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of this kind. 4.3 The third story is the one concerning Heracles and the pyre. Many a tale recounts of Heracles, that being the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and being a hero, he accomplished the twelve labors. But the story now in this passage concerning the pyre is this. This Heracles had a wife named Deianira, whom he took from Oeneus, having become a rival lover to the river Achelous, from whom he also fathered Hyllus. Therefore, when Nessus, one of the Centaurs, saw this Deianira as she was being taken and carried away to her own homeland, he desired her and wished to lie with her by a certain river. Heracles, having learned of this, shot Nessus down with his bow. But as he was dying, Nessus gave his own blood to Deianira, suggesting and deceiving her that "This blood will be for you a love-charm for Heracles, so that," he said, "if you learn that he loves another, you may anoint Heracles' garment with this blood, and you will turn him to your own desire." So Deianira had this blood. Therefore, when Heracles fell in love with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus, and took her and sent her through Lichas as a captive to Deianira, Deianira was moved to suspicion and jealousy, and wishing to turn his love to herself, she anointed the tunic of Heracles with the blood of Nessus, and gave it to Heracles to wear. But the blood was man-slaying. And when Heracles put it on, the tunic caught fire and burned Heracles. And he, burning and having thrown himself into the nearby river, made the water hot. From which, then, Thermopylae came to be, between Thessaly and Phocis. 4.4 The fourth story is the one concerning the butchering of Pelops. And it is this. Tantalus was king of Phrygia. He fathered Pelops. The gods were once entertained as guests by this Tantalus. So Tantalus, taking his own son Pelops, slaughtered and butchered and boiled him, and set him before the gods as a banquet. And of this meat Demeter, putting forth her hand, took and ate from the shoulder. But the other gods, pitying Tantalus, and marveling that he had made light of his child, put the pieces of flesh together, and made Pelops whole. But it was except for that bit of flesh which Demeter had eaten from the shoulder. So adding something of ivory at the shoulder, they made Pelops complete and whole. Thus, then, the whole race of the Pelopids was marked from this, all having the ivory spot on their shoulders. 4.5 The fifth story is that of the castration of the Phrygians. And it is of this kind. In Phrygia they worshipped the mother of the gods, Rhea, above every god. Therefore the Phrygians, performing the rites for her, would cut themselves with knives, not wishing to kill, but only to draw blood. And this they did, being charmed by flutes, so that they might bear being struck without pain. And after the blows they proceeded to unclean unions, I mean of women, not of men. 4.6 The sixth story is the one concerning Mithras. So Mithras is considered by the Persians to be the sun, and