Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/118

 1 10 STRABO. CASAUB. 413. Both the oracle and the mountain belonged to the Thebans. Acraephium l itself is situated upon a height. This, it is said, is the place called Arne by the poet, having the same name as the Thessalian Arne. 35. Some say that Arne and Mideia were swallowed up by the lake. Zenodotus, however, when he writes the verse thus, " they who occupied Ascra abounding with vines," 2 does not seem to have read Hesiod's description of his native country, and what has been said by Eudoxus, who relates things much more to the disparagement of Ascra. For how could any one believe that such a place could have been de- scribed by the poet as " abounding with vines ? " Neither are those persons in the right, who substitute in this passage Tarne for Arne, for there is not a place of the name of Tarne to be found in Boeotia, although there is in Lydia. Homer mentions it, " Idomeneus then slew Phaestus, the son of Borus, the artificer, who came from the fruitful soil of Tarne." 3 Besides Alalcomense and Tilphossium, which are near the lake, Chaaroneia, Lebadia, and Leuctra, are worthy of notice. 36. The poet mentions Alalcomense, 4 but not in the Cata- logue ; "the Argive Juno and Minerva of Alalcomense." 5 It has an ancient temple of Minerva, which is held in great veneration. It is said that this was the place of her birth, as Argos was that of Juno, and that Homer gave to both these goddesses designations derived from their native places. Per- haps for this reason he has not mentioned, in the Catalogue, the inhabitants ; for having a sacred character, they were ex- empted from military service. Indeed the city has never suf- fered devastation by an enemy, although it is inconsiderable in size, and its position is weak, for it is situated in a plain. 1 The ruins are situated at a short distance south of Kardhit/a. The site of Cierium, the modern village Mataranga, was first discovered by Leake, who identifies it with Arne, and supposes, with much probability, that the name Arne may have been disused by the Thessalian conquerors, because it was of Bosotian origin, -and that the new appellation may have been taken from the neighbouring river Curalius or Cuarius. 2 II. ii. 507. 3 II. v. 43. Sulinari. s II. iv. 8.