§6.2.4#2μυθεύουσι δὲ τὸν Ἀλφειὸν εἶναι τοῦτον, ἀρχόμενον μὲν ἐκ τῆς Πελοποννήσου, διὰ δὲ τοῦ πελάγους ὑπὸ γῆς τὸ ῥεῖθρον ἔχοντα μέχρι πρὸς τὴν Ἀρέθουσαν, εἶτʼ ἐκδιδόντα ἐνθένδε πάλιν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν.
And people mythologize that this is the Alpheus, which, starting from the Peloponnesus, keeps its stream underground through the sea as far as Arethusa, and then empties from there back into the sea.
τεκμηριοῦνται δὲ τοιούτοις τισί· καὶ γὰρ φιάλην τινὰ ἐκπεσοῦσαν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐνόμισαν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ δεῦρο ἀνενεχθῆναι εἰς τὴν κρήνην, καὶ θολοῦσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ βουθυσιῶν.
And they prove it by such tokens as these: for they believed that a certain cup, having fallen into the river at Olympia, was carried up here into the spring, and that the spring is muddied from the sacrifices of oxen at Olympia.
ὅ τε Πίνδαρος ἐπακολουθῶν τούτοις εἴρηκε τάδε
"
ἄμπνευμα σεμνὸν Ἀλφεοῦ,
κλεινᾶν Συρακοσσᾶν θάλος, Ὀρτυγία.
And Pindar, following these stories, has said: "O Ortygia, venerable breathing-place of Alpheus, offshoot of renowned Syracuse.
"
συναποφαίνεται δὲ τῷ Πινδάρῳ ταὐτὰ καὶ Τίμαιος ὁ συγγραφεύς.
"And Timaeus the historian also declares the same things in agreement with Pindar.
εἰ μὲν οὖν πρὸ τοῦ συνάψαι τῇ θαλάττῃ κατέπιπτεν ὁ Ἀλφειὸς εἴς τι βάραθρον, ἦν τις ἂν πιθανότης ἐντεῦθεν διήκειν κατὰ γῆς ῥεῖθρον μέχρι τῆς Σικελίας ἀμιγὲς τῇ θαλάττῃ διασῶζον τὸ πότιμον ὕδωρ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ στόμα φανερόν ἐστιν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἐκδιδόν, ἐγγὺς δὲ μηδὲν ἐν τῷ πόρῳ τῆς θαλάττης φαινόμενον στόμα τὸ καταπῖνον τὸ ῥεῦμα τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καίπερ οὐδʼ οὕτως ἂν συμμείναι γλυκύ, παντάπασιν ἀμήχανόν ἐστι.
If, then, before joining the sea, the Alpheus fell into some chasm, there would be some plausibility in its stream reaching from there under the earth as far as Sicily, keeping its potable water unmixed with the sea; but since the mouth of the river is seen to empty into the sea, and no mouth is visible near its course in the sea that swallows up the flow of the river—although even so it would not remain sweet—it is entirely impossible.
τό τε γὰρ τῆς Ἀρεθούσης ὕδωρ ἀντιμαρτυρεῖ πότιμον ὄν· τό τε διὰ τοσούτου πόρου συμμένειν τὸ ῥεῦμα τοῦ ποταμοῦ μὴ διαχεόμενον τῇ θαλάττῃ, μέχρι ἂν εἰς τὸ πεπλασμένον ῥεῖθρον ἐμπέσῃ, παντελῶς μυθῶδες.
For the water of Arethusa itself testifies to the contrary, since it is potable; and that the flow of the river should remain together through so great a distance, without being dispersed by the sea, until it falls into the fabricated channel, is completely mythical.
μόλις γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ῥοδανοῦ τοῦτο πιστεύομεν, ᾧ συμμένει τὸ ῥεῦμα διὰ λίμνης ἰόν, ὁρατὴν σῶζον τὴν ῥύσιν· ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖ μὲν καὶ βραχὺ διάστημα καὶ οὐ κυμαινούσης τῆς λίμνης, ἐνταῦθα δέ, ὅπου χειμῶνες ἐξαίσιοι καὶ κλυδασμοί, πιθανότητος οὐδεμιᾶς οἰκεῖος ὁ λόγος.
