εἶναι δὲ τὴν Στύγα Ἡσίοδος μὲν ἐν Θεογονίᾳ πεποίηκεν—Ἡσιόδου γὰρ δὴ ἔπη τὴν Θεογονίαν εἰσὶν οἳ νομίζουσι—, πεποιημένα οὖν ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα Ὠκεανοῦ θυγατέρα τὴν Στύγα, γυναῖκα δὲ αὐτὴν εἶναι Πάλλαντος. ἐοικότα δὲ πεποιηκέναι τούτοις καὶ Λίνον φασίν· ἐμοὶ δὲ ἐπιλεγομένῳ παντάπασιν ἐφαίνετο ταῦτά γε εἶναι κίβδηλα.
Ἐπιμενίδης δὲ ὁ Κρὴς εἶναι μὲν καὶ οὗτος θυγατέρα Ὠκεανοῦ τὴν Στύγα ἐποίησε, συνοικεῖν δὲ αὐτὴν οὐ Πάλλαντι, ἀλλὰ ἐκ Πείραντος Ἔχιδναν τεκεῖν, ὅστις δὴ ὁ Πείρας ἐστί. μάλιστα δὲ τῆς Στυγὸς τὸ ὄνομα ἐς τὴν ποίησιν ἐπεισηγάγετο Ὅμηρος. ἐν μέν γε Ἥρας ἐποίησεν ὅρκῳ ἴστω νῦν τόδε γαῖα καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθεν / καὶ τὸ κατειβόμενον Στυγὸς ὕδωρ· / ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἐποίησεν ὡς ἂν ἰδὼν ἐς τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς Στυγὸς στάζον· βούλεται δὲ καὶ ἐν καταλόγῳ τῶν μετὰ Γουνέως Τιταρησίῳ ποταμῷ ῥεῖν τὸ ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τῆς Στυγός.
ἐποίησε δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἅιδου ὕδωρ εἶναι, καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ τὸν Δία οὐ μεμνῆσθαί φησιν ὅτι διʼ αὐτῆς Ἡρακλέα ἔσωζεν ἐκ τῶν Εὐρυσθέως ἄθλων· εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ τόδε ᾔδη ἐνὶ φρεσὶ πευκαλίμῃσιν, / εὖτέ μιν εἰς Ἀίδαο πυλάρταο προὔπεμψεν / ἐξ Ἐρέβευς ἄξοντα κύνα στυγεροῦ Ἀίδαο, / οὐκ ἂν ὑπεξέφυγε Στυγὸς ὕδατος αἰπὰ ῥέεθρα. /
τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ κρημνοῦ τοῦ παρὰ τὴν Νώνακριν στάζον ἐσπίπτει μὲν πρῶτον ἐς πέτραν ὑψηλήν, διεξελθὸν δὲ διὰ τῆς πέτρας ἐς τὸν Κρᾶθιν ποταμὸν κάτεισι· θάνατον δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ φέρει τοῦτο καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ ἄλλῳ ζῴῳ παντί. λέγεται δὲ ὅτι γένοιτό ποτε ὄλεθρος ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἰξίν, αἳ τοῦ ὕδατος ἔπιον πρῶτον· χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον ἐγνώσθη καὶ εἰ δή τι ἄλλο πρόσεστι τῷ ὕδατι τῶν ἐς θαῦμα ἡκόντων.
ὕαλος μέν γε καὶ κρύσταλλος καὶ μόρρια καὶ ὅσα ἐστὶν ἀνθρώποις ἄλλα λίθου ποιούμενα καὶ τῶν σκευῶν τὰ κεραμεᾶ, τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς Στυγὸς τοῦ ὕδατος ῥήγνυται· κεράτινα δὲ καὶ ὀστέινα σίδηρός τε καὶ χαλκός, ἔτι δὲ μόλιβδός τε καὶ κασσίτερος καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ τὸ ἤλεκτρον ὑπὸ τούτου σήπεται τοῦ ὕδατος. τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ μετάλλοις τοῖς πᾶσι καὶ ὁ χρυσὸς πέπονθε· καίτοι καθαρεύειν γε τὸν χρυσὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ ἥ τε ποιήτρια μάρτυς ἐστὶν ἡ Λεσβία καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ χρυσὸς ἐπιδείκνυσιν.
ἔδωκε δὲ ἄρα ὁ θεὸς τοῖς μάλιστα ἀπερριμμένοις κρατεῖν τῶν ὑπερηρκότων τῇ δόξῃ. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ τὰ μάργαρα ἀπόλλυσθαι πέφυκεν ὑπὸ τοῦ ὄξους, τοῦτο δὲ τὸν ἀδάμαντα λίθων ὄντα ἰσχυρότατον τοῦ τράγου κατατήκει τὸ αἷμα· καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ οὐ δύναται τῆς Στυγὸς ὁπλὴν ἵππου βιάσασθαι μόνην, ἀλλὰ ἐμβληθὲν κατέχεταί τε ὑπʼ αὐτῆς καὶ οὐ διεργάζεται τὴν ὁπλήν. εἰ δὲ καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φιλίππου συνέβη τὴν τελευτὴν διὰ τοῦ φαρμάκου γενέσθαι τούτου, σαφῶς μὲν οὐκ οἶδα, λεγόμενον δὲ οἶδα.
