τάδε μὲν οὕτως ἔχοντα ἐπελεξάμην, τοῦ μνήματος δέ ἐστιν οὐ πόρρω Χαλινίτιδος Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερόν· Ἀθηνᾶν γὰρ θεῶν μάλιστα συγκατεργάσασθαι τά τε ἄλλα Βελλεροφόντῃ φασὶ καὶ ὡς τὸν Πήγασόν οἱ παραδοίη χειρωσαμένη τε καὶ ἐνθεῖσα αὐτὴ τῷ ἵππῳ χαλινόν. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τοῦτο ξόανόν ἐστι, πρόσωπον δὲ καὶ χεῖρες καὶ ἀκρόποδες εἰσὶ λευκοῦ λίθου.
Βελλεροφόντην δὲ οὐκ αὐτοκράτορα ὄντα βασιλεύειν, εἶναι δὲ ἐπὶ Προίτῳ καὶ Ἀργείοις ἐγώ τε πείθομαι καὶ ὅστις τὰ Ὁμήρου μὴ πάρεργον ἐπελέξατο. φαίνονται δὲ καὶ Βελλεροφόντου μετοικήσαντος ἐς Λυκίαν οὐδὲν ἧσσον οἱ Κορίνθιοι τῶν ἐν Ἄργει δυναστῶν ἢ Μυκήναις ὑπακούοντες· ἰδίᾳ τε οὐδένα παρέσχοντο ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐπὶ Τροίαν στρατιᾶς, συντεταγμένοι δὲ Μυκηναίοις καὶ ὅσων ἄλλων Ἀγαμέμνων ἡγεῖτο μετέσχον τοῦ στόλου.
Σισύφῳ δὲ οὔτι Γλαῦκος μόνον ὁ Βελλεροφόντου πατὴρ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερος υἱὸς ἐγένετο Ὀρνυτίων, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτῷ Θέρσανδρός τε καὶ Ἄλμος. Ὀρνυτίωνος δὲ ἦν Φῶκος, Ποσειδῶνος δὲ ἐπίκλησιν. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀπῴκησεν ἐς Τιθορέαν τῆς νῦν καλουμένης Φωκίδος, Θόας δὲ Ὀρνυτίωνος υἱὸς νεώτερος κατέμεινεν ἐν τῇ Κορίνθῳ. Θόαντος δὲ Δαμοφῶν, Δαμοφῶντος δὲ ἦν Προπόδας, Προπόδα δὲ Δωρίδας καὶ Ὑανθίδας. τούτων βασιλευόντων Δωριεῖς στρατεύουσιν ἐπὶ Κόρινθον· ἡγεῖτο δὲ Ἀλήτης Ἱππότου τοῦ Φύλαντος τοῦ Ἀντιόχου τοῦ Ἡρακλέους. Δωρίδας μὲν οὖν καὶ Ὑανθίδας παραδόντες τὴν βασιλείαν Ἀλήτῃ καταμένουσιν αὐτοῦ, τῶν δὲ Κορινθίων ὁ δῆμος ἐξέπεσεν ὑπὸ Δωριέων κρατηθεὶς μάχῃ.
