CHAPTER XV

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At Pheneus they have also a temple of Eleusinian Demeter, and they celebrate the rites of the goddess just the same as at Eleusis, according to their statement. For they say that Naus, who was the great grandson of Eumolpus, came to them in obedience to the oracle at Delphi, _and brought these mysteries_. And near the temple of Eleusinian Demeter is what is called Petroma, two large stones fitting into one another. And they celebrate here annually what they call their great rites, they detach these stones, and take from them some writings relative to these rites, and when they have read them in the ears of the initiated they replace them again the same night. And I know that most of the inhabitants of Pheneus regard “By Petroma” their most solemn oath. And there is a round covering on Petroma with a likeness of Cidarian Demeter inside, the priest puts this likeness on his robes at what they call the great rites, when according to the tradition he strikes the earth with rods and summons the gods of the lower world. The people of Pheneus also have a tradition that before Naus Demeter came here in the course of her wanderings, and to all the people of Pheneus that received her hospitably the goddess gave other kinds of pulse but no beans. Why they do not consider beans a pure kind of pulse, is a sacred tradition. Those who according to the tradition of the people of Pheneus received the goddess were Trisaules and Damithales, and they built a temple to Demeter Thesmia under Mount Cyllene, where they established her rites as they are now celebrated. And this temple is about 15 stades from Pheneus.

As you go on about 15 stades from Pheneus in the direction of Pellene and Ægira in Achaia, you come to a temple of Pythian Apollo, of which there are only ruins, and a large altar in white stone. The people of Pheneus still sacrifice here to Apollo and Artemis, and say that Hercules built the temple after the capture of Elis. There are also here the tombs of the heroes who joined Hercules in the expedition against Elis and were killed in the battle. And Telamon is buried very near the river Aroanius, at a little distance from the temple of Apollo, and Chalcodon not far from the well called Œnoe’s well. As one was the father of that Elephenor who led the Eubœans to Ilium, and the other the father of Ajax and Teucer, no one will credit that they fell in this battle. For how could Chalcodon have assisted Hercules in this affair, since Amphitryon is declared to have slain him earlier according to Theban information that we can rely on? And how would Teucer have founded Salamis in Cyprus, if nobody had banished him from home on his return from Troy? And who but Telamon could have banished him? Manifestly therefore Chalcodon from Eubœa and Telamon from Ægina could not have taken part with Hercules in this expedition against Elis: they must have been obscure men of the same name as those famous men, a casual coincidence such as has happened in all ages.

The people of Pheneus have more than one boundary between them and Achaia. One is the river called Porinas in the direction of Pellene, the other is a temple sacred to Artemis in the direction of Ægira. And in the territory of Pheneus after the temple of Pythian Apollo you will soon come to the road that leads to the mountain Crathis, in which the river Crathis has its rise, which flows into the sea near Ægæ, a place deserted in our day but in older days a town in Achaia. And from this Crathis the river in Italy in the district of Bruttii gets its name. And on Mount Crathis there is a temple to Pyronian Artemis: from whose shrine the Argives in olden times introduced fire into the district about Lerne.

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