§3.24.1Ἐπιδαύρου δὲ σταδίους ἑκατὸν ἀπέχει Ζάραξ, ἄλλως μὲν εὐλίμενον χωρίον, τῶν δὲ Ἐλευθερολακώνων μάλιστα τοῦτο ἐκτετρύχωται, ἐπεὶ καὶ Κλεώνυμος ὁ Κλεομένους τοῦ Ἀγησιπόλιδος μόνον τοῦτο τῶν Λακωνικῶν πολισμάτων ἐποίησεν ἀνάστατον· καί μοι τὰ ἐς τὸν Κλεώνυμον ἑτέρωθί ἐστιν εἰρημένα.
Zarax lies a hundred stades from Epidaurus; though in other respects a place with a good harbor, of the Free Laconian towns this one has been especially worn down, since Cleonymus, the son of Cleomenes, the son of Agesipolis, made this alone of the Laconian towns desolate; and the matters concerning Cleonymus have been told by me elsewhere.
ἐν Ζάρακι δὲ ἄλλο μὲν οὐδέν, πρὸς δὲ τοῦ λιμένος τῷ πέρατι Ἀπόλλωνος ναός ἐστι καὶ ἄγαλμα κιθάραν ἔχον.
In Zarax there is nothing else, but at the end of the harbor there is a temple of Apollo and an image holding a lyre.
§3.24.2προελθόντι δὲ ἀπὸ Ζάρακος παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν ἑκατόν που στάδια καὶ ἐπιστρέψαντι αὐτόθεν ἐς μεσόγαιαν καὶ ἐπαναβάντι σταδίους ὡς δέκα, Κυφάντων καλουμένων ἐρείπιά ἐστιν, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς σπήλαιον ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ, λίθου δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα.
For one who has gone forward about a hundred stades from Zarax along the sea, and has turned from there into the interior and gone up about ten stades, there are the ruins of a place called Cyphanta, and in them is a sacred cave of Asclepius, and the image is of stone.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὕδατος ψυχροῦ κρουνὸς ἐκβάλλων ἐκ πέτρας· Ἀταλάντην θηρεύουσαν ἐνταῦθά φασιν, ὡς ἠνιᾶτο ὑπὸ δίψης, παῖσαι τῇ λόγχῃ τὴν πέτραν καὶ οὕτω ῥυῆναι τὸ ὕδωρ.
There is also a spring of cold water gushing from a rock; they say that Atalanta, when she was hunting here and was distressed by thirst, struck the rock with her spear, and thus the water flowed.
§3.24.3Βρασιαὶ δὲ ἐσχάτη μὲν ταύτῃ τῶν Ἐλευθερολακώνων πρὸς θαλάσσῃ ἐστί, Κυφάντων δὲ ἀπέχουσι πλοῦν σταδίων διακοσίων.
Brasiae is the last of the Free Laconians on the sea in this direction, and they are distant from Cyphanta a voyage of two hundred stades.
οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι λέγουσιν οἱ ἐνταῦθα, οὐδέσιν ὁμολογοῦντες Ἑλλήνων, ὡς Σεμέλη τέκοι τὸν παῖδα ἐκ Διὸς καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κάδμου φωραθεῖσα ἐς λάρνακα αὐτὴ καὶ Διόνυσος ἐμβληθείη· καὶ τὴν λάρνακα ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος ἐκπεσεῖν φασιν ἐς τὴν σφετέραν, καὶ Σεμέλην μὲν—οὐ γὰρ αὐτὴν περιοῦσαν ἔτι εὑρεῖν—ἐπιφανῶς θάψαι, Διόνυσον δὲ ἀναθρέψαι λέγουσιν.
The people there say, agreeing with none of the Greeks, that Semele bore her child by Zeus, and having been discovered by Cadmus, she herself and Dionysus were cast into a chest; and they say that the chest was cast up by the wave onto their land, and that they buried Semele magnificently—for they did not find her still surviving—but brought up Dionysus.