Ἀλήτης δὲ αὐτός τε καὶ οἱ ἀπόγονοι βασιλεύουσιν ἐς μὲν Βάκχιν τὸν Προύμνιδος ἐπὶ γενεὰς πέντε, ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ οἱ Βακχίδαι καλούμενοι πέντε ἄλλας γενεὰς ἐς Τελέστην τὸν Ἀριστοδήμου. καὶ Τελέστην μὲν κατὰ ἔχθος Ἀριεὺς καὶ Περάντας κτείνουσι, βασιλεὺς δὲ οὐδεὶς ἔτι ἐγένετο, πρυτάνεις δὲ ἐκ Βακχιδῶν ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρχοντες, ἐς ὃ Κύψελος τυραννήσας ὁ Ἠετίωνος ἐξέβαλε τοὺς Βακχίδας· ἀπόγονος δὲ ἦν ὁ Κύψελος Μέλανος τοῦ Ἀντάσου. Μέλανα δὲ ἐκ Γονούσσης τῆς ὑπὲρ Σικυῶνος στρατεύοντα σὺν Δωριεῦσιν ἐπὶ Κόρινθον Ἀλήτης τὸ μὲν παραυτίκα ἀπειπόντος τοῦ θεοῦ παρʼ ἄλλους τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐκέλευσεν ἀποχωρεῖν, ὕστερον δὲ ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χρησμοῦ δέχεται σύνοικον. τοιαῦτα μὲν ἐς τοὺς Κορινθίων βασιλέας συμβάντα εὕρισκον·
τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τῆς Χαλινίτιδος πρὸς τῷ θεάτρῳ σφίσιν ἐστὶν καὶ πλησίον ξόανον γυμνὸν Ἡρακλέους, Δαιδάλου δὲ αὐτό φασιν εἶναι τέχνην. Δαίδαλος δὲ ὁπόσα εἰργάσατο, ἀτοπώτερα μέν ἐστιν ἐς τὴν ὄψιν, ἐπιπρέπει δὲ ὅμως τι καὶ ἔνθεον τούτοις. ὑπὲρ δὲ τὸ θέατρόν ἐστιν ἱερὸν Διὸς Καπετωλίου φωνῇ τῇ Ῥωμαίων· κατὰ Ἑλλάδα δὲ γλῶσσαν Κορυφαῖος ὀνομάζοιτο ἄν. τοῦ θεάτρου δέ ἐστι τοῦδε οὐ πόρρω γυμνάσιον τὸ ἀρχαῖον καὶ πηγὴ καλουμένη Λέρνα· κίονες δὲ ἑστήκασι περὶ αὐτὴν καὶ καθέδραι πεποίηνται τοὺς ἐσελθόντας ἀναψύχειν ὥρᾳ θέρους. πρὸς τούτῳ τῷ γυμνασίῳ ναοὶ θεῶν εἰσιν ὁ μὲν Διός, ὁ δὲ Ἀσκληπιοῦ· τὰ δὲ ἀγάλματα Ἀσκληπιὸς μὲν καὶ Ὑγεία λευκοῦ λίθου, τὸ δὲ τοῦ Διὸς χαλκοῦν ἐστιν.
ἀνιοῦσι δὲ ἐς τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον—ἡ δέ ἐστιν ὄρους ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν κορυφή, Βριάρεω μὲν Ἡλίῳ δόντος αὐτὴν ὅτε ἐδίκαζεν, Ἡλίου δὲ ὡς οἱ Κορίνθιοί φασιν Ἀφροδίτῃ παρέντος—ἐς δὴ τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον τοῦτον ἀνιοῦσίν ἐστιν Ἴσιδος τεμένη, ὧν τὴν μὲν Πελαγίαν, τὴν δὲ Αἰγυπτίαν αὐτῶν ἐπονομάζουσιν, καὶ δύο Σαράπιδος, ἐν Κανώβῳ καλουμένου τὸ ἕτερον. μετὰ δὲ αὐτὰ Ἡλίῳ πεποίηνται βωμοί, καὶ Ἀνάγκης καὶ Βίας ἐστὶν ἱερόν· ἐσιέναι δὲ ἐς αὐτὸ οὐ νομίζουσιν.
ὑπὲρ τοῦτο Μητρὸς θεῶν ναός ἐστι καὶ στήλη καὶ θρόνος· λίθων καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ὁ θρόνος. ὁ δὲ τῶν Μοιρῶν καὶ ὁ Δήμητρος καὶ Κόρης οὐ φανερὰ ἔχουσι τὰ ἀγάλματα. ταύτῃ καὶ τὸ τῆς Βουναίας ἐστὶν Ἥρας ἱερὸν ἱδρυσαμένου Βούνου τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ· καὶ διʼ αὐτὸ ἡ θεὸς καλεῖται Βουναία.
