The village Alalcomenæ is not large, and lies at the foot of a mountain not very high. It got its name from Alalcomeneus an Autochthon who they say reared Athene: others say from Alalcomenia one of the daughters of Ogygus. Some distance from the village in the plain is a temple of Athene, and there was an old ivory statue of the goddess, which was taken away by Sulla, who was also very cruel to the Athenians, and whose manners were very unlike those of the Romans, and who acted similarly to the Thebans and Orchomenians. He, after his furious onsets against the Greek cities and the gods of the Greeks, was himself seized by the most unpleasant of all diseases, for he was covered with lice, and this was the end of all his glory. And the temple of Athene at Alalcomenæ was neglected after the statue of the goddess was removed. Another circumstance in my time tended to the breaking up of the temple: some ivy, which had got a firm hold on the building, loosened and detached the stones from their positions. The river that flows here is a small torrent, they call it Triton because they say Athene was brought up near the river Triton, as if it were this Triton, and not the Triton in Libya which has its outlet from the Lake Tritonis into the Libyan sea. [71] Odyssey, x. 492-495. CHAPTER XXXIV. Before you get to Coronea from Alalcomenæ, you will come to the temple of Itonian Athene, called so from Itonus the son of Amphictyon. Here the Bœotians hold their general meeting. In this temple are brazen statues of Itonian Athene and Zeus, designed by Agoracritus, a pupil and lover of Phidias. They also erected in my time some statues of the Graces. The following tradition is told that Iodama the priestess of Athene went to the temple by night, and Athene appeared to her with the head of the Gorgon Medusa on her tunic, and Iodama when she saw it was turned into stone. In consequence of this a woman puts fire every day on the altar of Iodama, and calls out thrice in the Bœotian dialect, “Iodama is alive and asks for fire.” Coronea is remarkable for its altar of Hermes Epimelius in the market-place, and its altar of the Winds. And a little lower down is a temple and ancient statue of Hera by Pythodorus the Theban. She has some Sirens in her hand. For they say that they, the daughters of Achelous, were persuaded by Hera to vie with the Muses in singing, and that the Muses being victorious plucked off their wings and made crowns of them. About 40 stades from Coronea is the mountain Libethrium, where are statues of the Muses and Nymphs called Libethrides, and two fountains (one called Libethrias, and the other Petra) like women’s breasts, and water like milk comes up from them.