§3.23.1Κύθηρα δὲ κεῖται μὲν ἀπαντικρὺ Βοιῶν, ἐς δὲ Πλατανιστοῦντα—ἐλάχιστον γὰρ τῆς ἠπείρου ταύτῃ διέστηκεν ἡ νῆσος—ἐς ταύτην τὴν ἄκραν τὸν Πλατανιστοῦντα ἀπὸ ἄκρας τῆς ἠπείρου, καλουμένης δὲ Ὄνου γνάθου, σταδίων πλοῦς τεσσαράκοντά ἐστιν.
Cythera lies opposite Boeae, and to Platanistus—for here the island is at its shortest distance from the mainland—to this cape, Platanistus, from the cape of the mainland called the Jaw of an Ass, there is a voyage of forty stades.
ἐν Κυθήροις δὲ ἐπὶ θαλάσσης Σκάνδειά ἐστιν ἐπίνειον, Κύθηρα δὲ ἡ πόλις ἀναβάντι ἀπὸ Σκανδείας στάδια ὡς δέκα.
In Cythera, Scandeia is a port on the sea, and Cythera the city is about ten stades for one going up from Scandeia.
τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν τῆς Οὐρανίας ἁγιώτατον καὶ ἱερῶν ὁπόσα Ἀφροδίτης παρʼ Ἕλλησίν ἐστιν ἀρχαιότατον· αὐτὴ δὲ ἡ θεὸς ξόανον ὡπλισμένον.
The sanctuary of Urania is most holy, and the most ancient of all the sanctuaries of Aphrodite among the Greeks; the goddess herself is an armed wooden image.
§3.23.2πλέοντι δὲ ἐκ Βοιῶν τὴν ὑπὸ τὴν ἄκραν τῆς Μαλέας λιμήν ἐστιν ὀνομαζόμενον Νύμφαιον καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν καὶ σπήλαιον θαλάσσης ἐγγύτατα, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ γλυκέος ὕδατος πηγή· καὶ ἄνθρωποι περιοικοῦσι πολλοί.
For one sailing from Boeae along the foot of the cape of Malea, there is a harbor called Nymphaeum, and a standing image of Poseidon, and a cave very close to the sea, in which is a spring of fresh water; and many people live around it.
περιπλεύσαντι δὲ τὴν ἄκραν τῆς Μαλέας καὶ ἑκατὸν στάδια ἀποσχόντι, ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ χωρίον ἐν ὅροις Βοιατῶν Ἀπόλλωνος μὲν ἱερόν ἐστιν, Ἐπιδήλιον δὲ ὀνομαζόμενον· §3.23.3τὸ γὰρ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ξόανον, ὃ νῦν ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα, ἐν Δήλῳ ποτὲ ἵδρυτο.
For one who has sailed around the cape of Malea and is a hundred stades away, by the sea, in the territory of the Boeaeans, there is a sanctuary of Apollo, called Epidelium; For the wooden image of Apollo, which is now there, was once dedicated in Delos.
τῆς γὰρ Δήλου τότε ἐμπορίου τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὔσης καὶ ἄδειαν τοῖς ἐργαζομένοις διὰ τὸν θεὸν δοκούσης παρέχειν, Μηνοφάνης Μιθριδάτου στρατηγὸς εἴτε αὐτὸς ὑπερφρονήσας εἴτε καὶ ὑπὸ Μιθριδάτου προστεταγμένον —ἀνθρώπῳ γὰρ ἀφορῶντι ἐς κέρδος τὰ θεῖα ὕστερα λημμάτων—, οὗτος οὖν ὁ Μηνοφάνης, ἅτε οὔσης §3.23.4ἀτειχίστου τῆς Δήλου καὶ ὅπλα οὐ κεκτημένων τῶν ἀνδρῶν, τριήρεσιν ἐσπλεύσας ἐφόνευσε μὲν τοὺς ἐπιδημοῦντας τῶν ξένων, ἐφόνευσε δὲ αὐτοὺς τοὺς Δηλίους· κατασύρας δὲ πολλὰ μὲν ἐμπόρων χρήματα, πάντα δὲ τὰ ἀναθήματα, προσεξανδραποδισάμενος δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ τέκνα, καὶ αὐτὴν ἐς ἔδαφος κατέβαλε τὴν Δῆλον.
