“He traversed in his onward way the earth and sea; he stood upon the heights of the lofty mountains; he shook the caves in their deep recesses, and overthrew the foundations of the sacred groves” or temples.
As Alcæus is mistaken in the altering the name of the river Cuarius, so he makes a great error in placing Onchestus at the extremities of Helicon, whereas it is situated very far from this mountain.
34. The Teneric plain has its name from Tenerus. According to mythology, he was the son of Apollo and Melia, and declared the answers of the oracle at the mountain Ptoum,[391] which, the same poet says, had three peaks:
“At one time he occupied the caves of the three-headed Ptoum;”
and he calls Tenerus
“the prophet, dwelling in the temple, and having the same name as the soil on which it stands.”
The Ptoum is situated above the Teneric plain, and the lake Copaïs, near Acræphium.
Both the oracle and the mountain belonged to the Thebans.
Acræphium[392] itself is situated upon a height. This, it is said, is the place called Arnē by the poet, having the same name as the Thessalian Arnē.