τῆς δὲ Ἥρας ὁ ναὸς τῆς Ἀνθείας ἐστὶ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Λητοῦς ἐν δεξιᾷ καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ γυναικῶν τάφος. ἀπέθανον δὲ αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν μάχῃ πρὸς Ἀργείους τε καὶ Περσέα, ἀπὸ νήσων τῶν ἐν Αἰγαίῳ Διονύσῳ συνεστρατευμέναι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Ἁλίας αὐτὰς ἐπονομάζουσιν. ἀντικρὺ δὲ τοῦ μνήματος τῶν γυναικῶν Δήμητρός ἐστιν ἱερὸν ἐπίκλησιν Πελασγίδος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱδρυσαμένου Πελασγοῦ τοῦ Τριόπα, καὶ οὐ πόρρω τοῦ ἱεροῦ τάφος Πελασγοῦ.
πέραν δὲ τοῦ τάφου χαλκεῖόν ἐστιν οὐ μέγα, ἀνέχει δὲ αὐτὸ ἀγάλματα ἀρχαῖα Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Διὸς καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς. Λυκέας μὲν οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν ἐποίησε Μηχανέως τὸ ἄγαλμα εἶναι Διός, καὶ Ἀργείων ἔφη τοὺς ἐπὶ Ἴλιον στρατεύσαντας ἐνταῦθα ὀμόσαι παραμενεῖν πολεμοῦντας, ἔστʼ ἂν ἢ τὸ Ἴλιον ἕλωσιν ἢ μαχομένους τελευτὴ σφᾶς ἐπιλάβῃ· ἑτέροις δέ ἐστιν εἰρημένον ὀστᾶ ἐν τῷ χαλκείῳ κεῖσθαι Ταντάλου.
τὸν μὲν δὴ Θυέστου παῖδα ἢ Βροτέου—λέγεται γὰρ ἀμφότερα—, ὃς Κλυταιμνήστρᾳ πρότερον ἢ Ἀγαμέμνων συνῴκησε, τοῦτον μὲν τὸν Τάνταλον οὐ διοίσομαι ταφῆναι ταύτῃ· τοῦ δὲ λεγομένου Διός τε εἶναι καὶ Πλουτοῦς ἰδὼν οἶδα ἐν Σιπύλῳ τάφον θέας ἄξιον. πρὸς δὲ οὐδὲ ἀνάγκη συνέπεσεν ἐκ τῆς Σιπύλου φυγεῖν αὐτόν, ὡς Πέλοπα ἐπέλαβεν ὕστερον ἐλαύνοντος Ἴλου τοῦ Φρυγὸς ἐπʼ αὐτὸν στρατείᾳ. τάδε μὲν ἐς τοσοῦτον ἐξητάσθω· τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸν βόθρον τὸν πλησίον δρώμενα Νικόστρατον ἄνδρα ἐπιχώριον καταστήσασθαι λέγουσιν. ἀφιᾶσι δὲ καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἐς τὸν βόθρον καιομένας λαμπάδας Κόρῃ τῇ Δήμητρος.
ἐνταῦθα Ποσειδῶνός ἐστιν ἱερὸν ἐπίκλησιν Προσκλυστίου· τῆς γὰρ χώρας τὸν Ποσειδῶνά φασιν ἐπικλύσαι τὴν πολλήν, ὅτι Ἥρας εἶναι καὶ οὐκ αὐτοῦ τὴν γῆν Ἴναχος καὶ οἱ συνδικάσαντες ἔγνωσαν. Ἥρα μὲν δὴ παρὰ Ποσειδῶνος εὕρετο ἀπελθεῖν ὀπίσω τὴν θάλασσαν· Ἀργεῖοι δέ, ὅθεν τὸ κῦμα ἀνεχώρησεν, ἱερὸν Ποσειδῶνι ἐποίησαν Προσκλυστίῳ.
