Ψωφῖδος δὲ οἱ μέν φασιν οἰκιστὴν γενέσθαι Ψώφιδα τὸν Ἄρρωνος τοῦ Ἐρυμάνθου τοῦ Ἀρίστα τοῦ Παρθάονος τοῦ Περιφήτου τοῦ Νυκτίμου· τοῖς δέ ἐστιν εἰρημένα θυγατέρα Ψωφῖδα εἶναι Ξάνθου τοῦ Ἐρυμάνθου τοῦ Ἀρκάδος. τάδε μὲν οὖν οὕτω κατὰ τὴν Ἀρκάδων ἐς τοὺς βασιλέας ἔχει μνήμην·
ὁ δὲ ἀληθέστατος τῶν λόγων ἐστὶν Ἔρυκος τοῦ ἐν Σικανίᾳ δυναστεύσαντος παῖδα εἶναι τὴν Ψωφῖδα, ᾗ συγγενόμενος Ἡρακλῆς ἀγαγέσθαι μὲν αὐτὴν ἐς τὸν οἶκον οὐκ ἠξίου, καταλείπει δὲ ἔχουσαν ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ παρὰ Λυκόρτᾳ, ξένῳ μὲν ὄντι αὐτοῦ, παροικοῦντι δὲ ἐν πόλει Φηγίᾳ, πρὸ δὲ τοῦ Φηγέως τῆς βασιλείας Ἐρυμάνθῳ καλουμένῃ· ἐπιτραφέντες δὲ αὐτόθι Ἐχέφρων καὶ Πρόμαχος Ἡρακλέους τε ὄντες καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς Σικανῆς μετέθεντο τῇ Φηγίᾳ τὸ ὄνομα Ψωφῖδα ἀπὸ τῆς μητρός.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ζακυνθίων τῇ ἀκροπόλει Ψωφὶς ὄνομα, ὅτι ναυσὶν ἐς τὴν νῆσον ἐπεραιώθη πρῶτος καὶ ἐγένετο οἰκιστὴς ἀνὴρ Ψωφίδιος, Ζάκυνθος ὁ Δαρδάνου. Σειρῶν μὲν δὴ σταδίοις ἐστὶν ἀπωτέρω τριάκοντα ἡ Ψωφίς· παρὰ δὲ αὐτὴν ὅ τε Ἀροάνιος ποταμὸς καὶ ὀλίγον ἀπωτέρω τῆς πόλεως Ἐρύμανθος ῥέουσιν.
ἔχει δὲ τὰς πηγὰς ὁ Ἐρύμανθος ἐν ὄρει Λαμπείᾳ, τὸ δὲ ὄρος τοῦτο ἱερὸν εἶναι Πανὸς λέγεται· εἴη δʼ ἂν τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ Ἐρυμάνθου μοῖρα ἡ Λάμπεια. ἐποίησε δὲ Ὅμηρος ὡς ἐν Ταϋγέτῳ τε καὶ Ἐρυμάνθῳ θηρευτὴς οὖν τῆς Λαμπείας ὁ Ἐρύμανθος, καὶ Ἀρκαδίαν διεξελθὼν ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν τὸ ὄρος ἔχων τὴν Φολόην, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ πάλιν Θέλπουσαν χώραν, κάτεισιν ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν.
λέγεται δὲ ὡς Ἡρακλῆς κατὰ πρόσταγμα Εὐρυσθέως παρὰ τῷ Ἐρυμάνθῳ θηράσειεν ὗν μεγέθει καὶ ἀλκῇ τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπερηρκότα. Κυμαῖοι δὲ οἱ ἐν Ὀπικοῖς συὸς ὀδόντας ἀνακειμένους παρὰ σφίσιν ἐν Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερῷ λόγῳ μὲν λέγουσιν ὡς οἱ ὀδόντες ὑὸς εἶεν τοῦ Ἐρυμανθίου, τῷ λόγῳ δὲ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ ἐπʼ ὀλίγον μέτεστι τοῦ εἰκότος.
