§9.1.16τὸ δʼ ἄστυ αὐτὸ πέτρα ἐστὶν ἐν πεδίῳ περιοικουμένη κύκλῳ·
The city itself is a rock in a plain, inhabited all around.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ πέτρᾳ τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερὸν ὅ τε ἀρχαῖος νεὼς ὁ τῆς Πολιάδος ἐν ᾧ ὁ ἄσβεστος λύχνος, καὶ ὁ παρθενὼν ὃν ἐποίησεν Ἰκτῖνος, ἐν ᾧ τὸ τοῦ Φειδίου ἔργον ἐλεφάντινον ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ.
On this rock is the sanctuary of Athena, both the ancient temple of Polias in which is the inextinguishable lamp, and the Parthenon which Ictinus built, in which is the chryselephantine Athena, the work of Pheidias.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ εἰς πλῆθος ἐμπίπτων τῶν περὶ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης ὑμνουμένων τε καὶ διαβοωμένων ὀκνῶ πλεονάζειν, μὴ συμβῇ τῆς προθέσεως ἐκπεσεῖν τὴν γραφήν.
But indeed, falling into the multitude of things celebrated and rumored about this city, I hesitate to go into too much detail, lest the writing happen to fall away from its purpose.
ἔπεισι γὰρ ὅ φησιν Ἡγησίας
ὁρῶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν καὶ τὸ περιττῆς τριαίνης ἐκεῖθι σημεῖον, ὁρῶ τὴν Ἐλευσῖνα, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν γέγονα μύστης· ἐκεῖνο Λεωκόριον, τοῦτο Θησεῖον· οὐ δύναμαι δηλῶσαι καθʼ ἓν ἕκαστον· ἡ γὰρ Ἀττικὴ θεῶν αὐτοῖς καταλαβόντων καὶ τῶν προγόνων ἡρώων
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἑνὸς ἐμνήσθη τῶν ἐν ἀκροπόλει σημείων, Πολέμων δʼ ὁ περιηγητὴς τέτταρα βιβλία συνέγραψε περὶ τῶν ἀναθημάτων τῶν ἐν ἀκροπόλει·
For there occurs to my mind what Hegesias says: "I see the Acropolis and the mark of the extraordinary trident there; I see Eleusis, and I have become an initiate of the sacred rites; that is the Leokorion, this is the Theseion; I cannot point out each one individually, for Attica belongs to the gods themselves who took possession of it, and to the ancestral heroes..." Now he indeed mentioned only one of the monuments on the Acropolis, but Polemon the topographer wrote four books about the votive offerings on the Acropolis.
τὸ δʼ ἀνάλογον συμβαίνει καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῆς πόλεως μερῶν καὶ τῆς χώρας·
And the same proportion holds also for the other parts of the city and the country.
Ἐλευσῖνά τε εἰπὼν ἕνα τῶν ἑκατὸν ἑβδομήκοντα δήμων πρὸς δὲ καὶ τεττάρων, ὥς φασιν, οὐδένα τῶν ἄλλων ὠνόμακεν.
For having mentioned Eleusis, one of the one hundred and seventy-four demes, as they say, he named none of the others.
§9.1.17ἔχουσι δὲ κἂν εἰ μὴ πάντες οἵ γε πολλοὶ μυθοποιίας συχνὰς καὶ ἱστορίας·
Even if not all, at least most of them possess numerous myths and histories.
καθάπερ Ἄφιδνα μὲν τὴν τῆς Ἑλένης ἁρπαγὴν ὑπὸ Θησέως καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν Διοσκούρων ἐκπόρθησιν αὐτῆς καὶ ἀνακομιδὴν τῆς ἀδελφῆς, Μαραθὼν δὲ τὸν Περσικὸν ἀγῶνα, Ῥαμνοῦς δὲ τὸ τῆς Νεμέσεως ξόανον, ὅ τινες μὲν Διοδότου φασὶν ἔργον τινὲς δὲ Ἀγορακρίτου τοῦ Παρίου, καὶ μεγέθει καὶ κάλλει σφόδρα κατωρθωμένον καὶ ἐνάμιλλον τοῖς Φειδίου ἔργοις.
For example, Aphidna has the rape of Helen by Theseus and its destruction by the Dioscuri and the recovery of their sister; Marathon has the Persian struggle; Rhamnus has the wooden statue of Nemesis, which some say is the work of Diodotus and others of Agoracritus the Parian, highly successful in both size and beauty, and a rival to the works of Pheidias.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ Δεκέλεια μὲν τὸ ὁρμητήριον τῶν Πελοποννησίων κατὰ τὸν Δεκελεικὸν πόλεμον, Φυλὴ δὲ ὅθεν ἐπήγαγε τὸν δῆμον Θρασύβουλος εἰς Πειραιᾶ κἀκεῖθεν εἰς ἄστυ.
In the same way, Decelea was the base of operations for the Peloponnesians during the Deceleian War, and Phyle is the place from which Thrasybulus led the people to Peiraeus and from there to the city.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλων πλειόνων ἔστιν ἱστορεῖν πολλά·
Thus also one can relate many things about many other places.
