The scepter was made by Hephaestus himself, master craftsman of the gods. He gave it to Zeus, who gave it to Hermes, who gave it to Pelops, who gave it to his son Atreus (father of Agamemnon and Menelaus), from whom it was taken by his twin brother Thyestes, from whom it was finally wrested by Agamemnon. Pausanias, the second-century AD traveler, tells us that the scepter survived down to his own time, when it was worshipped as a god by the people of Chaeronea. It was kept in the priest’s house, and people brought it offerings of cake every day. I wonder if Chaeronea was known for the
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