SOURCE: "Pausanias and the Evidence of Inscriptions," Classical Antiquity, Vol. 3, No. 1, April, 1984, pp. 40-56.

In the following essay, Habicht explains the role of mythology in Pausanias's Description of Greece, the importance of Pausanias's work in identifying archaeological discoveries, and the weight Pausanias gave to inscriptions.

Among the Sather Lectures on Pausanias' "Description of Greece," which I had the honor of delivering at Berkeley in the fall of 1982, the third one, under the title of this article,¹ aimed at demonstrating that an epigraphical commentary on Pausanias seems highly desirable, since Pausanias has transcribed word-for-word numerous inscriptions, mainly epigrams, and has summarized several hundred others. Furthermore, very often when he is not quoting or reporting from an inscription, his narrative can be confirmed, supplemented, or illuminated by inscriptional evidence. On the other hand, it is often only Pausanias' report that allows for a proper understanding of an inscription. Since...