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Arrian · Periplus of the Euxine Sea §19.1-19.5

The Tanais, Lake Maeotis, and Tauric Ports

Passage 19 of 25 · Greek

Summary

The author outlines the distance from Panticapaeum to the Tanais River, discussing the border of Europe and Asia, and details the circumnavigation of Lake Maeotis alongside coastal distances around Taurica to Carcinitis and the Beautiful Harbor.

§19.1καὶ πόλιν τοῦ Βοσπόρου Παντικάπαιον τεσσαράκοντα καὶ πεντακόσιοι.
and to Panticapaeum, a city of the Bosporus, five hundred and forty [stades].
ἐνθένδε ἐπὶ Τάναϊν ποταμὸν ἑξήκοντα, ὃς λέγεται ὁρίζειν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσίας τὴν Εὐρώπην.
From here to the river Tanais is sixty [stades], which is said to divide Europe from Asia.
καὶ ὁρμᾶται μὲν ἀπὸ λίμνης τῆς Μαιώτιδος, ἐσβάλλει δὲ ἐς θάλασσαν τὴν τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου.
And it flows indeed from the Maeotis Lake, and empties into the sea of the Euxine Pontus.
καίτοι Αἰσχύλος ἐν Προμηθεῖ Λυομένῳ τὸν Φᾶσιν ὅρον §19.2τῆς Εὐρώπης καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ποιεῖ.
Although Aeschylus, in *Prometheus Unbound*, makes the Phasis the boundary of Europe and Asia.
λέγουσι γοῦν αὐτῷ οἱ Τιτᾶνες πρὸς τὸν Προμηθέα ὅτι "ἥκομεν τοὺς σοὺς ἄθλους τούσδε, Προμηθεῦ, δεσμοῦ τε πάθος τόδʼ ἐποψόμενοι. " ἔπειτα καταλέγουσιν ὅσην χώραν ἐπῆλθον· "τῇ μὲν δίδυμον χθονὸς Εὐρώπης μέγαν ἠδʼ Ἀσίας τέρμονα Φᾶσιν. " τῆς δὲ λίμνης τῆς Μαιώτιδος περίπλους ἐν κύκλῳ λέγεται §19.3σταδίων ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἐνακισχιλίους.
At any rate, in his play the Titans say to Prometheus that:\n"We have come to look upon these struggles of yours, Prometheus, and this suffering of your bond."\nThen they enumerate how much land they traversed: \n"On one side, the Phasis, the great twin boundary of the land of Europe and Asia."\nAnd the circumnavigation of the Maeotis Lake is said to be around nine thousand stades in circumference.
ἀπὸ δὲ Παντικαπαίου ἐς κώμην Καζέκα ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ ᾠκισμένην στάδιοι εἴκοσι καὶ τετρακόσιοι.
And from Panticapaeum to the village of Kazeka, situated by the sea, is four hundred and twenty stades.
ἐνθένδε ἐς Θευδοσίαν πόλιν ἐρήμην στάδιοι ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ διακόσιοι.
From here to the deserted city of Theudosia is two hundred and eighty stades.
καὶ §19.4αὕτη παλαιὰ ἦν Ἑλλὰς πόλις Ἰωνική, Μιλησίων ἄποικος, καὶ μνήμη ἐστὶν αὐτῆς ἐν πολλοῖς γράμμασιν.
And this was an ancient Greek, Ionian city, a colony of the Milesians, and mention is made of it in many writings.
ἐνθένδε ἐς λιμένα Σκυθοταύρων ἔρημον στάδιοι διακόσιοι· καὶ ἔνθεν ἐς Λαμπάδα τῆς Ταυρικῆς στάδιοι ἑξακόσιοι.
From here to the deserted harbor of the Scythotauri is two hundred stades; and from there to Lampas of Taurica is six hundred stades.
§19.5ἀπὸ δὲ Λαμπάδος ἐς Συμβόλου λιμένα, Ταυρικὸν καὶ τοῦτον, στάδιοι εἴκοσι καὶ πεντακόσιοι.
And from Lampas to the harbor of Symbolon, this also being Taurican, is five hundred and twenty stades.
καὶ ἔνθεν ἐς Χερρόνησον τῆς Ταυρικῆς ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν.
And from there to Cherronesus of Taurica is one hundred and eighty [stades].
ἀπὸ δὲ Χερρονήσου ἐς Καρκινῖτιν στάδιοι ἑξακόσιοι, καὶ ἀπὸ Καρκινίτιδος ἐς Καλὸν λιμένα, Σκυθικὸν καὶ τοῦτον, ἄλλοι ἑπτακόσιοι.
From Cherronesus to Carcinitis is six hundred stades, and from Carcinitis to the Beautiful Harbor, this also being Scythian, is another seven hundred [stades].

Notes

  1. 29καὶ πόλιν τοῦ Βοσπόρου Παντικάπαιον — A continuation from the end of the previous chunk (§18.4) "to the Bosporus called...". The accusative phrase πόλιν ... Παντικάπαιον denotes the destination, while the point of origin ("from the Bosporus") is grammatically omitted. The sense is "and [from the Bosporus] to Panticapaeum, a city of the Bosporus..."
  2. 19.2αὐτῷ — The third-person singular dative of the personal pronoun referring to Aeschylus. It functions here as a dative of reference or agent, meaning "in his work/play" or "according to him."
  3. 20δίδυμον χθονὸς Εὐρώπης μέγαν ἠδʼ Ἀσίας τέρμονα Φᾶσιν — A poetic quote showing a prominent hyperbaton. The noun-epithet structure δίδυμον μέγαν τέρμονα Φᾶσιν ("the great twin boundary, the Phasis") is interwoven with the genitives χθονὸς Εὐρώπης ἠδʼ Ἀσίας ("of the land of Europe and Asia"). The entire accusative phrase functions as the direct object of an omitted verb of traversing implied by the preceding context.

Cite this passage

Arrian, Periplus of the Euxine Sea §19.1-19.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0074.tlg004.humanitext-grc2:19.1-19.5

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