Chapter IV (1)

1. Pergamum[1527] has a kind of supremacy among these places. It is a city of note, and flourished during a long period under the Attalic kings; and here we shall begin our description, premising a short account of her kings, their origin, and the end of their career.

Pergamum was the treasure-hold of Lysimachus, the son of Agathocles, and one of the successors of Alexander. It is situated on the very summit of the mountain which terminates in a sharp peak like a pine-cone. Philetærus of Tyana was intrusted with the custody of this stronghold, and of the treasure, which amounted to nine thousand talents. He became an eunuch in childhood by compression, for it happened that a great body of people being assembled to see a funeral, the nurse who was carrying Philetærus, then an infant, in her arms, was entangled in the crowd, and pressed upon to such a degree that the child was mutilated.

He was therefore an eunuch, but having been well educated he was thought worthy of this trust. He continued for [CAS. 623] some time well affected to Lysimachus, but upon a disagreement with Arsinoë, the wife of Lysimachus, who had falsely accused him, he caused the place to revolt, and suited his political conduct to the times, perceiving them to be favourable to change. Lysimachus, overwhelmed with domestic troubles, was compelled to put to death Agathocles his son. Seleucus Nicator invaded his country and destroyed his power, but was himself treacherously slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus.

During these disorders the eunuch remained in the fortress, continually employing the policy of promises and other courtesies with those who were the strongest and the nearest to himself. He thus continued master of the stronghold for twenty years.

2. He had two brothers, the elder of whom was Eumenes, the younger Attalus. Eumenes had a son of the same name, who succeeded to the possession of Pergamum, and was then sovereign of the places around, so that he overcame in a battle near Sardes[1528] Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, and died after a reign of two-and-twenty years.

Attalus, the son of Attalus and Antiochis, daughter of Achæus, succeeded to the kingdom. He was the first person who was proclaimed king after a victory, which he obtained in a great battle with the Galatians. He became an ally of the Romans, and, in conjunction with the Rhodian fleet, assisted them in the war against Philip. He died in old age, having reigned forty-three years. He left four sons by Apollonis, a woman of Cyzicus,--Eumenes, Attalus, Philetærus, and Athenæus. The younger sons continued in a private station, but Eumenes, the elder, was king. He was an ally of the Romans in the war with Antiochus the Great, and with Perseus; he received from the Romans all the country within the Taurus which had belonged to Antiochus. Before this time there were not under the power of Pergamum many places which reached the sea at the Elaïtic and the Adramyttene Gulfs. Eumenes embellished the city, he ornamented the Nicephorium[1529] with a grove, enriched it with votive offerings and a library, and by his care raised the city of Pergamum to its present magnificence. After he had reigned forty-nine years he left the kingdom to Attalus, his son by Stratonice, daughter of Ariarathus, king of Cappadocia.

He appointed as guardian of his son, who was very young,[1530] and as regent of the kingdom, his brother Attalus, who died an old man after a reign of twenty years, having performed many glorious actions. He assisted Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, in the war against Alexander, the son of Antiochus, and was the ally of the Romans in the war against the Pseudo-Philip. In an expedition into Thrace he defeated and took prisoner Diegylis, king of the Cæni.[1531] He destroyed Prusias by exciting his son Nicomedes to rebel against his father. He left the kingdom to Attalus his ward. His cognomen was Philometor. He reigned five years, and died a natural death. He left the Romans his heirs.[1532] They made the country a province, and called it Asia by the name of the continent.

The Caïcus flows past Pergamum through the plain of Caïcus, as it is called, and traverses a very fertile country, indeed almost the best soil in Mysia.

3. The celebrated men in our times, natives of Pergamum, were Mithridates, the son of Menodotus and the daughter of Adobogion; he was of the family of the Tetrarchs of Galatia. Adobogion, it is said, had been the concubine of Mithridates the king; the relatives therefore gave to the child the name of Mithridates, pretending that he was the king’s son.

This prince became so great a friend of divus Cæsar, that he was promoted to the honour of Tetrarch (of Galatia); out of regard also to his mother’s family, he was appointed king of Bosporus and of other places. He was overthrown by Asander, who put to death Pharnaces the king and obtained [CAS. 625] possession of the Bosporus. He had a great reputation as well as Apollodorus the rhetorician, who composed a work on the Art of Rhetoric, and was the head of the Apollodorian sect of philosophers, whatever that may be; for many opinions have prevailed, the merits of which are beyond our power to decide upon, among which are those of the sects of Apollodorus and Theodorus.

But the friendship of Augustus Cæsar, whom he instructed in oratory, was the principal cause of the elevation of Apollodorus. He had a celebrated scholar Dionysius, surnamed Atticus, his fellow-citizen, who was an able teacher of philosophy, an historian, and composer of orations.

4. Proceeding from the plain and the city towards the east, we meet with Apollonia, a city on an elevated site. To the south is a mountainous ridge, which having crossed on the road to Sardes, we find on the left hand the city Thyateira, a colony of the Macedonians, which some authors say is the last city belonging to the Mysians. On the right hand is Apollonis, 300 stadia from Pergamum, and the same distance from Sardes. It has its name from Apollonis of Cyzicus (wife of Attalus). Next are the plains of Hermus and Sardes. The country to the north of Pergamum is principally occupied by Mysians; it lies on the right hand of the people called Abaïtæ, on whose borders is the Epictetus, extending to Bithynia.

5. Sardes is a large city, of later date than the Trojan times, yet ancient, with a strong citadel. It was the royal seat of the Lydians, whom the poet calls Meones, and later writers Mæones, some asserting that they are the same, others that they are a different people, but the former is the preferable opinion.

Above Sardes is the Tmolus, a fertile mountain having on its summit a seat[1533] of white marble, a work of the Persians. There is a view from it of the plains around, particularly of that of the Caÿster. There dwell about it Lydians, Mysians, and Macedonians.[1534]

The Pactolus flows from the Tmolus.[1535] It anciently brought down a large quantity of gold-dust, whence, it is said, the proverbial wealth of Crœsus and his ancestors obtained renown. No gold-dust is found at present. The Pactolus descends into the Hermus, into which also the Hyllus, now called Phrygius, discharges itself. These three and other less considerable rivers unite in one stream, and, according to Herodotus, empty themselves into the sea at Phocæa.

