§9.38.1Ὀρχομενίοις δὲ πεποίηται καὶ Διονύσου, τὸ δὲ ἀρχαιότατον Χαρίτων ἐστὶν ἱερόν.
For the Orchomenians there is also built a sanctuary of Dionysus, but the oldest is the sanctuary of the Graces.
τὰς μὲν δὴ πέτρας σέβουσί τε μάλιστα καὶ τῷ Ἐτεοκλεῖ αὐτὰς πεσεῖν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ φασιν·
They especially worship the stones, and they say that they fell from heaven for Eteocles.
τὰ δὲ ἀγάλματα τὰ σὺν κόσμῳ πεποιημένα ἀνετέθη μὲν ἐπʼ ἐμοῦ, λίθου δέ ἐστι καὶ ταῦτα.
The statues made with artistic adornment were dedicated in my time, and these too are of stone.
§9.38.2ἔστι δέ σφισι καὶ κρήνη θέας ἀξία· καταβαίνουσι δὲ ἐς αὐτὴν ὕδωρ οἴσοντες.
They also have a spring well worth seeing; they go down to it to fetch water.
θησαυρὸς δὲ ὁ Μινύου, θαῦμα ὂν τῶν ἐν Ἑλλάδι αὐτῇ καὶ τῶν ἑτέρωθι οὐδενὸς ὕστερον, πεποίηται τρόπον τοιόνδε· λίθου μὲν εἴργασται, σχῆμα δὲ περιφερές ἐστιν αὐτῷ, κορυφὴ δὲ οὐκ ἐς ἄγαν ὀξὺ ἀνηγμένη· τὸν δὲ ἀνωτάτω τῶν λίθων φασὶν ἁρμονίαν παντὶ εἶναι τῷ οἰκοδομήματι.
The treasury of Minyas, a wonder second to none of those in Greece itself or elsewhere, is built in the following manner: it is made of stone, its shape is circular, and its top does not rise to a very sharp point; they say that the topmost of the stones acts as a keystone for the whole building.
§9.38.3τάφοι δὲ Μινύου τε καὶ Ἡσιόδου· καταδέξασθαι δέ φασιν οὕτω τοῦ Ἡσιόδου τὰ ὀστᾶ.
There are also the tombs of Minyas and Hesiod; and they say that they received the bones of Hesiod in this way.
νόσου καταλαμβανούσης λοιμώδους καὶ ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰ βοσκήματα ἀποστέλλουσι θεωροὺς παρὰ τὸν θεόν·
When a pestilence seized both men and cattle, they sent messengers to consult the god.
τούτοις δὲ ἀποκρίνασθαι λέγουσι τὴν Πυθίαν, Ἡσιόδου τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐκ τῆς Ναυπακτίας ἀγαγοῦσιν ἐς τὴν Ὀρχομενίαν, ἄλλο δὲ εἶναί σφισιν οὐδὲν ἴαμα.
And they say the Pythia answered them that if they brought the bones of Hesiod from the territory of Naupactus to the territory of Orchomenus, there would be no other remedy for them.
τότε δὲ ἐπερέσθαι δεύτερα, ὅπου τῆς Ναυπακτίας αὐτὰ ἐξευρήσουσι· καὶ αὖθις τὴν Πυθίαν εἰπεῖν ὡς μηνύσοι κορώνη σφίσιν.
Then they asked a second time where in the territory of Naupactus they should find them; and the Pythia said again that a crow would show them.
§9.38.4οὕτω τοῖς θεοπρόποις ἀποβᾶσιν ἐς τὴν γῆν πέτραν τε οὐ πόρρω τῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ τὴν ὄρνιθα ἐπὶ τῇ πέτρᾳ φασὶν ὀφθῆναι· καὶ τοῦ Ἡσιόδου δὲ τὰ ὀστᾶ εὗρον ἐν χηραμῷ τῆς πέτρας.
So when the messengers landed on the territory, they say that a rock not far from the road and the bird upon the rock were seen; and they found the bones of Hesiod in a cleft of the rock.
καὶ ἐλεγεῖα ἐπὶ τῷ μνήματι ἐπεγέγραπτο· "
Ἄσκρη μὲν πατρὶς πολυλήιος, ἀλλὰ θανόντος
ὀστέα πληξίππων γῆ Μινυῶν κατέχει
Ἡσιόδου, τοῦ πλεῖστον ἐν Ἑλλάδι κῦδος ὀρεῖται
ἀνδρῶν κρινομένων ἐν βασάνῳ σοφίης. "
And elegiac verses were inscribed on the tomb: "Ascra indeed was his wheat-rich fatherland, but when he died, the land of the horse-driving Minyans holds the bones of Hesiod, whose glory is raised highest in Greece, when men are judged in the trial of wisdom.
§9.38.5περὶ δὲ Ἀκταίωνος λεγόμενα ἦν Ὀρχομενίοις λυμαίνεσθαι τὴν γῆν πέτρας ἔχον εἴδωλον·
"Concerning Actaeon, there was a story among the Orchomenians that a phantom of stone was ravaging their land.
ὡς δὲ ἐχρῶντο ἐν Δελφοῖς, κελεύει σφίσιν ὁ θεὸς ἀνευρόντας εἴ τι ἦν Ἀκταίωνος λοιπὸν κρύψαι γῇ, κελεύει δὲ καὶ τοῦ εἰδώλου χαλκῆν ποιησαμένους εἰκόνα πρὸς πέτρᾳ σιδήρῳ δῆσαι.
