§8.6.9τὴν δὲ ἀκρόπολιν τῶν Ἀργείων οἰκίσαι λέγεται Δαναός, ὃς τοσοῦτον τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ δυναστεύοντας ἐν τοῖς τόποις ὑπερβαλέσθαι δοκεῖ ὥστε κατʼ Εὐριπίδην
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Πελασγιώτας ὠνομασμένους τὸ πρὶν
Δαναοὺς καλεῖσθαι νόμον ἔθηκʼ ἀνʼ Ἑλλάδα. "
ἔστι δὲ καὶ τάφος αὐτοῦ κατὰ μέσην τὴν τῶν Ἀργείων ἀγοράν· καλεῖται δὲ πλίνθος.
Danaus is said to have founded the acropolis of the Argives, who is thought to have so far surpassed those who ruled in these places before him that, according to Euripides: 'Those named Pelasgiotes before, he made it the law that they be called Danaans throughout Greece.' And there is also his tomb in the middle of the marketplace of the Argives; and it is called Plinthus.
οἶμαι δʼ ὅτι καὶ Πελασγιώτας καὶ Δαναούς, ὥσπερ καὶ Ἀργείους, ἡ δόξα τῆς πόλεως ταύτης ἀπʼ αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας καλεῖσθαι παρεσκεύασεν· οὕτω δὲ καὶ Ἰασίδας καὶ Ἴασον Ἄργος.
And I think that, just as with 'Argives', the fame of this city caused both 'Pelasgiotes' and 'Danaans'—and indeed the other Greeks—to be called after it; and likewise 'Iasidae' and 'Iasian Argos'.
καὶ Ἀπίαν καὶ Ἀπιδόνας οἱ νεώτεροί φασιν· Ὅμηρος δʼ Ἀπιδόνας μὲν οὐ λέγει, ἀπίαν δὲ τὴν πόρρω μᾶλλον.
And the younger writers speak of 'Apia' and 'Apidones'; but Homer does not speak of 'Apidones', but rather of 'apia' as the distant land.
ὅτι δʼ Ἄργος τὴν Πελοπόννησον λέγει, προσλαβεῖν ἔστι καὶ τάδε
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Ἀργείη δʼ Ἑλένη
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καὶ
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ἔστι πόλις Ἐφύρη μυχῷ Ἄργεος
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καὶ
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μέσον Ἄργος
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καὶ
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πολλῇσιν νήσοισι καὶ Ἄργεϊ παντὶ ἀνάσσειν. "
Ἄργος δὲ καὶ τὸ πεδίον λέγεται παρὰ τοῖς νεωτέροις, παρʼ Ὁμήρῳ δʼ οὐδʼ ἅπαξ· μάλιστα δʼ οἴονται Μακεδονικὸν καὶ Θετταλικὸν εἶναι.
And that he means the Peloponnese by 'Argos' can be gathered also from these: 'Argive Helen' and 'There is a city Ephyra in the corner of Argos' and 'mid-Argos' and 'To rule over many islands and all Argos.' And 'Argos' is also called the plain by the younger writers, but not even once in Homer; and they think that this is especially Macedonian and Thessalian.
§8.6.10τῶν δʼ ἀπογόνων τοῦ Δαναοῦ διαδεξαμένων τὴν ἐν Ἄργει δυναστείαν, ἐπιμιχθέντων δὲ τούτοις τῶν Ἀμυθαονιδῶν ὡρμημένων ἐκ τῆς Πισάτιδος καὶ τῆς Τριφυλίας, οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσειέ τις εἰ συγγενεῖς ὄντες οὕτω διείλοντο τὴν χώραν εἰς δύο βασιλείας τὸ πρῶτον, ὥστε τὰς ἡγεμονευούσας ἐν αὐταῖς δύο πόλεις ἀποδειχθῆναι πλησίον ἀλλήλων ἱδρυμένας ἐν ἐλάττοσιν ἢ πεντήκοντα σταδίοις, τό τε Ἄργος καὶ τὰς Μυκήνας, καὶ τὸ Ἡραῖον εἶναι κοινὸν ἱερὸν τὸ πρὸς ταῖς Μυκήναις ἀμφοῖν, ἐν ᾧ τὰ Πολυκλείτου ξόανα τῇ μὲν τέχνῃ κάλλιστα τῶν πάντων πολυτελείᾳ δὲ καὶ μεγέθει τῶν Φειδίου λειπόμενα.
