Λυκούργου δὲ ἀποθανόντος Ἔχεμος ὁ Ἀερόπου τοῦ Κηφέως τοῦ Ἀλέου τὴν Ἀρκάδων ἔσχεν ἀρχήν. ἐπὶ τούτου Δωριεῖς κατιόντας ἐς Πελοπόννησον ὑπὸ ἡγεμόνι Ὕλλῳ τῷ Ἡρακλέους Ἀχαιοὶ περὶ ἰσθμὸν τὸν Κορινθίων κρατοῦσι μάχῃ, καὶ Ἔχεμος ἀποκτίννυσιν Ὕλλον μονομαχήσαντά οἱ κατὰ πρόκλησιν. τάδε γὰρ ἐφαίνετο εἰκότα εἶναί μοι μᾶλλον ἢ ὁ πρότερος λόγος, ἐν ᾧ βασιλεύειν τε Ἀχαιῶν τηνικαῦτα Ὀρέστην ἔγραψα καὶ Ὕλλον Ὀρέστου βασιλεύοντος ἀποπειρᾶσαι καθόδου τῆς ἐς Πελοπόννησον. φαίνοιτο δʼ ἂν τῷ ὑστέρῳ τῶν λόγων καὶ Τιμάνδρα συνοικήσασα ἡ Τυνδάρεω τῷ ἀποκτείναντι Ὕλλον Ἐχέμῳ.
Ἀγαπήνωρ δὲ ὁ Ἀγκαίου τοῦ Λυκούργου μετὰ Ἔχεμον βασιλεύσας ἐς Τροίαν ἡγήσατο Ἀρκάσιν. Ἰλίου δὲ ἁλούσης ὁ τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν τὸν οἴκαδε ἐπιγενόμενος χειμὼν Ἀγαπήνορα καὶ τὸ Ἀρκάδων ναυτικὸν κατήνεγκεν ἐς Κύπρον, καὶ Πάφου τε Ἀγαπήνωρ ἐγένετο οἰκιστὴς καὶ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης κατεσκευάσατο ἐν Παλαιπάφῳ τὸ ἱερόν· τέως δὲ ἡ θεὸς παρὰ Κυπρίων τιμὰς εἶχεν ἐν Γολγοῖς καλουμένῳ χωρίῳ.
χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Λαοδίκη γεγονυῖα ἀπὸ Ἀγαπήνορος ἔπεμψεν ἐς Τεγέαν τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ τῇ Ἀλέᾳ πέπλον· τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναθήματι ἐπίγραμμα καὶ αὐτῆς Λαοδίκης ἅμα ἐδήλου τὸ γένος· Λαοδίκης ὅδε πέπλος· ἑᾷ δʼ ἀνέθηκεν Ἀθηνᾷ / πατρίδʼ ἐς εὐρύχορον Κύπρου ἀπὸ ζαθέας. / Ἀγαπήνορος δὲ οὐκ ἀνασωθέντος οἴκαδε ἐξ Ἰλίου,
παρέλαβε τὴν ἀρχὴν Ἱππόθους Κερκυόνος τοῦ Ἀγαμήδους τοῦ Στυμφήλου. καὶ τῷ μὲν ἐπιφανὲς συμβῆναι παρὰ τὸν βίον φασὶν οὐδέν, πλὴν ὅσον οὐκ ἐν Τεγέᾳ τὴν βασιλείαν κατεστήσατο ἀλλὰ ἐν Τραπεζοῦντι· Αἴπυτος δὲ ὁ Ἱππόθου μετὰ τὸν πατέρα ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν, καὶ Ὀρέστης ὁ Ἀγαμέμνονος κατὰ μαντείαν τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς Ἀπόλλωνος μετῴκησεν ἐς Ἀρκαδίαν ἐκ Μυκηνῶν.
