§8.1.1Ἀρκάδων δὲ τὰ πρὸς τῆς Ἀργείας Τεγεᾶταί τε ἔχουσι καὶ Μαντινεῖς, νέμονται δὲ οὗτοί τε καὶ τὸ ἄλλο Ἀρκαδικὸν τὸ μεσόγαιον τῆς Πελοποννήσου.
Of the Arcadians, the parts toward Argolis are held by the Tegeans and the Mantineans, and these and the rest of the Arcadian people inhabit the inland region of the Peloponnese.
Κορίνθιοι γὰρ οἰκοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ἰσθμῷ πρῶτοι· Κορινθίοις δὲ τὰ πρὸς θαλάσσης εἰσὶν Ἐπιδαύριοι γείτονες· τὰ δὲ ἐς Ἐπίδαυρον καὶ Τροιζῆνά τε καὶ Ἑρμιόνα ὁ κόλπος ἐστὶν ὁ Ἀργολικὸς καὶ ὅσα ἐπιθαλάσσια τῆς Ἀργείας· ταύτης δὲ ἔχονται τῆς χώρας Λακεδαιμονίων περίοικοι, τούτοις δὲ ὅμορος ἡ Μεσσηνία· καταβαίνει γὰρ μέχρι θαλάσσης ἐς Μοθώνην καὶ Πύλον καὶ ἐπὶ Κυπαρισσιάς.
For the Corinthians dwell first upon the isthmus; and the neighbors to the Corinthians on the side of the sea are the Epidaurians; and facing Epidaurus, Troezen, and Hermione is the Argolic gulf and all the coastal parts of Argolis; and bordering on this land are the periokoi of the Lacedaemonians, and bordering on them is Messenia, for it goes down as far as the sea to Mothone and Pylos and as far as Kyparissiai.
§8.1.2τὰ δὲ πρὸς Λεχαίου Κορινθίοις Σικυώνιοι προσοικοῦσιν ἔσχατοι ταύτῃ μοίρας τῆς Ἀργολίδος· μετὰ δὲ Σικυῶνα Ἀχαιοὶ τὸ ἐντεῦθέν εἰσιν οἱ παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν οἰκοῦντες· τὸ δὲ ἕτερον Πελοποννήσου πέρας τὸ ἀπαντικρὺ τῶν Ἐχινάδων οἰκοῦσιν Ἠλεῖοι· τῆς δὲ γῆς τῆς Ἠλείας κατὰ μὲν Ὀλυμπίαν καὶ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ τὰς ἐκβολὰς πρὸς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν εἰσὶν ὅροι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς Ἀχαΐαν Δυμαίων εἰσὶν ὅμοροι.
Toward Lechaeum, the Sicyonians dwell adjacent to the Corinthians, as the outermost inhabitants of this part of Argolis; and after Sicyon, the next are the Achaeans who dwell along the coast; and the other extremity of the Peloponnese, opposite the Echinades, is inhabited by the Eleans; and of the Elean land, toward Olympia and the mouths of the Alpheius, there are boundaries with Messenia, while toward Achaea they border on the Dymaeans.
§8.1.3τούτων τῶν κατειλεγμένων καθηκόντων ἐπὶ θάλασσαν Ἀρκάδες τὸ ἐντὸς οἰκοῦσιν ἀποκλειόμενοι θαλάσσης πανταχόθεν· ὅθεν σφᾶς καὶ Ὅμηρος ἀφικέσθαι φησὶν ἐς Τροίαν παρʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος πλοῖα εἰληφότας καὶ οὐχὶ ναυσὶν οἰκείαις.
Inside of these listed regions that extend to the sea, the Arcadians dwell, shut off from the sea on all sides; wherefore Homer also says that they arrived at Troy having received ships from Agamemnon and not in their own ships.
§8.1.4φασὶ δὲ Ἀρκάδες ὡς Πελασγὸς γένοιτο ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ πρῶτος.
And the Arcadians say that Pelasgus was the first to be born in this land.