The Hermus takes its rise in Mysia, descending from the sacred mountain of Dindymene, after traversing the Catacecaumene, it enters the Sardian territory, and passes through the contiguous plains to the sea, as we have mentioned above. Below the city lie the plains of Sardes, of the Cyrus, of the Hermus, and of the Caÿster, which are contiguous to one another and the most fertile anywhere to be found.

At the distance of 40 stadia from the city is the lake Gygæa, as it is called by the poet.[1536] Its name was afterwards altered to Coloë. Here was a temple of Artemis Coloëne, held in the highest veneration. It is said that at the feasts celebrated here the baskets dance.[1537] I know not why the circulation of such strange and absurd stories should be preferred to truth.

6. The verses in Homer are to this effect,

“Mesthles and Antiphus, sons of Talæmenes, born of the lake
Gygæa, were the leaders of the Meones, who live below
Tmolus.”[1538]

Some persons add a fourth verse to these,

“below snowy Tmolus, in the rich district of Hyda.”

But no Hyda[1539] is to be found among the Lydians. Others make this the birth-place of Tychius, mentioned by the poet,

“he was the best leather-cutter in Hyda.”[1540]

They add that the place is woody, and frequently struck with lightning, and that here also were the dwellings of the Arimi; for to this verse,

“Among the Arimi, where they say is the bed of Typhoëus,”[1541]

they add the following,[CAS. 626]

“in a woody country, in the rich district of Hyda.”

Some lay the scene of the last fable in Cilicia, others in Syria, others among the Pithecussæ (islands),[1542] who say that the Pitheci (or monkeys) are called by the Tyrrhenians Arimi. Some call Sardes Hyda; others give this name to its Acropolis.

The Scepsian (Demetrius) says that the opinion of those authors is most to be depended upon who place the Arimi in the Catacecaumene in Mysia. But Pindar associates the Pithecussæ which lie in front of the Cymæan territory and Sicily with Cilicia, for the poet says that Typhon lay beneath Ætna;

“Once he dwelt in far-famed Cilician caverns, but now Sicily,
and the sea-girt isle, o’ershadowing Cyme, press upon his
shaggy breast.”[1543]

And again,

“O’er him lies Ætna, and in her vast prison holds him.”

And again,

“’Twas the great Jove alone of gods that o’erpowered, with
resistless force, the fifty-headed monster Typhon, of yore
among the Arimi.”

Others understand Syrians by the Arimi, who are now called Aramæi, and maintain that the Cilicians in the Troad migrated and settled in Syria, and deprived the Syrians of the country which is now called Cilicia.

Callisthenes says, that the Arimi from whom the mountains in the neighbourhood have the name of Arima, are situated near the Calycadnus,[1544] and the promontory Sarpedon close to the Corycian cave.

7. The monuments of the kings lie around the lake Coloë. At Sardes is the great mound of Alyattes upon a lofty base, the work, according to Herodotus,[1545] of the people of the city, the greatest part of it being executed by young women. He says that they all prostituted themselves; according to some writers the sepulchre is the monument of a courtesan.

Some historians say, that Coloë is an artificial lake, designed to receive the superabundant waters of the rivers when they are full and overflow.

Hypæpa[1546] is a city situated on the descent from Tmolus to the plain of the Caÿster.

8. Callisthenes says that Sardes was taken first by Cimmerians, then by Treres and Lycians, which Callinus also, the elegiac poet, testifies, and that it was last captured in the time of Cyrus and Crœsus. When Callinus says that the incursion of the Cimmerians when they took Sardes was directed against the Esioneis, the Scepsian (Demetrius) supposes the Asioneis to be called by him Esioneis, according to the Ionian dialect; for perhaps Meonia, he says, was called Asia, as Homer describes the country, “in the Asian meadows about the streams of Caÿstrius.”[1547] The city, on account of the fertility of the country, was afterwards restored, so as to be a considerable place, and was inferior to none of its neighbours; lately it has lost a great part of its buildings by earthquakes. But Sardes, and many other cities which participated in this calamity about the same time, have been repaired by the provident care and beneficence of Tiberius the present emperor.

9. The distinguished natives of Sardes were two orators of the same name and family, the Diodori; the elder of whom was called Zonas, who had pleaded the cause of Asia in many suits. But at the time of the invasion of Mithridates the king, he was accused of occasioning the revolt of the cities from him, but in his defence he cleared himself of the charge.

The younger Diodorus was my friend; there exist of his [CAS. 628] historical writings, odes, and poems of other kinds, which very much resemble the style of the ancients.

Xanthus, the ancient historian, is said to be a Lydian, but whether of Sardes I do not know.

10. After the Lydians are the Mysians, and a city Philadelphia, subject to constant earthquakes. The walls of the houses are incessantly opening, and sometimes one, sometimes another, part of the city is experiencing some damage. The majority of people (for few persons live in the city) pass their lives in the country, employing themselves in agriculture and cultivating a good soil. Yet it is surprising that there should be even a few persons so much attached to a place where their dwellings are insecure; but one may marvel more at those who founded the city.

11. Next is the tract of country called the Catacecaumene, extending 500 stadia in length, and in breadth 400. It is uncertain whether it should be called Mysia or Meonia, for it has both names. The whole country is devoid of trees, excepting vines, from which is obtained the Catacecaumenite wine; it is not inferior in quality to any of the kinds in repute. The surface of the plains is covered with ashes, but the hilly and rocky part is black, as if it were the effect of combustion. This, as some persons imagine, was the effect of thunderbolts and of fiery tempests, nor do they hesitate to make it the scene of the fable of Typhon. Xanthus even says that a certain Arimus was king of these parts. But it is unreasonable to suppose that so large a tract of country was all at once consumed by lightning and fiery meteors; it is more natural to suppose that the effect was produced by fire generated in the soil, the sources of which are now exhausted. There are to be seen three pits, which are called Physæ, or breathing holes, situated at the distance of 40 stadia from each other. Above are rugged hills, which probably consist of masses of matter thrown up by blasts of air (from the pits).

That ground of this kind should be well adapted to vines, may be conceived from the nature of the country Catana,[1548] which was a mass of cinders, but which now produces excellent wine, and in large quantities.

Some persons, in allusion to such countries as these, wittily observe that Bacchus is properly called Pyrigenes, or fire-born.

