Polybius, Histories

Translation

Book 34 - Chapter 2

<head lang="la">II. De Ulixis Navigatione, Prope Siciliam Praesertim</head><w lemma="%2A%29ek">Ἐκ</w> <w lemma="mhdeno%5Cs">μηδενὸς</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="a%29lhqou%3Ds">ἀληθοῦς</w> <w lemma="a%29na%2Fptein">ἀνάπτειν</w> <w lemma="kenh%5Cn">κενὴν</w> <w lemma="teratologi%2Fan">τερατολογίαν</w> <w lemma="ou%29x">οὐχ</w> <w lemma="%2A%28omhriko%2Fn">Ὁμηρικόν</w>.

<w lemma="prospi%2Fptei">προσπίπτει</w> <w lemma="ga%2Fr">γάρ</w>, <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="ei%29ko%2Fs">εἰκός</w>, <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="piqanw%2Fteron">πιθανώτερον</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="ou%28%2Ftw">οὕτω</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="yeu%2Fdoito">ψεύδοιτο</w>, <w lemma="ei%29">εἰ</w> <w lemma="katami%2Fsgoi">καταμίσγοι</w> <w lemma="ti">τι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="au%29tw%3Dn">αὐτῶν</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29lhqinw%3Dn:">ἀληθινῶν·</w>

<w lemma="o%28%2Fper">ὅπερ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Apolu%2Fbio%2Fs">Πολύβιός</w> <w lemma="fhsi">φησι</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%29odusse%2Fws">Ὀδυσσέως</w> <w lemma="pla%2Fnhs">πλάνης</w> <w lemma="e%29pixeirw%3Dn">ἐπιχειρῶν</w>. —

<w lemma=""></w> <w lemma="%2Akai%5C">Καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Apolu%2Fbios">Πολύβιος</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%29rqw%3Ds">ὀρθῶς</w> <w lemma="u%28ponoei%3D">ὑπονοεῖ</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="pla%2Fnhs">πλάνης</w>.

<w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="%2Aai%29%2Folon">Αἴολον</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="proshmai%2Fnonta">προσημαίνοντα</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fkplous">ἔκπλους</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="porqmo%5Cn">πορθμὸν</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpois">τόποις</w> <w lemma="a%29mfidro%2Fmois">ἀμφιδρόμοις</w> <w lemma="ou%29%3Dsi">οὖσι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="duse%2Fkplois">δυσέκπλοις</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="palirroi%2Fas">παλιρροίας</w> <w lemma="tami%2Fan">ταμίαν</w> <w lemma="te">τε</w> <w lemma="ei%29rh%3Dsqai">εἰρῆσθαι</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29ne%2Fmwn">ἀνέμων</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="basile%2Fa">βασιλέα</w> <w lemma="nenomi%2Fsqai">νενομίσθαι</w> <w lemma="fhsi%2F">φησί</w>,

<w lemma="kaqa%2Fper">καθάπερ</w> <w lemma="%2Adanao%5Cn">Δαναὸν</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="u%28drei%3Da">ὑδρεῖα</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29%2Fargei">Ἄργει</w> <w lemma="paradei%2Fcanta">παραδείξαντα</w>, <w lemma="%2A%29atre%2Fa">Ἀτρέα</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="h%28li%2Fou">ἡλίου</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="u%28penanti%2Fon">ὑπεναντίον</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="ou%29ranw%3D%7C">οὐρανῷ</w> <w lemma="dro%2Fmon">δρόμον</w>, <w lemma="ma%2Fnteis">μάντεις</w> <w lemma="te">τε</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="i%28eroskopoume%2Fnous">ἱεροσκοπουμένους</w> <w lemma="a%29podei%2Fknusqai">ἀποδείκνυσθαι</w> <w lemma="basile%2Fas:">βασιλέας·</w>

<w lemma="tou%2Fs">τούς</w> <w lemma="q%27">θ᾽</w> <w lemma="i%28ere%2Fas">ἱερέας</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="%2Aai%29gupti%2Fwn">Αἰγυπτίων</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Axaldai%2Fous">Χαλδαίους</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Ama%2Fgous">Μάγους</w> <w lemma="sofi%2Fa%7C">σοφίᾳ</w> <w lemma="tini%5C">τινὶ</w> <w lemma="diafe%2Frontas">διαφέροντας</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fllwn">ἄλλων</w> <w lemma="h%28gemoni%2Fas">ἡγεμονίας</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="timh%3Ds">τιμῆς</w> <w lemma="tugxa%2Fnein">τυγχάνειν</w> <w lemma="para%5C">παρὰ</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="pro%5C">πρὸ</w> <w lemma="h%28mw%3Dn">ἡμῶν</w>.

