Geography

​Even if the poet had indeed recorded that this isthmus was once a continuous channel, how much greater belief would we have that the Ethiopians were divided in two, being separated by so great a strait? And what profit could there be from those outer Ethiopians who live along the ocean? For on the one hand, Telemachus and his companions admire the abundance of the ornament of the palace, which consists of ‘gold, amber, silver, and ivory.’ But of these, except for ivory, there is no abundance among them, who are for the most part the poorest of all and nomads. By Zeus, but Arabia was adjacent, and the regions as far as India! But of these, the one alone of all is called ‘Happy,’ and the other, even if they do not call it so by name, they yet conceive and describe as most happy. Now, Homer did not know India (for if he had known it, he would have mentioned it); and as for Arabia, which people now call Happy, it was not rich back then, but was itself poor, and most of it belonged to tent-dwelling men; and only a small part was spice-bearing, because of which indeed the country found this name, due to the fact that such merchandise is rare and precious among us. So now indeed they are wealthy and rich because their trade is frequent and abundant, but back then this was not likely. And for the sake of these very spices, some wealth might come to a merchant or a camel-driver from such cargoes; but Menelaus needed spoils or gifts from kings and dynasts, who both possessed things to give and were willing to do so because of his fame and glorious reputation. Thus, the Egyptians and the neighboring Ethiopians and Arabs were neither so completely destitute of livelihood nor unheard-of regarding the glory of the Atreidae—especially because of the success of the Trojan War—so that there was hope of benefit from them; just as is said concerning the breastplate of Agamemnon: ‘which once Cinyras gave him to be a guest-gift; for a great fame had reached Cyprus.’ And indeed, we must say that the greater part of his wandering took place in the regions around Phoenicia, Syria, Egypt, and Libya, and the places around Cyprus, and in general along our coast and the islands; for guest-gifts were to be found among these, and the opportunity to acquire things by force and by plundering—especially from those who had fought as allies of the Trojans—was from there. But the outer and distant barbarians offered no such hope. Therefore, Menelaus is said to have arrived in Ethiopia, not that he went deep into it, but up to the borders adjacent to Egypt. For perhaps the borders back then were even closer to Thebes, but even the present ones are near, those around Syene and Philae; of which the former belongs to Egypt, while Philae is a common settlement of the Ethiopians and the Egyptians. Therefore, there is nothing unreasonable if one who had arrived in Thebes reached as far as the borders, or even slightly beyond, of the Ethiopians, especially since he enjoyed royal hospitality. And in this way Odysseus also says he arrived at the land of the Cyclopes, having advanced only as far as the cave from the sea; for he says somewhere that it was situated at the edge of the land. And also to Aeolia and the Laestrygonians and the others, wherever he anchored, he says he arrived there. And so Menelaus also came to Ethiopia in this way, and in this way also to Libya, because he touched at certain places; from which indeed the harbor along Ardania above Paraitonion is called ‘Menelaus.’