προελθόντι δὲ οὐ πολὺ τάφος ἐστὶν Ἄργου Διὸς εἶναι δοκοῦντος καὶ τῆς Φορωνέως Νιόβης· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Διοσκούρων ναός. ἀγάλματα δὲ αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ παῖδές εἰσιν Ἄναξις καὶ Μνασίνους, σὺν δέ σφισιν αἱ μητέρες Ἱλάειρα καὶ Φοίβη, τέχνη μὲν Διποίνου καὶ Σκύλλιδος, ξύλου δὲ ἐβένου· τοῖς δʼ ἵπποις τὰ μὲν πολλὰ ἐβένου καὶ τούτοις, ὀλίγα δὲ καὶ ἐλέφαντος πεποίηται.
πλησίον δὲ τῶν Ἀνάκτων Εἰληθυίας ἐστὶν ἱερὸν ἀνάθημα Ἑλένης, ὅτε σὺν Πειρίθῳ Θησέως ἀπελθόντος ἐς Θεσπρωτοὺς Ἄφιδνά τε ὑπὸ Διοσκούρων ἑάλω καὶ ἤγετο ἐς Λακεδαίμονα Ἑλένη. ἔχειν μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν λέγουσιν ἐν γαστρί, τεκοῦσαν δὲ ἐν Ἄργει καὶ τῆς Εἰληθυίας ἱδρυσαμένην τὸ ἱερὸν τὴν μὲν παῖδα ἣν ἔτεκε Κλυταιμνήστρᾳ δοῦναι—συνοικεῖν γὰρ ἤδη Κλυταιμνήστραν Ἀγαμέμνονι—, αὐτὴν δὲ ὕστερον τούτων Μενελάῳ γήμασθαι.
καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε Εὐφορίων Χαλκιδεὺς καὶ Πλευρώνιος Ἀλέξανδρος ἔπη ποιήσαντες, πρότερον δὲ ἔτι Στησίχορος ὁ Ἱμεραῖος, κατὰ ταὐτά φασιν Ἀργείοις Θησέως εἶναι θυγατέρα Ἰφιγένειαν. τοῦ δὲ ἱεροῦ τῆς Εἰληθυίας πέραν ἐστὶν Ἑκάτης ναός, Σκόπα δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα ἔργον. τοῦτο μὲν λίθου· τὰ δʼ ἀπαντικρὺ χαλκᾶ, Ἑκάτης καὶ ταῦτα ἀγάλματα, τὸ μὲν Πολύκλειτος ἐποίησε, τὸ δὲ ἀδελφὸς Πολυκλείτου Ναυκύδης†Μόθωνος.
ἐρχομένῳ δὲ ὁδὸν εὐθεῖαν ἐς γυμνάσιον Κυλάραβιν, ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ὀνομαζόμενον τοῦ Σθενέλου, τέθαπται δὴ Λικύμνιος ὁ Ἠλεκτρύωνος· ἀποθανεῖν δʼ αὐτὸν Ὅμηρος ὑπὸ Τληπτολέμου φησὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, καὶ διὰ τὸν φόνον τοῦτον ἔφυγεν ἐξ Ἄργους Τληπτόλεμος. ὀλίγον δὲ τῆς ἐπὶ Κυλάραβιν καὶ τὴν ταύτῃ πύλην ἀποτραπεῖσι Σακάδα μνῆμά ἐστιν, ὃς τὸ αὔλημα τὸ Πυθικὸν πρῶτος ηὔλησεν ἐν Δελφοῖς·
καὶ τὸ ἔχθος τὸ Ἀπόλλωνι διαμένον ἐς τοὺς αὐλητὰς ἔτι ἀπὸ Μαρσύου καὶ τῆς ἁμίλλης τοῦ Σιληνοῦ παυθῆναι διὰ τοῦτον δοκεῖ τὸν Σακάδαν. ἐν δὲ τῷ γυμνασίῳ τῷ Κυλαράβου καὶ Πανία ἐστὶν Ἀθηνᾶ καλουμένη καὶ τάφον Σθενέλου δεικνύουσι, τὸν δὲ αὐτοῦ Κυλαράβου. πεποίηται δὲ οὐ πόρρω τοῦ γυμνασίου πολυάνδριον τοῖς μετὰ Ἀθηναίων πλεύσασιν Ἀργείοις ἐπὶ καταδουλώσει Συρακουσῶν τε καὶ Σικελίας.