<w lemma="ou%28%2Ftw">οὕτω</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="qew%3Dn">θεῶν</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Fna">ἕνα</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Fkaston">ἕκαστον</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="xrhsi%2Fmwn">χρησίμων</w> <w lemma="tino%5Cs">τινὸς</w> <w lemma="eu%28reth%5Cn">εὑρετὴν</w> <w lemma="geno%2Fmenon">γενόμενον</w> <w lemma="tima%3Dsqai">τιμᾶσθαι</w>.

<w lemma="tau%3Dta">ταῦτα</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="prooikonomhsa%2Fmenos">προοικονομησάμενος</w> <w lemma="ou%29k">οὐκ</w> <w lemma="e%29a%3D%7C">ἐᾷ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="%2Aai%29%2Folon">Αἴολον</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="mu%2Fqou">μύθου</w> <w lemma="sxh%2Fmati">σχήματι</w> <w lemma="a%29kou%2Fesqai">ἀκούεσθαι</w>, <w lemma="ou%29d%27">οὐδ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Flhn">ὅλην</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29odusse%2Fws">Ὀδυσσέως</w> <w lemma="pla%2Fnhn">πλάνην</w>, <w lemma="a%29lla%5C">ἀλλὰ</w> <w lemma="mikra%5C">μικρὰ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="prosmemuqeu%3Dsqai">προσμεμυθεῦσθαι</w>, <w lemma="kaqa%2Fper">καθάπερ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="%2A%29iliakw%3D%7C">Ἰλιακῷ</w> <w lemma="pole%2Fmw%7C">πολέμῳ</w>,

<w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Flon">ὅλον</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Asikeli%2Fan">Σικελίαν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tw%3D%7C">τῷ</w> <w lemma="poihth%3D%7C">ποιητῇ</w> <w lemma="pepoih%3Dsqai">πεποιῆσθαι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fllois">ἄλλοις</w> <w lemma="suggrafeu%3Dsin">συγγραφεῦσιν</w>, <w lemma="o%28%2Fsoi">ὅσοι</w> <w lemma="ta%29pixw%2Fria">τἀπιχώρια</w> <w lemma="le%2Fgousi">λέγουσι</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29itali%2Fan">Ἰταλίαν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Asikeli%2Fan">Σικελίαν</w>.

<w lemma="ou%29k">οὐκ</w> <w lemma="e%29painei%3D">ἐπαινεῖ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="ou%29de%5C">οὐδὲ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="toiau%2Fthn">τοιαύτην</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="%2A%29eratosqe%2Fnous">Ἐρατοσθένους</w> <w lemma="a%29po%2Ffasin">ἀπόφασιν</w>, <w lemma="dio%2Fti">διότι</w> <w lemma="fhsi%5C">φησὶ</w> <w lemma="to%2Ft%27">τότ᾽</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="eu%28rei%3Dn">εὑρεῖν</w> <w lemma="tina">τινα</w> <w lemma="pou%3D">ποῦ</w> <w lemma="%2A%29odusseu%5Cs">Ὀδυσσεὺς</w> <w lemma="pepla%2Fnhtai">πεπλάνηται</w>, <w lemma="o%28%2Ftan">ὅταν</w> <w lemma="eu%28%2Frh%7C">εὕρῃ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="skute%2Fa">σκυτέα</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="surra%2Fyanta">συρράψαντα</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29ne%2Fmwn">ἀνέμων</w> <w lemma="a%29sko%2Fn">ἀσκόν</w>.

<w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%3Dto">τοῦτο</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="oi%29kei%2Fws">οἰκείως</w> <w lemma="ei%29rh%3Dsqai">εἰρῆσθαι</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="sumbai%2Fnousi">συμβαίνουσι</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="%2Asku%2Fllaion">Σκύλλαιον</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="qh%2Fran">θήραν</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="galewtw%3Dn">γαλεωτῶν</w>, <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2Asku%2Fllhs">Σκύλλης</w>, <w lemma="au%29tou%3D">αὐτοῦ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="i%29xqua%2Fa%7C">ἰχθυάᾳ</w>,

<w lemma="sko%2Fpelon">σκόπελον</w> <w lemma="perimaimw%2Fwsa">περιμαιμώωσα</w>, <w lemma="delfi%3Dna%2Fs">δελφῖνάς</w> <w lemma="te">τε</w> <w lemma="ku%2Fnas">κύνας</w> <w lemma="te">τε</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ei%29%2F">εἴ</w> <w lemma="poqi">ποθι</w> <w lemma="mei%3Dzon">μεῖζον</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Flh%7Csi">ἕλῃσι</w> <w lemma="kh%3Dtos">κῆτος</w>.

