τὸ δʼ ὅλον οὐκ εὖ τὸ τὴν Ὁμήρου ποίησιν εἰς ἓν συνάγειν τῇ τῶν ἄλλων ποιητῶν εἴς τε τἆλλα καὶ εἰς αὐτὰ τὰ νῦν προκείμενα τὰ τῆς γεωγραφίας καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῷ πρεσβεῖον ἀπονέμειν. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, τόν γε Τριπτόλεμον τὸν Σοφοκλέους ἢ τὸν ἐν ταῖς Βάκχαις ταῖς Εὐριπίδου πρόλογον ἐπελθόντα καὶ παραβαλόντα τὴν Ὁμήρου περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπιμέλειαν, ῥᾷον ἦν αἰσθέσθαι τὴν ὑπερβολὴν ἢ τὴν διαφοράν· ὅπου γὰρ χρεία τάξεως ὧν μέμνηται τόπων, φυλάττει τὴν τάξιν ὁμοίως μὲν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν, ὁμοίως δὲ τῶν ἄπωθεν· Ὄσσαν ἐπʼ Οὐλύμπῳ μέμασαν θέμεν, αὐτὰρ ἐπʼ Ὄσσῃ Πήλιον εἰνοσίφυλλον. Ἥρη δʼ ἀίξασα λίπεν ῥίον Οὐλύμποιο, Πιερίην δʼ ἐπιβᾶσα καὶ Ἠμαθίην ἐρατεινὴν σεύατʼ ἐφʼ ἱπποπόλων Θρῃκῶν ὄρεα νιφόεντα· ἐξ Ἀθόω δʼ ἐπὶ πόντον. καὶ ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ τὰς μὲν πόλεις οὐκ ἐφεξῆς λέγει· οὐ γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον· τὰ δὲ ἔθνη ἐφεξῆς. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄπωθεν· Κύπρον Φοινίκην τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίους ἐπαληθεὶς Αἰθίοπάς θʼ ἱκόμην καὶ Σιδονίους καὶ Ἐρεμβοὺς καὶ Λιβύην. ὅπερ καὶ Ἵππαρχος ἐπισημαίνεται. οἱ δʼ ἐφʼ ὧν τάξεως χρεία, ὁ μὲν τὸν Διόνυσον ἐπιόντα τὰ ἔθνη φράζων, ὁ δὲ τὸν Τριπτόλεμον τὴν κατασπειρομένην γῆν, τὰ μὲν πολὺ διεστῶτα συνάπτουσιν ἐγγύς, τὰ δὲ συνεχῆ διασπῶσι· λιπὼν δὲ Λυδῶν τὰς πολυχρύσους γύας Φρυγῶν τε Περσῶν θʼ ἡλιοβλήτους πλάκας Βάκτριά τε τείχη, τήν τε δύσχειμον χθόνα Μήδων ἐπελθὼν Ἀραβίαν τʼ εὐδαίμονα. τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ ὁ Τριπτόλεμος ποιεῖ. κἀν τοῖς κλίμασι δὲ κἀν τοῖς ἀνέμοις διαφαίνει τὸ πολυμαθὲς τὸ περὶ τὴν γεωγραφίαν Ὅμηρος, ἐν ταῖς τοποθεσίαις λέγων ἅμα καὶ ταῦτα πολλαχοῦ· αὐτὴ δὲ χθαμαλὴ πανυπερτάτη εἰν ἁλὶ κεῖται πρὸς ζόφον· αἱ δέ τʼ ἄνευθε πρὸς ἠῶ τʼ ἠέλιόν τε. δύω δέ τέ οἱ θύραι εἰσίν, αἱ μὲν πρὸς βορέαν, αἱ δʼ αὖ πρὸς νότον. εἴτʼ ἐπὶ δεξίʼ ἴωσι πρὸς ἠῶ τʼ ἠέλιόν τε, εἴτʼ ἐπʼ ἀριστερά τοί γε ποτὶ ζόφον. καὶ μὴν τὴν ἄγνοιάν γε τῶν τοιούτων τελείαν ἡγεῖται σύγχυσιν τῶν ἁπάντων· ὦ φίλοι, οὐ γάρ τʼ ἴδμεν, ὅπῃ ζόφος οὐδʼ ὅπῃ ἠώς, οὐδʼ ὅπῃ ἠέλιος. κἀνταῦθα δʼ εἰπόντος εὖ τοῦ ποιητοῦ βορέης καὶ ζέφυρος, τώ τε Θρῄκηθεν ἄητον, οὐκ εὖ δεξάμενος ὁ αὐτὸς συκοφαντεῖ ὡς καθόλου λέγοντος, ὅτι ὁ ζέφυρος ἐκ Θρᾴκης πνεῖ, ἐκείνου λέγοντος οὐ καθόλου, ἀλλʼ ὅταν κατὰ τὴν Θρᾳκίαν θάλατταν συμπέσωσι περὶ τὸν Μέλανα κόλπον αὐτοῦ τοῦ Αἰγαίου μέρος οὖσαν. ἐπιστροφὴν γὰρ λαμβάνει πρὸς νότον ἀκρωτηριάζουσα ἡ Θρᾴκη καθʼ ἃ συνάπτει τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ, καὶ προπίπτουσα εἰς τὸ πέλαγος τοὺς ζεφύρους ἐντεῦθεν πνέοντας ἀποφαίνει τοῖς ἐν Θάσῳ καὶ Λήμνῳ καὶ Ἴμβρῳ καὶ Σαμοθρᾴκῃ καὶ τῇ περὶ αὐτὰς θαλάττῃ, καθάπερ καὶ τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἀπὸ τῶν Σκειρωνίδων πετρῶν, ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ Σκείρωνες