§7.3.6τοιαῦτα μὲν οὖν κακῶς ἄν τις διαποροίη περὶ τῶν κειμένων παρὰ τῷ ποιητῇ περί τε Μυσῶν καὶ ἀγαυῶν ἱππημολγῶν· ἃ δʼ Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ περὶ νεῶν προοιμιαζόμενος εἴρηκεν ἥκιστα λέγοιτʼ ἄν.
Therefore, in such a way indeed, one might poorly raise difficulties about what is stated in the poet concerning the Mysians and the noble Hippemolgi; but what Apollodorus has said by way of introduction in the second book of "On the Ships" would least of all be acceptable.
ἐπαινεῖ γὰρ Ἐρατοσθένους ἀπόφασιν, ὅτι φησὶν ἐκεῖνος καὶ Ὅμηρον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς παλαιοὺς τὰ μὲν Ἑλληνικὰ εἰδέναι τῶν δὲ πόρρω πολλὴν ἔχειν ἀπειρίαν, ἀπείρους μὲν μακρῶν ὁδῶν ὄντας ἀπείρους δὲ τοῦ ναυτίλλεσθαι.
For he praises the declaration of Eratosthenes, because that writer says that both Homer and the other ancients knew Greek matters but had great ignorance of distant places, being inexperienced in long journeys by land, and inexperienced in seafaring.
συνηγορῶν δὲ τούτοις Ὅμηρόν φησι τὴν μὲν Αὐλίδα καλεῖν πετρήεσσαν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἔστι, πολύκνημον δὲ τὸν Ἐτεωνόν, πολυτρήρωνα δὲ τὴν Θίσβην, ποιήεντα δὲ τὸν Ἁλίαρτον· τὰ δʼ ἄπωθεν οὔτʼ αὐτὸν εἰδέναι οὔτε τοὺς ἄλλους.
And in support of these views, he says that Homer calls Aulis "rocky", just as it is, and Eteonus "many-ridged", and Thisbe "rich in doves", and Haliartus "grassy"; but that neither he himself nor the others knew of distant places.
ποταμῶν γοῦν περὶ τετταράκοντα ῥεόντων εἰς τὸν Πόντον μηδὲ τῶν ἐνδοξοτάτων μηδενὸς μεμνῆσθαι, οἷον Ἴστρου Τανάιδος Βορυσθένους Ὑπάνιος Φάσιδος Θερμώδοντος Ἅλυος· ἔτι δὲ Σκυθῶν μὲν μὴ μεμνῆσθαι, πλάττειν δὲ ἀγαυούς τινας ἱππημολγοὺς καὶ γαλακτοφάγους ἀβίους τε, Παφλαγόνας τε τοὺς ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ ἱστορηκέναι παρὰ τῶν πεζῇ τοῖς τόποις πλησιασάντων, τὴν παραλίαν δὲ ἀγνοεῖν· καὶ εἰκότως γε.
At any rate, though about forty rivers flow into the Pontus, he mentions not one of even the most famous, such as the Ister, the Tanais, the Borysthenes, the Hypanis, the Phasis, the Thermodon, and the Halys; and further, that he does not mention the Scythians, but invents certain noble Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii; and that he had learned of the Paphlagonians in the interior from those who approached the places by land, but was ignorant of the coast; and naturally so.
ἄπλουν γὰρ εἶναι τότε τὴν θάλατταν ταύτην καὶ καλεῖσθαι Ἄξενον διὰ τὸ δυσχείμερον καὶ τὴν ἀγριότητα τῶν περιοικούντων ἐθνῶν καὶ μάλιστα τῶν Σκυθικῶν, ξενοθυτούντων καὶ σαρκοφαγούντων καὶ τοῖς κρανίοις ἐκπώμασι χρωμένων· ὕστερον δʼ Εὔξεινον κεκλῆσθαι τῶν Ἰώνων ἐν τῇ παραλίᾳ πόλεις κτισάντων·
For this sea was unnavigable at that time and was called Axenus because of its stormy weather and the savagery of the surrounding tribes, and especially the Scythians, who sacrificed strangers, ate human flesh, and used skulls as drinking cups; but later it was called Euxinus when the Ionians founded cities on the coast.
ὁμοίως δʼ ἀγνοεῖν καὶ τὰ περὶ Αἴγυπτον καὶ Λιβύην, οἷον τὰς ἀναβάσεις τοῦ Νείλου καὶ προσχώσεις τοῦ πελάγους, ὧν οὐδαμοῦ μεμνῆσθαι, οὐδὲ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ τοῦ μεταξὺ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς καὶ τῆς Αἰγυπτίας θαλάττης, οὐδὲ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀραβίαν καὶ Αἰθιοπίαν καὶ τὸν ὠκεανόν, εἰ μὴ Ζήνωνι τῷ φιλοσόφῳ προσεκτέον γράφοντι
"
Αἰθίοπάς θʼ ἱκόμην καὶ Σιδονίους Ἄραβάς τε. "
οὐ θαυμαστὸν δʼ εἶναι περὶ Ὁμήρου·
Similarly, he was ignorant of matters concerning Egypt and Libya, such as the risings of the Nile and the silting up of the sea, of which he makes mention nowhere, nor of the isthmus between the Red Sea and the Egyptian Sea, nor of the regions of Arabia, Ethiopia, and the Ocean, unless we are to pay attention to Zeno the philosopher when he writes: "I came to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Arabs." And it is not surprising in the case of Homer; for even those still younger than he were ignorant of many things and told monstrous tales—Hesiod speaking of Half-dogs, Big-heads, and Pygmies; Alcman of Web-footed men; Aeschylus of Dog-headed men, Breast-eyed men, One-eyed men, and countless other things.