<w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="qu%2Fnnous">θύννους</w> <w lemma="a%29gelhdo%5Cn">ἀγεληδὸν</w> <w lemma="ferome%2Fnous">φερομένους</w> <w lemma="para%5C">παρὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29itali%2Fan">Ἰταλίαν</w>, <w lemma="e%29peida%5Cn">ἐπειδὰν</w> <w lemma="e%29kpe%2Fswsi">ἐκπέσωσι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kwluqw%3Dsi">κωλυθῶσι</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2Asikeli%2Fas">Σικελίας</w> <w lemma="a%28%2Fyasqai">ἅψασθαι</w>, <w lemma="peripi%2Fptein">περιπίπτειν</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="mei%2Fzosi">μείζοσι</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="zw%2F%7Cwn">ζῴων</w>, <w lemma="oi%28%3Don">οἷον</w> <w lemma="delfi%2Fnwn">δελφίνων</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kunw%3Dn">κυνῶν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fllwn">ἄλλων</w> <w lemma="khtwdw%3Dn">κητωδῶν</w>,

<w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="qh%2Fras">θήρας</w> <w lemma="au%29tw%3Dn">αὐτῶν</w> <w lemma="piai%2Fnesqai">πιαίνεσθαι</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="galew%2Ftas">γαλεώτας</w>, <w lemma="ou%28%5Cs">οὓς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="cifi%2Fas">ξιφίας</w> <w lemma="le%2Fgesqai">λέγεσθαι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ku%2Fnas">κύνας</w> <w lemma="fhsi%2F">φησί</w>.

<w lemma="sumbai%2Fnein">συμβαίνειν</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="tau%29to%5Cn">ταὐτὸν</w> <w lemma="e%29nqa%2Fde">ἐνθάδε</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="a%29naba%2Fseis">ἀναβάσεις</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="%2Anei%2Flou">Νείλου</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fllwn">ἄλλων</w> <w lemma="u%28da%2Ftwn">ὑδάτων</w>, <w lemma="o%28%2Fper">ὅπερ</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="puro%5Cs">πυρὸς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="u%28%2Flhs">ὕλης</w> <w lemma="e%29mpiprame%2Fnhs:">ἐμπιπραμένης·</w> <w lemma="a%28qroizo%2Fmena">ἁθροιζόμενα</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="qhri%2Fa">θηρία</w> <w lemma="feu%2Fgein">φεύγειν</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="pu%3Dr">πῦρ</w> <w lemma="h%29%5C">ἢ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="u%28%2Fdwr">ὕδωρ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="bora%5Cn">βορὰν</w> <w lemma="gi%2Fnesqai">γίνεσθαι</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="krei%2Fttosi">κρείττοσι</w>.

<head>II. On the Voyage of Ulysses, especially in the neighbourhood of Sicily</head>It is not like Homer to build an empty narrative full of marvels on no basis of truth.

For naturally the fact is that one makes falsehood more credible if one mixes a little truth with it,

as Polybius also says when he undertakes to deal with the wanderings of Ulysses.

Polybius is right in his notion about the wanderings of Ulysses.

For he says that Aeolus, the man who gave sailing directions for the seas near the Straits, which have a current setting both ways and are difficult to pass owing to the tides, was supposed to be the dispenser of the winds and a king, just as Danaus, who first showed them how to make the reservoirs in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Argos&groupId=361&placeId=689">Argos</a>, and Atreus who discovered that the motion of the sun was contrary to that of the heavens, and seers and those who practised divination from sacrifices, were styled kings, and the Egyptian priests, and the Chaldaeans and the Magi, who were distinguished from other men by some special science, enjoyed in early times peculiar precedence and honour, and just as each of the gods is honoured as the author of some useful invention.

Having thus prepared his way, he does not allow us to treat Aeolus and the whole of the wanderings of Ulysses as mythical, but he says, that while some mythical elements have been added, as in the case of the Trojan war, the main statements about <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a> correspond to those of the other writers who treat of the local history of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a>.

Neither does he applaud the dictum of Eratosthenes that we may find out where Ulysses travelled when we find the cobbler who sewed the bag of the winds.

And it is, he says, quite in accordance with the facts about the Scyllaean rock and the method of fishing for sword-fish, when he says about Scylla—<quote><l>Her heads, with which the ravening monster dives</l><l>In quest of dolphins, dog-fish, or of prey</l><l>More bulky.</l></quote>

For when the tunnies swimming in shoals along the Italian coast are carried out of their course and are unable to approach the Sicilian coast they fall a prey to larger animals, such as dolphins, sharks, and other marine monsters.

By preying on them the sword-fish (galeotae), also called xiphiae and sea-dogs, are fattened.

For in this case and in that of the rising of the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Nile&groupId=794&placeId=449">Nile</a> and other waters, the same thing happens as in the case of forest fires. The wild animals collect to escape from the fire or the water and are devoured by the more powerful ones.

Walbank Commentary

Overview

34.2.1 - 34.4.8

The geography of Homer See above, p. 567, for Pdech's convincing argument that this section followed P.'s account of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a>, which formed part of the descriptive survey of western Europe. It should extend to the end of Strabo, i. 2. 18, <w lang="el-GR">μηδ᾿ ὠφελείας ἱστορικῆς</w> (see p. 565) and should stand after ch. 9. How to treat the places and events in Homer was a central question in Hellenistic scholarship, dealt with by Callisthenes (Strabo, xii. 3. 5, C. 542), Zeno (Dio Chrys. 53. 4; Arnim, SVF, i. 63 fg. 275), Demetrius of Scepsis (Strabo, xiii. 1. 45, C. 603), Eratosthenes (2. 11), Hipparchus (Strabo, i. 1. 2, C. 2, 2. 20, C. 27), and Apollodorus (FGH, 244 F 157, 170, 171). In P.'s time the main exponents were Aristarchus and Crates of Mallus (Strabo, i. 2. 24, C. 30). There were two main problems: were the persons, journeys, and countries described in the Homeric poems simple fiction, and, if the places were real, could they be located on the contemporary map? The Stoics especially upheld Homer's accuracy. As prototype of the Stoic <w lang="el-GR">σοφός</w> (Strabo, i. 2. 3, C. 15), he must excel in all spheres, as astronomer and geographer, not only as poet (cf. K. J. Neumann, Hermes, 1886, 134–41; <milestone unit="page" n="577">[577]</milestone> Walbank, Class. et med. 1948, 170–1). Eratosthenes rejected this, denying to Homer the special excellences attributed to him but, in his view, forming no part of the poet's equipment (Strabo, i. 2. 3, C. 15–16). On this issue P. adopts the 'fundamentalist' view of Homer; for his attitude to Homer's poems see the analysis in ch. 4, criticizing Eratosthenes. Among those accepting the truth of Homer's narrative there was, however, a dispute between those who set the voyages of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a> (and even Menelaus) outside the Pillars of Heracles, and those who rejected this <w lang="el-GR">ἐξωκεανισμός</w> (cf. 4. 5 n.); against the former, the chief of whom was Crates, P. locates <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a>' wanderings in the neighbourhood of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a> and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> (4. 5–8, continued in Strabo, i. 2. 18, C. 26). On the method of hunting sword-fish around the Straits of Messina as a clue to the location of Scylla see 2. 12–3. 11, 8. 1–3; and for the connection of the Lipari Islands with Aeolus see 11. 12–20 (which belongs to the section on Homeric geography; see p. 567).

34.2.1 - 34.2.3

= Strabo, i. 2. 9, C. 20. Homer's narrative basically true. Strabo argues (with P., § 3) that Homer's stories belonged to the province of education <w lang="el-GR">(πρὸς τὸ παιδευτικόν)</w> and so had a basis of truth, but that he superimposed a false element to win over and control the masses, <w lang="el-GR">δημαγωγῶν καὶ στρατηγῶν τὰ πλήθη</w>. P. regarded such use of falsehood as legitimate; cf. xvi. 12. 9–11 n., and (for a passage reminiscent of Strabo, i. 2. 8, C. 19–20, which is part of the present context) vi. 56. 6–12 n.

34.2.4 - 34.4.8

= Strabo, i. 2. 15–17, C. 23–25. <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a>' wanderings. In this discussion of P.'s treatment of this subject Strabo often records what must have been P.'s arguments in oratio obliqua; and he defends the basic truth of the Homeric narrative against Eratosthenes' scepticism (2. 11, 4. 4) by analogies from the conferment of honours on wise men (2. 4–9), by drawing on the experience of his own journeys (2. 12–3. 12, 11. 12–20), and by argument from probability (4. 5–8). In the course of his argument P. formulates a definition of <w lang="el-GR">ποιητικὴ ἐξουσία</w> (4. 1–4).

