CHAPTER XXIII.
As you go thence on the road called the Hollow Way, there is on the right hand a temple of Dionysus: the statue of the god they say came from Eubœa. For when the Greeks returning from Ilium were shipwrecked at Caphareus, those of the Argives who contrived to escape to shore were in evil plight from cold and hunger. But when they prayed that one of the gods would save them in their present emergency, immediately as they went forward they saw a cave of Dionysus, and a statue of the god in the cave, and some wild goats that had taken refuge from the cold were huddled together in it. These the Argives killed, and eat their flesh, and used their skins for clothing. And when the winter was over, they repaired their vessels and sailed homewards, and took with them the wooden statue from the cave, and worship it to this day. And very near the temple of Dionysus you will see the house of Adrastus, and at some distance from it the temple of Amphiaraus, and beyond that the tomb of Eriphyle. And next these is the shrine of Æsculapius, and close to it the temple of Bato, who was of the family of Amphiaraus and one of the Melampodidæ, and was Amphiaraus’ charioteer when he went out to battle: and when the rout from Thebes came about, the earth opened and swallowed up Amphiaraus and the chariot and Bato all together. And as you return from the Hollow Way you come to the reputed tomb of Hyrnetho. If it is a cenotaph and merely in memory of her, their account is probable enough, but if they say that the body of Hyrnetho lies there I cannot believe them, but let him believe them who knows nothing about Epidaurus. The most famous of the temples of Æsculapius at Argos has a statue still to be seen, Æsculapius seated, in white stone, and next to him a statue of Hygiea. There are also seated near them those who designed these statues, Xenophilus and Strato. That temple was originally built by Sphyrus, the son of Machaon, and the brother of the Alexanor who has honours among the Sicyonians at Titane. And the statue of Pheræan Artemis, (for the Argives worship Pheræan Artemis as well as the Athenians and Sicyonians,) was they say brought from Pheræ in Thessaly. But I cannot agree with the Argives who say that they have at Argos the tombs of Deianira the daughter of Œneus, and of Helenus the son of Priam, and that they have the statue of Athene that was carried away from Ilium, and whose loss caused its fall. The Palladium, for that is its name, was certainly carried by Æneas to Italy. As to Deianira, we know she died at Trachis and not at Argos, and her tomb is near that of Hercules on Mount Œta. And as to Helenus the son of Priam, I have already shown that he went with Pyrrhus the son of Achilles to Epirus, and married Andromache, and was Regent for the sons of Pyrrhus, and that Cestrine in Epirus took its name from his son Cestrinus. Not that the Argive antiquarians are ignorant that all their traditions are not true, still they utter them: for it is not easy to get the mass of mankind to change their preconceived opinions. There are other things at Argos worth seeing, as the underground building, (in which is the brazen chamber which Acrisius formerly got constructed for the safe custody of his daughter, Perilaus deposed and succeeded him,) and the tomb of Crotopus, and the temple of Cretan Dionysus. For they say that Dionysus, after he had warred with Perseus and got friendly again with him, was highly honoured by the Argives in various respects, and was given as a special honour this enclosure. And afterwards it was called the temple of Cretan Dionysus, because they buried Ariadne here. And Lyceas says that when the temple was restored an earthenware cinerary urn was found that contained the ashes of Ariadne: which he said several Argives had seen. And near this temple of Dionysus is the temple of Celestial Aphrodite.