καλοῦνται οἱ ζέφυροι, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ ἀργέσται. οὐκ ἐνόησε δὲ τοῦτο Ἐρατοσθένης, ὑπενόησε δʼ ὅμως. αὐτὸς γοῦν ἐξηγεῖται τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν ἣν λέγω τῆς χώρας· ὡς καθόλου οὖν δέχεται, εἶτʼ ἀπειρίαν αἰτιᾶται τοῦ ποιητοῦ, ὡς τοῦ ζεφύρου μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας πνέοντος καὶ τῆς Ἰβηρίας, τῆς δὲ Θρᾴκης ἐκεῖσε μὴ διατεινούσης. πότερον οὖν τὸν ζέφυρον ἀγνοεῖ ἀπὸ ἑσπέρας πνέοντα; ἀλλʼ ὅταν οὕτω φῇ, φυλάττει τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτοῦ τάξιν σὺν δʼ εὖρός τε νότος τε πέσον ζέφυρός τε δυσαὴς καὶ βορέης· ἢ τὴν Θρᾴκην οὐκ οἶδε μὴ προπίπτουσαν πέραν τῶν Παιονικῶν καὶ Θετταλικῶν ὀρῶν; ἀλλὰ καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐφεξῆς κατὰ τοὺς Θρᾷκας εἰδὼς καὶ κατονομάζων τήν τε παραλίαν καὶ τὴν μεσόγαιαν Μάγνητας μέν τινας καὶ Μαλιεῖς καὶ τοὺς ἐφεξῆς Ἕλληνας καταλέγει μέχρι Θεσπρωτῶν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοῖς Παίοσι τοὺς ὁμόρους Δόλοπας καὶ Σελλοὺς περὶ Δωδώνην μέχρις Ἀχελώου· Θρᾳκῶν δʼ οὐ μέμνηται περαιτέρω. εὐεπιφόρως δὲ ἔχει πρὸς τὴν ἐγγυτάτην καὶ γνωριμωτάτην ἑαυτῷ θάλατταν, ὡς καὶ ὅταν φῇ κινήθη δʼ ἀγορὴ ὡς κύματα μακρὰ θαλάσσης πόντου Ἰκαρίοιο.
On the whole, however, it is not proper to place the works of Homer in the common catalogue of other poets, without challenging for him a superiority both in respect of his other [excellences] and also for the geography on which our attention is now engaged.
If any one were to do no more than merely read through the Triptolemus of Sophocles, or the prologue to the Bacchae of Euripides, and then compare them with the care taken by Homer in his geographical descriptions, he would at once perceive both the difference and superiority of the latter, for wherever there is necessity for arrangement in the localities he has immortalized, he is careful to preserve it as well in regard to Greece, as to foreign countries. They / On the Olympian summit thought to fix / Huge Ossa, and on Ossa’s towering head / Pelion with all his forests. / And Juno starting from the Olympian height / O’erflew Pieria and the lovely plains / Of broad Emathia; soaring thence she swept / The snow-clad summit of the Thracian hills / Steed-famed, nor printed, as she pass’d, the soil, / From Athos the foaming billows borne. / In the Catalogue he does not describe his cities in regular order, because here there was no necessity, but both the people and foreign countries he arranges correctly. Having wandered to Cyprus, and Phoenice, and the Egyptians, I came to the Ethiopians, and Sidonians, and Erembi, and Libya. Hipparchus has drawn attention to this. But the two tragedians where there was great necessity for proper arrangement, one where he introduces Bacchus visiting the nations, the other Triptolemus sowing the earth, have brought in juxta-position places far remote, and separated those which were near.
