Ætolians
occupy the part towards the east as far as the Locri
Ozolæ, Parnassus, and the Œtæans.
Ozolæ, Parnassus, and the Œtæans.
Strabo
At 50 stadia from
Mitylene are the Larisæan rocks, on the road to Methymne. There is a
Larisa in Attica; and a village of this name at the distance of 30
stadia from Tralleis, situated above the city, on the road to the plain
of the Cayster, passing by Mesogis towards the temple of Mater Isodroma.
This Larisa has a similar position, and possesses similar advantages to
those of Larisa Cremaste; for it has abundance of water and vineyards.
Perhaps Jupiter had the appellation of Larisæus from this place. There
is also on the left side of the Pontus (Euxine) a village called Larisa,
near the extremities of Mount Hæmus, between Naulochus [and
Odessus]. [531]
Oloosson, called the White, from its chalky soil, Elone, and Gonnus are
Perrhæbic cities. The name of Elone was changed to that of Leimone. It
is now in ruins. Both lie at the foot of Olympus, not very far from the
river Eurotas, which the poet calls Titaresius.
20. The poet speaks both of this river and of the Perrhæbi in the
subsequent verses, when he says,
“Guneus brought from Cyphus two and twenty vessels. His
followers were Enienes and Peræbi, firm in battle. They dwelt
near the wintry Dodona, and tilled the fields about the lovely
Titaresius. ”[532]
He mentions therefore these places as belonging to the Perrhæbi, which
comprised a part of the Hestiæotis. [533] They were in part Perrhæbic
towns, which were subject to Polypœtes. He assigned them however to the
Lapithæ, because these people and the Perrhæbi lived intermixed
together, and the Lapithæ occupied the plains. The country, which
belonged to the Perrhæbi, was, for the most part, subject to the
Lapithæ, but the Perrhæbi possessed the more mountainous tracts towards
Olympus and Tempe, such as Cyphus, Dodonē, and the country about the
river Titaresius. This river rises [CAS. 441] in the mountain Titarius,
which is part of Olympus. It flows into the plain near Tempe belonging
to Perrhæbia, and somewhere there enters the Peneius.
The water of the Peneius is clear, that of the Titaresius is unctuous; a
property arising from some matter, which prevents the streams mingling
with each other,
“but runs over the surface like oil. ”[534]
Because the Perrhæbi and Lapithæ lived intermingled together, Simonides
calls all those people Pelasgiotæ, who occupy the eastern parts about
Gyrton and the mouths of the Peneius, Ossa, Pelion, and the country
about Demetrias, and the places in the plain, Larisa, Crannon, Scotussa,
Mopsium, Atrax, and the parts near the lakes Nessonis and Bœbeis. The
poet mentions a few only of these places, either because they were not
inhabited at all, or badly inhabited on account of the inundations which
had happened at various times. For the poet does not mention even the
lake Nessonis, but the Bœbeis only, which is much smaller, for its water
remained constant, and this alone remains, while the former probably was
at one time filled irregularly to excess, and at another contained no
water.
We have mentioned Scotussa in our accounts of Dodona, and of the oracle,
in Thessaly, when we observed that it was near Scotussa. Near Scotussa
is a tract called Cynoscephalæ. It was here that the Romans with their
allies the Ætolians, and their general Titus Quintius, defeated in a
great battle Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon.
21. Something of the same kind has happened in the territory of
Magnetis. For Homer having enumerated many places of this country, calls
none of them Magnetes, but those only whom he indicates in terms
obscure, and not easily understood;
“They who dwelt about Peneius and Pelion with waving woods. ”[535]
Now about the Peneius and Pelion dwell those (already mentioned by
Homer) who occupied Gyrton, and Ormenium, and many other nations. At a
still greater distance from Pelion, according to later writers, were
Magnetes, beginning from the people, that were subject to Eumelus. These
writers, on account of the continual removals from one settlement to
another, alterations in the forms of government, and intermixture of
races, seem to confound both names and nations, which sometimes
perplexes persons in these times, as is first to be observed in the
instances of Crannon and Gyrton.
Formerly they called the Gyrtonians Phlegyæ, from Phlegyas, the brother
of Ixion; and the Crannonii, Ephyri, so that there is a doubt, when the
poet says,
“These two from Thrace appeared with breastplates armed
against Ephyri, or haughty Phlegyæ,”[536]
what people he meant.
22. The same is the case with the Perrhæbi and Ænianes, for Homer joins
them together, as if they dwelt near each other; and it is said by later
writers, that, for a long period, the settlement of the Ænianes was in
the Dotian plain. Now this plain is near Perrhæbia, which we have just
mentioned, Ossa, and the lake Bœbeis: it is situated about the middle of
Thessaly, but enclosed by itself within hills. Hesiod speaks of it in
this manner;
“Or, as a pure virgin, who dwells on the sacred heights of the
Twin hills, comes to the Dotian plain, in front of Amyrus,
abounding with vines, to bathe her feet in the lake Bœbias. ”
The greater part of the Ænianes were expelled by the Lapithæ, and took
refuge in Œta, where they established their power, having deprived the
Dorians and the Malienses of some portions of country, extending as far
as Heracleia and Echinus. Some of them however remained about Cyphus, a
Perrhæbic mountain, where is a settlement of the same name. As to the
Perrhæbi, some of them collected about the western parts of Olympus and
settled there, on the borders of the Macedonians. But a large body took
shelter among the mountains near Athamania, and Pindus. But at present
few, if any, traces of them are to be found.
The Magnetes, who are mentioned last in the Thessalian catalogue of the
poet, must be understood to be those situated within Tempe, extending
from the Peneius and Ossa to Pelion, and bordering upon the Pieriotæ in
Macedonia, who occupy the country on the other side of the Peneius as
far as the sea.
Homolium, or Homolē, (for both words are in use,) must be [CAS. 443]
assigned to the Magnetes. I have said in the description of Macedonia,
that Homolium is near Ossa at the beginning of the course which the
Peneius takes through Tempe.
If we are to extend their possessions as far as the sea-coast, which is
very near Homolium, there is reason for assigning to them Rhizus, and
Erymnæ, which lies on the sea-coast in the tract subject to Philoctetes
and Eumelus. Let this however remain unsettled. For the order in which
the places as far as the Peneius follow one another, is not clearly
expressed, and as the places are not of any note, we need not consider
that uncertainty as very important. The coast of Sepias, however, is
mentioned by tragic writers, and was chaunted in songs on account of the
destruction of the Persian fleet. It consists of a chain of rocks.
Between Sepias and Casthanæa, a village situated below Pelion, is the
sea-shore, where the fleet of Xerxes was lying, when an east wind began
to blow violently; some of the vessels were forced on shore, and
immediately went to pieces, others were driven on Hipnus, a rocky spot
near Pelion, others were lost at Melibœa, others at Casthanæa.
The whole of the coasting voyage along Pelion, to the extent of about 80
stadia, is among rocks. That along Ossa is of the same kind and to the
same extent.
Between them is a bay of more than 200 stadia in extent, upon which is
situated Melibœa.
The whole voyage from Demetrias, including the winding of the bays, to
the Peneius is more than 1000 stadia, from the Spercheius 800 stadia
more, and from the Euripus 2350 stadia.
Hieronymus assigns a circuit of 3000 stadia to the plain country in
Thessaly and Magnesia, and says, that it was inhabited by Pelasgi, but
that these people were driven into Italy by Lapithæ, and that the
present Pelasgic plain is that in which are situated Larisa, Gyrton,
Pheræ, Mopsium, Bœbeis, Ossa, Homole, Pelion, and Magnetis. Mopsium has
not its name from Mopsus, the son of Manto the daughter of Teiresias,
but from Mopsus, one of the Lapithæ, who sailed with the Argonauts.
Mopsopus, from whom Attica is called Mopsopia, is a different person.
23. This then is the account of the several parts of Thessaly.
In general we say, that it was formerly called Pyrrhæa, from Pyrrha, the
wife of Deucalion; Hæmonia, from Hæmon; and Thettalia, from Thettalus,
the son of Hæmon. But some writers, after dividing it into two portions,
say, that Deucalion obtained by lot the southern part, and called it
Pandora, from his mother; that the other fell to the share of Hæmon,
from whom it was called Hæmonia; that the name of one part was changed
to Hellas, from Hellen, the son of Deucalion, and of the other to
Thettalia, from Thettalus, the son of Hæmon. But, according to some
writers, it was the descendants of Antiphus and Pheidippus, sons of
Thettalus, descended from Hercules, who invaded the country from Ephyra
in Thesprotia, and called it after the name of Thettalus their
progenitor. It has been already said that once it had the name of
Nessonis, as well as the lake, from Nesson, the son of Thettalus.
BOOK X.
GREECE.
SUMMARY.
The Tenth Book contains Ætolia and the neighbouring islands;
also the whole of Crete, on which the author dwells some time
in narrating the institutions of the islanders and of the
Curetes. He describes at length the origin of the Idæan
Dactyli in Crete, their customs and religious rites. Strabo
mentions the connexion of his own family with Crete. The Book
contains an account of the numerous islands about Crete,
including the Sporades and some of the Cyclades.
CHAPTER I.
1. Since Eubœa[537] stretches along the whole of this coast from Sunium
to Thessaly, except the extremity on each side,[538] it may be
convenient to connect the description of this island with that of
Thessaly. We shall then pass on to Ætolia and Acarnania, parts of Europe
of which it remains to give an account.
2. The island is oblong, and extends nearly 1200 stadia from Cenæum[539]
to Geræstus. [540] Its greatest breadth is about 150 stadia, but it is
irregular. [541]
Cenæum is opposite to Thermopylæ, and in a small degree to the parts
beyond Thermopylæ: Geræstus[542] and Petalia[543] are opposite to
Sunium.
Eubœa then fronts[544] Attica, Bœotia, Locris, and the Malienses. From
its narrowness, and its length, which we have mentioned, it was called
by the ancients Macris. [545]
It approaches nearest to the continent at Chalcis. It projects with a
convex bend towards the places in Bœotia near Aulis, and forms the
Euripus,[546] of which we have before spoken at length. We have also
mentioned nearly all the places on either side of the Euripus, opposite
to each other across the strait, both on the continent and on the
island. If anything is omitted we shall now give a further explanation.
And first, the parts lying between Aulis (Chalcis? ) and the places about
Geræstus are called the Hollows of Eubœa, for the sea-coast swells into
bays, and, as it approaches Chalcis, juts out again towards the
continent.
3. The island had the name not of Macris only, but of Abantis also. The
poet in speaking of Eubœa never calls the inhabitants from the name of
the island, Eubœans, but always Abantes;
“they who possessed Eubœa, the resolute Abantes;”[547]
“in his train Abantes were following. ”
Aristotle says that Thracians, taking their departure from Aba, the
Phocian city, settled with the other inhabitants in the island, and gave
the name of Abantes to those who already occupied it; other writers say
that they had their name from a hero,[548] as that of Eubœa was derived
from a heroine. [549] But perhaps as a certain cave on the sea-coast
fronting the [CAS. 445] Ægean Sea is called Boos-Aule, (or the Cow’s
Stall,) where Io is said to have brought forth Epaphus, so the island
may have had the name Eubœa[550] on this account.
It was also called Oché, which is the name of one of the largest
mountains[551] there.
It had the name of Ellopia, from Ellops, the son of Ion; according to
others, he was the brother of Æclus, and Cothus, who is said to have
founded Ellopia,[552] a small place situated in the district called Oria
of the Histiæotis, near the mountain Telethrius. [553] He also possessed
Histiæa, Perias, Cerinthus, Ædepsus,[554] and Orobiæ, where was an
oracle very free from deception. There also was an oracle of Apollo
Selinuntius.
The Ellopians, after the battle of Leuctra, were compelled by the tyrant
Philistides to remove to the city Histiæa, and augmented the number of
its inhabitants. Demosthenes[555] says that Philistides was appointed by
Philip tyrant of the Oreitæ also, for afterwards the Histiæans had that
name, and the city, instead of Histiæa, was called Oreus. According to
some writers, Histiæa was colonized by Athenians from the demus of the
Histiæeis, as Eretria was from the demus of the Eretrieis. But
Theopompus says, that when Pericles had reduced Eubœa, the Histiæans
agreed to remove into Macedonia, and that two thousand Athenians, who
formerly composed the demus of the Histiæans, came, and founded
Oreus. [556]
4. It is situated below Mount Telethrius, at a place called Drymus, near
the river Callas, on a lofty rock;[557] whence perhaps because the
Ellopians, the former inhabitants, were a mountain tribe,[558] the city
had the name of Oreus. Orion, who was brought up there, seems to have
had his name from the place. But according to some writers, the Oreitæ,
who had a city of their own, being attacked by the Ellopians, migrated,
and settled with the Histiæans, and although it was a single city it had
both appellations, as Lacedæmon and Sparta were the same city. We have
said, that the Histiæotis in Thessaly had its name from the people who
were carried away from this country by the Perrhæbi.
