§9.4.12τὸ δʼ ὄρος διατείνει ἀπὸ Θερμοπυλῶν καὶ τῆς ἀνατολῆς μέχρι πρὸς τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ἀμβρακικὸν καὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν· τρόπον δέ τινα καὶ πρὸς ὀρθὰς τέμνει τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ μέχρι Πίνδου καὶ τῶν ὑπερκειμένων βαρβάρων ὀρεινὴν τὸ ὄρος τοῦτο.
This mountain extends from Thermopylae and the east to the Ambracian Gulf and the west; and in a certain way this mountain also cuts at right angles the mountain range that extends from Parnassus to Pindus and the barbarians situated above them.
τούτου δὴ τὸ μὲν πρὸς Θερμοπύλας νενευκὸς μέρος Οἴτη καλεῖται σταδίων διακοσίων τὸ μῆκος, τραχὺ καὶ ὑψηλόν, ὑψηλότατον δὲ κατὰ τὰς Θερμοπύλας· κορυφοῦται γὰρ ἐνταῦθα καὶ τελευτᾷ πρὸς ὀξεῖς καὶ ἀποτόμους μέχρι τῆς θαλάττης κρημνούς, ὀλίγην δʼ ἀπολείπει πάροδον τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς παραλίας ἐμβάλλουσιν εἰς τοὺς Λοκροὺς ἐκ τῆς Θετταλίας.
Of this, the part that slopes towards Thermopylae is called Oeta, two hundred stadia in length, rough and high, but highest at Thermopylae; for there it rises to a peak and ends in sharp and steep cliffs reaching down to the sea, leaving a narrow passage for those invading Locris from Thessaly along the coast.
§9.4.13τὴν μὲν οὖν πάροδον Πύλας καλοῦσι καὶ στενὰ καὶ Θερμοπύλας· ἔστι γὰρ καὶ θερμὰ πλησίον ὕδατα τιμώμενα ὡς Ἡρακλέους ἱερά·
Now this passage they call "Gates," "Straits," and "Thermopylae"; for there are also nearby hot waters which are honored as sacred to Heracles.
τὸ δʼ ὑπερκείμενον ὄρος Καλλίδρομον· τινὲς δὲ καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν τὸ διʼ Αἰτωλίας καὶ τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας διῆκον μέχρι τοῦ Ἀμβρακικοῦ κόλπου Καλλίδρομον προσαγορεύουσι.
The mountain lying above is called Kallidromon; but some also call Kallidromon the remaining part which extends through Aetolia and Acarnania to the Ambracian Gulf.
πρὸς δὲ ταῖς Θερμοπύλαις ἐστὶ φρούρια ἐντὸς τῶν στενῶν, Νίκαια μὲν ἐπὶ θάλατταν Λοκρῶν, Τειχιοῦς δὲ καὶ Ἡράκλεια ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, ἡ Τραχὶν καλουμένη πρότερον, Λακεδαιμονίων κτίσμα· διέχει δὲ τῆς ἀρχαίας Τραχῖνος περὶ ἓξ σταδίους ἡ Ἡράκλεια· ἑξῆς δὲ ἡ Ῥοδουντία, χωρίον ἐρυμνόν.
And near Thermopylae, inside the straits, there are fortresses: Nicaea of the Locrians, on the sea; and Teichius and Heracleia above it—the latter previously called Trachis, a foundation of the Lacedaemonians; and Heracleia is about six stadia distant from ancient Trachis; and next is Rhoduntia, a strong place.
§9.4.14ποιεῖ δὲ δυσείσβολα τὰ χωρία ταῦτα ἥ τε τραχύτης καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὑδάτων φάραγγας ποιούντων, ἃς διέξεισι.
The roughness and the abundance of waters, which form the ravines they flow through, make these places difficult to enter.
πρὸς γὰρ τῷ Σπερχειῷ τῷ παραρρέοντι τὴν Ἀντικύραν καὶ ὁ Δύρας ἐστίν, ὅν φασιν ἐπιχειρῆσαι τὴν Ἡρακλέους σβέσαι πυράν· καὶ ἄλλος Μέλας διέχων Τραχῖνος εἰς πέντε σταδίους.
For in addition to the Spercheius which flows past Anticyra, there is also the Dyras, which they say attempted to extinguish the pyre of Heracles; and another river, the Melas, five stadia distant from Trachis.
πρὸς δὲ μεσημβρίαν τῆς Τραχῖνος φησὶν Ἡρόδοτος εἶναι βαθεῖαν διασφάγα, διʼ ἧς Ἀσωπός, ὁμώνυμος τοῖς εἰρημένοις Ἀσωποῖς, εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἐκπίπτει τὴν ἐκτὸς Πυλῶν, παραλαβὼν καὶ τὸν Φοίνικα ἐκ τῆς μεσημβρίας συμβάλλοντα αὐτῷ, ὁμώνυμον τῷ ἥρωι, οὗ καὶ τάφος πλησίον δείκνυται· στάδιοι δʼ εἰσὶν ἐπὶ Θερμοπύλας ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀσωποῦ πεντεκαίδεκα.
To the south of Trachis, Herodotus says there is a deep cleft, through which the Asopus—homonymous with the other mentioned rivers Asopus—empties into the sea outside the Gates, having also received the Phoenix, which joins it from the south and is homonymous with the hero whose tomb is shown nearby; and from the Asopus to Thermopylae it is fifteen stadia.