Specifics

34.2.1 - 34.2.1

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">κενὴν τερατολογίαν οὐχ Ὁμηρικόν</w>:</emph> cf. 4. 4, <w lang="el-GR">τὸ δὲ πὰντα πλὰττειν οὐ πιθανὸν οὐδ᾿ Ὁμηρικόν</w>; in both passages Strabo quotes from P.

34.2.2 - 34.2.2

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">προσπίτει γὰρ . . . τῶν ἀληθίνων</w>:</emph> Valeton, 2, believes this to be P.'s formulation (contra Berger, 504 n. 4); this may be so. The way in which Homer 'mixed a little truth with falsehood' was to elaborate his stories on a basis of truth (§ 9 n.).

34.2.5 - 34.2.5

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Αἴολον τὸν προσημαίνοντα τοὺς ἔκπλους</w>:</emph> cf. Homer, Od. x. 1–27, for Aeolus and his sending off <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a> with the winds tied up in a bag. To P. he is a man who gave <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a> sailing instructions, using weather-signs drawn from the behaviour of the volcanoes in <milestone unit="page" n="578">[578]</milestone> the Lipari Islands, as P. had observed the inhabitants of those parts doing in his own time (11. 19–20). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τοῖς κατὰ τὸν πορθμὸν τόποις</w>:</emph> the Straits of Messina, where the current changes direction <w lang="el-GR">(ἀμφιδρόμοις . . . καὶ δυσέκπλοις διὰ τὰς παλιρροίας)</w> every six hours (Philipp, RE, 'Messene (2)', col. 1320; Nissen, It. Land. i. 105; cf. 3. 10 n.). On the relevance of this to the story of Charybdis see 3. 11 n. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ταμίαν . . . τῶν ἀνέμων καὶ βασιλέα</w>:</emph> cf. 11. 20; Homer, Od. x. 21, <w lang="el-GR">κεῖνον γὰο ταμίην ἀνέμων ποίησε Κρονίων</w>.

34.2.6 - 34.2.8

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">καθάπερ Δαναὸν . . . τιμᾶσθαι</w>:</emph> <w lang="el-GR">καθάπερ</w> (§ 6) links Danaus, Atreus, and the rest to Aeolus, since they serve to illustrate Homer's treatment of 'the guardian of the winds'. The three wings of the <w lang="el-GR">καθάπερ</w> clause are introduced by <w lang="el-GR">μέν . . . , δέ . . . , θ᾿</w> . . . (§§ 6–7); and a further remark about the gods is added, introduced by <w lang="el-GR">οὕτω δέ</w>, 'similarly'. Pdech (Rev. hist. rel. 1965, 53) is mistaken in contrasting <w lang="el-GR">καθάπερ . . . μέν</w> with <w lang="el-GR">οὕτω δέ ; μέν</w> belongs to <w lang="el-GR">Δαναόν</w> and is taken up by <w lang="el-GR">Ἀτρέα δέ</w>. The sense is: 'Aeolus was regarded as keeper of the winds and a king (because of his skill in giving sailing instructions in the vicinity of the Sicilian Straits), just as Danaus and Atreus who made useful discoveries were proclaimed seers and kings with the power of divination, and the Egyptian priests, Chaldaeans, and Magi, who were distinguished for some special branch of wisdom <w lang="el-GR">(σοφία)</w>, enjoyed leadership and honour in ancient times; likewise each of the gods is honoured as the author of some useful invention.' There are two loose ends: the priests etc. are not regarded as kings, and P. does not say (or Strabo does not report him as saying) that the gods were deified because of their inventions. Nevertheless, Pdech (loc. cit.) seems right in seeing here a combination of the teachings of Euhemerus, who regarded the gods as deified kings (cf. 5. 9 n.), and of the Stoic Persaeus of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Citium&groupId=115&placeId=352">Citium</a>, who regarded deification as the reward of cultural innovators and inventors. Pdech traces three successive stages on the road to deification: (a) the possession of outstanding knowledge as shown by discoveries, (b) the granting of power <w lang="el-GR">(βασιλεία</w> or <w lang="el-GR">ἡγεμονία)</w> and the honours that go with this (respect, posthumous honours), (c) passage to the rank of god. But this is perhaps to give P.'s argument more coherence than it actually possesses; for P. is concerned primarily with explaining who Aeolus really was, not with propounding a theory about the origin of kings and gods. Nor is it certain that, as Pdech claims, 'le caractre surnaturel est refus aux dieux du panthon populaire'; the 'gods' of § 8 are unnamed, but they are a defined group (note <w lang="el-GR">ἕνα ἕκαστον)</w>, and there seems no reason why Athena, the inventor of the olive, Poseidon, bringer of the horse, and others should be excluded. Meinecke proposed reading <w lang="el-GR">καί</w> before <w lang="el-GR">καθάπερ</w> (§ 6), so as to refer the examples of Danaus, Atreus, and the priests, forward to § 8 ('and <milestone unit="page" n="579">[579]</milestone> just as Danaus . . ., so all the gods . .') and he is followed by H. L. Jones in the Loeb edition of Strabo; the emendation is attractive, but not necessary.

