§7.23.7τῆς δὲ Εἰλειθυίας οὐ μακρὰν Ἀσκληπιοῦ τέ ἐστι τέμενος καὶ ἀγάλματα Ὑγείας καὶ Ἀσκληπιοῦ· ἰαμβεῖον δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ βάθρῳ τὸν Μεσσήνιον Δαμοφῶντα εἶναι τὸν εἰργασμένον φησίν.
Not far from Eileithyia there is a sanctuary of Asclepius and statues of Hygieia and Asclepius; and the iambic verse on the pedestal says that the person who made them was Damophon of Messene.
ἐν τούτῳ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τῷ ἱερῷ ἐς ἀντιλογίαν ἀφίκετο ἀνήρ μοι Σιδόνιος, ὃς ἐγνωκέναι τὰ ἐς τὸ θεῖον ἔφασκε Φοίνικας τά τε ἄλλα Ἑλλήνων βέλτιον καὶ δὴ καὶ Ἀσκληπιῷ πατέρα μὲν σφᾶς Ἀπόλλωνα ἐπιφημίζειν, θνητὴν δὲ γυναῖκα οὐδεμίαν μητέρα·
In this temple of Asclepius, a man of Sidon entered into a dispute with me, who asserted that the Phoenicians understood divine matters better than the Greeks in other respects and especially that they called Apollo the father of Asclepius, but assigned no mortal woman as his mother.
§7.23.8Ἀσκληπιὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀέρα γένει τε ἀνθρώπων εἶναι καὶ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ζῴοις ἐπιτήδειον πρὸς ὑγίειαν, Ἀπόλλωνα δὲ ἥλιον, καὶ αὐτὸν ὀρθότατα Ἀσκληπιῷ πατέρα ἐπονομάζεσθαι, ὅτι ἐς τὸ ἁρμόζον ταῖς ὥραις ποιούμενος ὁ ἥλιος τὸν δρόμον μεταδίδωσι καὶ τῷ ἀέρι ὑγιείας.
For, he argued, Asclepius is the air, which is beneficial for health both to the human race and similarly to all animals, and Apollo is the sun, and he is most rightly named the father of Asclepius because the sun, by making its course in conformity with the seasons, imparts health also to the air.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἀποδέχεσθαι μὲν τὰ εἰρημένα, οὐδὲν δέ τι Φοινίκων μᾶλλον ἢ καὶ Ἑλλήνων ἔφην τὸν λόγον, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν Τιτάνῃ τῆς Σικυωνίων τὸ αὐτὸ ἄγαλμα Ὑγείαν τε ὀνομάζεσθαι καὶ †παιδὶ ἦν δῆλα ὡς τὸν ἡλιακὸν δρόμον ἐπὶ γῆς ὑγίειαν ποιοῦντα ἀνθρώποις.
But I said that I accepted what was said, yet that the argument belonged no more to the Phoenicians than to the Greeks, since even in Titane of the Sicyonians the same image is called Hygieia, and it is clear that the sun's course produces health on earth for mankind.
§7.23.9Αἰγιεῦσι δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς τε ναὸς καὶ Ἥρας ἐστὶν ἄλσος.
The Aegians also have a temple of Athena and a grove of Hera.
Ἀθηνᾶς μὲν δὴ δύο ἀγάλματα λευκοῦ λίθου· τῆς δὲ Ἥρας τὸ ἄγαλμα ὅτι μὴ γυναιξίν, ἣ ἂν τὴν ἱερωσύνην ἔχῃ, ἄλλῳ γε δὴ οὐδενὶ ἔστι θεάσασθαι.
There are two statues of Athena of white marble; but the statue of Hera no one else is permitted to see, except the woman who holds the priesthood.
Διονύσου δὲ πρὸς τῷ θεάτρῳ πεποίηταί σφισιν ἱερὸν καὶ ἄγαλμα, οὐκ ἔχων πω γένεια.
Near the theatre they have a sanctuary and a statue of Dionysus, who has not yet grown a beard.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ Διὸς ἐπίκλησιν Σωτῆρος ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ τέμενος καὶ ἀγάλματα ἐσελθόντων ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, χαλκοῦ μὲν ἀμφότερα, τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἔχον πω γένεια ἐφαίνετο ἀρχαιότερον εἶναί μοι.
In the marketplace there is also a sanctuary of Zeus surnamed Savior, and on the left as you enter are two statues, both of bronze; the one that has not yet grown a beard seemed to me to be the older.
§7.23.10ἐν δὲ οἰκήματι κατευθὺ τῆς ὁδοῦ, χαλκοῦ καὶ ταῦτα, ἔστι μὲν Ποσειδῶν καὶ Ἡρακλῆς, ἐστι δὲ Ζεύς τε καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ· θεοὺς δὲ σφᾶς καλοῦσιν ἐξ Ἄργους, ὡς μὲν ὁ Ἀργείων ἔχει λόγος, ὅτι ἐποιήθησαν ἐν τῇ πόλει τῇ Ἀργείων, ὡς δὲ αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν οἱ Αἰγιεῖς, παρακαταθήκη σφίσιν ὑπὸ Ἀργείων ἐδόθη τὰ ἀγάλματα.
In a building straight along the road, there are Poseidon and Heracles, and also Zeus and Athena, these also of bronze; they call them the Gods from Argos, because, according to the Argive account, they were made in the city of the Argives, but as the Aegians themselves say, the statues were given to them by the Argives as a deposit.
§7.23.11καὶ αὐτοῖς καὶ τάδε ἔτι προσταχθῆναί φασιν, ἑκάστῃ τοῖς ἀγάλμασιν ἡμέρᾳ θύειν· αὐτοὶ δὲ σόφισμα εὑρόντες θύειν μὲν πλεῖστα ὅσα, κατευωχουμένοις δὲ τὰ ἱερεῖα ἐν κοινῷ ἀνάλωμα οὐδὲν ἐς αὐτὰ γίνεσθαι· τέλος δὲ ἀπαιτεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀργείων καὶ αὐτοὺς τὰ ἐς τὰς θυσίας ἀναλούμενα ἀπαιτεῖν· τοὺς δὲ—οὐ γὰρ ἔχειν ἐκτῖσαι—καταλιπεῖν σφισιν αὐτοὺς τὰ ἀγάλματα.
And they say that this further command was laid upon them, to sacrifice to the statues every day; but they, having found a trick, sacrifice indeed a great number, but since they feast upon the victims in common, no expense is incurred by them for these; and when at last they were demanded back by the Argives, they themselves demanded back the money spent on the sacrifices; and the Argives—for they were unable to pay it back—left the statues to them.