by Pausanias
[36.1] XXXVI. Proceeding about seven stades along the straight road to Mases, you reach, on turning to the left, a road to Halice. At the present day Halice is deserted, but once it, too, had inhabitants, and there is mention made of citizens of Halice on the Epidaurian slabs on which are inscribed the cures of Asclepius. I know, however, no other authentic document in which mention is made either of the city Halice or of its citizens. Well, to this city also there is a road, which lies midway between Pron and another mountain, called in old days Thornax; but they say that the name was changed because, according to legend, it was here that the transformation of Zeus into a cuckoo took place.
[2] ἱερὰ δὲ καὶ ἐς τόδε ἐπὶ ἄκρων τῶν ὀρῶν, ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ Κοκκυγίῳ Διός, ἐν δὲ τῷ Πρωνί ἐστιν Ἥρας: καὶ τοῦ γε Κοκκυγίου πρὸς τοῖς πέρασι ναός ἐστι, θύραι δὲ οὐκ ἐφεστήκασιν οὐδὲ ὄροφον εἶχεν οὐδέ οἵ τι ἐνῆν ἄγαλμα: εἶναι δὲ ἐλέγετο ὁ ναὸς Ἀπόλλωνος. παρὰ δὲ αὐτὸν ὁδός ἐστιν ἐπὶ Μάσητα τοῖς ἐκτραπεῖσιν ἐκ τῆς εὐθείας. Μάσητι δὲ οὔσῃ πόλει τὸ ἀρχαῖον, καθὰ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ἀργείων καταλόγῳ πεποίηκεν, ἐπινείῳ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἐχρῶντο Ἑρμιονεῖς.
[36.2] Even to the present day there are sanctuaries on the tops of the mountains: on Mount Cuckoo one of Zeus, on Pron one of Hera. At the foot of Mount Cuckoo is a temple, but there are no doors standing, and I found it without a roof or an image inside. The temple was said to be Apollo’s. by the side of it runs a road to Mases for those who have turned aside from the straight road. Mases was in old days a city, even as Homer represents it in the catalogue of the Argives, but in my time the Hermionians were using it as a seaport.
NEAR MASES
[3] ἀπὸ Μάσητος δὲ ὁδὸς ἐν δεξιᾷ ἐστιν ἐπὶ ἄκραν καλουμένην Στρουθοῦντα. στάδιοι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἄκρας ταύτης κατὰ τῶν ὀρῶν τὰς κορυφὰς πεντήκοντά εἰσι καὶ διακόσιοι ἐς Φιλανόριόν τε καλούμενον καὶ ἐπὶ Βολεούς: οἱ δὲ Βολεοὶ οὗτοι λίθων εἰσὶ σωροὶ λογάδων. χωρίον δὲ ἕτερον, ὃ Διδύμους ὀνομάζουσι, στάδια εἴκοσιν αὐτόθεν ἀφέστηκεν: ἐνταῦθα ἔστι μὲν ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος, ἔστι δὲ Ποσειδῶνος, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῖς Δήμητρος, ἀγάλματα δὲ ὀρθὰ λίθου λευκοῦ.
[36.3] From Mases there is a road on the right to a headland called Struthus (Sparrow Peak). From this headland by way of the summits of the mountains the distance to the place called Philanorium and to the Boleoi is two hundred and fifty stades. These Boleoi are heaps of unhewn stones. Another place, called Twins, is twenty stades distant from here. There is here a sanctuary of Apollo, a sanctuary of Poseidon, and in addition one of Demeter. The images are of white marble, and are upright.
ASINE
[4] τὸ δὲ ἐντεῦθέν ἐστιν Ἀργείων ἥ ποτε Ἀσιναία καλουμένη, καὶ Ἀσίνης ἐστὶν ἐρείπια ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ. Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως Νικάνδρου τοῦ Χαρίλλου τοῦ Πολυδέκτου τοῦ Εὐνόμου τοῦ Πρυτάνιδος τοῦ Εὐρυπῶντος ἐς τὴν Ἀργολίδα ἐσβαλόντων στρατιᾷ συνεσέβαλόν σφισιν οἱ Ἀσιναῖοι, καὶ ἐδῄωσαν σὺν ἐκείνοις τῶν Ἀργείων τὴν γῆν. ὡς δὲ ὁ στόλος τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀπῆλθεν οἴκαδε, στρατεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀσίνην οἱ Ἀργεῖοι καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῶν Ἔρατος.
