Mythic legends were necessarily their principal materials, as their verses were mostly dedicated to the worship of the gods, or the praise of victors in the public games, or were sung at banquets or in funeral processions. […] The principal of these writers were Pherecydes, Acusilaüs, and Hellanicus ; of their works also only fragments remain. […] If to the sources already enumerated we add the long poem of Nonnus on the adventures of Dionysos, we shall have given the principal authorities for the contents of the following pages. […] The horse is the principal means of transport by land, as the ship is by sea ; the one name might therefore be metaphorically employed for the other. […] We will now briefly state the principal arguments on both sides.