Ψωφιδίοις δὲ ἐν τῇ πόλει τοῦτο μὲν Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν Ἐρυκίνης ἐστὶν ἐπίκλησιν— ἐρείπια ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἐλείπετο αὐτοῦ μόνα, ἐλέγοντο δὲ οἱ Ψωφῖδος αὐτὸ ἱδρύσασθαι παῖδες, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ εἰκὸς πρόσεστι· ἔστι γὰρ καὶ ἐν Σικελίᾳ τῆς Ἐρυκίνης ἱερὸν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῇ Ἔρυκος, ἁγιώτατόν τε ἐκ παλαιοτάτου καὶ οὐκ ἀποδέον πλούτῳ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ ἐν Πάφῳ—
Προμάχου δὲ καὶ Ἐχέφρονος τῶν Ψωφῖδος οὐκ ἐπιφανῆ κατʼ ἐμὲ ἔτι ἦν τὰ ἡρῷα. τέθαπται δὲ καὶ Ἀλκμαίων ἐν Ψωφῖδι ὁ Ἀμφιαράου, καί οἱ τὸ μνῆμά ἐστιν οἴκημα οὔτε μεγέθει μέγα οὔτε ἄλλως κεκοσμημένον· περὶ δὲ αὐτὸ κυπάρισσοι πεφύκασιν ἐς τοσοῦτον ὕψος ἀνήκουσαι, ὥστε καὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ πρὸς τῇ Ψωφῖδι κατεσκιάζετο ὑπʼ αὐτῶν. ταύτας οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν ἐκκόπτειν ἱερὰς τοῦ Ἀλκμαίωνος νομίζοντες· καλοῦνται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων παρθένοι.
ὁ δὲ Ἀλκμαίων ἡνίκα τὴν μητέρα ἀποκτείνας ἔφυγεν ἐξ Ἄργους, τότε ἐς τὴν Ψωφῖδα ἐλθών, Φηγίαν ἔτι ἀπὸ τοῦ Φηγέως ὀνομαζομένην, συνῴκησεν Ἀλφεσιβοίᾳ τῇ Φηγέως θυγατρὶ καὶ αὐτῇ δῶρα ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς καὶ ἄλλα καὶ τὸν ὅρμον δίδωσιν. ὡς δὲ οἰκοῦντι αὐτῷ παρὰ τοῖς Ἀρκάσιν οὐδὲν ἐγίνετο ἡ νόσος ῥᾴων, κατέφυγεν ἐπὶ τὸ μαντεῖον τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς, καὶ αὐτὸν ἡ Πυθία διδάσκει τὸν Ἐριφύλης ἀλάστορα ἐς ταύτην οἱ μόνην χώραν οὐ συνακολουθήσειν, ἥτις ἐστὶ νεωτάτη καὶ ἡ θάλασσα τοῦ μητρῴου μιάσματος ἀνέφηνεν ὕστερον αὐτήν.
καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐξευρὼν τοῦ Ἀχελῴου τὴν πρόσχωσιν ἐνταῦθα ᾤκησε, καὶ γυναῖκα ἔσχε Καλλιρόην τοῦ Ἀχελῴου θυγατέρα λόγῳ τῷ Ἀκαρνάνων, καί οἱ παῖδες Ἀκαρνάν τε καὶ Ἀμφότερος ἐγένοντο· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἀκαρνᾶνος τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ ταύτῃ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ νῦν γενέσθαι λέγουσι τὰ πρὸ τούτου Κούρησι καλουμένοις. ἐς ἐπιθυμίας δὲ ἀνοήτους πολλοὶ μὲν ἄνδρες, γυναῖκες δὲ ἔτι πλέον ἐξοκέλλουσιν.
ἐπεθύμησεν ἡ Καλλιρόη τῆς Ἐριφύλης οἱ γενέσθαι τὸν ὅρμον καὶ διʼ αὐτὸ ἐς τὴν Φηγίαν τὸν Ἀλκμαίωνα ἔστειλεν ἄκοντα, καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ Φηγέως τῶν παίδων Τημένου καὶ Ἀξίονος δολοφονηθέντα ἐπέλαβεν ἡ τελευτή. τοῦ Φηγέως δὲ οἱ παῖδες τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἀναθεῖναι τῷ ἐν Δελφοῖς λέγονται τὸν ὅρμον. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων βασιλευόντων ἐν Φηγίᾳ τότε ἔτι καλουμένῃ τῇ πόλει στρατεῦσαί φασιν Ἕλληνας ἐς Τροίαν· σφᾶς δὲ οἱ Ψωφίδιοι τοῦ στόλου φασὶν οὐ μετασχεῖν, ὅτι αὐτῶν τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν οἱ Ἀργείων ἀπηχθάνοντο ἡγεμόνες, κατὰ γένος τε τῷ Ἀλκμαίωνι οἱ πολλοὶ προσήκοντες καὶ τῆς ἐπιστρατείας αὐτῷ κοινωνήσαντες τῆς ἐς Θήβας.
