ἡ δὲ Κορινθία χώρα μοῖρα οὖσα τῆς Ἀργείας ἀπὸ Κορίνθου τὸ ὄνομα ἔσχηκε. Διὸς δὲ εἶναι Κόρινθον οὐδένα οἶδα εἰπόντα πω σπουδῇ πλὴν Κορινθίων τῶν πολλῶν· Εὔμηλος δὲ ὁ Ἀμφιλύτου τῶν Βακχιδῶν καλουμένων, ὃς καὶ τὰ ἔπη λέγεται ποιῆσαι, φησὶν ἐν τῇ Κορινθίᾳ συγγραφῇ—εἰ δὲ Εὐμήλου γε ἡ συγγραφή—Ἐφύραν Ὠκεανοῦ θυγατέρα οἰκῆσαι πρῶτον ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ, Μαραθῶνα δὲ ὕστερον τὸν Ἐπωπέως τοῦ Ἀλωέως τοῦ Ἡλίου φεύγοντα ἀνομίαν καὶ ὕβριν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐς τὰ παραθαλάσσια μετοικῆσαι τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ἀποθανόντος δὲ Ἐπωπέως ἀφικόμενον ἐς Πελοπόννησον καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν διανείμαντα τοῖς παισὶν αὐτὸν ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν αὖθις ἀναχωρῆσαι, καὶ ἀπὸ μὲν Σικυῶνος τὴν Ἀσωπίαν, ἀπὸ δὲ Κορίνθου τὴν Ἐφυραίαν μετονομασθῆναι.
Κόρινθον δὲ οἰκοῦσι Κορινθίων μὲν οὐδεὶς ἔτι τῶν ἀρχαίων, ἔποικοι δὲ ἀποσταλέντες ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων. αἴτιον δὲ τὸ συνέδριον τὸ Ἀχαιῶν· συντελοῦντες γὰρ ἐς αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ Κορίνθιοι μετέσχον τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους, ὃν Κριτόλαος στρατηγεῖν Ἀχαιῶν ἀποδειχθεὶς παρεσκεύασε γενέσθαι τούς τε Ἀχαιοὺς ἀναπείσας ἀποστῆναι καὶ τῶν ἔξω Πελοποννήσου τοὺς πολλούς. Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ ὡς ἐκράτησαν τῷ πολέμῳ, παρείλοντο μὲν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων τὰ ὅπλα καὶ τείχη περιεῖλον ὅσαι τετειχισμέναι πόλεις ἦσαν· Κόρινθον δὲ ἀνάστατον Μομμίου ποιήσαντος τοῦ τότε ἡγουμένου τῶν ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου Ῥωμαίων, ὕστερον λέγουσιν ἀνοικίσαι Καίσαρα, ὃς πολιτείαν ἐν Ῥώμῃ πρῶτος τὴν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν κατεστήσατο· ἀνοικίσαι δὲ καὶ Καρχηδόνα ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς αὐτοῦ.
τῆς δὲ Κορινθίας ἐστὶ γῆς καὶ ὁ καλούμενος Κρομυὼν ἀπὸ Κρόμου τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος. ἐνταῦθα τραφῆναί φασι Φαιὰν, καὶ τῶν λεγομένων Θησέως καὶ τὸ ἐς τὴν ὗν ταύτην ἐστὶν ἔργον. προϊοῦσι δὲ ἡ πίτυς ἄχρι γε ἐμοῦ πεφύκει παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν καὶ Μελικέρτου βωμὸς ἦν. ἐς τοῦτον τὸν τόπον ἐκκομισθῆναι τὸν παῖδα ὑπὸ δελφῖνος λέγουσι· κειμένῳ δὲ ἐπιτυχόντα Σίσυφον θάψαι τε ἐν τῷ ἰσθμῷ καὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι τῶν Ἰσθμίων.