34.2.6 - 34.2.6

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Δαναὸν . . . τὰ ὑδρεῖα τὰ ἐν Ἄργει παραδείξαντα</w>:</emph> Danaus was Io's son and brother of Aegyptus. He was traditionally associated with various cultural advances; he invented the pentekonter or even the first ship (Apollodorus in schol. Hom. Il. i. 42; cf. Marmor Parium, FGH, 239 A 9; Pliny, Nat. hist. vii. 206), and brought letters to Greece before Cadmus (cf. Hecataeus, FGH, 1 F 20 with commentary). For the discovery of cisterns cf. Eustath. ad Hom. Il. p. 461. 12 <w lang="el-GR">(παραδείξαντα</w> is 'revealed, discovered', not (as Paton) 'showed them how to make'); the reference is to a story (Apollod. Bibl. ii. 1. 4; Serv. ad Aen. iv. 377) of how Poseidon, to avenge himself on Inachus for supporting Hera, cut off the water of the river, and Danaus sent his daughter to find water, or himself dug wells (cf. Pdech, Rev. hist. rel. 1965, 45–46). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Ἀτρέα . . . τοῦ ἡλίου τὸν . . . δρόμον</w>:</emph> the story of the reversal of the sun's course by Atreus figures in two contexts; in the first version it was a sign to establish his priority in the struggle for the throne with his brother, Thyestes, given him by Zeus (Apollod. Epit. ii. 10; Schol. ad Il. ii. 105; Eur. El. 699–746), in the second the sun recoiled so as not to behold the monstrous dish of his own children served up to Thyestes (Ovid, Am. iii. 12. 39; Heroid. xvi. 206; Stat. Theb. iv. 307; Lucan, i. 543–4, vii. 451; Anth. Pal. ix. 98; Hygin. Fab. 88). The rationalization of the story made Atreus the discoverer of the fact that the sun's annual movement was in opposition to that of the twelve zodiacal signs (Schol. Eur. Or. 998; Lucian, de astr. 12). See Escher, RE, 'Atreus', cols. 2141–3; Pdech, Rev. hist. rel. 1965, 46–47. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">μάντεις τε καὶ . . . βασιλέ?ας</w>:</emph> 'were proclaimed seers and kings practising divination from sacrifice'. The earliest kings were priests as well as judges and army-leaders. Paton mistranslates, 'and seers and those who practised divination from sacrifices, were styled kings'; but <w lang="el-GR">μάντεις . . . ἱεροσκοπουμένους</w> must refer to Danaus and Atreus, and the participle clearly goes with <w lang="el-GR">βασιλέας</w>.

34.2.7 - 34.2.7

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τοὺς . . . ἱερέας τῶν Αἰγυπτίων</w>:</emph> P. may be thinking of the astrological work that has come down from c. 150 under the names of Nechepso and Petosiris; but this is not certain. The work is a forgery in the sense that it was published under the names of two (allegedly) eminent priests, one of whom, Nechepso, is described as <w lang="el-GR">βασιλεύς</w> in several passages; it formed the basis of the whole popular astrological system. For details, and particulars of the fourth-century tomb of a priest Petosiris, with a third-century Greek graffito, found in 1920 near Hermopolis, see Kroll, RE, 'Nechepso', cols. 2160–7; 'Petosiris', col. 1165; Pdech, Rev. hist. rel. 1965, 48–50; E. Riess, Phil. Suppl.-B. 6, 1891–3, 327–88. <milestone unit="page" n="580">[580]</milestone> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Χαλδαίους καὶ Μάγους</w>:</emph> the Chaldaeans were a Babylonian priestly caste, members of which spread all over the Hellenistic world as practitioners of astrology and the reading of horoscopes; they were attacked by Panaetius and Diogenes of Seleuceia-on-the-Tigris (Cic. de div. ii. 88–89) but Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Strato made them the discoverers of astronomy (Gell. iii. 2. 5; Pliny, Nat. hist. vii. 193; Lucian, de astrol. 9; Alex. Aphrod. in Arist. Metaph. 1093 a 13, p. 833), and Hipparchus accepted this (Vettius Valens, Antholog. libri ix. 11 ed. Kroll). The Chaldaeans were expelled from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> in 139 (Livy, Ox. per. 54; Val. Max. i. 3. 3). The Magi were priests of the Mazdean religion, often confused with the Chaldaeans in classical authors, and associated with the practice of sorcery. Through the writings of the Egyptian Bolus of Mende, and other works passing under the names of Zoroaster, Hystaspes, Ostanes and others, their teachings added to the vast body of writings concerned with alchemy and astronomy. See J. Bidet and F. Cumont, Les Mages hellniss (Paris, 1938), 2 vols.; Pdech, Rev. hist. rel. 1965, 52–53; C. Clemen, RE, 'Magoi', cols. 509–18.