Αἰπύτῳ δὲ τῷ Ἱππόθου παρελθεῖν ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος τὸ ἐν Μαντινείᾳ τολμήσαντι— ἔσοδος δὲ ἀνθρώποις οὔτε τότε ἐς αὐτὸ ἦν οὔτε ἄχρι ἡμῶν ἔστιν—, ἐς τοῦτο ἐσελθόντι τυφλωθῆναι καὶ οὐ μετὰ πολὺ τῆς συμφορᾶς τελευτῆσαί οἱ τὸν βίον ἐγένετο.
Κυψέλου δὲ τοῦ Αἰπύτου βασιλεύοντος μετὰ Αἴπυτον, ὁ Δωριέων στόλος οὐ διὰ τοῦ Κορινθίων ἰσθμοῦ, καθὰ ἐπὶ τρεῖς τὰς πρότερον γενεάς, ναυσὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸ ὀνομαζόμενον Ῥίον κάτεισιν ἐς Πελοπόννησον· πυνθανόμενός τε τὰ ἐς αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύψελος, ὃν τῶν Ἀριστομάχου παίδων οὐκ ἔχοντά πω γυναῖκα εὕρισκε, τούτῳ τὴν θυγατέρα ἐκδοὺς καὶ οἰκειωσάμενος τὸν Κρεσφόντην αὐτός τε καὶ οἱ Ἀρκάδες ἐκτὸς ἑστήκεσαν δείματος.
Ὁλαίας δὲ ἦν Κυψέλου παῖς, ὃς καὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς τὸν παῖδα Αἴπυτον, σὺν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος καὶ Ἄργους Ἡρακλεῖδαι κατάγουσιν ἐς Μεσσήνην. τοῦ δὲ ἦν Βουκολίων, τοῦ δὲ Φίαλος, ὃς τὸν Λυκάονος Φίγαλον οἰκιστὴν ὄντα ἀφελόμενος τὴν τιμὴν Φιαλίαν τὸ ὄνομα τῇ πόλει μετέθετο ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ· οὐ μὴν καὶ ἐς ἅπαν γε ἐξενίκησεν.
ἐπὶ δὲ Σίμου τοῦ Φιάλου βασιλεύοντος ἠφανίσθη Φιγαλεῦσιν ὑπὸ πυρὸς τῆς Μελαίνης Δήμητρος τὸ ἀρχαῖον ξόανον· ἐσήμαινε δὲ ἄρα οὐ μετὰ πολὺ ἔσεσθαι καὶ αὐτῷ Σίμῳ τοῦ βίου τὴν τελευτήν. Πόμπου δὲ ἐκδεξαμένου τοῦ Σίμου τὴν ἀρχήν, Αἰγινῆται κατὰ ἐμπορίαν ἐσέπλεον ναυσὶν ἐς Κυλλήνην, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ὑποζυγίοις τὰ φορτία ἀνῆγον παρὰ τοὺς Ἀρκάδας. ἀντὶ τούτου ἐτίμησεν ὁ Πόμπος μεγάλως, καὶ δὴ καὶ ὄνομα Αἰγινήτην τῷ παιδὶ ἔθετο ἐπὶ τῶν Αἰγινητῶν τῇ φιλίᾳ.
μετὰ δὲ Αἰγινήτην Πολυμήστωρ ἐγένετο ὁ Αἰγινήτου βασιλεὺς Ἀρκάδων, καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ Χάριλλος πρῶτον τότε ἐς τὴν Τεγεατῶν ἐσβάλλουσι στρατιᾷ· καὶ σφᾶς αὐτοί τε οἱ Τεγεᾶται καὶ γυναῖκες ὅπλα ἐνδῦσαι μάχῃ νικῶσι, καὶ τόν τε ἄλλον στρατὸν καὶ αὐτὸν Χάριλλον ζῶντα αἱροῦσι. Χαρίλλου μὲν δὴ καὶ τῆς σὺν αὐτῷ στρατιᾶς ἐς πλέον μνήμην ποιησόμεθα ἐν τοῖς Τεγεατικοῖς·
Πολυμήστορι δὲ οὐ γενομένων παίδων παρέλαβεν Αἶχμις τὴν ἀρχήν, Βριάκα μὲν παῖς, Πολυμήστορος δὲ ἀδελφιδοῦς· Αἰγινήτου γὰρ ἦν καὶ Βριάκας, νεώτερος δὲ ἦν Πολυμήστορος. Αἴχμιδος δὲ βασιλεύσαντος Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐγένετο ὁ πρὸς Μεσσηνίους πόλεμος· τοῖς δὲ Ἀρκάσιν ὑπῆρχε μὲν ἐς τοὺς Μεσσηνίους εὔνοια ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τότε δὲ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐμαχέσαντο μετὰ Ἀριστοδήμου βασιλεύοντος ἐν Μεσσήνῃ.
