1.24.1 In this place has been made [poieîsthai] [a statue of] Athena striking Marsyas the Silenos for taking up the aulos [‘double-reed’], which the goddess [theos (feminine)] wished to be cast aside, once and for all. As one moves past the works I have spoken of, there is what is talked about as the Battle [Makhē] of Theseus with the so-called Bull of Minos, whether this was a man or a beast of the kind he is said to have been in the prevalent story. I say it this way because even in our time women have given birth to monstrosities [terata] that are far more-wondrous [thaumasiōtera] than this.

1.24.2 There is also set up a [statue of] Phrixos the son of Athamas, carried ashore to the land of Kolkhis by the ram. Having sacrificed [thuein] it [= the ram] to some god or other, presumably to the one called Laphystios by the people of Orkhomenos, he has cut out the thighs [mēroi] in accordance with the custom [nomos] of the Greeks [Hellēnes] and is watching them as they burn. Next are set up other likenesses [eikones], including one of Hēraklēs strangling the serpents [drakontes], as the story [logos] has it. There is Athena too coming up out of the head of Zeus, and also a bull dedicated by the Council of the Areiopagos on some occasion or other, about which one could, if one wanted to, say- many different -likely-things [eikazein].

1.24.3 I have already said earlier that the Athenians, far more than other people, share in a zeal [spoudē] for that-which-is-divine [theion]. They were the first to surname [epοnomazein] Athena as Erganē [= patroness of ergon ‘work’]; they were the first to set up limbless Hermai; and the temple [nāos] [of their goddess] is shared by a Daimōn [‘superhuman force’] of zealous-ones [spoudaioi].^* Whoever prefers things that have been made [poieîsthai] with artistry [tekhnē] to mere antiquity [arkhaiotēs], such a person may have the following things to view [theâsthai]: a man wearing a helmet, by Kleoitas, whose nails the artist has made of silver, and a statue [agalma] of Earth [Gē] imploring Zeus to rain upon her; perhaps the Athenians themselves needed downpourings [of rain], or maybe all the Greeks [Hellēnes] had been plagued with a drought. There also are set up Timotheus the son of Konon and Konon himself; Procne too, who has already made up her mind about the boy, and Itys as well—a group dedicated by Alkamenes. There has also been made [poieîsthai] an Athena displaying her olive-plant [phuton], and Poseidon displaying his wave [kūma];

1.24.4 also, there is a statue [agalma] of Zeus, one made by Leokhares^* and another one called Polieus [‘of the city’], the traditions [kathestēkota] for sacrificing [thusiā] to whom I will write down [graphein] without writing down [graphein] the reason [aitiā] for [epi + dative] these [traditions]. Upon the altar [bōmos] of Zeus Polieus they place barley mixed with wheat and leave it unguarded. The ox, which they keep already prepared for sacrifice [thusiā], goes to the altar [bōmos] and makes contact [haptesthai] with the grain [spermata]. One of the priests [hiereis] they call the ox-slayer [bouphonos], and he kills the ox; then, casting aside the axe [pelekus] at that spot, according to the ritual [nomos], he runs away. The others bring the axe [pelekus] to trial [dikē], as if they did not know the man who did [drân] the deed [ergon].

1.24.5 They do [drân] these things as I have just said they do them. And now, as one enters the temple [nāos] that they name the Parthenon, all the details that have been put into what is called the [east] pediment [] show the birth [genesis] of Athena, but on the rear [= west] pediment there is the strife [eris] between Athena and Poseidon over the ownership of the land [of Athens]. As for the statue [agalma] [of the goddess] itself, it is made [poieîsthai] of ivory and gold. On the middle of her helmet [kranos] is placed a likeness [eikōn] of the Sphinx—the things that are said of the Sphinx I will write down [graphein] when my discourse [logos] moves ahead to things having to do with Boeotia—and on either side of the helmet [kranos] are griffins [grupes] in relief.

1.24.6 These griffins, Aristeas^* of Prokonnesos says in his verses [epē], fight for the gold with the Arimaspoi beyond the Issedones. The gold that the griffins guard, he says, comes out of the earth; the Arimaspoi are men all born with one eye; griffins are beasts like lions, but with the beak and wings of an eagle. I will say no more about the griffins.

1.24.7 The statue [agalma] of Athena is standing [not seated], with a tunic [khitōn] reaching to the feet, and on her breast the head of Medusa is worked in ivory. She holds a [statue of] Nike about four cubits high, and in the other hand a spear [doru]; at her feet is placed a shield [aspis] and near the spear [doru] is a serpent [drakōn]. This serpent [drakōn] would be Erikhthonios. On the pedestal of the statue [agalma] is the birth of Pandora in relief. It has been said-in-poetry [poieîsthai] by Hesiod and others that this Pandora was the first woman; before Pandora was born there was as yet no womankind. And there, as I know because I saw it, is a portrait-statue [eikōn] of ‘King’ [basileus] Hadrian—it is the only one there, but at the entrance there is one [= a portrait-statue] of Iphikrates,^* who accomplished-for-public-display [apodeiknusthai] many wondrous [thaumasta] deeds.

1.24.8 Beyond the temple [nāos] is a bronze Apollo, and it is said that Pheidias made [poieîn] the statue [agalma]. They call it the Locust God [Parnopios], because once when locusts [parnopes] were devastating the land the god said that he would drive them from Attica. That he did drive them away they know, but they do not say how. I myself know that locusts [parnopes] have been destroyed three times in the past on Mount Sipylos, and not in the same way. Once a gale arose and swept them away; on another occasion violent heat came on after rain and destroyed them; the third time, sudden cold caught them and they died.