5. As Ellopia induced us to commence our description with Histiæa and
Oreus, we shall proceed with the places continuous with these.
The promontory Cenæum is near Oreus, and on the promontory is situated
Dium,[559] and Athenæ Diades, a town founded by Athenians, and overlooks
the passage across the strait to Cynus. Canæ in Æolia received colonists
from Dium. These places are situated near Histiæa, and besides these
Cerinthus, a small city, close to the sea. Near it is a river Budorus,
of the same name as the mountain in Salamis on the side of Attica.
6. Carystus[560] lies at the foot of the mountain Oche, and near it are
Styra[561] and Marmarium,[562] where is a quarry, from which are
obtained the Carystian columns. It has a temple of Apollo Marmarinus,
where there is a passage across to Halæ-Araphenides. At Carystus there
is found in the earth a stone,[563] which is combed like wool, and
woven, so that napkins are made of this substance, which, when soiled,
are thrown into the fire, and cleaned, as in the washing of linen. [564]
These places are said to be inhabited by colonists from the Tetrapolis
of Marathon, and by Steirieis. Styra was destroyed in the Maliac
(Lamiac? ) war by Phædrus, the general of the Athenians. But the
Eretrians are in possession of the territory. There is also a Carystus
in Laconia, a place belonging to Ægys, towards Arcadia; from whence
comes the Carystian wine, spoken of by Alcman.
7. Geræstus[565] is not mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of the
Ships; it is however mentioned by him elsewhere;[CAS. 447]
“The vessels came to Geræstus by night;”[566]
which shows, that the place being near Sunium lies conveniently for
persons who cross from Asia to Attica. It has a temple of Neptune the
most remarkable of any in that quarter, and a considerable number of
inhabitants.
8. Next to Geræstus is Eretria, which, after Chalcis, is the largest
city in Eubœa. Next follows Chalcis, the capital as it were of the
island, situated immediately on the Euripus. Both these cities are said
to have been founded by Athenians before the Trojan war; [but it is also
said that] after the Trojan war, Æclus and Cothus took their departure
from Athens; the former to found Eretria, and Cothus, Chalcis. A body of
Æolians who belonged to the expedition of Penthilus remained in the
island. Anciently, even Arabians[567] settled there, who came over with
Cadmus.
These cities, Eretria and Chalcis, when their population was greatly
augmented, sent out considerable colonies to Macedonia, for Eretria
founded cities about Pallene and Mount Athos; Chalcis founded some near
Olynthus, which Philip destroyed. There are also many settlements in
Italy and Sicily, founded by Chalcidians. These colonies were sent out,
according to Aristotle,[568] when the government of the Hippobatæ, (or
Knights,) as it is called, was established; it was an aristocratical
government, the heads of which held their office by virtue of the amount
of their property. At the time that Alexander passed over into Asia,
they enlarged the compass of the walls of their city, including within
them Canethus,[569] and the Euripus, and erected towers upon the bridge,
a wall, and gates.
9. Above the city of the Chalcidians is the plain called Lelantum, in
which are hot springs, adapted to the cure of diseases, and which were
used by Cornelius Sylla, the Roman general. There was also an
extraordinary mine which produced both copper and iron; such, writers
say, is not to be found elsewhere. At present, however, both are
exhausted.
The whole of Eubœa is subject to earthquakes, especially the part near
the strait. It is also exposed to violent subterraneous blasts, like
Bœotia, and other places of which I have before spoken at length. [570]
The city of the same name as the island is said to have been swallowed
up by an earthquake. [571] It is mentioned by Æschylus in his tragedy of
Glaucus Pontius;
“Euboïs near the bending shore of Jupiter Cenæus, close to the
tomb of the wretched Lichas. ”
There is also in Ætolia a town of the name of Chalcis,
“Chalcis on the sea-coast, and the rocky Calydon,”[572]
and another in the present Eleian territory;
“they passed along Cruni, and the rocky Chalcis,”[573]
speaking of Telemachus and his companions, when they left Nestor to
return to their own country.
10. Some say, that the Eretrians were a colony from Macistus in
Triphylia, under the conduct of Eretrieus; others, that they came from
Eretria, in Attica, where now a market is held. There is an Eretria also
near Pharsalus. In the Eretrian district there was a city, Tamynæ,
sacred to Apollo. The temple (which was near the strait) is said to have
been built by Admetus, whom the god, according to report, served a
year[574] for hire.
Eretria,[575] formerly, had the names of Melaneïs and Arotria. The
village Amarynthus, at the distance of 7 stadia from the walls, belongs
to it.
The Persians razed the ancient city, having enclosed with multitudes the
inhabitants, according to the expression of Herodotus,[576] in a net, by
spreading the Barbarians around the walls. The foundations are still
shown, and the place is called ancient Eretria. The present city is
built near it.
The power which the Eretrians once possessed, is evinced by a pillar
which was placed in the temple of Diana Amarynthia. There is an
inscription on it to this effect, that their processions upon their
public festivals consisted of three thousand heavy-armed soldiers, six
hundred horsemen, and [CAS. 448] sixty chariots. They were masters,
besides other islands, of Andros, Tenos, and Ceos. They received
colonists from Elis, whence their frequent use of the letter R, (ρ,)[577]
not only at the end, but in the middle of words, which exposed them to
the raillery of comic writers.
Œchalia,[578] a village, the remains of a city destroyed by Hercules,
belongs to the district of Eretria. It has the same name as that in
Trachinia, as that near Tricca,[579] as that in Arcadia, (which later
writers call Andania,) and as that in Ætolia near the Eurytanes.
11. At present Chalcis[580] is allowed, without dispute, to hold the
first rank, and is called the capital of the Eubœans. Eretria holds the
second place. Even in former times these cities had great influence both
in war and peace, so that they afforded to philosophers an agreeable and
tranquil retreat. A proof of this is the establishment at Eretria of the
school of Eretrian philosophers, disciples of Menedemus; and at an
earlier period the residence of Aristotle[581] at Chalcis, where he also
died.
12. These cities generally lived in harmony with each other, and when a
dispute arose between them respecting Lelantum, they did not even then
suspend all intercourse so as to act in war entirely without regard to
each other, but they agreed upon certain conditions, on which the war
was to be conducted. This appears by a column standing in the
Amarynthium, which interdicts the use of missiles. [For with respect to
warlike usages and armour, there neither is nor was any common usage;
for some nations employ soldiers who use missile weapons, such as bows,
slings, and javelins; others employ men who engage in close fight, and
use a sword, or charge with a spear. [582] For there are two methods of
using the spear; one is to retain it in the hand; the other, to hurl it
like a dart; the pike[583] answers both purposes, for it is used in
close encounter and is hurled to a distance. The sarissa and the hyssus
are similarly made use of. ][584]
13. The Eubœans excelled in standing[585] fight, which was also called
close fight,[586] and fight hand to hand. [587] They used spears extended
at length according to the words of the poet;
“warriors eager to break through breastplates with extended
ashen spears. ”[588]
The missile weapons were perhaps of different kinds, as, probably, was
the ashen spear of Pelion, which, as the poet says,
“Achilles alone knew how to hurl. ”[589]
When the poet says,
“I strike farther with a spear than any other person with an
arrow,”[590]
he means with a missile spear. They, too, who engage in single combat,
are first introduced as using missile spears, and then having recourse
to swords. But they who engage in single combat do not use the sword
only, but a spear also held in the hand, as the poet describes it,
“he wounded him with a polished spear, pointed with brass, and
unbraced his limbs. ”[591]
He represents the Eubœans as fighting in this manner; but he describes
the Locrian mode as contrary to this;
“It was not their practice to engage in close fight, but they
followed him to Ilium with their bows, clothed in the pliant
fleece of the sheep. ”[592]
An answer of an oracle is commonly repeated, which was returned to the
Ægienses;
“a Thessalian horse, a Lacedæmonian woman, and the men who
drink the water of the sacred Arethusa,”
meaning the Chalcideans as superior to all other people, for Arethusa
belongs to them.
14. At present the rivers of Eubœa are the Cereus and Neleus. The cattle
which drink of the water of the former become white, and those that
drink of the water of the latter become black. We have said that a
similar effect is produced by the water of the Crathis. [593]
15. As some of the Eubœans, on their return from Troy, were driven out
of their course among the Illyrians; pursued their journey homewards
through Macedonia, and stopped in the neighbourhood of Edessa; having
assisted the people in a war, who had received them hospitably; they
founded a city, [CAS. 450] Eubœa. There was a Eubœa in Sicily, founded
by the Chalcideans, who were settled there. It was destroyed by Gelon,
and became a stronghold of the Syracusans. In Corcyra also, and at
Lemnus, there was a place called Eubœa, and a hill of this name in the
Argive territory.
16. We have said, that Ætolians, Acarnanians, and Athamanes are situated
to the west of the Thessalians and Œtæans, if indeed we must call the
Athamanes,[594] Greeks. It remains, in order that we may complete the
description of Greece, to give some account of these people, of the
islands which lie nearest to Greece, and are inhabited by Greeks, which
we have not yet mentioned.
CHAPTER II.
1. Ætolians and Acarnanians border on one another, having between them
the river Achelous,[595] which flows from the north, and from Pindus
towards the south, through the country of the Agræi, an Ætolian tribe,
and of the Amphilochians.
Acarnanians occupy the western side of the river as far as the Ambracian
Gulf,[596] opposite to the Amphilochians, and the temple of Apollo
Actius.
Ætolians occupy the part towards the east as far as the Locri
Ozolæ, Parnassus, and the Œtæans.
Amphilochians are situated above the Acarnanians in the interior towards
the north; above the Amphilochians are situated Dolopes, and Mount
Pindus; above the Ætolians are Perrhæbi, Athamanes, and a body of the
Ænianes who occupy Œta.
The southern side, as well the Acarnanian as the Ætolian, is washed by
the sea, forming the Corinthian Gulf, into which the Achelous empties
itself. This river (at its mouth) is the boundary of the Ætolian and the
Acarnanian coast. The Achelous was formerly called Thoas. There is a
river of this name near Dyme,[597] as we have said, and another near
Lamia. [598] We have also said,[599] that the mouth of this river is
considered by some writers as the commencement of the Corinthian Gulf.
2. The cities of the Acarnanians are, Anactorium, situated upon a
peninsula[600] near Actium, and a mart of Nicopolis, which has been
built in our time; Stratus,[601] to which vessels sail up the Achelous,
a distance of more than 200 stadia; and Œniadæ[602] is also on the banks
of the river. The ancient city is not inhabited, and lies at an equal
distance from the sea and from Stratus. The present city is at the
distance of 70 stadia above the mouth of the river.
There are also other cities, Palærus,[603] Alyzia,[604] Leucas,[605] the
Amphilochian Argos,[606] and Ambracia:[607] most of these, if not all,
are dependent upon Nicopolis.
Stratus lies half-way between Alyzia and Anactorium. [608]
3. To the Ætolians belong both Calydon[609] and Pleuron, which at
present are in a reduced condition, but, anciently, these settlements
were an ornament to Greece.
Ætolia was divided into two portions, one called the Old, the other the
Epictetus (the Acquired). The Old comprised the sea-coast from the
Achelous as far as Calydon, extending far into the inland parts, which
are fertile, and consist of plains. Here are situated Stratus and
Trichonium, which has an excellent soil. The Epictetus, that reaches
close to the Locri in the direction of Naupactus[610] and Eupalium,[611]
[CAS. 451] is a rugged and sterile tract, extending as far as Œtæa, to
the territory of the Athamanes, and the mountains and nations following
next in order, and which lie around towards the north.
