8. The history of the establishment of CORINTH, though marvellous and obscure, contains nevertheless some historical traces by no means unworthy of remark. In the first place, it is stated that this town did _not_ receive its inhabitants from Argos. The purport of the tradition is as follows: “When Hippotes at the time of the passage of the Dorians from Naupactus slew the soothsayer, he was banished (according to Apollodorus for ten years),(316) during which time he led a roaming and predatory life;”(317) whence his son was called Ἀλήτης, or the _Wanderer_.(318) It is also recorded in the fragment of a tradition(319) that Hippotes, when crossing the Melian gulf, imprecated against those who wished to remain behind, “_That their vessels might be leaky, and themselves the slaves of their wives._” In like manner his son Aletes passed through the territory at that time called Ephyra, where he received from scorn a clod of earth;(320) which in the ancient oracular language was a symbol of sovereignty.(321) We might almost guess from these traditions that the Dorian warriors had harassed, and at length subdued the ancient Ephyreans, by ravaging their lands, and by repeated invasions. This is confirmed by the very credible account of Thucydides relating to this point.(322) There was in the mountainous country, about sixty stadia from Corinth, and twelve from the Saronic gulf, a hill called Solygius, of which the Dorians had once taken possession for the purpose of making war against the Æolian inhabitants of Corinth. This hill was, however (at least in the time of Thucydides), entirely unfortified. Here we may recognise the very same method of waging war as in the account of Temenus given above, a method which in the Peloponnesian war was adopted by the Spartans at the fortifying of Decelea. Again, it is related in a tradition connected with the Hellotian festival, that at the taking of Corinth the Dorians set fire to the town, and even to the temple of Athene, in which the women had taken refuge.(323) In another it is stated that Aletes, being advised by an oracle to attack the city on a “crowned day,” took it during a great funeral solemnity by the treachery of the youngest daughter of Creon: these, however, are for the most part mere attempts at an historical interpretation of ancient festival ceremonies. As Aletes (according to his genealogy) lived one generation after the conquerors of Peloponnesus, the capture of Corinth was dated thirty years after the expedition of the Heraclidæ;(324) whence probably also arose the error of supposing that there had previously been Dorians at Corinth; as it was supposed that the Dorians had obtained their whole dominion over Peloponnesus at _one_ time, by _one_ expedition. The city appears to have received the name of Corinth at this time, instead of its former one of Ephyra;(325) and it seems that the Dorians called it with a certain preference “_The Corinth of Zeus_;”