ἑτέρα δὲ ὁδὸς ἐξ Ἐλευσῖνος πρὸς Μέγαρα ἄγει· ταύτην ἐρχομένοις τὴν ὁδὸν φρέαρ ἐστὶν Ἄνθιον καλούμενον. ἐποίησε δὲ Πάμφως ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ φρέατι καθῆσθαι Δήμητρα μετὰ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῆς παιδὸς γραῒ εἰκασμένην· ἐντεῦθεν δὲ αὐτὴν ἅτε γυναῖκα Ἀργείαν ὑπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων τῶν Κελεοῦ κομισθῆναι παρὰ τὴν μητέρα καί οἱ τὴν Μετάνειραν οὕτω πιστεῦσαι τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν ἀνατροφήν.
ὀλίγῳ δὲ ἀπωτέρω τοῦ φρέατος ἱερὸν Μετανείρας ἐστὶ καὶ μετʼ αὐτὸ τάφοι τῶν ἐπὶ Θήβας. Κρέων γάρ, ὃς ἐδυνάστευε τότε ἐν Θήβαις Λαοδάμαντα ἐπιτροπεύων τὸν Ἐτεοκλέους, οὐ παρῆκε τοῖς προσήκουσιν ἀνελομένοις θάψαι· ἱκετεύσαντος δὲ Ἀδράστου Θησέα καὶ μάχης Ἀθηναίων γενομένης πρὸς Βοιωτούς, Θησεὺς ὡς ἐκράτησε τῇ μάχῃ κομίσας ἐς τὴν Ἐλευσινίαν τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐνταῦθα ἔθαψε. Θηβαῖοι δὲ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν νεκρῶν λέγουσιν ἐθελονταὶ δοῦναι καὶ συνάψαι μάχην οὔ φασι.
—μετὰ δὲ τῶν Ἀργείων τοὺς τάφους ἐστὶν Ἀλόπης μνῆμα, ἣν τεκοῦσαν Ἱπποθόωντα ἐκ Ποσειδῶνος ἀποθανεῖν ἐνταῦθά φασιν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς Κερκυόνος. εἶναι δὲ ὁ Κερκυὼν λέγεται καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄδικος ἐς τοὺς ξένους καὶ παλαίειν οὐ βουλομένοις· καὶ ὁ τόπος οὗτος παλαίστρα καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἐκαλεῖτο Κερκυόνος, ὀλίγον τοῦ τάφου τῆς Ἀλόπης ἀπέχων. λέγεται δὲ ὁ Κερκυὼν τοὺς καταστάντας ἐς πάλην διαφθεῖραι πλὴν Θησέως, Θησεὺς δὲ κατεπάλαισεν αὐτὸν σοφίᾳ τὸ πλέον· παλαιστικὴν γὰρ τέχνην εὗρε Θησεὺς πρῶτος καὶ πάλης κατέστη ὕστερον ἀπʼ ἐκείνου διδασκαλία· πρότερον δὲ ἐχρῶντο μεγέθει μόνον καὶ ῥώμῃ πρὸς τὰς πάλας. τοσαῦτα κατὰ γνώμην τὴν ἐμὴν Ἀθηναίοις γνωριμώτατα ἦν ἔν τε λόγοις καὶ θεωρήμασιν, ἀπέκρινε δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ λόγος μοι τὰ ἐς συγγραφὴν ἀνήκοντα.
Ἐλευσῖνι δὲ ἤδη πλησιόχωρος ἡ καλουμένη Μεγαρίς· τῆς Ἀθηναίων ἦν καὶ αὕτη τὸ ἀρχαῖον, Πύλα τοῦ βασιλέως καταλιπόντος Πανδίονι. μαρτύρια δέ μοι τάφος τε Πανδίονος ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ Νῖσος Αἰγεῖ μὲν πρεσβυτάτῳ τοῦ παντὸς γένους παραχωρήσας Ἀθηναίων ἄρχειν, αὐτὸς δὲ Μεγάρων καὶ τῆς ἄχρι Κορίνθου βασιλεύειν ἀξιωθείς· Νίσαιά τε ἔτι καὶ νῦν Μεγαρεῦσιν ἐπίνειον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καλεῖται. Κόδρου δὲ ὕστερον βασιλεύοντος στρατεύουσιν ἐπʼ Ἀθήνας Πελοποννήσιοι· καὶ ὡς οὐδὲν ἀποδειξάμενοι λαμπρὸν ἐκομίζοντο ὀπίσω, Μέγαρα Ἀθηναίων ἑλόντες Κορινθίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων τοῖς ἐθέλουσιν ἔδωκαν οἰκῆσαι.
