§2.1.5καθήκει δὲ ὁ τῶν Κορινθίων ἰσθμὸς τῇ μὲν ἐς τὴν ἐπὶ Κεγχρέαις, τῇ δὲ ἐς τὴν ἐπὶ Λεχαίῳ θάλασσαν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἤπειρον ποιεῖ τὴν ἐντὸς χώραν.
The Isthmus of the Corinthians extends on one side to the sea at Cenchreae, and on the other to the sea at Lechaeum; for this makes the land within a peninsula.
ὃς δὲ ἐπεχείρησε Πελοπόννησον ἐργάσασθαι νῆσον, προαπέλιπε διορύσσων ἰσθμόν· καὶ ὅθεν μὲν διορύσσειν ἤρξαντο δῆλόν ἐστιν, ἐς δὲ τὸ πετρῶδες οὐ προεχώρησαν ἀρχήν· μένει δὲ ὡς πεφύκει καὶ νῦν ἤπειρος ὤν.
He who undertook to make the Peloponnese an island gave up beforehand while digging through the Isthmus; and where they began to dig is clear, but they made no progress at all into the rocky part; so it remains as it was by nature, being a mainland even now.
Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τε τῷ Φιλίππου διασκάψαι Μίμαντα ἐθελήσαντι μόνον τοῦτο οὐ προεχώρησε τὸ ἔργον· Κνιδίους δὲ ἡ Πυθία τὸν ἰσθμὸν ὀρύσσοντας ἔπαυσεν.
For Alexander the son of Philip, too, who wished to dig through Mimas, this work alone did not succeed; and the Pythian priestess stopped the Cnidians when they were digging their isthmus.
οὕτω χαλεπὸν ἀνθρώπῳ τὰ θεῖα βιάσασθαι.
Thus it is a difficult thing for a human to force the divine.
§2.1.6τὸ δὲ οὐ Κορινθίοις μόνον περὶ τῆς χώρας ἐστὶν εἰρημένον, ἀλλὰ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν Ἀθηναῖοι πρῶτοι περὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐσεμνολόγησαν· λέγουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ Κορίνθιοι Ποσειδῶνα ἐλθεῖν Ἡλίῳ περὶ τῆς γῆς ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν, Βριάρεων δὲ διαλλακτὴν γενέσθαι σφίσιν, ἰσθμὸν μὲν καὶ ὅσα ταύτῃ δικάσαντα εἶναι Ποσειδῶνος, τὴν δὲ ἄκραν Ἡλίῳ δόντα τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως.
This kind of story about their territory is not told by the Corinthians alone, but in my opinion the Athenians were the first to boast in this solemn way about Attica; and the Corinthians also say that Poseidon came to a dispute with Helios concerning the land, and that Briareus became an arbitrator between them, deciding that the Isthmus and all that was in this direction belonged to Poseidon, but giving to Helios the height which is above the city.
ἀπὸ μὲν τούτου λέγουσιν εἶναι τὸν ἰσθμὸν Ποσειδῶνος·
From this, they say, the Isthmus belongs to Poseidon.
§2.1.7θέας δὲ αὐτόθι ἄξια ἔστι μὲν θέατρον, ἔστι δὲ στάδιον λίθου λευκοῦ.
Things worth seeing there include a theater, and a stadium of white stone.
ἐλθόντι δὲ ἐς τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο μὲν ἀθλητῶν νικησάντων· τὰ Ἴσθμια ἑστήκασιν εἰκόνες, τοῦτο δὲ πιτύων δένδρα ἐστὶ πεφυτευμένα ἐπὶ στοίχου, τὰ πολλὰ ἐς εὐθὺ αὐτῶν ἀνήκοντα.
For one who has come to the sanctuary of the god, there stand on the one hand statues of athletes who have won at the Isthmian games, and on the other hand there are pine trees planted in a row, most of them rising in a straight line.
τῷ ναῷ δὲ ὄντι μέγεθος οὐ μείζονι ἐφεστήκασι Τρίτωνες χαλκοῖ.
