§10.1.10Ἐρέτριαν δʼ οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ Μακίστου τῆς Τριφυλίας ἀποικισθῆναί φασιν ὑπʼ Ἐρετριέως, οἱ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀθήνησιν Ἐρετρίας, ἣ νῦν ἐστὶν ἀγορά·
As for Eretria, some say it was colonized from Macistus in Triphylia by Eretrieus, while others say from Eretria in Athens, which is now the marketplace.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ περὶ Φάρσαλον Ἐρέτρια, ἱερὰ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος.
There is also an Eretria near Pharsalus, with a temple of Apollo.
Ἀδμήτου δʼ ἵδρυμα λέγεται τὸ ἱερόν, παρʼ ᾧ θητεῦσαι λέγουσι τὸν θεὸν ἐνιαυτόν, πλησίον τοῦ πορθμοῦ.
The temple is said to be a foundation of Admetus, near which they say the god served as a thrall for a year, close to the strait.
Μελανηὶς δʼ ἐκαλεῖτο πρότερον ἡ Ἐρέτρια καὶ Ἀρότρια· ταύτης δʼ ἐστὶ κώμη ἡ Ἀμάρυνθος ἀφʼ ἑπτὰ σταδίων τοῦ τείχους.
Eretria was formerly called Melaneïs and Arotria; and Amarynthus is a village of it, seven stadia from the wall.
τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀρχαίαν πόλιν κατέσκαψαν Πέρσαι, σαγηνεύσαντες, ὥς φησιν Ἡρόδοτος, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῷ πλήθει, περιχυθέντων τῶν βαρβάρων τῷ τείχει· καὶ δεικνύουσιν ἔτι τοὺς θεμελίους, καλοῦσι δὲ παλαιὰν Ἐρέτριαν, ἡ δὲ νῦν ἐπέκτισται.
Now the ancient city was razed by the Persians, who dragged a net for the inhabitants, as Herodotus says, by their multitude, the barbarians having poured around the wall; and they still point out the foundations and call it Old Eretria, while the present city has been built additionally.
τὴν δὲ δύναμιν τὴν Ἐρετριέων ἣν ἔσχον ποτὲ μαρτυρεῖ ἡ στήλη, ἣν ἀνέθεσάν ποτε ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Ἀμαρυνθίας Ἀρτέμιδος· γέγραπται δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ τρισχιλίοις μὲν ὁπλίταις ἑξακοσίοις δʼ ἱππεῦσιν ἑξήκοντα δʼ ἅρμασι ποιεῖν τὴν πομπήν· ἐπῆρχον δὲ καὶ Ἀνδρίων καὶ Τηνίων καὶ Κείων καὶ ἄλλων νήσων.
The power that the Eretrians once possessed is testified by the stele which they once dedicated in the temple of Amarynthian Artemis; on it is written that they made the procession with three thousand hoplites, six hundred cavalry, and sixty chariots; and they ruled over the Andrians, Tenians, Ceans, and other islands.
ἐποίκους δʼ ἔσχον ἀπʼ Ἤλιδος, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τῷ γράμματι τῷ ῥῶ πολλῷ χρησάμενοι οὐκ ἐπὶ τέλει μόνον τῶν ῥημάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν μέσῳ κεκωμῴδηνται.
They had settlers from Elis, whence, using the letter rho a great deal, not only at the end of words but also in the middle, they have been ridiculed in comedy.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ Οἰχαλία κώμη τῆς Ἐρετρικῆς, λείψανον τῆς ἀναιρεθείσης πόλεως ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους, ὁμώνυμος τῇ Τραχινίᾳ καὶ τῇ περὶ Τρίκκην καὶ τῇ Ἀρκαδικῇ, ἣν Ἀνδανίαν οἱ ὕστερον ἐκάλεσαν, καὶ τῇ ἐν Αἰτωλίᾳ περὶ τοὺς Εὐρυτᾶνας.
There is also Oechalia, a village of Eretria, a remnant of the city destroyed by Heracles, homonymous with the Oechalia in Trachis, the one near Tricca, the Arcadian one (which later people called Andania), and the one in Aetolia near the Eurytanes.
§10.1.11νυνὶ μὲν οὖν ὁμολογουμένως ἡ Χαλκὶς φέρεται τὰ πρωτεῖα καὶ μητρόπολις αὕτη λέγεται τῶν Εὐβοέων, δευτερεύει δʼ ἡ Ἐρέτρια.
