Pausanias_Travel_Writing_in_Ancient Greece [Maria_Pretzler]

Pausanias: Travel Writing in Ancient Greece
Arkadia lies in the middle of the Peloponnese, and it contains most of the
mountainous areas. … Because of the complete devastation of this region it
is not necessary to say much about it. The cities have been destroyed by
continuous wars, although they were once famous, and the farmers have
abandoned the countryside at the time when most cities were united to found
Megalopolis. And now Megalopolis itself has become what the comic poet
describes as ‘the Great City is a great desert’. 32 (Strabo 8.8.1)
The description of the whole region takes up all of two pages of Greek text
in the Teubner edition, comparatively little by Strabo’s standards, and
quite insufficient if we consider Pausanias’ substantial Book VIII (110 pages)
which shows that about 180 years later there was plenty to write about in
Arkadia. Strabo provides ‘scientific’ geographical overviews, but as soon as he
‘zooms’ in on particular regions to provide more detailed descriptions he
reverts to a traditional linear approach. He stays close to the coast with
occasional short tours into the interior. Strabo states that in focusing on the
coastline he is following Ephoros, whose description traced the coasts of
Greece from west to east, just like the Periplous of the Great Sea. 33
Pausanias organises his description of Greece in a completely different
way, focusing on the inland areas and dividing them by regions and cities
instead of following the coasts. This approach is rarely found in ancient
texts: Herakleides follows overland routes and the Iliad’s Catalogue of
Ships lists the contingents of the Greek army in tribal or regional groups,
presenting individual communities or cities within these areas in a
roughly geographical order. 34 Pausanias is more methodical in organising
his description along a clearly-defined route, usually following roads between
cities with only a few passages that describe a coastline in periplous
fashion. 35
As he moves along his route, he provides information about
distances and directions, but the quality and quantity of these statements
is rarely consistent.
Apart from the roads already mentioned there are two others which lead to
Orchomenos. On one is the so-called Stadium of Ladas … and by it is a
sanctuary of Artemis, and on the right of the road is a high mound of earth.
They say that it is the tomb of Penelope. … Next to the grave is a small plain,
and in it lies a mountain on which there are still the ruins of ancient
Mantinea. Today this place is called Ptolis. As you go a bit further north
there is a spring named Alalkomeneia, and thirty stadia from Ptolis there
are the ruins of a village called Maira. … Finally, there is the road to
Orchomenos which passes Mount Anchisia, and the tomb of Anchises lies at
the foot of the mountain. … Near the tomb of Anchises are the ruins of a
sanctuary of Aphrodite, and the boundary between Mantinea and Orchomenos
is at Anchisiai. 36 (Paus. 8.12.5-9)
There are many topographical details in this passage, but as soon as one
tries to follow Pausanias’ directions to understand the layout of the
landscape, it becomes clear how much vital information is missing. At one
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