they offer sacrifices to him and perform certain rites for him. Therefore no one can be initiated into his rites unless he first passes through the degrees of punishments. And there are degrees of punishments, eighty in number, having a descent and an ascent. For they are first punished with the lighter ones, then the more severe, then still more the more severe. And then so, after passing through all the punishments, then the one being initiated is initiated. And the punishments are to pass through fire, through cold, through hunger and thirst, through much travel, through sea-voyage and simply through all such things. 4.7 The seventh story is the one concerning the slaying of strangers among the Tauri. And it is this. The Tauri are a nation near Scythia. Among these was transported by Artemis the daughter of Agamemnon, Iphigenia, when she was about to be sacrificed for the Greeks at Aulis, in whose place the goddess, substituting a deer, gave it to be sacrificed. So this Iphigenia, being among the Tauri, in order that it might not be recognized by visitors who she was, permitted them to be sacrificed to Artemis. And this was the

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τοιόσδε. 4.3 Τρίτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ τὴν πυράν. Πολὺς μὲν ὁ λόγος θρυλεῖ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, ὅτι υἱὸς ὢν τοῦ ∆ιὸς καὶ Ἀλκμήνης, ἥρως τε ὤν, τοὺς δώδεκα ἄθλους ἐξήνυσεν. ἡ δὲ νῦν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χωρίῳ περὶ τῆς πυρᾶς ἱστορία ἐστὶν αὕτη. Οὗτος ὁ Ἡρακλῆς εἶχε γυναῖκα ὀνόματι ∆ηϊάνειραν, ἣν ἔλαβεν ἐξ Οἰνέως, ἀντεραστὴς γενόμενος Ἀχελώῳ τῷ ποταμῷ, ἐξ ἧς ἔτεκε καὶ τὸν Ὕλλον. ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν ∆ηϊάνειραν ἅμα τῷ λαβεῖν καὶ ἀποφέρειν ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ πατρίδι ἰδὼν ὁ Νέσσος, εἷς τῶν Κενταύρων, ἠράσθη καὶ κατά τινα ποταμὸν ἠβουλήθη αὐτῇ συγγενέσθαι. ὁ Ἡρακλῆς μαθὼν κατατοξεύει τὸν Νέσσον. ἀποθνήσκων δὲ ὁ Νέσσος τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ δίδωσι τῇ ∆ηϊανείρᾳ, ὑπειπών τε καὶ ἀπατήσας ὅτι Ἔσται σοι τοῦτο τὸ αἷμα πρὸς φίλτρον τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, ἵνα, φησίν, ἐὰν μάθῃς ὅτι ἄλλης ἐρᾷ, χρίσῃς ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τούτου τὸ ἔνδυμα τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, καὶ μεθιστᾷς αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ἑαυτῆς πόθον. τοῦτο οὖν τὸ αἷμα εἶχεν ἡ ∆ηϊάνειρα. τοῦ οὖν Ἡρακλέους τῆς Ἰόλης τῆς τοῦ Εὐρύτου θυγατρὸς ἐρασθέντος καὶ λαβόντος καὶ διὰ τοῦ Λίχα πέμψαντος αὐτὴν ὡς αἰχμάλωτον πρὸς τὴν ∆ηϊάνειραν, εἰς ἔννοιαν καὶ εἰς ζηλοτυπίαν ἐκινήθη ἡ ∆ηϊάνειρα, καὶ βουληθεῖσα τὸν ἔρωτα μεταστῆσαι εἰς ἑαυτήν, τὸν χιτῶνα τοῦ Ἡρακλέους χρίει τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Νέσσου, καὶ δίδωσιν ἐνδύσασθαι τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ. τὸ δὲ ἦν ἀνδροφόνον τὸ αἷμα. ἐνδυσαμένου δὲ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, ὑφῆψεν ὁ χιτὼν καὶ κατέφλεξε τὸν Ἡρακλέα. οὗτος δὲ καιόμενος καὶ ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῷ πλησίον ποταμῷ, θερμὸν τὸ ὕδωρ ἐποίησεν. ἐξ οὗ λοιπὸν γεγόνασιν αἱ Θερμοπύλαι, μεταξὺ Θετταλίας καὶ Φωκίδος. 