34.2.8 - 34.2.8

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τῶν θεῶν . . . τιμᾶσθαι</w>:</emph> this formulation does not exclude the regular pantheon (cf. 6–8 n.), but it also seems to envisage deification as the reward of merit; cf. x. 10. 11, of Aletes at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=New Carthage&groupId=791&placeId=1430">New Carthage</a>, <w lang="el-GR">δοκεῖ . . . εὑρετὴς γενόμενος τῶν ἀργυρείων μετάλλων ἰσοθέων τετευχέναι τιμῶν</w>.

34.2.9 - 34.2.9

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">μικρὰ . . . προσμεμυθεῦσθαι</w>:</emph> the myth is additional, the historical element basic; cf. § 2 n.; Pdech, Mthode, 584 n. 393.

34.2.10 - 34.2.10

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὸ δ᾽ ὅλον . . . Σικελίαν</w>:</emph> 'the wanderings in general have been located in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a> both by Homer and by the other writers, who deal with the local history of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a>.' The clause <w lang="el-GR">μικρὰ μὲν προσμεμυθεῦσθαι</w> refers back to <w lang="el-GR">οὐκ ἐᾷ τὸν Αἴολον ἐν μύθου σχήματι ἀκούεσθαι</w>, and the second clause, beginning <w lang="el-GR">τὸ δ᾽ ὅλον</w>, refers back to <w lang="el-GR">ὅλην τὴν ᾽Οδυσσέως πλάνην</w>. Paton's translation, 'the main statements about <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a> correspond to those of the other writers, etc.' misses the point. The identity of the writers on <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a> is unknown; but the implications of the assertion that 'Homer places the wanderings of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a> in the region of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a> and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a>' are examined from a standpoint close to that of P. by Strabo, i. 2. 11, C. 21–22, a passage falling between §§ 1–3 and §§ 4 ff.; see also Strabo, i. 2. 14, C. 23.

34.2.11 - 34.2.11

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὴν . . . τοῦ Ἐρατοσθένους ἀπόφασιν</w>:</emph> for the bag of the winds cf. Homer, Od. x. 19–20. Eratosthenes of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Cyrene&groupId=521&placeId=985">Cyrene</a> (c. 275–194) was the most outstanding all-round scholar of the third century. From <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Athens&groupId=379&placeId=715">Athens</a> he went to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Alexandria&groupId=1063&placeId=1868">Alexandria</a>, becoming Head of the Library. His work covered literary criticism, mathematics, astronomy, geography, philosophy, and poetry. See FGH, 241; A. Thalamas, Gographie d' ratosthne (Versailles, 1921); Berger, 406 ff., 441 ff.; <milestone unit="page" n="581">[581]</milestone> Eratosthenes; Thomson, 124, 134 ff., 158 ff.; Knaack, RE, 'Eratosthenes (4)', cols. 358–88; D. R. Dicks, The Geographical Fragments of Hipparchus (London, 1960), passim; Fraser, Alex. passim, Eratosthenes took the view that it was the function of poetry to entertain, not to instruct, hence that poetry was not to be judged by the canons of historical truth (Strabo, i. 2. 17, C. 25; cf. i. 2. 3, C. 15–16).