[36.4] Next comes a district, belonging to the Argives, that once was called Asinaea, and by the sea are ruins of Asine. When the Lacedaemonians and their king Nicander, son of Charillus, son of Polydectes, son of Eunomus, son of Prytanis, son of Eurypon, invaded Argolis with an army, the Asinaeans joined in the invasion, and with them ravaged the land of the Argives. When the Lacedaemonian expedition departed home, the Argives under their king Eratus attacked Asine.
[5] καὶ χρόνον μέν τινα ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους ἠμύναντο οἱ Ἀσιναῖοι καὶ ἀποκτείνουσιν ἄλλους τε καὶ Λυσίστρατον ἐν τοῖς δοκιμωτάτοις ὄντα Ἀργείων: ἁλισκομένου δὲ τοῦ τείχους οὗτοι μὲν γυναῖκας ἐς τὰ πλοῖα ἐνθέμενοι καὶ παῖδας ἐκλείπουσι τὴν αὑτῶν, Ἀργεῖοι δὲ ἐς ἔδαφος καταβαλόντες τὴν Ἀσίνην καὶ τὴν γῆν προσορισάμενοι τῇ σφετέρᾳ Πυθαέως τε Ἀπόλλωνος ὑπελίποντο τὸ ἱερὸν — καὶ νῦν ἔτι δῆλόν ἐστι — καὶ τὸν Λυσίστρατον πρὸς αὐτῷ θάπτουσιν.
[36.5] For a time the Asinaeans defended themselves from their wall, and killed among others Lysistratus, one of the most notable men of Argos. But when the wall was lost, the citizens put their wives and children on board their vessels and abandoned their own country; the Argives, while levelling Asine to the ground and annexing its territory to their own, left the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus, which is still visible, and by it they buried Lysistratus.
LERNA
[6] ἀπέχει δὲ Ἀργείων τῆς πόλεως τεσσαράκοντα καὶ οὐ πλείω στάδια ἡ κατὰ Λέρναν θάλασσα. κατιόντων δὲ ἐς Λέρναν πρῶτον μὲν καθ᾽ ὁδόν ἐστιν ὁ Ἐρασῖνος, ἐκδίδωσι δὲ ἐς τὸν Φρίξον, ὁ Φρίξος δὲ ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν μεταξὺ Τημενίου καὶ Λέρνης. ἀπὸ δὲ Ἐρασίνου τραπεῖσιν ἐς ἀριστερὰ σταδίους ὅσον ὀκτώ, Διοσκούρων ἱερόν ἐστιν Ἀνάκτων: πεποίηται δέ σφισι κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ πόλει τὰ ξόανα.
[36.6] Distant from Argos forty stades and no more is the sea at Lerna. On the way down to Lerna the first thing on the road is the Erasinus, which empties itself into the Phrixus, and the Phrixus into the sea between Temenium and Lerna. About eight stades to the left from the Erasinus is a sanctuary of the Lords Dioscuri (Sons of Zeus). Their wooden images have been made similar to those in the city.
[7] ἀναστρέψας δὲ ἐς τὴν εὐθεῖαν τόν τε Ἐρασῖνον διαβήσῃ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Χείμαρρον ποταμὸν ἀφίξῃ. πλησίον δὲ αὐτοῦ περίβολός ἐστι λίθων, καὶ τὸν Πλούτωνα ἁρπάσαντα ὡς λέγεται Κόρην τὴν Δήμητρος καταβῆναι ταύτῃ φασὶν ἐς τὴν ὑπόγεων νομιζομένην ἀρχήν. ἡ δὲ Λέρνα ἐστίν, ὡς καὶ τὰ πρότερα ἔχει μοι τοῦ λόγου, πρὸς θαλάσσῃ, καὶ τελετὴν Λερναίᾳ ἄγουσιν ἐνταῦθα Δήμητρι.