Now, by common consent, Chalcis bears the palm and is called the metropolis of the Euboeans, while Eretria holds second place.
ἀλλὰ καὶ πρότερον αὗται μέγα εἶχον ἀξίωμα καὶ πρὸς πόλεμον καὶ πρὸς εἰρήνην, ὥστε καὶ φιλοσόφοις ἀνδράσι παρασχεῖν διαγωγὴν ἡδεῖαν καὶ ἀθόρυβον.
But formerly these cities had great prestige both for war and for peace, so as to afford a pleasant and undisturbed lifestyle even to philosophers.
μαρτυρεῖ δʼ ἥ τε τῶν Ἐρετρικῶν φιλοσόφων σχολὴ τῶν περὶ Μενέδημον ἐν τῇ Ἐρετρίᾳ γενομένη, καὶ ἔτι πρότερον ἡ Ἀριστοτέλους ἐν τῇ Χαλκίδι διατριβή, ὅς γε κἀκεῖ κατέλυσε τὸν βίον.
This is witnessed by the school of Eretrian philosophers of the circle of Menedemus which arose in Eretria, and still earlier, the stay of Aristotle in Chalcis, who indeed ended his life there.
§10.1.12τὸ μὲν οὖν πλέον ὡμολόγουν ἀλλήλαις αἱ πόλεις αὗται, περὶ δὲ Ληλάντου διενεχθεῖσαι οὐδʼ οὕτω τελέως ἐπαύσαντο ὥστʼ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ κατὰ αὐθάδειαν δρᾶν ἕκαστα, ἀλλὰ συνέθεντο ἐφʼ οἷς συστήσονται τὸν ἀγῶνα.
For the most part, then, these cities were in agreement with each other, but when they fell out concerning the Lelantine Plain, they did not even so completely lose control as to do everything in the war according to headstrong passion, but agreed on the conditions under which they would frame the contest.
δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ Ἀμαρυνθίῳ στήλη τις φράζουσα μὴ χρῆσθαι τηλεβόλοις.
This is also made clear by a certain stele in the Amarynthium which declares not to use long-distance missiles.
§10.1.13οἱ δʼ Εὐβοεῖς ἀγαθοὶ πρὸς μάχην ὑπῆρξαν τὴν σταδίαν, ἣ καὶ συστάδην λέγεται καὶ ἐκ χειρός.
And the Euboeans were excellent at standing fight, which is also called hand-to-hand or at close quarters.
δόρασι δʼ ἐχρῶντο τοῖς ὀρεκτοῖς, ὥς φησιν ὁ ποιητής
"
αἰχμηταὶ μεμαῶτες ὀρεκτῇσι μελίῃσι
θώρηκας ῥήσσειν. "
ἀλλοίων ἴσως ὄντων τῶν παλτῶν, οἵαν εἰκὸς εἶναι τὴν Πηλιάδα μελίην ἥν, ὥς φησιν ὁ ποιητής
"
οἶος ἐπίστατο πῆλαι Ἀχιλλεύς
"
καὶ ὁ εἰπών
"
δουρὶ δʼ ἀκοντίζω, ὅσον οὐκ ἄλλος τις ὀιστῷ,
"
τῷ παλτῷ λέγει δόρατι.
They used spears for thrusting, as the Poet says: "Spearmen eager to rend breastplates with thrusting ashen spears," since the throwing-spears were perhaps of another kind, such as was likely the Pelian ash, which, as the Poet says, "Achilles alone knew how to brandish," and he who said, "I hurl the spear as far as no other throws an arrow," calls the throwing-spear a spear.
