ἔδει δὲ ἄρα παυσθῆναι καὶ τὸ Ἄλμου γένος· οὐχ ὑπολείπεται γὰρ παῖδα Ὀρχομενός, καὶ οὕτως ἐς Κλύμενον τὸν Πρέσβωνος τοῦ Φρίξου περιῆλθεν ἡ ἀρχή. Κλυμένου δὲ γίνονται παῖδες, πρεσβύτατος μὲν Ἐργῖνος, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτῷ Στράτιος καὶ Ἄρρων καὶ Πύλεος, νεώτατος δὲ Ἀζεύς. Κλύμενον μὲν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ τοῦ Ὀγχηστίου Ποσειδῶνος Θηβαίων φονεύουσιν ἄνδρες ἐξ ἀφορμῆς μικρᾶς ἐς ἅπαν θυμοῦ προαχθέντες· Ἐργῖνος δὲ ὁ πρεσβύτατος τῶν Κλυμένου παίδων τὴν βασιλείαν παραλαμβάνει.
δύναμιν δὲ αὐτίκα αὐτός τε καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ συλλέξαντες ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας· καὶ μάχῃ μὲν ἐκράτησαν, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου χωροῦσιν ἐς ὁμολογίαν Θηβαίους κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον τελεῖν δασμὸν τοῦ Κλυμένου φόνου. Ἡρακλέους δὲ ἐπιτραφέντος ἐν Θήβαις, οὕτω τοῦ δασμοῦ τε ἠλευθερώθησαν οἱ Θηβαῖοι καὶ οἱ Μινύαι μεγάλως τῷ πολέμῳ προσέπταισαν·
Ἐργῖνος δὲ ἅτε κεκακωμένων ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον τῶν πολιτῶν πρὸς μὲν τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐποιήσατο εἰρήνην, πλοῦτον δὲ τὸν πρότερον καὶ εὐδαιμονίαν ἐκείνην ἀνασώσασθαι ζητῶν ἠμέλησεν ἁπάντων ὁμοίως τῶν ἄλλων, ὥστε καὶ ἔλαθεν ἄγαμος καὶ ἄπαις ἀφικόμενος ἐς γῆρας. ὡς δὲ αὐτῷ χρήματα συνείλεκτο, ἐνταῦθα ἐπεθύμησέν οἱ γενέσθαι παῖδας·
ἐλθόντι δὲ ἐς Δελφοὺς καὶ ἐρομένῳ περὶ παίδων χρᾷ τάδε ἡ Πυθία· Ἐργῖνε Κλυμένοιο πάι Πρεσβωνιάδαο, / ὄψʼ ἦλθες γενεὴν διζήμενος, ἀλλʼ ἔτι καὶ νῦν / ἱστοβοῆι γέροντι νέην ποτίβαλλε κορώνην. / λαβόντι δὲ αὐτῷ νέαν γυναῖκα κατὰ τὸ μάντευμα Τροφώνιος γίνεται καὶ Ἀγαμήδης.
λέγεται δὲ ὁ Τροφώνιος Ἀπόλλωνος εἶναι καὶ οὐκ Ἐργίνου· καὶ ἐγώ τε πείθομαι καὶ ὅστις παρὰ Τροφώνιον ἦλθε δὴ μαντευσόμενος. τούτους φασίν, ὡς ηὐξήθησαν, γενέσθαι δεινοὺς θεοῖς τε ἱερὰ κατασκευάσασθαι καὶ βασίλεια ἀνθρώποις· καὶ γὰρ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι τὸν ναὸν ᾠκοδόμησαν τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς καὶ Ὑριεῖ τὸν θησαυρόν. ἐποίησαν δὲ ἐνταῦθα τῶν λίθων ἕνα εἶναί σφισιν ἀφαιρεῖν κατὰ τὸ ἐκτός· καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀεί τι ἀπὸ τῶν τιθεμένων ἐλάμβανον· Ὑριεὺς δὲ εἴχετο ἀφασίᾳ, κλεῖς μὲν καὶ σημεῖα τὰ ἄλλα ὁρῶν ἀκίνητα, τὸν δὲ ἀριθμὸν ἀεὶ τῶν χρημάτων ἐλάττονα.
