Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119
Greek Questions
Αἴτια ἙλληνικάPlutarch's Greek Questions (Aitia Hellenika) is a collection of fifty-nine short questions and answers on odd names, rites and customs of Greek cities, from Epidaurus, Delphi, Megara and Boeotia to Samos and Cos. Each answer gives an aetiology, often a local myth, such as Tenes and Achilles at Tenedos, the Agrionia of Orchomenus, Heracles in women's dress on Cos or the Delphic festival of Charila, and many of them preserve stories found nowhere else. The English numbering follows the questions, as in the Greek text.
Contents · 6 passages
- 1–12Questions 1-12: offices and words of Epidaurus, Delphi and elsewhere; the festival of Charila1463 words
- 13–20Questions 13-20: the beggars' meat of the Aenianes, the wooden dog of the Locrians, Megara and Priene1476 words
- 21–30Questions 21-30: the Cretan Katakautai, the Sepulchre of the Boys, Tenes and Achilles at Tenedos1428 words
- 31–39Questions 31-39: Eretrian rites of Demeter, the daughters of Minos at Orchomenus, the Lycaeum1528 words
- 40–48Questions 40-48: Eunostus of Tanagra, Sisyphus and Anticlea, Zeus with the axe, Odysseus at Sparta1404 words
- 49–59Questions 49-59: Argive and Samian customs; Heracles in women's dress on Cos; the Hamaxocylists of Megara1469 words
More by Plutarch
English translation by Isaac Chauncy (1874). Original text: William W. Goodwin (ed.), Plutarch's Morals, translated from the Greek by several hands, vol. 2, Boston: Little, Brown and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874 (Greek text: Gregorius N. Bernardakis, Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, vol. 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1889, as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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