Ἀριστοκράτης δὲ ὁ Αἴχμιδος τάχα μέν που καὶ ἄλλα ἐς τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ὕβρισεν· ἃ δὲ ἀνοσιώτατα ἔργων ἐς θεοὺς ἐργασάμενον οἶδα αὐτόν, ἐπέξεισί μοι ταῦτα ὁ λόγος. ἔστιν Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν Ὑμνίας ἐπίκλησιν. τοῦτο ἐν ὅροις μέν ἐστιν Ὀρχομενίων, πρὸς δὲ τῇ Μαντινικῇ· σέβουσιν ἐκ παλαιοτάτου καὶ οἱ πάντες Ἀρκάδες Ὑμνίαν Ἄρτεμιν. ἐλάμβανε δὲ τὴν ἱερωσύνην τῆς θεοῦ τότε ἔτι κόρη παρθένος.
Ἀριστοκράτης δέ, ὥς οἱ πειρῶντι τὴν παρθένον ἀντέβαινεν ἀεὶ τὰ παρʼ αὐτῆς, τέλος καταφυγοῦσαν ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν παρὰ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι ᾔσχυνεν. ὡς δὲ ἐς ἅπαντας ἐξηγγέλθη τὸ τόλμημα, τὸν μὲν καταλιθοῦσιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες, μετεβλήθη δὲ ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ ὁ νόμος· ἀντὶ γὰρ παρθένου διδόασι τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι ἱέρειαν γυναῖκα ὁμιλίας ἀνδρῶν ἀποχρώντως ἔχουσαν.
τούτου δὲ υἱὸς ἐγένετο Ἱκέτας, Ἱκέτα δὲ Ἀριστοκράτης ἄλλος ὁμώνυμός τε τῷ προγόνῳ καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦ βίου τὴν αὐτὴν ἔσχεν ἐκείνῳ τελευτήν· κατελίθωσαν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτον οἱ Ἀρκάδες, φωράσαντες δῶρα ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος εἰληφότα καὶ Μεσσηνίοις τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ Μεγάλῃ τάφρῳ πταῖσμα προδοσίαν τοῦ Ἀριστοκράτους οὖσαν. αὕτη δὲ ἡ ἀδικία καὶ τῷ γένει τῷ ἀπὸ Κυψέλου παντὶ παρέσχεν αἰτίαν παυσθῆναι τῆς ἀρχῆς.
When Lycurgus died, Echemus, son of Aeropus, son of Cepheus, son of Aleus, became sovereign of Arcadia. In his time the Dorians, in attempting to return to Peloponnese under the leadership of Hyllus, son of Hercules, were defeated in battle by the Achaeans at the Isthmus of Corinth, and Hyllus was slain in single combat by Echemus, whom he had challenged. This appears to me a more probable account than the one I gave formerly. I said, namely, that Orestes was king of Achaia at the time, and that it was in his reign that Hyllus attempted to return to Peloponnese. Adopting this second version, it would appear that Timandra, daughter of Tyndareus, married Echemus, who slew Hyllus.