§9.4.15τότε μὲν οὖν ἦν ἐνδοξότατα τὰ χωρία ταῦτα, ἡνίκα τῶν κλείθρων ἐκυρίευε τῶν περὶ τὰ στενά, καὶ τοῖς ἔξω τῶν στενῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἐντὸς ἦσαν ἀγῶνες πρωτείων· καθάπερ καὶ πέδας ἐκάλει Φίλιππος τῆς Ἑλλάδος τὴν Χαλκίδα καὶ τὴν Κόρινθον, πρὸς τὰς ἐκ τῆς Μακεδονίας ἀφορμὰς βλέπων·
At that time, then, these places were highly renowned, when they had control over the keys of the straits, and there were contests for supremacy between those outside the straits and those within; just as Philip also used to call Chalcis and Corinth the "shackles of Greece," looking to his bases of operations from Macedonia.
ἐπιδέσμους δʼ οἱ ὕστερον προσηγόρευον ταύτας τε καὶ ἔτι τὴν Δημητριάδα· καὶ γὰρ αὕτη παρόδων ἦν κυρία τῶν περὶ τὰ Τέμπη, τό τε Πήλιον ἔχουσα καὶ τὴν Ὄσσαν.
Later writers called these, along with Demetrias, the "fetters"; for Demetrias too was master of the passes around Tempe, holding both Pelion and Ossa.
ὕστερον δὲ πάντων ὑπὸ μίαν ἐξουσίαν ὑπηγμένων, ἅπαντʼ ἀτελεύεται πᾶσι καὶ ἀνέῳγε.
But later, when all were brought under a single authority, everything became untaxed and open to all.
§9.4.16περὶ δὲ τὰ στενὰ ταῦτα οἱ περὶ Λεωνίδαν μετὰ ὀλίγων τῶν ὁμόρων τοῖς τόποις ἀντέσχον πρὸς τὰς τοσαύτας τῶν Περσῶν δυνάμεις, μέχρι περιελθόντες διʼ ἀτραπῶν τὰ ὄρη κατέκοψαν αὐτοὺς οἱ βάρβαροι.
And around these straits Leonidas and his men, with a few of those neighboring the places, held out against such vast forces of the Persians, until the barbarians, going around the mountains through pathways, cut them down.
καὶ νῦν τὸ πολυάνδριον ἐκείνων ἐστὶ καὶ στῆλαι καὶ ἡ θρυλουμένη ἐπιγραφὴ τῇ Λακεδαιμονίων στήλῃ οὕτως ἔχουσα
ὦ ξένʼ ἀπάγγειλον Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων πειθόμενοι νομίμοις. §9.4.17ἔστι δὲ καὶ λιμὴν μέγας αὐτόθι καὶ Δήμητρος ἱερόν, ἐν ᾧ κατὰ πᾶσαν Πυλαίαν θυσίαν ἐτέλουν οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες.
And even now there is their collective tomb, and the stelae, and the celebrated inscription on the Lacedaemonian stele which reads as follows: "Stranger, report to the Lacedaemonians that here we lie, obedient to their laws." There is also a large harbor there, and a temple of Demeter, in which the Amphictyons used to perform sacrifices at every Pylaic assembly.
ἐκ δὲ τοῦ λιμένος εἰς Ἡράκλειαν τὴν Τραχῖνα πεζῇ στάδιοι τετταράκοντα, πλοῦς δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ Κήναιον ἑβδομήκοντα.
From the harbor to Heracleia in Trachis it is forty stadia on foot, and the voyage to Cenaeum is seventy stadia.
ἔξω δὲ Πυλῶν εὐθὺς ὁ Σπερχειὸς ἐκδίδωσιν.
Outside the Gates, the Spercheius immediately empties.
ἐπὶ δὲ Πύλας ἀπὸ Εὐρίπου στάδιοι πεντακόσιοι τριάκοντα.
From Euripus to the Gates it is five hundred and thirty stadia.
καὶ ἡ μὲν Λοκρὶς τέλος ἔχει.
And Locris comes to an end.
τὰ δʼ ἔξω Θετταλῶν ἐστι τὰ πρὸς ἕω καὶ τὸν Μαλιακὸν κόλπον, τὰ δὲ πρὸς δύσιν Αἰτωλῶν καὶ Ἀκαρνάνων.
The territories outside are those of the Thessalians towards the east and the Malian Gulf, and those towards the west are of the Aetolians and Acarnanians.
Ἀθαμᾶνες δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐκλελοίπασι.
The Athamanes also have disappeared.
§9.4.18μέγιστον δὴ καὶ παλαιότατον τῶν Θετταλῶν σύστημα, ὧν τὰ μὲν Ὅμηρος εἴρηκε τὰ δʼ ἄλλοι πλείους.
Now the association of the Thessalians is the largest and oldest, of whom Homer has spoken of some things, and other writers of more.
Αἰτωλοὺς δʼ Ὅμηρος μὲν ἀεὶ ἑνὶ ὀνόματι λέγει, πόλεις οὐκ ἔθνη τάττων ὑπʼ αὐτοῖς, πλὴν εἰ τοὺς Κουρῆτας, οὓς ἐν μέρει τακτέον Αἰτωλικῶν.
But Homer always speaks of the Aetolians under a single name, placing cities and not tribes under them, except perhaps for the Curetes, who should be classified in part as Aetolians.
ἀπὸ Θετταλῶν δʼ ἀρκτέον, τὰ μὲν σφόδρα παλαιὰ καὶ μυθώδη καὶ οὐχ ὁμολογούμενα τὰ πολλὰ ἐῶντες, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐποιήσαμεν, τὰ δὲ φαινόμενα ἡμῖν καίρια λέγοντες.
We must begin with the Thessalians, leaving aside the highly ancient and mythical matters which are mostly not agreed upon, just as we did in the other cases, and speaking of what appears to us to be important.