§8.3.30#2τὴν κοίλην Ἦλιν καὶ τῆς τε Πισάτιδος ἀφείλοντο πολλήν, καὶ Ὀλυμπία ὑπʼ ἐκείνοις ἐγένετο· καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ ἀγὼν εὕρημά ἐστιν ἐκείνων ὁ Ὀλυμπιακός, καὶ τὰς Ὀλυμπιάδας τὰς πρώτας ἐκεῖνοι συνετέλουν.
They took away Hollow Elis and also much of Pisatis, and Olympia came under their power; and indeed the Olympic game too is their invention, and they celebrated the first Olympiads.
ἐᾶσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὰ παλαιὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ περὶ τῆς θέσεως τοῦ ἀγῶνος, τῶν μὲν ἕνα τῶν Ἰδαίων δακτύλων Ἡρακλέα λεγόντων ἀρχηγέτην τούτων, τῶν δὲ τὸν Ἀλκμήνης καὶ Διός, ὃν καὶ ἀγωνίσασθαι πρῶτον καὶ νικῆσαι· τὰ γὰρ τοιαῦτα πολλαχῶς λέγεται καὶ οὐ πάνυ πιστεύεται.
For it is necessary to leave aside the ancient stories both concerning the founding of the temple and concerning the establishment of the games, since some say that Heracles, one of the Idaean Dactyls, was the originator of these, and others that it was the son of Alcmene and Zeus, who they say also was the first to contend and win; for such things are told in many ways and are not entirely believed.
ἐγγυτέρω δὲ πίστεως, ὅτι μέχρι τῆς ἕκτης καὶ εἰκοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης, ἐν ᾗ Κόροιβος ἐνίκα στάδιον Ἠλεῖος, τὴν προστασίαν εἶχον τοῦ τε ἱεροῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνος Ἠλεῖοι.
But closer to credibility is the fact that until the twenty-sixth Olympiad from the first, in which Coroebus the Eleian won the stadion, the Eleians had the management of both the temple and the games.
κατὰ δὲ τὰ Τρωικὰ ἢ οὐκ ἦν ἀγὼν στεφανίτης ἢ οὐκ ἔνδοξος, οὔθʼ οὗτος οὔτʼ ἄλλος οὐδεὶς τῶν νῦν ἐνδόξων· οὐδὲ μέμνηται τούτων Ὅμηρος οὐδενός, ἀλλʼ ἑτέρων τινῶν ἐπιταφίων.
And in the times of the Trojan War, either there was no crowned game or it was not famous, neither this one nor any other of those now famous; nor does Homer mention any of these, but only certain other funeral games.
καίτοι δοκεῖ τισὶ τοῦ Ὀλυμπιακοῦ μεμνῆσθαι, ὅταν φῇ τὸν Αὐγέαν ἀποστερῆσαι τέσσαρας ἀθλοφόρους ἵππους, ἐλθόντας μετʼ ἄεθλα· φασὶ δὲ τοὺς Πισάτας μὴ μετασχεῖν τοῦ Τρωικοῦ πολέμου ἱεροὺς νομισθέντας τοῦ Διός.
And yet he seems to some to mention the Olympic game, when he says that Augeas deprived someone of four prize-winning horses that had come for prizes; and they say that the Pisatans did not take part in the Trojan War, having been considered sacred to Zeus.
ἀλλʼ οὔθʼ ἡ Πισᾶτις ὑπὸ Αὐγέᾳ τόθʼ ὑπῆρχεν, ἐν ᾗ ἐστι καὶ ἡ Ὀλυμπία, ἀλλʼ ἡ Ἠλεία μόνον, οὔτʼ ἐν Ἠλείᾳ συνετελέσθη ὁ Ὀλυμπιακὸς ἀγὼν οὐδʼ ἅπαξ, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ.
But neither was Pisatis then under Augeas, in which is also Olympia, but only the Eleian territory, nor was the Olympic game celebrated in Elis even once, but always in Olympia.
ὁ δὲ νῦν παρατεθεὶς ἐν Ἤλιδι φαίνεται γενόμενος, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸ χρέος ὠφείλετο
"
καὶ γὰρ τῷ χρεῖος ὀφείλετʼ ἐν Ἤλιδι δίῃ,
τέσσαρες ἀθλοφόροι ἵπποι. "
καὶ οὗτος μὲν οὐ στεφανίτης (περὶ τρίποδος γὰρ ἔμελλον θεύσεσθαι), ἐκεῖνος δέ.
And the game now cited appears to have taken place in Elis, where also the debt was owed: 'For indeed a debt was owed to him in divine Elis, four prize-winning horses.' And this one indeed was not a crowned game (for they were going to run for a tripod), but that one was.
μετὰ τὴν ἕκτην καὶ εἰκοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα οἱ Πισᾶται τὴν οἰκείαν ἀπολαβόντες αὐτοὶ συνετέλουν, τὸν ἀγῶνα ὁρῶντες εὐδοκιμοῦντα· χρόνοις δʼ ὕστερον μεταπεσούσης πάλιν τῆς Πισάτιδος εἰς τοὺς Ἠλείους μετέπεσεν εἰς αὐτοὺς πάλιν καὶ ἡ ἀγωνοθεσία.
After the twenty-sixth Olympiad, the Pisatans, having recovered their own land, celebrated the games themselves, seeing the game winning high repute; but in later times, when Pisatis fell back again to the Eleians, the management of the games also fell back to them again.
συνέπραξαν δὲ καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μετὰ τὴν ἐσχάτην κατάλυσιν τῶν Μεσσηνίων συμμαχήσασιν αὐτοῖς τἀναντία τῶν Νέστορος ἀπογόνων καὶ τῶν Ἀρκάδων συμπολεμησάντων τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις· καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν γε συνέπραξαν ὥστε τὴν χώραν ἅπασαν τὴν μέχρι Μεσσήνης Ἠλείαν ῥηθῆναι καὶ διαμεῖναι μέχρι νῦν, Πισατῶν δὲ καὶ Τριφυλίων καὶ Καυκώνων μηδʼ ὄνομα λειφθῆναι.
And the Lacedaemonians also cooperated with them after the final subjection of the Messenians, because the Eleians had allied with them, in contrast to the descendants of Nestor and the Arcadians, who had fought along with the Messenians; and they cooperated to such an extent that the entire country as far as Messene was called Eleia and has remained so until now, and of the Pisatans, Triphylians, and Cauconians not even a name was left.
καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Πύλον τὸν ἠμαθόεντα εἰς τὸ Λέπρειον συνῴκισαν, χαριζόμενοι τοῖς Λεπρεάταις κρατήσασι πολέμῳ, καὶ ἄλλας πολλὰς τῶν κατοικιῶν κατέσπασαν, ὅσας γʼ ἑώρων αὐτοπραγεῖν ἐθελούσας, καὶ φόρους ἐπράξαντο.
And they even concentrated 'sandy Pylos' itself into Lepreum, to gratify the Lepreans who had conquered in war, and they razed many of the other settlements, at least as many as they saw wishing to act independently, and exacted tribute.