§9.3.2ταύτης δʼ ἐπιφανέσταται δύο πόλεις Δελφοί τε καὶ Ἐλάτεια· Δελφοὶ μὲν διὰ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Πυθίου Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ τὸ μαντεῖον ἀρχαῖον ὄν, εἴ γε Ἀγαμέμνων ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ χρηστηριάσασθαι λέγεται ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ· ὁ γὰρ κιθαρῳδὸς ᾁδων εἰσάγεται
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νεῖκος Ὀδυσσῆος καὶ Πηλείδεω Ἀχιλῆος,
ὥς ποτε δηρίσαντο. —ἄναξ δʼ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων
χαῖρε νόῳ
ὣς γάρ οἱ χρείων μυθήσατο Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων Πυθοῖ· "
Δελφοὶ μὲν δὴ διὰ ταῦτα, Ἐλάτεια δὲ ὅτι πασῶν μεγίστη τῶν ἐνταῦθα πόλεων καὶ ἐπικαιριωτάτη διὰ τὸ ἐπικεῖσθαι τοῖς στενοῖς καὶ τὸν ἔχοντα ταύτην ἔχειν τὰς εἰσβολὰς τὰς εἰς τὴν Φωκίδα καὶ τὴν Βοιωτίαν.
Of this country, the two most famous cities are Delphi and Elateia: Delphi, on the one hand, is famous on account of the temple of Pythian Apollo and the oracle, because it is ancient, since Agamemnon is said by the poet to have consulted it; for the citharode is introduced singing "the quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles son of Peleus, how they once contended. —And Agamemnon king of men rejoiced in mind, for thus Phoebus Apollo foretold to him by oracle in Pytho." Delphi, indeed, is so because of these things, and Elateia because it is the largest of all the cities there and the most strategically located, because it lies commanding the passes, and the one who holds it holds the entrances into Phocis and Boeotia.
ὄρη γάρ ἐστιν Οἰταῖα πρῶτον, ἔπειτα τὰ τῶν Λοκρῶν καὶ τῶν Φωκέων, οὐ πανταχοῦ στρατοπέδοις βάσιμα τοῖς ἐκ Θετταλίας ἐμβάλλουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἔχει παρόδους στενὰς μὲν ἀφωρισμένας δέ, ἃς αἱ παρακείμεναι πόλεις φρουροῦσιν· ἁλουσῶν δʼ ἐκείνων κρατεῖσθαι συμβαίνει καὶ τὰς παρόδους.
For there are, first, the Oetaean mountains, then those of the Locrians and Phocians, which are not everywhere passable for armies invading from Thessaly, but they have passes, narrow indeed but distinct, which the neighboring cities guard; and if those cities are captured, it happens that the passes also are controlled.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἡ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐπιφάνεια τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς ἔχει πρεσβεῖον, καὶ ἅμα ἡ θέσις τῶν χωρίων ἀρχὴν ὑπαγορεύει φυσικήν (ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι τὰ ἑσπεριώτατα μέρη τῆς Φωκίδος), ἐντεῦθεν ἀρκτέον. §9.3.3εἴρηται δʼ ὅτι καὶ ὁ Παρνασσὸς ἐπὶ τῶν ἑσπερίων ὅρων ἵδρυται τῆς Φωκίδος.
But since the fame of the temple in Delphi holds the precedence, and at the same time the position of the places suggests a natural beginning (for these are the westernmost parts of Phocis), we must begin from here. And it has been said that Parnassus also is situated on the western borders of Phocis.
τούτου δὴ τὸ μὲν πρὸς δύσιν πλευρὸν οἱ Λοκροὶ κατέχουσιν οἱ Ὀζόλαι, τὸ δὲ νότιον οἱ Δελφοί, πετρῶδες χωρίον θεατροειδές, κατὰ κορυφὴν ἔχον τὸ μαντεῖον καὶ τὴν πόλιν, σταδίων ἑκκαίδεκα κύκλον πληροῦσαν.
Of this, indeed, the western side is occupied by the Ozolian Locrians, and the southern side by Delphi, a rocky place shaped like a theater, having at its summit the oracle and the city, which fills a circuit of sixteen stades.
ὑπέρκειται δʼ αὐτῆς ἡ Λυκώρεια, ἐφʼ οὗ τόπου πρότερον ἵδρυντο οἱ Δελφοὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἱεροῦ· νῦν δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ οἰκοῦσι περὶ τὴν κρήνην τὴν Κασταλίαν.
And above it lies Lycoreia, at which place the Delphians were formerly settled, above the temple; but now they live on [the temple site] itself, around the Castalian spring.
πρόκειται δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἡ Κίρφις ἐκ τοῦ νοτίου μέρους, ὄρος ἀπότομον, νάπην ἀπολιπὸν μεταξύ, διʼ ἧς Πλεῖστος διαρρεῖ ποταμός.