[36.7] On returning to the straight road, you will cross the Erasinus and reach the river Cheimarrus (Winter-torrent). Near it is a circuit of stones, and they say that Pluto, after carrying off, according to the story, Core, the daughter of Demeter, descended here to his fabled kingdom underground. Lerna is, I have already stated, by the sea, and here they celebrate mysteries in honor of Lernaean Demeter.
[8] ἔστι δὲ ἄλσος ἱερὸν ἀρχόμενον μὲν ἀπὸ ὄρους ὃ καλοῦσι Ποντῖνον, τὸ δὲ ὄρος ὁ Ποντῖνος οὐκ ἐᾷ τὸ ὕδωρ ἀπορρεῖν τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ ἐς αὑτὸ καταδέχε
ται: ῥεῖ δὲ καὶ ποταμὸς ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ Ποντῖνος. καὶ ἐπὶ κορυφῇ τοῦ ὄρους ἱερόν τε Ἀθηνᾶς Σαΐτιδος, ἐρείπια ἔτι μόνα, καὶ θεμέλια οἰκίας ἐστὶν Ἱππομέδοντος, ὃς Πολυνείκει τῷ Οἰδίποδος τιμωρήσων ἦλθεν ἐς Θήβας.
[36.8] There is a sacred grove beginning on the mountain they call Pontinus. Now Mount Pontinus does not let the rain-water flow away, but absorbs it into itself. From it flows a river, also called Pontinus. Upon the top of the mountain is a sanctuary of Athena Saitis, now merely a ruin; there are also the foundations of a house of Hippomedon, who went to Thebes to redress the wrongs of Polyneices, son of Oedipus.
37. ἀπὸ δὴ τοῦ ὄρους τούτου τὸ ἄλσος ἀρχόμενον πλατάνων τὸ πολὺ ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καθήκει. ὅροι δὲ αὐτοῦ τῇ μὲν ποταμὸς ὁ Ποντῖνος, τῇ δὲ ἕτερος ποταμός: Ἀμυμώνη δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Δαναοῦ θυγατρὸς ὄνομα τῷ ποταμῷ. ἐντὸς δὲ τοῦ ἄλσους ἀγάλματα ἔστι μὲν Δήμητρος Προσύμνης, ἔστι δὲ Διονύσου, καὶ Δήμητρος καθήμενον ἄγαλμα οὐ μέγα:
[37.1] XXXVII. At this mountain begins the grove, which consists chiefly of plane trees, and reaches down to the sea. Its boundaries are, on the one side the river Pantinus, on the other side another river, called Amymane, after the daughter of Danaus. Within the grave are images of Demeter Prosymne and of Dionysus. Of Demeter there is a seated image of no great size.
[2] ταῦτα μὲν λίθου πεποιημένα, ἑτέρωθι δ᾽ ἐν ναῷ Διόνυσος Σαώτης καθήμενον ξόανον καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ἄγαλμα ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ λίθου: ἀναθεῖναι δὲ αὐτὸ τὰς θυγατέρας λέγουσι τὰς Δαναοῦ, Δαναὸν δὲ αὐτὸν τὸ ἱερὸν ἐπὶ Ποντίνῳ ποιῆσαι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς. καταστήσασθαι δὲ τῶν Λερναίων τὴν τελετὴν Φιλάμμωνά φασι. τὰ μὲν οὖν λεγόμενα ἐπὶ τοῖς δρωμένοις δῆλά ἐστιν οὐκ ὄντα ἀρχαῖα:
[37.2] Both are of stone, but in another temple is a seated wooden image of Dionysus Saotes (Savior), while by the sea is a stone image of Aphrodite. They say that the daughters of Danaus dedicated it, while Danaus himself made the sanctuary of Athena by the Pontinus. The mysteries of the Lernaeans were established, they say, by Philammon. Now the words which accompany the ritual are evidently of no antiquity
[3] ἃ δὲ ἤκουσα ἐπὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ γεγράφθαι τῇ πεποιημένῃ τοῦ ὀρειχάλκου, οὐδὲ ταῦτα ὄντα Φιλάμμωνος Ἀρριφῶν εὗρε, τὸ μὲν ἀνέκαθεν Τρικωνιεὺς τῶν ἐν Αἰτωλίᾳ, τὰ δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν Λυκίων τοῖς μάλιστα ὁμοίως δόκιμος, δεινὸς δὲ ἐξευρεῖν ἃ μή τις πρότερον εἶδε, καὶ δὴ καὶ ταῦτα φωράσας ἐπὶ τῷδε. τὰ ἔπη, καὶ ὅσα οὐ μετὰ μέτρου μεμιγμένα ἦν τοῖς ἔπεσι, τὰ πάντα Δωριστὶ ἐπεποίητο: πρὶν δὲ Ἡρακλείδας κατελθεῖν ἐς Πελοπόννησον, τὴν αὐτὴν ἠφίεσαν Ἀθηναίοις οἱ Ἀργεῖοι φωνήν: ἐπὶ δὲ Φιλάμμωνος οὐδὲ τὸ ὄνομα τῶν Δωριέων ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἐς ἅπαντας ἠκούετο Ἕλληνας.
[37.3] and the inscription also, which I have heard is written on the heart made of orichalcum, was shown not to be Philammon’s by Arriphon, an Aetolian of Triconium by descent, who now enjoys a reputation second to none among the Lycians; excellent at original research, he found the clue to this problem in the following way: the verses, and the prose interspersed among the verses, are all written in Doric. But before the return of the Heracleidae to the Peloponnesus the Argives spoke the same dialect as the Athenians, and in Philammon’s day I do not suppose that even the name Dorians was familiar to all Greek ears.
[4] ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἀπέφαινεν οὕτως ἔχοντα, τῆς δὲ Ἀμυμώνης πέφυκεν ἐπὶ τῇ πηγῇ πλάτανος: ὑπὸ ταύτῃ τὴν ὕδραν τραφῆναι τῇ πλατάνῳ φασίν. ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ θηρίον πείθομαι τοῦτο καὶ μεγέθει διενεγκεῖν ὑδρῶν ἄλλων καὶ τὸν ἰὸν οὕτω δή τι ἔχειν ἀνίατον ὡς τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἀπὸ τῆς χολῆς αὐτοῦ τὰς ἀκίδας φαρμακεῦσαι τῶν ὀιστῶν: κεφαλὴν δὲ εἶχεν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν μίαν καὶ οὐ πλείονας, Πείσανδρος δὲ ὁ Καμιρεύς, ἵνα τὸ θηρίον τε δοκοίη φοβερώτερον καὶ αὐτῷ γίνηται ἡ ποίησις ἀξιόχρεως μᾶλλον, ἀντὶ τούτων τὰς κεφαλὰς ἐποίησε τῇ ὕδρᾳ τὰς πολλάς.
[37.4] All this was proved in the demonstration. At the source of the Amymone grows a plane tree, beneath which, they say, the hydra (water-snake) grew. I am ready to believe that this beast was superior in size to other water-snakes, and that its poison had something in it so deadly that Heracles treated the points of his arrows with its gall. It had, however, in my opinion, one head, and not several. It was Peisander of Camirus who, in order that the beast might appear more frightful and his poetry might be more remarkable, represented the hydra with its many heads.
[5] εἶδον δὲ καὶ πηγὴν Ἀμφιαράου καλουμένην καὶ τὴν Ἀλκυονίαν λίμνην, δι᾽ ἧς φασιν Ἀργεῖοι Διόνυσον ἐς τὸν Ἅιδην ἐλθεῖν Σεμέλην ἀνάξοντα, τὴν δὲ ταύτῃ κάθοδον δεῖξαί οἱ Πόλυμνον. τῇ δὲ Ἀλκυονίᾳ πέρας τοῦ βάθους οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδέ τινα οἶδα ἄνθρωπον ἐς τὸ τέρμα αὐτῆς οὐδεμιᾷ μηχανῇ καθικέσθαι δυνηθέντα, ὅπου καὶ Νέρων σταδίων πολλῶν κάλους ποιησάμενος καὶ συνάψας ἀλλήλοις, ἀπαρτήσας δὲ καὶ μόλυβδον ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ εἰ δή τι χρήσιμον ἄλλο ἐς τὴν πεῖραν, οὐδὲ οὗτος οὐδένα ἐξευρεῖν ἐδυνήθη ὅρον τοῦ βάθους.
