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ὁρτῇ. H. here gives a very curious and interesting account of a native festival. K. O. Müller thought the worship a Greek one, introduced by Minyan colonists from the neighbourhood of Lake Copais (Orchom. p. 355), but H. clearly conceives it as non-Greek. Macan well suggests that the armed Athene may be a LibyPhoenician goddess, a sort of armed Astarte (cf. i. 105. 2 n.). There is no doubt that the armed maiden personified the goddess. For the test of virginity (ψευδοπαρθένους) cf. the mediaeval theory of the ordeal; e. g. Emma, mother of Edward the Confessor, was said to have cleared herself of a charge of impropriety by walking over hot ploughshares (Freeman, Norman Conq. ii. 585 f.). For harmless wounds in a sacred fight cf. ii. 63. 3.


ἀπὸ . . . Αἰγύπτου. H., as usual, gives Egypt priority. Plato (Tim. 24 B) also thought the Greeks borrowed their armour, shield, and helm from Egypt; but the monuments do not confirm this view.

For H.'s views on the history of armour cf. i. 171 nn.; he certainly was not a specialist on the subject; here he uses κυνέη, the low cap of skin (galea), and κράνος, the metal helmet (cassis) with visor, as if they were identical. It was the κράνος that was Corinthian.


θυγατέρα. Hence Athene is Τριτογένεια (Hes. Theog. 924; Aristophanes, Eq. 1189).

ἐπίκοινον. For entire promiscuity cf. Arist. Pol. ii. 3. 9 (1262 a).

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