For we can scarcely believe this in the case of the Rhone, whose stream remains together while passing through a lake, keeping its flow visible; but there the distance is short and the lake is not wavy, whereas here, where there are extraordinary storms and surges, the story has no plausibility.
ἐπιτείνει δὲ τὸ ψεῦδος ἡ φιάλη παρατεθεῖσα· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὴ ῥεύματι εὐπειθής, οὐχ ὅτι τῷ τοσούτῳ τε καὶ διὰ τοιούτων πόρων φερομένῳ.
And the story of the cup brought forward increases the falsehood; for even the cup itself is not easily carried by a current, to say nothing of one borne over such a distance and through such passages.
φέρονται δʼ ὑπὸ γῆς ποταμοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ πολλαχοῦ τῆς γῆς, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διάστημα· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο δυνατόν, τά γε προειρημένα ἀδύνατα καὶ τῷ περὶ τοῦ Ἰνάχου μύθῳ παραπλήσια· "
ῥεῖ γὰρ ἀπʼ ἄκρας Πίνδου
"
φησὶν ὁ Σοφοκλῆς
"
Λάκμου τʼ ἀπὸ Περραιβῶν
εἰς Ἀμφιλόχους καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶνας,
μίσγει δʼ ὕδασιν τοῖς Ἀχελώου.
Many rivers flow underground in many parts of the earth, but not over so great a distance; and even if this were possible, what has been said before is impossible and very similar to the myth about the Inachus: "For it flows from the heights of Pindus, "says Sophocles, "and from Lacmus from the country of the Perrhaebi, into the lands of the Amphilochians and Acarnanians, and mingles with the waters of Achelous.
"
καὶ ὑποβὰς
"
ἔνθενδʼ ἐς Ἄργος διὰ κῦμα τεμὼν
ἥκει δῆμον τὸν Λυρκείου.
"And further down: "And thence to Argos, cutting through the wave, it comes to the deme of Lyrceium.
"
βελτίων δʼ Ἑκαταῖος, ὅς φησι τὸν ἐν τοῖς Ἀμφιλόχοις Ἴναχον ἐκ τοῦ Λακμοῦ ῥέοντα, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ὁ Αἴας ῥεῖ, ἕτερον εἶναι τοῦ Ἀργολικοῦ, ὠνομάσθαι δʼ ὑπὸ Ἀμφιλόχου τοῦ καὶ τὴν πόλιν Ἄργος Ἀμφιλοχικὸν καλέσαντος· τοῦτον μὲν οὖν οὗτός φησιν εἰς τὸν Ἀχελῶον ἐκβάλλειν, τὸν δὲ Αἴαντα εἰς Ἀπολλωνίαν πρὸς δύσιν ῥεῖν.
"But Hecataeus is better, who says that the Inachus among the Amphilochians, flowing from Lacmus, from which the Aeas also flows, is different from the Argolic river, and was named by Amphilochus, who also called the city Amphilochian Argos; this river, he says, empties into the Achelous, while the Aeas flows westward toward Apollonia.
ἑκατέρωθεν δὲ τῆς νήσου λιμήν ἐστι μέγας, ὧν ὁ μείζων καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα σταδίων ἐστί.
On either side of the island there is a large harbor, of which the larger has a circumference of eighty stadia.
ταύτην δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἀνέλαβεν ὁ Καῖσαρ καὶ τὴν Κατάνην, ὡς δʼ αὕτως Κεντόριπα συμβαλομένην πολλὰ πρὸς τὴν Πομπηίου κατάλυσιν.
Caesar restored this city and Catana, and likewise Centuripa, which had contributed much to the overthrow of Pompeius.
κεῖται δʼ ὑπὲρ Κατάνης τὰ Κεντόριπα συνάπτοντα τοῖς Αἰτναίοις ὄρεσι καὶ τῷ Συμαίθῳ ποταμῷ ῥέοντι εἰς τὴν Καταναίαν.
Centuripa lies above Catana, bordering on the Aetnaean mountains and the river Symaethus, which flows into the territory of Catana.