καὶ οἱ μονομαχοῦντες τοῖς παλτοῖς χρώμενοι δόρασιν εἰσάγονται πρότερον, εἶτα ἐπὶ τὰ ξίφη βαδίζοντες· ἀγχέμαχοι δʼ εἰσὶν οὐχ οἱ ξίφει χρώμενοι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δόρατι ἐκ χειρός, ὥς φησιν
"
οὔτησε ξυστῷ χαλκήρεϊ, λῦσε δὲ γυῖα. "
τοὺς μὲν οὖν Εὐβοέας τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ χρωμένους εἰσάγει, περὶ δὲ Λοκρῶν τἀναντία λέγει ὡς
"
οὔ σφιν σταδίης ὑσμίνης ἔργα μέμηλεν,
ἀλλʼ ἄρα τόξοισι καὶ ἐυστρόφῳ οἰὸς ἀώτῳ
Ἴλιον εἰς ἅμʼ ἕποντο. "
περιφέρεται δὲ καὶ χρησμὸς ἐκδοθεὶς Αἰγιεῦσιν
"
ἵππον Θεσσαλικόν, Λακεδαιμονίαν δὲ γυναῖκα,
ἄνδρας θʼ οἳ πίνουσιν ὕδωρ ἱερῆς Ἀρεθούσης,
"
τοὺς Χαλκιδέας λέγων ὡς ἀρίστους· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἡ Ἀρέθουσα.
And those who fight in single combat are introduced first using throwing-spears, then proceeding to swords; but those at close quarters are not only those who use the sword, but also those who use the spear from the hand, as he says: "He wounded him with a polished bronze-tipped spear, and loosed his limbs." The Poet, then, introduces the Euboeans as using this manner of fighting, but concerning the Locrians he says the opposite: "For the deeds of standing fight did not concern them, but they followed together to Ilium trusting in bows and well-twisted sheep's wool." And there is also an oracle circulated which was given to the Aegieans: "A Thessalian horse, a Lacedaemonian woman, and men who drink the water of sacred Arethusa," meaning the Chalcidians as the best; for Arethusa is there.
§10.1.14εἰσὶ δὲ νῦν Εὐβοῗται ποταμοὶ Κηρεὺς καὶ Νηλεύς, ὧν ἀφʼ οὗ μὲν πίνοντα τὰ πρόβατα λευκὰ γίνεται, ἀφʼ οὗ δὲ μέλανα· καὶ περὶ τὸν Κρᾶθιν δὲ εἴρηται τοιοῦτόν τι συμβαῖνον.
And there are now two rivers in Euboea, Cereus and Neleus, from one of which the sheep drinking become white, and from the other black; and something of this kind is said to happen also around the Crathis.
§10.1.15τῶν δʼ ἐκ Τροίας ἐπανιόντων Εὐβοέων τινὲς εἰς Ἰλλυριοὺς ἐκπεσόντες, ἀποβαίνοντες οἴκαδε διὰ τῆς Μακεδονίας περὶ Ἔδεσσαν ἔμειναν συμπολεμήσαντες τοῖς ὑποδεξαμένοις, καὶ ἔκτισαν πόλιν Εὔβοιαν· ἦν δὲ καὶ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Εὔβοια Χαλκιδέων τῶν ἐκεῖ κτίσμα, ἣν Γέλων ἐξανέστησε, καὶ ἐγένετο φρούριον Συρακουσίων· καὶ ἐν Κερκύρᾳ δὲ καὶ ἐν Λήμνῳ τόπος ἦν Εὔβοια καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀργείᾳ λόφος τις.
Of the Euboeans returning from Troy, some, having been cast out to the Illyrians, on their way home through Macedonia near Edessa, remained there after fighting alongside those who received them, and founded a city Euboea; and there was also a Euboea in Sicily, a foundation of the Chalcidians there, which Gelon destroyed, and it became a stronghold of the Syracusans; and in Corcyra and Lemnos there was a place called Euboea, and a certain hill in the Argive territory.
§10.1.16ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖς Θετταλοῖς καὶ Οἰταίοις πρὸς ἑσπέραν Αἰτωλοὶ καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶνές εἰσι καὶ Ἀθαμᾶνες, εἰ χρὴ καὶ τούτους Ἕλληνας εἰπεῖν, λοιπὸν ἐξηγήσασθαι περὶ τούτων, ἵνʼ ἔχωμεν τὴν περίοδον ἅπασαν τὴν τῆς Ἑλλάδος· προσθεῖναι δὲ καὶ τὰς νήσους τὰς προσχώρους μάλιστα τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ οἰκουμένας ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὅσας μὴ περιωδεύκαμεν.
Since to the west of the Thessalians and Oetaeans are the Aetolians, Acarnanians, and Athamanes, if indeed these also must be called Greeks, it remains to explain concerning them, so that we may have the entire circuit of Greece; and to add also the islands that are closest to Greece and inhabited by Greeks, as many as we have not circumnavigated.