What is Pausanias (geographer)?
'''Pausanias''' (Greek: {{polytonic|Παυσανίας}}) was a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] traveller and [[geographer]] of the [[2nd century]] A.D., who lived in the times of [[Hadrian]], [[Antoninus Pius]] and [[Marcus Aurelius]]. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' ({{polytonic|Ἑλλάδος περιήγησις}}), a lengthy work that describes [[ancient Greece]] from firsthand observations. He is a crucial link between classical literature and modern [[archaeology]]. == Biography == Pausanias was probably a native of [[Lydia]]; he was certainly familiar with the western coast of [[Asia Minor]], but his travels extended far beyond the limits of [[Ionia]]. Before visiting Greece he had been to [[Antioch]], [[Jaffa, Israel|Joppa]] and [[Jerusalem]], and to the banks of the [[River Jordan]]. In [[Egypt]] he had seen the [[Pyramid]]s, while at the temple of [[Amun|Ammon]] he had been shown the hymn once sent to that shrine by [[Pindar]]. In [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] he had almost certainly viewed the traditional tomb of [[Orpheus]]. Crossing over to [[Italy]], he had seen something of the cities of [[Campania]] and of the wonders of [[Rome]]. He was one of the first to write of seeing the ruins of [[Troy]], [[Alexandria Troas]], and [[Mycenae]]. == Work == Pausanias' ''Description of Greece'' takes the form of a tour in [[Ionia]] on the coast of Asia Minor and in the [[Peloponnese]] and part of northern Greece. He constantly describes ceremonial rites or superstitious customs. He frequently introduces narratives from the domain of history and of legend and folklore, and it is only rarely that he allows the reader to see something of the scenery. ==References== === Other websites === {{wikiquote-en|Pausanias}} *[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=paus.+1.1.1 Description of Greece], tr. W.H.S. Jones and H.A. Ormerod (1918) *[http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1A.html Description of Greece], Jones translation at Theoi Project *[http://bsa.biblio.univ-lille3.fr/pausanias.htm Bibliography (in French)] {{Webarc