They raise an altar; and with boughs of oak
Soft wreaths of foliage weave to deck it round.
Then to their rites they turn, and vows perform.
The same circumstance is mentioned in the Orphic Argonautics[[815]]; where the poet speaks of Argus, and the vine branch:
Αμφιπλακες ερνος
Αμπελου αυαλιης οξει απεκερσε σιδηρῳ,
Ξεσσε δ' επισταμενως.
The Amazonians were a very antient people, who worshipped their provincial Deity under the character of a female, and by the titles of Artemis, Oupis, Hippa. They first built a temple at Ephesus; and according to Callimachus [[816]]the image of the Goddess was formed of the stump of a beech tree.
Σοι και Αμαζονιδες πολεμου επιθυμητειραι
Εκ κοτε παῤῥαλιῃ Εφεσου βρετας ἱδρυσαντο