Description of Greece

​The mountain Kronion, according to what has already been said by me, extends along the terrace and the treasuries upon it. On the summit of the mountain, those called the Basilai sacrifice to Kronos at the equinox in the spring, in the month of Elaphios among the Eleans.

​At the limits of Kronion, on the side towards the north, between the treasuries and the mountain, there is a sanctuary of Eileithyia, and in it Sosipolis, a local divinity of the Eleans, receives honors. They call Eileithyia indeed ‘Olympia’, and choose a woman to be priestess for the goddess every year; and the old woman who tends Sosipolis, according to the law of the Eleans, performs sacred rites, and herself brings water for bathing to the god, and sets down for him barley-cakes kneaded with honey.

​In the front part of the temple—for indeed it is built double—there is both an altar of Eileithyia and an entrance into it for people; but in the inner part Sosipolis has honors, and there is no entrance into it except for the woman who tends the god, who has drawn a white veil over her head and face; and maidens and women waiting in the sanctuary of Eileithyia sing a hymn, and while they purify with all kinds of incense, they are not accustomed to pour wine as a libation to him. And an oath taken in the presence of Sosipolis is established for the greatest matters.

​It is said also that when the Arcadians had invaded Elis with an army and the Eleans were arrayed against them, a woman came to the generals of the Eleans, holding a babe at her breast, saying that she herself had given birth to the child, but was giving him, in consequence of dreams, to fight as an ally for the Eleans. And those in authority—for they believed the woman had spoken the truth—placed the child naked in front of the army.

​The Arcadians advanced, and the child there was already a dragon; and upon the Arcadians, who were thrown into confusion at the sight and gave way to flight, the Eleans pressed, and won a most glorious victory, and they gave the god the name Sosipolis. And where the dragon seemed to them to slip into the earth after the battle, they built the sanctuary there; and they resolved to worship Eileithyia also along with him, because this goddess had brought forth the child into the world for them.

​For those of the Arcadians who died in the battle, their tomb is on the hill, after crossing the Cladeus, towards the setting of the sun. And near Eileithyia, ruins of a sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania remain, and they sacrifice there too upon the altars.

​And there is within the Altis, near the processional entrance, the so-called Hippodameium, a space of about a plethron enclosed by a wall; into this once each year there is an entrance for the women, who sacrifice to Hippodameia and perform other things to her honor. They say that Hippodameia retired to Midea in Argolis, inasmuch as Pelops had anger against her especially on account of the death of Chrysippus; but they themselves say that later, in consequence of an oracle, they brought the bones of Hippodameia to Olympia.