12. The places situated next to these towards the south, and extending to Mount Taurus, are so intermixed, that parts of Phrygia, Lydia, Caria, and Mysia running into one another are difficult to be distinguished. The Romans have contributed not a little to produce this confusion, by not dividing the people according to tribes, but following another principle have arranged them according to jurisdictions, in which they have appointed days for holding courts and administering justice.

The Tmolus is a well compacted mass of mountain,[1549] of moderate circumference, and its boundaries are within Lydia itself. The Mesogis begins, according to Theopompus, from Celænæ,[1550] and extends on the opposite side as far as Mycale,[1551] so that Phrygians occupy one part, towards Celænæ and Apameia; Mysians and Lydians another; Carians and Ionians a third part.

So also the rivers, and particularly the Mæander, are the actual boundaries of some nations, but take their course through the middle of others, rendering accurate distinction between them difficult.

The same may be said of plains, which are found on each side of a mountainous range and on each side of a river. Our attention however is not required to obtain the same degree of accuracy as a surveyor, but only to give such descriptions as have been transmitted to us by our predecessors.

13. Contiguous on the east to the plain of Caÿster, which lies between the Mesogis and Tmolus, is the plain Cilbianum. It is extensive, well inhabited, and fertile. Then follows the Hyrcanian plain, a name given by the Persians, who brought colonists from Hyrcania (the plain of Cyrus, in like manner, had its name from the Persians). Next is the Peltine plain, belonging to the Phrygians, and the Cillanian and the Tabenian plains, the latter of which contains small towns, inhabited by a mixed population of Phrygians, with a portion of Pisidians. The plains have their names from the towns.

14. After crossing the Mesogis, situated between the Carians[1552] and [CAS. 629] the district of Nysa,[1553] which is a tract of country beyond the Mæander, extending as far as the Cibyratis and Cabalis, we meet with cities. Near the Mesogis, opposite Laodicea,[1554] is Hierapolis,[1555] where are hot springs, and the Plutonium, both of which have some singular properties. The water of the springs is so easily consolidated and becomes stone, that if it is conducted through water-courses dams are formed consisting of a single piece of stone.

The Plutonium, situated below a small brow of the overhanging mountain, is an opening of sufficient size to admit a man, but there is a descent to a great depth. In front is a quadrilateral railing, about half a plethrum in circumference. This space is filled with a cloudy and dark vapour, so dense that the bottom can scarcely be discerned. To those who approach round the railing the air is innoxious, for in calm weather it is free from the cloud which then continues within the enclosure. But animals which enter within the railing die instantly. Even bulls, when brought within it, fall down and are taken out dead. We have ourselves thrown in sparrows, which immediately fell down lifeless. The Galli,[1556] who are eunuchs, enter the enclosure with impunity, approach even the opening or mouth, bend down over it, and descend into it to a certain depth, restraining their breath during the time, for we perceived by their countenance signs of some suffocating feeling. This exemption may be common to all eunuchs, or it may be confined to the eunuchs employed about the temple, or it may be the effect of divine care, as is probable in the case of persons inspired by the deity, or it may perhaps be procured by those who are in possession of certain antidotes.

The conversion of water into stone is said to be the property of certain rivers in Laodiceia, although the water is fit for the purpose of drinking. The water at Hierapolis is peculiarly adapted for the dyeing of wool. Substances dyed with “the roots,”[1557] rival in colour those dyed with the coccus, or the marine purple. There is such an abundance of water, that there are natural baths in every part of the city.

15. After Hierapolis are the parts beyond the Mæander. Those about Laodiceia and Aphrodisias,[1558] and those extending to Carura, have been already described. The places which succeed are Antiocheia[1559] on the Mæander, now belonging to Caria, on the west; on the south are Cibyra the Great,[1560] Sinda,[1561] and Cabalis, as far as Mount Taurus and Lycia.

Antiocheia is a city of moderate size situated on the banks of the Mæander, at the side towards Phrygia. There is a bridge over the river. A large tract of country, all of which is fertile, on each side of the river, belongs to the city. It produces in the greatest abundance the fig of Antioch, as it is called, which is dried. It is also called Triphyllus. This place also is subject to shocks of earthquakes.

A native of this city was Diotrephes, a celebrated sophist; his disciple was Hybreas, the greatest orator of our times.

16. The Cabaleis, it is said, were Solymi. The hill situated above the Termessian fortress is called Solymus, and the Termessians themselves Solymi. Near these places is the rampart of Bellerophon and the sepulchre of Peisandrus his son, who fell in the battle against the Solymi. This account agrees with the words of the poet. Of Bellerophon he speaks thus,

“he fought a second time with the brave Solymi;”[1562]

and of his son,

“Mars, unsated with war, killed Peisandrus his son fighting
with the Solymi.”[1563]

Termessus is a Pisidian city situated very near and immediately above Cibyra.

17. The Cibyratæ are said to be descendants of the Lydians who occupied the territory Cabalis. The city was afterwards in the possession of the Pisidians, a bordering nation, who occupied it, and transferred it to another place, very strongly fortified, the circuit of which was about 100 stadia. It flourished in consequence of the excellence of its laws. The villages belonging to it extended from Pisidia, and the bordering territory Milyas, as far as Lycia and the country opposite to Rhodes. Upon the [CAS. 631] union of the three bordering cities, Bubon,[1564] Balbura,[1565] and Œnoanda,[1566] the confederation was called Tetrapolis; each city had one vote, except Cibyra, which had two, for it could equip 30,000 foot soldiers and 2000 horse. It was always governed by tyrants, but they ruled with moderation. The tyrannical government terminated in the time of Moagetes. It was overthrown by Murena, who annexed Balbura and Bubon to the Lycians. Nevertheless the Cibyratic district is reckoned among the largest jurisdictions in Asia.

The Cibyratæ used four languages, the Pisidic, that of Solymi, the Greek, and the Lydian, but of the latter no traces are now to be found in Lydia.

At Cibyra there is practised the peculiar art of carving with ease ornamental work in iron.

Milya is the mountain-range extending from the defiles near Termessus, and the passage through them to the parts within the Taurus towards Isinda, as far as Sagalassus and the country of Apameia.

END OF VOL. II.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The ancient Tanais.

[2] These words are interpolated. _Casaubon._

[3] λιμένες, περίπλοι, περίοδοι γῆς.

[4] The territory of the Acarnanes is still called Carnia, south of the Gulf of Arta. The rest of the countries mentioned by Strabo no longer retain the ancient divisions, Bœotia is the modern Livadhia. _G._

[5] The Gulf of Lepanto.