When the descendants of Danaus succeeded to the dynasty in Argos, and the Amythaonidae, who had set out from Pisatis and Triphylia, intermingled with them, one would not wonder if, being kinsmen, they thus divided the territory into two kingdoms at first, so that the two ruling cities in them were established near each other, at a distance of less than fifty stadia, namely Argos and Mycenae, and the Heraeum, near Mycenae, was a common temple for both, in which are the wooden images of Polyclitus, in artistry the most beautiful of all, but in costliness and size inferior to those of Pheidias.
κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν τὸ Ἄργος ἐπεκράτει μᾶλλον, εἶθʼ αἱ Μυκῆναι μείζονα ἐπίδοσιν λαβοῦσαι διὰ τὴν τῶν Πελοπιδῶν εἰς αὐτὰς μεθίδρυσιν· περιστάντων γὰρ εἰς τοὺς Ἀτρέως παῖδας ἁπάντων, Ἀγαμέμνων ὢν πρεσβύτερος παραλαβὼν τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἅμα τύχῃ τε καὶ ἀρετῇ πρὸς τοῖς οὖσι πολλὴν προσεκτήσατο τῆς χώρας, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν Ἀργολικὴν τῇ Μυκηναίᾳ προσέθηκε.
At first, then, Argos was more powerful, but then Mycenae received a greater increase because of the migration of the Pelopidae to it; for when all power devolved upon the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon, being the elder, took over the authority, and through both fortune and merit acquired much of the country in addition to what was already there, and indeed added the Argive territory to the Mycenaean.
Μενέλαος μὲν δὴ τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἔσχε, Μυκήνας δὲ καὶ τὰ μέχρι Κορίνθου καὶ Σικυῶνος καὶ τῆς Ἰώνων μὲν τότε καὶ Αἰγιαλέων καλουμένης Ἀχαιῶν δὲ ὕστερον Ἀγαμέμνων παρέλαβε.
Menelaus indeed held the Laconian territory, but Agamemnon received Mycenae and the places as far as Corinth and Sicyon and the land then called that of the Ionians and Aegialeans, but later of the Achaeans.
μετὰ δὲ τὰ Τρωικὰ τῆς Ἀγαμέμνονος ἀρχῆς καταλυθείσης ταπεινωθῆναι Μυκήνας καὶ μάλιστα μετὰ τὴν τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν κάθοδον.
But after the Trojan War, when the empire of Agamemnon was dissolved, Mycenae was humbled, and especially after the return of the Heracleidae.
κατασχόντες γὰρ οὗτοι τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἐξέβαλον τοὺς πρότερον κρατοῦντας ὥσθʼ οἱ τὸ Ἄργος ἔχοντες εἶχον καὶ τὰς Μυκήνας συντελούσας εἰς ἕν· χρόνοις δʼ ὕστερον κατεσκάφησαν ὑπʼ Ἀργείων ὥστε νῦν μηδʼ ἴχνος εὑρίσκεσθαι τῆς Μυκηναίων πόλεως.
For when these latter occupied the Peloponnese, they expelled the former rulers, so that those who held Argos also held Mycenae, which was merged into one; and in later times it was razed by the Argives, so that now not even a trace of the city of the Mycenaeans is to be found.
ὅπου δὲ Μυκῆναι τοιαῦτα πεπόνθασιν, οὐ δεῖ θαυμάζειν οὐδʼ εἴ τινες τῶν ὑπὸ τῷ Ἄργει καταλεγομένων ἀφανεῖς νῦν εἰσιν.
And where Mycenae has suffered such things, one ought not to wonder even if some of those cataloged under Argos are now vanished.
