Description of Greece

​In the marketplace of the Troezenians is a temple and images of Artemis the Saviour (Soteira); and it was said that Theseus founded it and named her Saviour when he returned from Crete having overcome Asterion, the son of Minos. This seemed to him the most noteworthy of his achievements, not so much, in my opinion, because Asterion surpassed in bravery those slain by Theseus, but because the difficulty of escaping from the labyrinth and his escaping secretly after the deed made credible the story that Theseus himself and those with him were saved by divine providence.

​And in this temple are altars of the gods who are said to rule under the earth, and they say that Semele was brought up from Hades by Dionysus at this place, and that Heracles brought up the dog of Hades. But I am not persuaded that Semele died at all, seeing that she was the wife of Zeus, and as for the stories concerning the so-called dog of Hades, they will be made clear by me elsewhere, showing what I think they really are.

​And behind the temple is the tomb of Pittheus, and upon it stand three thrones of white marble; on these thrones they say that Pittheus and two men with him sat in judgment. Not far off is a sanctuary of the Muses, and they said that Ardaluus, the son of Hephaestus, made it; and they believe that this Ardaluus invented the flute, and they call the Muses Ardalides after him. Here they say Pittheus taught the art of rhetoric, and I myself have read a book, indeed a treatise of Pittheus, published by a man of Epidaurus. Not far from the sanctuary of the Muses is an ancient altar, this too dedicated by Ardaluus as they say; on it they sacrifice to the Muses and to Sleep (Hypnos), saying that Sleep is the god most dear to the Muses.

​And near the theatre, Hippolytus built a temple of Lycean Artemis; but as for the surname, I was able to learn nothing from the guides, but it seemed to me either that Hippolytus destroyed the wolves that were ravaging the land of Troezen, or that this is a surname of Artemis among the Amazons, from whom he was descended on his mother’s side; though there might be some other reason not known to me. The stone in front of the temple, which is called sacred, they say is that on which once nine men of the Troezenians purified Orestes from the murder of his mother.

​And not far from Lycean Artemis there are altars standing at no great distance from one another; the first of them is of Dionysus surnamed, in accordance with some oracle, Saotes (Saviour), and the second is called the altar of the Themides (Themises); Pittheus dedicated this, as they say. And they seem to me to have built the altar of the Sun of Freedom (Helios Eleutherios) for a very probable reason, having escaped enslavement by Xerxes and the Persians.