The temple of Flowery Hera is on the right of the sanctuary of Latona, and in front of it is a grave of women. These women fell in the battle against the Argives under Perseus. They formed part of the host which Dionysus led thither from the islands of the Aegean; therefore the Argives surname them the Sea-Women.
Opposite the tomb of the women is a sanctuary of Demeter, who is surnamed Pelasgian after the founder of the sanctuary, Pelasgus, son of Triopas. The grave of Pelasgus is not far from the sanctuary. Over against the grave is a bronze vessel of no great size: it supports ancient images of Artemis, Zeus, and Athena.
Lyceas in his poem says that it is the image of Zeus the Contriver, and that the Argives who went to the Trojan war swore here to continue the war till they should either take Ilium or fall sword in hand.
Others have stated that in the bronze vessel are deposited the bones of Tantalus. Now that the Tantalus, who was son to Thyestes or to Broteas (for some say one, some the other), and who was the husband of Clytaemnestra before she married Agamemnon, was buried here, I am not prepared to dispute. But as for the Tantalus who is said to have been the son of Zeus and Pluto, I know that his grave is on Mount Sipylus, for I have seen it there, and well worth seeing it is. Besides, Tantalus was never reduced to flee from Sipylus, as Pelops afterwards was, when Ilus the Phrygian led a host against him. But enough of this disquisition. They say that the ceremony observed at the neighbouring pit was instituted by one Nicostratus, a native, and they still throw burning torches into the pit in honour of the Maid, Demeter’s daughter.
Here is a sanctuary of Poseidon, surnamed the God of the Dashing Wave. For they say that Poseidon flooded most of the country, because Inachus and his assessors decided that the land was Hera’s and not his. Hera prevailed on Poseidon to let the sea retire, and on the spot from which the wave retreated the Argives made a sanctuary to Poseidon of the Dashing Wave.
A little farther on is the grave of Argus, who is reputed to be a son of Zeus and Niobe, daughter of Phoroneus. Next is a temple of the Dioscuri, containing images of the Dioscuri and their children, Anaxis and Mnasinus, together with images of their mothers, Hilaira and Phoebe. The images are by Dipoenus and Scyllis, and are made of ebony: the horses are also mostly of ebony, with a few pieces of ivory.
Near the sanctuary of the Lords is a sanctuary of Ilithyia. It was dedicated by Helen when she was being taken to Lacedaemon, after Aphidna had been captured by the Dioscuri in the absence of Theseus, who had gone off with Pirithous to Thesprotis. For they say that she was with child at the time, and that she was brought to bed in Argos and founded the sanctuary of Ilithyia. The girl of whom she was delivered she gave to Clytaemnestra, who was by this time the wife of Agamemnon. Helen herself afterwards married Menelaus. In reference to this episode, the poets Euphorion the Chalcidian and Alexander the Pleuronian, as well as Stesichorus the Himeraean before them, agree with the Argives in representing Iphigenia as the daughter of Theseus.
Over against the sanctuary of Ilithyia is a temple of Hecate: the image is a work of Scopas, and is of stone. The other images of Hecate which face it are of bronze: one of them is by Polyclitus, the other by his brother Naucydes, son of Mothon. Following a straight street which leads to the gymnasium named Cylarabis after the son of Sthenelus, we come to the grave of Licymnius, son of Electryon: Homer says that he was killed by Tleptolemus, son of Hercules; and on account of this murder Tleptolemus fled from Argos.
A little aside from the street that leads to Cylarabis and to the adjoining gate, is the tomb of Sacadas, the first who played the Pythian tune on the flute at Delphi. It is thought that the dislike of flute-players which Apollo had entertained ever since his contest with the Silenus Marsyas was relinquished for the sake of this Sacadas. 10. In the gymnasium of Cylarabes is an image of Capanean Athena, and they point out the graves of Sthenelus and of Cylarabes himself. Not far from the gymnasium the Argives who sailed with the Athenians to conquer Syracuse and Sicily are buried in one common grave.
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