Agapenor, son of Ancaeus, son of Lycurgus, reigned after Echemus, and led the Arcadians to Troy. After the taking of Ilium, the storm that overtook the Greeks on their homeward voyage carried Agapenor and the Arcadian fleet to Cyprus, where Agapenor founded Paphos, and built the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Old Paphos: up to that time the goddess had been worshipped by the Cyprians in a place called Golgi. Afterwards Laodice, a descendant of Agapenor, sent a robe to Athena Alea at Tegea: the inscription on the offering indicated at the same time Laodice’s own descent :— This is the robe of Laodice: she dedicated it to her Athena, Sending it to her broad fatherland from holy Cyprus. 3. As Agapenor did not come home from Ilium, the kingdom devolved on Hippothus, son of Cercyon, son of Agamedes, son of Stymphalus. They say that his life was marked by no particular event except that he set up his kingdom, not at Tegea, but at Trapezus. He was succeeded by his son Aepytus; and Orestes, son of Agamemnon, in obedience to an oracle given by Apollo at Delphi, migrated from Mycenae to Arcadia. Having dared to enter the sanctuary of Poseidon at Mantinea, entrance to which was then and is still forbidden, Aepytus was struck blind, and died not long afterwards. 4. He was succeeded by his son Cypselus, in whose reign the Dorian host came back to Peloponnese. This time they came, not by the Isthmus of Corinth, as they had done three generations before, but in ships to Rhium. Learning of their arrival, Cypselus gave his daughter in marriage to the son of Aristomachus whom he found to be still unprovided with a wife, and by thus attaching Cresphontes to his interests secured himself and the Arcadians from all risk.
Cypselus had a son Holaeas, who, along with the Heraclids of Lacedaemon and Argos, restored his sister’s son, Aepytus, to Messene. Holaeas was the father of Bucolion, who was the father of Phialus, who deprived Phigalus, son of Lycaon, of his honour as founder of Phigalia, by giving to that city the new name of Phialia, after himself; however, the new name did not gain exclusive currency. In the reign of Simus, son of Phialus, the ancient wooden image of Black Demeter at Phigalia was destroyed by fire; which, as it turned out, was an omen that Simus himself was soon to die. Pompus having succeeded Simus on the throne, the Aeginetans made trading voyages to Cyllene, and thence carried their wares up the country on the backs of beasts to Arcadia. For this service Pompus honoured them greatly, and bestowed on his son the name of Aeginetes, to mark his friendship for them.
Aeginetes was succeeded on the throne of Arcadia by his son, Polymestor, in whose reign the Lacedaemonians, under Charillus, first invaded the territory of Tegea. The Tegeans, women as well as men, donned their armour, and defeated the Lacedaemonians, taking prisoner Charillus and the whole of his army. I shall have to make more mention of Charillus and his army in my account of Tegea. Polymestor, being childless, was succeeded by his nephew, Aechmis, son of Briacas; for Briacas was another son of Aeginetes, but younger than Polymestor.
After Aechmis had come to the throne the Lacedaemonians became involved in the war with Messenia. From the first the Arcadians had been friendly to the Messenians, and they now openly fought on the side of Aristodemus, king of Messenia, against the Lacedaemonians.
Aechmis’ son, Aristocrates, perhaps perpetrated outrages upon the Arcadians; but certainly toward the gods he was guilty of the most impious sacrilege, as I shall now relate. There is a sanctuary of Artemis surnamed Hymnia, which stands on the boundaries of Orchomenus, near the territory of Mantinea. From time immemorial all the Arcadians have worshipped Artemis Hymnia. At the time of which I speak the rule still obtained that the priesthood of the goddess must be held by a young virgin. Aristocrates essayed to seduce the girl, and being always rebuffed by her he at last violated her in the sanctuary of Artemis, where she had taken refuge. When the crime was noised abroad, the Arcadians stoned him to death, and from that time the custom was altered; for, instead of a virgin, they now appoint as priestess of Artemis a woman who has had enough of the company of men.
Aristocrates had a son Hicetas, and Hicetas had a son who bore the same name as his ancestor, Aristocrates, and came to a like end; for he, too, was stoned to death by the Arcadians, who found that he had accepted bribes from Lacedaemon, and that the defeat of the Messenians at the Great Trench had been due to his treachery. By this crime the whole race of Cypselus forfeited the kingdom.
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