Description of Greece

​But it was destined, as it seems, for the family of Almus also to come to an end; for Orchomenus left no child, and thus the rule devolved upon Clymenus, the son of Presbon, the son of Phrixus. To Clymenus were born children: the eldest was Erginus, and after him Stratius, Arron, and Pyleus, and the youngest was Azeus. Clymenus was murdered during the festival of Onchestian Poseidon by men of the Thebans, who had been provoked to utter anger from a trivial cause; and Erginus, the eldest of the children of Clymenus, received the kingship.

​And having immediately gathered a force, both he himself and his brothers marched against Thebes; and they conquered in battle, and after this they came to an agreement that the Thebans should pay an annual tribute for the murder of Clymenus. But when Heracles was brought up in Thebes, the Thebans were thus freed from the tribute, and the Minyae suffered a great setback in the war;

​and Erginus, since his citizens were reduced to the last extremity, made peace indeed with Heracles, but seeking to recover their former wealth and that ancient prosperity, he neglected all other things alike, so that he even reached old age without realizing it, unmarried and childless. But when wealth had been accumulated by him, he then desired that children should be born to him;

​and when he went to Delphi and inquired about children, the Pythia gave this oracle: “Erginus, son of Clymenus, descendant of Presbon, late have you come seeking offspring, but even now put a new tip to the old plough-pole.” When he took a young wife according to the oracle, Trophonius and Agamedes were born to him.

​But Trophonius is said to be the son of Apollo and not of Erginus; and I believe this, as does anyone who has indeed gone to consult the oracle of Trophonius. These men, they say, when they grew up, became skilled at building sanctuaries for gods and palaces for men; for they built the temple for Apollo at Delphi and the treasury for Hyrieus. And there they made one of the stones so that it was possible for them to remove it from the outside; and they were always taking away something from what had been deposited; and Hyrieus was possessed with speechless amazement, seeing the keys and other seals undisturbed, but the amount of money constantly growing less.

​So he set over the vessels in which his silver and gold were kept, traps or some other thing which was destined to catch anyone who entered and touched the money. When Agamedes entered, the trap held him; and Trophonius cut off his head, so that when day broke Agamedes might not be put to torture and he himself be denounced as sharing in the daring deed.

​And there the earth opened and received Trophonius, where in the grove at Lebadeia is what is called the pit of Agamedes, and beside it a gravestone. And the rule over the Orchomenians was held by Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, who were said to be the sons of Ares, and their mother was Astyoche, the daughter of Actor, the son of Azeus, the son of Clymenus; and under these leaders the Minyae marched against Troy.

​The Orchomenians also took part in the expedition to Ionia with the children of Codrus. After they were driven out by the Thebans, Philip, the son of Amyntas, restored them again to Orchomenus. But their fortunes from the divine power were destined to always incline toward weakness.