ἀφικομένῳ δὲ ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν ἐνταῦθα ἤδη τὸ ὕδωρ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ πλήθει τε πολὺ ἰδόντι καὶ ἥδιστον, ἅτε ποταμῶν καὶ ἄλλων καὶ λόγου μάλιστα ἀξίων ἑπτὰ ἐς αὐτὸν ῥεόντων. διὰ Μεγάλης μέν γε πόλεως Ἑλισσὼν ἐρχόμενος ἐκδίδωσιν ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, Βρενθεάτης δὲ ἐκ τῆς Μεγαλοπολιτῶν γῆς, παρὰ δὲ Γόρτυναν ἔνθα ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ, παρὰ δὴ ταῦτα Γορτύνιος ῥέων, ἐκ δὲ Μελαινεῶν Βουφάγος τῆς Μεγαλοπολίτιδος μεταξὺ καὶ Ἡραιίτιδος χώρας, ἐκ δὲ τῆς Κλειτορίων Λάδων, ἐκ δὲ Ἐρυμάνθου τοῦ ὄρους ὁμώνυμος τῷ ὄρει. οὗτοι μὲν ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας κατίασιν ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, Κλάδεος δὲ ἐρχόμενος ἐκ τῆς Ἠλείας συμμίσγει οἱ τὸ ῥεῦμα· αὐτῷ δὲ ἐν τῇ Ἀρκάδων τῷ Ἀλφειῷ καὶ οὐχὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἠλείας εἰσὶν αἱ πηγαί.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιάδε ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, ὡς ἀνὴρ εἴη θηρευτής, ἐρασθῆναι δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀρεθούσης, κυνηγετεῖν δὲ καὶ ταύτην. καὶ Ἀρέθουσαν μὲν οὐκ ἀρεσκομένην γήμασθαι περαιωθῆναί φασιν ἐς νῆσον τὴν κατὰ Συρακούσας, καλουμένην δὲ Ὀρτυγίαν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γενέσθαι πηγήν· συμβῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος καὶ Ἀλφειῷ τὴν ἀλλαγὴν ἐς τὸν ποταμόν.
ταῦτα μὲν λόγου τοῦ ἐς Ἀλφειὸν †ἐς τὴν Ὀρτυγίαν †· τὸ δὲ διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης ἰόντα ἐνταῦθα ἀνακοινοῦσθαι τὸ ὕδωρ πρὸς τὴν πηγὴν οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἀπιστήσω, τὸν θεὸν ἐπιστάμενος τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς ὁμολογοῦντά σφισιν, ὃς Ἀρχίαν τὸν Κορίνθιον ἐς τὸν Συρακουσῶν ἀποστέλλων οἰκισμὸν καὶ τάδε εἶπε τὰ ἔπη· Ὀρτυγίη τις κεῖται ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ, / Θρινακίης καθύπερθεν, ἵνʼ Ἀλφειοῦ στόμα βλύζει. / μισγόμενον πηγαῖσιν ἐυρρείτης Ἀρεθούσης. / κατὰ τοῦτο οὖν, ὅτι τῇ Ἀρεθούσῃ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ τὸ ὕδωρ μίσγεται, καὶ τοῦ ἔρωτος τὴν φήμην τῷ ποταμῷ πείθομαι γενέσθαι.
ὅσοι δὲ Ἑλλήνων ἢ Αἰγυπτίων ἐς Αἰθιοπίαν τὴν ὑπὲρ Συήνης καὶ ἐς Μερόην Αἰθιόπων πόλιν ἀναβεβήκασι, λέγουσιν οὗτοι τὸν Νεῖλον, ἐσιόντα ἐς λίμνην καὶ διʼ αὐτῆς διεξιόντα ὥσπερ ἐκ χέρσου, μετὰ τοῦτο ἤδη διʼ Αἰθιοπίας τῆς κάτω καὶ ἐς Αἴγυπτον ῥεύσαντα ἐπὶ Φάρον καὶ τὴν ταύτῃ θάλασσαν κατέρχεσθαι. ἐν δὲ τῇ γῇ ποταμὸν τῇ Ἑβραίων Ἰάρδανον καὶ αὐτὸς οἶδα λίμνην Τιβεριάδα ὀνομαζομένην διοδεύοντα, ἐς δὲ λίμνην ἑτέραν καλουμένην θάλασσαν Νεκράν, ἐς ταύτην ἐσιόντα καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς λίμνης αὐτὸν ἀναλούμενον.