For since Delos was at that time a market for the Greeks, and seemed to provide security to those who worked there because of the god, Menophanes, a general of Mithridates, either because he himself acted insolently, or because it had been commanded by Mithridates—for to a man looking towards gain, things divine are secondary to profits—this Menophanes, since Delos was unfortified and the men possessed no arms, sailed in with triremes and slaughtered the foreigners residing there, and slaughtered the Delians themselves; and having plundered much property of the merchants and all the votive offerings, and having additionally enslaved both women and children, he razed Delos itself to the ground.
ἅτε δὲ πορθουμένης τε καὶ ἁρπαζομένης, τῶν τις βαρβάρων ὑπὸ ὕβρεως τὸ ξόανον τοῦτο ἀπέρριψεν ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν· ὑπολαβὼν δὲ ὁ κλύδων ἐνταῦθα τῆς Βοιατῶν ἀπήνεγκε, καὶ τὸ χωρίον διὰ τοῦτο Ἐπιδήλιον ὀνομάζουσι.
And as it was being plundered and sacked, one of the barbarians in his insolence cast this wooden image into the sea; and the wave took it up and carried it away to this part of the land of the Boeaeans, and because of this they name the place Epidelium.
§3.23.5τὸ μέντοι μήνιμα τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ διέφυγεν οὔτε Μηνοφάνης οὔτε αὐτὸς Μιθριδάτης· ἀλλὰ Μηνοφάνην μὲν παραυτίκα, ὡς ἀνήγετο ἐρημώσας τὴν Δῆλον, λοχήσαντες ναυσὶν οἱ διαπεφευγότες τῶν ἐμπόρων καταδύουσι, Μιθριδάτην δὲ ὕστερον τούτων ἠνάγκασεν ὁ θεὸς αὐτόχειρα αὑτοῦ καταστῆναι, τῆς τε ἀρχῆς οἱ καθῃρημένης καὶ ἐλαυνόμενον πανταχόθεν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων· εἰσὶ δὲ οἵ φασιν αὐτὸν παρά του τῶν μισθοφόρων θάνατον βίαιον ἐν μέρει χάριτος εὕρασθαι.
However, neither Menophanes nor Mithridates himself escaped the wrath of the god; but as for Menophanes, immediately as he was putting to sea after devastating Delos, the merchants who had escaped lay in wait for him with ships and sank him, and as for Mithridates, the god later forced him to become his own slayer, his empire having been destroyed and he being driven from every side by the Romans; though there are some who say that he obtained a violent death from one of his mercenaries as a favor.
§3.23.6τούτοις μὲν τοιαῦτα ἀπήντησεν ἀσεβήσασι· τῇ δὲ Βοιαῶν ὅμορος Ἐπίδαυρός ἐστιν ἡ Λιμηρά, σταδίους ὡς διακοσίους ἀπέχουσα Ἐπιδηλίου.
Such were the fates that befell these men for their impiety; and adjacent to the territory of Boeae is Epidaurus Limera, distant about two hundred stades from Epidelium.
φασὶ δὲ οὐ Λακεδαιμονίων, τῶν δὲ ἐν τῇ Ἀργολίδι Ἐπιδαυρίων εἶναι, πλέοντες δὲ ἐς Κῶν παρὰ τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ προσσχεῖν τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐξ ἐνυπνίων γενομένων σφίσι καταμείναντες οἰκῆσαι.
They say that its inhabitants are not Lacedaemonian, but Epidaurians from Argolis, and that sailing to Cos to Asclepius on public business they put in to Laconia here, and because of dreams that came to them they remained and settled.
§3.23.7λέγουσι δὲ καὶ ὡς οἴκοθεν ἐκ τῆς Ἐπιδαύρου δράκοντα ἐπαγομένοις αὐτοῖς ἐξέφυγεν ἐκ τῆς νεὼς ὁ δράκων, ἐκφυγὼν δὲ οὐ πόρρω κατέδυ θαλάσσης, καί σφισιν ὁμοῦ τῶν ὀνειράτων τῇ ὄψει καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σημείου τοῦ κατὰ τὸν δράκοντα ἔδοξεν αὐτόθι καταμείναντας οἰκῆσαι.
