'A magnificent precinct of Apollo'

On the island, it is said, there is a magnificent precinct of Apollo, with a noteworthy temple, circular in shape and adorned with many votive offerings. There is also a city sacred to this god; most of those who live there are cithara players, and they play continually in the temple on the cithara, singing hymns to the god and glorifying his deeds.

from About the Hyperboreans by Hecataeus of Abdera (c. 300 BC) cited by Diodorus of Sicily (c. 60–30 BC) [Book II, 47]

translation © Gillian Spraggs 2018



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