τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ ἐς μνήμην οὐδὲν ἄλλο ὅτι μὴ αὐτὸ τὸ Μεθύδριον λείπεται· ὁδὸς δὲ ἐκ Τρικολώνων ἐς αὐτὸ στάδιοι τριῶν δέοντες τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν. ὠνομάσθη μὲν δὴ Μεθύδριον, ὅτι κολωνός ἐστιν ὑψηλὸς Μαλοίτα τε ποταμοῦ καὶ Μυλάοντος μέσος, ἐφʼ ᾧ τὴν πόλιν ὁ Ὀρχομενὸς ᾤκιζε· πρὶν δὲ ἢ συντελεῖν ἐς τὸ Μεγαλοπολιτικόν, γεγόνασι καὶ Μεθυδριεῦσιν ἀνδράσιν Ὀλυμπικαὶ νῖκαι.
ἔστι δὲ ἐν Μεθυδρίῳ Ποσειδῶνός τε Ἱππίου ναός, οὗτος μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ Μυλάοντί ἐστι· τὸ δὲ ὄρος τὸ Θαυμάσιον καλούμενον κεῖται μὲν ὑπὲρ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Μαλοίταν, ἐθέλουσι δὲ οἱ Μεθυδριεῖς τὴν Ῥέαν, ἡνίκα τὸν Δία εἶχεν ἐν τῇ γαστρί, ἐς τοῦτο ἀφικέσθαι τὸ ὄρος, παρασκευάσασθαι δὲ αὑτῇ καὶ βοήθειαν, ἢν ὁ Κρόνος ἐπʼ αὐτὴν ἴῃ, τόν τε Ὁπλάδαμον καὶ ἄλλους ὅσοι περὶ ἐκεῖνον ἦσαν γίγαντες·
καὶ τεκεῖν μὲν συγχωροῦσιν αὐτὴν ἐν μοίρᾳ τινὶ τοῦ Λυκαίου, τὴν δὲ ἐς τὸν Κρόνον ἀπάτην καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν λεγομένην ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἀντίδοσιν τοῦ λίθου γενέσθαι φασὶν ἐνταῦθα. ἔστι δὲ πρὸς τῇ κορυφῇ τοῦ ὄρους σπήλαιον τῆς Ῥέας, καὶ ἐς αὐτὸ ὅτι μὴ γυναιξὶ μόναις ἱεραῖς τῆς θεοῦ ἀνθρώπων γε οὐδενὶ ἐσελθεῖν ἔστι τῶν ἄλλων.
Μεθυδρίου δὲ ὡς τριάκοντα ἀπέχει σταδίους Νυμφασία πηγή· τοσοῦτοι δὲ ἀπὸ Νυμφασίας ἕτεροι πρὸς τοὺς Μεγαλοπολιτῶν εἰσι καὶ Ὀρχομενίων τε κοινοὺς καὶ Καφυατῶν ὅρους.
Μεγαλοπολίταις δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ἕλος ὀνομαζομένων πυλῶν, διὰ τούτων ὁδεύουσιν ἐς Μαίναλον παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Ἑλισσόντα ἔστι τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ Ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ ναός· εἰ δὲ ἀγαθῶν οἱ θεοὶ δοτῆρές εἰσιν ἀνθρώποις, Ζεὺς δὲ ὕπατος θεῶν ἐστιν, ἑπόμενος ἄν τις τῷ λόγῳ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν ταύτην Διὸς τεκμαίροιτο εἶναι. προελθόντι δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἔστι μὲν γῆς χῶμα Ἀριστοδήμου τάφος, ὃν οὐδὲ τυραννοῦντα ἀφείλοντο μὴ ἐπονομάσαι Χρηστόν, ἔστι δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερὸν ἐπίκλησιν Μαχανίτιδος, ὅτι βουλευμάτων ἐστὶν ἡ θεὸς παντοίων καὶ ἐπιτεχνημάτων εὑρέτις.