ἔστι δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἔνθα ὁ λῃστὴς Σίνις λαμβανόμενος πιτύων ἦγεν ἐς τὸ κάτω σφᾶς· ὁπόσων δὲ μάχῃ κρατήσειεν, ἀπʼ αὐτῶν δήσας ἀφῆκεν ἂν τὰ δένδρα ἄνω φέρεσθαι· ἐνταῦθα ἑκατέρα τῶν πιτύων τὸν δεθέντα ἐφʼ αὑτὴν εἷλκε, καὶ τοῦ δεσμοῦ μηδετέρωσε εἴκοντος ἀλλʼ ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἐπʼ ἴσης βιαζομένου διεσπᾶτο ὁ δεδεμένος. τοιούτῳ διεφθάρη τρόπῳ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ Θησέως ὁ Σίνις· ἐκάθηρε γὰρ Θησεὺς τῶν κακούργων τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐς Ἀθήνας ἐκ Τροιζῆνος, οὕς τε πρότερον κατηρίθμησα ἀνελὼν καὶ ἐν Ἐπιδαύρῳ τῇ ἱερᾷ Περιφήτην Ἡφαίστου νομιζόμενον, κορύνῃ χαλκῇ χρώμενον ἐς τὰς μάχας.
καθήκει δὲ ὁ τῶν Κορινθίων ἰσθμὸς τῇ μὲν ἐς τὴν ἐπὶ Κεγχρέαις, τῇ δὲ ἐς τὴν ἐπὶ Λεχαίῳ θάλασσαν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἤπειρον ποιεῖ τὴν ἐντὸς χώραν. ὃς δὲ ἐπεχείρησε Πελοπόννησον ἐργάσασθαι νῆσον, προαπέλιπε διορύσσων ἰσθμόν· καὶ ὅθεν μὲν διορύσσειν ἤρξαντο δῆλόν ἐστιν, ἐς δὲ τὸ πετρῶδες οὐ προεχώρησαν ἀρχήν· μένει δὲ ὡς πεφύκει καὶ νῦν ἤπειρος ὤν. Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τε τῷ Φιλίππου διασκάψαι Μίμαντα ἐθελήσαντι μόνον τοῦτο οὐ προεχώρησε τὸ ἔργον· Κνιδίους δὲ ἡ Πυθία τὸν ἰσθμὸν ὀρύσσοντας ἔπαυσεν. οὕτω χαλεπὸν ἀνθρώπῳ τὰ θεῖα βιάσασθαι.
τὸ δὲ οὐ Κορινθίοις μόνον περὶ τῆς χώρας ἐστὶν εἰρημένον, ἀλλὰ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν Ἀθηναῖοι πρῶτοι περὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐσεμνολόγησαν· λέγουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ Κορίνθιοι Ποσειδῶνα ἐλθεῖν Ἡλίῳ περὶ τῆς γῆς ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν, Βριάρεων δὲ διαλλακτὴν γενέσθαι σφίσιν, ἰσθμὸν μὲν καὶ ὅσα ταύτῃ δικάσαντα εἶναι Ποσειδῶνος, τὴν δὲ ἄκραν Ἡλίῳ δόντα τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως. ἀπὸ μὲν τούτου λέγουσιν εἶναι τὸν ἰσθμὸν Ποσειδῶνος·
θέας δὲ αὐτόθι ἄξια ἔστι μὲν θέατρον, ἔστι δὲ στάδιον λίθου λευκοῦ. ἐλθόντι δὲ ἐς τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο μὲν ἀθλητῶν νικησάντων· τὰ Ἴσθμια ἑστήκασιν εἰκόνες, τοῦτο δὲ πιτύων δένδρα ἐστὶ πεφυτευμένα ἐπὶ στοίχου, τὰ πολλὰ ἐς εὐθὺ αὐτῶν ἀνήκοντα. τῷ ναῷ δὲ ὄντι μέγεθος οὐ μείζονι ἐφεστήκασι Τρίτωνες χαλκοῖ. καὶ ἀγάλματά ἐστιν ἐν τῷ προνάῳ δύο μὲν Ποσειδῶνος, τρίτον δὲ Ἀμφιτρίτης, καὶ Θάλασσα καὶ αὕτη χαλκῆ. τὰ δὲ ἔνδον ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἀνέθηκεν Ἡρώδης Ἀθηναῖος, ἵππους τέσσαρας ἐπιχρύσους πλὴν τῶν ὁπλῶν· ὁπλαὶ δέ σφισίν εἰσιν ἐλέφαντος.
