Pausanias Analysis

Cythera lies opposite Boeae, and nearest to the cape called Platanistus; at this point the island is separated from the mainland by the shortest distance. The distance between the cape Platanistus and the point on the mainland known as Onugnathus ("Donkey's Jaw") is a voyage of about forty stades. On Cythera itself, Scandeia, the harbor, lies by the sea. The city of Cythera is situated inland, about ten stades' ascent from Scandeia. The sanctuary of Uranian Aphrodite there is most holy, and it is the oldest of all the sanctuaries of Aphrodite in Greece. The image of the goddess itself is a wooden statue in armor.

Sailing from Boiae, beneath the headland of Malea, there is a harbor called Nymphaion and a standing statue of Poseidon. Very close by is a cave by the sea, and within it a spring of sweet water; many people dwell nearby. About a hundred stades after you have navigated around Cape Malea, there is a coastal place on the border of the territory of the Boeatae which contains a sanctuary of Apollo called Epidelion.

For the wooden image of Apollo which now stands here, was once set up in Delos. At that time Delos was a trading center for the Greeks, and because of the god was thought to provide safe haven to merchants and traders. Menophanes, a general of Mithridates, either from his own arrogance or directed by Mithridates—indeed, to a man who sets profit first, the divine comes only after gain—this Menophanes, therefore, since the island was in this condition...

Since Delos was unwalled, and its men possessed no weapons, he sailed into the port with his triremes and slaughtered both the foreigners who were present there, as well as the Delians themselves. After seizing much of the merchants' wealth and all of the dedications, enslaving also the women and children, he razed Delos to the ground. In the midst of this plundering and devastation, one of the barbarians insolently cast this statue into the sea; but the wave caught it and carried it over to this place in Boeotia, which consequently came to be called Epidelion.

However, neither Menophanes nor Mithridates himself escaped the divine wrath. For soon afterward, as Menophanes sailed away after devastating Delos, merchants who had previously escaped laid an ambush for him with their ships and sank him. Mithridates too, later suffered divine vengeance and was compelled to take his own life, stripped of his empire and hunted down on every side by the Romans. Yet some claim that Mithridates met with violent death at the hands of one of his mercenaries, who thus granted him this final favor.

Such then was the fate that overtook those who committed impiety. Bordering upon Boiae is Epidaurus Limera, situated about two hundred stades from Epidelium. They say that its founders were not Lacedaemonians, but Epidaurians from the Argolid. Sailing publicly to visit Asclepius in Cos, they put ashore here in Laconia; thereafter, in obedience to dreams that came to them, they remained and settled here.

They say also that as they were bringing a serpent from Epidaurus, the serpent escaped from the ship, and after escaping plunged into the sea not far away. Prompted both by the dreams they saw and by the sign given by the serpent, they decided to settle and dwell in that very place. And where the serpent sank into the sea stand altars to Asclepius, with olive trees growing around them.

Proceeding onwards about two stades on the right side, there is water called the water of Ino. Its size is that of a small lake, but its depth extends deep into the earth. At the festival of Ino, they cast cakes of barley meal into this water. If the water accepts and retains the cakes, it is considered favorable for the one who threw them in; but if the water should send them back up, it is regarded as an evil omen.

The craters on Etna indicate something similar. For people throw into them crafted objects of gold and silver, and also sacrifices of all sorts. Now if the fire accepts these offerings, carrying them away, they rejoice as though a good omen has appeared; but if the fire rejects what was thrown in, they believe misfortune will befall that person.

Along the road from Boeae to Epidaurus Limera there is, in Epidaurian territory, a sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis. The city itself stands upon elevated ground, not far from the sea. There are sights here that merit attention: a sanctuary of Aphrodite, an upright stone statue of Asclepius, a temple of Athena on the acropolis, and before the harbor, a shrine dedicated to Zeus Soter (Zeus the Savior).

A promontory extends out into the sea by the city, called Minoa. The bay does not differ at all from other coastal inlets along the Laconian coast; however, the beach at this place produces pebbles of especially fine shape and various colors.