§4.3.1ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖς Ἀφαρέως παισὶ πρὸς τοὺς Διοσκούρους ἐγένετο ἀνεψιοὺς ὄντας μάχη περὶ τῶν βοῶν καὶ τὸν μὲν Πολυδεύκης ἀπέκτεινεν, Ἴδαν δὲ ἐπέλαβε τὸ χρεὼν κεραυνωθέντα, ὁ μὲν Ἀφαρέως οἶκος γένους παντὸς ἠρήμωτο τοῦ ἄρρενος, ἐς δὲ Νέστορα τὸν Νηλέως περιῆλθε Μεσσηνίων ἡ ἀρχὴ τῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ ὅσων πρότερον ἐβασίλευεν Ἴδας, πλὴν ὅσοι τοῖς Ἀσκληπιοῦ παισὶν αὐτῶν ὑπήκουον. §4.3.2καὶ γὰρ τοὺς Ἀσκληπιοῦ παῖδας στρατεῦσαί φασιν ἐπʼ Ἴλιον Μεσσηνίους ὄντας, Ἀρσινόης γὰρ Ἀσκληπιὸν τῆς Λευκίππου καὶ οὐ Κορωνίδος παῖδα εἶναι· καὶ Τρίκκαν τε καλοῦσιν ἔρημον ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ χωρίον καὶ ἔπη τῶν Ὁμήρου καταλέγουσιν, ἐν οἷς τὸν Μαχάονα ὁ Νέστωρ τῷ ὀιστῷ βεβλημένον περιέπων ἐστὶν εὐνοϊκῶς·
When a battle over cattle arose between the sons of Aphareus and the Dioscuri, who were their cousins, and Polydeuces killed one of them, while the fated death overtook Idas by being struck by lightning, the house of Aphareus was left desolate of all male offspring, and the rule of the Messenians passed to Nestor, the son of Neleus, both of the rest of the land and of all that Idas had previously ruled, except for those who were subject to the sons of Asclepius. For they say that the sons of Asclepius also campaigned against Ilium as Messenians, since Asclepius was the son of Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus, and not of Coronis; they also call a deserted place in Messenia Tricca, and quote the verses of Homer in which Nestor kindly tends Machaon who had been struck by an arrow.
οὐκ ἂν οὖν αὐτὸν εἰ μὴ ἐς γείτονα καὶ ἀνθρώπων βασιλέα ὁμοφύλων προθυμίαν τοσήνδε γε ἐπιδείξασθαι.
He would not, therefore, have shown such great eagerness for him had he not been a neighbor and a king of a kindred people.
οἳ δὲ καὶ μάλιστα ἤδη βεβαιοῦνται τὸν ἐς τοὺς Ἀσκληπιάδας λόγον, ἀποφαίνοντες ἐν Γερηνίᾳ Μαχάονος μνῆμα καὶ τὸ ἐν Φαραῖς τῶν Μαχάονος παίδων ἱερόν. §4.3.3διαπολεμηθέντος δὲ τοῦ πρὸς Ἴλιον πολέμου καὶ Νέστορος ὡς ἐπανῆλθεν οἴκαδε τελευτήσαντος, Δωριέων στόλος καὶ ἡ κάθοδος Ἡρακλειδῶν γενομένη δύο γενεαῖς ὕστερον ἐξέβαλε τοὺς Νηλέως ἀπογόνους ἐκ τῆς Μεσσηνίας.
And they confirm the account concerning the Asclepiadae most of all now by pointing out the tomb of Machaon in Gerenia and the sanctuary of Machaon's sons in Pharae. When the war against Ilium was brought to an end, and Nestor died after his return home, the expedition of the Dorians and the return of the Heracleidae, which took place two generations later, expelled the descendants of Neleus from Messenia.
καί μοι ταῦτα ἐγένετο ἤδη τῷ λόγῳ προσθήκη τῷ ἐς Τισαμενόν· πλὴν τοσόνδε ἔτι δηλώσω.
These events have already served as an addition to my account concerning Tisamenus; but I will still make only this much clear.
Τημένῳ τῶν Δωριέων Ἄργος ἐφέντων ἔχειν, Κρεσφόντης γῆν σφᾶς ᾔτει τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἅτε καὶ αὐτὸς Ἀριστοδήμου πρεσβύτερος. §4.3.4Ἀριστόδημος μὲν οὖν ἐτύγχανεν ἤδη τεθνεώς, Θήρας δὲ ὁ Αὐτεσίωνος τῷ Κρεσφόντῃ μάλιστα ἠναντιοῦτο, τὸ μὲν ἀνέκαθεν Θηβαῖός τε καὶ ἀπόγονος πέμπτος Πολυνείκους τοῦ Οἰδίποδος, τότε δὲ ἐπετρόπευεν Ἀριστοδήμου τοὺς παῖδας θεῖος ὢν πρὸς μητρός· Αὐτεσίωνος γὰρ θυγατέρα Ἀριστόδημος ἔγημεν ὄνομα Ἀργείαν.
When the Dorians permitted Temenus to hold Argos, Cresphontes asked them for the land of Messenia, since he himself was also older than Aristodemus. Aristodemus, then, happened to be already dead, and Theras the son of Autesion opposed Cresphontes most of all; Theras was by descent a Theban and a fifth-generation descendant of Polynices, the son of Oedipus, but at that time he was guardian of the children of Aristodemus, being their maternal uncle; for Aristodemus had married Argeia, the daughter of Autesion.
Κρεσφόντης δὲ— γενέσθαι γάρ οἱ ἤθελε τὴν Μεσσηνίαν πάντως μοῖραν— Τημένου δεῖται, παρεσκευασμένος δὲ τοῦτον τῷ κλήρῳ δῆθεν ἐφίησι. §4.3.5Τήμενος δὲ ἐς ὑδρίαν, ἐνόντος ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ὕδατος, καθίησι τῶν Ἀριστοδήμου παίδων καὶ Κρεσφόντου τοὺς πάλους ἐπὶ διῃρημένοις, μοῖραν ἀναιρεῖσθαι τῆς χώρας προτέρους ὁποτέρων ἂν πάλος ἀνέλθῃ πρότερον.
But Cresphontes—for he wished by all means that Messenia should become his share—entreated Temenus, and having prepared the matter, he let it go to a lottery in pretense. Temenus, then, cast the lots of the children of Aristodemus and of Cresphontes into a pitcher, which also had water in it, on the agreed terms that whichever of the two lots came up first should choose their share of the country first.
τοὺς μὲν δὴ πάλους γῆς ὁ Τήμενος ἐπεποίητο ἀμφοτέρους, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν Ἀριστοδήμου παισὶ ξηρᾶς ὑπὸ ἡλίου, Κρεσφόντῃ δὲ ὀπτῆς πυρί· ὅ τε δὴ τῶν Ἀριστοδήμου παίδων πάλος κατετέτηκτο καὶ ὁ Κρεσφόντης οὕτω λαχὼν γῆν αἱρεῖται τὴν Μεσσηνίαν.
Temenus had indeed made both lots of clay, but that of the children of Aristodemus of clay dried in the sun, and that of Cresphontes of clay baked in the fire; and so the lot of the children of Aristodemus melted away, and Cresphontes, thus winning the draw, chose the land of Messenia.