§7.7.1τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀφοριζόμενα ἔθνη τῷ τε Ἴστρῳ καὶ τοῖς Ἰλλυρικοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ Θρᾳκίοις ταῦτʼ ἔστιν ὧν ἄξιον μνησθῆναι, κατέχοντα τὴν Ἀδριατικὴν παραλίαν πᾶσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ μυχοῦ ἀρξάμενα, καὶ τὴν τὰ ἀριστερὰ τοῦ Πόντου λεγομένην ἀπὸ Ἴστρου ποταμοῦ μέχρι Βυζαντίου.
Now the nations bounded by the Ister and the Illyrian and Thracian mountains, which are worthy of mention, are these, occupying the whole Adriatic coast starting from the recess, and the coast of the Pontus called "the left-hand side" from the river Ister as far as Byzantium.
λοιπὰ δέ ἐστι τὰ νότια μέρη τῆς λεχθείσης ὀρεινῆς καὶ ἑξῆς τὰ ὑποπίπτοντα χωρία, ἐν οἷς ἐστιν ἥ τε Ἑλλὰς καὶ ἡ προσεχὴς βάρβαρος μέχρι τῶν ὀρῶν.
There remain the southern parts of the said mountain range and the regions lying below them, in which are Greece and the adjacent barbarian land as far as the mountains.
Ἑκαταῖος μὲν οὖν ὁ Μιλήσιος περὶ τῆς Πελοποννήσου φησὶν διότι πρὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ᾤκησαν αὐτὴν βάρβαροι.
Now Hecataeus of Miletus says of the Peloponnesus that before the Greeks, barbarians inhabited it.
σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ ἡ σύμπασα Ἑλλὰς κατοικία βαρβάρων ὑπῆρξε τὸ παλαιόν, ἀπʼ αὐτῶν λογιζομένοις τῶν μνημονευομένων, Πέλοπος μὲν ἐκ τῆς Φρυγίας ἐπαγαγομένου λαοὺς εἰς τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ κληθεῖσαν Πελοπόννησον, Δαναοῦ δὲ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, Δρυόπων τε καὶ Καυκώνων καὶ Πελασγῶν καὶ Λελέγων καὶ ἄλλων τοιούτων κατανειμαμένων τὰ ἐντὸς Ἰσθμοῦ καὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς δέ·
Indeed, almost the whole of Greece was in ancient times a settlement of barbarians, to judge from the facts themselves which are recorded: Pelops led people from Phrygia into the Peloponnesus, which was named after him, and Danaus led people from Egypt, while the Dryopians, Cauconians, Pelasgians, Leleges, and other such tribes partitioned the regions both inside and outside the Isthmus.
τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ἀττικὴν οἱ μετὰ Εὐμόλπου Θρᾷκες ἔσχον, τῆς δὲ Φωκίδος τὴν Δαυλίδα Τηρεύς, τὴν δὲ Καδμείαν οἱ μετὰ Κάδμου Φοίνικες, αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν Βοιωτίαν Ἄονες καὶ Τέμμικες καὶ Ὕαντες·
For the Thracians under Eumolpus held Attica, Tereus held Daulis in Phocis, the Phoenicians under Cadmus held the Cadmea, and Boeotia itself was held by the Aones, Temmices, and Hyantes.
καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀνομάτων δὲ ἐνίων τὸ βάρβαρον ἐμφαίνεται, Κέκροψ καὶ Κόδρος καὶ Ἄικλος καὶ Κόθος καὶ Δρύμας καὶ Κρίνακος.
Even from some of the names, the barbarian character is revealed, such as Cecrops, Codrus, Aiclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus.
οἱ δὲ Θρᾷκες καὶ Ἰλλυριοὶ καὶ Ἠπειρῶται καὶ μέχρι νῦν ἐν πλευραῖς εἰσιν· ἔτι μέντοι μᾶλλον πρότερον ἢ νῦν, ὅπου γε καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ παρόντι Ἑλλάδος ἀναντιλέκτως οὔσης τὴν πολλὴν οἱ βάρβαροι ἔχουσι, Μακεδονίαν μὲν Θρᾷκες καί τινα μέρη τῆς Θετταλίας, Ἀκαρνανίας δὲ καὶ Αἰτωλίας ἄνω Θεσπρωτοὶ καὶ Κασσωπαῖοι καὶ Ἀμφίλοχοι καὶ Μολοττοὶ καὶ Ἀθαμᾶνες, Ἠπειρωτικὰ ἔθνη.
The Thracians, Illyrians, and Epirotes are even to this day at the flanks; and this was still more the case formerly than now, since indeed barbarians hold most of what is at present indisputably Greece—the Thracians holding Macedonia and some parts of Thessaly, and the upper parts of Acarnania and Aetolia being held by the Thesprotians, Cassopaeans, Amphilochians, Molossians, and Athamanes, who are Epirotic tribes.
