| 9.39.3. καὶ ἔστι μὲν πρὸς τῇ ὄχθῃ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ναὸς Ἑρκύνης, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ παρθένος χῆνα ἔχουσα ἐν ταῖς χερσίν· εἰσὶ δὲ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τε αἱ πηγαὶ καὶ ἀγάλματα ὀρθά, περιειλιγμένοι δέ εἰσιν αὐτῶν τοῖς σκήπτροις δράκοντες. ταῦτα εἰκάσαι μὲν ἄν τις Ἀσκληπιοῦ τε εἶναι καὶ Ὑγείας, εἶεν δʼ ἂν Τροφώνιος καὶ Ἕρκυνα, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τοὺς δράκοντας Ἀσκληπιοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ καὶ Τροφωνίου νομίζουσιν ἱεροὺς εἶναι. ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ μνῆμά ἐστιν Ἀρκεσιλάου· Λήϊτον δὲ ἀνακομίσαι φασὶ τοῦ Ἀρκεσιλάου τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐκ Τροίας. 9.39.4. τὰ δὲ ἐπιφανέστατα ἐν τῷ ἄλσει Τροφωνίου ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν, Ἀσκληπιῷ καὶ τοῦτο εἰκασμένον· Πραξιτέλης δὲ ἐποίησε τὸ ἄγαλμα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Δήμητρος ἱερὸν ἐπίκλησιν Εὐρώπης καὶ Ζεὺς Ὑέτιος ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ. ἀναβᾶσι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ μαντεῖον καὶ αὐτόθεν ἰοῦσιν ἐς τὸ πρόσω τοῦ ὄρους, Κόρης ἐστὶ καλουμένη θήρα καὶ Διὸς Βασιλέως ναός. τοῦτον μὲν δὴ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος ἢ καὶ τῶν πολέμων τὸ ἀλλεπάλληλον ἀφείκασιν ἡμίεργον· ἐν δὲ ἑτέρῳ ναῷ Κρόνου καὶ Ἥρας καὶ Διός ἐστιν ἀγάλματα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν. 9.39.13. τὸν δὲ ἀναβάντα παρὰ τοῦ Τροφωνίου παραλαβόντες αὖθις οἱ ἱερεῖς καθίζουσιν ἐπὶ θρόνον Μνημοσύνης μὲν καλούμενον, κεῖται δὲ οὐ πόρρω τοῦ ἀδύτου, καθεσθέντα δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἀνερωτῶσιν ὁπόσα εἶδέ τε καὶ ἐπύθετο· μαθόντες δὲ ἐπιτρέπουσιν αὐτὸν ἤδη τοῖς προσήκουσιν. οἱ δὲ ἐς τὸ οἴκημα, ἔνθα καὶ πρότερον διῃτᾶτο παρά τε Τύχῃ καὶ Δαίμονι ἀγαθοῖς, ἐς τοῦτο ἀράμενοι κομίζουσι κάτοχόν τε ἔτι τῷ δείματι καὶ ἀγνῶτα ὁμοίως αὑτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν πέλας. ὕστερον μέντοι τά τε ἄλλα οὐδέν τι φρονήσει μεῖον ἢ πρότερον καὶ γέλως ἐπάνεισίν οἱ. | 9.39.3. On the bank of the river there is a temple of Hercyna, in which is a maiden holding a goose in her arms. In the cave are the sources of the river and images standing, and serpents are coiled around their scepters. One might conjecture the images to be of Asclepius and Health, but they might be Trophonius and Hercyna, because they think that serpents are just as much sacred to Trophonius as to Asclepius. By the side of the river is the tomb of Arcesilaus, whose bones, they say, were carried back from Troy by Leitus. 9.39.4. The most famous things in the grove are a temple and image of Trophonius; the image, made by Praxiteles, is after the likeness of Asclepius. There is also a sanctuary of Demeter surnamed Europa, and a Zeus Rain-god in the open. If you go up to the oracle, and thence onwards up the mountain, you come to what is called the Maid's Hunting and a temple of King Zeus. This temple they have left half finished, either because of its size or because of the long succession of the wars. In a second temple are images of Cronus, Hera and Zeus. There is also a sanctuary of Apollo. 9.39.13. After his ascent from Trophonius the inquirer is again taken in hand by the priests, who set him upon a chair called the chair of Memory, which stands not far from the shrine, and they ask of him, when seated there, all he has seen or learned. After gaining this information they then entrust him to his relatives. These lift him, paralyzed with terror and unconscious both of himself and of his surroundings, and carry him to the building where he lodged before with Good Fortune and the Good Spirit. Afterwards, however, he will recover all his faculties, and the power to laugh will return to him. |
