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[31]

Pisatis first became widely famous on account of its rulers, who were most powerful: they were Oenomaüs, and Pelops who succeeded him, and the numerous sons of the latter. And Salmoneus,1 too, is said to have reigned there; at any rate, one of the eight cities into which Pisatis is divided is called Salmone. So for these reasons, as well as on account of the temple at Olympia, the country has gained wide repute. But one should listen to the old accounts with reserve, knowing that they are not very commonly accepted; for the later writers hold new views about many things and even tell the opposite of the old accounts, as when they say that Augeas ruled over Pisatis, but Oenomaüs and Salmoneus over Eleia; and some writers combine the two tribes into one. But in general one should follow only what is commonly accepted. Indeed, the writers do not even agree as to the derivation of the name Pisatis; for some derive it from a city Pisa, which bears the same name as the spring; the spring, they say, was called "Pisa," the equivalent of "pistra," that is "potistra"; 2 and they point out the site of the city on a lofty place between Ossa and Olympus, two mountains that bear the same name as those in Thessaly. But some say that there was no city by the name of Pisa (for if there had been, it would have been one of the eight cities), but only a spring, now called Pisa, near Cicysium, the largest of the eight cities; and Stesichorus, they explain, uses the term "city" for the territory called Pisa, just as Homer calls Lesbos the "city of Macar";3 so Euripides in his Ion, “"there is Euboea, a neighboring city to Athens;"
4 and in his Rhadamanthys, “"who hold the Euboean land, a neighboring city;"
5 and Sophocles in his Mysians,6 “"The whole country, stranger, is called Asia, but the city of the Mysians is called Mysia."
7

1 Hom. Od. 11.236

2 Both words mean "drinking trough."

3 Hom. Il. 24.544

4 Eur. Ion. 294

5 Eur. Rhadamanthys Fr. 658 (Nauck)

6 Soph. Fr. 377 (Nauck)

7 Soph. Mysians Fr. 377 (Nauck)

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load focus English (H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., 1903)
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