ὁπόσα δὲ εἶναι τῶν Ἡφαίστου ποιηταί τε ᾄδουσι καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἠκολούθηκεν ἡ φήμη, τούτων, ὅτι μὴ τὸ Ἀγαμέμνονος σκῆπτρον, ἄλλο γε οὐδὲν ἀξιόχρεών ἐστιν ἐς πίστιν. Λύκιοι μέν γε ἐν Πατάροις ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος χαλκοῦν ἐπιδεικνύουσι κρατῆρα, ἀνάθημα εἶναι φάμενοι Τηλέφου καὶ ἔργον Ἡφαίστου· καὶ σφᾶς, ὥς γε εἰκός, λέληθε Θεόδωρον καὶ Ῥοῖκον Σαμίους εἶναι τοὺς διαχέαντας χαλκὸν πρώτους.
Πατρεῖς δὲ οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ λόγῳ μὲν λέγουσιν ὅτι Ἡφαίστου ποίημά ἐστιν ἡ λάρναξ ἣν Εὐρύπυλος ἤνεγκεν ἐξ Ἰλίου, ἔργῳ δὲ οὐ παρέχουσιν αὐτὴν θεάσασθαι. ἔστι δὲ Ἀμαθοῦς ἐν Κύπρῳ πόλις, Ἀδώνιδος ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ἱερόν ἐστιν ἀρχαῖον· ἀνακεῖσθαι δὲ ἐνταῦθα λέγουσιν ὅρμον Ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν δοθέντα ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καλούμενον δὲ Ἐριφύλης, ὅτι αὐτὴ δῶρον ἔλαβεν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνδρί· ὃν ἀνέθεσαν μὲν οἱ παῖδες ἐς Δελφοὺς οἱ Φηγέως—τρόπον δὲ ὅντινα ἐκτήσαντο αὐτόν, ἐδήλωσεν ἤδη μοι τὰ ἐς Ἀρκάδας ἔχοντα—, ἐσυλήθη δὲ ὑπὸ τυράννων τῶν ἐν Φωκεῦσιν.
οὐ μὴν παρὰ Ἀμαθουσίοις γε ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοῦ Ἀδώνιδος ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἐστίν· ἐν Ἀμαθοῦντι μὲν γάρ ἐστι λίθοι χλωροὶ συνδέοντος χρυσοῦ σφᾶς ὁ ὅρμος, τὸν δὲ τῇ Ἐριφύλῃ δοθέντα Ὅμηρός φησιν ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ πεποιῆσθαι χρυσοῦ, καὶ οὕτως ἔχει· ἣ χρυσὸν φίλου ἀνδρὸς ἐδέξατο τιμήεντα. /
οὐ μὲν οὐδὲ ἠγνόει τοὺς ὅρμους τοὺς ποικίλους· ἐν μέν γε τοῖς Εὐμαίου λόγοις πρὸς Ὀδυσσέα, πρὶν ἢ ἐκ Πύλου Τηλέμαχον ἀφικέσθαι σφίσιν ἐπὶ τὴν αὐλήν, ἐν τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις ἐστὶν ἤλυθʼ ἀνὴρ πολύιδρις ἐμοῦ πρὸς δώματα πατρός / χρύσεον ὅρμον ἔχων, μετὰ δʼ ἠλέκτροισιν ἔερτο, /
καὶ ἐν Πηνελόπης δώροις—ἄλλους τε γὰρ τῶν μνηστήρων δῶρα καὶ Εὐρύμαχον διδόντα Πηνελόπῃ πεποίηκεν— ὅρμον δʼ Εὐρύμαχος πολυδαίδαλον αὐτίκʼ ἔνεικε / χρύσεον, ἠλέκτροισιν ἐερμένον, ἠέλιον ὥς· / Ἐριφύλην δὲ οὐ χρυσῷ καὶ λίθοις ποικίλον δέξασθαί φησιν ὅρμον. οὕτω τὸ εἰκὸς τῷ σκήπτρῳ πρόσεστιν εἶναι μόνον ποίημα Ἡφαίστου.
ἔστι δὲ ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν κρημνὸς Πετραχὸς καλούμενος· Κρόνον δὲ ἐθέλουσιν ἐνταῦθα ἀπατηθῆναι δεξάμενον ἀντὶ Διὸς πέτρον παρὰ τῆς Ῥέας, καὶ ἄγαλμα Διὸς οὐ μέγα ἐστὶν ἐπὶ κορυφῇ τοῦ ὄρους.
ἐνταῦθα ἐν τῇ Χαιρωνείᾳ μύρα ἀπὸ ἀνθῶν ἕψουσι κρίνου καὶ ῥόδου καὶ ναρκίσσου καὶ ἴρεως· ταῦτα ἀλγηδόνων ἰάματα ἀνθρώποις γίνεται. τὸ δὲ ἐκ τῶν ῥόδων ποιούμενον, εἰ καὶ ἀγάλματα εἰργασμένα ξύλου χρίοις, ῥύεται καὶ ταῦτα σηπεδόνος. ἡ δὲ ἶρις φύεται μὲν ἐν ἕλεσι, μέγεθος δʼ ἐστὶν ἴση κρίνῳ, χρόαν δὲ οὐ λευκή, καὶ ὀσμὴν ἀποδεῖ κρίνου.
Of all the objects which poets have declared and obsequious public opinion has believed to be works of Hephaestus, none is genuine save the sceptre of Agamemnon. True it is that in the temple of Apollo at Patara the Lycians show a bronze bowl, which they allege to be a votive offering of Telephus and a work of Hephaestus: probably they were not aware that the first to fuse bronze were two Samians, Theodorus and Rhoecus. The Patreans in Achaia give out that the chest which Eurypylus brought from Ilium is a work of Hephaestus, but they do not, in fact, produce it for inspection.
There is a city Amathus in Cyprus, in which there is an ancient sanctuary of Adonis and Aphrodite. They say that in it is preserved the necklace which was originally given to Harmonia, but was called the necklace of Eriphyle, because she accepted it as a bribe to betray her husband. The necklace was dedicated at Delphi by the sons of Phegeus: how they acquired it I have already shown in my account of Arcadia. But it was carried off by the Phocian tyrants. Nevertheless I do not think that it is in the sanctuary of Adonis at Amathus. For the necklace at Amathus is of green stones fastened together with gold; but Homer in the Odyssey says that the necklace which was given to Eriphyle was made of gold. The passage runs thus :— Who took precious gold as the price of her dear lord.' Not that Homer was ignorant of the necklaces composed of various materials. Thus in the speech of Eumaeus to Ulysses before Telemachus has returned to the court from Pylus, he says :— There came a cunning man to the house of my father With a golden necklace, and it was strung at intervals with amber beads. Again, among the gifts which Penelope received from the wooers he has represented Eurymachus giving her one :— And straightway Eurymachus brought a necklace, cunningly wrought, Golden, strung with amber beads, like the sun. But he does not say that Eriphyle received a necklace curiously wrought of gold and stones. Probably, therefore, the sceptre is the only work of Hephaestus. 4. Above the city is a crag called Petrachus. They profess that here Cronus was beguiled when he received from Rhea a stone instead of Zeus; and there is a small image of Zeus on the top of the mountain. Here in Chaeronea they distil unguents from certain flowers, to wit, the lily, the rose, the narcissus, and the iris. These unguents are balms for the pains of men. The unguent of roses, if you smear it on wooden images, keeps them from rotting. The iris grows in marshes: it is as large as a lily, but is not white, and does not smell so sweet.
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