τὰς δὲ Ἐχινάδας νήσους ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀχελῴου μὴ σφᾶς ἤπειρον ἄχρι ἡμῶν ἀπειργάσθαι γέγονε δὴ αἰτία τὸ Αἰτωλῶν ἔθνος, γεγόνασι δὲ αὐτοί τε ἀνάστατοι καὶ ἡ γῆ σφισι πᾶσα ἠρήμωται· ταῖς Ἐχινάσιν οὖν ἅτε ἀσπόρου μενούσης τῆς Αἰτωλίας οὐχ ὁμοίως ὁ Ἀχελῷος ἐπάγει τὴν ἰλύν. μαρτύριον δέ μοι τοῦ λόγου· ὁ γὰρ Μαίανδρος διὰ τῆς Φρυγῶν καὶ Καρῶν ἀρουμένης ὅσα ἔτη ῥέων τὴν μεταξὺ Πριήνης καὶ Μιλήτου θάλασσαν ἐν οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ πεποίηκεν ἤπειρον.
Ψωφιδίοις δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἐρυμάνθῳ ναός ἐστιν Ἐρυμάνθου καὶ ἄγαλμα. ποιεῖται δὲ πλὴν τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου Νείλου ποταμοῖς τοῖς ἄλλοις λίθου λευκοῦ τὰ ἀγάλματα· τῷ Νείλῳ δέ, ἅτε διὰ τῆς Αἰθιόπων κατιόντι ἐς θάλασσαν, μέλανος λίθου τὰ ἀγάλματα ἐργάζεσθαι νομίζουσιν.
ὃν δὲ ἤκουσα ἐν Ψωφῖδι ἐπὶ Ἀγλαῷ λόγον ἀνδρὶ Ψωφιδίῳ κατὰ Κροῖσον τὸν Λυδὸν ὄντι ἡλικίαν, ὡς ὁ Ἀγλαὸς τὸν χρόνον τοῦ βίου πάντα γένοιτο εὐδαίμων, οὔ με ἔπειθεν ὁ λόγος. ἀλλὰ ἀνθρώπων μὲν τῶν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κακὰ ἄν τις ἐλάσσονα ἀναδέξαιτο, καθὰ καὶ ναῦς ἧσσον ἂν χειμασθείη νεὼς ἄλλης·
ἄνδρα δὲ συμφορῶν ἀεὶ στάντα ἐκτὸς ἢ τὰ πάντα οὐρίῳ ναῦν χρησαμένην πνεύματι οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως δυνησόμεθα ἐξευρεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ὅμηρος κατακείμενον παρὰ τῷ Διὶ ἀγαθῶν πίθον, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον κακῶν ἐποίησεν, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς θεοῦ δεδιδαγμένος, ὃς αὐτόν ποτε Ὅμηρον κακοδαίμονά τε προσεῖπε καὶ ὄλβιον ὡς φύντα ἐπὶ ἀμφοτέροις ὁμοίως.
Some say that the founder of Psophis was Psophis, son of Arrhon, son of Erymanthus, son of Aristas, son of Parthaon, son of Periphetes, son of Nyctimus; but others say that Psophis was a daughter of Xanthus, son of Erymanthus, son of Arcas. This is the account given in the traditions of the Arcadians about their kings, but the real truth is that Psophis was a daughter of Eryx, who ruled in Sicania. Her... into the house deigned not, but left her, being with child, in charge of his friend Lycortas, who dwelt in the city of Phegia, which before the reign of Phegeus had been called Erymanthus. Being brought up here, Echephron and Promachus, the sons of Hercules by the Sicanian woman, changed the name of Phegia to Psophis, after their mother.
