Description of Greece

​But all the women of the Thracian race who were enslaved, and those who, though free, had their livelihood there, allowed themselves to be shorn; and thus the Erythraeans dragged the raft ashore. Consequently, access to the sanctuary of Heracles is open to Thracian women alone of all women, and the rope made of the hair is still kept by the inhabitants even down to my time; and moreover, these same people say that the fisherman recovered his sight and could see for the rest of his life.

​There is also in Erythrae a temple of Athena Polias and a wooden image of great size; it is seated upon a throne, holding a spindle in each hand and having a polos upon its head. That this is the work of Endoius we inferred from other evidence and especially by looking at the workmanship inside the image, and not least from the Graces and Seasons which stand in the open air of white marble before one enters. In my time too, a sanctuary of Asclepius was built for the Smyrnaeans between Mount Coryphe and a sea unmixed with water of another kind.

​Ionia, besides its sanctuaries and the tempering of its climate, provides also other things worthy of record: the Ephesian territory, for instance, has the river Cenchrius, the natural character of Mount Pion, and the spring Halitaea; in the Milesian territory is the spring Byblis, and all the stories they sing about the love of Byblis; and in the Colophonian territory is the grove of Apollo, consisting of ash trees, and not far from the grove is the river Ales, the coldest of the rivers in Ionia.

​For the Lebedians, the baths in their land are at once a wonder and a benefit to men; for the Teians also, there are baths on the cape of Macria, some in a cleft of the rock where the waves break, and others built to display wealth. The Clazomenians too have baths—where Agamemnon receives honors—and they have a cave called the cave of Pyrrhus’ mother, and they tell a story about Pyrrhus the shepherd.

​For the Erythraeans there is the Chalcis country, from which also the third of their tribes has taken its name, and there is a cape of Chalcis extending into the sea, on which are salt-water baths, the most beneficial to men of all the baths in Ionia. For the Smyrnaeans, the river Meles is the most beautiful water, and there is a cave at its sources where they say Homer composed his epic poems.

​For the Chians, the tomb of Oenopion provides a sight, and there are also some stories about the deeds of Oenopion. For the Samians, on the road to the Heraeum, is the monument of Radine and Leontichus, and it is established for those who are distressed by love to go and pray at the monument. Indeed, the wonders in Ionia are many, and they fall not far short of those in Greece.