Description of Greece

​After the tomb of Cephisodorus is buried on the one hand Heliodorus of Halis; one can see his portrait also in the great temple of Athena. On the other hand is buried Themistocles, the son of Poliarchus, a third-generation descendant of the Themistocles who fought the sea-battle against Xerxes and the Medes. I shall pass over the others who are further down in the family line, except Acestium; but for Acestium, the daughter of Xenocles, the son of Sophocles, the son of Leon, it was granted to these men, as far as her fourth ancestor Leon, to all become daduchs (torch-bearers), and during her own lifetime she saw first her brother Sophocles serving as daduch, and after him her husband Themistocles, and when he also had died, her son Theophrastus.

​They say that such a fortune befell her. For those who have gone on a little, there is a sanctuary of the hero Lacius, and a deme which they call Laciadae after him, and there is the tomb of Nicocles of Tarentum, who attained the greatest fame of all citharoedes. There is also an altar of Zephyrus, and a sanctuary of Demeter and her daughter; along with them Athena and Poseidon hold honors. In this place, they say that Phytalus welcomed Demeter in his home, and the goddess in return for this gave him the plant of the fig-tree; the inscription on the tomb of Phytalus bears witness to my account: “Here the lord hero Phytalus once welcomed august Demeter, when first she brought to light the fruit of autumn, which the race of mortals names the sacred fig; since which time the family of Phytalus obtained ageless honors.”

​But before crossing the Cephisus, there is the tomb of Theodorus, who acted in tragedy best of those in his time. And by the river there are statues of Mnesimache, and another is a dedication of her son cutting his hair for the Cephisus; and that this has been established of old for all Greeks one might infer from the poetry of Homer, who says that Peleus vowed to the Spercheius that Achilles would cut his hair upon returning safe from Troy.

​For those who have crossed the Cephisus, there is an ancient altar of Zeus Meilichius; at this altar Theseus obtained purification by the descendants of Phytalus, after killing robbers and others, and Sinis who was related to him on Pittheus’ side. And there is there the tomb of Theodectes of Phaselis, and also that of Mnesitheus; they say that he was a good physician and dedicated statues, among which Iacchus also is made. By the road is built a temple of no great size called that of Cyamites; but I can say nothing certain whether he first sowed beans or whether they named some hero so, because it is not possible for them to attribute the invention of beans to Demeter. Anyone who has already seen the initiation at Eleusis or has read what are called the Orphic writings knows what I mean.

​Of the tombs which have reached the greatest degree of size and ornament, one is that of a Rhodian man who migrated to Athens, and the other was made by Harpalus the Macedonian, who, having run away from Alexander out of Asia, crossed with ships to Europe, and having arrived among the Athenians was arrested by them, but having bribed with money both others and the friends of Alexander, he ran away; and even before that he had married Pythonice, of whose origin I do not know, but who was a courtesan in Athens and in Corinth; he reached such a degree of love for her that when she died he made a tomb for her which is most worth seeing of all the ancient monuments that the Greeks have.

​There is a sanctuary in which are placed statues of Demeter and her daughter, and both Athena and Apollo; but it was built for Apollo alone from the beginning. For they say that Cephalus, the son of Deion, having helped Amphitryon to conquer the Teleboans, was the first to inhabit the island which now is called Cephallenia after him; and that he for a time lived in exile in Thebes, having fled from Athens on account of the murder of his wife Procris. Ten generations later, Chalcinus and Daetus, descendants of Cephalus, having sailed to Delphi, asked the god for a return to Athens;

​the god commanded them to sacrifice first to Apollo in that part of Attica where they should see a trireme running upon the land. When they were near the mountain called Poicilum, a serpent appeared running in haste towards its hole; and they sacrificed to Apollo in this place, and later when they came to the city, the Athenians made them citizens. After this there is a temple of Aphrodite, and in front of it a wall of rough stones worth seeing.