ἵστησιν οὖν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀγγείων, ἐν οἷς ὅ τε ἄργυρος ἐνῆν καὶ ὁ χρυσός οἱ, πάγας ἤ τι καὶ ἄλλο ὃ τὸν ἐσελθόντα καὶ ἁπτόμενον τῶν χρημάτων καθέξειν ἔμελλεν. ἐσελθόντος δὲ τοῦ Ἀγαμήδους τὸν μὲν ὁ δεσμὸς κατεῖχε, Τροφώνιος δὲ ἀπέτεμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλήν, ὅπως μὴ ἡμέρας ἐπισχούσης ἐκεῖνος γένοιτο ἐν αἰκίαις καὶ αὐτὸς μηνυθείη μετέχων τοῦ τολμήματος.
καὶ Τροφώνιον μὲν ἐνταῦθα ἐδέξατο ἡ γῆ διαστᾶσα, ἔνθα ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ἄλσει τῷ ἐν Λεβαδείᾳ βόθρος τε Ἀγαμήδους καλούμενος καὶ πρὸς αὐτῷ στήλη· τὴν δὲ ἀρχὴν τῶν Ὀρχομενίων ἔσχεν Ἀσκάλαφος καὶ Ἰάλμενος Ἄρεως εἶναι λεγόμενοι, μητρὸς δὲ Ἀστυόχης ἦσαν τῆς Ἄκτορος τοῦ Ἀζέως τοῦ Κλυμένου· καὶ ὑπὸ τούτοις ἡγεμόσι Μινύαι στρατεύουσιν ἐς Τροίαν.
μετέσχον Ὀρχομένιοι καὶ τοῖς Κόδρου παισὶν ἐς Ἰωνίαν τοῦ στόλου. γενομένους δὲ ἀναστάτους ὑπὸ Θηβαίων κατήγαγεν αὖθις ἐς Ὀρχομενὸν Φίλιππος ὁ Ἀμύντου· τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου σφίσιν ἐς τὸ ἀσθενέστερον ἔμελλεν ἀεὶ ῥέψειν.
But it was fated that the race of Almus should also become extinct ; for Orchomenus left no child, and so the kingdom devolved on Clymenus, son of Presbon, son of Phrixus. Clymenus had sons, of whom the eldest was Erginus, next to him were Stratius, Arrhon, and Pyleus, and youngest of all was Azeus.
Clymenus was murdered at the festival of Onchestian Poseidon by some Thebans who had flown into a rage at a trifle; and his eldest son Erginus succeeded to the throne. The new king and his brothers immediately mustered a force and marched against Thebes. They gained a victory, and an agreement was then concluded that the Thebans should pay an annual tribute for the murder of Clymenus. But when Hercules had grown up at Thebes, the Thebans were freed from the tribute, and the Minyans suffered a great reverse in the war. So, seeing that his people were ground down to the lowest depths of misery, Erginus made peace with Hercules ; but in the effort to retrieve his former wealth and his old prosperity he neglected everything else till, before he was aware, he was fallen on a wifeless and childless old age. But when he had amassed wealth he desired to have children born to him. So he repaired to Delphi and asked about children, and the Pythian priestess answered him as follows :— Erginus, son of Clymenus Presboniades, Late art thou come to seek for offspring, but even now Put a new tip to the old plough-tree.
So he married a young wife according to the oracle, and had by her Trophonius and Agamedes. But Trophonius is said to have been a son of Apollo, and not of Erginus, and I believe it, and so does every one who has gone to inquire of the oracle of Trophonius. It is said that when Trophonius and Agamedes were grown up they became skilful at building sanctuaries for gods and palaces for men; for they built the temple at Delphi for Apollo and the treasury for Hyrieus. In the treasury they contrived that one of the stones could be removed from the outside, and they always kept pilfering the hoard ; but Hyrieus was speechless, seeing the keys and all the tokens undisturbed, but the treasures steadily decreasing. Wherefore over the coffers in which were his silver and gold he set traps, or at any rate something that would hold fast any one who should enter and meddle with the treasures. So when Agamedes entered he was held fast in the snare; but Trophonius cut off his head, lest at daybreak his brother should be put to the torture and he himself detected as an accomplice in the crime. The earth yawned and received Trophonius at that point in the grove at Lebadea where is the pit of Agamedes, as it is called, with a monument beside it. But the kingdom of Orchomenus passed to Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, said to be sons of Ares. Their mother was Astyoche, daughter of Actor, son of Azeus, son of Clymenus. Under their leadership the Minyans went to the Trojan war. The Orchomenians also shared with the sons of Codrus in the expedition to Ionia. They were driven from their homes by the Thebans, but restored to Orchomenus by Philip, son of Amyntas. But it was their fate to sink ever deeper into decay.
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