ἑξῆς δὲ λέγωμεν περὶ τῶν ὑπὸ Μυκήναις καὶ τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονι τεταγμένων τόπων ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ τῶν νεῶν· ἔχει δʼ οὕτω τὰ ἔπη οἳ δὲ Μυκήνας εἶχον, ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον, / ἀφνειόν τε Κόρινθον ἐυκτιμένας τε Κλεωνάς, / Ὀρνειάς τʼ ἐνέμοντο Ἀραιθυρέην τʼ ἐρατεινὴν / καὶ Σικυῶνʼ, ὅθʼ ἄρʼ Ἄδρηστος πρῶτʼ ἐμβασίλευεν, / οἵ θʼ Ὑπερησίην τε καὶ αἰπεινὴν Γονόεσσαν / Πελλήνην τʼ εἶχον, ἠδʼ Αἴγιον ἀμφενέμοντο, / αἰγιαλόν τʼ ἀνὰ πάντα καὶ ἀμφʼ Ἑλίκην εὐρεῖαν. / αἱ μὲν οὖν Μυκῆναι νῦν οὐκέτʼ εἰσίν, ἔκτισε δʼ αὐτὰς Περσεύς, διεδέξατο δὲ Σθένελος, εἶτʼ Εὐρυσθεύς· οἱ δʼ αὐτοὶ καὶ τοῦ Ἄργους ἦρξαν. Εὐρυσθεὺς μὲν οὖν στρατεύσας εἰς Μαραθῶνα ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἡρακλέους παῖδας καὶ Ἰόλαον βοηθησάντων Ἀθηναίων ἱστορεῖται πεσεῖν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ, καὶ τὸ μὲν ἄλλο σῶμα Γαργηττοῖ ταφῆναι, τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν χωρὶς ἐν Τρικορύνθῳ, ἀποκόψαντος αὐτὴν Ἰολάου περὶ τὴν κρήνην τὴν Μακαρίαν ὑπὸ ἁμαξιτόν· καὶ ὁ τόπος καλεῖται Εὐρυσθέως κεφαλή. αἱ δὲ Μυκῆναι μετέπεσον εἰς τοὺς Πελοπίδας ὁρμηθέντας ἐκ τῆς Πισάτιδος, εἶτʼ εἰς τοὺς Ἡρακλείδας καὶ τὸ Ἄργος ἔχοντας. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίαν Ἀργεῖοι μετὰ Κλεωναίων καὶ Τεγεατῶν ἐπελθόντες ἄρδην τὰς Μυκήνας ἀνεῖλον καὶ τὴν χώραν διενείμαντο. διὰ δὲ τὴν ἐγγύτητα τὰς δύο πόλεις ὡς μίαν οἱ τραγικοὶ συνωνύμως προσαγορεύουσιν, Εὐριπίδης δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δράματι τοτὲ μὲν Μυκήνας καλῶν τοτὲ δʼ Ἄργος τὴν αὐτὴν πόλιν, καθάπερ ἐν Ἰφιγενείᾳ καὶ Ὀρέστῃ. Κλεωναὶ δʼ εἰσὶ πόλισμα ἐπὶ τῇ ὁδῷ κείμενον τῇ ἐξ Ἄργους εἰς Κόρινθον ἐπὶ λόφου περιοικουμένου πανταχόθεν καὶ τετειχισμένου καλῶς, ὥστʼ οἰκείως εἰρῆσθαί μοι δοκεῖ τὸ ἐυκτιμένας Κλεωνάς. ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ ἡ Νεμέα μεταξὺ Κλεωνῶν καὶ Φλιοῦντος καὶ τὸ ἄλσος, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὰ Νέμεα συντελεῖν ἔθος τοῖς Ἀργείοις, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Νεμεαῖον λέοντα μυθευόμενα, καὶ ἡ Βέμβινα κώμη· διέχουσι δʼ αἱ Κλεωναὶ τοῦ μὲν Ἄργους σταδίους ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, Κορίνθου δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα. καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀκροκορίνθου κατωπτεύσαμεν τὸ κτίσμα.