εἰκὸς δὲ ἔχει τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἄλλους ὁμοῦ τῷ Πελασγῷ μηδὲ αὐτὸν Πελασγὸν γενέσθαι μόνον· ποίων γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἦρχεν ὁ Πελασγὸς ἀνθρώπων;
But it is reasonable to hold that other people also were born along with Pelasgus, and that Pelasgus himself was not born alone; for what kind of people would Pelasgus have ruled?
μεγέθει μέντοι καὶ κατὰ ἀλκὴν καὶ κάλλος προεἶχεν ὁ Πελασγὸς καὶ γνώμην ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἄλλους ἦν, καὶ τούτων ἕνεκα αἱρεθῆναί μοι δοκεῖ βασιλεύειν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν.
However, in stature, strength, and beauty Pelasgus excelled, and in judgment he was superior to the others, and for these reasons it seems to me that he was chosen by them to rule.
πεποίηται δὲ καὶ Ἀσίῳ τοιάδε ἐς αὐτόν· "
Ἀντίθεον δὲ Πελασγὸν ἐν ὑψικόμοισιν ὄρεσσι
γαῖα μέλαινʼ ἀνέδωκεν, ἵνα θνητῶν γένος εἴη. " §8.1.5Πελασγὸς δὲ βασιλεύσας τοῦτο μὲν ποιήσασθαι καλύβας ἐπενόησεν, ὡς μὴ ῥιγοῦν τε καὶ ὕεσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μηδὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ καύματος ταλαιπωρεῖν· τοῦτο δὲ τοὺς χιτῶνας τοὺς ἐκ τῶν δερμάτων τῶν οἰῶν, οἷς καὶ νῦν περί τε Εὔβοιαν ἔτι χρῶνται καὶ ἐν τῇ Φωκίδι ὁπόσοι βίου σπανίζουσιν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐξευρών.
And it has also been written by Asius concerning him as follows: "The black earth brought forth godlike Pelasgus on the high-foliaged mountains, that there might be a race of mortals." And Pelasgus, having become king, conceived first the making of huts, so that people would not shiver with cold or be rained upon, nor suffer from the heat; and secondly, it was he who invented the tunics made from sheepskins, which even now they still use around Euboea and in Phocis, as many as are in want of livelihood.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν φύλλων τὰ ἔτι χλωρὰ καὶ πόας τε καὶ ῥίζας οὐδὲ ἐδωδίμους, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀλεθρίους ἐνίας σιτουμένους τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τούτων μὲν ἔπαυσεν ὁ Πελασγός· §8.1.6ὁ δὲ τὸν καρπὸν τῶν δρυῶν οὔτι που πασῶν, ἀλλὰ τὰς βαλάνους τῆς φηγοῦ τροφὴν ἐξεῦρεν εἶναι.
And indeed, Pelasgus put an end to the people eating the still green parts of leaves, grasses, and roots that were not even edible, but some of them deadly; and he discovered the fruit of the oaks, not of all indeed, but the acorns of the phegos, to be food.
παρέμεινέ τε ἐνίοις ἐς τοσοῦτο ἀπὸ Πελασγοῦ τούτου ἡ δίαιτα, ὡς καὶ τὴν Πυθίαν, ἡνίκα Λακεδαιμονίοις γῆς τῆς Ἀρκάδων ἀπηγόρευεν ἅπτεσθαι, καὶ τάδε εἰπεῖν τὰ ἔπη· "
πολλοὶ ἐν Ἀρκαδίῃ βαλανηφάγοι ἄνδρες ἔασιν,
οἵ σʼ ἀποκωλύσουσιν· ἐγὼ δέ τοι οὔ τι μεγαίρω. "
Πελασγοῦ δὲ βασιλεύοντος γενέσθαι καὶ τῇ χώρᾳ Πελασγίαν φασὶν ὄνομα.
And this diet from this Pelasgus remained for some to such an extent that even the Pythia, when she forbade the Lacedaemonians to touch the land of the Arcadians, spoke these verses: "There are many acorn-eating men in Arcadia, who will prevent you; but I do not begrudge you." And they say that when Pelasgus was king, the land also received the name Pelasgia.