Book 7
20.2
But at the present day they lay aside the garlands of corn-ears by the goddess, and after bathing in the river and putting on fresh garlands, this time made of ivy, they go to the sanctuary of the Dictator. This then is their established ritual, and within the precincts of Laphria is a temple of Athena surnamed Panachaean. The image is of ivory and gold.
20.3
On the way to the lower city there is a sanctuary of the Dindymenian Mother, and in it Attis too is worshipped. Of him they have no image to show; that of the Mother is of stone. In the marketplace is a temple of Olympian Zeus; the god himself is on a throne with Athena standing by it. Beyond the Olympian is an image of Hera and a sanctuary of Apollo. The god is of bronze, and naked. On his feet are sandals, and one foot stands upon the skull of an ox.
20.4
That Apollo takes great pleasure in oxen is shown by AlcaeusAlcaeus Fr. 7 (Bergk). in his hymn to Hermes, who writes how Hermes stole cows of Apollo, and even before Alcaeus was born Homer made Apollo tend cows of Laomedon for a wage. In the Iliad he puts these verses in the mouth of Poseidon:—
20.5
Verily I built a wall for the Trojans about their city,A wide wall and very beautiful, that the city might be impregnable;And thou, Phoebus, didst tend the shambling cows with crumpled horns.Hom. Il. 21.446-448This, it may be conjectured, is the reason for the ox skull. On the market-place, in the open, is an image of Athena with the grave of Patreus in front of it.
