Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ καὶ Τεγεάταις ὅροι τῆς γῆς ὁ ποταμός ἐστιν ὁ Ἀλφειός. τούτου τὸ ὕδωρ ἄρχεται μὲν ἐν Φυλάκῃ, κάτεισι δὲ οὐ πόρρω τῆς πηγῆς καὶ ἄλλο ὕδωρ ἐς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ πηγῶν μεγέθει μὲν οὐ μεγάλων, πλεόνων δὲ ἀριθμόν· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῷ χωρίῳ Σύμβολα γέγονεν ὄνομα.
φαίνεται δὲ ὁ Ἀλφειὸς παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ποταμοὺς φύσιν τινὰ ἰδίαν παρεχόμενος τοιάνδε· ἀφανίζεσθαί τε γὰρ κατὰ γῆς ἐθέλει πολλάκις καὶ αὖθις ἀναφαίνεσθαι. προελθὼν μέν γε ἐκ Φυλάκης καὶ τῶν καλουμένων Συμβόλων ἐς τὸ πεδίον κατέδυ τὸ Τεγεατικόν· ἀνατείλας δὲ ἐν Ἀσέᾳ καὶ τὸ ῥεῦμα ἀναμίξας τῷ Εὐρώτᾳ τὸ δεύτερον ἤδη κάτεισιν ἐς τὴν γῆν·
ἀνασχὼν δὲ ἔνθα Πηγὰς ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες καὶ παρὰ γῆν τε τὴν Πισαίαν καὶ παρὰ Ὀλυμπίαν ἐξελθών, ἐκδίδωσιν ὑπὲρ Κυλλήνης ἐπινείου τοῦ Ἠλείων ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν. ἔμελλε δὲ ἄρα μηδὲ Ἀδρίας ἐπισχήσειν αὐτὸν τοῦ πρόσω· διανηξάμενος δὲ καὶ τοῦτον, μέγα οὕτω καὶ βίαιον πέλαγος, ἐν Ὀρτυγίᾳ τῇ πρὸ Συρακουσῶν ἐπιδείκνυσιν Ἀλφειός τε ὢν καὶ πρὸς Ἀρέθουσαν τὸ ὕδωρ ἀνακοινούμενος.
ἡ δὲ εὐθεῖα ἡ ἐπὶ Θυρέαν τε καὶ κώμας τὰς ἐν τῇ Θυρεάτιδι ἐκ Τεγέας παρείχετο ἐς συγγραφὴν Ὀρέστου τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος μνῆμα, καὶ ὑφελέσθαι Σπαρτιάτην τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτόθεν οἱ Τεγεᾶται λέγουσι· καθʼ ἡμᾶς δὲ οὐκέτι πυλῶν ἐντὸς ἐγίνετο ὁ τάφος. ῥεῖ δὲ καὶ Γαράτης ποταμὸς κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν· διαβάντι δὲ τὸν Γαράτην καὶ προελθόντι σταδίους δέκα Πανός ἐστιν ἱερὸν καὶ πρὸς αὐτῷ δρῦς, ἱερὰ καὶ αὕτη τοῦ Πανός.
ἡ δὲ ἐς Ἄργος ἐκ Τεγέας ὀχήματι ἐπιτηδειοτάτη καὶ τὰ μάλιστά ἐστι λεωφόρος. ἔστι δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ πρῶτα μὲν ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμα Ἀσκληπιοῦ· μετὰ δὲ ἐκτραπεῖσιν ἐς ἀριστερὰ ὅσον στάδιον Ἀπόλλωνος ἐπίκλησιν Πυθίου καταλελυμένον ἐστὶν ἱερὸν καὶ ἐρείπια ἐς ἅπαν. κατὰ δὲ τὴν εὐθεῖαν αἵ τε δρῦς εἰσι πολλαὶ καὶ Δήμητρος ἐν τῷ ἄλσει τῶν δρυῶν ναὸς ἐν Κορυθεῦσι καλουμένης· πλησίον δὲ ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἱερὸν Διονύσου Μύστου.
τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ ἄρχεται τὸ ὄρος τὸ Παρθένιον· ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ τέμενος δείκνυται Τηλέφου, καὶ ἐνταῦθα παῖδα ἐκκείμενόν φασιν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ ἐλάφου τραφῆναι. ἀπωτέρω δὲ ὀλίγον Πανός ἐστιν ἱερόν, ἔνθα Φιλιππίδῃ φανῆναι τὸν Πᾶνα καὶ εἰπεῖν ἃ πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἀθηναῖοί τε καὶ κατὰ ταὐτὰ Τεγεᾶται λέγουσι·
παρέχεται δὲ τὸ Παρθένιον καὶ ἐς λύρας ποίησιν χελώνας ἐπιτηδειοτάτας, ἃς οἱ περὶ τὸ ὄρος ἄνθρωποι καὶ αὐτοὶ λαμβάνειν δεδοίκασιν ἀεὶ καὶ ξένους οὐ περιορῶσιν αἱροῦντας· ἱερὰς γὰρ σφᾶς εἶναι τοῦ Πανὸς ἥγηνται. ὑπερβαλόντι δὲ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ ὄρους ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς ἤδη γεωργουμένοις Τεγεατῶν ὅρος καὶ Ἀργείων κατὰ Ὑσιὰς τὰς ἐν τῇ Ἀργολίδι. αἵδε μὲν Πελοποννήσου μοῖραι καὶ πόλεις τε ἐν ταῖς μοίραις καὶ ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει τὰ ἀξιολογώτατά ἐστιν ἐς μνήμην.
The river Alpheus is the boundary between the lands of Lacedaemon and Tegea. Its water rises at Phylace, but not far from its source it is joined by another water from a number of small springs, and so the place has got the name of Symbola (‘meetings’).
It is well known that the Alpheus is distinguished from all other rivers by the following natural peculiarity: it often vanishes underground and reappears again. Thus, after proceeding onward from Phylace and the place called Symbola, it sinks underground in the Tegean plain : it rises again in Asea, and after uniting its stream with the Eurotas, descends for the second time into the earth. It comes up at the spot which the Arcadians call Pegae (‘springs’), and flowing past the land of Pisa and past Olympia it falls into the sea above Cyllene, the port of Elis. Even the Adriatic could not stop its onward course: it flows through that wide and stormy sea, and in the isle of Ortygia, off Syracuse, it shows that it is the true Alpheus, and blends its water with Arethusa.
On the straight road that leads from Tegea to Thyrea and the villages of that district, we may note the tomb of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon: it was from here, say the Tegeans, that a Spartan stole his bones. In our time the grave is no longer within the gates. The river Garates flows beside the road. Crossing it and going ten furlongs farther you come to a sanctuary of Pan, and beside it is an oak-tree, which is also sacred to Pan.
The road from Tegea to Argos is an excellent carriage-road, and quite a highway. On this road there is first a temple of Aesculapius with an image of him; next, turning off to the left for about a furlong, we come to a dilapidated sanctuary of Pythian Apollo, entirely in ruins. On the straight road the oak-trees are numerous and in the oak grove is a temple of Demeter, called ‘Demeter in Corythenses’: near it is another sanctuary, that of Mystic Dionysus. 5. After this begins Mount Parthenius. On it is shown a precinct of Telephus, and they say that here in his childhood he was exposed and was nourished by a doe. A little way off is a sanctuary of Pan, where the Athenians and Tegeans agree that Pan appeared to Philippides and spoke with him. On Mount Parthenius there are tortoises, which are well fitted for making lyres of ; but the men of the mountain fear to catch them, and will not allow strangers to do so either, for they think that the tortoises are sacred to Pan. When you have passed over the top of the mountain and reached the arable land you come to the boundary between Tegea and Argos: it is at Hysiae, which belongs to Argolis. These are the divisions of Peloponnese, and the cities in the divisions, and the most memorable things in each city.
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