ἡ δὲ θάλασσα ἡ Νεκρὰ πάσχει παντὶ ὕδατι ἄλλῳ τὰ ἐναντία· ἐν ᾗ γε τὰ μὲν ζῶντα πέφυκεν οὐ νηχόμενα ἐποχεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ θνήσκοντα ἐς βυθὸν χωρεῖν. ταύτῃ ἄκαρπος καὶ ἰχθύων ἡ λίμνη· ἅτε ἀπὸ τοῦ φανερωτάτου κινδύνου ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἀναφεύγουσιν ὀπίσω τὸ οἰκεῖον. τῷ δὲ Ἀλφειῷ τὸ αὐτὸ πάσχει καὶ ὕδωρ ἄλλο ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ· τούτου δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος πηγὴ μέν ἐστιν ἐν Μυκάλῃ τῷ ὄρει, διεξελθὸν δὲ θάλασσαν τὴν μεταξὺ ἄνεισιν αὖθις κατὰ Βραγχίδας πρὸς λιμένι ὀνομαζομένῳ Πανόρμῳ.
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἔχει τρόπον τὸν εἰρημένον· ἐς δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν Ὀλυμπικὸν λέγουσιν Ἠλείων οἱ τὰ ἀρχαιότατα μνημονεύοντες Κρόνον τὴν ἐν οὐρανῷ σχεῖν βασιλείαν πρῶτον καὶ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ ποιηθῆναι Κρόνῳ ναὸν ὑπὸ τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων, οἳ ὠνομάζοντο χρυσοῦν γένος· Διὸς δὲ τεχθέντος ἐπιτρέψαι Ῥέαν τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν φρουρὰν τοῖς Ἰδαίοις Δακτύλοις, καλουμένοις δὲ τοῖς αὐτοῖς τούτοις καὶ Κούρησιν· ἀφικέσθαι δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐξ Ἴδης τῆς Κρητικῆς, Ἡρακλέα καὶ Παιωναῖον καὶ Ἐπιμήδην καὶ Ἰάσιόν τε καὶ Ἴδαν·
τὸν δὲ Ἡρακλέα παίζοντα—εἶναι γὰρ δὴ αὐτὸν πρεσβύτατον ἡλικίᾳ—συμβαλεῖν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἐς ἅμιλλαν δρόμου καὶ τὸν νικήσαντα ἐξ αὐτῶν κλάδῳ στεφανῶσαι κοτίνου· παρεῖναι δὲ αὐτοῖς πολὺν δή τι οὕτω τὸν κότινον ὡς τὰ χλωρὰ ἔτι τῶν φύλλων ὑπεστρῶσθαι σφᾶς καθεύδοντας. κομισθῆναι δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ὑπερβορέων γῆς τὸν κότινόν φασιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἐς Ἕλληνας, εἶναι δὲ ἀνθρώπους οἳ ὑπὲρ τὸν ἄνεμον οἰκοῦσι τὸν Βορέαν.
πρῶτος μὲν ἐν ὕμνῳ τῷ ἐς Ἀχαιίαν ἐποίησεν Ὠλὴν Λύκιος ἀφικέσθαι τὴν Ἀχαιίαν ἐς Δῆλον ἐκ τῶν Ὑπερβορέων τούτων· ἔπειτα δὲ ᾠδὴν Μελάνωπος Κυμαῖος ἐς Ὦπιν καὶ Ἑκαέργην ᾖσεν, ὡς ἐκ τῶν Ὑπερβορέων καὶ αὗται πρότερον ἔτι τῆς Ἀχαιίας ἀφίκοντο ἐς Δῆλον·
Ἀριστέας δὲ ὁ Προκοννήσιος—μνήμην γὰρ ἐποιήσατο Ὑπερβορέων καὶ οὗτος—τάχα τι καὶ πλέον περὶ αὐτῶν πεπυσμένος ἂν εἴη παρὰ Ἰσσηδόνων, ἐς οὓς ἀφικέσθαι φησὶν ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν. Ἡρακλεῖ οὖν πρόσεστι τῷ Ἰδαίῳ δόξα τὸν τότε ἀγῶνα διαθεῖναι πρώτῳ καὶ Ὀλύμπια ὄνομα θέσθαι· διὰ πέμπτου οὖν ἔτους αὐτὸν κατεστήσατο ἄγεσθαι, ὅτι αὐτός τε καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ πέντε ἦσαν ἀριθμόν.