We shall next speak of those places which are said, in the Catalogue of the Ships, to be under the government of Mycenae and Agamemnon: the lines are these: Those who inhabited Mycenae, a well-built city, / and the wealthy Corinth, and Cleonae well built, / and Orneiae, and the lovely Araethyrea, / and Sicyon, where Adrastus first reigned, / and they who inhabited Hyperesia, and the lofty Gonoessa and Pellene, and Aegium, / and the whole range of the coast, and those who lived near the spacious Helice. /
Mycenae exists no longer. It was founded by Perseus. Sthenelus succeeded Perseus; and Eurystheus, Sthenelus. These same persons were kings of Argos also. It is said that Eurystheus, having engaged, with the assistance of the Athenians, in an expedition to Marathon against the descendants of Hercules and Iolaus, fell in battle, and that the remainder of his body was buried at Gargettus, but his head apart from it at Tricorythus (Corinth?), Iolaus having severed it from the body near the fountain Macaria, close to the chariot-road. The spot itself has the name of Eurystheus’-head.
Mycenae then passed into the possession of the Pelopidae who had left the Pisatis, then into that of the Heracleidaae, who were also masters of Argos. But after the sea-fight at Salamis, the Argives, together with the Cleonaei, and the Tegetae, invaded Mycenae, and razed it, and divided the territory among themselves. The tragic writers, on account of the proximity of the two cities, speak of them as one, and use the name of one for the other. Euripides in the same play calls the same city in one place Mycenae, and in another Argos, as in the Iphigeneia, and in the Orestes.
Cleonae is a town situated upon the road leading from Argos to Corinth, on an eminence, which is surrounded on all sides by dwellings, and well fortified, whence, in my opinion, Cleonae was properly described as well built. There also, between Cleonae and Phlius, is Nemea, and the grove where it was the custom of the Argives to celebrate the Nemean games: here is the scene of the fable of the Nemean Lion, and here also the village Bembina. Cleonae is distant from Argos 120 stadia, and 80 from Corinth. And we have ourselves beheld the city from the Acrocorinthus.
ὁ δὲ Κόρινθος ἀφνειὸς μὲν λέγεται διὰ τὸ ἐμπόριον, ἐπὶ τῷ Ἰσθμῷ κείμενος καὶ δυεῖν λιμένων κύριος, ὧν ὁ μὲν τῆς Ἀσίας ὁ δὲ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐγγύς ἐστι […] καὶ ῥᾳδίας ποιεῖ τὰς ἑκατέρωθεν ἀμοιβὰς τῶν φορτίων πρὸς ἀλλήλους τοῖς τοσοῦτον ἀφεστῶσιν. ἦν δʼ ὥσπερ ὁ πορθμὸς οὐκ εὔπλους ὁ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν τὸ παλαιόν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ πελάγη καὶ μάλιστα τὸ ὑπὲρ Μαλεῶν διὰ τὰς ἀντιπνοίας· ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ παροιμιάζονται Μαλέας δὲ κάμψας ἐπιλάθου τῶν οἴκαδε. ἀγαπητὸν οὖν ἑκατέροις ἦν τοῖς τε ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐμπόροις, ἀφεῖσι τὸν περὶ Μαλέας πλοῦν, κατάγεσθαι τὸν φόρτον αὐτόθι· καὶ πεζῇ δὲ τῶν ἐκκομιζομένων ἐκ τῆς Πελοποννήσου καὶ τῶν εἰσαγομένων ἔπιπτε τὰ τέλη τοῖς τὰ κλεῖθρα ἔχουσι. διέμεινε δὲ τοῦτο καὶ εἰς ὕστερον μέχρι παντός· τοῖς δʼ ὕστερον καὶ πλείω προσεγίνετο πλεονεκτήματα· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἰσθμικὸς ἀγὼν ἐκεῖ συντελούμενος ὄχλους ἐπήγετο, καὶ οἱ Βακχιάδαι τυραννήσαντες, πλούσιοι καὶ πολλοὶ καὶ γένος λαμπροί, διακόσια ἔτη σχεδόν τι κατέσχον τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὸ ἐμπόριον ἀδεῶς ἐκαρπώσαντο· τούτους