The acropolis of Zacynthus is also called Psophis, because a man of Psophis, Zacynthus, son of Dardanus, was the first who sailed across to the island and colonised it. Psophis is thirty furlongs from Sirae: beside it flows the river Aroanius, and the Erymanthus flows at a little distance from the city. The springs of the Erymanthus are in Mount Lampea, which is said to be sacred to Pan, and may be regarded as part of Mount Erymanthus. Homer says that in Taygetus and Erymanthus . . . a huntsman then... of Lampea, Erymanthus . .. and flowing through Arcadia, with Mount Pholoe on its right bank, and the district of Thelpusa on its left, it falls into the Alpheus. It is said that Hercules, by command of Eurystheus, hunted beside the Erymanthus a boar which had not its match for size and strength. The inhabitants of Cumae, in the land of the Opici, profess that the boar’s tusks which are preserved in the sanctuary of Apollo at Cumae are the tusks of the Erymanthian boar, but the assertion is without a shred of probability.
In the city of Psophis there is a sanctuary of Aphrodite surnamed Erycinian: only ruins of it now remain. It is said to have been founded by the sons of Psophis ; and the statement is probable, for there is also in the district of Eryx, in Sicily, a sanctuary of the Erycinian goddess, which from time immemorial has been esteemed most holy, and is not less wealthy than the sanctuary at Paphos. The shrines of the heroes Promachus and Echephron, sons of Psophis, were in my day no longer of any significance.
Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus, is also buried in Psophis. His tomb is a building neither large nor ornate; but cypresses grow round about it to such a height that the very mountain beside Psophis is overshadowed by them. These cypresses they deem sacred to Alcmaeon, and will not fell them: they are called Maidens by the natives. When Alcmaeon had slain his mother, he fled from Argos and came to Psophis, which was then still named Phegia after Phegeus. Here he wedded Alphesiboea, daughter of Phegeus, and amongst the presents which he naturally made her was the famous necklace. But as his disorder did not abate while he dwelt in Arcadia, he betook him to the oracle at Delphi, and the Pythian priestess told him that the only land whither the avenging spirit of Eriphyle would not dog him was the newest land, which the sea had uncovered since the pollution of his mother’s blood had been incurred. So he discovered the alluvial land formed by the Achelous, and he took up his abode there and wedded Callirhoe, daughter of Achelous, according to the Acarnanians; and two sons, Acarnan and Amphoterus, were born to him. They say that from Acarnan the people of this part of the mainland got their present name, having formerly been called Curetes. Many men and more women are shipwrecked on the shoal of foolish desires. Thus Callirhoe desired to get the necklace of Eriphyle ; therefore she sent Alcmaeon against his will to Phegia, and he was treacherously murdered by Temenus and Axion, the sons of Phegeus. These sons of Phegeus are said to have dedicated the necklace to Apollo at Delphi. They say that it was during their reign in Phegia, as the city was then still called, that the Greeks turned their arms against Troy. The Psophidians say that they did not share in that expedition because their kings were at enmity with the Argive leaders, most of whom were kinsmen of Alcmaeon, and had marched with him against Thebes.
That the Echinadian islands have not yet been joined to the mainland by the Achelous is due to the Aetolians; for they have been driven out, and the whole country has been turned into a wilderness. Hence Aetolia remaining untilled, the Achelous does not wash down so much mud on the Echinadian islands as it would otherwise do. In proof of this view I can point to the Maeander: flowing through the lands of Phrygia and Caria, which are ploughed every year, it has in a short time turned the sea between Priene and Miletus into dry land. 6. The Psophidians have also a temple of Erymanthus, with an image of him, beside the river Erymanthus. The images of all rivers except the Egyptian Nile are made of white marble; but because the Nile descends through the land of the Ethiopians on its way to the sea, the custom is to make his images of black stone. 7. I heard in Psophis a story of a man of Psophis called Aglaus, a contemporary of Croesus the Lydian. The story was that Aglaus had been happy all the days of his life; but I did not believe it. No doubt one man may have fewer ills to bear than the men of his time, just as one ship may be less buffeted by the tempest than another; but a man who has always been out of the reach of misfortune, or a ship that has always sailed with a fair breeze, is not to be found. Homer himself has represented a jar of blessings standing beside Zeus, and another jar of woes. This lesson he learned from the god at Delphi, who had called the poet himself both ill-starred and blessed, thus intimating that he was born to be both alike.
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