[6] Makedunea.

[7] The ancient Thessaly is the modern Vlakea.

[8] The neighbourhood of the Gulf of Zeitun--the ancient Maliac Gulf.

[9] In Asia Minor, and founded the cities Miletus, Smyrna, Phocæa, &c.

[10] The word Ægialus (Αἰγιαλὸς) signifies sea-shore. The name was given to this part of the Peloponnesus (afterwards called Achaia) from the towns being situated generally along the coast. Others, however, give a different explanation to the word.

[11] 1113 before the Christian era. _G._

[12] Taking the reverse order in which these peninsulas are described, the fifth and last contains all the rest, the fourth all but the difference between the fourth and fifth, and so on in order until we come to the Peloponnesus, properly so called, which is thus the least of the peninsulas. Strabo himself seems to admit the term peninsula to be improperly applied to these subdivisions, by first describing Greece to be divided into two great bodies, viz. that within and that without the Isthmus of Corinth.

[13] For the same reason, at a subsequent period, it obtained the name of Morea, in Greek (Μορέα) which signifies mulberry, a species or variety of which tree bears leaves divided into five lobes--equal in number to the five principal capes of the Peloponnesus. See book ii. ch. i. 30.

[14] Cape Papa.

[15] Zante.

[16] Cephalonia.

[17] Theaki.

[18] Cape Matapan.

[19] Basilico.

[20] Gulf of Coron.

[21] Gulf of Colochina.

[22] Gulf of Napoli.

[23] Gulf of Castri.

[24] Gulf of Egina.

[25] Fidari.

[26] Aspro-potamo.

[27] Drepano.

[28] Castle of Roumelia.

[29] Patras.

[30] Vostitza.

[31] The words in brackets are inserted according to the suggestion of Groskurd. The Gulf of Corinth is, in other passages, called by Strabo the Crissæan Gulf.

[32] Od. xv. 298.

[33] Il. v. 545.

[34] Od. iii. 4.

[35] Igliaco.

[36] Chiarenza, in ruins.

[37] Cape Tornese.

[38] Il. ii. 650.

[39] Il. xv. 531.

[40] Od. i. 261.

[41] Od. ii. 328.

[42] Il. xi. 738.

[43] I read οἱ καὶ, as Meineke suggests, but the whole passage from “there is” to “Ephyra,” is, as he also remarks, probably an interpolation. Strabo has already enumerated four cities of the name of Ephyra, viz. the Eliac, the Thesprotic, the Corinthian, and the Thessalian; yet here two others are presented to our notice, the Sicyonian and the Ætolian, of which Strabo makes no mention in his account of Ætolia and Sicyonia.

[44] Il. xxiv. 78.

[45] Il. ii. 730.

[46] Il. ii. 591.

[47] This is supposed to be the modern Navarino. The Coryphasium is Mount St. Nicholas. _G._

[48] Κοίλη Ἦλις, or Cœle-Elis.

[49] Il. ii. 615.

[50] Il. xxiii. 630.

[51] Od. i. 344.

[52] Od. ii. 496.

[53] Il. ix. 529.

[54] Il. ii. 625.

[55] Il. ii. 756.

[56] This passage in brackets is an interpolation to explain the subsequent inquiry who the Caucones were. _Kramer._

[57] Il. iii. 636.

[58] Book vii. ch. vii. 2.

[59] Il. vii. 135.

[60] This passage is transposed from the following section, as proposed by Groskurd.

[61] θρύον, the meaning of this word is uncertain; Meyer in his “Botanische erklarung” of Strabo does not attempt to explain it.

[62] Od. iii. 4.

[63] Book xii. c. 3, 4. Little, however, can be obtained of their history, which is buried in the same obscurity as the Pelasgi and Leleges.

[64] This passage is an interpolation by the same hand probably as that in s. 11. _Cramer._

[65] Dardanus was the son of Jupiter and Electra, one of the seven daughters of Atlas, surnamed Atlantides.

[66] Il. ii. 591.

[67] Il. ii. 721.

[68] Hercules, after killing the Hydra, dipped the arrows which he afterwards made use of against the Centaurs, in gall of this monster. Pausanias, however, speaks of one Centaur only, Chiron, or, according to others, Polenor, who washed his wounds in the Anigrus.

[69] The daughters of Prœtus. According to Apollodorus, Melampus cured them of madness, probably the effect of a disease of the skin.

[70] Alphi, Lepra alphoides. Leuce, white tetter or common leprosy. Leichen, a cutaneous disease tending to leprosy.

[71] The position of Pylus of Messenia is uncertain. D’Anville places it at New Navarino. Barbié de Bocage at Old Navarino. See also Ernst Curtius, Peloponnesus.

[72] Il. vii. 133.

[73] Il. ix. 153.

[74] Some MSS. have 120 stadia.

[75] Il. ii. 591.

[76] Il. xi. 710.

[77] A marsh.

[78] The sea-shore.

[79] Il. xi. 710.

[80] Il. ii. 697.

[81] Il. ii. 584.

[82] In the discussion which follows, Strabo endeavours to prove, that the Pylus of Nestor is the Pylus of Triphylia, and not the Pylus of Messenia.

[83] Od. xv. 295.

[84] Od. iv. 671; xv. 298.

[85] Il. xi. 677.

[86] Il. xi. 681.

[87] Il. xi. 756.

[88] Il. xi. 697.

[89] Il. i. 528.

[90] Il. viii. 199.

[91] Probably an interpolation.

[92] The establishment of the Olympic games is connected with many legends, and is involved in much obscurity. See Smith, Greek and Roman Antiq.

[93] 776 B. C.

[94] Il. xi. 677.

[95] An interpolation. _K._

[96] Od. ii. 238.

[97] An interpolation. _Meineke._

[98] An interpolation. _Groskurd._

[99] The text of Homer gives the name of Pharis.

[100] Il. ix. 150.

[101] Il. ii. 582.

[102] Thucydides, b. iv. ch. 2. The expedition was under the command of Eurymedon and Sophocles. Stratocles being at the time archon at Athens.

[103] Thucydides, b. iv. ch. 38. The number was 292.

[104] Strivali.

[105] According to Pausanias, Mothone, or Methone, was the Pedasus of Homer. It is the modern Modon.

[106] Cape Gallo. The Gulf of Messenia is now the Gulf of Coron.

