympic
victor, and a temple of Artemis Hegemone dedicated by a man who ousted
Aristomelidas, an otherwise unknown tyrant of Orchomenos. 46 These examples
show that Pausanias’ scheme was not so rigid that it would have
prevented him from including anything that seemed of sufficient interest.
There are sites where the monumental landscape represents a wider
range of events than at Tegea. Nevertheless, most cities of sufficient size
offered Pausanias an opportunity to present groups of monuments with
connections to those aspects of the past that were particularly significant
for the local community.
Every city in the Periegesis has its own unique selection of historical
highlights. The crucial question is whether it is Pausanias who is doing
the selecting, or whether many of his choices were made for him by the
local people who remembered, adapted and indeed forgot aspects of their
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