§4.36.1ἔστι δὲ ἐκ Μοθώνης ὁδὸς σταδίων μάλιστα ἑκατὸν ἐπὶ τὴν ἄκραν τὸ Κορυφάσιον· ἐπʼ αὐτῇ δὲ ἡ Πύλος κεῖται.
From Mothone there is a road of about one hundred stades to the promontory of Coryphasium; upon it lies Pylos.
ταύτην ᾤκισε Πύλος ὁ Κλήσωνος ἀγαγὼν ἐκ τῆς Μεγαρίδος τοὺς ἔχοντας τότε αὐτὴν Λέλεγας· καὶ τῆς μὲν οὐκ ὤνατο ὑπὸ Νηλέως καὶ τῶν ἐξ Ἰωλκοῦ Πελασγῶν ἐκβληθείς, ἀποχωρήσας δὲ ἐς τὴν ὅμορον ἔσχεν ἐνταῦθα Πύλον τὴν ἐν τῇ Ἠλείᾳ.
This was founded by Pylos, the son of Cleson, who brought from Megaris the Leleges who then occupied it; and he did not enjoy it, being expelled by Neleus and the Pelasgians from Iolcus, but having withdrawn to the bordering land, he occupied there the Pylos in Elis.
Νηλεὺς δὲ βασιλεύσας ἐς τοσοῦτο προήγαγεν ἀξιώματος τὴν Πύλον ὡς καὶ Ὅμηρον ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν ἄστυ ἐπονομάσαι Νηλήιον.
Neleus, having become king, advanced Pylos to such a high degree of reputation that even Homer in his epic poetry called it the Neleian city.
§4.36.2ἐνταῦθα ἱερόν ἐστιν Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπίκλησιν Κορυφασίας καὶ οἶκος καλούμενος Νέστορος· ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ Νέστωρ γέγραπται·
There is there a temple of Athena surnamed Coryphasia, and a house called that of Nestor; in it Nestor himself is also painted.
καὶ μνῆμα ἐντὸς τῆς πόλεώς ἐστιν αὐτῷ, τὸ δὲ ὀλίγον ἀπωτέρω τῆς Πύλου Θρασυμήδους φασὶν εἶναι.
There is also his tomb within the city, but the one a little further from Pylos they say belongs to Thrasymedes.
καὶ σπήλαιόν ἐστιν ἐντὸς τῆς πόλεως· βοῦς δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὰς Νέστορος καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Νηλέως φασὶν αὐλίζεσθαι.
There is also a cave within the city; and they say that the cattle of Nestor, and even before him of Neleus, used to stable there.
§4.36.3εἴη δʼ ἂν Θεσσαλικὸν τὸ γένος τῶν βοῶν τούτων, Ἰφίκλου ποτὲ τοῦ Πρωτεσιλάου πατρός· ταύτας γὰρ δὴ τὰς βοῦς Νηλεὺς ἕδνα ἐπὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ ᾔτει τοὺς μνωμένους, καὶ τούτων ἕνεκα ὁ Μελάμπους χαριζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ Βίαντι ἀφίκετο ἐς τὴν Θεσσαλίαν, καὶ ἐδέθη μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν βουκόλων τοῦ Ἰφίκλου, λαμβάνει δὲ μισθὸν ἐφʼ οἷς αὐτῷ δεηθέντι ἐμαντεύσατο.
This breed of cattle would be Thessalian, once belonging to Iphiclus, the father of Protesilaus; for indeed Neleus demanded these cattle as bride-gifts for his daughter from her suitors, and on account of them Melampus, wishing to gratify his brother Bias, went to Thessaly, and was bound by the herdsmen of Iphiclus, but received them as a reward for the prophecies he made when requested by him.
ἐσπουδάκεσαν δὲ ἄρα οἱ τότε πλοῦτόν τινα συλλέγεσθαι τοιοῦτον, ἵππων καὶ βοῶν ἀγέλας, εἰ δὴ Νηλεύς τε γενέσθαι οἱ βοῦς ἐπεθύμησε τὰς Ἰφίκλου καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ κατὰ δόξαν τῶν ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ βοῶν προσέταξεν Εὐρυσθεὺς ἐλάσαι τῶν Γηρυόνου βοῶν τὴν ἀγέλην.
It seems indeed that the men of those days were eager to amass such wealth as herds of horses and cattle, if indeed Neleus desired that the cattle of Iphiclus should become his, and Eurystheus, because of the fame of the cattle in Iberia, ordered Heracles to drive the herd of Geryon's cattle.
§4.36.4φαίνεται δὲ καὶ Ἔρυξ τότε ἐν Σικελίᾳ δυναστεύων δριμὺν οὕτως ἔχων ἐς τὰς βοῦς τὰς ἐξ Ἐρυθείας ἔρωτα, ὥστε καὶ ἐπάλαισε πρὸς τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἆθλα ἐπὶ τῇ πάλῃ καταθέμενος τάς τε βοῦς ταύτας καὶ ἀρχὴν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ.