καὶ Τρίτωνες δύο παρὰ τοὺς ἵππους εἰσὶ χρυσοῖ, τὰ μετʼ ἰξὺν ἐλέφαντος καὶ οὗτοι· τῷ δὲ ἅρματι Ἀμφιτρίτη καὶ Ποσειδῶν ἐφεστήκασι, καὶ παῖς ὀρθός ἐστιν ἐπὶ δελφῖνος ὁ Παλαίμων· ἐλέφαντος δὲ καὶ χρυσοῦ καὶ οὗτοι πεποίηνται. τῷ βάθρῳ δὲ ἐφʼ οὗ τὸ ἅρμα μέση μὲν ἐπείργασται Θάλασσα ἀνέχουσα Ἀφροδίτην παῖδα, ἑκατέρωθεν δέ εἰσιν αἱ Νηρηίδες καλούμεναι. ταύταις καὶ ἑτέρωθι τῆς Ἑλλάδος βωμοὺς οἶδα ὄντας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ τεμένη σφίσιν ἀναθέντας †ποιμαίνισιν, ἔνθα καὶ Ἀχιλλεῖ τιμαί· Δωτοῦς δὲ ἐν Γαβάλοις ἱερόν ἐστιν ἅγιον, ἔνθα πέπλος ἔτι ἐλείπετο, ὃν Ἕλληνες Ἐριφύλην λέγουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ παιδὶ λαβεῖν Ἀλκμαίωνι.
τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος δέ εἰσιν ἐπειργασμένοι τῷ βάθρῳ καὶ οἱ Τυνδάρεω παῖδες, ὅτι δὴ σωτῆρες καὶ οὗτοι νεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων εἰσὶ ναυτιλλομένων. τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἀνάκειται Γαλήνης ἄγαλμα καὶ Θαλάσσης καὶ ἵππος εἰκασμένος κήτει τὰ μετὰ τὸ στέρνον, Ἰνώ τε καὶ Βελλεροφόντης καὶ ὁ ἵππος ὁ Πήγασος.
THE district of Corinth is part of Argolis, and got its name from Corinthus. That Corinthus was a son of Zeus has never yet, so far as I know, been seriously asserted by anybody except by a majority of the Corinthians themselves. Eumelus, son of Amphilytus, a member of the Bacchid family, and reputed author of the poems which pass under his name, says in his prose history of Corinth, if the work is indeed by him, that first of all Ephyra, daughter of Ocean, dwelt in this land; and that afterwards Marathon, son of Epopeus, son of Aloeus, son of the Sun, fleeing from the lawlessness and wantonness of his father, migrated to the coast of Attica; but that when Epopeus was dead, Marathon went to Peloponnese, and having divided the kingdom between his two sons, Sicyon and Corinthus, returned himself to Attica; and from Sicyon and Corinthus the districts that had been called Asopia and Ephyraea received respectively their new names.
