The people of Patræ say that he fled to Aroe from grief at the death of his sons, and that he shuddered at the name of Argos, and was still more afraid of Danaus. There is also a temple of Æsculapius at Patræ above the citadel and near the gates which lead to Mesatis. And the women at Patræ are twice as numerous as the men, and devoted to Aphrodite if any women are. And most of them get their living by the flax that grows in Elis, which they make into nets for the hair and other parts of dress. [11] Iliad, xxiii. 584, 5. CHAPTER XXII. And Pharæ, a town in Achaia, is reckoned with Patræ since the days of Augustus, and the road to Pharæ from Patræ is about 150 stades, and from the sea to the mainland about 70 stades. And the river Pierus flows near Pharæ, the same river I think which flows by the ruins of Olenus, and is called Pirus by the men who live near the sea. Near the river is a grove of plane-trees, most of them hollow from old age, and of such a size that whoever chooses can eat and sleep inside them.[12] The circuit of the market-place is large at Pharæ according to ancient custom, and in the middle of the market-place is a stone statue of bearded Hermes; it is on the ground, no great size, and of square shape. And the inscription on it says that it was an offering of the Messenian Simylus. It is called Hermes of the Market-place, and near it is an oracle. And before the statue is a hearth made of stone, and some brazen lamps are fastened with lead to the hearth. He that wants to consult the oracle of the god comes at eventide and burns some frankincense on the hearth, and when he has filled the lamps with oil and lit them, he lays on the altar on the right of the statue the ordinary piece of money, a brass coin, and whispers his question whatever it is in the ear of the statue of the god. Then he departs from the market-place and stops up his ears. And when he has gone a little distance off he takes his hands from his ears, and whatever he next hears is he thinks the oracular response. The Egyptians have a similar kind of oracle in the temple of Apis. And at Pharæ the water is sacred, Hermes’ well is the name they give to it, and the fish in it they do not catch, because they think them sacred to the god. And very near the statue are 30 square stones, which the people of Pharæ venerate highly, calling each by the name of one of the gods. And in early times all the Greeks paid to unhewn stones, and not statues, the honours due unto the gods. And about 15 stades from Pharæ is a grove of Castor and Pollux. Bay trees chiefly grow in it, and there is neither temple in it nor any statues. The people of the place say the statues were removed to Rome. And in the grove at Pharæ is an altar of unhewn stones. But I could not learn whether Phares, the son of Phylodamia, the daughter of Danaus, or some one of the same name was the founder of the town.