§3.25.1προελθόντι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μνήματος ἐκδίδωσιν ἐς θάλασσαν ποταμός, ὄνομα δέ οἱ Σκύρας, ὅτι κατὰ τοῦτον ἀνώνυμον τέως ὄντα Πύρρος ὁ Ἀχιλλέως ἔσχε ταῖς ναυσίν, ἡνίκα ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑρμιόνης γάμον ἔπλευσεν ἐκ Σκύρου.
For one who has gone forward from the tomb, there is a river emptying into the sea, and its name is Scyras, because at this river, which till then had been nameless, Pyrrhus the son of Achilles anchored with his ships when he sailed from Scyros for his marriage with Hermione.
διαβάντων δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν ἔστιν ἱερὸν ἀρχαῖον ἀπωτέρω Διὸς βωμοῦ.
When you have crossed the river, there is an ancient sanctuary a little beyond the altar of Zeus.
τοῦ ποταμοῦ δὲ σταδίους τεσσαράκοντα ἀπέχει Πύρριχος ἐν μεσογαίᾳ.
Forty stades from the river, Pyrrhichus is in the interior.
τὸ δὲ ὄνομα τῇ πόλει γενέσθαι φασὶν ἀπὸ Πύρρου τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως, οἱ δὲ εἶναι θεὸν Πύρριχον τῶν καλουμένων §3.25.2Κουρήτων· εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ Σιληνὸν ἐκ Μαλέας ἐλθόντα ἐνταῦθα λέγουσιν οἰκῆσαι.
They say that the name was given to the city after Pyrrhus the son of Achilles, but others say that it is from Pyrrhichus, a god of those called Curetes; while some say that Silenus came here from Malea and dwelt.
τραφῆναι μὲν δὴ τὸν Σιληνὸν ἐν τῇ Μαλέᾳ δηλοῖ καὶ τάδε ἐξ ᾄσματος Πινδάρου
"
ὁ ζαμενὴς δὲ ὁ χοροιτύπος, ὃν Μαλέας ὄρος
ἔθρεψε, Ναΐδος ἀκοίτας, Σιληνός· "
ὡς δὲ καὶ Πύρριχος ὄνομα ἦν αὐτῷ, Πινδάρῳ μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρημένον, λέγουσι δὲ οἱ περὶ τὴν Μαλέαν οἰκοῦντες.
That Silenus was reared on Malea is shown also by these words from a song of Pindar: "And the violent dancer, whom the mountain of Malea reared, the husband of the Naiad, Silenus; "But that his name was also Pyrrhichus is not mentioned by Pindar, though those who dwell around Malea say so.
§3.25.3ἔστι δὲ ἐν τῇ Πυρρίχῳ φρέαρ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, δοῦναι δέ σφισι τὸν Σιληνὸν νομίζουσι· σπανίζοιέν τʼ ἂν ὕδατος, εἰ τὸ φρέαρ τοῦτο ἐπιλείποι.
In Pyrrhichus there is a well in the market-place, and they believe that Silenus gave it to them; and they would be in want of water if this well should fail.
θεῶν δὲ ἐν τῇ γῇ σφισιν ἱερά ἐστιν Ἀρτέμιδός τε ἐπίκλησιν Ἀστρατείας, ὅτι τῆς ἐς τὸ πρόσω στρατείας ἐνταῦθα ἐπαύσαντο Ἀμαζόνες, καὶ Ἀπόλλων Ἀμαζόνιος·
In their land they have sanctuaries of the gods, namely of Artemis surnamed Astrateia, because the Amazons stopped their further campaign here, and of Apollo Amazonius.
ξόανα μὲν ἀμφότερα, ἀναθεῖναι δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτὰ τὰς ἀπὸ Θερμώδοντος γυναῖκας.
Both are wooden images, and they say that the women from Thermodon dedicated them.