καὶ ἔτι τὸ Λεωκόριον καὶ τὸ Θηυς ἔχει, καὶ τὸ Λύκειον καὶ τὸ Ὀλυμπικὸν ὸ τὸ Ὀλύμπιον, ὅπερ ἡμιτελὲς κατέλιπε τελευτῶν ὁ ἀναθεὶς βασιλεύς· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ Ἀκαδημία καὶ οἱ κῆποι τῶν φιλοσόφων καὶ τὸ Ὠιδεῖον καὶ ἡ ποικίλη στοὰ καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ τὰ ἐν τῇ πό ἔχοντα τεχνιτῶν ἔργα.
And furthermore, the Leokorion and the Theseion possess histories, as do the Lyceum and the Olympium, which the king who dedicated it left unfinished when he died; likewise also the Academy, the gardens of the philosophers, the Odeion, the Painted Portico, and the temples in the city, all containing the works of famous artists.
§9.1.18πολὺ δʼ ἂν πλείων εἴη λόγος, εἰ τοὺς ἀρχηγέτας τοῦ κτίσματος ἐξετάζοι τις ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Κέκροπος· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁμοίως λέγουσιν ἅπαντες.
The account would be much longer if one were to examine the founders of the settlement, starting from Cecrops; for not everyone says the same things.
τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀνομάτων δῆλον· ἀκτὴν μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ Ἀκταίωνος φασίν, Ἀτθίδα δὲ καὶ Ἀττικὴν ἀπὸ Ἀτθίδος τῆς Κραναοῦ, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ Κραναοὶ οἱ ἔνοικοι, Μοψοπίαν δὲ ἀπὸ Μοψόπου, Ἰωνίαν δὲ ἀπὸ Ἴωνος τοῦ Ξούθου, Ποσειδωνίαν δὲ καὶ Ἀθήνας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπωνύμων θεῶν.
This is also clear from the names: for they say that Acte was named after Actaeon, Attis and Attica after Attis the daughter of Cranaus, after whom the inhabitants were also called Cranaoi, Mopsopia after Mopsopus, Ionia after Ion the son of Xuthus, and Poseidonia and Athens after the eponymous deities.
εἴρηται δʼ ὅτι κἀνταῦθα φαίνεται τὸ τῶν Πελασγῶν ἔθνος ἐπιδημῆσαν, καὶ διότι ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀττικῶν Πελαργοὶ προσηγορεύθησαν διὰ τὴν πλάνην.
And it has been said that the nation of the Pelasgians also appears to have migrated here, and that they were called Pelargoi by the Atticans because of their wandering.
§9.1.19ὅσῳ δὲ πλέον ἐστὶ τὸ φιλότιμον περὶ τὰ ἔνδοξα καὶ πλείους οἱ λαλήσαντές τι περὶ αὐτῶν, τοσῷδε μείζων ὁ ἔλεγχος, ἐὰν μὴ κρατῇ τις τῆς ἱστορίας·
The greater the ambition concerning famous things, and the more those who have spoken about them, the greater is the exposure of error if one does not master the history.
οἷον ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ τῶν ποταμῶν ὁ Καλλίμαχος γελᾶν φησιν, εἴ τις θαρρεῖ γράφειν τὰς τῶν Ἀθηναίων παρθένους
ἀφύσσεσθαι καθαρὸν γάνος Ἠριδανοῖο,
οὗ καὶ τὰ βοσκήματα ἀπόσχοιτʼ ἄν.
For instance, Callimachus in his "Collection of Rivers" says that he laughs if anyone has the courage to write that the Athenian virgins "draw the pure liquid of Eridanus," from which even beasts of burden would keep away.
εἰσὶ μὲν νῦν αἱ πηγαὶ καθαροῦ καὶ ποτίμου ὕδατος, ὥς φασιν, ἐκτὸς τῶν Διοχάρους καλουμένων πυλῶν πλησίον τοῦ Λυκείου· πρότερον δὲ καὶ κρήνη κατεσκεύαστό τις πλησίον πολλοῦ καὶ καλοῦ ὕδατος·
It is true that now, as they say, there are springs of pure and potable water outside the so-called gates of Diochares near the Lyceum; and formerly a certain fountain-house of abundant and good water had been constructed nearby.
εἰ δὲ μὴ νῦν, τί ἂν εἴη θαυμαστόν, εἰ πάλαι πολὺ καὶ καθαρὸν ἦν ὥστε καὶ πότιμον εἶναι, μετέβαλε δὲ ὕστερον;
But even if it is not so now, what wonder would it be if in ancient times it was abundant and pure so as to be potable, but changed later?
ἐν μὲν οὖν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστα τοσούτοις οὖσιν οὐκ ἐνδέχεται διατρίβειν, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ σιγῇ παρελθεῖν ὥστε μηδʼ ἐν κεφαλαίῳ μνησθῆναί τινων.
Therefore, while it is not possible to linger over individual details, which are so numerous, neither indeed is it right to pass them over in silence without mentioning some of them at least in summary.