Research source

GREEK FESTIVALS-- ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES, 196 THESMOPHORIA, 197 DIONYSIA, 197 PANATHENAEA, 199 DAPHNEP

Date of account: Ancient material presented in a nineteenth-century survey
Source: Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
Reference: Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome · selected passage 30
Rights: public_domain
Language: English retelling of Greek and Roman traditions
Translation: E. M. Berens
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Ctesiphon was the principal architect of this world-renowned structure, which, however, was not entirely completed till two hundred and twenty years after the foundation-stone was laid

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

Ctesiphon was the principal architect of this world-renowned structure, which, however, was not entirely completed till two hundred and twenty years after the foundation-stone was laid. But the labour of centuries was destroyed in a single night; for a man called Herostratus, seized with the insane desire of making his name famous to all succeeding generations, set fire to it and completely destroyed it.[34] So great was the indignation and sorrow of the Ephesians at this calamity, that they enacted a law, forbidding the incendiary's name to be mentioned, thereby however, defeating their own object, for thus the name of Herostratus has been handed down to posterity, and will live as long as the memory of the famous temple of Ephesus.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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