§1.38.1οἱ δὲ Ῥειτοὶ καλούμενοι ῥεῦμα μόνον παρέχονται ποταμῶν, ἐπεὶ τό γε ὕδωρ θάλασσά ἐστί σφισι· πείθοιτο δὲ ἄν τις καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ Χαλκιδέων Εὐρίπου ῥέουσιν ὑπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐς θάλασσαν κοιλοτέραν ἐμπίπτοντες.
The so-called Rheiti present only the flow of rivers, since their water is sea water; one might also believe that they flow from the Euripus of the Chalcidians under the earth, falling into a lower sea.
λέγονται δὲ οἱ Ῥειτοὶ Κόρης ἱεροὶ καὶ Δήμητρος εἶναι, καὶ τοὺς ἰχθῦς ἐξ αὐτῶν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἔστιν αἱρεῖν μόνοις.
The Rheiti are said to be sacred to the Maid and Demeter, and it is permitted only for the priests to catch the fish from them.
οὗτοι τὸ ἀρχαῖον, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, πρὸς Ἀθηναίους τοὺς ἄλλους ὅροι τῆς γῆς Ἐλευσινίοις ἦσαν, καὶ διαβᾶσι τοὺς Ῥειτοὺς πρῶτος ᾤκει §1.38.2Κρόκων, ἔνθα καὶ νῦν ἔτι βασίλεια καλεῖται Κρόκωνος.
These, in ancient times, as I learn, were the boundaries of the land for the Eleusinians against the other Athenians, and for those who crossed the Rheiti, there first dwelt Crocon, where even now a place is still called the Palace of Crocon.
τοῦτον Ἀθηναῖοι τὸν Κρόκωνα Κελεοῦ θυγατρί συνοικῆσαι Σαισάρᾳ λέγουσι· λέγουσι δὲ οὐ πάντες, ἀλλʼ ὅσοι τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Σκαμβωνιδῶν εἰσιν·
The Athenians say that this Crocon lived with Saesara, the daughter of Celeus; but not all say so, only those who belong to the deme of the Scambonidae.
ἐγὼ δὲ Κρόκωνος μὲν ἀνευρεῖν τάφον οὐχ οἷός τε ἐγενόμην, τὸ δὲ Εὐμόλπου μνῆμα κατὰ ταὐτὰ Ἐλευσινίοις ἀπέφαινον καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι.
But I was not able to find the tomb of Crocon, though the Athenians, in agreement with the Eleusinians, pointed out the tomb of Eumolpus.
τοῦτον τὸν Εὔμολπον ἀφικέσθαι λέγουσιν ἐκ Θρᾴκης Ποσειδῶνος παῖδα ὄντα καὶ Χιόνης· τὴν δὲ Χιόνην Βορέου θυγατέρα τοῦ ἀνέμου καὶ Ὠρειθυίας φασὶν εἶναι.
They say this Eumolpus arrived from Thrace, being the son of Poseidon and Chione; and they say Chione was the daughter of Boreas, the wind, and Oreithyia.
Ὁμήρῳ δὲ ἐς μὲν τὸ γένος ἐστὶν οὐδὲν αὐτοῦ πεποιημένον, ἐπονομάζει δὲ ἀγήνορα ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσι τὸν Εὔμολπον.
Homer has composed nothing regarding his lineage, but in his poems he styles Eumolpus "manly".
§1.38.3γενομένης δὲ Ἐλευσινίοις μάχης πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ἀπέθανε μὲν Ἐρεχθεὺς Ἀθηναίων βασιλεύς, ἀπέθανε δὲ Ἰμμάραδος Εὐμόλπου·
When a battle took place between the Eleusinians and the Athenians, there died Erechtheus, the king of the Athenians, and there died also Immaradus, the son of Eumolpus.
καταλύονται δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖσδε τὸν πόλεμον, ὡς Ἐλευσινίους ἐς τὰ ἄλλα Ἀθηναίων κατηκόους ὄντας ἰδίᾳ τελεῖν τὴν τελετήν.
And they concluded the war on these terms: that the Eleusinians, while being subject to the Athenians in other matters, should conduct the initiation privately.
