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. The seven wonders. The statue of Zeus at Olympia, 36 cubits tall. The temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The altar of horn at Delos, said to have been created from the right horns of victims sacrificed to the god in a single day. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The pyramids of Egypt, of which the largest is 400 cubits tall. The walls of Babylon. The Colossus of Rhodes, 70 cubits tall, which Chares of Lindus built. 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. The golden fleece. 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. How it is said Apollo and Poseidon built the walls of Troy. 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. Cerberus. 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.