34.2.12 - 34.2.12

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">οἰκεί?ως . . . τοῖς συμβαίνουσι περὶ τὸ Σκύλλαιον κτλ</w>.:</emph> P. uses his own observation of fishing for sword-fish and his deductions about the movements of tunny (on which it feeds) to propose an explanation of the myth of Scylla. The tunny, he says, fatten off the Atlantic coast of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a> from the fruit of oak-trees actually growing in the sea (8. 1); and presumably the current that carries some of the berries to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Latium&groupId=673&placeId=1231">Latium</a> (8. 3) brings the tunny into the Mediterranean and down the Italian coast towards the Straits (§ 14), where various larger creatures devour them; among these are sword-fish, which in turn are caught by means of a harpoon <w lang="el-GR">περὶ τὸ Σκύλλαιον</w> (3. 1 f.). It is this method of fishing that Homer has in mind, when he describes Scylla pouncing on dolphins, dog-fish, and larger prey (§ 13, 3. 9). The whole passage well illustrates the rationalizing interpretation of Homer, and how P. understood the 'factual basis' upon which he superimposed myth. Scylla and Charybdis were variously located (cf. Joh. Schmidt, RE, '<a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Skylla&groupId=958&placeId=1702">Skylla</a> (1)', cols. 650–3 for a survey), but Hesiod and Stesichorus associated them with <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sicily&groupId=973&placeId=1724">Sicily</a>, and Thucydides (iv. 24. 5) placed them at the Straits of Messina; today the town of Scilla marks the site of the traditional Scyllaean rock where the monster dwelt (opposite Punta del Faro). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὴν θήραν τῶν γαλεωτῶν</w>:</emph> cf. 3. 1–8 for the method of fishing for sword-fish; Wunderer, ii. 18, unnecessarily assumes a double meaning, 'fishing for sword-fish' and 'fishing carried out by sword-fish' i.e. of tunny. Nor is Pdech, Mthode, 584, convincing, when he argues that P. identified the sword-fish with Scylla. Clearly the comparison is between the methods used by the Sicilians to take the sword-fish and Scylla's method of taking dolphins etc., otherwise all ch. 3 is an irrelevancy (cf. 3. 9). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τῆς Σκύλλης</w>:</emph> Scylla was a sea-monster with six heads and a triple row of teeth and twelve feet, immortal and irresistible (Homer, Od. xii. 85–100, 118–25), whom <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a> escaped only at the cost of six of his men (Homer, Od. xii. 245–59). The lines quoted in § 13 (Homer, Od. xii. 95–97) are from Circe's description of the perils in store for <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a>.

34.2.14 - 34.2.14

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τοὺς . . . θύννους</w>:</emph> the tunny is a large fish of sometimes over 150 kg. Its migrations are still not fully understood, but the belief in journeys the whole length of the Mediterranean (cf. Cary, GB, 10; Nissen, It. Land. i. 110–11) seems unfounded, and the larger shoals seem often to rise from deeper parts of the Mediterranean to the <milestone unit="page" n="582">[582]</milestone> shallow coastal waters to breed or for other reasons not yet understood. P. thought they were reared in the Atlantic and migrated through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean (cf. 8. 2). See Steier, RE, 'Thynnos', cols. 720–34. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐπειδὰν ἐκπέσωσι</w>:</emph> so Reiske for the manuscript <w lang="el-GR">ἐμπέσωσι</w>; but in fact <w lang="el-GR">ἐκ</w> can be read above <w lang="el-GR">ἐμ</w> in cod. A of Strabo. In Aristotle, Hist. anim. viii. 19. 601 b 32 it means 'to be cast up', but both Shuckburgh and Paton take it to mean 'when they are carried out of their course', following Reiske. Schweighaeuser keeps <w lang="el-GR">ἐμπέσωσι</w>, rendering 'postquam in fretum inciderunt' and H. L. Jones (Loeb Strabo) has 'meet with the current from the strait' (with the same reading). Either sense is difficult with <w lang="el-GR">ἐμπέσωσι</w> used absolutely, and Reiske's emendation is preferable.

34.2.15 - 34.2.15

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">γαλεώτας</w>:</emph> 'sword-fish'; cf. Lucian, Vera hist. i. 35. The same word is also used for the gecko lizard and for a body of Sicilian seers who used this lizard in fortune-telling (Steph. Byz.). The more usual name for the sword-fish, xiphias gladius, is <w lang="el-GR">ξιφίας</w>; cf. Aristot. Hist. anim. ii. 13. 505 a 18 (inaccurate), fg. 306 p. 1530 a 17. For a description of the fish see Ael. Nat. an. xiv. 23; and for other recorded methods of catching them see Gossen, RE, 'Schwertfisch', cols. 817–18. Schweighaeuser, viii. 1. p. 116, quotes several authorities for the use of the method described by P. as still practised in the same region in his own day. Cf. Nissen, It. Land. i. 111.

34.2.16 - 34.2.16

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">κατὰ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τοῦ Νείλου</w>:</emph> i.e. floods drive the animals together in a limited area. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">βορὰν . . . τοῖς κρείττοσι</w>:</emph> cf. xv. 20. 3 n. for <w lang="el-GR">τὸν . . . τῶν ἰχθύων βίον</w>.

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