ἀνελθοῦσι δὲ ἐς τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον ναός ἐστιν Ἀφροδίτης· ἀγάλματα δὲ αὐτή τε ὡπλισμένη καὶ Ἥλιος καὶ Ἔρως ἔχων τόξον. τὴν δὲ πηγήν, ἥ ἐστιν ὄπισθεν τοῦ ναοῦ, δῶρον μὲν Ἀσωποῦ λέγουσιν εἶναι, δοθῆναι δὲ Σισύφῳ· τοῦτον γὰρ εἰδότα, ὡς εἴη Ζεὺς ἡρπακὼς Αἴγιναν θυγατέρα Ἀσωποῦ, μὴ πρότερον φάναι ζητοῦντι μηνύσειν πρὶν ἤ οἱ καὶ ἐν Ἀκροκορίνθῳ γένοιτο ὕδωρ· δόντος δὲ Ἀσωποῦ μηνύει τε οὕτως καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ μηνύματος δίκην—ὅτῳ πιστὰ—ἐν Ἅιδου δίδωσιν. ἤκουσα δὲ ἤδη τὴν Πειρήνην φαμένων εἶναι ταύτην καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτόθεν ὑπορρεῖν τὸ ἐν τῇ πόλει.
ὁ δὲ Ἀσωπὸς οὗτος ἄρχεται μὲν ἐκ τῆς Φλιασίας, ῥεῖ δὲ διὰ τῆς Σικυωνίας καὶ ἐκδίδωσιν ἐς τὴν ταύτῃ θάλασσαν. θυγατέρας δὲ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι Φλιάσιοί φασι Κόρκυραν καὶ Αἴγιναν καὶ Θήβην· ἀπὸ μὲν δὴ Κορκύρας καὶ Αἰγίνης τὰς νήσους Σχερίαν καὶ Οἰνώνην καλουμένας μετονομασθῆναι, ἀπὸ δὲ Θήβης τὴν ὑπὸ τῇ Καδμείᾳ κληθῆναι. Θηβαῖοι δὲ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι, φάμενοι τοῦ Βοιωτίου τὴν Θήβην Ἀσωποῦ καὶ οὐ τοῦ Φλιασίου εἶναι.
τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν Φλιάσιοι καὶ Σικυώνιοι λέγουσι, τὸ ὕδωρ ἔπηλυ καὶ οὐκ ἐγχώριον εἶναί οἱ· Μαίανδρον γὰρ κατιόντα ἐκ Κελαινῶν διὰ Φρυγίας καὶ Καρίας καὶ ἐκδιδόντα ἐς τὴν πρὸς Μιλήτῳ θάλασσαν ἐς Πελοπόννησον ἔρχεσθαι καὶ ποιεῖν τὸν Ἀσωπόν. οἶδα δὲ καὶ Δηλίων τοιοῦτο ἀκούσας ἕτερον, ὕδωρ ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἰνωπὸν εἶναί σφισιν ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου· καὶ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸν ἔχει τὸν Νεῖλον λόγος Εὐφράτην ὄντα ἐς ἕλος ἀφανίζεσθαι καὶ αὖθις ἀνιόντα ὑπὲρ Αἰθιοπίας Νεῖλον γίνεσθαι. Ἀσωποῦ μὲν πέρι τοιαῦτα ἤκουσα, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Ἀκροκορίνθου
τραπεῖσι τὴν ὀρεινὴν πύλη τέ ἐστιν ἡ Τενεατικὴ καὶ Εἰληθυίας ἱερόν· ἑξήκοντα δὲ ἀπέχει μάλιστα στάδια ἡ καλουμένη Τενέα. οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποί φασιν οἱ ταύτῃ Τρῶες εἶναι, αἰχμάλωτοι δὲ ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἐκ Τενέδου γενόμενοι ἐνταῦθα Ἀγαμέμνονος δόντος οἰκῆσαι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θεῶν μάλιστα Ἀπόλλωνα τιμῶσιν.
