Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/95

B. ix. c. i. 18, 19. ATTICA. 87 thon, the battle with the Persians; at Rhamnus was the statue of Nemesis, which, according to some writers, is the work of Diodotus, according to others, of Agoracritus, the Parian, so well executed, both as to size and beauty, as to rival the art of Pheidias. Deceleia was the rendezvous of the Peloponnesians in the Decelic war. From Phyle Thrasybu- lus brought back the people to the Piraeus, and thence to the Asty. Thus also much might be told respecting many other places ; the Leocorium, the Theseium, and the Lyceum have their own fables, and the Olympicum, called also the Olym- pium, which the king, who dedicated it, left, at his death, half finished ; so also much might be said of the Academia, of the gardens of the philosophers, of the Odeiuin, 1 of the Stoa Poscile, [or painted Portico,] and of the temples in the city, all of which contain the works of illustrious artists. 18. The account would be much longer if we were to in- quire who were the founders of the city from the time of Cecrops, for writers do not agree, as is evident from the names of persons and of places. For example, Attica, 2 they say, was derived from Actseon ; Atthis, and Attica, from Atthis, the daughter of Cranaus, from whom the inhabitants had the name Crana'i ; Mopsopia from Mopsopus ; Ionia from Ion, the son of Xuthus ; Poseidonia and Athenas, from the deities of that name. We have said, that the nation of the Pelasgi seem to have come into this country in the course of their migra- tions, and were called from their wanderings, by the Attici, Pelargi, or storks. 19. In proportion as an earnest desire is excited to ascer- tain the truth about remarkable places and events, and in proportion as writers, on these subjects, are more numerous, so much the more is an author exposed to censure, who does not make himself master of what has been written. For ex- ample, in "the Collection of the Rivers," Callimachus says, that he should laugh at the person, who would venture to describe the Athenian virgins as 1 The Odeium was a kind of theatre erected by Pericles in the Ce- ramic quarter of the city, for the purpose of holding musical meetings. The roof, supported by columns, was constructed out of the wreck of the Persian fleet conquered at Salamis. There was also the Odeium of Regilla, but this was built in the time of the Antonines. 2 The country was called Actica from Actaeos. Parian Chronicle.