Geography

​Next is Locris, so we must speak of this. It is divided into two parts: for one part of it is the Locrians facing Euboea (whom we said were once divided on both sides of Daphnus), of whom some were called Opuntians after their metropolis, and others Epicnemidians after a certain mountain Cnemis; and the remaining part is the Western Locrians, and these same are also called Ozolae. Parnassus, situated between them, and the Tetrapolis of the Dorians divide them from the Opuntians and the Epicnemidians. We must begin with the Opuntians.

​Next to Halae, then, where the Boeotian coast facing Euboea terminates, the Opuntian Gulf happens to lie. And Opus is the metropolis, as indeed the epigram shows, which is inscribed on the first of the five pillars around Thermopylae near the common grave: “These men, who died in defense of Greece against the Medes, are longed for by Opóeis, the metropolis of the law-abiding Locrians.” And it is about fifteen stadia distant from the sea, and sixty from its harbor. Cynus is the harbor, a cape terminating the Opuntian Gulf, which is about forty stadia in extent; and between Opus and Cynus is a fertile plain. It lies opposite Aedepsus in Euboea, where are the warm baths of Heracles, separated by a strait of one hundred and sixty stadia. In Cynus they say Deucalion dwelt, and the tomb of Pyrrha is shown there, but that of Deucalion is in Athens. And Cynus is distant from Cnemis about fifty stadia. The island of Atalante is also situated opposite Opus, homonymous with the one in front of Attica. They say that some Opuntians are also spoken of in Elis , who are not worth mentioning, except that they renew their existing kinship with the Opuntians. And Homer says that Patroclus was from Opus, and that having committed involuntary homicide he fled to Peleus, while his father Menoetius remained in his homeland; for there Achilles says he promised Menoetius to bring Patroclus back when he returned from the expedition. However, he did not rule over the Opuntians, but Ajax the Locrian did, whose homeland, they say, was Narycus. And they name Aianes the one slain by Patroclus, after whom a sacred precinct Aianeion is shown and a certain spring Aianis.

​Next after Cynus is Alope and Daphnus, which we said had been razed; and there is a harbor there, distant from Cynus about ninety stadia, and from Elateia, for one traveling on foot into the interior, one hundred and twenty. And these already belong to the Maliac Gulf; for after the Opuntian this one is continuous.

​And after Daphnus is Cnemides, a strong place, about twenty stadia for one who sails; opposite which Cenaeum from Euboea lies, a cape looking toward the west and the Maliac Gulf, separated by a strait of nearly twenty stadia. And these are already of the Epicnemidian Locrians. Here also lie the three islands called Lichades, having their name from Lichas. And there are also other islands in the said coastal voyage, which we intentionally omit. And after twenty stadia from Cnemis is a harbor, above which lies Thronium at an equal number of stadia in the interior. Then the river Boagrius empties, flowing past Thronium, and they also call it Manes; and it is a torrent, so that one can cross it with dry feet, but at other times it even has a width of two plethra . And after this is Scarpheia, situated ten stadia above the sea, and distant thirty from Thronium, and slightly less from elsewhere; then is Nicaea and Thermopylae.