‹‹‹ Vitr. 8.3.15 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 8.3.17 ›››
16So, in Macedonia, where Euripides is interred, from the right and left of his tomb two streams unite: on one of them travellers usually halt to refresh themselves, on account of the excellence of the water: no one, however, approaches the stream on the other side of the monument, because its effects are said to be mortal. In Arcadia, also, the Nonacrian region contains extremely cold water, which drops from the mountains and rocks. It is called water of the Styx (Στυγὸς ὑδωρ); which neither silver, brass, nor iron vessels will hold, because it bursts and destroys them. Nothing preserves or contains it but the hoof of a mule: indeed it is said to have been conveyed, by Iolaus the son of Antipater, to the province where Alexander was, and to have been the cause of his death.
16In Macedonia, at the place where Euripides is buried, two streams approach from the right and left of his tomb, and unite. By one of these, travellers are in the habit of lying down and taking luncheon, because its water is good; but nobody goes near the stream on the other side of the tomb, because its water is said to be death-dealing. In Arcadia there is a tract of land called Nonacris, which has extremely cold water trickling from a rock in the mountains. This water is called “Water of the Styx,” and no vessel, whether of silver, bronze, or iron, can stand it without flying to pieces and breaking up. Nothing but a mule’s hoof can keep it together and hold it, and tradition says that it was thus conveyed by Antipater through his son Iollas into the province where Alexander was staying, and that the king was killed by him with this water.