περὶ δὲ τὴν Κρήτην εἰσὶ νῆσοι, Θήρα μὲν ἡ τῶν Κυρηναίων μητρόπολις, ἄποικος Λακεδαιμονίων, καὶ πλησίον ταύτης Ἀνάφη, ἐν ᾗ τὸ τοῦ Αἰγλήτου Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν. λέγει δὲ καὶ Καλλίμαχος τοτὲ μὲν οὕτως Αἰγλήτην Ἀνάφην τε Λακωνίδι γείτονα Θήρῃ, / τοτὲ δὲ τῆς Θήρας μνησθείς μήτηρ εὐίππου πατρίδος ἡμετέρης. / ἔστι δὲ μακρὰ ἡ Θήρα, διακοσίων οὖσα τὴν περίμετρον σταδίων, κειμένη δὲ κατὰ Δίαν νῆσον τὴν πρὸς Ἡρακλείῳ τῷ Κνωσσίῳ, διέχει δὲ τῆς Κρήτης εἰς ἑπτακοσίους· πλησίον δʼ αὐτῆς ἥ τε Ἀνάφη καὶ Θηρασία. ταύτης δʼ εἰς ἑκατὸν ἀπέχει νησίδιον Ἴος, ἐν ᾧ κεκηδεῦσθαί τινές φασι τὸν ποιητὴν Ὅμηρον· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ἴου πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἰόντι Σίκινος καὶ Λάγουσα καὶ Φολέγανδρος, ἣν Ἄρατος σιδηρείην ὀνομάζει διὰ τὴν τραχύτητα· ἐγγὺς δὲ τούτων Κίμωλος, ὅθεν ἡ γῆ ἡ Κιμωλία· ἔνθεν ἡ Σίφνος ἐν ὄψει ἐστίν, ἐφʼ ᾗ λέγουσι Σίφνιον ἀστράγαλον διὰ τὴν εὐτέλειαν. ἔτι δʼ ἐγγυτέρω καὶ τῆς Κιμώλου καὶ τῆς Κρήτης ἡ Μῆλος ἀξιολογωτέρα τούτων, διέχουσα τοῦ Ἑρμιονικοῦ ἀκρωτηρίου τοῦ Σκυλλαίου σταδίους ἑπτακοσίους· τοσούτους δὲ σχεδόν τι καὶ τοῦ Δικτυνναίου· Ἀθηναῖοι δέ ποτε πέμψαντες στρατείαν ἡβηδὸν κατέσφαξαν τοὺς πλείους. αὗται μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ Κρητικῷ πελάγει, ἐν δὲ τῷ Αἰγαίῳ μᾶλλον αὐτή τε ἡ Δῆλος καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτὴν Κυκλάδες καὶ αἱ ταύταις προσκείμεναι Σποράδες, ὧν εἰσι καὶ αἱ λεχθεῖσαι περὶ τὴν Κρήτην.
THE islands about Crete are Thera, the capital of the Cyrenaeans, and a colony of the Lacedaemonians; and near Thera is Anaphe, in which is the temple of Apollo Aegletes. Callimachus speaks of it in one place, thus, And Aeglete Anaphe, close to the Lacedaemonian Thera; / and in another, he mentions Thera only,
Mother of my country, celebrated for its fine breed of horses. Thera is a long island, about 200 stadia in circumference. It lies opposite to the island Dia, towards the Cnossian Heracleium. It is distant about 700 stadia from Crete. Near it are Anaphe and Therasia. The little island Ios is distant from the latter about 100 stadia. Here according to some authors the poet Homer was buried. In going from Ios towards the west are Sicenus and Lagusa, and Pholegandrus, which Aratus calls the iron island, on account of its rocks. Near these islands is Cimolus, whence is obtained the Cimolian earth. From Cimolus Siphnus is visible. To this island is applied the proverb, a Siphnian bone (astragalus), on account of its insignificance. Still nearer, both to Cimolus and Crete, is Melos, more considerable than these. It is distant from the Hermionic promontory, the Scyllaeum, 700 stadia, and nearly as many from the Dictynnaean promontory. The Athenians formerly despatched an army to Melos, and put to death the inhabitants from youth upwards.
These islands are situated in the Cretan sea. Delos, the Cyclades about it, and the Sporades adjacent to these, belong rather to the Aegoean sea. To the Sporades also are to be referred the islands about Crete, which I have already mentioned.
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