§3.24.4ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὴν πόλιν, Ὀρειάτας ἐς ἐκεῖνο ὀνομαζομένην, μετονομασθῆναι Βρασιὰς ἐπὶ τῇ ἐκβολῇ τῇ ἐς τὴν γῆν τῆς λάρνακος· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος ἀπωθούμενα ἐς τὴν γῆν ἐκβεβράσθαι καλοῦσιν οἱ πολλοί.
And on this account, they say, their city, which until then was called Oreatae, was renamed Brasiae after the casting up of the chest onto the land; and likewise even in our time, what is pushed onto the land by the wave is called by most people "cast up" (exebrasthai).
Βρασιᾶται δὲ καὶ τάδε ἐπιλέγουσιν, Ἰνώ σφισιν ἐς τὴν χώραν ἀφικέσθαι πλανωμένην, ἐλθοῦσαν δὲ ἐθελῆσαι τοῦ Διονύσου γενέσθαι τροφόν· καὶ ἀποφαίνουσι μὲν τὸ ἄντρον ἔνθα τὸν Διόνυσον ἔθρεψεν Ἰνώ, καλοῦσι δὲ καὶ τὸ πεδίον Διονύσου κῆπον.
The Brasiatae also add this: that Ino came to their country in her wanderings, and having come, she wished to become the nurse of Dionysus; and they point out the cave where Ino nurtured Dionysus, and they also call the plain the Garden of Dionysus.
§3.24.5ἱερὰ δὲ αὐτόθι τὸ μέν ἐστιν Ἀσκληπιοῦ, τὸ δὲ Ἀχιλλέως, καὶ ἑορτὴν κατὰ ἔτος ἄγουσιν Ἀχιλλεῖ.
There are sanctuaries there, one of Asclepius and another of Achilles, and they hold a festival every year for Achilles.
ἄκρα δέ ἐστιν ἐν ταῖς Βρασιαῖς μικρά, προέχουσα ἠρέμα ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ χαλκοῖ ποδιαίων ἑστήκασιν οὐ μείζονες, πίλους ἐπὶ ταῖς κεφαλαῖς ἔχοντες, οὐκ οἶδα εἰ Διοσκούρους σφᾶς ἢ Κορύβαντας νομίζουσι· τρεῖς δʼ οὖν εἰσί, τέταρτον δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς ἄγαλμα.
There is a small cape in Brasiae, projecting gently into the sea, and on it stand bronze images not larger than a foot, having felt caps (piloi) on their heads; I do not know whether they consider them to be the Dioscuri or Corybantes, but at any rate there are three, and the fourth is an image of Athena.
§3.24.6τὰ δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ Γυθίου Λᾶς ἐστι, θαλάσσης μὲν δέκα στάδια, Γυθίου δὲ τεσσαράκοντα ἀπέχουσα.
On the right of Gythium is Las, ten stades from the sea and forty from Gythium.
ᾤκισται δὲ νῦν μὲν Ἰλίου καλουμένου καὶ Ἀσίας καὶ Κνακαδίου, τῶν ὀρῶν τούτων τὸ μεταξὺ ἐπέχουσα, πρότερον δὲ τῆς Ἀσίας τοῦ ὄρους ἔκειτο ἐπὶ τῇ κορυφῇ· καὶ νῦν ἔτι τῆς πόλεώς ἐστι τῆς ἀρχαίας ἐρείπια καὶ πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἄγαλμα Ἡρακλέους καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν Μακεδόνων τρόπαιον, οἳ μοῖρα τῆς Φιλίππου στρατιᾶς ἦσαν, ἡνίκα ἐς τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἐσέβαλεν, ἀποτραπόμενοι δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων τὰ παραθαλάσσια ἐλεηλάτουν τῆς χώρας.
It is built now in the space between the mountains called Ilium, Asia, and Cnacadium, but formerly it lay on the summit of Mount Asia; and even now there are ruins of the ancient city, and before the walls an image of Heracles, and a trophy from the Macedonians, who were a part of Philip's army when he invaded Laconia, and turning away from the rest, they plundered the coastal parts of the country.