And having left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, and the sunny plains of the Persians and the Bactrian walls, and having come over the stormy land of the Medes, and the Happy Arabia. And the Triptolemus is just as inaccurate.
Further, in respect to the winds and climates, Homer shows the wide extent of his geographical knowledge, for in his topographical descriptions he not unfrequently informs us of both these matters. Thus, My abode / Is sun-burnt Ithaca. / Flat on the deep she lies, farthest removed / Toward the west, while situate apart, / Her sister islands face the rising day. / And, It has a two-fold entrance, / One towards the north, the other south. / And again, Which I alike despise, speed they their course / With right-hand flight towards the ruddy east, / Or leftward down into the shades of eve. / Ignorance of such matters he reckons no less than confusion. Alas! my friends, for neither west / Know we, nor east; where rises or where sets / The all-enlightening sun. / Where the poet has said properly enough, As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace, / Boreas and Zephyrus, / Eratosthenes ill-naturedly misrepresents him as saying in an absolute sense, that the west wind blows from Thrace; whereas he is not speaking in an absolute sense at all, but merely of the meeting of contrary winds near the bay of Melas, on the Thracian sea, itself a part of the Aegaean. For where Thrace forms a kind of promontory, where it borders on Macedonia, it takes a turn to the south-west, and projects into the ocean, and from this point it seems to the inhabitants of Thasos, Lemnos, Imbros, Samothracia, and the surrounding sea, that the west winds blow. So in regard to Attica, they seem to come from the rocks of Sciros, and this is the reason why all the westerly winds, the north-west more particularly, are called the Scirones. Of this Eratosthenes was not aware, though he suspected as much, for it was he who described this bending of the land [towards the south-west] which we have mentioned. But he interprets our poet in an absolute sense, and then taxes him with ignorance, because, says he, Zephyr blows from the west, and off Spain, and Thrace does not extend so far. Does he then think that Homer was not aware that Zephyr came from the west, notwithstanding the careful manner in which he distinguishes its position when he writes as follows: The east, the south, the heavy-blowing Zephyr, / And the cold north-wind clear. / Or was he ignorant that Thrace did not extend beyond the Paeonian and Thessalian mountains. To be sure he was well acquainted with the position of the countries adjoining Thrace in that direction, and does he not mention by name both the maritime and inland districts, and tells us of the Magnetae, the Malians, and other Grecian [territories], all in order, as far as Thesprotis; also of the Dolopes bordering on Paeonia, and the Sellae who inhabit the territory around Dodona as far as the [river] Achelous, but he never mentions Thrace, as being beyond these. He has evidently a predilection for the sea which is nearest to him, and with which he is most familiar, as where he says, Commotion shook / The whole assembly, such as heaves the flood / Of the Icarian deep. /
εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἵ φασιν εἶναι δύο τοὺς κυριωτάτους ἀνέμους βορέαν καὶ νότον, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους κατὰ μικρὰν ἔγκλισιν διαφέρειν, τὸν μὲν ἀπὸ θερινῶν ἀνατολῶν εὖρον χειμερινῶν δὲ ἀπηλιώτην, δύσεων δὲ θερινῶν μὲν ζέφυρον χειμερινῶν δὲ ἀργέστην. τοῦ δὲ δύο εἶναι τοὺς ἀνέμους ποιοῦνται μάρτυρας Θρασυάλκην τε καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν αὐτὸν τῷ τὸν μὲν ἀργέστην τῷ νότῳ προσνέμειν ἀργεστᾶο Νότοιο, τὸν δὲ ζέφυρον τῷ βορέᾳ βορέης καὶ ζέφυρος, τώ τε Θρῄκηθεν ἄητον. φησὶ δὲ Ποσειδώνιος μηδένα οὕτως παραδεδωκέναι τοὺς ἀνέμους τῶν γνωρίμων περὶ ταῦτα, οἷον Ἀριστοτέλη Τιμοσθένη Βίωνα τὸν ἀστρολόγον· ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἀπὸ θερινῶν ἀνατολῶν καικίαν, τὸν δὲ τούτῳ κατὰ διάμετρον ἐναντίον λίβα ἀπὸ δύσεως ὄντα χειμερινῆς· πάλιν δὲ τὸν μὲν ἀπὸ χειμερινῆς ἀνατολῆς εὖρον, τὸν δʼ ἐναντίον ἀργέστην· τοὺς δὲ μέσους ἀπηλιώτην καὶ ζέφυρον. τὸν δὲ ποιητὴν δυσαῆ μὲν ζέφυρον λέγειν τὸν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν καλούμενον ἀργέστην, λίγα δὲ πνέοντα ζέφυρον τὸν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ζέφυρον, ἀργέστην δὲ νότον τὸν λευκόνοτον· οὗτος γὰρ ὀλίγα τὰ νέφη ποιεῖ, τοῦ λοιποῦ νότου ὀλεροῦ πως ὄντος. ὡς ὁπότε ζέφυρος νέφεα στυφελίξῃ, ἀργεστᾶο νότοιο βαθείῃ λαίλαπι τύπτων. τὸν γὰρ δυσαῆ ζέφυρον νῦν λέγει, ὃς εἴωθε διασκιδνάναι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ λευκονότου συναγόμενα ἀσθενῆ ὄντα, ἐπιθέτως τοῦ νότου νῦν ἀργέστου λεγομένου. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ πρώτου τῶν γεωγραφικῶν εἰρημένα τοιαύτην τινὰ τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν ἔχει.
