Excerpta Vaticana (1-5)

One should know that some say that the Egyptians were the earliest people; others say the Phrygians, but that, of the Greeks, the oldest were the Athenians and the Pelasgians, who are now called Arcadians. Of the cities, they say that the Athenian Acropolis was founded by Cecrops, the dual-formed, autochthonous hero. The second oldest was the city founded by Phoroneus, son of Inachus, and third was Itonus in Thessaly, founded by Deucalion, son of Prometheus.

Some include on this list also the Asclepion at Epidauros, the altar at Parion, the hanging gardens, the standing Athena statue in Athens, and the palace of Cyrus.

It is a poetic fabrication that the object guarded in Colchis was a truly golden fleece; it was a book written on leather containing instructions on how to produce gold through alchemy. And so, in all likelihood, the men of that time called it ‘golden’ because of the alchemical power it possessed.

Apollo and Poseidon are said to have built the walls of Troy. But this is not so: rather, Laomedon built the city in an impious way. There was an exceptionally revered temple of Apollo and Poseidon on the acropolis; he plundered it and spent the money on building the walls.

The dog Cerberus belonged to Aidoneus, king of the Thesprotians. Thieves seized him at night and hid him underground in a dark cave. But Heracles retrieved him and gave him to Eurystheus.