12. On going from Thebes to Argos,[343] on the left hand is Tanagra; and [near the road] on the right lies Hyria. Hyria now belongs to the Tanagrian territory, but formerly to the Thebais. Here Hyrieus is fabled to have lived, and here is the scene of the birth of Orion, which Pindar mentions in the dithyrambics. It is situated near Aulis. Some persons say that Hysiæ is called Hyria, which belongs to Parasopia, situated below Cithæron, near Erythræ, in the inland parts; it is a colony of the Hyrienses, and was founded by Nycteus, the father of Antiope. There is also in the Argive territory a village, Hysiæ, the inhabitants of which are called Hysiatæ. Erythræ in Ionia is a colony of this Erythræ.
Heleon, [CAS. 405] a Tanagrian village, has its name from (Hele) the marshes there.
13. After Salganeus is Anthedon, a city with a harbour, the last on the Bœotian coast towards Eubœa, as the poet says,
As we proceed a little farther, there are besides two small towns, belonging to the Bœotians, Larymna, near which the Cephissus discharges its waters; and farther above, Halæ, of the same name as the Attic demus. Opposite to this coast is situated, it is said, Ægæ[345] in Eubœa, where is the temple of the Ægæan Neptune, of which we have before spoken. There is a passage across from Anthedon to Ægæ of 120 stadia, and from the other places much less than this. The temple is situated upon a lofty hill, where was once a city. Near Ægæ was Orobiæ.[346] In the Anthedonian territory is the mountain Messapius,[347] which has its name from Messapus, who when he came into Iapygia called it Messapia. Here is laid the scene of the fable respecting the Anthedonian Glaucus, who, it is said, was transformed into a sea-monster.[348]
14. Near Anthedon is a place called Isus, and esteemed sacred, belonging to Bœotia; it contains remains of a city, and the first syllable of Isus is short. Some persons are of opinion, that the verse ought to be written, Ἶσόν τε ζαθέην Ἀνθηδόνα τ’ ἐσχατόωσαν,
“The sacred Isus, and the extreme Anthedon,”
lengthening the first syllable by poetical licence for the sake of the metre, instead of Νῖσάν τε ζαθέην,
for Nisa is not to be found anywhere in Bœotia, as Apollodorus says in his observations on the Catalogue of the Ships; so that Nisa could not stand in this passage, unless by Nisa Homer meant Isus, for there was a city Nisa, in Megaris, from whence Isus was colonized, situated at the base of Cithæron, but it exists no longer.[349] Some however write Κρεῦσάν τε ζαθέην,