[107] The name Thyrides, the little gates, is probably derived from the fable which placed the entrance of the infernal regions at Tænarum, Cape Matapan.

[108] For Cinæthium I read Cænepolis, as suggested by Falconer, and approved by Coray.

[109] Vitulo.

[110] Scardamula.

[111] As Strabo remarks, in b. x., that the temple was built by Nestor on his return from Troy, Falconer suggests that it might have derived its name from the river Nedon, near Gerenia, the birth-place of Nestor.

[112] In the island of Cos.

[113] According to Pausanias, Gerenia is the Enope of Homer.

[114] Hira in the time of Pausanias was called Abia (Palæochora?). Some interpreters of Homer were misled by the name of a mountain, Ira, near Megalopolis, and placed there a city of the same name, but Hira was on the sea-coast.

[115] Æpys, αἰπύς, lofty.

[116] The Pirnatza.

[117] So called from its fertility.

[118] In the text 250, σν, an error probably arising from the repetition of the preceding final letter.

[119] The Pamisus above mentioned was never called the Amathus. There were three rivers of this name, one near the Triphyliac Pylus, which was also called Amathus; a second at Leuctrum of Laconia; and a third near Messene.

[120] The ruins of Messene are now near the place called Mauromathia.

[121] Mount Vulkano.

[122] The first war dates from the year B. C. 743, and continued 20 years. The second, beginning from 682 B. C., lasted 14 years; the third concluded in the year 456 B. C., with the capture of Ithome, which was the citadel or fort of Messene. _Diod. Sic._ lib. xv. c. 66.

[123] The Messenians, driven from Ithome at the end of the third war, settled at Naupactus, which was given to them as a place of refuge by the Athenians, after the expulsion of the Locri-Ozolæ. It is probable that Strabo considers as a fourth war that which took place in the 94th Olympiad, when the Messenians were driven from Naupactus by the Lacedæmonians and compelled to abandon Greece entirely.

[124] Leake supposes Amyclæ to have been situated between Iklavokhori and Sparta, on the hill of Agia Kyriaki, half a mile from the Eurotas. At this place he discovered on an imperfect inscription the letters ΑΜΥ following a proper name, and leaving little doubt that the incomplete word was ΑΜΥΚΛΑΙΟΥ. See _Smith_.

[125] Cape Matapan.

[126] The Ass’s Jaw. It is detached from the continent, and is now the island of Servi.

[127] Cerigo.

[128] 750 stadia. _Groskurd._

[129] By others written in the singular number, Malea, now C. St. Angelo.

[130] The site of Gythium is identified as between Marathonisi and Trinissa.

[131] The Iri, or Vasili Potamo.

[132] Il. ii. 584.

[133] Rupina, or Castel Rampano. The plain of Leuce is traversed by the river Mario-revina.

[134] The site of Asopus appears, according to the ruins indicated in the Austrian map, to have been situated a little to the north of Rupina.

[135] κρῖ, δῶ, μάψ, for κριθή, δῶμα, μαψίδιον.

[136] Il. xix. 392.

[137] Probably an interpolation.

[138] The text here is very corrupt.

[139] 1090 B. C.

[140] Od. iii. 249, 251.

[141] His character is discreditably spoken of by Josephus, Antiq. b. xvi. c. 10. and Bell. Jud. b. i. c. 26.

[142] The cities of the Eleuthero-Lacones were at first 24 in number; in the time of Pausanias 18 only. They were kindly treated by Augustus, but subsequently they were excluded from the coast to prevent communication with strangers. Pausanias, b. iii. c. 21.

[143] From hence to the end of the section the text is corrupt. See Groskurd for an attempt to amend the text of the last sentence, which is here not translated.

[144] This quotation, as also the one which follows, are from a tragedy of Euripides, now lost.

[145] The Pirnatza.

[146] Κῆτος. Some are of opinion that the epithet was applied to Lacedæmon, because fish of the cetaceous tribe frequented the coast of Laconia.

[147] Il. i. 268.

[148] This may have taken place a little before the third Messenian war, B. C. 464, when an earthquake destroyed all the houses in Sparta, with the exception of five. Diod. Sic. b. xv. c. 66; Pliny, b. ii. c. 79.

[149] Pliny, b. xxxvi. c. 18, speaks of the black marble of Tænarus.

[150] Od. xxi. 13.

[151] Eustathius informs us that, according to some writers, Sparta and Lacedæmon were the names of the two principal quarters of the city; and adds that the comic poet, Cratinus, gave the name of Sparta to the whole of Laconia.

[152] Od. iii. 488.

[153] Cheramidi.

[154] Od. iii. 487.

[155] Od. ii. 359.

[156] The text to the end of the section is very corrupt. The following is a translation of the text as proposed to be amended by Groskurd. The epithet of Lacedæmon, hollow, cannot properly be applied to the country, for this peculiarity of the city does not with any propriety agree with the epithets given to the country; unless we suppose the epithet to be a poetical licence. For, as has been before remarked, it must be concluded from the words of the poet himself, that Messene was then a part of Laconia, and subject to Menelaus. It would then be a contradiction (in Homer) not to join Messene, which took part in the expedition, with Laconia or the Pylus under Nestor, nor to place by itself in the Catalogue, as though it had no part in the expedition.

[157] Skylli.

[158] The islands about Delos.

[159] The form thus given to the Gulf of Hermione bears no resemblance to modern maps.

[160] Pausanias calls it Epidelium, now S. Angelo.

[161] The ruins are a little to the north of Monembasia, Malvasia, or Nauplia de Malvasia.

[162] Cerigo.

[163] The ruins are on the bay of Rheontas.

[164] Toniki, or Agenitzi.

[165] Napoli di Romagna. Nauplius, to avenge the death of his son Palamedes, was the cause of many Greeks perishing on their return from Troy at Cape Caphareus in Eubœa, famous for its dangerous rocks. The modern Greeks give to this promontory the name of Ξυλοφάγος, (Xylophagos,) or devourer of vessels. Italian navigators call it Capo d’Oro, which in spite of its apparent signification, Golden Cape, is probably a transformation of the Greek word Caphareus.

[166] Strabo confounds Nauplius, son of Clytoreus, and father of Palamedes, with Nauplius, son of Neptune and Amymone, and one of the ancestors of Palamedes.

[167] Fornos.

[168] Castri.

[169] Damala.

[170] I. Poros.

[171] A place near the ruins of Epidaurus preserves the name Pedauro. _G._

[172] Scheno.

[173] Il. iv. 52.

[174] Il. ii. 559.

[175] Il. i. 30.

[176] Il. ii. 681.

[177] Il. ix. 141.

[178] Od. iii. 251.

[179] Od. xviii. 245.

[180] Book i. 3.

[181] Il. ii. 684.

[182] Od. i. 344.

[183] Od. xv. 80.

[184] Il. iv. 171.

[185] Sophocles, El. 10.

[186] Il. ii. 193.

[187] Od. ii. 376.

[188] Il. i. 3.

[189] Probably an interpolation. _Meineke._

[190] The Planitza.

[191] Il. vi. 623.

[192] Il. vi. 152.

[193] Od. i. 344.

[194] Il. ii. 108.

[195] About 1283, B. C.

[196] About 1190, B. C.

[197] Not strictly correct, as in the time of Pausanias, who lived about 150 years after Strabo, a large portion of the walls surrounding Mycenæ still existed. Even in modern times traces are still to be found.

[198] Il. ii. 559.

[199] From γαστὴρ, the belly, χεὶρ the hand.

[200] Poseidon, or Neptune. This god, after a dispute with Minerva respecting this place, held by order of Jupiter, divided possession of it with her. Hence the ancient coins of Trœzen bear the trident and head of Minerva.

[201] Πώγων, pogon or beard. Probably the name is derived from the form of the harbour. Hence the proverb, “Go to Trœzen,” (πλεύσειας εἰς Τροιζῆνα,) addressed to those who had little or no beard.

[202] Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes.

[203] Pidauro.

[204] Methana is the modern name.

[205] Thucyd. b. ii. c. 34. Methone is the reading of all manuscripts and editions.

[206] Herodotus, b. v. c. 83, and b. viii. c. 93.

[207] This colony must have been posterior to that of the Samians, the first founders of Cydonia.

[208] Il. ii. 496.

[209] Il. ii. 559.

[210] Il. ii. 497.

[211] Il. ii. 632.

[212] Thucyd. ii. 27; iv. 56.

[213] A place not known.

[214] Probably interpolated.

[215] Il. ii. 569.

[216] Tricorythus in place of Corinth is the suggestion of _Coray_.

[217] Iph. Taur. 508 _et seq._

[218] Orest. 98, 101, 1246.

[219] Οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐς Κόρινθον ἔσθ’ ὁ πλοῦς, which Horace has elegantly Latinized, Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum.

[220] ἱστοὺς--distaffs; also, masts and sailors.

[221] Strabo here gives the name of Crissæan Gulf to the eastern half of the Gulf of Corinth.

[222] Of or belonging to asses.

[223] The remains of an ancient place at the distance of about a mile after crossing the Erasinus, (Kephalari,) are probably those of Cenchreæ. _Smith._

[224] Crommyon was distant 120 stadia from Corinth, (Thuc. iv. 45,) and appears to have therefore occupied the site of the ruins near the chapel of St. Theodorus. The village of Kineta, which many modern travellers suppose to correspond to Crommyon, is much farther from Corinth than 120 stadia. _Smith._

[225] According to Pausanias, the Teneates derive their origin from the Trojans taken captive at the island of Tenedos. On their arrival in Peloponnesus, Tenea was assigned to them as a habitation by Agamemnon.

[226] B. C. 146.

[227] Aristeides of Thebes, a contemporary of Alexander the Great. At a public sale of the spoils of Corinth, King Attalus offered so large a price for the painting of Bacchus, that Mummius, although ignorant of art, was attracted by the enormity of the price offered, withdrew the picture, in spite of the protestations of Attalus, and sent it to Rome.

[228] This story forms the subject of the Trachiniæ of Sophocles.

[229] Mummius was so ignorant of the arts, that he threatened those who were intrusted with the care of conveying to Rome the pictures and statues taken at Corinth, to have them replaced by new ones at their expense, in case they should be so unfortunate as to lose them.

[230] The plastic art was invented at Sicyon by Dibutades; according to others, at the island of Samos, by Rœcus and Theodorus. From Greece it was carried into Etruria by Demaratus, who was accompanied by Eucheir and Eugrammus, plastic artists, and by the painter Cleophantus of Corinth, B. C. 663. See b. v. c. ii. § 2.

[231] Il. ii. 571.

[232] The ruins are situated below the monastery Kesra.

[233] Vasilika.

[234] Ægialus was the most ancient name of Achaia, and was given to it on account of the greater number of cities being situated upon the coast. The Sicyonians, however, asserted that the name was derived from one of their kings named Ægialeus.

[235] The story is narrated differently in Pausanias, b. vii. c. 1.

[236] About 1044 B. C.

[237] The twelve cities were Phocæa, Erythræ, Clazomenæ, Teos, Lebedos, Colophon, Ephesus, Priene, Myus, Miletus, and Samos and Chios in the neighbouring islands. See b. xiv. c. i. § 3. This account of the expulsion of the Ionians from Peloponnesus is taken from Polybius, b. ii. c. 41, and b. iv. c. 1.

[238] And Lacedæmonians, adds Polybius, b. ii. c. 39.

[239] Patras and Paleocastro.

[240] This festival, Panionium, or assembly of all the Ionians, was celebrated at Mycale, or at Priene at the base of Mount Mycale, opposite the island of Samos, in a place sacred to Neptune. The Ionians had a temple also at Miletus and another at Teos, both consecrated to the Heliconian Neptune. Herod. i. 148. Pausanias, b. vii. c. 24.

[241] Il. xx. 403.

[242] The birth of Homer was later than the establishment of the Ionians in Asia Minor, according to the best authors. Aristotle makes him contemporary with the Ionian migration, 140 years after the Trojan war.

[243] Ælian, De Naturâ Anim. b. ii. c. 19, and Pausanias, b. vii. c. 24, 25, give an account of this catastrophe, which was preceded by an earthquake, and was equally destructive to the city Bura. B. C. 373.

[244] The Syngathus Hippocampus of Linnæus, from ἵππος, a horse, and κάμπη, a caterpillar. It obtained its name from the supposed resemblance of its head to a horse and of its tail to a caterpillar. From this is derived the fiction of sea-monsters in attendance upon the marine deities. It is, however, but a small animal, abundant in the Mediterranean. The head, especially when dried, is like that of a horse. Pliny, b. xxxii. c. 9--11. Ælian, De Nat. Anim. b. xiv. c. 20.