The old population of Corinth is entirely gone: the present population is a colony planted by the Romans. For this change the Achaean League is answerable. For when Critolaus was appointed general of the League, he stirred up a war with Rome, by persuading the Achaeans and most of the Greek states outside of Peloponnese to revolt ; and in this war the Corinthians, as members of the League, took part. When victory had declared for their arms, the Romans disarmed the populations of the other Greek states, and dismantled the walls of the fortified towns. But Corinth was laid utterly waste by the Roman commander Mummius. Afterwards, they say, it was repeopled by Caesar, who instituted at Rome the system of government under which we live. Carthage also, they say, was repeopled in his reign. 3. To the Corinthian territory belongs the place which is called Cromyon, after Cromus, son of Poseidon. Here, they say, was bred the sow Phaea, the destruction of which was one of the so-called tasks of Theseus. Farther on the pine-tree still grew by the seashore in my time; and there was an altar of Melicertes. They say that the child Melicertes was landed on this spot by a dolphin, and that Sisyphus found him lying, buried him on the Isthmus, and instituted the Isthmian games in his honour.
At the beginning of the Isthmus is the place where the robber Sinis used to catch hold of pine-trees and draw them down. Then he would tie his vanquished foes to the trees and let the stems fly up. Whereupon each of the pine-trees dragged the captive towards itself, and if the cords did not give way in either direction, but pulled with equal force on both sides, he was rent in sunder. Sinis himself perished in this very way at the hands of Theseus; for Theseus cleared the road from Troezen to Athens of the rogues who infested it. Besides those whom I have enumerated above he slew Periphetes in sacred Epidaurus. Periphetes was a reputed son of Hephaestus, and fought with a bronze mace.
The Isthmus of Corinth reaches on the one side to the sea at Cenchreae, and on the other to the sea at Lechaeum. Thus in virtue of the Isthmus all the land to the south is mainland. He who attempted to turn Peloponnese into an island desisted before he had dug through the Isthmus. The beginning of the cutting may still be seen ; but it was not carried as far as the rock. So Peloponnese is still, what nature made it, mainland. Alexander, the son of Philip, wished to dig through the promontory of Mimas ; but this was the only undertaking of his which did not succeed. The Cnidians began to dig through their isthmus, but were stopped by the Pythian priestess. So hard is it for man to do violence to the works of God.
The Corinthians tell the following story about their country. But the story is not peculiar to them; for the Athenians, I believe, were the first to relate a similar tale in glorification of Attica. The Corinthian story is that Poseidon had a dispute with the Sun for the possession of the country, and that Briareus acted as mediator, awarding to Poseidon the Isthmus and its neighbourhood, but to the Sun the height which dominates the city. From that time, they say, the Isthmus has belonged to Poseidon.
At the Isthmus there are a theatre and a stadium of white marble, both of which are worth seeing. On entering the sanctuary of the god you have on the one side statues of athletes who have been victorious in the Isthmian games, and on the other side a row of pine-trees, most of them shooting straight up into the air. On the temple, which is not very large, stand bronze Tritons. In the fore-temple are images, two of Poseidon, one of Amphitrite, and one of the Sea, which is also of bronze. The images inside the temple were dedicated in my time by the Athenian Herodes. They include four horses gilded all over except the hoofs, which are of ivory. Beside the horses are two Tritons: from the waist upward they are of gold, but from the waist downward they are of ivory. On the chariot stand Amphitrite and Poseidon, and the boy Palaemon is erect on a dolphin. These statues also are made of ivory and gold. On the pedestal on which the chariot stands are figures sculptured in relief: in the middle is the Sea holding up the child Aphrodite, and on either side are the Nereids, as they are called. I know that there are altars to the Nereids elsewhere in Greece, and that some people have dedicated precincts to them beside harbours, where honours are paid to Achilles also. Doto has a holy sanctuary at Gabala, where is still preserved the robe by which, as the Greeks say, Eriphyle was bribed to wrong her son Alcmaeon. On the pedestal of Poseidon’s statue are wrought in relief the sons of Tyndareus, because they too are saviours of ships and of seafaring men. The other votive offerings consist of images of Calm and of the Sea, and a horse fashioned in the likeness of a sea-monster from the breast onward; also statues of Ino and Bellerophon and the horse Pegasus.
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