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Having sailed away, they came to Syria according to the oracle. But the king of Scythia, named Thoas, having heard that Iphigeneia had taken the all-gold statue of Artemis and fled, sent out many Scythians in pursuit of her, saying to them: Do not return to Scythia, unless you bring me the all-gold statue of Artemis with you. And those in pursuit, having searched everywhere, reached the land of Palestine and the city Nyssa, formerly called Tricomia. And having learned that Iphigeneia and Orestes had gone down to the coast and immediately sailed away, being delighted with the location and the city of Nyssa and the temple of Artemis, and also fearing their king, they themselves remained there living, renaming the city in their own name, Scythopolis. But Orestes, together with those with him, reached Syria; and having disembarked from the ship, he asked where Mount Melantion and the temple of Hestia were? And having found it, he entered the 141 temple; and having made a sacrifice, he remained there, sleeping beside it. And Orestes, having been freed from the most grievous disease, departed from the temple; and having gone down to the streams of the two rivers called the Melantes by the Syrians, because they descend from Mount Melantion, he washed himself. And the same Orestes, having crossed the Typhon river, now called the Orontes, came to Mount Silpion, to pay homage to the Ionitae. But the Argive Ionitae who inhabit Syria, having heard that Orestes was freed from the disease, went to him, since he was descended from their country and was of royal blood. And having met him, they recognized those who were with him from the temple of Hestia; and having asked them, Who is this? they said to them, It is Orestes, and we are bringing him to you. And the Ionitae immediately greeted him, saying to him, Orestes, where did you put away your madness? But Orestes, still fearing the rage of the disease, did not turn and point out to them the temple or the mountain where he was delivered from the disease, but raising his right hand above his own head, with the finger of his hand he pointed out to them the mountain and the temple, saying to them, On that mountain in the temple of the divine Hestia I put away the harsh madness. And immediately the Ionitae, having made for this Orestes a bronze stele in the very form in which he had pointed out to them, it stands upon a column for the memory and glory of the country and of the temple and of Hestia, indicating to those who come after where 142 Orestes put away his raving madness, which bronze stele stands until now, the Ionitae also having renamed Mount Melantion to Amanon. But Orestes, having paid homage to the Ionitae, went down to the coast of the city formerly called Palaeopolis, but now Seleuceia; and having found ships there, he sailed away with Iphigeneia and Pylades to Greece. And having joined his own sister Electra in marriage to Pylades, he held the land of the Mycenaeans until his death. But the Syrians, having noted the form of the stele of Orestes, and having learned the manner from the Ionitae, being angered, called him a runaway, because when such a good thing had happened to him in their country, and having escaped such a threat, he did not turn and pay attention and hymn the divine powers and give thanks and point out to the Ionitae the temple of Hestia, but fleeing from reason, instead of thanksgiving, turning away, with the finger of his hand he pointed out the temple and the mountain where, having been freed from his savage madness, he was saved. Which stele of Orestes is called 'The Runaway' by the Antiochenes until the present; for the same statue of Orestes is a little way before the city. The wise Domninus wrote these things. And in the times after the capture of Troy among the Greeks he was first admired

