Histories

His descendants in time became and continue to be priests of the goddesses of the underworld;[*](Demeter and Persephone.) this office had been won, as I will show, by Telines, one of their forefathers. There were certain Geloans who had been worsted in party strife and had been banished to the town of Mactorium, inland of +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela.

These men Telines brought to +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela with no force of men but only the holy instruments of the goddesses worship to aid him. From where he got these, and whether or not they were his own invention, I cannot say; however that may be, it was in reliance upon them that he restored the exiles, on the condition that his descendants should be ministering priests of the goddesses.

Now it makes me marvel that Telines should have achieved such a feat, for I have always supposed that such feats cannot be performed by any man but only by such as have a stout heart and manly strength. Telines, however, is reported by the dwellers in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily to have had a soft and effeminate disposition.