4. There is in Ætolia a very large mountain, the Corax,[612] which is
contiguous to Œta. Among the other mountains, more in the middle of the
country, is the Aracynthus,[613] near which the founders built the
modern Pleuron, having abandoned the ancient city situated near Calydon,
which was in a fertile plain country, when Demetrius, surnamed Ætolicus,
laid waste the district.
Above Molycreia[614] are Taphiassus[615] and Chalcis,[616] mountains of
considerable height, on which are situated the small cities, Macynia and
Chalcis, (having the same name as the mountain,) or, as it is also
called, Hypochalcis. Mount Curium is near the ancient Pleuron, from
which some supposed the Pleuronii had the appellation of Curetes.
5. The river Evenus rises in the country of the Bomianses, a nation
situated among the Ophienses, and an Ætolian tribe like the Eurytanes,
Agræi, Curetes, and others. It does not flow, at its commencement,
through the territory of the Curetes, which is the same as Pleuronia,
but through the country more towards the east along Chalcis and Calydon;
it then makes a bend backwards to the plains of the ancient Pleuron, and
having changed its course to the west, turns again to the south, where
it empties itself. It was formerly called Lycormas. There Nessus, who
had the post of ferryman, is said to have been killed by Hercules for
having attempted to force Deïaneira while he was conveying her across
the river.
6. The poet calls Olenus and Pylene Ætolian cities, the former of which,
of the same name as the Achæan city, was razed by the Æolians. It is
near the new city Pleuron. The Acarnanians disputed the possession of
the territory. They transferred Pylene to a higher situation, and
changed its name to Proschium. Hellanicus was not at all acquainted with
the history of these cities, but speaks of them as still existing in
their ancient condition, but Macynia and Molycria, which were built
subsequent to the return of the Heracleidæ, he enumerates among ancient
cities, and shows the greatest carelessness in almost every part of his
work.
7. This, then, is the general account of the country of the Acarnanians
and Ætolians. We must annex to this some description of the sea-coast
and of the islands lying in front of it.
If we begin from the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf, the first place we
meet with in Acarnania is Actium. The temple of Apollo Actius has the
same name as the promontory, which forms the entrance of the Gulf, and
has a harbour on the outside.
At the distance of 40 stadia from the temple is Anactorium, situated on
the Gulf; and at the distance of 240 stadia is Leucas. [617]
8. This was, anciently, a peninsula belonging to the territory of the
Acarnanians. The poet calls it the coast of Epirus, meaning by Epirus
the country on the other side of Ithaca,[618] and Cephallenia,[619]
which country is Acarnania; so that by the words of the poet,
“the coast of Epirus,”
we must understand the coast of Acarnania.
To Leucas also belonged Neritus, which Laertes said he took--
“as when I was chief of the Cephallenians, and took Nericus, a
well-built city, on the coast of Epirus,”[620]
and the cities which he mentions in the Catalogue,
“and they who inhabited Crocyleia, and the rugged Ægilips. ”[621]
But the Corinthians who were despatched by Cypselus and Gorgus, obtained
possession of this coast, and advanced as far as the Ambracian Gulf.
Ambracia and Anactorium were both founded. They cut through the isthmus
of the peninsula, converted Leucas into an island, transferred Neritus
to the spot, which was once an isthmus, but is now a channel connected
with the land by a bridge, and changed the name to Leucas from Leucatas,
as I suppose, which is a white rock, projecting from Leucas into the sea
towards Cephallenia, so that it might take its name from this
circumstance.
9. [CAS. 452] It has upon it the temple of Apollo Leucatas, and the
Leap, which, it was thought, was a termination of love.
“Here Sappho first ’tis said,” (according to Menander,) “in
pursuit of the haughty Phaon, and urged on by maddening
desire, threw herself[622] from the aerial rock, imploring
Thee, Lord, and King. ”
Menander then says that Sappho was the first who took the leap, but
persons better acquainted with ancient accounts assert that it was
Cephalus, who was in love with Pterelas, the son of Deïoneus. [623] It
was also a custom of the country among the Leucadians at the annual
sacrifice performed in honour of Apollo, to precipitate from the rock
one of the condemned criminals, with a view to avert evil. Various kinds
of wings were attached to him, and even birds were suspended from his
body, to lighten by their fluttering the fall of the leap. Below many
persons were stationed around in small fishing boats to receive, and to
preserve his life, if possible, and to carry him beyond the boundaries
of the country. The author of the Alcmæonis says that Icarius, the
father of Penelope, had two sons, Alyzeus, and Leucadius, who reigned
after their father in Acarnania, whence Ephorus thinks that the cities
were called after their names.
10. At present those are called Cephallenians who inhabit Cephallenia.
But Homer calls all those under the command of Ulysses by this name,
among whom are the Acarnanians; for when he says,
“Ulysses led the Cephallenians, those who possessed Ithaca,
and Neritum, waving with woods,”[624]
(the remarkable mountain in this island; so also,
“they who came from Dulichium, and the sacred Echinades,”[625]
for Dulichium itself was one of the Echinades; and again,
“Buprasium and Elis,”[626]
when Buprasium is situated in Elis; and so,
“they who inhabited Eubœa, Chalcis, and Eretria,”[627]
when the latter places are in Eubœa; so again,
“Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians,”[628]
and these also were Trojans): but after mentioning Neritum, he says,
“and they who inhabited Crocyleia and rocky Ægilips,
Zacynthus, Samos, Epirus, and the country opposite to these
islands;”[629]
he means by Epirus the country opposite to the islands, intending to
include together with Leucas the rest of Acarnania, of which he says,
“twelve herds, and as many flocks of sheep in Epirus,”[630]
because the district of Epirus (the Epirotis) extended anciently perhaps
as far as this place, and was designated by the common name Epirus.
The present Cephallenia he calls Samos, as when he says,
“in the strait between Ithaca and the hilly Samos,”[631]
he makes a distinction between places of the same name by an epithet,
assigning the name not to the city, but to the island. For the island
contains four cities, one of which, called Samos, or Same, for it had
either appellation, bore the same name as the island. But when the poet
says,
“all the chiefs of the islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woody
Zacynthus,”[632]
he is evidently enumerating the islands, and calls that Same which he
had before called Samos.
But Apollodorus at one time says that the ambiguity is removed by the
epithet, which the poet uses, when he says,
“and hilly Samos,”
meaning the island; and at another time he pretends that we ought to
write
“Dulichium, and Samos,”
and not
“Same,”
and evidently supposes that the city is called by either name, Samos or
Samé, but the island by that of Samos only. That the city is called Samé
is evident from the enumeration of the suitors from each city, where the
poet says,
“there are four and twenty from Samé,”[633]
and from what is said about Ctimene,[CAS. 454]
“they afterwards gave her in marriage at Samé. ”[634]
There is reason in this. For the poet does not express himself
distinctly either about Cephallenia, or Ithaca, or the other
neighbouring places, so that both historians and commentators differ
from one another.
11. For instance, with respect to Ithaca, when the poet says,
“and they who possessed Ithaca, and Neritum with its waving
woods,”[635]
he denotes by the epithet, that he means Neritum the mountain. In other
passages he expressly mentions the mountain;
“I dwell at Ithaca, turned to the western sun; where is a
mountain, Neritum, seen from afar with its waving woods;”[636]
but whether he means the city, or the island, is not clear, at least
from this verse;
“they who possessed Ithaca, and Neritum. ”
Any one would understand these words in their proper sense to mean the
city, as we speak of Athens, Lycabettus, Rhodes, Atabyris, Lacedæmon,
and Taygetus, but in a poetical sense the contrary is implied.
In the verses,
“I dwell at Ithaca, turned to the western sun, in which is a
mountain Neritum,”
the meaning is plain, because the mountain is on the island and not in
the city; and when he says,
“we came from Ithaca situated under Neium,”[637]
it is uncertain whether he means that Neium was the same as Neritum, or
whether it is another, either mountain or place. [He, who writes Nericum
for Neritum, or the reverse, is quite mistaken. For the poet describes
the former as “waving with woods;” the other as a “well-built city;” one
in Ithaca, the other on the sea-beach of Epirus. ][638]
12. But this line seems to imply some contradiction;
“it lies in the sea both low, and very high,”[639]
for χθαμαλὴ is low, and depressed, but πανυπερτάτη expresses great
height, as he describes it in other passages, calling it Cranae, (or
rugged,) and the road leading from the harbour, as,
“a rocky way through a woody spot,”[640]
and again,
“for there is not any island in the sea exposed to the western
sun,[641] and with good pastures, least of all Ithaca. ”[642]
The expression does imply contradictions, which admit however of some
explanation. They do not understand χθαμαλὴ to signify in that place
“low,” but its contiguity to the continent, to which it approaches very
close; nor by πανυπερτάτη great elevation, but the farthest advance
towards darkness, (πρὸς ζόφον,) that is, placed towards the north more
than all the other islands, for this is what the poet means by “towards
darkness,” the contrary to which is towards the south, (πρὸς νότον,)
“the rest far off (ἄνευθε) towards the morning,
and the sun. ”[643]
For the word ἄνευθε denotes “at a distance,” and
“apart,” as if the other islands lay to the south, and more distant from
the continent, but Ithaca near the continent and towards the north. That
the poet designates the southern part (of the heavens) in this manner
appears from these words,
“whether they go to the right hand, towards the morning and
the sun, or to the left, towards cloudy darkness;”[644]
and still more evidently in these lines,
“my friends, we know not where darkness nor where morning lie,
nor where sets nor where rises the sun which brings light to
man. ”[645]
We may here understand the four climates,[646] and suppose the morning
to denote the southern part (of the heavens), and this has some
probability; but it is better to consider what is near to the path of
the sun to be opposite to the northern part (of the heavens). For the
speech in Homer is intended to indicate some great change in the
celestial appearances, not a mere obscuration of the _climates_. For
this must happen [CAS. 455] during every cloudy season either by day or
by night. Now the celestial appearances alter very much as we advance
more or less towards the south, or the contrary; but this alteration
does not prevent our observing the setting and rising of the sun, for in
fine weather these phenomena are always visible whether in the south or
the north. For the pole is the most northerly point: when this moves,
and is sometimes over our heads and sometimes below the earth, the
arctic circles change their position with it. Sometimes they disappear
during these movements, so that you cannot discern the position of the
northern _climate_, nor where it commences;[647] and if this is so,
neither can you distinguish the contrary _climate_.
The circuit of Ithaca is about 80[648] stadia. So much then concerning
Ithaca.
13. The poet does not mention Cephallenia, which contains four cities,
by its present name, nor any of the cities except one, either Samé or
Samos, which no longer exists, but traces of it are shown in the middle
of the Strait near Ithaca. The inhabitants have the name of Samæ. The
rest still exist at present, they are small cities, Paleis, Pronesus,
and Cranii. In our time Caius Antonius, the uncle of Marcus Antonius,
founded an additional city, when (being an exile after his consulship in
which he was the colleague of Cicero the orator) he lived at
Cephallenia, and was master of the whole island, as if it had been his
own property. He returned from exile before he completed the foundation
of the settlement, and died when engaged in more important affairs.
14. Some writers do not hesitate to affirm, that Cephallenia and
Dulichium are the same; others identify it with Taphos, and the
Cephallenians with Taphians, and these again with Teleboæ. They assert
that Amphitryon, with the aid of Cephalus, the son of Deïoneus, an exile
from Athens, undertook an expedition against the island, and having got
possession of it, delivered it up to Cephalus; hence this city bore his
name, and the rest those of his children. But this is not in accordance
with Homer, for the Cephallenians were subject to Ulysses and Laertes,
and Taphos to Mentes;
“I boast that I am Mentes, son of the valiant Anchialus,
And king of the Taphians, skilful rowers. ”[649]
Taphos is now called Taphius. [650] Nor does Hellanicus follow Homer
when he calls Cephallenia, Dulichium, for Dulichium, and the other
Echinades, are said to be under the command of Meges, and the
inhabitants, Epeii, who came from Elis; wherefore he calls Otus the
Cyllenian,
“companion of Phyleides, chief of the magnanimous Epeii;”[651]
“but Ulysses led the magnanimous Cephallenes. ”[652]
Neither, as Andro asserts, is Cephallenia, according to Homer,
Dulichium, nor does Dulichium belong to Cephallenia, for Epeii possessed
Dulichium, and Cephallenians the whole of Cephallenia, the former of
whom were under the command of Ulysses, the latter of Meges. Paleis is
not called Dulichium by Homer, as Pherecydes says. But he who asserts
that Cephallenia and Dulichium are the same contradicts most strongly
the account of Homer; for as fifty-two of the suitors came from
Dulichium, and twenty-four from Samé, would he not say, that from the
whole island came such a number of suitors, and from a single city of
the four came half the number within two? If any one should admit this,
we shall inquire what the Samé could be, which is mentioned in this
line,
“Dulichium and Samé, and the woody Zacynthus. ”[653]
15. Cephallenia is situated opposite to Acarnania, at the distance from
Leucatas of about 50, or according to others, of 40 stadia, and from
Chelonatas[654] of about 80 stadia. It is about 300 stadia (1300? ) in
circumference. It extends in length towards the south-east (Eurus). It
is mountainous; the largest mountain in it is the Ænus,[655] on which is
the temple of Jupiter Ænesius. Here is the narrowest part of the island,
which forms a low isthmus, that is frequently overflowed from sea to
sea. [656] Cranii[657] and Paleis[658] are situated near the straits in
the Gulf.
16. Between Ithaca and Cephallenia is the small island [CAS. 457]
Asteria,[659] or Asteris, as it is called by the poet, which, according
to Demetrius, the Scepsian, does not remain in the state described by
the poet,
“there are harbours in it, open on both sides, for the reception
of vessels. ”[660]
But Apollodorus says that it exists even at present, and mentions a
small city in it, Alalcomenæ, situated quite upon the isthmus.
17. The poet also gives the name of Samos to Thracia, which we now call
Samothracé. He was probably acquainted with the Ionian island, for he
seems to have been acquainted with the Ionian migration. He would not,
otherwise, have made a distinction between islands of the same names,
for in speaking of Samothrace, he makes the distinction sometimes by the
epithet,
“on high, upon the loftiest summit of the woody Samos,
the Thracian,”[661]
sometimes by uniting it with the neighbouring islands,
“to Samos, and Imbros, and inaccessible Lemnos;”[662]
and again,
“between Samos and rocky Imbros. ”[663]
He was therefore acquainted with the Ionian island, although he has not
mentioned its name. Nor had it formerly always the same name, but was
called Melamphylus, then Anthemis, then Parthenia, from the river
Parthenius, the name of which was changed to Imbrasus. Since then both
Cephallenia and Samothracé were called Samos[664] at the time of the
Trojan war, (for if it had not been so Hecuba would not have been
introduced saying, that Achilles would sell any of her children that he
could seize at Samos and Imbros,[665]) Ionian Samos was not yet
colonized (by Ionians), which is evident from its having the same name
from one of the islands earlier (called Samos), that had it before;
whence this also is clear, that those persons contradict ancient
history, who assert, that colonists came from Samos after the Ionian
migration, and the arrival of Tembrion, and gave the name of Samos to
Samothracé. The Samians invented this story out of vanity. Those are
more entitled to credit, who say, that heights are called Sami,[666]
and that the island obtained its name from this circumstance, for from
thence
“was seen all Ida, the city of Priam, and the ships
of the Greeks. ”[667]
But according to some writers, Samos had its name from the Saii, a
Thracian tribe, who formerly inhabited it, and who occupied also the
adjoining continent, whether they were the same people as the Sapæ, or
the Sinti, whom the poet calls Sinties, or a different nation.
Archilochus mentions the Saii;
“one of the Saii is exulting in the possession of an
honourable shield, which I left against my will near a
thicket. ”
18. Of the islands subject to Ulysses there remains to be described
Zacynthus. [668] It verges a little more than Cephallenia to the west of
Peloponnesus, but approaches closer to it. It is 160 stadia in
circumference, and distant from Cephallenia about 60 stadia. It is
woody, but fertile, and has a considerable city of the same name. Thence
to the Hesperides belonging to Africa are 3300[669] stadia.
19. To the east of this island, and of Cephallenia, are situated the
Echinades[670] islands; among which is Dulichium, at present called
Dolicha, and the islands called Oxeiæ, to which the poet gives the name
of Thoæ. [671]
Dolicha is situated opposite to the Œniadæ, and the mouth of the
Achelous: it is distant from Araxus,[672] the promontory of Elis, 100
stadia. The rest of the Echinades are numerous, they are all barren and
rocky, and lie in front of the mouth of the Achelous, the most remote of
them at the distance of 15, the nearest at the distance of 5 stadia;
they formerly were farther out at sea, but the accumulation of earth,
which is brought down in great quantity by the Achelous, has already
joined some, and will join others, to the continent. This accumulation
of soil anciently formed the tract Paracheloitis, which the river
overflows, a subject of contention, as it was continually confounding
boundaries, which had been determined by the Acarnanians and the
Ætolians. For want of arbitrators they decided their dispute by arms.
The most [CAS. 458] powerful gained the victory. This gave occasion to
a fable, how Hercules overcame the Achelous in fight, and received in
marriage as the prize of his victory, Deïaneira, daughter of Œneus.
Sophocles introduces her, saying,
“My suitor was a river, I mean the Achelous, who demanded me
of my father under three forms; one while coming as a bull of
perfect form, another time as a spotted writhing serpent, at
another with the body of a man and the forehead of a
bull. ”[673]
Some writers add, that this was the horn of Amaltheia, which Hercules
broke off from the Achelous, and presented to Œneus as a bridal gift.
Others, conjecturing the truth included in this story, say, that
Achelous is reported to have resembled a bull, like other rivers, in the
roar of their waters, and the bendings of their streams, which they term
horns; and a serpent from its length and oblique course; and
bull-fronted because it was compared to a bull’s head; and that
Hercules, who, on other occasions, was disposed to perform acts of
kindness for the public benefit, so particularly, when he was desirous
of contracting an alliance with Œneus, performed for him these services;
he prevented the river from overflowing its banks, by constructing
mounds and by diverting its streams by canals, and by draining a large
tract of the Paracheloïtis, which had been injured by the river; and
this is the horn of Amaltheia.
Homer says, that in the time of the Trojan war the Echinades, and the
Oxeiæ were subject to Meges,
“son of the hero Phyleus, beloved of Jupiter, who formerly
repaired to Dulichium on account of a quarrel with his
father. ”[674]
The father of Phyleus was Augeas, king of Elis, and of the Epeii. The
Epeii then, who possessed these islands, were those who had migrated to
Dulichium with Phyleus.
20. The islands of the Taphii, and formerly of the Teleboæ, among which
was Taphus, now called Taphius, were distinct from the Echinades, not
separated by distance, (for they lie near one another,) but because they
were ranged under different chiefs, Taphii and Teleboæ. In earlier times
Amphitryon, in conjunction with Cephalus, the son of Deïoneus, an exile
from Athens, attacked, and then delivered them up to the government of
Cephalus. But the poet says that Mentes was their chief, and calls them
robbers, which was the character of all the Teleboæ.
So much then concerning the islands off Acarnania.
21. Between Leucas and the Ambracian gulf is a sea-lake, called
Myrtuntium. [675] Next to Leucas followed Palærus, and Alyzia, cities of
Acarnania, of which Alyzia is distant from the sea 15 stadia. Opposite
to it is a harbour sacred to Hercules, and a grove from whence a Roman
governor transported to Rome “the labours of Hercules,” the workmanship
of Lysippus, which was lying in an unsuitable place, being a deserted
spot. [676]
Next are Crithote,[677] a promontory, and the Echinades, and Astacus,
used in the singular number, a city of the same name as that near
Nicomedia, and the Gulf of Astacus, Crithote, a city of the same name as
that in the Thracian Chersonesus. All the coast between these places has
good harbours. Then follows Œniadæ, and the Achelous; then a lake
belonging to the Œniadæ, called Melite, 30 stadia in length, and in
breadth 20; then another Cynia, of double the breadth and length of
Melite; a third Uria,[678] much less than either of the former. Cynia
even empties itself into the sea; the others are situated above it at
the distance of about half a stadium.
Next is the river Evenus, which is distant from Actium 670 stadia.
Then follows the mountain Chalcis, which Artemidorus calls Chalcia;
[next Pleuron, then Licyrna, a village, above which in the interior is
situated Calydon at the distance of 30 stadia. Near Calydon is the
temple of Apollo Laphrius;][679] then the mountain Taphiassus; then
Macynia, a city; then Molycria, and near it Antirrhium, the boundary of
Ætolia and of Locris. To Antirrhium from the Evenus are about 120
stadia.
Artemidorus does not place the mountain, whether Chalcis or Chalcia,
between the Achelous and Pleuron, but Apollodorus, [CAS. 460] as I have
said before, places Chalcis and Taphiassus above Molycria; and Calydon
between Pleuron and Chalcis. Are we then to place one mountain of the
name of Chalcia near Pleuron, and another of the name of Chalcis near
Molycria?
Near Calydon is a large lake, abounding with fish. It belongs to the
Romans of Patræ.
22. Apollodorus says, that there is in the inland parts of Acarnania, a
tribe of Erysichæi, mentioned by Aleman,
“not an Erysichæan, nor a shepherd; but I came from the
extremities of Sardis. ”
Olenus belonged to Ætolia; Homer mentions it in the Ætolian
Catalogue,[680] but traces alone remain of it near Pleuron below
Aracynthus. [681]
Lysimachia also was near Olenus. This place has disappeared. It was
situated upon the lake, the present Lysimachia, formerly Hydra, between
Pleuron and the city Arsinoë,[682] formerly a village of the name of
Conopa. It was founded by Arsinoë, wife and also sister of the second
Ptolemy. It is conveniently situated above the passage across the
Achelous.
Pylene has experienced nearly the same fate as Olenus.
When the poet describes Calydon[683] as lofty, and rocky, we must
understand these epithets as relating to the character of the country.
For we have said before, that when they divided the country into two
parts, they assigned the mountainous portion and the Epictetus[684] to
Calydon, and the tract of plains to Pleuron.
23. The Acarnanians, and the Ætolians, like many other nations, are at
present worn out, and exhausted by continual wars. The Ætolians however,
in conjunction with the Acarnanians, during a long period withstood the
Macedonians and the other Greeks, and lastly the Romans, in their
contest for independence.
But since Homer, and others, both poets and historians, frequently
mention them, sometimes in clear and undisputed terms, and sometimes
less explicitly, as appears from what we have already said of these
people, we must avail ourselves of some of the more ancient accounts,
which will supply us with a beginning, or with an occasion of inquiring
into what is controverted.
24. First then with respect to Acarnania. We have already said, that it
was occupied by Laertes and the Cephallenians; but as many writers have
advanced statements respecting the first occupants in terms sufficiently
clear, indeed, but contradictory, the inquiry and discussion are left
open to us.
They say, that the Taphii and Teleboæ, as they are called, were the
first inhabitants of Acarnania, and that their chief, Cephalus, who was
appointed by Amphitryon sovereign of the islands about Taphus, was
master also of this country. Hence is related of him the fable, that he
was the first person who took the reputed leap from Leucatas. But the
poet does not say, that the Taphii inhabited Acarnania before the
arrival of the Cephallenians and Laertes, but that they were friends of
the Ithacenses; consequently, in his time, either they had not the
entire command of these places, or had voluntarily retired, or had even
become joint settlers.
A colony of certain from Lacedæmon seems to have settled in Acarnania,
who were followers of Icarius, father of Penelope, for the poet in the
Odyssey represents him and the brothers of Penelope as then living;
“who did not dare to go to the palace of Icarius with a view
of his disposing of his daughter in marriage. ”[685]
And with respect to the brothers;
“for now a long time both her father and her brothers were
urging her to marry Eurymachus. ”[686]
Nor is it probable that they were living at Lacedæmon, for Telemachus
would not, in that case, have been the guest of Menelaus upon his
arrival, nor is there a tradition, that they had any other habitation.
But they say that Tyndareus and his brother Icarius, after being
banished from their own country by Hippocoon, repaired to Thestius, the
king of the Pleuronii, and assisted in obtaining possession of a large
tract of country on the other side of the Achelous on condition of
receiving a portion of it; that Tyndareus, having espoused Leda the
daughter of Thestius, returned home; that Icarius continued there in
possession of a portion of Acarnania, and had Penelope and her brothers
by his wife Polycasta, daughter of Lygæus.
We [CAS. 461] have shown by the Catalogue of the Ships in Homer, that
the Acarnanians were enumerated among the people who took part in the
war of Troy; and among these are reckoned the inhabitants of the Acté,
and besides these,
“they who occupied Epirus, and cultivated the land opposite. ”
But Epirus was never called Acarnania, nor Acté, Leucas.
