_Ly_. Because it is not certain that the thing was a cup. And even if that is generally admitted, they do not all agree that it was gold; and if it is well known that a gold cup is missing, and you find a gold cup on your first man, even so you are not quit of searching the others; it is not clear that this is _the_ sacred cup; do you suppose there is only one gold cup in the world? _Her_. No, indeed. _Ly_. So you will have to go the round, and then collect all your finds together and decide which of them is most likely to be divine property. For the source of all the difficulty is this: every one who is stripped has something or other on him, one a bowl, one a cup, one a garland, which again may be bronze, gold, or silver; but whether the one he has is the sacred one, is not yet clear. It is absolutely impossible to know which man to accuse of sacrilege; even if all the objects were similar, it would be uncertain who had robbed the God; for such things may be private property too. Our perplexity, of course, is simply due to the fact that the missing cup--assume it to be a cup--has no inscription; if either the God's or the donor's name had been on it, we should not have had all this trouble; when we found the inscribed one, we should have stopped stripping and inconveniencing other visitors. I suppose, Hermotimus, you have often been at athletic meetings? _Her_. You suppose right; and in many places too. _Ly_. Did you ever have a seat close by the judges? _Her_. Dear me, yes; last Olympia, I was on the left of the stewards; Euandridas of Elis had got me a place in the Elean enclosure; I particularly wanted to have a near view of how things are done there. _Ly_. So you know how they arrange ties for the wrestling or the pancratium? _Her_. Yes. _Ly_. Then you will describe it better than I, as you have seen it so close. _Her_. In old days, when Heracles presided, bay leaves-- _Ly_. No old days, thank you; tell me what you saw with your own eyes.