In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of Corinth, to the east lies the Saronic Gulf. Corinth is about 78 kilometres (48 mi) southwest of Athens.

Messenia or Messinia (Ìåóóçíßá) is a prefecture in the Peloponnese, a region of Greece. Messenia is bounded on the east by Mount Taygetus, on the north by the river Neda and the Arcadian Mountains, and on the west and south by the Mediterranean Sea, more specifically on the west by the Ionian Sea, and on the south by the Gulf of Messenia. The plain is bounded on the north by Mt. Nomia (mod. Tetrasi, 1,800 m, 5210 ft.) and other mountains.

Arcadia remained a rustic, secluded area, and its inhabitants became proverbial as primitive herdsmen leading simple pastoral unsophisticated yet happy lives. According to Greek mythology, Arcadia of Peloponnesus was the domain of Pan, the virgin wilderness home of the god of the forest and his court of dryads, nymphs and other spirits of nature. It was a version of paradise, though only in the sense of being the abode of supernatural entities, not an afterlife for deceased mortals.

is, or Eleia is an ancient district, that corresponds with the modern Elis Prefecture. It is in southern Greece on the Peloponnesos peninsula, bounded on the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messenia, and west by the Ionian Sea. The first Olympic festival was organized in Elean land, Olympia, Greece by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BCE - with tradition dating the first games at 776 BCE.