δὲ Κύψελος καταλύσας αὐτὸς ἐτυράννησε, καὶ μέχρι τριγονίας ὁ οἶκος αὐτοῦ συνέμεινε· τοῦ δὲ περὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον πλούτου μαρτύριον τὸ Ὀλυμπίασιν ἀνάθημα Κυψέλου, σφυρήλατος χρυσοῦς ἀνδριὰς εὐμεγέθης . Δημάρατός τε, εἷς τῶν ἐν Κορίνθῳ δυναστευσάντων, φεύγων τὰς ἐκεῖ στάσεις τοσοῦτον ἠνέγκατο πλοῦτον οἴκοθεν εἰς τὴν Τυρρηνίαν ὥστε αὐτὸς μὲν ἦρξε τῆς δεξαμένης αὐτὸν πόλεως, ὁ δʼ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ Ῥωμαίων κατέστη βασιλεύς. τό τε τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν οὕτω πλούσιον ὑπῆρξεν ὥστε πλείους ἢ χιλίας ἱεροδούλους ἐκέκτητο ἑταίρας, ἃς ἀνετίθεσαν τῇ θεῷ καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες. καὶ διὰ ταύτας οὖν πολυωχλεῖτο ἡ πόλις καὶ ἐπλουτίζετο· οἱ γὰρ ναύκληροι ῥᾳδίως ἐξανηλίσκοντο, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἡ παροιμία φησίν οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐς Κόρινθόν ἐσθʼ ὁ πλοῦς.καὶ δὴ καὶ μνημονεύεταί τις ἑταίρα πρὸς τὴν ὀνειδίζουσαν, ὅτι οὐ φιλεργὸς εἴη οὐδʼ ἐρίων ἅπτοιτο, εἰπεῖν ἐγὼ μέντοι ἡ τοιαύτη τρεῖς ἤδη καθεῖλον ἱστοὺς ἐν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ τούτῳ.
Corinth is said to be opulent from its mart. It is situated upon the isthmus. It commands two harbours, one near Asia, the other near Italy, and facilitates, by reason of so short a distance between them, an exchange of commodities on each side.
As the Sicilian strait, so formerly these seas were of difficult navigation, and particularly the sea above Maleae, on account of the prevalence of contrary winds; whence the common proverb, When you double Maleae forget your home. / It was a desirable thing for the merchants coming from Asia, and from Italy, to discharge their lading at Corinth without being obliged to double Cape Maleae. For goods exported from Peloponnesus, or imported by land, a toll was paid to those who had the keys of the country. This continued afterterwards for ever. In after-times they enjoyed even additional advantages, for the Isthmian games, which were celebrated there, brought thither great multitudes of people. The Bacchiadae, a rich and numerous family, and of illustrious descent, were their rulers, governed the state for nearly two hundred years, and peaceably enjoyed the profits of the mart. Their power was destroyed by Cypselus, who became king himself, and his descendants continued to exist for three generations. A proof of the wealth of this family is the offering which Cypselus dedicated at Olympia, a statue of Jupiter of beaten gold.
Demaratus, one of those who had been tyrant at Corinth, flying from the seditions which prevailed there, carried with him from his home to Tyrrhenia so much wealth, that he became sovereign of the city which had received him, and his son became even king of the Romans.
The temple of Venus at Corinth was so rich, that it had more than a thousand women consecrated to the service of the goddess, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedicated as offerings to the goddess. The city was frequented and enriched by the multitudes who resorted thither on account of these women. Masters of ships freely squandered all their money, and hence the proverb, It is not in every man’s power to go to Corinth. / The answer is related of a courtesan to a woman who was reproaching her with disliking work, and not employing herself in spinning; Although I am what you see, yet, in this short time, I have already finished three distaffs.