[245] This distinguished man was elected general of the Achæan League, B. C. 245.

[246] The expulsion of the Carthaginians from Sicily took place 241 B. C. The war of the Romans against the Cisalpine Gauls commenced 224 B. C., when the Romans passed the Po for the first time.

[247] Text abbreviated by the copyist.

[248] Il. ii. 576.

[249] Il. ii. 639.

[250] Il. viii. 203.

[251] Il. xiii. 21, 34.

[252] Κράθις--κραθῆναι The Acrata. The site of Ægæ is probably the Khan of Acrata. _Smith._

[253] From the heights on which it was situated, descends a small river, (the Crius,) which discharges itself into the sea near Cape Augo-Campos.

[254] Vostitza.

[255] Leake places the port of Ægeira at Maura-Litharia, the Black Rocks, on the left of which on the summit of a hill are some vestiges of an ancient city, which must have been Ægeira.

[256] Phœn. 163.

[257] See above, § 3.

[258] Anab. v. 3. 8.

[259] Castel di Morea.

[260] Castel di Rumeli.

[261] Sunset.

[262] Gossellin suggests that the name Stratos was derived from a spot called the Tomb of Sostratus, held in veneration by the inhabitants of Dyme.

[263] The Risso or Mana.

[264] From the fountain Dirce, and the rivers Asopus, Inachus, and Simoïs.

[265] Cape Papa.

[266] Now bears the name of Zyria; its height, as determined by the French commission, is 7788 feet above the level of the sea. _Smith._

[267] The Arcadians called themselves Autochthones, indigenous, and also Proseleni, born before the moon; hence Ovid speaking of them says, “Lunâ gens prior illa fuit.”

[268] B. C. 371.

[269] Mauro vuni.

[270] Mintha.

[271] Partheni.

[272] Called Katavothra by modern Greeks.

[273] The Landona.

[274] The Carbonaro.

[275] The Kephalari.

[276] The following section is corrupt in the original; it is translated according to the corrections proposed by _Kramer_, _Gossellin_, &c.

[277] The peninsulas described by Strabo, are:

1. The Peloponnesus, properly so called, bounded by the Isthmus of Corinth.

2. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from Pagæ to Nisæa, and including the above.

3. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from the recess of the Crissæan Gulf, properly so called, (the Bay of Salona,) to Thermopylæ, and includes the two first.

4. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from the Ambracic Gulf to Thermopylæ and the Maliac Gulf, and includes the three former.

5. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from the Ambracic Gulf to the recess of the Thermaic Gulf, and contains the former four peninsulas.

[278] These words are transposed from after the word Epicnemidii, as suggested by Cramer.

[279] The Crissæan Gulf, properly so called, is the modern Bay of Salona. But probably Strabo (or rather Eudoxus, whose testimony he alleges) intended to comprehend, under the denomination of Crissæan, the whole gulf, more commonly called Corinthian by the ancients, that is, the gulf which commenced at the strait between Rhium and Antirrhium, and of which the Crissæan Gulf was only a portion. The text in the above passage is very corrupt.

[280] From Sunium to the Isthmus.

[281] Libadostani.

[282] N. W. by W., 1/4 W.

[283] Literally, “by legs on each side.” Nisæa was united to Megara, as the Piræus to Athens, by two long walls.

[284] Il. ii. 546.

[285] Il. xiii. 685.

[286] See note to vol. i. page 329.

[287] This place is unknown.

[288] From a lost tragedy of Sophocles.

[289] Probably interpolated.

[290] Il. ii. 557.

[291] Il. xiii. 681.

[292] Il. iv. 327.

[293] Il. iv. 273.

[294] Il. iii. 230.

[295] Il. ii. 557.

[296] These horns, according to Wheler, are two pointed rocks on the summit of the mountain situated between Eleusis and Megara. On one of these rocks is a tower, called by the modern Greeks Cerata or Kerata-Pyrga.

[297] Lepsina.

[298] Σηκὸς.

[299] κατεσκεύασεν.

[300] ἐποίησε. Ictinus was also the architect of the temple of Apollo Epicurius near Phigalia in Arcadia.

[301] Thria.

[302] Scaramandra; from the height above Ægaleos, Xerxes witnessed the battle of Salamis.

[303] Megala Kyra, Micra Kyra.

[304] τὸ ἄστυ, the Asty, was the upper town, in opposition to the lower town, of Piræus. See Smith’s Dictionary for a very able and interesting article, _Athenæ_; also Kiepert’s _Atlas von Hellas_.

[305] Sylla took Athens, after a long and obstinate siege, on the 1st March, B. C. 86. The city was given up to rapine and plunder.

[306] Strabo thus accounts for his meagre description of the public buildings at Athens, for which, otherwise, he seems to have had no inclination.

[307] Hegesias was an artist of great celebrity, and a contemporary of Pheidias. The statues of Castor and Pollux by Hegesias, are supposed by Winkelman to be the same as those which now stand on the stairs leading to the Capitol, but this is very doubtful. _Smith._

[308] In the Erechtheium.

[309] The Heroum, or temple dedicated to the daughters of Leos, who were offered up by their father as victims to appease the wrath of Minerva in a time of pestilence. The position of the temple is doubtfully placed by Smith below the Areiopagus.

[310] The well-known temple of Theseus being the best preserved of all the monuments of Greece.

[311] An eminent geographer. He made extensive journeys through Greece to collect materials for his geographical works, and as a collector of inscriptions on votive offerings and columns, he was one of the earlier contributors to the Greek Anthology. _Smith._

[312] The Odeium was a kind of theatre erected by Pericles in the Ceramic quarter of the city, for the purpose of holding musical meetings. The roof, supported by columns, was constructed out of the wreck of the Persian fleet conquered at Salamis. There was also the Odeium of Regilla, but this was built in the time of the Antonines.

[313] The country was called Actica from Actæos. _Parian Chronicle._

[314] Demetrius Phalereus was driven from Athens, 307 B. C., whence he retired to Thebes. The death of Casander took place 298 B. C.

[315] Aratus, the Achæan general, 245 B. C., drove from Attica the Lacedæmonian garrisons, and restored liberty to the Athenians.

[316] B. C. 87.

[317] C. Halikes.

[318] Falkadi.

[319] Elisa.

[320] Raphti.

[321] Il. iii. 443.