[37.5] I saw also what is called the Spring of Amphiaraus and the Alcyonian Lake, through which the Argives say Dionysus went down to Hell to bring up Semele, adding that the descent here was shown him by Palymnus. There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth.
[6] καὶ τόδε ἤκουσα ἄλλο: τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς λίμνης ὡς ἰδόντα εἰκάσαι γαληνόν ἐστι καὶ ἠρεμαῖον, παρεχόμενον δὲ ὄψιν τοιαύτην διανήχεσθαι τολμήσαντα πάντα τινὰ καθέλκειν πέφυκε καὶ ἐς βυθὸν ὑπολαβὸν ἀπήνεγκε. περίοδος δὲ τῆς λίμνης ἐστὶν οὐ πολλή, ἀλλὰ ὅσον τε σταδίου τρίτον: ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτῆς πόα καὶ σχοῖνοι πεφύκασι. τὰ δὲ ἐς αὐτὴν Διονύσῳ δρώμενα ἐν νυκτὶ κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον οὐχ ὅσιον ἐς ἅπαντας ἦν μοι γράψαι.
[37.6] This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the de
pths, and swept away. The circumference of the lake is not great, being about one-third of a stade. Upon its banks grow grass and rushes. The nocturnal rites performed every year in honor of Dionysus I must not divulge to the world at large.
TEMENIUM & NAUPLIA
38. ἐκ Λέρνης δὲ ἰοῦσιν ἐς Τημένιον — τὸ δὲ Τημένιόν ἐστιν Ἀργείων, ὠνομάσθη δὲ ἀπὸ Τημένου τοῦ Ἀριστομάχου: καταλαβὼν γὰρ καὶ ἐχυρωσάμενος τὸ χωρίον ἐπολέμει σὺν τοῖς Δωριεῦσιν αὐτόθεν τὸν πρὸς Τισαμενὸν καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς πόλεμον — ἐς τοῦτο οὖν τὸ Τημένιον ἰοῦσιν ὅ τε Φρίξος ποταμὸς ἐκδίδωσιν ἐς θάλασσαν καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερὸν ἐν Τημενίῳ πεποίηται καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ἕτερον καὶ μνῆμά ἐστι Τημένου τιμὰς ἔχον παρὰ Δωριέων τῶν ἐν Ἄργει.
[38.1] XXXVIII. Temenium is in Argive territory, and was named after Temenus, the son of Aristomachus. For, having seized and strengthened the position, he waged therefrom with the Dorians the war against Tisamenus and the Achaeans. On the way to Temenium from Lerna the river Phrixus empties itself into the sea, and in Temenium is built a sanctuary of Poseidon, as well as one of Aphrodite; there is also the tomb of Temenus, which is worshipped by the Dorians in Argos.
[2] Τημενίου δὲ ἀπέχει Ναυπλία πεντήκοντα ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν σταδίους, τὰ μὲν ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἔρημος, οἰκιστὴς δὲ ἐγένετο αὐτῆς Ναύπλιος Ποσειδῶνος λεγόμενος καὶ Ἀμυμώνης εἶναι. λείπεται δὲ καὶ τειχῶν ἔτι ἐρείπια, καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερὸν καὶ λιμένες εἰσὶν ἐν Ναυπλίᾳ καὶ πηγὴ Κάναθος καλουμένη: ἐνταῦθα τὴν Ἥραν φασὶν Ἀργεῖοι κατὰ ἔτος λουμένην παρθένον γίνεσθαι.