And in front of the city, on the southern side, lies Cirphis, a precipitous mountain, leaving a glen in between, through which the river Pleistus flows.
ὑποπέπτωκε δὲ τῇ ὁ Κίρφει πόλις ἀρχαία Κίρρα, ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ἱδρυμένη, ἀφʼ ἧς ἀνάβασις εἰς Δελφοὺς ὀγδοήκοντά που σταδίων· ἵδρυται δʼ ἀπαντικρὺ Σικυῶνος.
And below Cirphis lies the ancient city of Cirrha, situated on the sea, from which the ascent to Delphi is about eighty stades; it is situated directly opposite Sicyon.
πρόκειται δὲ τῆς Κίρρας τὸ Κρισαῖον πεδίον εὔδαιμον.
And in front of Cirrha lies the fertile Crisaean plain.
πάλιν γὰρ ἐφεξῆς ἐστιν ἄλλη πόλις Κρῖσα, ἀφʼ ἧς ὁ κόλπος Κρισαῖος· εἶτα Ἀντικύρα, ὁμώνυμος τῇ κατὰ τὸν Μαλιακὸν κόλπον καὶ τὴν Οἴτην.
For again, next in order is another city, Crisa, from which the Crisaean Gulf takes its name; then Anticyra, homonymous with the one near the Malian Gulf and Oeta.
καὶ δή φασιν ἐκεῖ τὸν ἑλλέβορον φύεσθαι τὸν ἀστεῖον, ἐνταῦθα δὲ σκευάζεσθαι βέλτιον, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀποδημεῖν δεῦρο πολλοὺς καθάρσεως καὶ θεραπείας χάριν· γίνεσθαι γάρ τι σησαμοειδὲς φάρμακον ἐν τῇ Φωκικῇ, μεθʼ οὗ σκευάζεσθαι τὸν Οἰταῖον ἑλλέβορον. §9.3.4αὕτη μὲν οὖν συμμένει, ἡ δὲ Κίρρα καὶ ἡ Κρῖσα κατεσπάσθησαν, ἡ μὲν ὕστερον ὑπʼ Εὐρυλόχου τοῦ Θετταλοῦ κατὰ τὸν Κρισαῖον πόλεμον·
And indeed they say that while the fine hellebore grows there, it is prepared better here, and for this reason many people travel hither for the sake of purgation and cure; for they say that a certain sesame-like drug is produced in Phocis, with which the Oetaean hellebore is prepared. This one, then, still survives, but Cirrha and Crisa were razed; the former, later, by Eurylochus the Thessalian during the Crisaean War; for the Crisaeans, having become prosperous on account of the tolls from Sicily and Italy, harshly levied taxes on those who came to the temple, even contrary to the decrees of the Amphictyons.
εὐτυχήσαντες γὰρ οἱ Κρισαῖοι διὰ τὰ ἐκ τῆς Σικελίας καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας τέλη, πικρῶς ἐτελώνουν τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἀφικνουμένους καὶ παρὰ τὰ προστάγματα τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων. τὰ δʼ αὐτὰ καὶ τοῖς Ἀμφισσεῦσι συνέβη.
And the same thing happened also to the Amphissians.
Λοκρῶν δʼ εἰσὶν οὗτοι τῶν Ὀζολῶν.
These belong to the Ozolian Locrians.
ἐπελθόντες γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι τήν τε Κρῖσαν ἀνέλαβον, καὶ τὸ πεδίον τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων ἀνιερωθὲν αὖθις κατεγεώργουν, καὶ χείρους ἦσαν περὶ τοὺς ξένους τῶν πάλαι Κρισαίων.
For they too, having made an inroad, took possession of Crisa and again cultivated the plain which had been dedicated to the god by the Amphictyons, and they were worse toward strangers than the Crisaeans of old.
καὶ τούτους οὖν ἐτιμωρήσαντο οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες, καὶ τῷ θεῷ τὴν χώραν ἀπέδοσαν.
And so the Amphictyons punished these too, and restored the territory to the god.
ὠλιγώρηται δʼ ἱκανῶς καὶ τὸ ἱερόν, πρότερον δʼ ὑπερβαλλόντως.
And the temple also is now greatly neglected, whereas formerly it was exceedingly [reverenced/wealthy].
δηλοῦσι δʼ οἵ τε θησαυροὶ οὓς καὶ δῆμοι καὶ δυνάσται κατεσκεύασαν, εἰς οὓς καὶ χρήματα ἀνετίθεντο καθιερωμένα καὶ ἔργα τῶν ἀρίστων δημιουργῶν, καὶ ὁ ἀγὼν ὁ Πυθικὸς καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἱστορουμένων χρησμῶν.
This is shown by both the treasuries which states and rulers constructed, in which they dedicated sacred money and works of the best craftsmen, and the Pythian games, and the multitude of recorded oracles.