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ἀποπλεύσαντες ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὴν Συρίαν κατὰ τὸν χρησμόν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τῆς Σκυθίας ὀνόματι Θόας ἀκούσας ὅτι τὸ ἄγαλμα τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος τὸ ὁλόχρυσον ἔλαβεν ἡ Ἰφιγένεια καὶ ἔφυγεν, ἐξέπεμψε Σκύθας πολλοὺς καταδιώκοντας αὐτήν, εἰρηκὼς αὐτοῖς ὅτι Μὴ ὑποστρέψητε εἰς τὴν Σκυθίαν, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἄγαλμα τὸ ὁλόχρυσον τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἀγάγητέ μοι μεθ' ἑαυτῶν. οἱ δὲ καταδιώκοντες καὶ ἐπιζητήσαντες πανταχῇ ἔφθασαν τὴν Παλαιστίνην χώραν καὶ τὴν πρῴην λεγομένην Τρικωμίαν πόλιν Νύσσαν. καὶ μαθόντες ὅτι κατῆλθον οἱ περὶ τὴν Ἰφιγένειαν καὶ τὸν Ὀρέστην ἐπὶ τὴν πάραλον καὶ εὐθέως ἀπέπλευσαν, τερφθέντες τῆς τοποθεσίας καὶ τῆς πόλεως Νύσσης καὶ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος, καὶ τὸν βασιλέα δὲ αὐτῶν φοβούμενοι, ἔμειναν αὐτοὶ ἐκεῖ οἰκοῦντες, μετακαλέσαντες τὴν πόλιν εἰς ἴδιον ὄνομα Σκυθῶν πόλιν. Ὁ δὲ Ὀρέστης ἅμα τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ κατέλαβε τὴν Συρίαν· καὶ ἀνελθὼν ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου ἐπηρώτα ποῦ ἐστι τὸ Μελάντιον ὄρος καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Ἑστίας; καὶ εὑρηκώς, εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῷ 141 ἱερῷ· καὶ θυσίαν ποιήσας παρέμεινεν ἐκεῖ παρακοιμώμενος. καὶ ἀπαλλαγεὶς ὁ Ὀρέστης τῆς χαλεπωτάτης νόσου ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ· καὶ κατελθὼν ἐν τοῖς ῥείθροις τῶν δύο ποταμῶν τῶν λεγομένων Μελάντων ὑπὸ τῶν Σύρων, διότι ἐκ τοῦ Μελαντίου ὄρους κατέρχονται, ἀπελούσατο. καὶ περάσας ὁ αὐτὸς Ὀρέστης τὸν Τυφῶνα ποταμόν, τὸν νυνὶ λεγόμενον Ὀρόντην, ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸ Σίλπιον ὄρος, προσκυνῆσαι τοὺς Ἰωνίτας. οἱ δὲ τὴν Συρίαν οἰκοῦντες Ἀργεῖοι Ἰωνῖται, ἀκηκοότες ὅτι τῆς νόσου ἀπηλλάγη ὁ Ὀρέστης, ἀπῆλθον πρὸς αὐτόν, ἐπειδὴ ἐκ τῆς χώρας κατήγετο καὶ ἐξ αἵματος βασιλικοῦ ὑπῆρχε. καὶ ἀπαντήσαντες αὐτῷ ἐγνώρισαν τοὺς ὄντας μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἑστίας· καὶ ἐπερωτήσαντες αὐτούς, Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος; εἶπον αὐτοῖς ὅτι Ὁ Ὀρέστης ἐστί, καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτὸν φέρομεν. οἱ δὲ Ἰωνῖταιεὐθέως ἠσπάσαντο αὐτόν, εἰρηκότες αὐτῷ, Ὀρέστα, ποῦ τὴν μανίαν ἀπέθου; ὁ δὲ Ὀρέστης, φοβούμενος ἔτι τῆς νόσου τὴν ὀργήν, οὐκ ἀπεστράφη καὶ ὑπέδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὸ ἱερὸν ἢ τὸ ὄρος ὅπου ἐῤῥύσθη τῆς νόσου, ἀλλὰ κουφίσας τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ χεῖρα ὑπεράνω τῆς αὐτοῦ κορυφῆς τῷ δακτύλῳ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ὑπέδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὸ ὄρος καὶ τὸ ἱερόν, εἰρηκὼς αὐτοῖς ὅτι Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ ὄρει εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς θείας Ἑστίας τὴν χαλεπὴν μανίαν ἀπεθέμην. καὶ εὐθέως οἱ Ἰωνῖται ποιήσαντες τῷ αὐτῷ Ὀρέστῃ στήλην χαλκῆν τῷ σχήματι αὐτῷ ᾧ ὑπέδειξεν αὐτοῖς, ὑπεράνω κίονος ἵσταται εἰς μνήμην καὶ δόξαν τῆς χώρας καὶ τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ τῆς Ἑστίας, σημαίνοντες τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα ποῦ ὁ 142 Ὀρέστης τὴν λυσσώδη μανίαν ἀπέθετο, ἥτις στήλη χαλκῆ ἕως τῆς νῦν ἵσταται, μετακαλέσαντες οἱ Ἰωνῖται καὶ τοῦ Μελαντίου ὄρους τὸ ὄνομα Ἀμανόν. ὁ δὲ Ὀρέστης προσκυνήσας τοὺς Ἰωνίτας κατῆλθεν εἰς τὴν πάραλον τῆς λεγομένης πρῴην Παλαιοπόλεως, νυνὶ δὲ Σελευκείας· καὶ εὑρηκὼς νῆας ἐκεῖ, ἀπέπλευσε μετὰ τῆς Ἰφιγενείας καὶ τοῦ Πυλάδου ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα. καὶ ζεύξας πρὸς γάμον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφὴν Ἠλέκτραν τῷ Πυλάδῃ, κατέσχε τῆς Μυκηναίων χώρας ἕως θανάτου. οἱ δὲ Σύροι προσεσχηκότες τὸ σχῆμα τῆς στήλης τοῦ Ὀρέστου, καὶ μαθόντες παρὰ τῶν Ἰωνιτῶν τὸν τρόπον, ὀργισθέντες ἐπεκάλεσαν αὐτὸν δραπέτην, διότι τοιούτου ἀγαθοῦ συμβάντος αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ αὐτῶν χώρᾳ, καὶ ἐκφυγόντος τὴν τοιαύτην ἀπειλήν, στραφεὶς καὶ προσεσχηκὼς καὶ ἀνυμνήσας τὰ θεῖα καὶ εὐχαριστῶν οὐχ ὑπέδειξε τοῖς Ἰωνίταις τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Ἑστίας, ἀλλὰ δραπετεύσας τὸν λογισμόν, ἀντ' εὐχαριστίας ἀποστρεφόμενος τῷ δακτύλῳ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ὑπέδειξε τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ τὸ ὄρος, ὅπου τῆς ἀνημέρου μανίης ἀπαλλαγεὶς ἐσώθη. ἥτις στήλη τοῦ Ὀρέστου ὁ δραπέτης καλεῖται παρὰ τοῖς Ἀντιοχεῦσιν ἕως τοῦ παρόντος· πρὸ γὰρ μικροῦ τῆς πόλεώς ἐστιν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀνδριὰς τοῦ Ὀρέστου. ταῦτα δὲ ὁ σοφὸς ∆ομνῖνος συνεγράψατο. Ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις δὲ τοῖς μετὰ τὴν ἅλωσιν Τροίας παρ' Ἕλλησιν ἐθαυμάζετο πρῶτος