And Eryx too, who was then ruling in Sicily, appears to have had such a sharp passion for the cattle from Erytheia that he even wrestled with Heracles, staking as prizes for the wrestling both these cattle and his own dominion.
πεποίηκε δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ἰλιάδι, ὡς Ἰφιδάμας ὁ Ἀντήνορος τὰ πρῶτα τῶν ἕδνων ἑκατὸν βοῦς τῷ πενθερῷ δοίη.
And Homer also has represented in the Iliad how Iphidamas, the son of Antenor, gave a hundred cattle to his father-in-law as the first of his bride-gifts.
ταῦτα μὲν τὸν λόγον μοι βεβαιοῖ, βουσὶ τοὺς τότε χαίρειν μάλιστα ἀνθρώπους·
These things confirm my argument that the men of that time took the greatest delight in cattle.
§4.36.5ἐνέμοντο δὲ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν αἱ τοῦ Νηλέως βοῦς ἐν τῇ ὑπερορίᾳ τὰ πολλά· ὑπόψαμμός τε γάρ ἐστιν ὡς ἐπίπαν ἡ τῶν Πυλίων χώρα καὶ πόαν βουσὶν οὐχ ἱκανὴ τοσαύτην παρασχέσθαι.
But the cattle of Neleus, in my opinion, were pastured for the most part across the border; for the country of the Pylians is generally rather sandy, and is not capable of providing so much grass for cattle.
μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν μνήμῃ Νέστορος ἐπιλέγων ἀεὶ βασιλέα αὐτὸν ἠμαθόεντος εἶναι Πύλου.
Homer also bears witness to me, always adding in his mention of Nestor that he was the king of sandy Pylos.
§4.36.6τοῦ λιμένος δὲ ἡ Σφακτηρία νῆσος προβέβληται, καθάπερ τοῦ ὅρμου τοῦ Δηλίων ἡ Ῥήνεια· ἐοίκασι δὲ αἱ ἀνθρώπειαι τύχαι καὶ χωρία τέως ἄγνωστα ἐς δόξαν προῆχθαι.
In front of the harbor lies the island of Sphacteria, just as Rheneia lies in front of the anchorage of the Delians; and human fortunes seem to have brought even places hitherto unknown into fame.
Καφηρέως τε γάρ ἐστιν ὄνομα τοῦ ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ τοῖς σὺν Ἀγαμέμνονι Ἕλλησιν ἐπιγενομένου χειμῶνος ἐνταῦθα, ὡς ἐκομίζοντο ἐξ Ἰλίου· Ψυττάλειάν τε τὴν ἐπὶ Σαλαμῖνι ἴσμεν ἀπολομένων ἐν αὐτῇ τῶν Μήδων.
For Caphareus is famous because of the storm that came upon the Greeks under Agamemnon there as they were returning from Ilium; and we know of Psyttalea off Salamis because of the destruction of the Medes upon it.
ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὴν Σφακτηρίαν τὸ ἀτύχημα τὸ Λακεδαιμονίων γνώριμον τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐποίησεν· Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ καὶ Νίκης ἀνέθηκαν ἄγαλμα ἐν ἀκροπόλει χαλκοῦν ἐς μνήμην τῶν ἐν τῇ Σφακτηρίᾳ.
In the same way, the disaster of the Lacedaemonians made Sphacteria known to all; and the Athenians dedicated a bronze statue of Victory on the Acropolis in memory of the events in Sphacteria.
§4.36.7ἀφικομένων δὲ ἐς Κυπαρισσιὰς ἐκ Πύλου σφίσι πηγὴ ὑπὸ τῇ πόλει πλησίον θαλάσσης ἐστί· ῥυῆναι δὲ Διονύσῳ τὸ ὕδωρ λέγουσι θύρσῳ πλήξαντι ἐς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ Διονυσιάδα ὀνομάζουσι τὴν πηγήν.
When they have arrived at Cyparissiae from Pylos, there is for them a spring below the city, near the sea; they say that the water flowed for Dionysus when he struck the ground with his thyrsus, and because of this they name the spring Dionysias.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐν Κυπαρισσιαῖς ἱερὸν καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπίκλησιν Κυπαρισσίας.
There is also a temple of Apollo in Cyparissiae, and of Athena surnamed Cyparissia.
ἐν δὲ Αὐλῶνι καλουμένῳ ναὸς Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν Αὐλωνίου· κατὰ τοῦτο ὁ ποταμὸς ἡ Νέδα μεταξὺ τῆς τε Μεσσηνίας ἤδη καὶ τῆς Ἠλείας διέξεισιν.
And in the place called Aulon there is a temple of Asclepius and a statue of Aulonius; near this the river Neda, which is already the boundary between Messenia and Elis, flows through.