Upon the temple, which is not of very great size, stand bronze Tritons.
καὶ ἀγάλματά ἐστιν ἐν τῷ προνάῳ δύο μὲν Ποσειδῶνος, τρίτον δὲ Ἀμφιτρίτης, καὶ Θάλασσα καὶ αὕτη χαλκῆ.
And there are images in the pronaos: two of Poseidon, and a third of Amphitrite, and Sea (Thalassa), she too being of bronze.
τὰ δὲ ἔνδον ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἀνέθηκεν Ἡρώδης Ἀθηναῖος, ἵππους τέσσαρας ἐπιχρύσους πλὴν τῶν ὁπλῶν· ὁπλαὶ δέ σφισίν εἰσιν ἐλέφαντος.
The things inside were dedicated in our time by Herodes the Athenian: four gilded horses except for their hooves; and their hooves are of ivory.
§2.1.8καὶ Τρίτωνες δύο παρὰ τοὺς ἵππους εἰσὶ χρυσοῖ, τὰ μετʼ ἰξὺν ἐλέφαντος καὶ οὗτοι· τῷ δὲ ἅρματι Ἀμφιτρίτη καὶ Ποσειδῶν ἐφεστήκασι, καὶ παῖς ὀρθός ἐστιν ἐπὶ δελφῖνος ὁ Παλαίμων· ἐλέφαντος δὲ καὶ χρυσοῦ καὶ οὗτοι πεποίηνται.
and there are two Tritons of gold beside the horses, these too being of ivory in the parts below the waist; and upon the chariot stand Amphitrite and Poseidon, and there is a boy standing upright on a dolphin, namely Palaemon; these too are made of ivory and gold.
τῷ βάθρῳ δὲ ἐφʼ οὗ τὸ ἅρμα μέση μὲν ἐπείργασται Θάλασσα ἀνέχουσα Ἀφροδίτην παῖδα, ἑκατέρωθεν δέ εἰσιν αἱ Νηρηίδες καλούμεναι.
On the pedestal on which the chariot stands, in the middle is carved Sea (Thalassa) holding up Aphrodite as a child, and on either side are the so-called Nereids.
ταύταις καὶ ἑτέρωθι τῆς Ἑλλάδος βωμοὺς οἶδα ὄντας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ τεμένη σφίσιν ἀναθέντας †ποιμαίνισιν, ἔνθα καὶ Ἀχιλλεῖ τιμαί· Δωτοῦς δὲ ἐν Γαβάλοις ἱερόν ἐστιν ἅγιον, ἔνθα πέπλος ἔτι ἐλείπετο, ὃν Ἕλληνες Ἐριφύλην λέγουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ παιδὶ λαβεῖν Ἀλκμαίωνι.
I know that there are altars to these in other parts of Greece too, and that some have even dedicated sanctuaries to them †...†, where there are also honors for Achilles; and the sanctuary of Doto in Gabala is a holy place, where there was still left a robe which the Greeks say Eriphyle received to the ruin of her son Alcmaeon.
§2.1.9τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος δέ εἰσιν ἐπειργασμένοι τῷ βάθρῳ καὶ οἱ Τυνδάρεω παῖδες, ὅτι δὴ σωτῆρες καὶ οὗτοι νεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων εἰσὶ ναυτιλλομένων.
And carved upon the pedestal of Poseidon are also the sons of Tyndareus, because they too are saviors of ships and of seafaring men.
τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἀνάκειται Γαλήνης ἄγαλμα καὶ Θαλάσσης καὶ ἵππος εἰκασμένος κήτει τὰ μετὰ τὸ στέρνον, Ἰνώ τε καὶ Βελλεροφόντης καὶ ὁ ἵππος ὁ Πήγασος.
The other dedicated offerings are an image of Galene and of Thalassa, and a horse made to resemble a sea-monster in the parts after the breast, and Ino, and Bellerophon, and the horse Pegasus.