4.4 Τετάρτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὴν Πέλοπος κρεουργίαν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Τάνταλος Φρυγίας ἦν βασιλεύς. οὗτος γεννᾷ τὸν Πέλοπα. τούτῳ τῷ Ταντάλῳ ποτὲ οἱ θεοὶ ἐπεξενώθησαν. λαβὼν οὖν τὸν Πέλοπα τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν ὁ Τάνταλος κατασφάττει καὶ κρεουργεῖ καὶ ἕψει, καὶ παρατίθησιν εὐωχίαν τοῖς θεοῖς. τούτων δὲ τῶν κρεῶν ἡ ∆ημήτηρ βαλοῦσα χεῖρα ἔλαβε καὶ ἔφαγεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὤμου. οἱ δὲ θεοὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἐλεοῦντες τὸν Τάνταλον, καὶ θαυμάσαντες ὅτι τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ κατεφρόνησε, συντιθέασι τὰ κρέα, καὶ ἀποτελοῦσι σῶον τὸν Πέλοπα. ἦν δὲ παρὰ τὸ σαρκίον ἐκεῖνο ὃ ἔφαγεν ἐκ τοῦ ὤμου ἡ ∆ημήτηρ. προσθέντες οὖν ἐλεφάντινόν τι κατὰ τὸν ὦμον, ἐπλήρωσαν σῶον τὸν Πέλοπα. οὕτως λοιπὸν ἅπαν τὸ Πελοπιδῶν γένος ἐκ τούτου ἦν ἐπίσημον, ἐχόντων πάντων ἐν τοῖς ὤμοις τὸν ἐλεφάντινον τόπον. 4.5 Πέμπτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ τῆς τῶν Φρυγῶν ἐκτομῆς. αὕτη δέ ἐστι τοιάδε. Κατὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν ἐσέβοντο τὴν μητέρα τῶν θεῶν τὴν Ῥέαν ὑπὲρ πάντα θεόν. ταύτῃ οὖν τὰς τελετὰς ποιοῦντες οἱ Φρύγες κατέτεμνον ἑαυτοὺς μαχαίραις, οὐκ ἀποκτεῖναι θέλοντες, ἀλλὰ μόνον αἱμάξαι. τοῦτο δὲ ἐποίουν κηλούμενοι αὐλοῖς, ἵνα ἀπόνως φέρωσι πληττόμενοι. μετὰ δὲ τὰς πληγὰς πρὸς ἀκαθάρτους μίξεις ἐχώρουν, γυναικῶν δὴ λέγω, οὐκ ἀνδρῶν. 4.6 Ἕκτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸν Μίθραν. Ὁ τοίνυν Μίθρας νομίζεται παρὰ τοῖς Πέρσαις εἶναι ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ θυσιάζουσιν αὐτῷ καὶ τελοῦσί τινας τελετὰς εἰς αὐτόν. οὐ δύναται οὖν τις εἰς αὐτὸν τελεσθῆναι εἰ μὴ πρότερον διὰ τῶν βαθμῶν τῶν κολάσεων παρέλθοι. βαθμοὶ δέ εἰσι κολάσεων, τὸν μὲν ἀριθμὸν ὀγδοήκοντα, ἔχοντες δὲ ὑπόβασιν καὶ ἀνάβασιν. κολάζονται γὰρ πρῶτον τὰς ἐλαφροτέρας, εἶτα τὰς δραστικωτέρας, εἶτα ἔτι μᾶλλον τὰς δραστικωτέρας. καὶ εἶθ' οὕτω μετὰ τὸ παρελθεῖν διὰ πασῶν τῶν κολάσεων, τότε τελεῖται ὁ τελούμενος. αἱ δὲ κολάσεις εἰσὶ τὸ διὰ πυρὸς παρελθεῖν, τὸ διὰ κρύους, τὸ διὰ πείνης καὶ δίψης, τὸ διὰ ὁδοιπορίας πολλῆς, τὸ διὰ θαλασσοπορίας καὶ ἁπλῶς διὰ πασῶν τῶν τοιούτων. 4.7 Ἑβδόμη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὴν ἐν Ταύροις ξενοκτονίαν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ταῦροι ἔθνος ἐστὶ περὶ τὴν Σκυθίαν. ἐν τούτοις μετετέθη ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἡ θυγάτηρ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἡ Ἰφιγένεια, ἐν τῷμέλλειν αὐτὴν θύεσθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐν τῇ Αὐλίδι, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἔλαφον ἡ θεὸς ἀμείψασα δέδωκε θῦσαι. αὕτη οὖν ἡ Ἰφιγένεια οὖσα ἐν τοῖς Ταύροις, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐπιγνωσθῆναι παρὰ τῶν ἐπιξενουμένων τίς ἐστιν, ἐπέτρεπε θύειν αὐτοὺς τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι. καὶ αὕτη ἦν ἡ