§3.25.4ἀπὸ δὲ Πυρρίχου καταβάντι ἐς θάλασσαν ἔστι Τευθρώνη· τὸν δὲ οἰκιστὴν οἱ ταύτῃ Τεύθραντα Ἀθηναῖον ὄντα ἀποφαίνουσι, τιμῶσι δὲ θεῶν μάλιστα Ἰσσωρίαν Ἄρτεμιν, καὶ πηγή σφισίν ἐστι Ναΐα.
For one who has gone down to the sea from Pyrrhichus, there is Teuthrone; and the people here declare that its founder was Teuthras, an Athenian, and they worship of the gods especially Artemis Issoria, and they have a spring called Naia.
Τευθρώνης δὲ ἀπέχει πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν σταδίους ἐς θάλασσαν ἀνέχουσα ἄκρα Ταίναρον, καὶ λιμένες ὅ τε Ἀχίλλειός ἐστι καὶ Ψαμαθοῦς, ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ ἄκρᾳ ναὸς εἰκασμένος σπηλαίῳ καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἄγαλμα.
A hundred and fifty stades from Teuthrone is Cape Taenarum, projecting into the sea, and there are harbors, both Achilleus and Psamathous, and on the cape is a temple made like a cave, and in front of it an image of Poseidon.
§3.25.5ἐποίησαν δὲ Ἑλλήνων τινὲς ὡς Ἡρακλῆς ἀναγάγοι ταύτῃ τοῦ Ἅιδου τὸν κύνα, οὔτε ὑπὸ γῆν ὁδοῦ διὰ τοῦ σπηλαίου φερούσης οὔτε ἕτοιμον ὂν πεισθῆναι θεῶν ὑπόγαιον εἶναί τινα οἴκησιν ἐς ἣν ἀθροίζεσθαι τὰς ψυχάς.
Some of the Greeks have represented in their poems that Heracles brought up the dog of Hades here, although no road leads underground through the cave, nor is it easy to believe that there is any underground dwelling of the gods in which the souls gather.
ἀλλὰ Ἑκαταῖος μὲν ὁ Μιλήσιος λόγον εὗρεν εἰκότα, ὄφιν φήσας ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ τραφῆναι δεινόν, κληθῆναι δὲ Ἅιδου κύνα, ὅτι ἔδει τὸν δηχθέντα τεθνάναι παραυτίκα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ, καὶ τοῦτον ἔφη τὸν ὄφιν ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους ἀχθῆναι παρʼ Εὐρυσθέα·
But Hecataeus the Milesian found a plausible explanation, saying that a terrible serpent was reared on Taenarum, and was called the dog of Hades, because one who was bitten had to die immediately from the venom, and he said that this serpent was brought by Heracles to Eurystheus.
§3.25.6Ὅμηρος δὲ— πρῶτος γὰρ ἐκάλεσεν Ἅιδου κύνα ὅντινα Ἡρακλῆς ἦγεν —οὔτε ὄνομα ἔθετο οὐδὲν οὔτε συνέπλασεν ἐς τὸ εἶδος ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῇ Χιμαίρᾳ·
Homer, however—for he was the first to call the beast brought by Heracles the dog of Hades—gave it no name, nor did he fashion its shape as he did with the Chimaera.
οἱ δὲ ὕστερον Κέρβερον ὄνομα ἐποίησαν καὶ κυνὶ τἄλλα εἰκάζοντες κεφαλὰς τρεῖς φασιν ἔχειν αὐτὸν, οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον Ὁμήρου κύνα τὸν ἀνθρώπῳ σύντροφον εἰρηκότος ἢ εἰ δράκοντα ὄντα ἐκάλεσεν Ἅιδου κύνα.
But those of later times gave it the name Cerberus, and while in other respects comparing it to a dog, they say it has three heads, not that Homer said it was the dog that is companion to man any more than if he had called it the dog of Hades though it was a dragon.
§3.25.7ἀναθήματα δὲ ἄλλα τέ ἐστιν ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ καὶ Ἀρίων ὁ κιθαρῳδὸς χαλκοῦς ἐπὶ δελφῖνος.
