Trophonius of Lebadia

From Historia Deorum Fatidicorum.

TROPHONIUS OF LEBADIA.

Trophonius and his brother Agamedes were famous architects. While building a certain treasure vault, they contrived to leave one stone movable so that they might secretly enter and steal the valuables stored there. A trap was set by the owner, who had discovered the plot, and Agamedes was caught. To prevent discovery, Trophonius decapitated his brother and fled, hotly pursued. He hid in the grove of Lebadia, where the earth opened and swollowed him up. The spirit of Trophonius thereafter delivered oracles in the grove and its caverns. The name Trophonius means "to be agitated, excited, or roiled." It was declared that the terrible experiences through which consultants passed in the oracular caverns so affected them that they never smiled again. The bees which accompany the figure of Trophonius were sacred because they led the first envoys from Boetia to the site of the oracle. The figure above is said to be a reproduction of a statue of Trophonius which was placed on the brow of the hill above the oracle and surrounded with sharply pointed stakes so that it could not be touched.

SYMBOLISM | BEES

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