Mitylene are the Larisæan rocks, on the road to Methymne. There is a
Larisa in Attica; and a village of this name at the distance of 30
stadia from Tralleis, situated above the city, on the road to the plain
of the Cayster, passing by Mesogis towards the temple of Mater Isodroma.
This Larisa has a similar position, and possesses similar advantages to
those of Larisa Cremaste; for it has abundance of water and vineyards.
Perhaps Jupiter had the appellation of Larisæus from this place. There
is also on the left side of the Pontus (Euxine) a village called Larisa,
near the extremities of Mount Hæmus, between Naulochus [and
Odessus]. [531]
Oloosson, called the White, from its chalky soil, Elone, and Gonnus are
Perrhæbic cities. The name of Elone was changed to that of Leimone. It
is now in ruins. Both lie at the foot of Olympus, not very far from the
river Eurotas, which the poet calls Titaresius.
20. The poet speaks both of this river and of the Perrhæbi in the
subsequent verses, when he says,
“Guneus brought from Cyphus two and twenty vessels. His
followers were Enienes and Peræbi, firm in battle. They dwelt
near the wintry Dodona, and tilled the fields about the lovely
Titaresius. ”[532]
He mentions therefore these places as belonging to the Perrhæbi, which
comprised a part of the Hestiæotis. [533] They were in part Perrhæbic
towns, which were subject to Polypœtes. He assigned them however to the
Lapithæ, because these people and the Perrhæbi lived intermixed
together, and the Lapithæ occupied the plains. The country, which
belonged to the Perrhæbi, was, for the most part, subject to the
Lapithæ, but the Perrhæbi possessed the more mountainous tracts towards
Olympus and Tempe, such as Cyphus, Dodonē, and the country about the
river Titaresius. This river rises [CAS. 441] in the mountain Titarius,
which is part of Olympus. It flows into the plain near Tempe belonging
to Perrhæbia, and somewhere there enters the Peneius.
The water of the Peneius is clear, that of the Titaresius is unctuous; a
property arising from some matter, which prevents the streams mingling
with each other,
“but runs over the surface like oil. ”[534]
Because the Perrhæbi and Lapithæ lived intermingled together, Simonides
calls all those people Pelasgiotæ, who occupy the eastern parts about
Gyrton and the mouths of the Peneius, Ossa, Pelion, and the country
about Demetrias, and the places in the plain, Larisa, Crannon, Scotussa,
Mopsium, Atrax, and the parts near the lakes Nessonis and Bœbeis. The
poet mentions a few only of these places, either because they were not
inhabited at all, or badly inhabited on account of the inundations which
had happened at various times. For the poet does not mention even the
lake Nessonis, but the Bœbeis only, which is much smaller, for its water
remained constant, and this alone remains, while the former probably was
at one time filled irregularly to excess, and at another contained no
water.
We have mentioned Scotussa in our accounts of Dodona, and of the oracle,
in Thessaly, when we observed that it was near Scotussa. Near Scotussa
is a tract called Cynoscephalæ. It was here that the Romans with their
allies the Ætolians, and their general Titus Quintius, defeated in a
great battle Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon.
21. Something of the same kind has happened in the territory of
Magnetis. For Homer having enumerated many places of this country, calls
none of them Magnetes, but those only whom he indicates in terms
obscure, and not easily understood;
“They who dwelt about Peneius and Pelion with waving woods. ”[535]
Now about the Peneius and Pelion dwell those (already mentioned by
Homer) who occupied Gyrton, and Ormenium, and many other nations. At a
still greater distance from Pelion, according to later writers, were
Magnetes, beginning from the people, that were subject to Eumelus. These
writers, on account of the continual removals from one settlement to
another, alterations in the forms of government, and intermixture of
races, seem to confound both names and nations, which sometimes
perplexes persons in these times, as is first to be observed in the
instances of Crannon and Gyrton.
Formerly they called the Gyrtonians Phlegyæ, from Phlegyas, the brother
of Ixion; and the Crannonii, Ephyri, so that there is a doubt, when the
poet says,
“These two from Thrace appeared with breastplates armed
against Ephyri, or haughty Phlegyæ,”[536]
what people he meant.
22. The same is the case with the Perrhæbi and Ænianes, for Homer joins
them together, as if they dwelt near each other; and it is said by later
writers, that, for a long period, the settlement of the Ænianes was in
the Dotian plain. Now this plain is near Perrhæbia, which we have just
mentioned, Ossa, and the lake Bœbeis: it is situated about the middle of
Thessaly, but enclosed by itself within hills. Hesiod speaks of it in
this manner;
“Or, as a pure virgin, who dwells on the sacred heights of the
Twin hills, comes to the Dotian plain, in front of Amyrus,
abounding with vines, to bathe her feet in the lake Bœbias. ”
The greater part of the Ænianes were expelled by the Lapithæ, and took
refuge in Œta, where they established their power, having deprived the
Dorians and the Malienses of some portions of country, extending as far
as Heracleia and Echinus. Some of them however remained about Cyphus, a
Perrhæbic mountain, where is a settlement of the same name. As to the
Perrhæbi, some of them collected about the western parts of Olympus and
settled there, on the borders of the Macedonians. But a large body took
shelter among the mountains near Athamania, and Pindus. But at present
few, if any, traces of them are to be found.
The Magnetes, who are mentioned last in the Thessalian catalogue of the
poet, must be understood to be those situated within Tempe, extending
from the Peneius and Ossa to Pelion, and bordering upon the Pieriotæ in
Macedonia, who occupy the country on the other side of the Peneius as
far as the sea.
Homolium, or Homolē, (for both words are in use,) must be [CAS. 443]
assigned to the Magnetes. I have said in the description of Macedonia,
that Homolium is near Ossa at the beginning of the course which the
Peneius takes through Tempe.
If we are to extend their possessions as far as the sea-coast, which is
very near Homolium, there is reason for assigning to them Rhizus, and
Erymnæ, which lies on the sea-coast in the tract subject to Philoctetes
and Eumelus. Let this however remain unsettled. For the order in which
the places as far as the Peneius follow one another, is not clearly
expressed, and as the places are not of any note, we need not consider
that uncertainty as very important. The coast of Sepias, however, is
mentioned by tragic writers, and was chaunted in songs on account of the
destruction of the Persian fleet. It consists of a chain of rocks.
Between Sepias and Casthanæa, a village situated below Pelion, is the
sea-shore, where the fleet of Xerxes was lying, when an east wind began
to blow violently; some of the vessels were forced on shore, and
immediately went to pieces, others were driven on Hipnus, a rocky spot
near Pelion, others were lost at Melibœa, others at Casthanæa.
The whole of the coasting voyage along Pelion, to the extent of about 80
stadia, is among rocks. That along Ossa is of the same kind and to the
same extent.
Between them is a bay of more than 200 stadia in extent, upon which is
situated Melibœa.
The whole voyage from Demetrias, including the winding of the bays, to
the Peneius is more than 1000 stadia, from the Spercheius 800 stadia
more, and from the Euripus 2350 stadia.
Hieronymus assigns a circuit of 3000 stadia to the plain country in
Thessaly and Magnesia, and says, that it was inhabited by Pelasgi, but
that these people were driven into Italy by Lapithæ, and that the
present Pelasgic plain is that in which are situated Larisa, Gyrton,
Pheræ, Mopsium, Bœbeis, Ossa, Homole, Pelion, and Magnetis. Mopsium has
not its name from Mopsus, the son of Manto the daughter of Teiresias,
but from Mopsus, one of the Lapithæ, who sailed with the Argonauts.
Mopsopus, from whom Attica is called Mopsopia, is a different person.
23. This then is the account of the several parts of Thessaly.
In general we say, that it was formerly called Pyrrhæa, from Pyrrha, the
wife of Deucalion; Hæmonia, from Hæmon; and Thettalia, from Thettalus,
the son of Hæmon. But some writers, after dividing it into two portions,
say, that Deucalion obtained by lot the southern part, and called it
Pandora, from his mother; that the other fell to the share of Hæmon,
from whom it was called Hæmonia; that the name of one part was changed
to Hellas, from Hellen, the son of Deucalion, and of the other to
Thettalia, from Thettalus, the son of Hæmon. But, according to some
writers, it was the descendants of Antiphus and Pheidippus, sons of
Thettalus, descended from Hercules, who invaded the country from Ephyra
in Thesprotia, and called it after the name of Thettalus their
progenitor. It has been already said that once it had the name of
Nessonis, as well as the lake, from Nesson, the son of Thettalus.
BOOK X.
GREECE.
SUMMARY.
The Tenth Book contains Ætolia and the neighbouring islands;
also the whole of Crete, on which the author dwells some time
in narrating the institutions of the islanders and of the
Curetes. He describes at length the origin of the Idæan
Dactyli in Crete, their customs and religious rites. Strabo
mentions the connexion of his own family with Crete. The Book
contains an account of the numerous islands about Crete,
including the Sporades and some of the Cyclades.
CHAPTER I.
1. Since Eubœa[537] stretches along the whole of this coast from Sunium
to Thessaly, except the extremity on each side,[538] it may be
convenient to connect the description of this island with that of
Thessaly. We shall then pass on to Ætolia and Acarnania, parts of Europe
of which it remains to give an account.
2. The island is oblong, and extends nearly 1200 stadia from Cenæum[539]
to Geræstus. [540] Its greatest breadth is about 150 stadia, but it is
irregular. [541]
Cenæum is opposite to Thermopylæ, and in a small degree to the parts
beyond Thermopylæ: Geræstus[542] and Petalia[543] are opposite to
Sunium.
Eubœa then fronts[544] Attica, Bœotia, Locris, and the Malienses. From
its narrowness, and its length, which we have mentioned, it was called
by the ancients Macris. [545]
It approaches nearest to the continent at Chalcis. It projects with a
convex bend towards the places in Bœotia near Aulis, and forms the
Euripus,[546] of which we have before spoken at length. We have also
mentioned nearly all the places on either side of the Euripus, opposite
to each other across the strait, both on the continent and on the
island. If anything is omitted we shall now give a further explanation.
And first, the parts lying between Aulis (Chalcis? ) and the places about
Geræstus are called the Hollows of Eubœa, for the sea-coast swells into
bays, and, as it approaches Chalcis, juts out again towards the
continent.
3. The island had the name not of Macris only, but of Abantis also. The
poet in speaking of Eubœa never calls the inhabitants from the name of
the island, Eubœans, but always Abantes;
“they who possessed Eubœa, the resolute Abantes;”[547]
“in his train Abantes were following. ”
Aristotle says that Thracians, taking their departure from Aba, the
Phocian city, settled with the other inhabitants in the island, and gave
the name of Abantes to those who already occupied it; other writers say
that they had their name from a hero,[548] as that of Eubœa was derived
from a heroine. [549] But perhaps as a certain cave on the sea-coast
fronting the [CAS. 445] Ægean Sea is called Boos-Aule, (or the Cow’s
Stall,) where Io is said to have brought forth Epaphus, so the island
may have had the name Eubœa[550] on this account.
It was also called Oché, which is the name of one of the largest
mountains[551] there.
It had the name of Ellopia, from Ellops, the son of Ion; according to
others, he was the brother of Æclus, and Cothus, who is said to have
founded Ellopia,[552] a small place situated in the district called Oria
of the Histiæotis, near the mountain Telethrius. [553] He also possessed
Histiæa, Perias, Cerinthus, Ædepsus,[554] and Orobiæ, where was an
oracle very free from deception. There also was an oracle of Apollo
Selinuntius.
The Ellopians, after the battle of Leuctra, were compelled by the tyrant
Philistides to remove to the city Histiæa, and augmented the number of
its inhabitants. Demosthenes[555] says that Philistides was appointed by
Philip tyrant of the Oreitæ also, for afterwards the Histiæans had that
name, and the city, instead of Histiæa, was called Oreus. According to
some writers, Histiæa was colonized by Athenians from the demus of the
Histiæeis, as Eretria was from the demus of the Eretrieis. But
Theopompus says, that when Pericles had reduced Eubœa, the Histiæans
agreed to remove into Macedonia, and that two thousand Athenians, who
formerly composed the demus of the Histiæans, came, and founded
Oreus. [556]
4. It is situated below Mount Telethrius, at a place called Drymus, near
the river Callas, on a lofty rock;[557] whence perhaps because the
Ellopians, the former inhabitants, were a mountain tribe,[558] the city
had the name of Oreus. Orion, who was brought up there, seems to have
had his name from the place. But according to some writers, the Oreitæ,
who had a city of their own, being attacked by the Ellopians, migrated,
and settled with the Histiæans, and although it was a single city it had
both appellations, as Lacedæmon and Sparta were the same city. We have
said, that the Histiæotis in Thessaly had its name from the people who
were carried away from this country by the Perrhæbi.
5. As Ellopia induced us to commence our description with Histiæa and
Oreus, we shall proceed with the places continuous with these.
The promontory Cenæum is near Oreus, and on the promontory is situated
Dium,[559] and Athenæ Diades, a town founded by Athenians, and overlooks
the passage across the strait to Cynus. Canæ in Æolia received colonists
from Dium. These places are situated near Histiæa, and besides these
Cerinthus, a small city, close to the sea. Near it is a river Budorus,
of the same name as the mountain in Salamis on the side of Attica.
6. Carystus[560] lies at the foot of the mountain Oche, and near it are
Styra[561] and Marmarium,[562] where is a quarry, from which are
obtained the Carystian columns. It has a temple of Apollo Marmarinus,
where there is a passage across to Halæ-Araphenides. At Carystus there
is found in the earth a stone,[563] which is combed like wool, and
woven, so that napkins are made of this substance, which, when soiled,
are thrown into the fire, and cleaned, as in the washing of linen. [564]
These places are said to be inhabited by colonists from the Tetrapolis
of Marathon, and by Steirieis. Styra was destroyed in the Maliac
(Lamiac? ) war by Phædrus, the general of the Athenians. But the
Eretrians are in possession of the territory. There is also a Carystus
in Laconia, a place belonging to Ægys, towards Arcadia; from whence
comes the Carystian wine, spoken of by Alcman.
7. Geræstus[565] is not mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of the
Ships; it is however mentioned by him elsewhere;[CAS. 447]
“The vessels came to Geræstus by night;”[566]
which shows, that the place being near Sunium lies conveniently for
persons who cross from Asia to Attica. It has a temple of Neptune the
most remarkable of any in that quarter, and a considerable number of
inhabitants.
8. Next to Geræstus is Eretria, which, after Chalcis, is the largest
city in Eubœa. Next follows Chalcis, the capital as it were of the
island, situated immediately on the Euripus. Both these cities are said
to have been founded by Athenians before the Trojan war; [but it is also
said that] after the Trojan war, Æclus and Cothus took their departure
from Athens; the former to found Eretria, and Cothus, Chalcis. A body of
Æolians who belonged to the expedition of Penthilus remained in the
island. Anciently, even Arabians[567] settled there, who came over with
Cadmus.
These cities, Eretria and Chalcis, when their population was greatly
augmented, sent out considerable colonies to Macedonia, for Eretria
founded cities about Pallene and Mount Athos; Chalcis founded some near
Olynthus, which Philip destroyed. There are also many settlements in
Italy and Sicily, founded by Chalcidians. These colonies were sent out,
according to Aristotle,[568] when the government of the Hippobatæ, (or
Knights,) as it is called, was established; it was an aristocratical
government, the heads of which held their office by virtue of the amount
of their property. At the time that Alexander passed over into Asia,
they enlarged the compass of the walls of their city, including within
them Canethus,[569] and the Euripus, and erected towers upon the bridge,
a wall, and gates.
9. Above the city of the Chalcidians is the plain called Lelantum, in
which are hot springs, adapted to the cure of diseases, and which were
used by Cornelius Sylla, the Roman general. There was also an
extraordinary mine which produced both copper and iron; such, writers
say, is not to be found elsewhere. At present, however, both are
exhausted.
The whole of Eubœa is subject to earthquakes, especially the part near
the strait. It is also exposed to violent subterraneous blasts, like
Bœotia, and other places of which I have before spoken at length. [570]
The city of the same name as the island is said to have been swallowed
up by an earthquake. [571] It is mentioned by Æschylus in his tragedy of
Glaucus Pontius;
“Euboïs near the bending shore of Jupiter Cenæus, close to the
tomb of the wretched Lichas. ”
There is also in Ætolia a town of the name of Chalcis,
“Chalcis on the sea-coast, and the rocky Calydon,”[572]
and another in the present Eleian territory;
“they passed along Cruni, and the rocky Chalcis,”[573]
speaking of Telemachus and his companions, when they left Nestor to
return to their own country.
10. Some say, that the Eretrians were a colony from Macistus in
Triphylia, under the conduct of Eretrieus; others, that they came from
Eretria, in Attica, where now a market is held. There is an Eretria also
near Pharsalus. In the Eretrian district there was a city, Tamynæ,
sacred to Apollo. The temple (which was near the strait) is said to have
been built by Admetus, whom the god, according to report, served a
year[574] for hire.
Eretria,[575] formerly, had the names of Melaneïs and Arotria. The
village Amarynthus, at the distance of 7 stadia from the walls, belongs
to it.
The Persians razed the ancient city, having enclosed with multitudes the
inhabitants, according to the expression of Herodotus,[576] in a net, by
spreading the Barbarians around the walls. The foundations are still
shown, and the place is called ancient Eretria. The present city is
built near it.
The power which the Eretrians once possessed, is evinced by a pillar
which was placed in the temple of Diana Amarynthia. There is an
inscription on it to this effect, that their processions upon their
public festivals consisted of three thousand heavy-armed soldiers, six
hundred horsemen, and [CAS. 448] sixty chariots. They were masters,
besides other islands, of Andros, Tenos, and Ceos. They received
colonists from Elis, whence their frequent use of the letter R, (ρ,)[577]
not only at the end, but in the middle of words, which exposed them to
the raillery of comic writers.
Œchalia,[578] a village, the remains of a city destroyed by Hercules,
belongs to the district of Eretria. It has the same name as that in
Trachinia, as that near Tricca,[579] as that in Arcadia, (which later
writers call Andania,) and as that in Ætolia near the Eurytanes.
11. At present Chalcis[580] is allowed, without dispute, to hold the
first rank, and is called the capital of the Eubœans. Eretria holds the
second place. Even in former times these cities had great influence both
in war and peace, so that they afforded to philosophers an agreeable and
tranquil retreat. A proof of this is the establishment at Eretria of the
school of Eretrian philosophers, disciples of Menedemus; and at an
earlier period the residence of Aristotle[581] at Chalcis, where he also
died.
12. These cities generally lived in harmony with each other, and when a
dispute arose between them respecting Lelantum, they did not even then
suspend all intercourse so as to act in war entirely without regard to
each other, but they agreed upon certain conditions, on which the war
was to be conducted. This appears by a column standing in the
Amarynthium, which interdicts the use of missiles. [For with respect to
warlike usages and armour, there neither is nor was any common usage;
for some nations employ soldiers who use missile weapons, such as bows,
slings, and javelins; others employ men who engage in close fight, and
use a sword, or charge with a spear. [582] For there are two methods of
using the spear; one is to retain it in the hand; the other, to hurl it
like a dart; the pike[583] answers both purposes, for it is used in
close encounter and is hurled to a distance. The sarissa and the hyssus
are similarly made use of. ][584]
13. The Eubœans excelled in standing[585] fight, which was also called
close fight,[586] and fight hand to hand. [587] They used spears extended
at length according to the words of the poet;
“warriors eager to break through breastplates with extended
ashen spears. ”[588]
The missile weapons were perhaps of different kinds, as, probably, was
the ashen spear of Pelion, which, as the poet says,
“Achilles alone knew how to hurl. ”[589]
When the poet says,
“I strike farther with a spear than any other person with an
arrow,”[590]
he means with a missile spear. They, too, who engage in single combat,
are first introduced as using missile spears, and then having recourse
to swords. But they who engage in single combat do not use the sword
only, but a spear also held in the hand, as the poet describes it,
“he wounded him with a polished spear, pointed with brass, and
unbraced his limbs. ”[591]
He represents the Eubœans as fighting in this manner; but he describes
the Locrian mode as contrary to this;
“It was not their practice to engage in close fight, but they
followed him to Ilium with their bows, clothed in the pliant
fleece of the sheep. ”[592]
An answer of an oracle is commonly repeated, which was returned to the
Ægienses;
“a Thessalian horse, a Lacedæmonian woman, and the men who
drink the water of the sacred Arethusa,”
meaning the Chalcideans as superior to all other people, for Arethusa
belongs to them.
14. At present the rivers of Eubœa are the Cereus and Neleus. The cattle
which drink of the water of the former become white, and those that
drink of the water of the latter become black. We have said that a
similar effect is produced by the water of the Crathis. [593]
15. As some of the Eubœans, on their return from Troy, were driven out
of their course among the Illyrians; pursued their journey homewards
through Macedonia, and stopped in the neighbourhood of Edessa; having
assisted the people in a war, who had received them hospitably; they
founded a city, [CAS. 450] Eubœa. There was a Eubœa in Sicily, founded
by the Chalcideans, who were settled there. It was destroyed by Gelon,
and became a stronghold of the Syracusans. In Corcyra also, and at
Lemnus, there was a place called Eubœa, and a hill of this name in the
Argive territory.
16. We have said, that Ætolians, Acarnanians, and Athamanes are situated
to the west of the Thessalians and Œtæans, if indeed we must call the
Athamanes,[594] Greeks. It remains, in order that we may complete the
description of Greece, to give some account of these people, of the
islands which lie nearest to Greece, and are inhabited by Greeks, which
we have not yet mentioned.
CHAPTER II.
1. Ætolians and Acarnanians border on one another, having between them
the river Achelous,[595] which flows from the north, and from Pindus
towards the south, through the country of the Agræi, an Ætolian tribe,
and of the Amphilochians.
Acarnanians occupy the western side of the river as far as the Ambracian
Gulf,[596] opposite to the Amphilochians, and the temple of Apollo
Actius.
Ætolians occupy the part towards the east as far as the Locri
Ozolæ, Parnassus, and the Œtæans.
Amphilochians are situated above the Acarnanians in the interior towards
the north; above the Amphilochians are situated Dolopes, and Mount
Pindus; above the Ætolians are Perrhæbi, Athamanes, and a body of the
Ænianes who occupy Œta.
The southern side, as well the Acarnanian as the Ætolian, is washed by
the sea, forming the Corinthian Gulf, into which the Achelous empties
itself. This river (at its mouth) is the boundary of the Ætolian and the
Acarnanian coast. The Achelous was formerly called Thoas. There is a
river of this name near Dyme,[597] as we have said, and another near
Lamia. [598] We have also said,[599] that the mouth of this river is
considered by some writers as the commencement of the Corinthian Gulf.
2. The cities of the Acarnanians are, Anactorium, situated upon a
peninsula[600] near Actium, and a mart of Nicopolis, which has been
built in our time; Stratus,[601] to which vessels sail up the Achelous,
a distance of more than 200 stadia; and Œniadæ[602] is also on the banks
of the river. The ancient city is not inhabited, and lies at an equal
distance from the sea and from Stratus. The present city is at the
distance of 70 stadia above the mouth of the river.
There are also other cities, Palærus,[603] Alyzia,[604] Leucas,[605] the
Amphilochian Argos,[606] and Ambracia:[607] most of these, if not all,
are dependent upon Nicopolis.
Stratus lies half-way between Alyzia and Anactorium. [608]
3. To the Ætolians belong both Calydon[609] and Pleuron, which at
present are in a reduced condition, but, anciently, these settlements
were an ornament to Greece.
Ætolia was divided into two portions, one called the Old, the other the
Epictetus (the Acquired). The Old comprised the sea-coast from the
Achelous as far as Calydon, extending far into the inland parts, which
are fertile, and consist of plains. Here are situated Stratus and
Trichonium, which has an excellent soil. The Epictetus, that reaches
close to the Locri in the direction of Naupactus[610] and Eupalium,[611]
[CAS. 451] is a rugged and sterile tract, extending as far as Œtæa, to
the territory of the Athamanes, and the mountains and nations following
next in order, and which lie around towards the north.
4. There is in Ætolia a very large mountain, the Corax,[612] which is
contiguous to Œta. Among the other mountains, more in the middle of the
country, is the Aracynthus,[613] near which the founders built the
modern Pleuron, having abandoned the ancient city situated near Calydon,
which was in a fertile plain country, when Demetrius, surnamed Ætolicus,
laid waste the district.
Above Molycreia[614] are Taphiassus[615] and Chalcis,[616] mountains of
considerable height, on which are situated the small cities, Macynia and
Chalcis, (having the same name as the mountain,) or, as it is also
called, Hypochalcis. Mount Curium is near the ancient Pleuron, from
which some supposed the Pleuronii had the appellation of Curetes.
5. The river Evenus rises in the country of the Bomianses, a nation
situated among the Ophienses, and an Ætolian tribe like the Eurytanes,
Agræi, Curetes, and others. It does not flow, at its commencement,
through the territory of the Curetes, which is the same as Pleuronia,
but through the country more towards the east along Chalcis and Calydon;
it then makes a bend backwards to the plains of the ancient Pleuron, and
having changed its course to the west, turns again to the south, where
it empties itself. It was formerly called Lycormas. There Nessus, who
had the post of ferryman, is said to have been killed by Hercules for
having attempted to force Deïaneira while he was conveying her across
the river.
6. The poet calls Olenus and Pylene Ætolian cities, the former of which,
of the same name as the Achæan city, was razed by the Æolians. It is
near the new city Pleuron. The Acarnanians disputed the possession of
the territory. They transferred Pylene to a higher situation, and
changed its name to Proschium. Hellanicus was not at all acquainted with
the history of these cities, but speaks of them as still existing in
their ancient condition, but Macynia and Molycria, which were built
subsequent to the return of the Heracleidæ, he enumerates among ancient
cities, and shows the greatest carelessness in almost every part of his
work.
7. This, then, is the general account of the country of the Acarnanians
and Ætolians. We must annex to this some description of the sea-coast
and of the islands lying in front of it.
If we begin from the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf, the first place we
meet with in Acarnania is Actium. The temple of Apollo Actius has the
same name as the promontory, which forms the entrance of the Gulf, and
has a harbour on the outside.
At the distance of 40 stadia from the temple is Anactorium, situated on
the Gulf; and at the distance of 240 stadia is Leucas. [617]
8. This was, anciently, a peninsula belonging to the territory of the
Acarnanians. The poet calls it the coast of Epirus, meaning by Epirus
the country on the other side of Ithaca,[618] and Cephallenia,[619]
which country is Acarnania; so that by the words of the poet,
“the coast of Epirus,”
we must understand the coast of Acarnania.
To Leucas also belonged Neritus, which Laertes said he took--
“as when I was chief of the Cephallenians, and took Nericus, a
well-built city, on the coast of Epirus,”[620]
and the cities which he mentions in the Catalogue,
“and they who inhabited Crocyleia, and the rugged Ægilips. ”[621]
But the Corinthians who were despatched by Cypselus and Gorgus, obtained
possession of this coast, and advanced as far as the Ambracian Gulf.
Ambracia and Anactorium were both founded. They cut through the isthmus
of the peninsula, converted Leucas into an island, transferred Neritus
to the spot, which was once an isthmus, but is now a channel connected
with the land by a bridge, and changed the name to Leucas from Leucatas,
as I suppose, which is a white rock, projecting from Leucas into the sea
towards Cephallenia, so that it might take its name from this
circumstance.
9. [CAS. 452] It has upon it the temple of Apollo Leucatas, and the
Leap, which, it was thought, was a termination of love.
“Here Sappho first ’tis said,” (according to Menander,) “in
pursuit of the haughty Phaon, and urged on by maddening
desire, threw herself[622] from the aerial rock, imploring
Thee, Lord, and King. ”
Menander then says that Sappho was the first who took the leap, but
persons better acquainted with ancient accounts assert that it was
Cephalus, who was in love with Pterelas, the son of Deïoneus. [623] It
was also a custom of the country among the Leucadians at the annual
sacrifice performed in honour of Apollo, to precipitate from the rock
one of the condemned criminals, with a view to avert evil. Various kinds
of wings were attached to him, and even birds were suspended from his
body, to lighten by their fluttering the fall of the leap. Below many
persons were stationed around in small fishing boats to receive, and to
preserve his life, if possible, and to carry him beyond the boundaries
of the country. The author of the Alcmæonis says that Icarius, the
father of Penelope, had two sons, Alyzeus, and Leucadius, who reigned
after their father in Acarnania, whence Ephorus thinks that the cities
were called after their names.
10. At present those are called Cephallenians who inhabit Cephallenia.
But Homer calls all those under the command of Ulysses by this name,
among whom are the Acarnanians; for when he says,
“Ulysses led the Cephallenians, those who possessed Ithaca,
and Neritum, waving with woods,”[624]
(the remarkable mountain in this island; so also,
“they who came from Dulichium, and the sacred Echinades,”[625]
for Dulichium itself was one of the Echinades; and again,
“Buprasium and Elis,”[626]
when Buprasium is situated in Elis; and so,
“they who inhabited Eubœa, Chalcis, and Eretria,”[627]
when the latter places are in Eubœa; so again,
“Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians,”[628]
and these also were Trojans): but after mentioning Neritum, he says,
“and they who inhabited Crocyleia and rocky Ægilips,
Zacynthus, Samos, Epirus, and the country opposite to these
islands;”[629]
he means by Epirus the country opposite to the islands, intending to
include together with Leucas the rest of Acarnania, of which he says,
“twelve herds, and as many flocks of sheep in Epirus,”[630]
because the district of Epirus (the Epirotis) extended anciently perhaps
as far as this place, and was designated by the common name Epirus.
The present Cephallenia he calls Samos, as when he says,
“in the strait between Ithaca and the hilly Samos,”[631]
he makes a distinction between places of the same name by an epithet,
assigning the name not to the city, but to the island. For the island
contains four cities, one of which, called Samos, or Same, for it had
either appellation, bore the same name as the island. But when the poet
says,
“all the chiefs of the islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woody
Zacynthus,”[632]
he is evidently enumerating the islands, and calls that Same which he
had before called Samos.
But Apollodorus at one time says that the ambiguity is removed by the
epithet, which the poet uses, when he says,
“and hilly Samos,”
meaning the island; and at another time he pretends that we ought to
write
“Dulichium, and Samos,”
and not
“Same,”
and evidently supposes that the city is called by either name, Samos or
Samé, but the island by that of Samos only. That the city is called Samé
is evident from the enumeration of the suitors from each city, where the
poet says,
“there are four and twenty from Samé,”[633]
and from what is said about Ctimene,[CAS. 454]
“they afterwards gave her in marriage at Samé. ”[634]
There is reason in this. For the poet does not express himself
distinctly either about Cephallenia, or Ithaca, or the other
neighbouring places, so that both historians and commentators differ
from one another.
11. For instance, with respect to Ithaca, when the poet says,
“and they who possessed Ithaca, and Neritum with its waving
woods,”[635]
he denotes by the epithet, that he means Neritum the mountain. In other
passages he expressly mentions the mountain;
“I dwell at Ithaca, turned to the western sun; where is a
mountain, Neritum, seen from afar with its waving woods;”[636]
but whether he means the city, or the island, is not clear, at least
from this verse;
“they who possessed Ithaca, and Neritum. ”
Any one would understand these words in their proper sense to mean the
city, as we speak of Athens, Lycabettus, Rhodes, Atabyris, Lacedæmon,
and Taygetus, but in a poetical sense the contrary is implied.
In the verses,
“I dwell at Ithaca, turned to the western sun, in which is a
mountain Neritum,”
the meaning is plain, because the mountain is on the island and not in
the city; and when he says,
“we came from Ithaca situated under Neium,”[637]
it is uncertain whether he means that Neium was the same as Neritum, or
whether it is another, either mountain or place. [He, who writes Nericum
for Neritum, or the reverse, is quite mistaken. For the poet describes
the former as “waving with woods;” the other as a “well-built city;” one
in Ithaca, the other on the sea-beach of Epirus. ][638]
12. But this line seems to imply some contradiction;
“it lies in the sea both low, and very high,”[639]
for χθαμαλὴ is low, and depressed, but πανυπερτάτη expresses great
height, as he describes it in other passages, calling it Cranae, (or
rugged,) and the road leading from the harbour, as,
“a rocky way through a woody spot,”[640]
and again,
“for there is not any island in the sea exposed to the western
sun,[641] and with good pastures, least of all Ithaca. ”[642]
The expression does imply contradictions, which admit however of some
explanation. They do not understand χθαμαλὴ to signify in that place
“low,” but its contiguity to the continent, to which it approaches very
close; nor by πανυπερτάτη great elevation, but the farthest advance
towards darkness, (πρὸς ζόφον,) that is, placed towards the north more
than all the other islands, for this is what the poet means by “towards
darkness,” the contrary to which is towards the south, (πρὸς νότον,)
“the rest far off (ἄνευθε) towards the morning,
and the sun. ”[643]
For the word ἄνευθε denotes “at a distance,” and
“apart,” as if the other islands lay to the south, and more distant from
the continent, but Ithaca near the continent and towards the north. That
the poet designates the southern part (of the heavens) in this manner
appears from these words,
“whether they go to the right hand, towards the morning and
the sun, or to the left, towards cloudy darkness;”[644]
and still more evidently in these lines,
“my friends, we know not where darkness nor where morning lie,
nor where sets nor where rises the sun which brings light to
man. ”[645]
We may here understand the four climates,[646] and suppose the morning
to denote the southern part (of the heavens), and this has some
probability; but it is better to consider what is near to the path of
the sun to be opposite to the northern part (of the heavens). For the
speech in Homer is intended to indicate some great change in the
celestial appearances, not a mere obscuration of the _climates_. For
this must happen [CAS. 455] during every cloudy season either by day or
by night. Now the celestial appearances alter very much as we advance
more or less towards the south, or the contrary; but this alteration
does not prevent our observing the setting and rising of the sun, for in
fine weather these phenomena are always visible whether in the south or
the north. For the pole is the most northerly point: when this moves,
and is sometimes over our heads and sometimes below the earth, the
arctic circles change their position with it. Sometimes they disappear
during these movements, so that you cannot discern the position of the
northern _climate_, nor where it commences;[647] and if this is so,
neither can you distinguish the contrary _climate_.
The circuit of Ithaca is about 80[648] stadia. So much then concerning
Ithaca.
13. The poet does not mention Cephallenia, which contains four cities,
by its present name, nor any of the cities except one, either Samé or
Samos, which no longer exists, but traces of it are shown in the middle
of the Strait near Ithaca. The inhabitants have the name of Samæ. The
rest still exist at present, they are small cities, Paleis, Pronesus,
and Cranii. In our time Caius Antonius, the uncle of Marcus Antonius,
founded an additional city, when (being an exile after his consulship in
which he was the colleague of Cicero the orator) he lived at
Cephallenia, and was master of the whole island, as if it had been his
own property. He returned from exile before he completed the foundation
of the settlement, and died when engaged in more important affairs.
14. Some writers do not hesitate to affirm, that Cephallenia and
Dulichium are the same; others identify it with Taphos, and the
Cephallenians with Taphians, and these again with Teleboæ. They assert
that Amphitryon, with the aid of Cephalus, the son of Deïoneus, an exile
from Athens, undertook an expedition against the island, and having got
possession of it, delivered it up to Cephalus; hence this city bore his
name, and the rest those of his children. But this is not in accordance
with Homer, for the Cephallenians were subject to Ulysses and Laertes,
and Taphos to Mentes;
“I boast that I am Mentes, son of the valiant Anchialus,
And king of the Taphians, skilful rowers. ”[649]
Taphos is now called Taphius. [650] Nor does Hellanicus follow Homer
when he calls Cephallenia, Dulichium, for Dulichium, and the other
Echinades, are said to be under the command of Meges, and the
inhabitants, Epeii, who came from Elis; wherefore he calls Otus the
Cyllenian,
“companion of Phyleides, chief of the magnanimous Epeii;”[651]
“but Ulysses led the magnanimous Cephallenes. ”[652]
Neither, as Andro asserts, is Cephallenia, according to Homer,
Dulichium, nor does Dulichium belong to Cephallenia, for Epeii possessed
Dulichium, and Cephallenians the whole of Cephallenia, the former of
whom were under the command of Ulysses, the latter of Meges. Paleis is
not called Dulichium by Homer, as Pherecydes says. But he who asserts
that Cephallenia and Dulichium are the same contradicts most strongly
the account of Homer; for as fifty-two of the suitors came from
Dulichium, and twenty-four from Samé, would he not say, that from the
whole island came such a number of suitors, and from a single city of
the four came half the number within two? If any one should admit this,
we shall inquire what the Samé could be, which is mentioned in this
line,
“Dulichium and Samé, and the woody Zacynthus. ”[653]
15. Cephallenia is situated opposite to Acarnania, at the distance from
Leucatas of about 50, or according to others, of 40 stadia, and from
Chelonatas[654] of about 80 stadia. It is about 300 stadia (1300? ) in
circumference. It extends in length towards the south-east (Eurus). It
is mountainous; the largest mountain in it is the Ænus,[655] on which is
the temple of Jupiter Ænesius. Here is the narrowest part of the island,
which forms a low isthmus, that is frequently overflowed from sea to
sea. [656] Cranii[657] and Paleis[658] are situated near the straits in
the Gulf.
16. Between Ithaca and Cephallenia is the small island [CAS. 457]
Asteria,[659] or Asteris, as it is called by the poet, which, according
to Demetrius, the Scepsian, does not remain in the state described by
the poet,
“there are harbours in it, open on both sides, for the reception
of vessels. ”[660]
But Apollodorus says that it exists even at present, and mentions a
small city in it, Alalcomenæ, situated quite upon the isthmus.
17. The poet also gives the name of Samos to Thracia, which we now call
Samothracé. He was probably acquainted with the Ionian island, for he
seems to have been acquainted with the Ionian migration. He would not,
otherwise, have made a distinction between islands of the same names,
for in speaking of Samothrace, he makes the distinction sometimes by the
epithet,
“on high, upon the loftiest summit of the woody Samos,
the Thracian,”[661]
sometimes by uniting it with the neighbouring islands,
“to Samos, and Imbros, and inaccessible Lemnos;”[662]
and again,
“between Samos and rocky Imbros. ”[663]
He was therefore acquainted with the Ionian island, although he has not
mentioned its name. Nor had it formerly always the same name, but was
called Melamphylus, then Anthemis, then Parthenia, from the river
Parthenius, the name of which was changed to Imbrasus. Since then both
Cephallenia and Samothracé were called Samos[664] at the time of the
Trojan war, (for if it had not been so Hecuba would not have been
introduced saying, that Achilles would sell any of her children that he
could seize at Samos and Imbros,[665]) Ionian Samos was not yet
colonized (by Ionians), which is evident from its having the same name
from one of the islands earlier (called Samos), that had it before;
whence this also is clear, that those persons contradict ancient
history, who assert, that colonists came from Samos after the Ionian
migration, and the arrival of Tembrion, and gave the name of Samos to
Samothracé. The Samians invented this story out of vanity. Those are
more entitled to credit, who say, that heights are called Sami,[666]
and that the island obtained its name from this circumstance, for from
thence
“was seen all Ida, the city of Priam, and the ships
of the Greeks. ”[667]
But according to some writers, Samos had its name from the Saii, a
Thracian tribe, who formerly inhabited it, and who occupied also the
adjoining continent, whether they were the same people as the Sapæ, or
the Sinti, whom the poet calls Sinties, or a different nation.
Archilochus mentions the Saii;
“one of the Saii is exulting in the possession of an
honourable shield, which I left against my will near a
thicket. ”
18. Of the islands subject to Ulysses there remains to be described
Zacynthus. [668] It verges a little more than Cephallenia to the west of
Peloponnesus, but approaches closer to it. It is 160 stadia in
circumference, and distant from Cephallenia about 60 stadia. It is
woody, but fertile, and has a considerable city of the same name. Thence
to the Hesperides belonging to Africa are 3300[669] stadia.
19. To the east of this island, and of Cephallenia, are situated the
Echinades[670] islands; among which is Dulichium, at present called
Dolicha, and the islands called Oxeiæ, to which the poet gives the name
of Thoæ. [671]
Dolicha is situated opposite to the Œniadæ, and the mouth of the
Achelous: it is distant from Araxus,[672] the promontory of Elis, 100
stadia. The rest of the Echinades are numerous, they are all barren and
rocky, and lie in front of the mouth of the Achelous, the most remote of
them at the distance of 15, the nearest at the distance of 5 stadia;
they formerly were farther out at sea, but the accumulation of earth,
which is brought down in great quantity by the Achelous, has already
joined some, and will join others, to the continent. This accumulation
of soil anciently formed the tract Paracheloitis, which the river
overflows, a subject of contention, as it was continually confounding
boundaries, which had been determined by the Acarnanians and the
Ætolians. For want of arbitrators they decided their dispute by arms.
The most [CAS. 458] powerful gained the victory. This gave occasion to
a fable, how Hercules overcame the Achelous in fight, and received in
marriage as the prize of his victory, Deïaneira, daughter of Œneus.
Sophocles introduces her, saying,
“My suitor was a river, I mean the Achelous, who demanded me
of my father under three forms; one while coming as a bull of
perfect form, another time as a spotted writhing serpent, at
another with the body of a man and the forehead of a
bull. ”[673]
Some writers add, that this was the horn of Amaltheia, which Hercules
broke off from the Achelous, and presented to Œneus as a bridal gift.
Others, conjecturing the truth included in this story, say, that
Achelous is reported to have resembled a bull, like other rivers, in the
roar of their waters, and the bendings of their streams, which they term
horns; and a serpent from its length and oblique course; and
bull-fronted because it was compared to a bull’s head; and that
Hercules, who, on other occasions, was disposed to perform acts of
kindness for the public benefit, so particularly, when he was desirous
of contracting an alliance with Œneus, performed for him these services;
he prevented the river from overflowing its banks, by constructing
mounds and by diverting its streams by canals, and by draining a large
tract of the Paracheloïtis, which had been injured by the river; and
this is the horn of Amaltheia.
Homer says, that in the time of the Trojan war the Echinades, and the
Oxeiæ were subject to Meges,
“son of the hero Phyleus, beloved of Jupiter, who formerly
repaired to Dulichium on account of a quarrel with his
father. ”[674]
The father of Phyleus was Augeas, king of Elis, and of the Epeii. The
Epeii then, who possessed these islands, were those who had migrated to
Dulichium with Phyleus.
20. The islands of the Taphii, and formerly of the Teleboæ, among which
was Taphus, now called Taphius, were distinct from the Echinades, not
separated by distance, (for they lie near one another,) but because they
were ranged under different chiefs, Taphii and Teleboæ. In earlier times
Amphitryon, in conjunction with Cephalus, the son of Deïoneus, an exile
from Athens, attacked, and then delivered them up to the government of
Cephalus. But the poet says that Mentes was their chief, and calls them
robbers, which was the character of all the Teleboæ.
So much then concerning the islands off Acarnania.
21. Between Leucas and the Ambracian gulf is a sea-lake, called
Myrtuntium. [675] Next to Leucas followed Palærus, and Alyzia, cities of
Acarnania, of which Alyzia is distant from the sea 15 stadia. Opposite
to it is a harbour sacred to Hercules, and a grove from whence a Roman
governor transported to Rome “the labours of Hercules,” the workmanship
of Lysippus, which was lying in an unsuitable place, being a deserted
spot. [676]
Next are Crithote,[677] a promontory, and the Echinades, and Astacus,
used in the singular number, a city of the same name as that near
Nicomedia, and the Gulf of Astacus, Crithote, a city of the same name as
that in the Thracian Chersonesus. All the coast between these places has
good harbours. Then follows Œniadæ, and the Achelous; then a lake
belonging to the Œniadæ, called Melite, 30 stadia in length, and in
breadth 20; then another Cynia, of double the breadth and length of
Melite; a third Uria,[678] much less than either of the former. Cynia
even empties itself into the sea; the others are situated above it at
the distance of about half a stadium.
Next is the river Evenus, which is distant from Actium 670 stadia.
Then follows the mountain Chalcis, which Artemidorus calls Chalcia;
[next Pleuron, then Licyrna, a village, above which in the interior is
situated Calydon at the distance of 30 stadia. Near Calydon is the
temple of Apollo Laphrius;][679] then the mountain Taphiassus; then
Macynia, a city; then Molycria, and near it Antirrhium, the boundary of
Ætolia and of Locris. To Antirrhium from the Evenus are about 120
stadia.
Artemidorus does not place the mountain, whether Chalcis or Chalcia,
between the Achelous and Pleuron, but Apollodorus, [CAS. 460] as I have
said before, places Chalcis and Taphiassus above Molycria; and Calydon
between Pleuron and Chalcis. Are we then to place one mountain of the
name of Chalcia near Pleuron, and another of the name of Chalcis near
Molycria?
Near Calydon is a large lake, abounding with fish. It belongs to the
Romans of Patræ.
22. Apollodorus says, that there is in the inland parts of Acarnania, a
tribe of Erysichæi, mentioned by Aleman,
“not an Erysichæan, nor a shepherd; but I came from the
extremities of Sardis. ”
Olenus belonged to Ætolia; Homer mentions it in the Ætolian
Catalogue,[680] but traces alone remain of it near Pleuron below
Aracynthus. [681]
Lysimachia also was near Olenus. This place has disappeared. It was
situated upon the lake, the present Lysimachia, formerly Hydra, between
Pleuron and the city Arsinoë,[682] formerly a village of the name of
Conopa. It was founded by Arsinoë, wife and also sister of the second
Ptolemy. It is conveniently situated above the passage across the
Achelous.
Pylene has experienced nearly the same fate as Olenus.
When the poet describes Calydon[683] as lofty, and rocky, we must
understand these epithets as relating to the character of the country.
For we have said before, that when they divided the country into two
parts, they assigned the mountainous portion and the Epictetus[684] to
Calydon, and the tract of plains to Pleuron.
23. The Acarnanians, and the Ætolians, like many other nations, are at
present worn out, and exhausted by continual wars. The Ætolians however,
in conjunction with the Acarnanians, during a long period withstood the
Macedonians and the other Greeks, and lastly the Romans, in their
contest for independence.
But since Homer, and others, both poets and historians, frequently
mention them, sometimes in clear and undisputed terms, and sometimes
less explicitly, as appears from what we have already said of these
people, we must avail ourselves of some of the more ancient accounts,
which will supply us with a beginning, or with an occasion of inquiring
into what is controverted.
24. First then with respect to Acarnania. We have already said, that it
was occupied by Laertes and the Cephallenians; but as many writers have
advanced statements respecting the first occupants in terms sufficiently
clear, indeed, but contradictory, the inquiry and discussion are left
open to us.
They say, that the Taphii and Teleboæ, as they are called, were the
first inhabitants of Acarnania, and that their chief, Cephalus, who was
appointed by Amphitryon sovereign of the islands about Taphus, was
master also of this country. Hence is related of him the fable, that he
was the first person who took the reputed leap from Leucatas. But the
poet does not say, that the Taphii inhabited Acarnania before the
arrival of the Cephallenians and Laertes, but that they were friends of
the Ithacenses; consequently, in his time, either they had not the
entire command of these places, or had voluntarily retired, or had even
become joint settlers.
A colony of certain from Lacedæmon seems to have settled in Acarnania,
who were followers of Icarius, father of Penelope, for the poet in the
Odyssey represents him and the brothers of Penelope as then living;
“who did not dare to go to the palace of Icarius with a view
of his disposing of his daughter in marriage. ”[685]
And with respect to the brothers;
“for now a long time both her father and her brothers were
urging her to marry Eurymachus. ”[686]
Nor is it probable that they were living at Lacedæmon, for Telemachus
would not, in that case, have been the guest of Menelaus upon his
arrival, nor is there a tradition, that they had any other habitation.
But they say that Tyndareus and his brother Icarius, after being
banished from their own country by Hippocoon, repaired to Thestius, the
king of the Pleuronii, and assisted in obtaining possession of a large
tract of country on the other side of the Achelous on condition of
receiving a portion of it; that Tyndareus, having espoused Leda the
daughter of Thestius, returned home; that Icarius continued there in
possession of a portion of Acarnania, and had Penelope and her brothers
by his wife Polycasta, daughter of Lygæus.
We [CAS. 461] have shown by the Catalogue of the Ships in Homer, that
the Acarnanians were enumerated among the people who took part in the
war of Troy; and among these are reckoned the inhabitants of the Acté,
and besides these,
“they who occupied Epirus, and cultivated the land opposite. ”
But Epirus was never called Acarnania, nor Acté, Leucas.