There are other votive offerings on Taenarum, and Arion the citharode in bronze upon a dolphin.
τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐς αὐτὸν Ἀρίονα καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῷ δελφῖνι Ἡρόδοτος εἶπεν ἀκοὴν ἐν τῇ Λυδίᾳ συγγραφῇ·
The story about Arion himself and the dolphin Herodotus told as a hearsay in his Lydian history.
τὸν δὲ ἐν Ποροσελήνῃ δελφῖνα τῷ παιδὶ σῶστρα ἀποδιδόντα, ὅτι συγκοπέντα ὑπὸ ἁλιέων αὐτὸν ἰάσατο, τοῦτον τὸν δελφῖνα εἶδον καὶ καλοῦντι τῷ παιδὶ ὑπακούοντα καὶ φέροντα, ὁπότε ἐποχεῖσθαί οἱ βούλοιτο.
But I saw the dolphin at Poroselene that paid a reward for his life to the boy, because it had been healed by him when cut up by fishermen; I saw this dolphin obeying the boy when he called, and carrying him whenever he wished to ride upon it.
§3.25.8ἔστι δὲ ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ καὶ πηγή, νῦν μὲν οὐδὲν ὥστε καὶ θαῦμα εἶναι παρεχομένη, πρότερον δὲ τοῖς ἐνιδοῦσιν ἐς τὸ ὕδωρ τοὺς λιμένας—φασὶ— καὶ τὰς ναῦς θεάσασθαι παρεῖχε.
On Taenarum there is also a spring, which now provides nothing to be wondered at, but formerly, they say, it showed to those who looked into the water the harbors and the ships.
τοῦτο ἔπαυσε γυνὴ τὸ ὕδωρ μὴ καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ τοιαῦτα ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, μεμιασμένην ἐναποπλύνασα ἐσθῆτα.
A woman stopped this water from showing such things for the future, by washing a defiled garment in it.
§3.25.9Ταινάρου δὲ τῆς ἄκρας πλοῦν ὅσον τεσσαράκοντα σταδίων ἀφέστηκε Καινήπολις· ὄνομα δὲ ἦν πάλαι καὶ ταύτῃ Ταίναρον.
Forty stades' sail from the promontory of Taenarum is Caenepolis; its name also was formerly Taenarum.
ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ μέγαρον Δήμητρος καὶ ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ ναός ἐστιν Ἀφροδίτης καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν λίθου.
In it there is a hall of Demeter, and by the sea a temple of Aphrodite and an upright image of stone.
ἐντεῦθεν ἀποσχόντι τριάκοντα σταδίους Θυρίδες ἄκρα Ταινάρου καὶ πόλεως ἐρείπια Ἱππόλας ἐστίν, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερὸν Ἱππολαΐτιδος· ὀλίγον δὲ ἀπωτέρω Μέσσα πόλις καὶ λιμήν.
Thirty stades distant from there are Thyrides, a cape of Taenarum, and the ruins of the city Hippola, in which is a sanctuary of Athena Hippolaitis; and a little further on is the city Messa and a harbor.
§3.25.10ἀπὸ τούτου στάδια τοῦ λιμένος πεντήκοντά ἐστι καὶ ἑκατὸν ἐπὶ Οἴτυλον·
From this harbor it is a hundred and fifty stades to Oitylos.
ὁ δὲ ἥρως ἀφʼ οὗ τῇ πόλει τὸ ὄνομα ἐγένετο, Ἀργεῖος τὸ ἀνέκαθεν, Ἀμφιάνακτος υἱὸς ὢν τοῦ Ἀντιμάχου.
The hero from whom the city got its name was an Argive by descent, being the son of Amphianax the son of Antimachus.
θέας δὲ ἄξια ἐν Οἰτύλῳ Σαράπιδός ἐστιν ἱερὸν καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ Καρνείου ξόανον Ἀπόλλωνος.
Worth seeing in Oitylos is a sanctuary of Sarapis, and in the market-place a wooden image of Apollo Carneus.