And they also say that when they were bringing a serpent with them from home, from Epidaurus, the serpent escaped from the ship, and having escaped, it slid into the earth not far from the sea; and to them, along with the vision of the dreams and from the sign concerning the serpent, it seemed best to remain there and settle.
καὶ ἔνθα ὁ δράκων κατέδυ, βωμοί τέ εἰσιν Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ ἐλαῖαι περὶ αὐτοὺς πεφύκασιν.
And where the serpent slid into the earth, there are altars of Asclepius, and olives grow around them.
§3.23.8προελθόντι δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ δύο που σταδίους, ἔστιν Ἰνοῦς καλούμενον ὕδωρ, μέγεθος μὲν κατὰ λίμνην μικράν, τῆς γῆς δὲ ἐν βάθει μᾶλλον· ἐς τοῦτο τὸ ὕδωρ ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ τῆς Ἰνοῦς ἐμβάλλουσιν ἀλφίτων μάζας.
For one who has gone forward about two stades on the right, there is water called the Water of Ino, in size like a small lake, but deeper in the earth; into this water, at the festival of Ino, they cast barley cakes.
ταύτας ἐπὶ μὲν αἰσίῳ τοῦ ἐμβαλόντος καταδεξάμενον ἔχει τὸ ὕδωρ· εἰ δὲ ἀναπέμψαιτο σφᾶς, πονηρὸν κέκριται σημεῖον.
If the water receives and keeps them, it is a favorable omen for the caster; but if it should send them back up, it is judged an evil sign.
§3.23.9τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ἐν Αἴτνῃ δηλοῦσιν οἱ κρατῆρες· καὶ γὰρ χρυσοῦ ἐς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀργύρου ποιήματα, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἱερεῖα τὰ πάντα ἀφιᾶσι·
The craters in Etna also show the same thing; for they cast into them objects of gold and silver, and moreover all kinds of victims.
ταῦτα δὲ ἢν μὲν ὑπολαβὸν ἀπενέγκῃ τὸ πῦρ, οἱ δὲ χαίρουσιν ὡς ἐπὶ πεφηνότι ἀγαθῷ, ἀπωσαμένου δὲ τὰ ἐμβληθέντα συμφορὰν ἔσεσθαι τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ νομίζουσι.
If the fire takes and carries these away, they rejoice as at a good omen that has appeared; but if it rejects the things thrown in, they believe that disaster will befall that man.
§3.23.10κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐκ Βοιῶν ἐς Ἐπίδαυρον τὴν Λιμηρὰν ἄγουσαν Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερόν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ Ἐπιδαυρίων Λιμνάτιδος.
Along the road leading from Boeae to Epidaurus Limera, there is a sanctuary of Artemis, called Limnatis, in the territory of the Epidaurians.
ἡ πόλις δὲ ἀπέχουσα οὐ πολὺ ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἐπὶ μετεώρῳ μὲν ᾤκισται, θέας δὲ αὐτόθι ἄξια τὸ μὲν Ἀφροδίτης ἐστὶν ἱερόν, τὸ δὲ Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν λίθου, καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει ναός, πρὸ δὲ τοῦ λιμένος Διὸς ἐπίκλησιν Σωτῆρος.
The city, which is not far from the sea, is built on high ground, and things worthy of seeing there are the sanctuary of Aphrodite, and that of Asclepius with a standing image of stone, and a temple of Athena on the acropolis, and before the harbor a temple of Zeus surnamed Savior.
§3.23.11ἄκρα δὲ ἐς τὸ πέλαγος κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἀνέχει καλουμένη Μινῴα· καὶ ὁ μὲν κόλπος οὐδέν τι ἔχει διάφορον ἢ ὅσαι κατὰ τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἄλλαι θαλάσσης εἰσὶν ἐσβολαί, αἰγιαλὸς δὲ ὁ ταύτῃ παρέχεται ψηφῖδας σχῆμα εὐπρεπεστέρας καὶ χρόας παντοδαπῆς.
A cape called Minoa projects into the sea near the city; and the gulf has nothing different from the other inlets of the sea along Laconia, but the shore there provides pebbles of more beautiful shape and of every kind of color.