§4.33.1ἐς δὲ τὴν κορυφὴν ἐρχομένῳ τῆς Ἰθώμης, ἣ δὴ Μεσσηνίοις ἐστὶν ἀκρόπολις, πηγὴ Κλεψύδρα γίνεται.
To one going to the summit of Ithome, which is indeed the acropolis for the Messenians, there is a spring called Clepsydra.
πάντας μὲν οὖν καταριθμήσασθαι καὶ προθυμηθέντι ἄπορον, ὁπόσοι θέλουσι γενέσθαι καὶ τραφῆναι παρὰ σφίσι Δία· μέτεστι δʼ οὖν καὶ Μεσσηνίοις τοῦ λόγου·
Now, to count all those who wish Zeus to have been born and reared among them is impossible, even for one who is eager; however, the Messenians also share in this claim.
φασὶ γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι τραφῆναι παρὰ σφίσι τὸν θεόν, Ἰθώμην δὲ εἶναι καὶ Νέδαν τὰς θρεψαμένας, κεκλῆσθαι δὲ ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Νέδας τὸν ποταμόν, τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν τῷ ὄρει τὴν Ἰθώμην δεδωκέναι τὸ ὄνομα.
For these too say that the god was reared among them, and that Ithome and Neda were his nurses, and that the river was named after Neda, while the other nymph gave her name to the mountain, Ithome.
ταύτας δὲ τὰς νύμφας τὸν Δία, κλαπέντα ὑπὸ Κουρήτων διὰ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς δεῖμα, ἐνταῦθα λοῦσαι λέγουσι καὶ τὸ ὄνομα εἶναι τῷ ὕδατι ἀπὸ τῶν Κουρήτων τῆς κλοπῆς· φέρουσί τε ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τῆς πηγῆς ἐς τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ἰθωμάτα τὸ ἱερόν.
They say that these nymphs washed Zeus here, after he was stolen by the Curetes because of the dread of his father, and that the name of the water comes from the theft of the Curetes; and they carry water every day from the spring to the sanctuary of Zeus Ithomatas.
§4.33.2τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Διὸς Ἀγελάδα μέν ἐστιν ἔργον, ἐποιήθη δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῖς οἰκήσασιν ἐν Ναυπάκτῳ Μεσσηνίων· ἱερεὺς δὲ αἱρετὸς κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον ἔχει τὸ ἄγαλμα ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας.
The statue of Zeus is the work of Ageladas, and it was originally made for the Messenians who settled in Naupactus; and a priest, elected annually, keeps the statue in his house.
ἄγουσι δὲ καὶ ἑορτὴν ἐπέτειον Ἰθωμαῖα, τὸ δὲ ἀρχαῖον καὶ ἀγῶνα ἐτίθεσαν μουσικῆς· τεκμαίρεσθαι δʼ ἔστιν ἄλλοις τε καὶ Εὐμήλου τοῖς ἔπεσιν, ἐποίησε γοῦν καὶ τάδε ἐν τῷ προσοδίῳ τῷ ἐς Δῆλον· "
τῷ γὰρ Ἰθωμάτα καταθύμιος ἔπλετο μοῖσα
ἁ καθαρὰν κιθάραν καὶ ἐλεύθερα σάμβαλʼ ἔχοισα.
They also celebrate an annual festival called Ithomaea, and in ancient times they also held a musical contest; this can be inferred from, among other things, the verses of Eumelus, who indeed wrote these lines in his processional song to Delos: ' For to Ithomatas the Muse was pleasing, she who has the pure lyre and free sandals.
"
οὐκοῦν ποιῆσαί μοι δοκεῖ τὰ ἔπη καὶ μουσικῆς ἀγῶνα ἐπιστάμενος τιθέντας.
' Therefore, it seems to me that he composed these verses knowing that they held a musical contest.
