§2.27.1τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν ἄλσος τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ περιέχουσιν ὅροι πανταχόθεν· οὐδὲ ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἄνθρωποι οὐδὲ τίκτουσιν αἱ γυναῖκές σφισιν ἐντὸς τοῦ περιβόλου, καθὰ καὶ ἐπὶ Δήλῳ τῇ νήσῳ τὸν αὐτὸν νόμον.
The sacred grove of Asclepius is surrounded by boundary marks on all sides; neither do people die nor do women give birth inside the enclosure, just as the same law is observed on the island of Delos.
τὰ δὲ θυόμενα, ἤν τέ τις Ἐπιδαυρίων αὐτῶν ἤν τε ξένος ὁ θύων ᾖ, καταναλίσκουσιν ἐντὸς τῶν ὅρων· τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ γινόμενον οἶδα καὶ ἐν Τιτάνῃ.
The sacrifices, whether the person sacrificing be one of the Epidaurians themselves or a stranger, they consume within the boundary; and I know that the same thing is done in Titane as well.
§2.27.2τοῦ δὲ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τὸ ἄγαλμα μεγέθει μὲν τοῦ Ἀθήνῃσιν Ὀλυμπίου Διὸς ἥμισυ ἀποδεῖ, πεποίηται δὲ ἐλέφαντος καὶ χρυσοῦ· μηνύει δὲ ἐπίγραμμα τὸν εἰργασμένον εἶναι Θρασυμήδην Ἀριγνώτου Πάριον.
The image of Asclepius is, in size, half as large as that of Olympian Zeus at Athens, and is made of ivory and gold; an inscription declares that the artist was Thrasymedes, a Parian, son of Arignotus.
κάθηται δὲ ἐπὶ θρόνου βακτηρίαν κρατῶν, τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν τῶν χειρῶν ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ἔχει τοῦ δράκοντος, καί οἱ καὶ κύων παρακατακείμενος πεποίηται.
He sits on a throne holding a staff, and holds his other hand over the head of the dragon; and a dog is also represented lying beside him.
τῷ θρόνῳ δὲ ἡρώων ἐπειργασμένα Ἀργείων ἐστὶν ἔργα, Βελλεροφόντου τὸ ἐς τὴν Χίμαιραν καὶ Περσεὺς ἀφελὼν τὴν Μεδούσης κεφαλήν.
On the throne are carved the deeds of Argive heroes: the exploit of Bellerophon against the Chimaera, and Perseus having cut off the head of Medusa.
τοῦ ναοῦ δέ ἐστι πέραν ἔνθα οἱ ἱκέται τοῦ θεοῦ καθεύδουσιν.
Opposite the temple is the place where the suppliants of the god sleep.
§2.27.3οἴκημα δὲ περιφερὲς λίθου λευκοῦ καλούμενον Θόλος ᾠκοδόμηται πλησίον, θέας ἄξιον· ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ Παυσίου γράψαντος βέλη μὲν καὶ τόξον ἐστὶν ἀφεικὼς Ἔρως, λύραν δὲ ἀντʼ αὐτῶν ἀράμενος φέρει.
Near has been built a circular building of white stone, called Tholos (Rotunda), which is worth seeing; in it is a painting by Pausias, representing Eros who has cast aside his bow and arrows, and has taken up and is carrying a lyre instead of them.
γέγραπται δὲ ἐνταῦθα καὶ Μέθη, Παυσίου καὶ τοῦτο ἔργον, ἐξ ὑαλίνης φιάλης πίνουσα· ἴδοις δὲ κἂν ἐν τῇ γραφῇ φιάλην τε ὑάλου καὶ διʼ αὐτῆς γυναικὸς πρόσωπον.
Here is also painted Methe (Drunkenness), also the work of Pausias, drinking out of a glass cup; and you may see in the painting both the glass cup and through it the face of the woman.
στῆλαι δὲ εἱστήκεσαν ἐντὸς τοῦ περιβόλου τὸ μὲν ἀρχαῖον καὶ πλέονες, ἐπʼ ἐμοῦ δὲ ἓξ λοιπαί· ταύταις ἐγγεγραμμένα καὶ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν ἐστιν ὀνόματα ἀκεσθέντων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ, προσέτι δὲ καὶ νόσημα ὅ τι ἕκαστος ἐνόσησε καὶ ὅπως ἰάθη·
Within the enclosure there stood stone pillars, in ancient times indeed more of them, but in my time only six were left; on these are inscribed the names of both men and women healed by Asclepius, and moreover the disease which each suffered from, and how they were cured.
§2.27.4γέγραπται δὲ φωνῇ τῇ Δωρίδι.
They are written in the Doric dialect.
χωρὶς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἐστὶν ἀρχαία στήλη· ἵππους δὲ Ἱππόλυτον ἀναθεῖναι τῷ θεῷ φησιν εἴκοσι.
Apart from the others is an ancient pillar; it says that Hippolytus dedicated twenty horses to the god.
