The founder of Heræa was Heræus the son of Lycaon, and the town lies on
the right of the Alpheus, most of it on a gentle eminence, but part of
it extending to the river. Near the river are race-courses separated
from each other by myrtle trees and other planted trees, and there are
baths, and two temples of Dionysus, one called Polites, and the other
Auxites. And they have a building where they celebrate the orgies of
Dionysus. There is also at Heræa a temple of Pan, who was a native of
Arcadia. And there are some ruins of a temple of Hera, of which the
pillars still remain. And of all the Arcadian athletes Damaretus of
Heræa was the foremost, and the first who conquered at Olympia in the
race in heavy armour. And as you go from Heræa to Elis, you will cross
the Ladon about 15 stades from Heræa, and from thence to Erymanthus is
about 20 stades. And the boundary between Heræa and Elis is according
to the Arcadian account the Erymanthus, but the people of Elis say
that the boundary is the tomb of Corœbus, who was victor when Iphitus
restored the Olympian games that had been for a long time discontinued,
and offered prizes only for racing. And there is an inscription on his
tomb that he was the first victor at Olympia, and that his tomb was
erected on the borders of Elis.
There is a small town also called Aliphera, which was abandoned by
many of its inhabitants at the time the Arcadian colony was formed at
Megalopolis. To get to Aliphera from Heræa you cross the Alpheus, and
when you have gone along the plain about 10 stades you arrive at a
mountain, and about 30 stades further you will get to Aliphera over the
mountain. The town got its name from Alipherus the son of Lycaon, and
has temples of Æsculapius and Athene. The latter they worship most, and
say that she was born and reared among them; they have also built an
altar here to Zeus Lecheates, so called because he gave birth to Athene
here. And they call their fountain Tritonis, adopting as their own the
tradition about the river Triton. And there is a statue of Athene in
bronze, the work of Hypatodorus, notable both for its size and artistic
merit. They have also a public festival to one of the gods, who I think
must be Athene. In this public festival they sacrifice first of all to
Muiagrus (_Flycatcher_), and offer to him vows and call upon him, and
when they have done this they think they will no longer be troubled
by flies. And on the road from Heræa to Megalopolis is Melæneæ, which
was founded by Melæneus the son of Lycaon, but is deserted in our day,
being swamped with water. And 40 stades higher is Buphagium, where the
river Buphagus rises, which falls into the Alpheus. And the sources of
the Buphagus are the boundary between the districts of Megalopolis and
Heræa.