9.23.1 In front of the Proetidian gate at Thebes is the gymnasium called the Gymnasium of Iolaos and also a race-course, a bank of earth like those at Olympia and Epidaurus. Here there is also shown a hero-shrine of Iolaos. That Iolaos himself died at Sardis along with the Athenians and Thespians who made the crossing with him is admitted even by the Thebans themselves.

9.23.2 Crossing over the right side of the race-course-for-foot-racing [stadion] [at Thebes], you come to a race-course-for-chariot-racing [dromos hippōn]—and right there is the tomb [mnēma] of Pindar. When Pindar was a young man he was once on his way to Thespiai in the hot season. At about noon he was overcome with fatigue and, as a result, he fell asleep. Then, while he lay there a little way off-road, sleeping, some bees flitted over to him and plastered his lips with their wax.

9.23.3 Such was the beginning of Pindar’s making [poieîn] of [lyric-] songs [noun āisma (in the plural), derived from the verb āidein / aeidein ‘sing’]. When his reputation had already spread through all of Greece [Hellas], he was elevated to an even greater height of fame [doxa] by an order of the Pythian [priestess], who told the people of Delphi to allot to Pindar the equal portion [moira] of all the first-offerings that they offered to Apollo. It is also said that, when he reached old age, a vision [opsis] came to him in a dream. As he slept, Persephone stood over him and said that she was the only one of all the deities [theoi] whom Pindar had not praised-in-song [humneîn], but she went on to say that Pindar would make [poieîn] for her too a song [noun āisma, derived from the verb āidein / aeidein ‘sing’]—once he had come to her [in the realm of Hādēs].

9.23.4 Soon after that, what-must-happen [to all] caught up with Pindar, [who died]—before even ten days had passed since the dream. Now there lived in Thebes an old woman related by birth to Pindar, and she had-practice [meletân] in singing [āidein / aeidein] most of his songs  [noun āisma (in the plural), derived from the verb āidein / aeidein ‘sing’]. This old woman had a dream-vision [en-(h)upnion]: it was Pindar, standing over her, and he sang [āidein / aeidein] a song[-of-praise] [humnos] for Persephone. Immediately on waking out of her sleep she wrote-down [graphein] all she had heard him singing [āidein / aeidein] in her dream. In this song [noun āisma, derived from the verb āidein / aeidein ‘sing’], among the epithets-of-invocation [epiklēseis] directed at [the god] Hādēs is khrūs-(h)ēnios ‘holding-the-(chariot’s)-golden-reins—clearly in-commemoration-of [epi plus dative] the abduction [harpagē] of Persephone.

9.23.5 From this point to Acraephnium is mainly flat. They say that originally the city formed part of the territory belonging to Thebes, and I learned that in later times men of Thebes escaped to it, at the time when Alexander destroyed Thebes. Weak and old, they could not even get safely away to Attica, but made their homes here. The town lies on Mount Ptous, and there are here a temple and image of Dionysus that are worth seeing.

9.23.6 About fifteen stadium-lengths away from the city on the right is the sanctuary of Ptoan Apollo. We are told by Asios in his epic that Ptous, who gave a surname to Apollo and the name to the mountain, was a son of Athamas by Themisto. Before the expedition of the Macedonians under Alexander, in which Thebes was destroyed, there was here an oracle that never lied. Once too a mail of Europus, of the name of Mys, who was sent by Mardonios, inquired of the god in his own language, and the god too gave a response, not in Greek but in the Carian speech.

9.23.7 On crossing Mount Ptous you come to Larymna, a Boeotian city on the coast, said to have been named after Larymna, the daughter of Cynus. Her earlier ancestors I shall give in my account of Lokris.^* Of old Larymna belonged to Opus, but when Thebes rose to great power the citizens of their own accord joined the Boeotians. Here there is a temple of Dionysus with a standing image. The town has a harbor with deep water near the shore, and on the mountains commanding the city wild boars can be hunted.