τὰ δὲ ἱερὰ τοῖν θεοῖν Εὔμολπος καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες δρῶσιν αἱ Κελεοῦ, καλοῦσι δὲ σφᾶς Πάμφως τε κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ Ὅμηρος Διογένειαν καὶ Παμμερόπην καὶ τρίτην Σαισάραν·
Eumolpus and the daughters of Celeus perform the sacred rites for the two goddesses, and Pamphos and Homer alike call them Diogeneia, Pammerope, and the third Saesara.
τελευτήσαντος δὲ Εὐμόλπου Κήρυξ νεώτερος λείπεται τῶν παίδων, ὃν αὐτοὶ Κήρυκες θυγατρὸς Κέκροπος Ἀγλαύρου καὶ Ἑρμοῦ παῖδα εἶναι λέγουσιν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ Εὐμόλπου.
When Eumolpus died, Ceryx, the younger of his sons, was left behind; whom the Ceryces themselves say was the son of Aglauros, the daughter of Cecrops, and Hermes, but not of Eumolpus.
§1.38.4ἔστι δὲ Ἱπποθόωντος ἡρῷον, ἀφʼ οὗ τὴν φυλὴν ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ πλησίον Ζάρηκος.
There is a hero-shrine of Hippothoon, after whom they name the tribe, and nearby that of Zarex.
τοῦτον μαθεῖν παρὰ Ἀπόλλωνι μουσικήν φασιν, ἐγὼ δὲ ξένον μὲν ἀφικόμενον ἐς τὴν γῆν Λακεδαιμόνιόν τε εἶναι δοκῶ καὶ Ζάρακα ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ πόλιν ἀπὸ τούτου πρὸς θαλάσσῃ καλεῖσθαι· εἰ δέ τις Ζάρηξ ἐπιχώριος Ἀθηναίοις ἥρως, οὐδὲν ἐς αὐτὸν ἔχω λέγειν.
They say he learned music from Apollo, but I think he was a foreigner who came to the land and was a Lacedaemonian, and that the city Zarax in Laconia by the sea was named after him; but if there is some other local hero Zarex for the Athenians, I have nothing to say about him.
§1.38.5—ῥεῖ δὲ Κηφισὸς πρὸς Ἐλευσῖνι βιαιότερον παρεχόμενος τοῦ προτέρου ῥεῦμα· καὶ παρʼ αὐτῷ καλοῦσιν Ἐρινεόν, λέγοντες τὸν Πλούτωνα ὅτε ἥρπασε τὴν Κόρην καταβῆναι ταύτῃ.
And there flows a Cephisus near Eleusis, presenting a more violent current than the former one; and by it they call a place Erineus, saying that Pluto, when he carried off the Maid, descended here.
πρὸς τούτῳ τῷ Κηφισῷ λῃστὴν Πολυπήμονα ὄνομα, Προκρούστην δὲ ἐπίκλησιν, Θησεὺς ἀπέκτεινεν.
By this Cephisus, Theseus killed a robber, Polypemon by name, surnamed Procrustes.
§1.38.6Ἐλευσινίοις δὲ ἔστι μὲν Τριπτολέμου ναός, ἔστι δὲ Προπυλαίας Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Ποσειδῶνος Πατρός, φρέαρ τε καλούμενον Καλλίχορον, ἔνθα πρῶτον Ἐλευσινίων αἱ γυναῖκες χορὸν ἔστησαν καὶ ᾖσαν ἐς τὴν θεόν.
For the Eleusinians there is a temple of Triptolemus, and one of Artemis Propylaea, and of Father Poseidon, and a well called Callichorum, where the women of the Eleusinians first set up a dance and sang to the goddess.
τὸ δὲ πεδίον τὸ Ῥάριον σπαρῆναι πρῶτον λέγουσι καὶ πρῶτον αὐξῆσαι καρπούς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐλαῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ χρῆσθαί σφισι καὶ ποιεῖσθαι πέμματα ἐς τὰς θυσίας καθέστηκεν.
They say that the Rarian plain was the first to be sown and the first to produce crops, and for this reason it has become established for them to use barley from it and to make cakes for sacrifices.
ἐνταῦθα ἅλως καλουμένη Τριπτολέμου καὶ βωμὸς δείκνυται· §1.38.7τὰ δὲ ἐντὸς τοῦ τείχους τοῦ ἱεροῦ τό τε ὄνειρον ἀπεῖπε γράφειν, καὶ τοῖς οὐ τελεσθεῖσιν, ὁπόσων θέας εἴργονται, δῆλα δήπου μηδὲ πυθέσθαι μετεῖναί σφισιν.
