And near the theatre is the sacred enclosure of some woman who was a native of Patræ. And there are here some statues of Dionysus of the same number and name as the ancient towns of the Achæans, for the god is called Mesateus and Antheus and Aroeus. These statues during the festival of Dionysus are carried to the temple of Æsymnetes, which is near the sea on the right as you go from the market-place. And as you go lower down from the temple of Æsymnetes there is a temple and stone statue to Recovery, originally they say erected by Eurypylus when he recovered from his madness. And near the harbour is a temple of Poseidon, and his statue erect in white stone. Poseidon, besides the names given to him by poets to deck out their poetry, has several local names privately given to him, but his universal titles are Pelagæus and Asphalius and Hippius. One might urge several reasons why he was called Hippius, but I conjecture he got the name because he was the inventor of riding. Homer at any rate in that part of his Iliad about the horse-races has introduced Menelaus invoking this god in an oath. “Touch the horses, and swear by the Earth-Shaker Poseidon that you did not purposely with guile retard my chariot.”[11] And Pamphus, the most ancient Hymn-writer among the Athenians, says that Poseidon was “the giver of horses and ships with sails.” So he got the name Hippius probably from riding and for no other reason. Also at Patræ not very far from that of Poseidon are temples of Aphrodite. One of the statues a generation before my time was fished up by some fishermen in their net. There are also some statues very near the harbour, as Ares in bronze, and Apollo, and Aphrodite. She has a sacred enclosure near the harbour, and her statue is of wood except the fingers and toes and head which are of stone. At Patræ there is also a grove near the sea, which is a most convenient race-course, and a most salubrious place of resort in summer time. In this grove there are temples of Apollo and Aphrodite, their statues also in stone. There is also a temple of Demeter, she and Proserpine are standing, but Earth is seated. And in front of the temple of Demeter is a well, which has a stone wall on the side near the temple, but there is a descent to it outside. And there is here an unerring oracle, not indeed for every matter, but in the case of diseases. They fasten a mirror to a light cord and let it down into this well, poising it so as not to be covered by the water, but that the rim of the mirror only should touch the water. And then they look into the mirror after prayer to the goddess and burning of incense. And it shews them whether the sick person will die or recover. Such truth is there in this water. Similarly very near Cyaneæ in Lycia is the oracle of Apollo Thyrxis, and the water there shows anyone looking into the well whatever he wants to see. And near the grove at Patræ are two temples of Serapis, and in one of them the statue of the Egyptian Belus.