ὑπὲρ δὲ τὴν Νώνακριν ὄρη τε καλούμενα Ἀροάνια καὶ σπήλαιόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς. ἐς τοῦτο ἀναφυγεῖν τὸ σπήλαιον τὰς θυγατέρας τὰς Προίτου μανείσας λέγουσιν, ἃς ὁ Μελάμπους θυσίαις τε ἀπορρήτοις καὶ καθαρμοῖς κατήγαγεν ἐς χωρίον καλούμενον Λουσούς. τοῦ μὲν δὴ ὄρους τῶν Ἀροανίων Φενεᾶται τὰ πολλὰ ἐνέμοντο· οἱ δὲ ἐν ὅροις ἤδη Κλειτορίων εἰσὶν οἱ Λουσοί.
πόλιν μὲν δή ποτε εἶναι λέγουσι τοὺς Λουσούς, καὶ Ἀγησίλας ἀνὴρ Λουσεὺς ἀνηγορεύθη κέλητι ἵππῳ νικῶν, ὅτε πρώτην ἐπὶ ταῖς δέκα ἐτίθεσαν πυθιάδα Ἀμφικτύονες· τὰ δὲ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν οὐδὲ ἐρείπια ἔτι λειπόμενα ἦν Λουσῶν. τὰς δʼ οὖν θυγατέρας τοῦ Προίτου κατήγαγεν ὁ Μελάμπους ἐς τοὺς Λουσοὺς καὶ ἠκέσατο τῆς μανίας ἐν Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερῷ· καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τὴν Ἄρτεμιν ταύτην Ἡμερασίαν καλοῦσιν οἱ Κλειτόριοι.
Hesiod, in the Theogony—for there are some who believe that poem to be Hesiod’s—represents the Styx as daughter of Ocean and wife of Pallas. They say that Linus in his poem expresses a similar view, but a reading of this poem convinced me that it was spurious. Epimenides, the Cretan poet, also says that Styx is a daughter of Ocean ; but on the other hand he represents her as the wife, not of Pallas, but of Piras (whoever he was), to whom she bore Echidna. But it is especially Homer who introduces the name of Styx into his poetry. Thus in the oath of Hera he says :— Witness me now, earth and the broad heaven above And the down-trickling water of Styx. This passage is composed as if the poet had himself seen the water of the Styx dripping. Again, in the list of the troops under Guneus, he makes the water of the river Titaresius flow from the Styx. Again he makes it a water in hell, for Athena says that Zeus forgets how by her means he saved Hercules from the tasks imposed by Eurystheus :— Had I but known this in my shrewd mind When he sent him down to the home of Hades the warder, To bring from Erebus the hound of loathed Hades, Never would he have escaped the lofty streams of the water of Styx. 2. The water that drips from the cliff by Nonacris falls first upon a high rock, and passing through the rock it descends into the river Crathis. This water is deadly to man and every living creature. It is said that it once proved the bane of some goats which were the first to drink of it. Afterwards in course of time the other marvellous properties of the water became known. Glass, crystal, morrhia, and everything else made of stone, and earthen pots, are all broken by the water of the Styx; and things made of horn and of bone, together with iron, bronze, lead, tin, silver, and electrum, are corroded by it. Even gold is affected by it in the same way as the other metals. Yet we have the word of the Lesbian poetess, as well as the evidence of the metal itself, that gold does not rust. Hence we see that to the things that are most despised God has given power to overcome the things that surpass them in glory. Thus vinegar possesses the property of destroying pearls ; and the diamond, the hardest of stones, is melted away by the blood of a billy-goat. It is remarkable, too, that a horse’s hoof alone is proof against the water of the Styx, for it will hold the water without being destroyed by it. Whether Alexander, son of Philip, really died of this poison I do not know for certain, but I know that people say so.
Above Nonacris are the Aroanian mountains, and in them is a cave. They say that the daughters of Proetus fled up to this cave in their frenzy, but Melampus by secret sacrifices and purificatory rites brought them down to a place called Lusi. The greater part of the Aroanian mountains belongs to Pheneus, but Lusi is on the borders of Clitor. They say that Lusi was once a city, and Agesilas, a man of Lusi, was proclaimed victor in the horse-race at the eleventh celebration of the Pythian festival by the Amphictyons ; but in our days there are not even remains of the place left. Melampus drew down the daughters of Proetus to Lusi, and healed them of their madness in a sanctuary of Artemis, and from that time this particular Artemis has been called Hemerasia (‘soother’) by the Clitorians.
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