Here is shown a threshing-floor called that of Triptolemus, and an altar; but as for the things within the wall of the sanctuary, my dream forbade me to write; and for those who are not initiated, from what they are barred from seeing, it is surely clear that they have no right even to hear.
Ἐλευσῖνα δὲ ἥρωα, ἀφʼ οὗ τὴν πόλιν ὀνομάζουσιν, οἱ μὲν Ἑρμοῦ παῖδα εἶναι καὶ Δαείρας Ὠκεανοῦ θυγατρὸς λέγουσι, τοῖς δέ ἐστι πεποιημένα Ὤγυγον εἶναι πατέρα Ἐλευσῖνι·
As for the hero Eleusis, after whom they name the city, some say he was the son of Hermes and of Daeira, daughter of Oceanus, while by others it has been written that Ogygus was the father of Eleusis.
οἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι τῶν λόγων ἅτε οὐ προσόντων σφίσιν ἐπῶν ἄλλα τε πλάσασθαι δεδώκασι καὶ μάλιστα ἐς τὰ γένη τῶν ἡρώων.
For the ancient stories, lacking the accompaniment of epic poetry, have allowed the fabrication of other things, and especially regarding the genealogies of the heroes.
§1.38.8ἐκ δὲ Ἐλευσῖνος τραπομένοις ἐπὶ Βοιωτῶν, ἐστὶν ὅμορος Ἀθηναίοις ἡ Πλαταιίς.
For those turning from Eleusis towards Boeotia, the territory of Plataea is bordering on the Athenians.
πρότερον μὲν γὰρ Ἐλευθερεῦσιν ὅροι πρὸς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἦσαν· προσχωρησάντων δὲ Ἀθηναίοις τούτων, οὕτως ἤδη Βοιωτίας ὁ Κιθαιρών ἐστιν ὅρος.
For formerly the boundaries were for the Eleutheraeans against Attica; but since they went over to the Athenians, in this way now Cithaeron is the boundary of Boeotia.
προσεχώρησαν δὲ Ἐλευθερεῖς οὐ πολέμῳ βιασθέντες, ἀλλὰ πολιτείας τε ἐπιθυμήσαντες παρὰ Ἀθηναίων καὶ κατʼ ἔχθος τὸ Θηβαίων.
The Eleutheraeans went over not forced by war, but both desiring citizenship from the Athenians and out of hatred for the Thebans.
ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πεδίῳ ναός ἐστι Διονύσου, καὶ τὸ ξόανον ἐντεῦθεν Ἀθηναίοις ἐκομίσθη τὸ ἀρχαῖον· τὸ δὲ ἐν Ἐλευθεραῖς τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἐς μίμησιν ἐκείνου πεποίηται.
In this plain is a temple of Dionysus, and from here the ancient wooden image was brought to the Athenians; the one in Eleutherae in our day was made in imitation of that.
§1.38.9ἀπωτέρω δὲ ὀλίγον σπήλαιόν ἐστιν οὐ μέγα, καὶ παρʼ αὐτὸ ὕδατος πηγὴ ψυχροῦ·
A little further off is a cave of no great size, and by it a spring of cold water.
λέγεται δὲ ἐς μὲν τὸ σπήλαιον ὡς Ἀντιόπη τεκοῦσα κατάθοιτο ἐς αὐτὸ τοὺς παῖδας, περὶ δὲ τῆς πηγῆς τὸν ποιμένα εὑρόντα τοὺς παῖδας ἐνταῦθα σφᾶς λοῦσαι πρῶτον ἀπολύσαντα τῶν σπαργάνων.
It is said of the cave that Antiope, having given birth, deposited her children in it; and of the spring, that the shepherd having found the children washed them there first after releasing them from their swaddling clothes.
Ἐλευθερῶν δὲ ἦν μὲν ἔτι τοῦ τείχους, ἦν δὲ καὶ οἰκιῶν ἐρείπια· δήλη δὲ τούτοις ἐστὶ πόλις ὀλίγον ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεδίου πρὸς τῷ Κιθαιρῶνι οἰκισθεῖσα.
Of Eleutherae there still remained ruins of the wall and of houses; by these, it is clear that a city was built a little above the plain near Cithaeron.