§2.15.1Φλιασίοις μὲν δὴ τοσαῦτα λόγου μάλιστα ἦν ἄξια·
These are the things that were most worthy of mention among the Phliasians.
ἐκ Κορίνθου δʼ ἐς Ἄργος ἐρχομένῳ Κλεωναὶ πόλις ἐστὶν οὐ μεγάλη.
As one goes from Corinth to Argos, there is the city of Cleonae, which is not large.
παῖδα δὲ εἶναι Πέλοπος Κλεώνην λέγουσιν, οἱ δὲ τῷ παρὰ Σικυῶνα ῥέοντι Ἀσωπῷ θυγατέρα ἐπὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις Κλεώνην γενέσθαι· τὸ δʼ οὖν ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου τούτων ἐτέθη τῇ πόλει.
They say that Cleone was a child of Pelops, while others say that she was one of the daughters of Asopus, who flows by Sicyon; in any case, the city received its name from one of these two.
ἐνταῦθά ἐστιν ἱερὸν Ἀθηνᾶς, τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα Σκύλλιδος τέχνη καὶ Διποίνου· μαθητὰς δὲ εἶναι Δαιδάλου σφᾶς, οἱ δὲ καὶ γυναῖκα ἐκ Γόρτυνος ἐθέλουσι λαβεῖν Δαίδαλον καὶ τὸν Δίποινον καὶ Σκύλλιν ἐκ τῆς γυναικός οἱ ταύτης γενέσθαι.
There is here a temple of Athena, and the statue is the work of Scyllis and Dipoenus; some say they were pupils of Daedalus, while others will have it that Daedalus took a wife from Gortyn, and that Dipoenus and Scyllis were his sons by this woman.
ἐν Κλεωναῖς δὲ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ μνῆμα Εὐρύτου καὶ Κτεάτου· θεωροὺς γὰρ ἐξ Ἤλιδος ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἰόντας τῶν Ἰσθμίων αὐτοὺς ἐνταῦθα Ἡρακλῆς κατετόξευσεν, ἔγκλημα ποιούμενος ὅτι οἱ πρὸς Αὐγείαν πολεμοῦντι ἀντετάχθησαν.
In Cleonae there is this temple and the monument of Eurytus and Cteatus; for Heracles shot them with his arrows here as they were going from Elis to the Isthmian games as spectators, making it a charge against them that they had opposed him when he was at war with Augeas.
§2.15.2ἐκ Κλεωνῶν δέ εἰσιν ἐς Ἄργος ὁδοὶ δύο, ἡ μὲν ἀνδράσιν εὐζώνοις καὶ ἔστιν ἐπίτομος, ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ καλουμένου Τρητοῦ, στενὴ μὲν καὶ αὐτὴ περιεχόντων ὀρῶν, ὀχήμασι δέ ἐστιν ὅμως ἐπιτηδειοτέρα.
From Cleonae there are two roads to Argos: one is for active foot-travelers and is a shortcut, while the other goes over the pass called Tretus, which, though also narrow because it is enclosed by mountains, is nevertheless more suitable for carriages.
ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ὄρεσι τὸ σπήλαιον ἔτι δείκνυται τοῦ λέοντος, καὶ ἡ Νεμέα τὸ χωρίον ἀπέχει σταδίους πέντε που καὶ δέκα.
In these mountains the cave of the lion is still shown, and the place Nemea is about fifteen stades distant.
ἐν δὲ αὐτῇ Νεμείου Διὸς ναός ἐστι θέας ἄξιος, πλὴν ὅσον κατερρυήκει τε ὁ ὄροφος καὶ ἄγαλμα οὐδὲν ἔτι ἐλείπετο·
In Nemea itself is a temple of Nemean Zeus, which is worth seeing, except that the roof had fallen in and no statue was left anymore.
κυπαρίσσων τε ἄλσος ἐστὶ περὶ τὸν ναόν, καὶ τὸν Ὀφέλτην ἐνταῦθα ὑπὸ τῆς τροφοῦ τεθέντα ἐς τὴν πόαν διαφθαρῆναι λέγουσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ δράκοντος.
Around the temple is a grove of cypresses, and they say that Opheltes, when placed in the grass here by his nurse, was killed by the serpent.
§2.15.3θύουσι δὲ Ἀργεῖοι τῷ Διὶ καὶ ἐν τῇ Νεμέᾳ καὶ Νεμείου Διὸς ἱερέα αἱροῦνται, καὶ δὴ καὶ δρόμου προτιθέασιν ἀγῶνα ἀνδράσιν ὡπλισμένοις Νεμείων πανηγύρει τῶν χειμερινῶν.
The Argives sacrifice to Zeus in Nemea and elect a priest of Nemean Zeus, and they also hold a race for armed men at the winter celebration of the Nemean games.
