Stymphalus (Arcadia)

On the north rises the gigantic mass of Cyllene (possibly the mythical ‘rock of Scylla’), from which a projecting spur, called Mount Stymphalus (Στυμφαλος ὄρος), descends into the plain.

The water, which formed the source of the Stymphalus, was conducted to Corinth by the emperor Hadrian, by means of an aqueduct, of which considerable remains may still be traced.

The water was said to have covered the plain to the extent of 400 stadia; but this number is evidently corrupt, and we ought probably to read τεσσαράκοντα ('forty') instead of τετρακοσίους ('four hundred').

[13] Strabo relates that Iphicrates, when besieging Stymphalus without success, attempted to obstruct the outlet, but was diverted from his purpose by a sign from heaven.

The modern city lay upon the southern edge of the lake, about a mile and a half (2.5 km) from the outlet, and upon a rocky promontory connected with the mountains behind.

Its name does not often occur in the ancient historians, and it owes its chief importance to its being situated upon one of the most frequented routes leading to the westward from Argolis and Corinth.

Pindar mentions an Olympic victor in the mule-cart race (a man called Hagesias) in his sixth Olympian Ode, and urges the members of the choir to venerate their virginal Hera, who was apparently a survival of pre-Olympian religion.

One unusual aspect of the goddess is that her sanctuary is referred to in an inscription of the early 2nd century BCE as that of Brauronian Artemis, an Athenian cult.

Since 1982, excavations of the site on the north shore of Lake Stymphalia have been under way, directed by Hector Williams for the University of British Columbia.

Large quantities of jewelry (mostly copper or bronze) suggest a sanctuary frequented by women; the partially preserved statue of a child supports the kourotrophic interpretation of the cult.