πεποίηται δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ Βορέᾳ τῷ ἀνέμῳ τέμενος, καί οἱ Μεγαλοπολῖται θυσίας θύουσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος καὶ θεῶν οὐδενὸς Βορέαν ὕστερον ἄγουσιν ἐν τιμῇ, ἅτε σωτῆρα γενόμενόν σφισιν ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων τε καὶ Ἄγιδος. ἑξῆς δὲ Ὀικλέους τοῦ Ἀμφιαράου πατρὸς μνῆμά ἐστιν, εἴ γε δὴ ἐπέλαβεν αὐτὸν τὸ χρεὼν ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ καὶ μὴ τῆς ἐπὶ Λαομέδοντα Ἡρακλεῖ στρατείας μετασχόντα. μετὰ τοῦτό ἐστι Δήμητρος καλουμένης ἐν ἕλει ναός τε καὶ ἄλσος· τοῦτο σταδίοις πέντε ἀπωτέρω τῆς πόλεως, γυναιξὶ δὲ ἐς αὐτὸ ἔσοδός ἐστι μόναις.
τριάκοντα δέ ἐστιν ἀπωτέρω σταδίοις Παλίσκιος ὀνομαζομένη χώρα· ἐκ Παλισκίου δὲ ἀφιέντι μὲν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τὸν Ἔλαφον ὄντα οὐκ ἀέναον καὶ προελθόντι ὅσον εἴκοσι σταδίους, ἄλλα τε ἐρείπια Περαιθέων καὶ ἱερὸν λείπεται Πανός. ἢν δὲ τὸν χειμάρρουν διαβῇς, κατʼ εὐθὺ πέντε μὲν σταδίοις καὶ δέκα ἀπωτέρω τοῦ ποταμοῦ πεδίον ἐστί, διελθόντι δὲ τοῦτο, τὸ ὄρος ὁμώνυμον τῷ πεδίῳ τὸ Ναινάλιον. τοῦ δὲ ὄρους ὑπὸ τοῖς καταλήγουσι πόλεως σημεῖα Λυκόας καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστι χαλκοῦν Λυκοάτιδος·
ἐν δὲ τοῖς κατὰ μεσημβρίαν τοῦ ὄρους Σουμητία ᾤκιστο. ἐν τούτῳ δέ εἰσι τῷ ὄρει καὶ αἱ καλούμεναι Τρίοδοι, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ Ἀρκάδος τοῦ Καλλιστοῦς ἀνείλοντο ἐντεῦθεν κατὰ τὸ ἐκ Δελφῶν μάντευμα οἱ Μαντινεῖς. λείπεται δὲ καὶ αὐτῆς ἔτι ἐρείπια Μαινάλου, ναοῦ τε σημεῖα Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ στάδιον ἐς ἀθλητῶν ἀγῶνα καὶ τὸ ἕτερον αὐτῶν ἐς ἵππων δρόμον· τὸ δὲ ὄρος τὸ Μαινάλιον ἱερὸν μάλιστα εἶναι Πανὸς νομίζουσιν, ὥστε οἱ περὶ αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπακροᾶσθαι συρίζοντος τοῦ Πανὸς λέγουσι.
τοῦ δὲ τῆς Δεσποίνης ἱεροῦ καὶ Μεγαλοπολιτῶν τοῦ ἄστεως στάδιοι τεσσαράκοντα μεταξύ εἰσιν, ἥμισυ μὲν τῆς ὁδοῦ πρὸς τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ τὸ ῥεῦμα· διαβάντων δὲ μετὰ μὲν δύο ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ σταδίους Μακαρεῶν ἐστιν ἐρείπια, αὐτόθεν δὲ ἐς ἐρείπια ἄλλα τὰ Δασεῶν ἑπτά εἰσι στάδιοι, τοσοῦτοι δὲ ἐκ Δασεῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἀκακήσιον ὀνομαζόμενον λόφον.
ὑπὸ τούτῳ δὲ τῷ λόφῳ πόλις τε ἦν Ἀκακήσιον Ἑρμοῦ τε Ἀκακησίου λίθου πεποιημένον ἄγαλμα καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῦ λόφου, τραφῆναι δὲ Ἑρμῆν παῖδα αὐτόθι καὶ Ἄκακον τὸν Λυκάονος γενέσθαι οἱ τροφέα Ἀρκάδων ἐστὶν ἐς αὐτὸν λόγος· διάφορα δὲ τούτοις Θηβαῖοι καὶ αὖθις οὐχ ὁμολογοῦντα τοῖς Θηβαίων Ταναγραῖοι λέγουσιν.
