παρὰ δὲ τὴν Λυκόσουραν ὡς ἐπὶ ἡλίου δυσμὰς ποταμὸς Πλατανιστὼν παρέξεισιν· ἀνδρὶ δὲ ἰόντι ἐς Φιγαλίαν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα διαβῆναι τὸν Πλατανιστῶνα, μετὰ δὲ αὐτόν ἐστιν ἄνοδος ὅσον τε σταδίους τριάκοντα ἢ πλείους τῶν τριάκοντα οὐ πολλῷ.
τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸν Λυκάονος Φίγαλον—οὗτος γὰρ δὴ τῇ πόλει τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐγένετο οἰκιστής—καὶ ὡς μετέβαλεν ἀνὰ χρόνον ἀπὸ Φιάλου Βουκολίωνος τὸ ὄνομα ἡ πόλις καὶ αὖθις ἀνεσώσατο τὸ ἀρχαῖον, τόδε μὲν καὶ πρότερον ἔτι ἐσήμαινεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος· λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα οὐκ ἀξιόχρεα ἐς πίστιν, ἄνδρα αὐτόχθονα εἶναι τὸν Φίγαλον καὶ οὐ Λυκάονος παῖδα· τοῖς δὲ εἰρημένον ἐστὶν ὡς ἡ Φιγαλία νύμφη τῶν καλουμένων εἴη Δρυάδων.
Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἡνίκα Ἀρκάσιν ἐπεχείρησαν καὶ ἐσέβαλον ἐς τὴν Φιγαλίαν στρατιᾷ, μάχῃ τε νικῶσι τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους καὶ ἐπολιόρκουν προσκαθεζόμενοι· κινδυνεύοντος δὲ ἁλῶναι τοῦ τείχους ἐκδιδράσκουσιν οἱ Φιγαλεῖς, ἢ καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι σφᾶς ἀφιᾶσιν ἐξελθεῖν ὑποσπόνδους. ἐγένετο δὲ ἡ τῆς Φιγαλίας ἅλωσις καὶ Φιγαλέων ἡ ἐξ αὐτῆς φυγὴ Μιλτιάδου μὲν Ἀθήνῃσιν ἄρχοντος, δευτέρῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς τριακοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν Χίονις Λάκων ἐνίκα τὸ τρίτον.
Φιγαλέων δὲ τοῖς διαπεφευγόσιν ἔδοξεν ἀφικομένοις ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐρωτᾶν ὑπὲρ καθόδου τὸν θεόν· καί σφισιν ἡ Πυθία καθʼ αὑτοὺς μὲν πειρωμένοις ἐς Φιγαλίαν κατελθεῖν οὐχ ὁρᾶν ἔφη κάθοδον, εἰ δὲ λογάδας ἑκατὸν ἐξ Ὀρεσθασίου προσλάβοιεν, τοὺς μὲν ἀποθανεῖσθαι παρὰ τὴν μάχην, Φιγαλεῦσι δὲ ἔσεσθαι διʼ αὐτῶν κάθοδον. Ὀρεσθάσιοι δὲ ὡς τὴν γενομένην τοῖς Φιγαλεῦσιν ἐπύθοντο μαντείαν, ἄλλος ἔφθανεν ἄλλον σπουδῇ λογάδων τε τῶν ἑκατὸν αὐτὸς ἕκαστος γενέσθαι καὶ ἐξόδου τῆς ἐς Φιγαλίαν μετασχεῖν.
παρελθόντες δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων φρουρὰν ἄγουσιν ἐς πάντα ἐπὶ τέλος τὸν χρησμόν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς λόγου μαχεσαμένοις ἀξίως ἐπεγένετο ἡ τελευτὴ καὶ ἐξελάσαντες τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας παρέσχον Φιγαλεῦσιν ἀπολαβεῖν τὴν πατρίδα. κεῖται δὲ ἡ Φιγαλία ἐπὶ μετεώρου μὲν καὶ ἀποτόμου τὰ πλέονα, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κρημνῶν ᾠκοδομημένα ἐστὶ τείχη σφίσιν· ἀνελθόντι δὲ ὁμαλής ἐστιν ὁ λόφος ἤδη καὶ ἐπίπεδος. ἔστι δὲ Σωτείρας τε ἱερὸν ἐνταῦθα Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν λίθου· ἐκ τούτου δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ τὰς πομπάς σφισι πέμπειν κατέστη.
ἐν δὲ τῷ γυμνασίῳ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ ἀμπεχομένῳ μὲν ἔοικεν ἱμάτιον, καταλήγει δὲ οὐκ ἐς πόδας, ἀλλὰ ἐς τὸ τετράγωνον σχῆμα. πεποίηται δὲ καὶ Διονύσου ναός· ἐπίκλησις μέν ἐστιν αὐτῷ παρὰ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων Ἀκρατοφόρος, τὰ κάτω δὲ οὐκ ἔστι σύνοπτα τοῦ ἀγάλματος ὑπὸ δάφνης τε φύλλων καὶ κισσῶν. ὁπόσον δὲ αὐτοῦ καθορᾶν ἔστιν, ἐπαλήλιπται κιννάβαρι ἐκλάμπειν· εὑρίσκεσθαι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰβήρων ὁμοῦ τῷ χρυσῷ λέγεται.
Past Lycosura, on its western side, flows the river Plataniston: any one going to Phigalia must necessarily cross it. After it you ascend for about thirty furlongs or a little more.
I have already told the story of Phigalus, son of Lycaon, the original founder of the city, and how in course of time the city changed its name and was called after Phialus, son of Bucolion, and how it recovered its old name again. Another tradition, unworthy of credit, is that Phigalus was an aboriginal, and not a son of Lycaon; and it has been affirmed by some that Phigalia was one of the nymphs called Dryads. When the Lacedaemonians attacked the Arcadians and invaded Phigalia with an army, they defeated the natives in battle and laid siege to the town. When the walls were in danger of being taken the Phigalians made their escape, or capitulated and were allowed by the Lacedaemonians to march out. The capture of Phigalia and the flight of the people from the town took place when Miltiades was archon at Athens, in the second year of the thirtieth Olympiad, in which Chionis, a Laconian, was victorious for the third time. The Phigalians who escaped resolved to go to Delphi and ask the god how they might be restored to their own country. The Pythian priestess answered that she saw no restoration for them if they tried to return to Phigalia by themselves, but that if they took with them a hundred picked men from Oresthasium, these latter would fall in the battle, and the Phigalians would by their means effect their own restoration. When the Oresthasians heard of the oracle that had been given to the Phigalians, every man vied with his neighbour who should be of the picked hundred and take part in the expedition to Phigalia. They advanced against the Lacedaemonian garrison and fulfilled the oracle to the letter, for they met a glorious death in battle, and by expelling the Spartans allowed the Phigalians to recover their native country.
Phigalia stands on high and mostly precipitous ground, and the walls are built on the cliffs; but when you have reached the top, the hill is flat and level. Here there is a sanctuary of Saviour Artemis with a standing image of stone. From this sanctuary it is the custom for the processions to start.
The image of Hermes in the gymnasium represents him clad in a robe; however, it is not a full-length figure, but ends in the square form. There is also a temple of Dionysus, who is surnamed Acratophorus (‘bearer of neat wine’) by the inhabitants. The lower part of the image is hidden in laurel-leaves and ivy. All of it that is visible is painted with cinnabar to shine: it is said to be found by the Iberians along with the gold.
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