§4.33.3ἰόντι δὲ τὴν ἐπʼ Ἀρκαδίας ἐς Μεγάλην πόλιν ἐστὶν ἐν ταῖς πύλαις Ἑρμῆς τέχνης τῆς Ἀττικῆς· Ἀθηναίων γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα τὸ τετράγωνόν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῖς Ἑρμαῖς, καὶ παρὰ τούτων μεμαθήκασιν οἱ ἄλλοι.
To one going along the road to Arcadia toward Megalopolis, there is at the gates a Hermes of Attic workmanship; for the square shape of the Herms belongs to the Athenians, and from them the others have learned it.
σταδίους δὲ καταβάντι ἀπὸ τῶν πυλῶν τριάκοντα τὸ ῥεῦμά ἐστι τῆς Βαλύρας.
To one who has gone down thirty stades from the gates, there is the stream of Balyra.
γενέσθαι δὲ τὸ ὄνομα τῷ ποταμῷ λέγουσι Θαμύριδος τὴν λύραν ἐνταῦθα ἀποβαλόντος ἐπὶ τῇ πηρώσει· παῖδα δὲ αὐτὸν Φιλάμμωνος καὶ Ἀργιόπης τῆς νύμφης εἶναι.
They say that the river got its name because Thamyris threw away his lyre there upon his blinding; and they say that he was the son of Philammon and the nymph Argiope.
τὴν δὲ Ἀργιόπην τέως μὲν περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν οἰκεῖν, ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶχεν ἐν γαστρί, ἐς Ὀδρύσας λέγουσι μετοικῆσαι· Φιλάμμωνα γὰρ οὐκ ἐθέλειν ἐς τὸν οἶκον αὐτὴν ἄγεσθαι.
They say that Argiope lived for a time around Parnassus, but when she was pregnant, she migrated to the Odrysae, because Philammon was unwilling to bring her into his house.
καὶ Θάμυριν μὲν Ὀδρύσην τε καὶ Θρᾷκα ἐπὶ τούτῳ καλοῦσιν· ἡ δὲ Λευκασία καὶ Ἄμφιτος συμβάλλουσιν ἐς τὸ αὐτὸ τὰ ῥεύματα.
For this reason, they call Thamyris both an Odrysian and a Thracian; and the Leucasia and the Amphitus join their streams in the same place.
§4.33.4διαβάντι δὲ τούτους πεδίον ἐστὶν ὀνομαζόμενον Στενυκληρικόν· εἶναι δὲ ἥρωα Στενύκληρον λέγουσι.
To one who has crossed these rivers, there is a plain called Stenyclerian; and they say there was a hero Stenyclerus.
τοῦ πεδίου δέ ἐστιν ἀπαντικρὺ καλουμένη τὸ ἀρχαῖον Οἰχαλία, τὸ δὲ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν Καρνάσιον ἄλσος, κυπαρίσσων μάλιστα πλῆρες.
Opposite the plain is what was called in ancient times Oechalia, but in our day the Carnasian grove, especially full of cypresses.
θεῶν δὲ ἀγάλματα Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστι Καρνείου καὶ Ἁγνῆς καὶ Ἑρμῆς φέρων κριόν.
There are statues of the gods, namely of Apollo Carneius, Hagne, and Hermes carrying a ram.
ἡ δὲ Ἁγνὴ Κόρης τῆς Δήμητρός ἐστιν ἐπίκλησις· ὕδωρ δὲ ἄνεισιν ἐκ πηγῆς παρʼ αὐτὸ τὸ ἄγαλμα.
Hagne is an epithet of Core, the daughter of Demeter; and water rises from a spring right beside the statue.
§4.33.5τὰ δὲ ἐς τὰς θεὰς τὰς Μεγάλας—δρῶσι γὰρ καὶ ταύταις ἐν Καρνασίῳ τὴν τελετήν—ἀπόρρητα ἔστω μοι· δεύτερα γάρ σφισι νέμω σεμνότητος μετά γε Ἐλευσίνια.
Let the matters concerning the Great Goddesses—for they perform the mystery rite for them also in the Carnasian grove—be kept secret by me; for I assign to them the second place in holiness, next to the Eleusinian mysteries.