After that there is nothing left to be mentioned except Methydrium itself. The road to it from Tricoloni measures a hundred and thirty-seven furlongs. It was named Methydrium (‘betwixt the waters’), because there is a high knoll between the river Maloetas and the Mylaon, and on this knoll Orchomenus founded the city. Before it belonged to Megalopolis, men of Methydrium had won Olympic victories.
In Methydrium is a temple of Horse Poseidon, which stands on the bank of the Mylaon. Mount Thaumasius (‘wonderful’), on the other hand, lies above the river Maloetas, and the Methydrians maintain that Rhea, when she was pregnant with Zeus, came to this mountain and assured herself of the protection of the giant Hopladamus and his fellows, in case Cronus should assail her. And while they grant that she gave birth to Zeus on some part of Mount Lycaeus, they assert that it was here the deceit was practised on Cronus, and here the alleged substitution of the stone for the child took place. At the top of the mountain is a grotto of Rhea, into which no human being may enter, save only women who are sacred to the goddess. It is about thirty furlongs from Methydrium to a spring, Nymphasia, and it is as many more from Nymphasia to the place where the boundaries of Megalopolis, Orchomenus, and Caphyae meet. 3. Passing through the gate of Megalopolis, which is named ‘the Gate to the Marsh,’ and journeying towards Maenalus by the bank of the Helisson, we see on the left of the road a temple of the Good God. If the gods are givers of good things to men, and Zeus is the supreme god, we may logically infer that this epithet is applied to Zeus. A little farther on is a mound of earth, the grave of Aristodemus, to whom, tyrant though he was, they did not refuse the surname of Good. There is also a sanctuary of Athena surnamed Contriver, because the goddess is the inventor of all sorts of plans and artifices.
On the right of the road is a precinct sacred to the North Wind, and the Megalopolitans offer sacrifices every year, and honour the North Wind as much as any god, because he saved them from Agis and the Lacedaemonians. Next is the tomb of Oicles, father of Amphiaraus, if indeed he died in Arcadia, and not on the expedition with Hercules against Laomedon. After it there is a temple and grove of Demeter, called Demeter in the Marsh: the place is five furlongs from the city, and women alone are allowed to enter it. Thirty furlongs farther is a place named Paliscius. Going on from Paliscius and leaving on the left the Elaphus, which is not a perennial stream, you come, after about twenty furlongs, to some ruins of Peraethenses, including a sanctuary of Pan.
If you cross the torrent and go straight on, you come to a plain fifteen furlongs from the river, and passing over this plain you reach the mountain which bears the same name as the plain, Mount Maenalus. At the skirts of the mountain are traces of a city Lycoa, and there is a sanctuary of Lycoan Artemis, with a bronze image of the goddess. On the southern side of the mountain once stood Sumetia. On this mountain are the so-called Meetings of Three Ways from which the Mantineans fetched the bones of Arcas, son of Callisto, in obedience to the Delphic oracle. Ruins of the city of (on) Maenalus still survive, to wit traces of a temple of Athena, a stadium for the contests of athletes, and another for horse-racing. Mount Maenalus is believed to be very sacred to Pan, and the people round about say they even hear Pan piping.
From the town of Megalopolis it is forty furlongs to the sanctuary of the Mistress. Half-way between the two we come to the stream of the Alpheus. Crossing it, and proceeding two furlongs, we come to the ruins of Macareae. From these ruins to the ruins of Daseae is a distance of seven furlongs, and it is another seven from Daseae to what is called the Acacesian Hill. At the foot of this hill there used to be a city Acacesium, and to this day there is an image of Acacesian Hermes, made of stone, on the hill. The Arcadians have a legend about the hill, that Hermes as a child was brought up here, and that Acacus, son of Lycaon, was the man who reared him. The Thebans have a different legend, and the Tanagraeans, again, have another legend, which is at variance with the Theban one.
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