§1## ΔΙΟΝΥΣΙΟΥ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΟΥ ΑΝΑΠΛΟΥΣ ΒΟΣΠΟΡΟΥ
Εἰ μόνην συνέβαινε τοῖς ἀναπλέουσιν εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον Πόντον καὶ τὸ καλούμενον αὑτοῦ Στόμα τερπνὴν ἅμα καὶ θαυμαστὴν εἶναι τὴν ὄψιν, δυσχερὴς ἂν ἦν ἄλλως ἐπὶ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις ὁ λόγος·
DIONYSIUS OF BYZANTIUM: THE VOYAGE OF THE BOSPORUS If it happened that the sight alone was at once pleasant and wondrous for those sailing up into the Euxine Pontus and its so-called Mouth, the account concerning what is seen would otherwise have been difficult.
ἀπείργαστο γὰρ δὴ τὸ σύμπαν ὑπὸ τῆς ὄψεως ἀξιοθαύμαστον ἑαυτὴν παρεχομένης κατά τε ἐγγύτητα καὶ στενοχωρίαν τοῦ πορθμοῦ καὶ τὴν δι᾿ ὀλίγου τῆς θαλάττης πρὸς ἀμφοτέραν τὴν ἤπειρον ἐπιμιξίαν καὶ τὴν ἀγχιβαθῆ κόλπων καὶ λιμένων ἀνάχυσιν, ὑφ᾿ ὧν οὐχ ἧττον εὔθηρός ἐστιν ἢ σκεπανή, τοῦ ῥεύματος τὸ μὲν πλέον κατιόντος, ἔστι δὲ ὅτε κατ᾿ ἐπικράτειαν ἀναστρέφοντος, εἰσιόντων τε τῶν ἀκρωτηρίων τὴν παραγωγὴν παῤ ἀλλήλων ἀναπτυσσομένων καὶ ἐκ τῆς κατ᾿ εὐθὺ πορίας ἀναλυόντων τοῦ ῥεύματος τὴν βίαν·
For indeed, the whole has been rendered worthy of wonder by the sight presenting itself as such, owing to the closeness and narrowness of the strait, the intercourse of the sea with both continents within a short distance, and the deep-water expansion of gulfs and harbors, by which the strait is no less abundant in fish than sheltered, while the current for the most part flows down, but sometimes turns back under a dominant force, and as the projecting capes unfold their extension alongside one another and break the violence of the current from its straight course.
ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἐλάττω παρέχεται τῆς ὄψεως τὴν ἀκρόασιν, ἀναγκαῖον ἔδοξέ μοι συγγράψαι περὶ τούτων, ὡς τοῖς μὲν ἰδοῦσι μηδὲν ἐνδέοι τῆς ὁλοκλήρου καὶ τελειοτάτης ἱστορίας, οἱ δὲ μὴ θεασάμενοι τὸ γοῦν ἀκηκοέναι περὶ αὐτῶν ἔχοιεν.
But since this region provides something to be heard no less than something to be seen, it seemed necessary to me to write about these things, so that for those who have seen them there might be nothing lacking for a complete and most perfect history, while those who have not beheld them might at least have heard about them.
Ἀρχὴ δὲ αὑτὴ τοῦ τε λόγου καὶ τῆς τῶν χωρίων φύσεως πέλαγός ἐστιν ὁ Πόντος ὁ Εὔξεινος μεγέθει τῶν ἄλλων πλεῖστον, ὅσα μὴ πρὸς τὴν ἔξω θάλασσαν ἰσώσασθαι.
The beginning of both the account and the nature of these places is the Euxine Pontus, a sea greatest in size of all others, except for those that equal themselves to the outer ocean.
Μόνη δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν ἀνακέχυται λίμνη Μαιῶτις, ἣν μητέρα καὶ τροφὸν τοῦ Πόντου κατεφήμισε λόγος ἐκ παλαιᾶς μνήμης παραδεδομένος.
Alone above it is poured out the Lake Maeotis, which a tradition handed down from ancient memory has designated the mother and nurse of the Pontus.
Ταύτης τὸ μὲν περίμετρόν ἐστι δισχιλίων σταδίων, τὸ δὲ πέρας ποταμὸς ὁ Τάναϊς, ὅρος τῶν δυεῖν ἠπείρων.
The circumference of this lake is two thousand stades, and its limit is the river Tanais, the boundary between the two continents.