ὅτι δʼ ὑδρία τε ἡ χαλκῆ, τὸ εὕρημα τοῦ Ἀργείου στρατηγοῦ, καὶ Εὐρύτου τοῦ Μελανέως τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐφυλάσσετο ἐνταῦθα, δηλῶσαί με καὶ ἐς ἅπαντας οὐκ ἀπεῖργε τὸ ὄνειρον.
But that the bronze urn, the discovery of the Argive general, and the bones of Eurytus, the son of Melaneus, were guarded here, my dream did not prevent me from revealing to everyone.
ῥεῖ δὲ ποταμὸς παρὰ τὸ Καρνάσιον Χάραδρος, καὶ προελθόντι ἐν ἀριστερᾷ σταδίους ὀκτὼ §4.33.6μάλιστα ἐρείπιά ἐστιν Ἀνδανίας.
A river called Charadros flows beside the Carnasian grove, and to one who has gone forward eight stades on the left, are mostly the ruins of Andania.
καὶ ὅτι μὲν τῇ πόλει τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ γυναικὸς γέγονεν Ἀνδανίας, ὁμολογεῖται ὑπὸ τῶν ἐξηγητῶν· οὐ μὴν τά γε ἐς τοὺς γονέας αὐτῆς οὐδὲ τῷ συνῴκησεν ἔχω λέγειν.
And that the city got its name from a woman, Andania, is agreed upon by the guides; yet I cannot speak of her parents or whom she lived with.
ἰόντων δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ Κυπαρισσιὰς ἀπὸ Ἀνδανίας Πολίχνη τέ ἐστι καλουμένη καὶ ποταμὸς Ἠλέκτρα καὶ Κοῖος ῥέουσι· τάχα δʼ ἄν τινα καὶ λόγον ἐς Ἠλέκτραν τὴν Ἄτλαντος λέγοιεν καὶ ἐς Κοῖον τὸν Λητοῦς πατέρα, ἢ καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἡρώων εἶεν Ἠλέκτρα τε καὶ Κοῖος.
To those going from Andania as if toward Cyparissiae, there is what is called Polichne, and the rivers Electra and Coeus flow there; perhaps they might tell some story about Electra, the daughter of Atlas, and Coeus, the father of Leto, or perhaps Electra and Coeus were among the local heroes.
§4.33.7διαβάντων δὲ Ἠλέκτραν Ἀχαΐα τε ὀνομαζομένη πηγὴ καὶ πόλεώς ἐστιν ἐρείπια Δωρίου.
To those who have crossed the Electra, there is a spring named Achaia and the ruins of the city Dorium.
πεποίηκε δὲ Ὅμηρος μὲν Θαμύριδι ἐνταῦθα ἐν τῷ Δωρίῳ γενέσθαι τὴν συμφοράν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὰς Μούσας νικήσειν ἔφασκεν ᾀδούσας· Πρόδικος δὲ Φωκαεὺς—εἰ δὴ τούτου τὰ ἐς τὴν Μινυάδα ἔπη—προσκεῖσθαί φησι Θαμύριδι ἐν Ἅιδου δίκην τοῦ ἐς τὰς Μούσας αὐχήματος.
Homer indeed has represented that the misfortune of Thamyris happened here at Dorium, because he asserted that he would conquer even the Muses themselves in singing; but Prodicus of Phocaea—if indeed the verses concerning the Minyad belong to him—says that punishment was laid upon Thamyris in Hades for his boasting against the Muses.
διεφθάρη δὲ ὁ Θάμυρις ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ὑπὸ νόσου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ συνέπεσεν ὕστερον· ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν καὶ ἐς ἅπαν διετέλει ποιῶν, οὐ γάρ τι εἶκε τῇ συμφορᾷ, Θάμυρις δὲ καὶ τὴν ᾠδὴν ὑπὸ κακοῦ τοῦ παρόντος ἐξέλιπεν.
But Thamyris, in my opinion, was ruined in his eyes by a disease, and the same thing also happened to Homer later; but the latter indeed continued composing to the very end, for he did not yield to his misfortune, while Thamyris abandoned even his song because of the affliction present upon him.