ἐκ Κορίνθου δὲ οὐκ ἐς μεσόγαιαν ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Σικυῶνα ἰοῦσι ναὸς ἐμπεπρησμένος ἐστὶν οὐ πόρρω τῆς πόλεως, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τῆς ὁδοῦ. γεγόνασι μὲν δὴ καὶ ἄλλοι πόλεμοι περὶ τὴν Κορινθίαν καὶ πῦρ ἐπέλαβεν ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς καὶ οἰκίας καὶ ἱερὰ τὰ ἔξω τείχους· ἀλλὰ τοῦτόν γε τὸν ναὸν Ἀπόλλωνος εἶναι λέγουσι καὶ ὅτι Πύρρος κατακαύσειεν ὁ Ἀχιλλέως αὐτόν. χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον ἤκουσα καὶ ἄλλο τοιόνδε, ὡς οἱ Κορίνθιοι Διὶ ποιήσαιντο Ὀλυμπίῳ τὸν ναὸν καὶ ὡς ἐξαίφνης πῦρ ποθὲν ἐμπεσὸν διαφθείρειεν αὐτόν.
Σικυώνιοι δὲ—οὗτοι γὰρ ταύτῃ Κορινθίοις εἰσὶν ὅμοροι—περὶ τῆς χώρας τῆς σφετέρας λέγουσιν ὡς Αἰγιαλεὺς αὐτόχθων πρῶτος ἐν αὐτῇ γένοιτο, καὶ Πελοποννήσου δὲ ὅσον ἔτι καλεῖται καὶ νῦν Αἰγιαλὸς ἀπʼ ἐκείνου βασιλεύοντος ὀνομασθῆναι, καὶ Αἰγιάλειαν αὐτὸν οἰκίσαι πρῶτον ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ πόλιν· οὗ δέ ἐστι νῦν σφίσι τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ἀκρόπολιν τοῦτο εἶναι. Αἰγιαλέως δὲ Εὔρωπα γενέσθαι φασίν, Εὔρωπος δὲ Τελχῖνα, Τελχῖνος δὲ Ἆπιν.
οὗτος ὁ Ἆπις ἐς τοσόνδε ηὐξήθη δυνάμεως, πρὶν ἢ Πέλοπα ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν ἀφικέσθαι, ὡς τὴν ἐντὸς Ἰσθμοῦ χώραν Ἀπίαν ἀπʼ ἐκείνου καλεῖσθαι. Ἄπιδος δὲ ἦν Θελξίων, Θελξίονος δὲ Αἴγυρος, τοῦ δὲ Θουρίμαχος, Θουριμάχου δὲ Λεύκιππος· Λευκίππῳ δὲ ἄρρενες παῖδες οὐκ ἐγένοντο, θυγάτηρ δὲ Καλχινία. ταύτῃ τῇ Καλχινίᾳ Ποσειδῶνα συγγενέσθαι φασὶ καὶ τὸν τεχθέντα ὑπʼ αὐτῆς ἔθρεψεν ὁ Λεύκιππος καὶ τελευτῶν παρέδωκέν οἱ τὴν ἀρχήν·
ὄνομα δὲ ἦν Πέρατος τῷ παιδί. τὰ δὲ ἐς Πλημναῖον τὸν Περάτου μάλιστα ἐφαίνετό μοι θαύματος ἄξια· τὰ γάρ οἱ τικτόμενα ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτίκα ὁπότε πρῶτον κλαύσειεν ἠφίει τὴν ψυχήν, ἐς ὃ Δημήτηρ ἔλεον ἴσχει Πλημναίου, παραγενομένη δὲ ἐς τὴν Αἰγιάλειαν ὡς δὴ γυνὴ ξένη Πλημναίῳ παῖδα ἀνέθρεψεν Ὀρθόπολιν. Ὀρθοπόλιδι δὲ θυγάτηρ γίνεται Χρυσόρθη· ταύτην τεκεῖν νομίζουσιν ἐξ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ ὁ παῖς ὠνομάσθη Κόρωνος, Κορώνου δὲ γίνονται Κόραξ καὶ νεώτερος Λαμέδων.