[322] Macronisi.

[323] Negropont.

[324] From C. Colonna to C. Mantelo.

[325] Smith gives an alphabetical list of 160 demi.

[326] Monte San Giorgio.

[327] As Mount Hymettus was always celebrated for producing the best honey, it would appear from this passage that there were silver mines in it. It appears however that the Athenians had failed to discover silver in Hymettus. It is not impossible that Strabo has adopted literally some proverb or saying of the miners, such as, “Ours is the best honey.”

[328] In the following description of Greece, Strabo employs the term belts or bands ταινίας for the territory intercepted between the lines forming the peninsulas. See note, chap. i. § 1, of this book.

[329] About 67 yards. See also b. x. ch. i. § 8.

[330] Leuctra and Mantineia.

[331] The Thebans, who were formerly the allies of the Macedonians, were opposed to Philip of Macedon at the battle of Chæroneia. On the accession to the throne of Alexander, the city was destroyed, B. C. 335; 6000 of the inhabitants were killed, and 30,000 sold as slaves. The city was rebuilt, B. C. 316, by Casander. Pausanias, ix. 7. The ravages committed by Sylla in the war against Mithridates, which completed the final ruin of Thebes, must have been fresh in the memory of Strabo.

[332] Hieros Limen.

[333] New Eretria stood at Paleocastro, and old Eretria at Vathy.

[334] Dramesi.

[335] Athenæus, v. 15.

[336] Livy states (xlv. 27) that Aulis was distant three miles from Chalcis; by Homer (Il. ii. 303) it is called Αὐλὶς πετρήεσσα. About three miles south of Chalcis, on the Bœotian coast, are two bays, separated from each other by a rocky peninsula: the northern is small and winding, the southern spreads out at the end of a channel into a large circular basin. The latter harbour, as well as a village situated a mile to the southward of it, is called _Vathy_, a name evidently derived from βαθὺς λιμὴν. We may therefore conclude that Aulis was situated on the rocky peninsula between these two bays. _Leake_ and _Smith_.

[337] See above, c. ii. § 2.

[338] διῳκοδόμηται δ’ εἰς αὐτοὺς σῦριγξ The passage does not give a clear explanation of the fact. Livy, b. xxviii. c. 6.

[339] Thucydides, b. ii. ch. 23, says that Graia is on the road leading from Oropus to Athens.

[340] In modern maps a modern town, Skoimandri, is laid down near the ruins of Tanagra. Pausanias, b. ix. ch. 20, informs us why Tanagra was called both Poimandria and Graia. Tanagra was the daughter of Æolus and wife of Poimandrus; she arrived at such an extreme old age, as to receive the title of Graia, the Old.

[341] Argyrokastro.

[342] The exact site of Harma is uncertain. Leake supposes it to have occupied the important pass on the road from Thebes to Chalcis, leading to the maritime plain. Pausanias, b. ix. ch. 19, says that it obtained its name from the chariot of Amphiaraus having disappeared there.

[343] We should perhaps read Harma, says _Kramer_; but in that case Tanagra of Bœotia would be upon the right hand. The reading Argos is a manifest error, and the whole passage is corrupt.

[344] Il. ii. 508.

[345] Leake supposes Ægæ to have stood near Limni. Strabo, below, ch. vii. § 4, says that probably the Ægæan Sea had its name from this place.

[346] Of this place, although mentioned by Thucydides, b. iii. ch. 89, very little is known, in consequence no doubt of its having almost entirely disappeared by an earthquake, which took place about 426 or 425 years B. C.

[347] Ktypa-vuna.

[348] Near Anthedon was a place called the Leap of Glaucus, where he threw himself into the sea. Pausanias, ix. 22. The ruins of Anthedon are situated 1-1/2 mile from _Lukisi_. _Smith._

[349] This passage is very corrupt.

[350] The sites of these places are unknown.

[351] Mauro-potamos.

[352] Lake of Livadhia.

[353] Κώπη, an oar.

[354] That is, by natural or artificial subterraneous channels.

[355] Mauroneri.

[356] Pliny, b. xvi. c. 36.

[357] Il. ii. 503.

[358] There were several rivers of this name. See below, c. iii. § 16.

[359] Il. ii. 523.

[360] See below, ch. iii. § 15. Elateia is represented by the modern village of Elefta.

[361] See ch. ii. § 26.

[362] It is impossible to make any exact statement respecting its extent, since it varied so much at different times of the year and in different seasons. On the northern and eastern sides its extent is limited by a range of heights, but on the opposite quarter there is no such natural boundary to its size. _Smith_, v. _Bœotia_, which contains also a useful map from Forschamer’s _Hellenica_ of the Basin of the Copais.

[363] There appears to be no modern lake in the position assigned to Trephea by _Kiepert_. Kramer suggests the omission here of the word Trephea.

[364] Il. v. 708.

[365] Makaris.

[366] Il. xx. 385.

[367] Thiva.

[368] Il. ii. 500.

[369] Il. vii. 221.

[370] The text is in a very imperfect state. The section is translated as proposed to be emended by _Kramer_.

[371] Morikios.

[372] Kalyvi.

[373] Mount Elatea.

[374] There is some doubt respecting the modern name of Thespiæ; the Austrian map places the ruins near Erimokastro.

[375] Placing Ascra at Pyrgaki, there is little doubt that Aganippe, whence the Muses were called Aganippides, is the fountain which issues from the left bank of the torrent flowing midway between Paleopanaghea and Pyrgaki. Around this fountain Leake observed numerous square blocks, and in the neighbouring fields stones and remains of habitations. The position of the Grove of the Muses is fixed at St. Nicholas, by an inscription which Leake discovered there relating to the Museia, or the games of the Muses, which were celebrated there under the presidency of the Thespians. Paus. b. ix. c. 31. In the time of Pausanias the Grove of the Muses contained a larger number of statues than any other place in Bœotia, and this writer has given an account of many of them. The statues of the Muses were removed by Constantine from this place to his new capital, where they were destroyed by fire, in A. D. 404. _Smith._

[376] Works and Days, 639.

[377] This is a mistake, since the loftiest summit of Helicon is barely 5000 feet high, whilst that of Parnassus is upwards of 8000 feet. _Smith._ Helicon is a range of mountains with several summits, of which the loftiest is a round mountain now called Paleovuni. _Smith._ The Austrian map gives the modern name Zagora to Helicon.