Δία δὴ οἱ μὲν ἐνταῦθα παλαῖσαι καὶ αὐτῷ Κρόνῳ περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς, οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ κατειργασμένῳ ἀγωνοθετῆσαί φασιν αὐτόν· νικῆσαι δὲ ἄλλοι τε λέγονται καὶ ὅτι Ἀπόλλων παραδράμοι μὲν ἐρίζοντα Ἑρμῆν, κρατήσαι δὲ Ἄρεως πυγμῇ. τούτου δὲ ἕνεκα καὶ τὸ αὔλημα τὸ Πυθικόν φασι τῷ πηδήματι ἐπεισαχθῆναι τῶν πεντάθλων, ὡς τὸ μὲν ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τὸ αὔλημα ὄν, τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα δὲ ἀνῃρημένον Ὀλυμπικὰς νίκας.
On reaching Olympia you see at last the waters of the Alpheus, a broad and noble stream, fed by seven important rivers, not to speak of lesser tributaries. For the Helisson, which passes through Megalopolis, falls into it; also the Brentheates, which comes from the district of Megalopolis; the Gortynius, which flows past Gortyna, where is a sanctuary of Aesculapius; the Buphagus from Melaeneae, between the territories of Megalopolis and Heraea ; the Ladon, from the land of the Clitorians; and the Erymanthus, from the mountain of the same name. These rivers come down into the Alpheus from Arcadia; but the Cladeus joins it from Elis. The springs of the Alpheus are in Arcadia, not in Elis.
The following tale is told of the Alpheus. He was a huntsman, and loved Arethusa, a huntress maid. But she, they say, not choosing to wed, crossed over to the isle that fronts Syracuse, by name Ortygia. And there she was changed from a woman into a spring of water; and Alpheus, too, turned into a river, all for love. Such is the tale of Alpheus and Ortygia. But that the river flows through the sea and there mingles its water with the spring I cannot choose but believe, knowing as I do that the god at Delphi countenances the story; for when he was sending Archias the Corinthian to found Syracuse, he uttered these verses also :— There lies an isle, Ortygia, in the dim sea Off Trinacia, where Alpheus’s mouth bubbles As it mingles with the springs of the fair-flowing Arethusa. I am persuaded, therefore, that the fable of the river’s love arose from the mingling of the water of Alpheus with Arethusa.
Greeks and Egyptians, who have gone up to Ethiopia above Syene, and to Meroe in Ethiopia, say that the Nile enters a lake, and passes through it just as if it were dry land, before it flows through lower Ethiopia to Egypt and falls into the sea at Pharos. And in the land of the Hebrews I have myself seen a certain river Jordan passing through a lake named Tiberias, and entering another lake called the Dead Sea, in which it is swallowed up. The properties of the Dead Sea are the opposite of those of every other water ; for living creatures float on its surface without swimming, and dead ones go to the bottom. Thus there are no fish in the lake, for the fish see their danger and flee back to the water that suits them. There is a water in Ionia that behaves in the same way as the Alpheus: its source is in Mount Mycale, and after passing through the intermediate sea it rises again opposite Branchidae at the harbour named Panormus. These things are so.
With regard to the Olympic games, the Elean antiquaries say that Cronus first reigned in heaven, and that a temple was made for him at Olympia by the men of that age, who were named the Golden Race; that when Zeus was born, Rhea committed the safekeeping of the child to the Idaean Dactyls or Curetes, as they are also called; that the Dactyls came from Ida in Crete, and their names were Hercules, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius, and Idas; and that in sport Hercules, as the eldest, set his brethren to run a race, and crowned the victor with a branch of wild olive, of which they had such an abundance that they slept on heaps of its fresh green leaves. They say that the wild olive was brought to Greece by Hercules from the land of the Hyperboreans. Olen the Lycian, in his hymn to Achaeia, was the first poet to affirm that there are men who dwell beyond the North Wind; for in that hymn he says that Achaeia came to Delos from these Hyperboreans. Afterwards Melanopus of Cyme composed an ode on Opis and Hecaerge, in which he said that they also had come to Delos from the Hyperboreans before Achaeia did so. Aristaeus of Proconnesus, who also mentions the Hyperboreans, may perhaps have learned something more about them from the Issedonians, to whom he says in his epic that he came. The Idaean Hercules is therefore reputed to have been the first to arrange the games, and to have given them the name Olympic. He made the rule that they should be celebrated every fourth year, because he and his brothers were five in number. Some say that Zeus here wrestled with Cronus himself for the kingdom ; others that he held the games in honour of his victory over Cronus. Amongst those who are said to have gained victories is Apollo, who is related to have outrun Hermes in a race, and to have vanquished Ares in boxing. They say that is why the flutes play the Pythian air, while the competitors in the pentathlum are leaping, because that air is sacred to Apollo, and the god himself had won Olympic crowns.
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