CHAPTER XXVI.
And the old theatre between the market-place and the temple of the goddess Mene is the theatre and temple of Dionysus, the statue of the god is by Praxiteles. And of all the gods the people of Elis honour Dionysus most, and say that he frequents their festival in his honour called the Thyia, a festival which they celebrate about 8 stades from the city. The priests deposit 3 empty flagons in the chapel, in the presence of the citizens and strangers who may chance to be at the feast, and the priests themselves or any others who like seal the doors of the chapel. And the next day they come to the chapel to observe the miracle, and on entering find the flagons full of wine. Those held in the highest repute at Elis, and strangers as well, have sworn that this is as I have said, I was not myself there at the time of the festival. The people of Andros also say that annually at the feast of Dionysus wine flows spontaneously from the temple. If one can believe the Greeks in this matter, one might equally credit the tradition of the Ethiopians beyond Syene as to the Table of the Sun.
And in the citadel at Elis is a temple of Athene, her statue is of ivory and gold, and said to be by Phidias, and on her helmet is a cock, because that bird is said to be most pugnacious, or perhaps because it is sacred to Athene the Worker.
And about 120 stades from Elis is Cyllene, which faces Sicily, and is a fine harbour for ships. The dockyard belongs to the people of Elis but got its name from an Arcadian. Homer has not mentioned Cyllene in his Catalogue of the people of Elis, but subsequently in the Iliad shews that he knew that there was such a town as Cyllene.
“And Polydamas killed Otus of Cyllene, the companion of Phyleides, the leader of the brave Epeans.”[85]
The gods who have temples in Cyllene are Æsculapius and Aphrodite. Hermes also has an Ithyphallic statue, which the natives pay extravagant honour to.
The country of Elis is fertile in fruits of all kinds but especially in flax. As to hemp and flax all sow them whose land is favourable to their growth. But the threads which the Seres make their garments of are not from any plant, but are produced in the following manner. There is an insect on the earth which the Greeks called Ser, but the Seres give it another name. Its size is about double that of the largest beetle, and in other respects it is like the spiders that weave their webs under trees, and has also 8 feet like spiders. These insects the Seres breed, and put summer and winter into little domiciles specially constructed for them. And what these insects produce is a slender thread, which rolls round their feet. For 4 years they feed them on grain, and in the fifth year (for they know they will not live longer) they give them green reed to eat. This food is the most agreeable of all to this insect, and when it has taken its fill of this it bursts from repletion. And when it is dead they find the thread in its inside. It is well-known that the island Seria is in the Red Sea. But I have heard that it is not the Red Sea, but a river called the Ser that makes this island, just as in Egypt the Delta is formed by the Nile and not by sea. Such a kind of island is Seria. The Seres are of Ethiopian race, and so are those that inhabit the neighbouring islands Abasa and Sacæa. Some however say that they are not Ethiopians but a cross-breed of Scythians and Indians. Such are the various traditions.
As you go from Elis to Achaia it is about 127 stades to the river Larisus, which is in our day the boundary between Elis and Achaia, but in ancient times the boundary was the promontory Araxus near the sea.
FOOTNOTES:
[76] This proverb means to play fast and loose, to be a turn-coat, a Vicar of Bray. The best illustration is Cicero ad Fam. vii. 29. “Noli hanc epistolam Attico ostendere: sine eum errare et putare me virum bonum esse nec solere duo parietes de eadem fidelia dealbare.” See also Erasmus’ Adagia.