Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

CHAPTER XXXIV.

From Messene to the mouth of the Pamisus is about 80 stades, and the Pamisus flows clear and limpid through arable land, and is navigable some 10 stades inland. And some sea fish swim up it especially at the season of spring, as they do also up the rivers Rhenus and Mæander: but mostly do they swim up the river Achelous, which has its outlet near the islands called the Echinades. And the fish that swim up the Pamisus are finer in appearance, because the water is clear, and not full of mud like the other rivers I have mentioned. And mullets, being fishes that love mud, are fond of muddy rivers. Now the Greek rivers do not seem to produce beasts dangerous to man’s life, like the Indus, and the Nile in Egypt, and the Rhenus, the Ister, the Euphrates, and the Phasis. For they produce beasts that devour man, in appearance like the Glanides at Hermus and Mæander, except that they have a darker skin and more strength. In these respects the Glanides are deficient. And the Indus and Nile both furnish crocodiles, and the Nile hippopotamuses also, which are as destructive to man as the crocodile. But the Greek rivers are not formidable for wild beasts, for even in the river Aous, that flows through the Thesprotian mainland, the dogs are not river dogs but sea dogs that swim up from the sea.

On the right of the Pamisus is Corone, a town near the sea, and under the mountain Mathia. And on the road to it is a place near the sea, which they think is the temple of Ino: for they say that the goddess landed here from the sea, and was worshipped by the name of Leucothea instead of Ino. And at no great distance the river Bias discharges itself into the sea, which river took its name they say from Bias the son of Amythaon. About 20 stades from the road is the well Plataniston, the water flows from a plane-tree, broad and hollow inside, and like a small cave, and fresh water flows from thence to Corone. The name of the town was of old Æpea, but after the Messenians were restored to the Peloponnese by the Thebans, they say that Epimelides, who was sent to rebuild it, called it Coronea, after Coronea in Bœotia where he came from, but the Messenians mispronounced the name Corone from the first, and in process of time their mistake became prevalent. There is also another tradition that when they were digging the foundations of their walls they found a brass crow.[62] The gods here who have temples are Artemis called the Rearer of children, and Dionysus, and Æsculapius. The statues of Æsculapius and Dionysus are of stone, and there is a brazen statue of Zeus Soter in the market-place. There is also a brazen statue of Athene in the citadel in the open air, with a crow in her hand. I also saw the tomb of Epimelides. Why they call the harbour the harbour of the Achæans I do not know.

As you go on about 80 stades from Corone you come to a temple of Apollo, near the sea, which is held in high honour: according to the Messenian tradition it is the most ancient of all Apollo’s temples, and the god heals diseases. They call the god Corydus.[63] His statue here is of wood, but there is a brazen statue the work of Argeotas, a votive offering they say of the Argonauts. And near the town of Corone is Colonides. Its inhabitants say they were not Messenians but were brought by Colænus from Attica, who according to an oracle followed the crested lark there. And in process of time they picked up the Dorian dialect and customs. And the town of Colonides is on a height not far from the sea.

And the people of Asine were originally neighbours of the Lycoritæ, and dwelt near Mount Parnassus. They were then called Dryopes from their founder, which name they retained when they came to the Peloponnese. But in the third generation afterwards, when Phylas was king, the Dryopes were beaten in battle by Hercules, and were taken to Delphi and offered to Apollo. And being brought back to the Peloponnese by the oracle which the god gave Hercules, they first occupied Asine near Hermion, and, having been expelled thence by the Argives, they dwelt in Messenia by permission of the Lacedæmonians, and when in process of time the Messenians were restored they were not turned out by them from Asine. And the account the people of Asine themselves give is as follows. They admit they were conquered in battle by Hercules, and that their town on Mount Parnassus was captured, but they deny that they were led captive to Apollo, but when their walls were taken by Hercules, they left their town they say and fled for refuge to the heights of Parnassus; and afterwards crossing over in ships to the Peloponnese became suppliants of Eurystheus, and he being a bitter enemy of Hercules gave them Asine in Argolis to dwell in. And the Asinæi are the only descendants of the Dryopes that still plume themselves on that name, very unlike the Eubœans that live at Styra. For they too are Dryopes by origin, who did not participate in the contest with Hercules but dwelt at some distance from the town. But they despise the name Dryopes, just as the inhabitants of Delphi object to be called Phocians. Whereas the Asinæi rejoice in the name of Dryopes, and have evidently made the holiest of their temples an imitation of those they formerly erected at Mount Parnassus. They have not only a temple of Apollo, but a temple and ancient statue of Dryops, whose mysteries they celebrate annually, and say that he was the son of Apollo. And Asine lies by the sea just as the old Asine in Argolis did, and the distance from Colonides is about 40 stades, and at about the same distance in the other direction is the Promontory of Acritas, just in front of which is the deserted island of Theganussa. And not far from Acritas is the harbour of Phœnicus and some islands called Œnussæ opposite the harbour.