§7.7.2περὶ μὲν οὖν Πελασγῶν εἴρηται, τοὺς δὲ Λέλεγας τινὲς μὲν τοὺς αὐτοὺς Καρσὶν εἰκάζουσιν, οἱ δὲ συνοίκους μόνον καὶ συστρατιώτας· διόπερ ἐν τῇ Μιλησίᾳ, Λελέγων κατοικίας λέγεσθαί τινας, πολλαχοῦ δὲ τῆς Καρίας τάφους Λελέγων καὶ ἐρύματα ἔρημα Λελέγεια καλούμενα.
Now, concerning the Pelasgians, we have already spoken. As for the Leleges, some equate them with the Carians, while others make them only fellow-settlers and comrades-in-arms; wherefore in the territory of Miletus certain settlements are said to be of the Leleges, and in many places of Caria there are graves of the Leleges and deserted fortifications called Lelegeia.
ἥ τε Ἰωνία νῦν λεγομένη πᾶσα ὑπὸ Καρῶν ᾠκεῖτο καὶ Λελέγων· ἐκβαλόντες δὲ τούτους οἱ Ἴωνες αὐτοὶ τὴν χώραν κατέσχον, ἔτι δὲ πρότερον οἱ τὴν Τροίαν ἑλόντες ἐξήλασαν τοὺς Λέλεγας ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἴδην τόπων τῶν κατὰ Πήδασον καὶ τὸν Σατνιόεντα ποταμόν.
And the whole of what is now called Ionia was formerly inhabited by Carians and Leleges; but the Ionians themselves expelled them and took possession of the country, and even earlier those who captured Troy drove the Leleges out of the places about Ida near Pedasus and the Satnioeis river.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν βάρβαροι ἦσαν οὗτοι, καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ κοινωνῆσαι τοῖς Καρσὶ νομίζοιτʼ ἂν σημεῖον· ὅτι δὲ πλάνητες καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνων καὶ χωρὶς καὶ ἐκ παλαιοῦ, καὶ αἱ Ἀριστοτέλους πολιτεῖαι δηλοῦσιν.
That these people were barbarians might be considered indicated by the very fact of their sharing with the Carians; and that they were wanderers, both with them and apart, and from of old, is shown also by the "Constitutions" of Aristotle.
ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ Ἀκαρνάνων φησὶ τὸ μὲν ἔχειν αὐτῆς Κουρῆτας, τὸ δὲ προσεσπέριον Λέλεγας, εἶτα Τηλεβόας· ἐν δὲ τῇ Αἰτωλῶν τοὺς νῦν Λοκροὺς Λέλεγας καλεῖ, κατασχεῖν δὲ καὶ τὴν Βοιωτίαν αὐτούς φησιν· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ὀπουντίων καὶ Μεγαρέων· ἐν δὲ τῇ Λευκαδίων καὶ αὐτόχθονά τινα Λέλεγα ὀνομάζει, τούτου δὲ θυγατριδοῦν Τηλεβόαν, τοῦ δὲ παῖδας δύο καὶ εἴκοσι Τηλεβόας, ὧν τινὰς οἰκῆσαι τὴν Λευκάδα.
For in the "Constitution of the Acarnanians" he says that part of it was held by the Curetes, and the western part by the Leleges, and then by the Teleboans; and in the "Constitution of the Aetolians" he calls the present Locrians Leleges, and says that they also occupied Boeotia; and likewise in the "Constitution of the Opuntians" and "of the Megarians"; and in the "Constitution of the Leucadians" he names a certain autochthonous Lelex, whose daughter's son was Teleboas, and the latter's twenty-two sons were Teleboans, some of whom inhabited Leucadia.
μάλιστα δʼ ἄν τις Ἡσιόδῳ πιστεύσειεν οὕτως περὶ αὐτῶν εἰπόντι
"
ἤτοι γὰρ Λοκρὸς Λελέγων ἡγήσατο λαῶν,
τούς ῥά ποτε Κρονίδης, Ζεὺς ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδώς,
λεκτοὺς ἐκ γαίης λάους πόρε Δευκαλίωνι.
But one would trust Hesiod most, who spoke of them thus: "For indeed Locrus led the peoples of the Leleges, whom once the son of Cronus, Zeus, who knows deathless counsels, gave to Deucalion, as selected people from the earth.
"
τῇ γὰρ ἐτυμολογίᾳ τὸ συλλέκτους γεγονέναι τινὰς ἐκ παλαιοῦ καὶ μιγάδας αἰνίττεσθαί μοι δοκεῖ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐκλελοιπέναι τὸ γένος· ἅπερ ἄν τις καὶ περὶ Καυκώνων λέγοι, νῦν οὐδαμοῦ ὄντων πρότερον δʼ ἐν πλείοσι τόποις κατῳκισμένων.
"For by this etymology he seems to me to hint that they were from of old a gathered and mixed people, and that for this reason the race has disappeared; and one might say the same also about the Cauconians, who are now nowhere to be found, though formerly they were settled in many places.