τὴν δὲ τοποθεσίαν τῆς πόλεως, ἐξ ὧν Ἱερώνυμός τε εἴρηκε καὶ Εὔδοξος καὶ ἄλλοι καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ εἴδομεν νεωστὶ ἀναληφθείσης ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων, τοιάνδε εἶναι συμβαίνει. ὄρος ὑψηλὸν ὅσον τριῶν ἥμισυ σταδίων ἔχον τὴν κάθετον, τὴν δʼ ἀνάβασιν καὶ τριάκοντα σταδίων, εἰς ὀξεῖαν τελευτᾷ κορυφήν· καλεῖται δὲ Ἀκροκόρινθος, οὗ τὸ μὲν πρὸς ἄρκτον μέρος ἐστὶ τὸ μάλιστα ὄρθιον, ὑφʼ ᾧ κεῖται ἡ πόλις ἐπὶ τραπεζώδους ἐπιπέδου χωρίου πρὸς αὐτῇ τῇ ῥίζῃ τοῦ Ἀκροκορίνθου. αὐτῆς μὲν οὖν τῆς πόλεως ὁ κύκλος καὶ τετταράκοντα σταδίων ὑπῆρχεν· ἐτετείχιστο δʼ ὅσον τῆς πόλεως γυμνὸν ἦν τοῦ ὄρους· συμπεριείληπτο δὲ τῷ περιβόλῳ τούτῳ καὶ τὸ ὄρος αὐτὸ ὁ Ἀκροκόρινθος ᾗ δυνατὸν ἦν τειχισμὸν δέξασθαι, καὶ ἡμῖν ἀναβαίνουσιν ἦν δῆλα τὰ ἐρείπια τῆς σχοινίας· ὥσθʼ ἡ πᾶσα περίμετρος ἐγίνετο περὶ πέντε καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα σταδίων. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν ἧττον ὄρθιόν ἐστι τὸ ὄρος, ἀνατέταται μέντοι ἐνθένδε ἱκανῶς καὶ περίοπτόν ἐστιν. ἡ μὲν οὖν κορυφὴ ναΐδιον ἔχει Ἀφροδίτης, ὑπὸ δὲ τῇ κορυφῇ τὴν Πειρήνην εἶναι συμβαίνει κρήνην, ἔκρυσιν μὲν οὐκ ἔχουσαν μεστὴν δʼ ἀεὶ διαυγοῦς καὶ ποτίμου ὕδατος. φασὶ δὲ καὶ ἐνθένδε καὶ ἐξ ἄλλων ὑπονόμων τινῶν φλεβίων συνθλίβεσθαι τὴν πρὸς τῇ ῥίζῃ τοῦ ὄρους κρήνην ἐκρέουσαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὥσθʼ ἱκανῶς ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ὑδρεύεσθαι. ἔστι δὲ καὶ φρεάτων εὐπορία κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, λέγουσι δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον· οὐ μὴν ἡμεῖς γε εἴδομεν. τοῦ δʼ οὖν Εὐριπίδου φήσαντος οὕτως ἥκω περίκλυστον προλιποῦσʼ Ἀκροκόρινθον, / ἱερὸν ὄχθον, πόλιν Ἀφροδίτας, / τὸ περίκλυστον ἤτοι κατὰ βάθους δεκτέον, ἐπεὶ καὶ φρέατα καὶ ὑπόνομοι λιβάδες διήκουσι διʼ αὐτοῦ, ἢ τὸ παλαιὸν ὑποληπτέον τὴν Πειρήνην ἐπιπολάζειν καὶ κατάρρυτον ποιεῖν τὸ ὄρος. ἐνταῦθα δέ φασι πίνοντα τὸν Πήγασον ἁλῶναι ὑπὸ Βελλεροφόντου, πτηνὸν ἵππον ἐκ τοῦ τραχήλου τοῦ Μεδούσης ἀναπαλέντα κατὰ τὴν γοργοτομίαν· τὸν δʼ αὐτόν φασι καὶ τὴν Ἵππου κρήνην ἀναβαλεῖν ἐν τῷ Ἑλικῶνι πλήξαντα τῷ ὄνυχι τὴν ὑποῦσαν πέτραν. ὑπὸ δὲ τῇ Πειρήνῃ τὸ Σισύφειόν ἐστιν, ἱεροῦ τινος ἢ βασιλείου λευκῶν λίθων πεποιημένου διασῶζον ἐρείπια οὐκ ὀλίγα. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς κορυφῆς πρὸς ἄρκτον μὲν ἀφορᾶται ὅ τε Παρνασσὸς καὶ ὁ Ἑλικών, ὄρη ὑψηλὰ καὶ νιφόβολα, καὶ ὁ Κρισαῖος κόλπος ὑποπεπτωκὼς ἀμφοτέροις, περιεχόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς Φωκίδος καὶ τῆς Βοιωτίας καὶ τῆς Μεγαρίδος καὶ τῆς ἀντιπόρθμου τῇ Φωκίδι Κορινθίας καὶ Σικυωνίας· πρὸς ἑσπέραν δὲ […] ὑπέρκειται δὲ τούτων ἁπάντων τὰ καλούμενα Ὄνεια ὄρη διατείνοντα μέχρι Βοιωτίας καὶ Κιθαιρῶνος ἀπὸ τῶν Σκιρωνίδων πετρῶν, ἀπὸ τῆς παρὰ ταύτας ὁδοῦ πρὸς τὴν Ἀττικήν.
