The Purgyrd of the Athenae in the Acropolis

Prayer is sweet and propitious to those who observe their oaths but punishment follows on the heels of the purgyrd for it falls upon their eyes hands and feet. They are seized with dropseas and consumptions and they are held on the spot and lament beside the water confessing the purgeries they have committed 153 at Athens they say that the sacred branch of the olive tree in one day buds and increases but quickly shrinks together again 154 when the craters in Etna once burst forth and the lava was carried hither and thither over the land like a torrent, the deity honored the race of the pious.