§10.4.6"
ἄλλη δʼ ἄλλων γλῶσσα μεμιγμένη
"
φησὶν ὁ ποιητής
"
ἐν μὲν Ἀχαιοί,
ἐν δʼ Ἐτεόκρητες μεγαλήτορες, ἐν δὲ Κύδωνες,
Δωριέες τε τριχάικες δῖοί τε Πελασγοί. "
τούτων φησὶ Στάφυλος τὸ μὲν πρὸς ἕω Δωριεῖς κατέχειν, τὸ δὲ δυσμικὸν Κύδωνας, τὸ νότιον Ἐτεόκρητας, ὧν εἶναι πολίχνιον Πρᾶσον, ὅπου τὸ τοῦ Δικταίου Διὸς ἱερόν·
"The language of one is mixed with that of another," says the poet, "among them are Achaeans, and great-hearted Eteocretans, and Cydonians, and Dorians of three-fold division, and divine Pelasgians." Of these, Staphylus says that the Dorians occupy the eastern part, the Cydonians the western, and the Eteocretans the southern, of whom Prasus is a small town, where is the temple of Dictaean Zeus; while the others, having greater power, dwelt in the plains.
τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους ἰσχύοντας πλέον οἰκῆσαι τὰ πεδία. τοὺς μὲν οὖν Ἐτεόκρητας καὶ τοὺς Κύδωνας αὐτόχθονας ὑπάρξαι εἰκός, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἐπήλυδας, οὓς ἐκ Θετταλίας φησὶν ἐλθεῖν Ἄνδρων τῆς Δωρίδος μὲν πρότερον νῦν δὲ Ἑστιαιώτιδος λεγομένης· ἐξ ἧς ὡρμήθησαν, ὥς φησιν, οἱ περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν οἰκήσαντες Δωριεῖς καὶ ἔκτισαν τήν τε Ἐρινεὸν καὶ Βοιὸν καὶ Κυτίνιον, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τριχάικες ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ λέγονται.
It is likely, therefore, that the Eteocretans and the Cydonians were indigenous, and the rest immigrants, whom Andron says came from Thessaly, from that region which was formerly called Doris but is now called Hestiaeotis; from which, as he says, the Dorians who settled around Parnassus set forth and founded Erineus, Boeum, and Cytinium, for which reason they are also called "trichaikes" by the poet.
οὐ πάνυ δὲ τὸν τοῦ Ἄνδρωνος λόγον ἀποδέχονται, τὴν μὲν τετράπολιν Δωρίδα τρίπολιν ἀποφαίνοντος, τὴν δὲ μητρόπολιν τῶν Δωριέων ἄποικον Θετταλῶν· τριχάικας δὲ δέχονται ἤτοι ἀπὸ τῆς τριλοφίας ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ τριχίνους εἶναι τοὺς λόφους.
But people do not altogether accept the account of Andron, since he represents Doris, which is a tetrapolis, as a tripolis, and the mother-city of the Dorians as a colony of the Thessalians; and they interpret "trichaikes" either from the three crests of their helmets or from the crests being made of hair.
§10.4.7πόλεις δʼ εἰσὶν ἐν τῇ Κρήτῃ πλείους μέν, μέγισται δὲ καὶ ἐπιφανέσταται τρεῖς, Κνωσσὸς Γόρτυνα Κυδωνία.
There are many cities in Crete, but the three largest and most famous are Cnossus, Gortyna, and Cydonia.
διαφερόντως δὲ τὴν Κνωσσὸν καὶ Ὅμηρος ὑμνεῖ μεγάλην καλῶν καὶ βασίλειον τοῦ Μίνω καὶ οἱ ὕστερον.
Homer also especially sings the praises of Cnossus, calling it great and the royal city of Minos, as did those after him.
καὶ δὴ καὶ διετέλεσε μέχρι πολλοῦ φερομένη τὰ πρῶτα, εἶτα ἐταπεινώθη καὶ πολλὰ τῶν νομίμων ἀφῃρέθη, μετέστη δὲ τὸ ἀξίωμα εἴς τε Γόρτυναν καὶ Λύττον, ὕστερον δʼ ἀνέλαβε πάλιν τὸ παλαιὸν σχῆμα τὸ τῆς μητροπόλεως.
And indeed, for a long time it continued to hold the first place, but then it was humbled and deprived of many of its customs and institutions, and its prestige passed to Gortyna and Lyttus, though later it recovered again its ancient form of the mother-city.
κεῖται δʼ ἐν πεδίῳ κύκλον ἔχουσα ἡ Κνωσσὸς τὸν ἀρχαῖον τριάκοντα σταδίων, μεταξὺ τῆς Λυκτίας καὶ τῆς Γορτυνίας, σταδίους διακοσίους, τῆς δὲ Λύττου, ἣν ὁ ποιητὴς Λύκτον ὠνόμασεν, ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι· τῆς δὲ θαλάττης Κνωσσὸς μὲν τῆς βορείου πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι, Γόρτυνα δὲ τῆς Λιβυκῆς ἐνενήκοντα, Λύττος δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ τῆς Λιβυκῆς ὀγδοήκοντα.
Cnossus lies in a plain, having its ancient circumference thirty stadia, between Lyctia and Gortynia, being two hundred stadia from the latter, and from Lyttus, which the poet named Lyctus, one hundred and twenty; and as for the distance from the sea, Cnossus is twenty-five from the northern sea, Gortyna ninety from the Libyan, and Lyttus also itself is eighty from the Libyan.
ἔχει δʼ ἐπίνειον τὸ Ἡράκλειον ἡ Κνωσσός.
Cnossus has Heracleium as its seaport.
§10.4.8Μίνω δέ φασιν ἐπινείῳ χρήσασθαι τῷ Ἀμνισῷ, ὅπου τὸ τῆς Εἰλειθυίας ἱερόν.
And they say that Minos used Amnisus as a seaport, where is the temple of Eileithyia.
ἐκαλεῖτο δʼ ἡ Κνωσσὸς Καίρατος πρότερον ὁμώνυμος τῷ παραρρέοντι ποταμῷ.
Cnossus was formerly called Caeratus, homonymous with the river flowing by it.
ἱστόρηται δʼ ὁ Μίνως νομοθέτης γενέσθαι σπουδαῖος θαλαττοκρατῆσαί τε πρῶτος, τριχῆ δὲ διελὼν τὴν νῆσον ἐν ἑκάστῳ τῷ μέρει κτίσαι πόλιν, τὴν μὲν Κνωσσὸν ἐν τῷ καταντικρὺ τῆς Πελοποννήσου· καὶ αὐτὴ δʼ ἐστὶ προσβόρειος.
It is recorded that Minos became an excellent lawgiver and was the first to rule the sea, and having divided the island into three parts, founded a city in each part, Cnossus in the [...] opposite Peloponnesus; and this city itself is situated towards the north.
ὡς δʼ εἴρηκεν Ἔφορος, ζηλωτὴς ὁ Μίνως ἀρχαίου τινὸς Ῥαδαμάνθυος δικαιοτάτου ἀνδρὸς ὁμωνύμου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὃς πρῶτος τὴν νῆσον ἐξημερῶσαι δοκεῖ νομίμοις καὶ συνοικισμοῖς πόλεων καὶ πολιτείαις, σκηψάμενος παρὰ Διὸς φέρειν ἕκαστα τῶν τιθεμένων δογμάτων εἰς μέσον.
As Ephorus has stated, Minos was an emulator of a certain ancient Rhadamanthys, a most just man homonymous with his brother, who first seems to have civilized the island by laws, joint-settlements of cities, and constitutions, pretending to bring each of his established decrees to the public from Zeus.
τοῦτον δὴ μιμούμενος καὶ ὁ Μίνως διʼ ἐννέα ἐτῶν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀναβαίνων ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἄντρον καὶ διατρίβων ἐνθάδε, ἀπῄει συντεταγμένα ἔχων παραγγέλματά τινα, ἃ ἔφασκεν εἶναι προστάγματα τοῦ Διός· ἀφʼ ἧς αἰτίας καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν οὕτως εἰρηκέναι
"
ἐνθάδε Μίνως
ἐννέωρος βασίλευε Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής. "
τοιαῦτα δʼ εἰπόντος οἱ ἀρχαῖοι περὶ αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἄλλους εἰρήκασι λόγους ὑπεναντίους τούτοις, ὡς τυραννικός τε γένοιτο καὶ βίαιος καὶ δασμολόγος, τραγῳδοῦντες τὰ περὶ τὸν Μινώταυρον καὶ τὸν λαβύρινθον καὶ τὰ Θησεῖ συμβάντα καὶ Δαιδάλῳ.
Minos, imitating him, apparently went up every nine years to the cave of Zeus, and having spent time there, came away with certain compiled instructions, which he claimed to be commands of Zeus; for which reason the poet also spoke thus: "There Minos, as king, ruled every nine years, a companion of great Zeus." While the ancients said such things about him, they again told other stories contrary to these, saying that he was tyrannical, violent, and an exactor of tribute, making a tragedy of the stories about the Minotaur, the labyrinth, and what befell Theseus and Daedalus.