Description of Greece

​After the death of Oenomaus, Pelops obtained Pisaia and Olympia, having cut off that part of the land of the Epeians which bordered on Pisaia; the Eleans say that Pelops was the first to build a temple of Hermes in the Peloponnese and to sacrifice to the god, in order to avert the wrath of the god for the death of Myrtilus.

​To Aetolus, who ruled after Epeius, it happened that he had to flee from the Peloponnese, because the sons of Apis prosecuted and convicted him for unintentional homicide; for Aetolus, having driven his chariot, killed Apis the son of Iason from Pallantium of the Arcadians during the games held in honor of Azan. Because of this flight of Aetolus, the son of Endymion, to this mainland, the inhabitants around the Achelous were named after him, while Eleios obtained the sovereignty of the Epeians, being the son of Eurycyda, the daughter of Endymion, and—for anyone who believes it—having Poseidon as his father; and from this Eleios the people changed their present name instead of Epeians.

​To Eleios was born Augeas; but those who magnify his history, altering the name of Eleios, say that Augeas was the son of Helios. To this Augeas belonged so many cattle and herds of goats that most of his land already remained uncultivated because of the dung of the beasts; he therefore persuaded Heracles, either on condition of receiving a share of Elis, or for whatever other reward it might be, to clear the land of the dung for him.

​And Heracles accomplished this too by turning the stream of the Menius into the dung; but Augeas, because the deed had been achieved by Heracles through cleverness rather than toil, refused to pay him his reward, and banished Phyleus, the eldest of his male children, for objecting that he was acting unjustly toward a benefactor. He himself prepared for other measures to defend himself against Heracles if he should march against Elis, and drew into friendship the sons of Actor and Amarynceus;

​Amarynceus was otherwise brave in war, and his father Pyttios was of Thessalian descent and had come to Elis from Thessaly. Augeas gave Amarynceus a share in the government of Elis; while Actor and his sons were of native stock and had a share in the kingdom. For Actor was the son of Phorbas the Lapith, and of Hyrmina, the daughter of Epeius, and after her Actor founded the city of Hyrmina in Elis.