Not far from the tomb of Medea’s children is a sanctuary of Athena the Bridler. For they say that Athena above all the gods helped Bellerophon in his exploits, and that in particular she handed over to him Pegasus, tamed and bridled with her own hands. Her image is of wood, but the face and hands and feet are of white marble.
Like every attentive reader of Homer, I am persuaded that Bellerophon was not an independent monarch, but a vassal of Proetus, king of Argos. Even after Bellerophon had migrated to Lycia, the Corinthians are known to have been still subject to the lords of Argos or Mycenae. Again, in the army which attacked Troy, the Corinthian contingent was not commanded by a general of its own, but was brigaded with the Mycenian and other troops commanded by Agamemnon. 5. Glaucus, the father of Bellerophon, was not the only son of Sisyphus: another son Ornytion was born to him, and afterwards Thersander and Almus. Ornytion had a son Phocus, who was fathered on Poseidon. This Phocus went to dwell in Tithorea, in the land that is now called Phocis; but Thoas, younger son of Ornytion, abode in Corinth. Thoas begat Damophon, and Damophon begat Propodas, and Propodas begat Doridas and Hyanthidas. In the reign of these two last kings the Dorians marched against Corinth. Their leader was Aletes, son of Hippotes, who was the son of Phylas, who was the son of Antiochus, who was the son of Hercules. The kings Doridas and Hyanthidas surrendered the crown to Aletes, and abode in Corinth; but the people stood to their arms, and being worsted were banished by the Dorians. Aletes and his descendants reigned for five generations down to Bacchis, son of Prumnis.
Then the Bacchids, as they are called, reigned other five generations. The last of the line was Telestes, son of Aristodemus: he was slain by Arieus and Perantas, who had a grudge against him. Thenceforth there were no longer kings of Corinth, but instead there were annual presidents, chosen from the house of the Bacchids, until Cypselus, son of Eetion, made himself tyrant, and drove the Bacchids into exile. Cypselus was a descendant of Melas, son of Antasus. Melas had come from Gonussa, above Sicyon, to join the expedition of the Dorians against Corinth. At first Aletes, warned of God, bade him retire to some other part of Greece; but afterwards, mistaking the purport of the oracle, he suffered him to settle in Corinth. Such I found to be the history of the kings of Corinth.
The sanctuary of Athena the Bridler is beside the theatre, and near it is a naked wooden image of Hercules: they say it is a work of Daedalus. The works of Daedalus are somewhat uncouth to the eye, but there is a touch of the divine in them for all that. Above the theatre is a sanctuary of Zeus, who is called Capitolian in the Roman tongue: in Greek he would be named Coryphaean.
Not far from this theatre is the old gymnasium and a spring called Lerna: the spring is surrounded by a colonnade, and there are seats for the refreshment of visitors in summer time. Near this gymnasium are temples of the gods, one of Zeus and one of Aesculapius. The images of Aesculapius and Health are of white marble, but the image of Zeus is of bronze.
We now ascend towards the Acro-Corinth, which is the summit of a mountain that rises above the city. Briareus, as arbitrator, awarded the summit to the Sun; but the Sun, according to the Corinthians, resigned it to Aphrodite. On the way up to the Acro-Corinth there is a precinct of the Marine Isis, and another of the Egyptian Isis; and there are two precincts of Serapis, one of which is called ‘in Canopus.’ After them are altars to the Sun, and a sanctuary of Necessity and Violence, which it is not customary to enter. Above it is a temple of the Mother of the Gods and a throne: the image of the goddess and the throne are both of stone. There is a temple of the Fates, and a temple of Demeter and the Maid : in neither of these temples are the images exposed to view. Here, too, is the sanctuary of Bunaean Hera, founded by Bunus, son of Hermes ; hence the goddess herself is called Bunaean.
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