Some writers tell us there are but two principal winds, the north and south, and that the other winds are only a slight difference in the direction of these two. That is, (supposing only two winds, the north and south,) the south wind from the commencement of the summer quarter blows in a south-easterly direction; and from the commencement of the winter quarter from the east. The north wind from the decline of the summer, blows in a westerly direction, and from the decline of the winter, in a north-westerly direction.
In support of this opinion of the two winds they adduce Thrasyalces and our poet himself, forasmuch as he mentions the north-west with the south, From the north-west south, / and the west with the north, As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace, / Boreas and Zephyrus. /
But Posidonius remarks that none of those who are really acquainted with these subjects, such as Aristotle, Timosthenes, and Bion the astronomer, entertain so mistaken an opinion in regard to the winds. They say that the north-east (Caecias) blows from the commencement of summer, and that the southwest wind (Libs), which is exactly opposite to this, blows from the decline of winter. And again, the south-east wind (Eurus), which is opposite to the north-west wind (Argestes), from the commencement of winter. The east and west winds being intermediate.
When our poet makes use of the expression stormy zephyr, he means the wind which is now called by us the north-west; and by the clear-blowing zephyr our west wind; our Leuconotus is his Argestes-notus, or clearing south wind, for this wind brings but few clouds, all the other southern winds bringing clouds and rain, As when whirlwinds of the west / A storm encounter from the clearing south. / Here he alludes to the stormy zephyr, which very frequently scatters the feathery clouds brought up by the Leuconotus, or, as it is called by way of epithet, the clearing south.
The statements made by Eratosthenes in the first book of his Geography, require some such correction as this.
Ἐπιμένων δὲ τοῖς περὶ Ὁμήρου ψευδῶς ὑποληφθεῖσι καὶ ταῦτά φησιν, ὅτι οὐδὲ τὰ τοῦ Νείλου στόματα οἶδε πλείω ὄντα οὐδʼ αὐτὸ τοὔνομα, Ἡσίοδος δὲ οἶδε· μέμνηται γάρ. τὸ μὲν οὖν ὄνομα εἰκὸς μήπω λέγεσθαι κατʼ αὐτόν· τὰ δὲ στόματα εἰ μὲν ἦν ἀφανῆ καὶ ὀλίγοις γνώριμα ὅτι πλείω καὶ οὐχ ἕν, δοίη τις ἂν μὴ πεπύσθαι αὐτόν· εἰ δὲ τῶν κατʼ Αἴγυπτον τὸ γνωριμώτατον καὶ παραδοξότατον καὶ μάλιστα πάντων μνήμης ἄξιον καὶ ἱστορίας ὁ ποταμὸς καὶ ἦν καὶ ἐστίν, ὡς δʼ αὕτως αἱ ἀναβάσεις αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ στόματα, τίς ἂν ἢ τοὺς ἀγγέλλοντας αὐτῷ ποταμὸν Αἴγυπτον καὶ χώραν καὶ Θήβας Αἰγυπτίας καὶ Φάρον ὑπολάβοι μὴ γνωρίζειν ταῦτα, ἢ γνωρίζοντας μὴ λέγειν, πλὴν εἰ μὴ διὰ τὸ γνώριμον; ἔτι δʼ ἀπιθανώτερον, εἰ τὴν μὲν Αἰθιοπίαν ἔλεγε καὶ Σιδονίους καὶ Ἐρεμβοὺς καὶ τὴν ἔξω θάλατταν καὶ τὸ διχθὰ δεδάσθαι τοὺς Αἰθίοπας, τὰ δʼ ἐγγὺς καὶ γνώριμα μή. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐμνήσθη τούτων, οὐ τοῦτο σημεῖον τοῦ ἀγνοεῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς αὐτοῦ πατρίδος ἐμνήσθη οὐδὲ πολλῶν ἄλλων, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τὰ λίαν γνώριμα ὄντα φαίη τις ἂν δόξαι μὴ ἄξια μνήμης εἶναι πρὸς τοὺς εἰδότας.