Μεγαρεῖς μὲν οὕτως ἔθη καὶ φωνὴν μεταβαλόντες Δωριεῖς γεγόνασι, κληθῆναι δὲ οὕτω τὴν πόλιν φασὶν ἐπὶ Καρὸς τοῦ Φορωνέως ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ βασιλεύοντος· τότε πρῶτον λέγουσιν ἱερὰ γενέσθαι Δήμητρος αὐτοῖς, τότε ἀνθρώπους ὀνομάσαι Μέγαρα. οὕτω μὲν αὐτοὶ περὶ σφῶν Μεγαρεῖς λέγουσι· Βοιωτοὶ δὲ ἐν Ὀγχηστῷ Μεγαρέα τὸν Ποσειδῶνος οἰκοῦντα ἀφικέσθαι στρατιᾷ Βοιωτῶν φασι Νίσῳ τὸν πρὸς Μίνω πόλεμον συνδιοίσοντα, πεσόντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ ταφῆναί τε αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ πόλει Μέγαρα ὄνομα ἀπὸ τούτου γενέσθαι, πρότερον Νίσᾳ καλουμένῃ.
δωδεκάτῃ δὲ ὕστερον μετὰ Κᾶρα τὸν Φορωνέως γενεᾷ λέγουσιν οἱ Μεγαρεῖς Λέλεγα ἀφικόμενον ἐξ Αἰγύπτου βασιλεῦσαι καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους κληθῆναι Λέλεγας ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ· Κλήσωνος δὲ τοῦ Λέλεγος γενέσθαι Πύλαν, τοῦ Πύλα δὲ Σκίρωνα· τοῦτον συνοικῆσαι Πανδίονος θυγατρί, καὶ ὕστερον Νίσῳ τῷ Πανδίονος ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν ἐλθεῖν περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς Σκίρωνα καί σφισιν Αἰακὸν δικάσαι, βασιλείαν μὲν διδόντα Νίσῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀπογόνοις, Σκίρωνι δὲ ἡγεμονίαν εἶναι πολέμου. Μεγαρέα δὲ τὸν Ποσειδῶνος θυγατρὶ Νίσου συνοικήσαντα Ἰφινόῃ διαδέξασθαι τὴν τοῦ Νίσου φασὶν ἀρχήν· τὸν δὲ Κρητικὸν πόλεμον καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ Νίσου βασιλεύοντος ἅλωσιν τῆς πόλεως οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν εἰδέναι.
Another road leads from Eleusis to Megara. Following this road we come to a well called the Flowery Well. The poet Pamphos says that Demeter sat on this well in the likeness of an old woman after the rape of her daughter; and that thence she was conducted, in the character of an old woman, by the daughters of Celeus to their mother Metanira, who entrusted her with the upbringing of the boy.
A little way from the well is a sanctuary of Metanira, and after it are graves of the men who marched against Thebes. For Creon, who, as guardian of Laodamas, son of Eteocles, was at that time supreme in Thebes, did not suffer the relatives to take up and bury their dead. So Adrastus implored the help of Theseus: a battle was fought by the Athenians against the Boeotians, and Theseus, being victorious in the battle, conveyed the bodies into the territory of Eleusis and buried them there. But the Thebans say that they voluntarily granted leave to take up the dead, and deny that they fought a battle.
After the graves of the Argives there is the tomb of Alope, who is said to have been here put to death by her father Cercyon after she had borne Hippothoon to Poseidon. Cercyon is said to have ill-treated strangers, especially by wrestling with them against their will. The place was called the wrestling-ground of Cercyon down to my time: it is a little way from the grave of Alope. Cercyon is said to have killed all who wrestled with him except Theseus, who threw him by skill rather than strength. For the art of wrestling was invented by Theseus, and from his time onward it was systematically taught, whereas formerly wrestlers had relied on stature and strength alone. Such are, in my opinion, the most famous of the Athenian traditions and sights: from the mass of materials I have aimed from the outset at selecting the really notable.
Next to Eleusis is Megaris, which also of old belonged to the Athenians, King Pylas having bequeathed it to Pandion. This is proved by the grave of Pandion in Megarian territory, and by the fact that Nisus, relinquishing to Aegeus, the eldest of the family, the sovereignty of Attica, was invested with the kingdom of Megara and of all the country as far as Corinth. The Megarian seaport is still called Nisaea after him. But afterwards in the reign of Codrus the Peloponnesians marched against Athens ; and, having achieved no brilliant success, on their return they took Megara from the Athenians, and gave it to such of the Corinthians and of their other allies as chose to settle in it. Thus the Megarians changed their customs and language, and became Dorians. They say that the city got its present name in the time of Car, the son of Phoroneus, who reigned in this land: then for the first time, they say, they made sanctuaries of Demeter, and the people named them Megara. This is what the Megarians say about themselves.
But the Boeotians affirm that Megareus, son of Poseidon, dwelt in Onchestus, and came with an army of Boeotians to help Nisus in waging war against Minos ; that having fallen in the battle he was buried on the spot; and that the city, which had previously been called Nisa, got the name of Megara from him. The Megarians say that Lelex came from Egypt and reigned in the eleventh generation after Car, the son of Phoroneus, and that the people were called Leleges in his reign; and that Cleson, son of Lelex, begat Pylas, and Pylas begat Sciron, and Sciron married . . . . daughter of Pandion, and afterwards claimed the throne against Pandion’s son Nisus. Aeacus, they say, arbitrated between them, awarding the kingdom to Nisus and his posterity, but to Sciron the command in war. They say that Megareus, son of Poseidon, succeeded Nisus on the throne, having married the king’s daughter Iphinoe ; but about the Cretan war and the capture of the city in the reign of Nisus they profess to know nothing.
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