which did not exist, as it appears to me, among the Hellenes before
this time; and at first they brought in those which are used by the
Phenician race generally, but afterwards, as time went on, they
changed with their speech the form of the letters also. During this
time the Ionians were the race of Hellenes who dwelt near them in most
of the places where they were; and these, having received letters by
instruction of the Phenicians, changed their form slightly and so made
use of them, and in doing so they declared them to be called
"phenicians," as was just, seeing that the Phenicians had introduced
them into Hellas. Also the Ionians from ancient time call paper
"skins," because formerly, paper being scarce, they used skins of goat
and sheep; nay, even in my own time many of the Barbarians write on
such skins. 59. I myself too once saw Cadmeian characters in the
temple of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes of the Bœotians, engraved on
certain[49a] tripods, and in most respects resembling the Ionic
letters: one of these tripods has the inscription,

"Me Amphitryon offered from land Teleboian returning:"[50]

this inscription would be of an age contemporary with Laïos the son of
Labdacos, the son of Polydoros, the son of Cadmos. 60. Another tripod
says thus in hexameter rhythm:

"Me did Scaios offer to thee, far-darting Apollo,
Victor in contest of boxing, a gift most fair in thine honour:"

now Scaios would be the son of Hippocoön (at least if it were really
he who offered it, and not another with the same name as the son of
Hippocoön), being of an age contemporary with Œdipus the son of Laïos:
61, and the third tripod, also in hexameter rhythm, says: