He means the country which was a part of Messenia.[151] There was then no difference whether he said “A stranger, whom he met at Lacedæmon, gave him,” or, “they met at Messene;” for it is evident that Pheræ was the home of Ortilochus: “they arrived at Pheræ, and went to the house of Diocles the son of Ortilochus,”[152] namely, Telemachus and Pisistratus. Now Pheræ[153] belongs to Messenia. But after saying, that Telemachus and his friend set out from Pheræ, and were driving their two horses the whole day, he adds, “The sun was setting; they came to the hollow Lacedæmon (κητώεσσαν), and drove their chariot to the palace of Menelaus.”[154] Here we must understand the city; and if we do not, the poet says, that they journeyed from Lacedæmon to Lacedæmon. It is not otherwise improbable that the palace of Menelaus should not be at Sparta; and if it was not there, that Telemachus should say, “for I am going to Sparta, and to Pylus,”[155] for this seems to agree with the epithets applied to the country,[156] unless indeed any one should allow this to be a poetical licence; for, if Messenia was a part of Laconia, it would be a contradiction that Messene should not be placed together with Laconia, or with Pylus, (which was under the command of Nestor,) nor by itself in the Catalogue of Ships, as though it had no part in the expedition. CHAPTER VI. 1. After Maleæ follow the Argolic and Hermionic Gulfs; the former extends as far as Scyllæum,[157] it looks to the east, and towards the Cyclades;[158] the latter lies still more towards the east than the former, reaching Ægina and the Epidaurian territory.[159] The Laconians occupy the first part of the Argolic Gulf, and the Argives the rest. Among the places occupied by the Laconians are Delium,[160] a temple of Apollo, of [CAS. 368] the same name as that in Bœotia; Minoa, a fortress of the same name as that in Megara; and according to Artemidorus, Epidaurus Limera;[161] Apollodorus, however, places it near Cythera,[162] and having a convenient harbour, (λιμὴν, limen,) it was called Limenera, which was altered by contraction to Limera. A great part of the coast of Laconia, beginning immediately from Maleæ, is rugged. It has however shelters for vessels, and harbours. The remainder of the coast has good ports; there are also many small islands, not worthy of mention, lying in front of it. 2. To the Argives belong Prasiæ,[163] and Temenium[164] where Temenus lies buried. Before coming to Temenium is the district through which the river Lerna flows, that having the same name as the lake, where is laid the scene of the fable of the Hydra. The Temenium is distant from Argos 26 stadia from the sea-coast; from Argos to Heræum are 40, and thence to Mycenæ 10 stadia.