CHAPTER XXIII.
And Cythera lies opposite Bœæ, and to the promontory of Platanistus—the point where the island is nearest to the mainland—from the promontory on the mainland called Ass’ jaw-bone is about 4 stades’ sail. And at Cythera there is a station for ships called Scandea, and Scandea is about 10 stades from the town of Cythera as you go along the cliffs. And the temple of Celestial Aphrodite is the most holy and most ancient of all the temples the Greeks have of Aphrodite, and the statue is an old wooden one, the goddess is in complete armour.
As you sail from Bœæ to the promontory of Malea there is a harbour called Nymphæum, and a statue of Poseidon erect, and a cave very near the sea, and in it a spring of fresh water, and many people live in the neighbourhood. And as you double the promontory of Malea, and sail about 100 stades, you come to a place called Epidelium on the borders of Bœæ, where is a temple of Apollo. It is called Epidelium because the wooden statue of Apollo there now was formerly at Delos. For Delos being formerly an emporium for the Greeks, and being thought likely to give security to commerce because of the god, Menophanes a General of Mithridates, either of his own insolence or obeying the orders of Mithridates, (for to a man looking only to lucre divine things come after gain), seeing that Delos had no fortifications and that the inhabitants were unarmed, sailed to it and slew all the resident aliens, and the Delians also, and robbed the merchants of much money, and carried off all the votive offerings, and also enslaved the women and children, and razed Delos to the ground. And during the sack and plunder one of the barbarians in very wantonness threw this wooden statue into the sea, and the waves landed it here at the place called Epidelium in the district of Bœæ. But the fierce wrath of the god failed not to pursue Menophanes and Mithridates himself, for Menophanes, when he put to sea again after laying Delos waste, was lain in wait for by the merchants who had escaped, and his vessel sunk, and Mithridates subsequently was compelled by the god to be his own executioner when his power was entirely destroyed, and he driven hither and thither by the Romans. And some say that he found a violent death as a favour at the hands of one of his mercenaries. Such was the end of these men for their impiety.
And adjacent to the district of Bœæ is Epidaurus Limera, about 200 stades from Epidelium. And they say that it was colonized and inhabited not by the Lacedæmonians but by some Epidaurians that lived in Argolis, who, sailing to Cos to see Æsculapius on public business put in at Laconia here, and according to visions they had continued here. And they say that the dragon which they had brought with them from Epidaurus escaped from the ship and dived into a hole not far from the sea, and according to their visions and the wonderful behaviour of their dragon they determined to dwell there. And at the point where the dragon dived into a hole they erected altars to Æsculapius, and some olive trees grow in the vicinity. About two stades further there is on the right hand some water called the water of Ino, in size only a small lake, but it goes very deep into the ground. Into this water on the festival of Ino they throw barley cakes. If the water absorbs them it is thought a lucky sign for the person who throws them in, but if they float on the surface it is judged a bad sign. The craters at Ætna have the same prophetic power. For they throw into them gold and silver vessels, and offerings of all kinds. And if the fire absorbs them they rejoice at it as a good sign, but if it rejects them they regard it as a sure sign of misfortune for the person who has thrown them in. And on the road from Bœæ to Epidaurus Limera there is a temple of Artemis called by the Epidaurians Limnas. The town is at no great distance from the sea, and is built on an eminence: and the sights worth seeing here are the temple of Aphrodite, and a statue of Æsculapius in stone erect, and a temple of Athene in the citadel, and in front of the harbour a temple of Zeus Soter. And into the sea near the town juts out the promontory Minoa. And the bay is very similar to all the others in Laconia made by the encroaches of the sea. And the seashore has pebbles beautiful in shape and of all kinds of colours.