The position of the city as it is described by Hieronymus, and Eudoxus, and others, and from our own observation, since its restoration by the Romans, is as follows.
That which is called the Acrocorinthus is a lofty mountain, perpendicular, and about three stadia and a half in height. There is an ascent of 30 stadia, and it terminates in a sharp point. The steepest part is towards the north. Below it lies the city in a plain of the form of a trapezium, at the very foot of the Acrocorinthus. The compass of the city itself was 40 stadia, and all that part which was not protected by the mountain was fortified by a wall. Even the mountain itself, the Acrocorinthus, was comprehended within this wall, wherever it would admit of fortification. As I ascended it, the ruins of the circuit of the foundation were apparent, which gave a circumference of about 85 stadia. The other sides of the mountain are less steep; hence, however, it stretches onwards, and is visible everywhere. The summit has upon it a small temple of Venus, and below it is the fountain Peirene, which has no efflux, but is continually full of water, which is transparent, and fit for drinking. They say, that from the compression of this, and of some other small under-ground veins, originates that spring at the foot of the mountain, which runs into the city, and furnishes the inhabitants with a sufficient supply of water. There is a large number of wells in the city, and it is said in the Acrocorinthus also, but this I did not see. When Euripides says, I come from the Acrocorinthus, well-watered on all sides, the sacred hill and habitation of Venus, the epithet well-watered on all sides, must be understood to refer to depth; pure springs and under-ground rills are dispersed through the mountain; or we must suppose, that, anciently, the Peirene overflowed, and irrigated the mountain. There, it is said, Pegasus was taken by Bellerophon, while drinking; this was a winged horse, which sprung from the neck of Medusa when the head of the Gorgon was severed from the body. This was the horse, it is said, which caused the Hippocrene, or Horse’s Fountain, to spring up in Helicon by striking the rock with its hoof.
Below Peirene is the Sisypheium, which preserves a large portion of the ruins of a temple, or palace, built of white marble. From the summit towards the north are seen Parnassus and Helicon, lofty mountains covered with snow; then the Crissaean Gulf, lying below both, and surrounded by Phocis, Boeotia, Megaris, by the Corinthian district opposite to Phocis, and by Sicyonia on the west. * * * *
Above all these are situated the Oneia mountains, as they are called, extending as far as Boeotia and Cithaeron, from the Sceironides rocks, where the road leads along them to Attica.
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