Persisting in his false views in relation to Homer, he goes on to say, He was ignorant that the Nile separated into many mouths, nay, he was not even acquainted with the name of the river, though Hesiod knew it well, for he even mentions it. In respect of the name, it is probable that it had not then been given to the river, and as to the mouths, if they were obscure and little known, will not every one excuse him for not being aware whether there were several or merely one? At that time, the river, its rising, and its mouths were considered, as they are at the present day, amongst the most remarkable, the most wonderful, and most worthy of recording of all the peculiarities of Egypt: who can suppose that those who told our poet of the country and river of Egypt, of Egyptian Thebes, and of Pharos, were unaware of the many embouchures of the Nile; or that being aware, they would not have described them, were it not that they were too generally known? But is it not inconceivable that Homer should describe Ethiopia, and the Sidonians, the Erembi, and the Exterior Sea,—should tell us that Ethiopia was divided into two parts, and yet nothing about those things which were nearer and better known? Certainly not, his not describing these things is no proof that he was not acquainted with them. He does not tell us of his own country, nor yet many other things. The most probable reason is, they were so generally known that they did not appear to him worth recording.
οὐκ εὖ δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦτο προφέρουσιν αὐτῷ τὸ περὶ τῆς νήσου τῆς Φαρίας, ὅτι φησὶ πελαγίαν, ὡς κατʼ ἄγνοιαν λέγοντι· τοὐναντίον γὰρ κἂν μαρτυρίῳ χρήσαιτό τις τούτῳ πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀγνοεῖσθαι μηδὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ τῶν εἰρημένων ἀρτίως περὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον. γνοίης δʼ ἂν οὕτως· ἀλαζὼν δὴ πᾶς ὁ πλάνην αὑτοῦ διηγούμενος· τούτων δʼ ἦν καὶ ὁ Μενέλαος, ὃς ἀναβεβηκὼς μέχρις Αἰθιόπων ἐπέπυστο τὰς ἀναβάσεις τοῦ Νείλου καὶ τὴν χοῦν ὅσην ἐπιφέρει τῇ χώρᾳ, καὶ τὸν πρὸ τῶν στομάτων πόρον ὅσον ἤδη προσχώσας τῇ ἠπείρῳ προστέθεικεν, ὥστε εἰκότως ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡροδότου καὶ τὴν ὅλην Αἴγυπτον τοῦ ποταμοῦ δῶρον λέγεσθαι· κἂν εἰ μὴ τὴν ὅλην, τήν γε ὑπὸ τῷ Δέλτα τὴν κάτω χώραν προσαγορευομένην. ἱστόρησε δὲ καὶ τὴν Φάρον πελαγίαν οὖσαν τὸ παλαιόν· προσεψεύσατο δὴ καὶ τὸ πελαγίαν εἶναι, καίπερ μηκέτι πελαγίαν οὖσαν. ὁ δὲ ταῦτα διασκευάζων ὁ ποιητὴς ἦν· ὥστʼ ἐκ τούτων εἰκάζειν ὅτι καὶ τὰς ἀναβάσεις ᾔδει καὶ τὰ στόματα τοῦ Νείλου.
Again, they are entirely wrong when they allege as a mark of Homer’s ignorance, that he describes the island of Pharos as entirely surrounded by the sea. On the contrary, it might be taken advantage of as a proof that our poet was not unacquainted with a single one of the points concerning Egypt which we have just been speaking of: and thus we demonstrate it:—Every one is prone to romance a little in narrating his travels, and Menelaus was no exception to the rule. He had been to Ethiopia, and there heard much discussion concerning the sources of the Nile, and the alluvium which it deposited, both along its course, and also at its mouths, and the large additions which it had thereby made to the main-land, so as fully to justify the remark of Herodotus that the whole of Egypt was a gift from the river; or if not the whole, at all events that part of it below the Delta, called Lower Egypt. He had heard too that Pharos was entirely surrounded by sea, and therefore misrepresented it as entirely surrounded by the sea, although it had long ago ceased so to be. Now the author of all this was Homer, and we therefore infer that he was not ignorant concerning either the sources or the mouths of the Nile.
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