ταύτης τῆς στήλης τῷ ἐπιγράμματι ὁμολογοῦντα λέγουσιν Ἀρικιεῖς, ὡς τεθνεῶτα Ἱππόλυτον ἐκ τῶν Θησέως ἀρῶν ἀνέστησεν Ἀσκληπιός· ὁ δὲ ὡς αὖθις ἐβίω, οὐκ ἠξίου νέμειν τῷ πατρὶ συγγνώμην, ἀλλὰ ὑπεριδὼν τὰς δεήσεις ἐς Ἰταλίαν ἔρχεται παρὰ τοὺς Ἀρικιεῖς, καὶ ἐβασίλευσέ τε αὐτόθι καὶ ἀνῆκε τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι τέμενος, ἔνθα ἄχρι ἐμοῦ μονομαχίας ἆθλα ἦν καὶ ἱερᾶσθαι τῇ θεῷ τὸν νικῶντα·
In agreement with the inscription on this pillar, the Aricians say that when Hippolytus had died from the curses of Theseus, Asclepius raised him up; and when he lived again, he did not deign to grant forgiveness to his father, but disregarding his entreaties went to Italy to the Aricians, and there became king and dedicated a sacred precinct to Artemis, where down to my time the prize of single combat was to become priest to the goddess.
ὁ δὲ ἀγὼν ἐλευθέρων μὲν προέκειτο οὐδενί, οἰκέταις δὲ ἀποδρᾶσι τοὺς δεσπότας.
The contest was open to no free man, but only to slaves who had run away from their masters.
§2.27.5Ἐπιδαυρίοις δέ ἐστι θέατρον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ μάλιστα ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν θέας ἄξιον· τὰ μὲν γὰρ Ῥωμαίων πολὺ δή τι ὑπερῆρκε τῶν πανταχοῦ τῷ κόσμῳ, μεγέθει δὲ Ἀρκάδων τὸ ἐν Μεγάλῃ πόλει· ἁρμονίας δὲ ἢ κάλλους ἕνεκα ἀρχιτέκτων ποῖος ἐς ἅμιλλαν Πολυκλείτῳ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἀξιόχρεως;
The Epidaurians have a theater in the sanctuary which, in my opinion, is most worth seeing; for while the Roman theaters have far surpassed all others everywhere in their splendor, and that of the Arcadians at Megalopolis in size, yet for harmony or beauty, what architect could be a worthy rival to Polyclitus?
Πολύκλειτος γὰρ καὶ θέατρον τοῦτο καὶ οἴκημα τὸ περιφερὲς ὁ ποιήσας ἦν.
For Polyclitus was the one who made both this theater and the circular building.
ἐντὸς δὲ τοῦ ἄλσους ναός τέ ἐστιν Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ ἄγαλμα Ἠπιόνης καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν καὶ Θέμιδος καὶ στάδιον, οἷα Ἕλλησι τὰ πολλὰ γῆς χῶμα, καὶ κρήνη τῷ τε ὀρόφῳ καὶ κόσμῳ τῷ λοιπῷ θέας ἀξία.
Inside the grove is a temple of Artemis, an image of Epione, a sanctuary of Aphrodite and of Themis, and a stadium, which, like most of those of the Greeks, is a bank of earth, and a fountain worth seeing for both its roof and its remaining decoration.
§2.27.6ὁπόσα δὲ Ἀντωνῖνος ἀνὴρ τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἐποίησεν, ἔστι μὲν Ἀσκληπιοῦ λουτρόν, ἔστι δὲ ἱερὸν θεῶν οὓς Ἐπιδώτας ὀνομάζουσιν· ἐποίησε δὲ καὶ Ὑγείᾳ ναὸν καὶ Ἀσκληπιῷ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνι ἐπίκλησιν Αἰγυπτίοις.
As for all the things which Antoninus, a man of the senatorial rank, made in our time, there is a bath of Asclepius, and a sanctuary of the gods whom they call Epidotae (Givers of Blessings); and he also built a temple to Hygeia, and to Asclepius and Apollo with the surname Egyptian.
καὶ ἦν γὰρ στοὰ καλουμένη Κότυος, καταρρυέντος δέ οἱ τοῦ ὀρόφου διέφθαρτο ἤδη πᾶσα ἅτε ὠμῆς τῆς πλίνθου ποιηθεῖσα· ἀνῳκοδόμησε καὶ ταύτην.
Moreover, there was a portico called the Portico of Cotys, and since its roof had fallen in, it was already completely ruined as it had been made of unburnt brick; he rebuilt this too.
Ἐπιδαυρίων δὲ οἱ περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν μάλιστα ἐταλαιπώρουν, ὅτι μήτε αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν σκέπῃ σφίσιν ἔτικτον καὶ ἡ τελευτὴ τοῖς κάμνουσιν ὑπαίθριος ἐγίνετο· ὁ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἐπανορθούμενος κατεσκευάσατο οἴκησιν· ἐνταῦθα ἤδη καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ τεκεῖν γυναικὶ ὅσιον.
And those of the Epidaurians around the sanctuary were in great distress, because their women did not give birth under shelter, and the end for the sick took place in the open air; but he, correcting this as well, constructed a building, where now it is lawful for a man to die and for a woman to give birth.
§2.27.7ὄρη δέ ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τὸ ἄλσος τό τε Τίτθιον καὶ ἕτερον ὀνομαζόμενον Κυνόρτιον, Μαλεάτου δὲ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερὸν ἐν αὐτῷ.
Above the grove are the mountain Titthion and another called Cynortion, on which is a sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas.
τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τῶν ἀρχαίων· τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ὅσα περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Μαλεάτου καὶ ἔλυτρον κρήνης, ἐς ὃ τὸ ὕδωρ συλλέγεταί σφισι τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, Ἀντωνῖνος καὶ ταῦτα Ἐπιδαυρίοις ἐποίησεν.
This, indeed, is of ancient date; but all the other things around the sanctuary of Maleatas, including the reservoir of the fountain into which their water from the god is collected, Antoninus made these too for the Epidaurians.