καὶ γὰρ τοὺς ἔτι νεωτέρους ἐκείνου πολλὰ ἀγνοεῖν καὶ τερατολογεῖν, Ἡσίοδον μὲν Ἡμίκυνας λέγοντα καὶ Μεγαλοκεφάλους καὶ Πυγμαίους, Ἀλκμᾶνα δὲ Στεγανόποδας, Αἰσχύλον δὲ κυνοκεφάλους καὶ στερνοφθάλμους καὶ μονομμάτους καὶ ἄλλα μυρία. ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων ἐπὶ τοὺς συγγραφέας βαδίζει Ῥιπαῖα ὄρη λέγοντας καὶ τὸ Ὠγύιον ὄρος καὶ τὴν τῶν Γοργόνων καὶ Ἑσπερίδων κατοικίαν, καὶ τὴν παρὰ Θεοπόμπῳ Μεροπίδα γῆν, παρʼ Ἑκαταίῳ δὲ Κιμμερίδα πόλιν, παρʼ Εὐημέρῳ δὲ τὴν Παγχαΐαν γῆν, παρʼ Ἀριστοτέλει δὲ ποταμίους λίθους ἐξ ἄμμου ἐκ δὲ τῶν ὄμβρων τήκεσθαι, ἐν δὲ τῇ Λιβύῃ Διονύσου πόλιν εἶναι, ταύτην δʼ οὐκ ἐνδέχεσθαι δὶς τὸν αὐτὸν ἐξευρεῖν.
And from these he proceeds to the prose writers, who speak of the Rhipaean mountains, the Ogygian mountain, and the dwelling-place of the Gorgons and the Hesperides, and the land of Meropis in Theopompus, the Cimmerian city in Hecataeus, the land of Panchaea in Euhemerus, and in Aristotle river-stones made of sand which melt from rains, and that in Libya there is a City of Dionysus, which it is not possible for the same person to find twice.
ἐπιτιμᾷ δὲ καὶ τοῖς περὶ Σικελίαν τὴν πλάνην λέγουσι καθʼ Ὅμηρον τὴν Ὀδυσσέως· εἰ γὰρ αὖ χρῆναι τὴν μὲν πλάνην ἐκεῖ γεγονέναι φάσκειν, τὸν δὲ ποιητὴν ἐξωκεανικέναι μυθολογίας χάριν.
And he also censures those who say that the wandering of Odysseus according to Homer took place around Sicily; for if, on the one hand, it is necessary to claim that the wandering took place there, but that the poet transferred it to the Ocean for the sake of myth-making...
καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις συγγνώμην εἶναι, Καλλιμάχῳ δὲ μὴ πάνυ μεταποιουμένῳ γε γραμματικῆς, ὃς τὴν μὲν Γαῦδον Καλυψοῦς νῆσόν φησι, τὴν δὲ Κόρκυραν Σχερίαν.
And there is pardon for the others, but not at all for Callimachus, who indeed lays claim to scholarship, since he says Gaudos is the island of Calypso, and Corcyra is Scheria.
ἄλλους δʼ αἰτιᾶται ψεύσασθαι περὶ Γερήνων καὶ τοῦ Ἀκακησίου καὶ Δήμου ἐν Ἰθάκῃ, Πελεθρονίου δʼ ἐν Πηλίῳ, Γλαυκωπίου δʼ ἐν Ἀθήναις.
And he accuses others of lying about Gerena, and the Acacesium, and Demus in Ithaca, and Pelethronium on Pelion, and the Glaucopium in Athens.
τούτοις δὲ μικρά τινα προσθεὶς τοιαῦτα παύεται, τὰ πλεῖστα μετενέγκας παρὰ τοῦ Ἐρατοσθένους, ὡς καὶ πρότερον ἐμνήσθημεν, οὐκ εὖ εἰρημένα.
And having added some small matters of this kind to these, he stops, having borrowed most of them from Eratosthenes, which, as we also mentioned before, were not well said.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ὕστερον ἐμπειροτέρους γεγονέναι τῶν πάλαι περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ Ἐρατοσθένει καὶ τούτῳ δοτέον· τὸ δʼ οὕτω πέρα τοῦ μετρίου προάγειν καὶ μάλιστα ἐφʼ Ὁμήρου, δοκεῖ μοι κἂν ἐπιπλῆξαί τις δικαίως καὶ τοὐναντίον εἰπεῖν, ὡς περὶ ὧν ἀγνοοῦσιν αὐτοί, περὶ τούτων τῷ ποιητῇ προφέρουσι.
For, on the one hand, that those of later times became more experienced than those of old in such matters must be granted both to Eratosthenes and to him; but to push this so far beyond measure, and especially in the case of Homer, seems to me that one might justly censure them and say the opposite, namely, that about the things they themselves are ignorant of, they bring charges against the poet.
τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστα οἰκείας μνήμης τυγχάνει, τὰ δʼ ἐν τοῖς καθόλου.
Some of these matters, then, will receive their proper mention in the detailed accounts, and others in the general discussions.