Pausanias’ Guide to Graceland

I present here the first translation of a yet unpublished fragment of Pausanias. The papyrus was recovered from a trash dump in Las Vegas, which is near the only other known shrine to Elvis. Thanks to many colleagues and friends for their help in translating, especially M. Glennon.

On the road from Tupelo into Memphis there is a sanctuary to the hero Elvis. Both the city and the whole of the land are sacred to him, for he brought music and a Bacchic frenzy to the maidens.

Elvis first drove into this region on a pink and silver chariot long ago. Here, he built his oikos in a grove of the graces. Some call the grove “Graceland.” But the Memphians themselves relate to me a different story. They say the land was named for a much older mortal, Grace, who reared her children here. Others say the grove is named for the grace of his dancing. After some time in the region, the hero Elvis amassed a great wealth with his superhuman voice and irresistible dancing. It is for this wealth that the hero is sometimes called “the King.” Others say he is “the King of Rock and Roll”.

The altis is on a sacred road called the Elvis Presley Boulevard. There are many stoas and lodgings for visitors on this sacred Boulevard. The oldest of these is the Heartbreak Hotel, which carries the name of the hero’s greatest odes. In the communal dining rooms and public halls, the inn-keepers play the songs of the hero during all hours of the day.

The Memphians have a festival for Elvis for seven days in August. The initiates call the festival “A Celebration of the Life of Elvis Presley on the Anniversary of his Death.” But, the inhabitants of the city call it “Death Week.”

The festival happens still today and pilgrims come from around the world. Sculptors and painters sell small icons of the god in shiny plastic and a fine velvet to those who make a pilgrimage from far away. (Ed. note: the plastic icons were found in the thousands upon the first excavation season of the sanctuary in Memphis). Women and girls of all ages buy the icons of the hero to ensure a tender love.

Initiates pay poets to write messages to the hero-god on the temenos. The verse of one poet for an initiate from Toronto is still visible: “You, Elvis, I love!”

Another poem for a man from Hoboken: “On my mind, always you are.”

And a poem for a woman from the city of Angels: “Elvis lives! Deb was here.” (Ed. note: Though Hoboken was discovered and excavated extensively (die Ausgrabungen von Hoboken, Bände 1–35), the locations of Toronto and the city of Angels remain elusive).

The highest initiates dress in lavish garments and a cloak and jewels in the guise of the hero. When the hero was a youth, he had the beauty and slender limbs of Ganymede. In older age, he had the hairy chest and arms of a satyr, with thick hair by his ears and a round satyr belly. There is a contest for those who dance and sing his most famous odes. Some dance in the guise of Elvis-Ganymede, others in the guise of Elvis-satyr.

Opposite the temenos, the hero’s air-chariot is visible. The air-chariot, which they call the “Lisa Marie,” carried Elvis to victory in many musical competitions. It is called “Lisa Marie” for the daughter he bore with a mortal maiden, Priscilla. They say that out of many suitors, Lisa Marie fell in love with a madman who was called the “King of Pop” or Michael. They were equally beautiful, like Narcissus at the pond. (Ed. Note: Here, Pausanias’ description and use of the dual recalls a moving, musical painting of Lisa Marie and Michael called “You are Not Alone” which is carried down to us in the anthology of VH-1.) The air-chariot of the hero is finely wrought and made with many luxurious materials. It is not in the style of air-chariots today but older.

Hard by the sacred Boulevard is the entrance to the altis. The guide told me Hephaistos forged the large metal gate and decorated it with symbols of song and gave it musical qualities. Indeed, when the gates open and close they emit a low, solemn tone of mourning. Here, the parade for the festival enters.

Inside the altis, there are many buildings for worship and for storage of treasure and chariots. One sees first the oikos. Beside the oikos is an altar and sacred pool. (Ed. note: the rounded shape and depth of the pool speak to the fecundity of the hero. The location of the ash altar beside the shrine suggests the oikos may not have functioned as a true temple.) There is a shrine to the hero and his ancestors. Worshippers bring flowers and little bears to his shrine throughout the year. But, on the last night of the festival, the initiates walk up to the shrine with a lamp in silence. They do not sing and do not permit laughter. The laughing ones are expelled from the sanctuary.

The shrine contains the bones of the hero, but this is not the first shrine to Elvis. After he died, his bones were buried first in a grave in the cemetery of the city. Then, his bones were brought to Graceland at a later date. They say a crazed initiate tried to steal his bones in the night and a tyrant of old moved his bones as an act to show great power.

The oikos is of moderate size but well built. It has dining halls inside and a room that gives the appearance of a lush jungle. They say the bath complex contains the same throne on which he died from a pharmakon. (Ed. note: This is the frustratingly slim account of the temple provided by Pausanias. Other sources describe the temple as labyrinthine and lavishly decorated in the finest materials from around the world, e.g. Leach, Lifestyles of the Rich and…)

There is no statue of the hero at the shrine. There is a statue of the hero displayed in the center of Memphis. It is made of bronze and shows the hero as Elvis-Ganymede with a kithara. He stands with one knee raised and his hips in the traditional dance posture of his cult. His mouth is open to show that he is singing. This is the second statue of the hero in the city. The first statue had real gold tassels and real strings for the kithara. The first statue was removed in the Union sack of the city by the Union general Sherman and taken back to his palace. (Ed. note: Pausanias’ lapse in time here suggests any historical truth of the Elvis myth should be assigned to a much earlier period than initially recognized in the current scholarship. However, this may be a corruption of the text).

But my narrative must not loiter, as my task is great.

Laura Hutchison is a lover of coffee, of sculpture, of travel.