ἐνταῦθα ἔστι μὲν Ὀφέλτου τάφος, περὶ δὲ αὐτὸν θριγκὸς λίθων καὶ ἐντὸς τοῦ περιβόλου βωμοί· ἔστι δὲ χῶμα γῆς Λυκούργου μνῆμα τοῦ Ὀφέλτου πατρός.
Here is the grave of Opheltes, around which is a stone wall and within the enclosure are altars; there is also a mound of earth, the monument of Lycurgus, the father of Opheltes.
τὴν δὲ πηγὴν Ἀδράστειαν ὀνομάζουσιν εἴτε ἐπʼ ἄλλῃ τινὶ αἰτίᾳ εἴτε καὶ ἀνευρόντος αὐτὴν Ἀδράστου·
They call the spring Adrasteia, either for some other reason or because Adrastus found it.
τὸ δὲ ὄνομα λέγουσι τῇ χώρᾳ Νεμέαν δοῦναι θυγατέρα Ἀσωποῦ καὶ ταύτην.
They say that Nemea, another daughter of Asopus, gave her name to the country.
καὶ ὄρος Ἀπέσας ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ τὴν Νεμέαν, ἔνθα Περσέα πρῶτον Διὶ θῦσαι λέγουσιν Ἀπεσαντίῳ. — §2.15.4ἀνελθοῦσι δὲ ἐς τὸν Τρητὸν καὶ αὖθις τὴν ἐς Ἄργος ἰοῦσίν ἐστι Μυκηνῶν ἐρείπια ἐν ἀριστερᾷ.
Above Nemea is Mount Apesas, where they say Perseus first sacrificed to Apesantian Zeus. — For those who have gone up to Tretus and are again proceeding on the road to Argos, the ruins of Mycenae are on the left.
καὶ ὅτι μὲν Περσεὺς ἐγένετο Μυκηνῶν οἰκιστής, ἴσασιν Ἕλληνες· ἐγὼ δὲ αἰτίαν τε γράψω τοῦ οἰκισμοῦ καὶ διʼ ἥντινα πρόφασιν Ἀργεῖοι Μυκηναίους ὕστερον ἀνέστησαν.
That Perseus was the founder of Mycenae, the Greeks know; and I shall write both the cause of its founding and the pretext under which the Argives later dispossessed the Mycenaeans.
ἐν γὰρ τῇ νῦν Ἀργολίδι ὀνομαζομένῃ τὰ μὲν ἔτι παλαιότερα οὐ μνημονεύουσιν, Ἴναχον δὲ βασιλεύοντα τόν τε ποταμὸν ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ λέγουσιν ὀνομάσαι καὶ θῦσαι τῇ Ἥρᾳ.
For in what is now called Argolis they do not remember older things, but they say that when Inachus was king he named the river after himself and sacrificed to Hera.
§2.15.5λέγεται δὲ καὶ ὧδε λόγος· Φορωνέα ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ γενέσθαι πρῶτον, Ἴναχον δὲ οὐκ ἄνδρα ἀλλὰ τὸν ποταμὸν πατέρα εἶναι Φορωνεῖ· τοῦτον δὲ Ποσειδῶνι καὶ Ἥρᾳ δικάσαι περὶ τῆς χώρας, σὺν δὲ αὐτῷ Κηφισόν τε καὶ Ἀστερίωνα ποταμόν·
The following story is also told: that Phoroneus was the first man to be born in this land, and that Inachus was not a man, but the river, and was the father of Phoroneus; and that this river, together with the Cephisus and the Asterion, decided the dispute between Poseidon and Hera concerning the land.
κρινάντων δὲ Ἥρας εἶναι τὴν γῆν, οὕτω σφίσιν ἀφανίσαι τὸ ὕδωρ Ποσειδῶνα.
When they judged that the land belonged to Hera, Poseidon accordingly made their water disappear.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὔτε Ἴναχος ὕδωρ οὔτε ἄλλος παρέχεται τῶν εἰρημένων ποταμῶν ὅτι μὴ ὕσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ· θέρους δὲ αὖά σφισίν ἐστι τὰ ῥεύματα πλὴν τῶν ἐν Λέρνῃ.
Because of this, neither Inachus nor any other of the mentioned rivers provides water except when the god sends rain; in summer their streams are dry, except those in Lerna.
Φορωνεὺς δὲ ὁ Ἰνάχου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους συνήγαγε πρῶτον ἐς κοινόν, σποράδας τέως καὶ ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν ἑκάστοτε οἰκοῦντας· καὶ τὸ χωρίον ἐς ὃ πρῶτον ἠθροίσθησαν ἄστυ ὠνομάσθη Φορωνικόν.
Phoroneus, the son of Inachus, first gathered the people into a community, who until then had lived scattered and each by themselves; and the place where they were first assembled was named the city of Phoronicum.