ὁ μὲν δὴ κατάλογος ἔχει οὕτως
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οἳ δʼ Ἄργος τʼ εἶχον Τίρυνθά τε τειχιόεσσαν
Ἑρμιόνην τʼ Ἀσίνην τε, ν κατὰ κόλπον ἐχούσας,
Τροιζῆνʼ Ἠιόνας τε καὶ ἀμπελόεντʼ Ἐπίδαυρον,
οἵ τʼ ἔχον Αἴγιναν Μάσητά τε, κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν. "
τούτων δὲ περὶ μὲν τοῦ Ἄργους εἴρηται, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων λεκτέον.
The catalog indeed runs thus: 'And those who held Argos and walled Tiryns, Hermione and Asine, which lie along the gulf, Troezen and Eionae and vine-clad Epidaurus, and those who held Aegina and Mases, youths of the Achaeans.' Of these, then, Argos has been spoken of, but we must speak of the others.
§8.6.11τῇ μὲν οὖν Τίρυνθι ὁρμητηρίῳ χρήσασθαι δοκεῖ Προῖτος καὶ τειχίσαι διὰ Κυκλώπων, οὓς ἑπτὰ μὲν εἶναι καλεῖσθαι δὲ γαστερόχειρας τρεφομένους ἐκ τῆς τέχνης, ἥκειν δὲ μεταπέμπτους ἐκ Λυκίας· καὶ ἴσως τὰ σπήλαια τὰ περὶ τὴν Ναυπλίαν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔργα τούτων ἐπώνυμά ἐστιν.
Proetus indeed seems to have used Tiryns as a base and to have fortified it by means of the Cyclopes, who were seven in number and were called 'Gasterocheires' because they were nourished by their trade, and came on summons from Lycia; and perhaps the caverns near Nauplia and the works in them are named after them.
ἡ δὲ ἀκρόπολις Λίκυμνα ἐπώνυμος Λικυμνίου, διέχει δὲ τῆς Ναυπλίας περὶ δώδεκα σταδίους· ἔρημος δʼ ἐστὶ κἀκείνη καὶ ἡ πλησίον Μιδέα, ἑτέρα οὖσα τῆς Βοιωτικῆς· ἐκείνη γὰρ ἔστι Μίδεια ὡς πρόνοια, αὕτη δὲ Μιδέα ὡς Τεγέα·
And the acropolis is Licymna, named after Licymnius, and is about twelve stadia distant from Nauplia; and both that place and the neighboring Midea are deserted, Midea being different from the Boeotian one; for the latter is 'Mideia' like 'pronoia', but this one is 'Midea' like 'Tegea'.
ταύτῃ δʼ ὅμορος Πρόσυμνα αὕτη ἱερὸν ἔχουσα Ἥρας· ἠρήμωσαν δὲ τὰς πλείστας οἱ Ἀργεῖοι ἀπειθούσας.
Bordering on this is Prosymna, which has a temple of Hera; but the Argives desolated most of them because they were disobedient.
οἱ δʼ οἰκήτορες οἱ μὲν ἐκ Τίρυνθος ἀπῆλθον εἰς Ἐπίδαυρον, οἱ δὲ ἐ εἰς τοὺς Ἁλιεῖς καλουμένους, οἱ δʼ ἐκ τῆς Ἀ αὕτη κώμη τῆς Ἀργείας πλησίον Ναυπλίας) ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων εἰς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν μετῳκίσθ καὶ ἡ ὁμώνυμος τῇ Ἀργολικῇ Ἀσίνῃ πολίχ.
And of the inhabitants, some went away from Tiryns to Epidaurus, and others from Asine to the place called Halieis, and others from Nauplia (this is a village of the Argive territory near Nauplia) were relocated by the Lacedaemonians to Messenia, where there is also the small town of the same name as the Argive Asine.
οἱ γὰρ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, φησὶν ὁ Θεόπομπος, πολλὴν κατακτησάμενοι τῆς ἀλλοτρίας εἰς ταύτην κατῴκιζον οὓς ἂν ὑποδέξαιντο τῶν φυγόντων ἐπʼ αὐτο ἐκ τῆς Ναυπλίας ἐκεῖσε ἀνεχώρησαν.
For the Lacedaemonians, says Theopompus, having acquired much of the territory of others, settled there whomsoever of the fugitives they might receive; and those from Nauplia withdrew thither.