When they consulted the oracle at Delphi, the god commanded them to find whatever was left of Actaeon and bury it in the earth, and he also commanded them to make a bronze image of the phantom and bind it with iron to a rock.
τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς δεδεμένον τὸ ἄγαλμα εἶδον· καὶ τῷ Ἀκταίωνι ἐναγίζουσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος.
I myself saw this statue bound, and they offer sacrifices to Actaeon every year.
§9.38.6σταδίους δὲ ἀφέστηκεν ἑπτὰ Ὀρχομενοῦ ναός τε Ἡρακλέους καὶ ἄγαλμα οὐ μέγα.
Seven stades away from Orchomenus is a temple of Heracles with a statue of no great size.
ἐνταῦθα τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Μέλανός εἰσιν αἱ πηγαί, καὶ ὁ Μέλας ἐς λίμνην καὶ οὗτος τὴν Κηφισίδα ἐκδίδωσιν.
Here are the springs of the river Melas, and this Melas also empties into the Cephisian lake.
ἐπέχει μὲν δὴ καὶ ἄλλως τῆς Ὀρχομενίας τὸ πολὺ ἡ λίμνη, χειμῶνος δὲ ὥρᾳ νότου τὰ πλείω πνεύσαντος ἔπεισιν ἐπὶ πλέον τῆς χώρας τὸ ὕδωρ.
Indeed, even otherwise the lake occupies the greater part of the Orchomenian territory, and in winter, when the south wind blows most, the water spreads over more of the country.
§9.38.7Θηβαῖοι δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Κηφισόν φασιν ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους ἐς τὸ πεδίον ἀποστραφῆναι τὸ Ὀρχομένιον· τέως δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος ἐς θάλασσαν ἐξιέναι, πρὶν ἢ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τὸ χάσμα ἐμφράξαι τὸ διὰ τοῦ ὄρους.
The Thebans say that the river Cephisus was diverted by Heracles into the Orchomenian plain; whereas until then it had run under the mountain and exited into the sea, before Heracles blocked up the chasm through the mountain.
ἐπίσταται μὲν οὖν καὶ Ὅμηρος λίμνην ἄλλως τὴν Κηφισίδα οὖσαν καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους πεποιημένην, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε εἴρηκε
"
λίμνῃ κεκλιμένος Κηφισίδι· "
Now Homer also knows that the Cephisian lake existed anyway and was not made by Heracles, and in reference to this he said: "leaning against the Cephisian lake...
§9.38.8ἔχει δὲ οὐδὲ εἰκότα λόγον τοὺς Ὀρχομενίους μὴ καὶ τὸ χάσμα ἐξευρεῖν καὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἀναρρήξαντας τὸ ἔργον ἀποδοῦναι τὴν διέξοδον τῷ Κηφισῷ τὴν ἀρχαίαν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ἄχρι τῶν Τρωικῶν χρήμασιν ἀδυνάτως εἶχον.
"And it is not even reasonable that the Orchomenians did not find the chasm and, having broken through the work of Heracles, restore the ancient passage to the Cephisus, since even up to the Trojan war they were by no means lacking in wealth.
μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ Ὄμηρος ἐν Ἀχιλλέως ἀποκρίσει πρὸς τοὺς παρὰ Ἀγαμέμνονος πρέσβεις·
And Homer also testifies to my view in Achilles' answer to the embassy from Agamemnon: "not even all that flows into Orchomenus...
"
οὐδʼ ὅσʼ ἐς Ὀρχομενὸν ποτινίσσεται,
"
δῆλα δήπουθεν ὡς καὶ τότε προσιόντων τοῖς Ὀρχομενίοις χρημάτων πολλῶν.
"making it clear, of course, that even then great wealth was coming in to the Orchomenians.
§9.38.9Ἀσπληδόνα δὲ ἐκλιπεῖν τοὺς οἰκήτοράς φασιν ὕδατος σπανίζοντος· γενέσθαι δὲ τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ Ἀσπληδόνος τῇ πόλει, τοῦτον δὲ εἶναι νύμφης τε Μιδείας καὶ Ποσειδῶνος.
They say that the inhabitants abandoned Aspledon because of a scarcity of water; and that the city got its name from Aspledon, who was the son of the nymph Mideia and Poseidon.
ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ ἔπη σφίσιν ἃ ἐποίησε Χερσίας, ἀνὴρ Ὀρχομένιος· "
ἐκ δὲ Ποσειδάωνος ἀγακλειτῆς τε Μιδείης
Ἀσπληδὼν γένεθʼ υἱὸς ἀνʼ εὐρύχορον πτολίεθρον. "
And the verses which Chersias, a man of Orchomenus, composed agree with them: "And from Poseidon and famous Mideia was born Aspledon, a son in the spacious city.
§9.38.10τοῦδε τοῦ Χερσίου τῶν ἐπῶν οὐδεμία ἦν ἔτι κατʼ ἐμὲ μνήμη, ἀλλὰ καὶ τάδε ἐπηγάγετο ὁ Κάλλιππος ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τὸν ἔχοντα ἐς Ὀρχομενίους· τούτου δὲ τοῦ Χερσίου καὶ ἐπίγραμμα οἱ Ὀρχομένιοι τὸ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἡσιόδου τάφῳ μνημονεύουσιν.
"Of the poetry of this Chersias no memory remained in my time, but Callippus also introduced these verses into his treatise on the Orchomenians; and the Orchomenians also attribute the epitaph on the tomb of Hesiod to this Chersias.