On the summit of the Acro-Corinth there is a temple of Aphrodite. Her image represents the goddess armed, and there are images of the Sun, and of Love, the latter bearing a bow. The spring behind the temple is said to have been a gift of Asopus to Sisyphus. For Sisyphus, so runs the tale, knew that Zeus had carried off Asopus’ daughter Aegina, but he refused to answer the father’s questions till water were given him on AcroCorinth. Asopus gave him it; so he blabbed, and now in hell, if all tales be true, he pays the penalty of his wagging tongue. I have heard say that this spring is Pirene, and that the water in the city flows from it underground.
The Asopus, which I have just mentioned, rises in Phliasia, and flowing through the land of Sicyon falls into the sea there. The Phliasians say that Asopus had three daughters, Corcyra, Aegina, and Thebe, and that from Corcyra and Aegina the islands called Scheria and Oenone received their new names, while Thebe gave her name to the city which lies under the Cadmea. The Thebans, however, do not agree, asserting that Thebe was a daughter of the Boeotian, not the Phliasian Asopus. For the rest, Phliasians and Sicyonians affirm that the water of the river is not its own, but comes from abroad: they say that the Maeander, descending from Celaenae through Phrygia and Caria, and falling into the sea near Miletus, comes to Peloponnese and forms the Asopus. I have heard the Delians tell a similar tale, how that the water which they call Inopus comes to them from the Nile. Indeed, the Nile itself, according to one story, is only the Euphrates which vanishes in a swamp to rise again above Ethiopia as the Nile. Such are the tales I heard about the Asopus. 3. Following the hill road from the Acro-Corinth we come to the Teneatic gate and a sanctuary of Ilithyia, Tenea is just sixty furlongs off. The people there say that they are Trojans, that they were brought as captives by the Greeks from Tenedos, and that by Agamemnon’s leave they settled where they are. That is why they worship Apollo above all the gods. 4. Taking the road that leads from Corinth, not inland, but to Sicyon, we come to a burnt temple not far from the city, on the left of the road. Of course there have been more wars than one in the land of Corinth, and houses and sanctuaries lying outside the city walls have naturally been given to the flames ; but this particular temple is said to have been a temple of Apollo, and to have been burnt down by Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. Afterwards I heard another version of the story, namely, that the temple was built by the Corinthians in honour of the Olympian Zeus, and that it was accidentally destroyed by fire. 5. In this direction the land of Corinth is bounded by the land of Sicyon. The Sicyonians say of their country that its first inhabitant was Aegialeus, an aboriginal; that all the portion of Peloponnese which is still called Aegialus was named after King Aegialeus ; that he founded the city of Aegialea in the plain; and that the acropolis was where the sanctuary of Athena now stands. They say that Aegialeus begat Europs, and Europs begat Telchis, and Telchis begat Apis. This Apis grew so powerful before Pelops came to Olympia that all the country south of the Isthmus was called Apia after him. Apis begat Thelxion, Thelxion begat Aegyrus, Aegyrus begat Thurimachus, and Thurimachus begat Leucippus, who had a daughter Calchinia, but no sons. They say that this Calchinia was beloved by Poseidon, and the son she had by him was brought up by Leucippus, who at last bequeathed the throne to him: his name was Peratus. The story told of Plemnaeus, son of Peratus, struck me as surprising: every child his wife bore him used to give up the ghost immediately after uttering its first squall, till Demeter took pity on him, and coming to Aegialea in the guise of a stranger woman, nursed his son Orthopolis. This Orthopolis had a daughter Chrysorthe, and she, they believe, had a child by Apollo. The child was named Coronus, and he had two sons: the elder was called Corax, and the younger was called Lamedon.
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