§1.13.1φέρε δὴ καὶ τὸ γένος ὅθεν ἦν τὸ τῶν Οἰνώτρων ἀποδείξωμεν, ἕτερον ἄνδρα τῶν ἀρχαίων συγγραφέων παρασχόμενοι μάρτυρα, Φερεκύδην τὸν Ἀθηναῖον, γενεαλόγων οὐδενὸς δεύτερον.
Come now, let us also show from what stock the race of the Oenotrians was derived, presenting as a witness another man among the ancient historians, Pherecydes of Athens, who is second to no genealogist.
πεποίηται γὰρ αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ βασιλευσάντων ὅδε ὁ λόγος· Πελασγοῦ καὶ Δηιανείρης γίνεται Λυκάων· οὗτος γαμεῖ Κυλλήνην, Νηίδα νύμφην, ἀφʼ ἧς τὸ ὄρος ἡ Κυλλήνη καλεῖταἰ. ἔπειτα τοὺς ἐκ τούτων γεννηθέντας διεξιὼν καὶ τίνας ἕκαστοι τόπους ᾤκησαν, Οἰνώτρου καὶ Πευκετίου μιμνήσκεται λέγων ὧδε· ʽκαὶ Οἴνωτρος, ἀφʼ οὗ Οἴνωτροι καλέονται οἱ ἐν Ἰταλίῃ οἰκέοντες, καὶ Πευκέτιος, ἀφʼ οὗ Πευκέτιοι καλέονται οἱ ἐν τῷ Ἰονίῳ κόλπᾠ. τὰ §1.13.2μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν εἰρημένα ποιητῶν τε καὶ μυθογράφων περί τε οἰκήσεως καὶ γένους τῶν Οἰνώτρων τοιαῦτά ἐστιν· οἷς ἐγὼ πειθόμενος, εἰ τῷ ὄντι Ἑλληνικὸν φῦλον ἦν τὸ τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων, ὡς Κάτωνι καὶ Σεμπρωνίῳ καὶ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις εἴρηται, τούτων ἔγγονον αὐτῶν τῶν Οἰνώτρων ὑποτίθεμαι.
For the following account has been written by him concerning those who reigned in Arcadia: "Of Pelasgus and Deianeira was born Lycaon; this man married Cyllene, a Naiad nymph, from whom the mountain Cyllene is named." Then, enumerating those born of these and what places each of them inhabited, he mentions Oenotrus and Peucetius, speaking thus: "And Oenotrus, from whom are named the Oenotrians who inhabit Italy, and Peucetius, from whom are named the Peucetians who inhabit the Ionian gulf." These, then, are the accounts given by the ancient poets and mythographers concerning the settlement and the descent of the Oenotrians; and persuaded by these, if the race of the Aborigines was in truth a Greek nation, as has been said by Cato, Sempronius and many others, I suppose them to be descendants of these very Oenotrians.
τὸ γὰρ δὴ Πελασγικὸν καὶ τὸ Κρητικὸν καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ ᾤκησεν, ὑστέροις εὑρίσκω χρόνοις ἀφικόμενα. παλαιότερον δὲ τούτου στόλον ἀπαναστάντα τῆς Ἑλλάδος εἰς τὰ προσεσπέρια τῆς Εὐρώπης οὐδένα δύναμαι καταμαθεῖν.
For I find that the Pelasgian and the Cretan expeditions, and whatever others settled in Italy, arrived in later times; and I can discover no expedition older than this that departed from Greece to the western parts of Europe.
§1.13.3τοὺς δὲ Οἰνώτρους τῆς τʼ ἄλλης Ἰταλίας πολλὰ χωρία οἴομαι κατασχεῖν, τὰ μὲν ἔρημα, τὰ δὲ φαύλως οἰκούμενα καταλαβόντας, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῆς Ὀμβρικῶν γῆς ἐστιν ἣν ἀποτεμέσθαι, κληθῆναι δὲ Ἀβοριγῖνας ἐπὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν οἰκήσεως ʽἈρκαδικὸν γὰρ τὸ φιλοχωρεῖν ἐν ὄρεσινʼ, ὡς ὑπερακρίους τινὰς καὶ παραλίους Ἀθήνησιν.
And I believe that the Oenotrians occupied many parts of the rest of Italy, seizing some that were deserted and others that were sparsely inhabited, and indeed that they cut off some of the land of the Umbrians; and that they were called Aborigines because of their dwelling in the mountains ("for to be fond of the mountains is an Arcadian characteristic"), just as certain people at Athens were called Hyperacrioi and Paralioi.
§1.13.4εἰ δέ τινες πεφύκασι μὴ ταχεῖς εἶναι περὶ πραγμάτων παλαιῶν ἀβασανίστως τὰ λεγόμενα δέχεσθαι, μὴ ταχεῖς ἔστωσαν μηδὲ Λίγυας ἢ Ὀμβρικοὺς ἢ ἄλλους τινὰς βαρβάρους αὐτοὺς νομίσαι, περιμείναντες δὲ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ μαθεῖν κρινέτωσαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τὸ πιθανώτατον.
But if some are by nature not quick to accept without examination what is said concerning ancient matters, let them not be quick either to consider them Ligurians or Umbrians or any other barbarians, but waiting to learn the rest as well, let them judge from all the evidence what is most probable.