Humanitext Reader

Strabo · Geography §8.3.25-8.3.26

Homeric Cities and the Location of Nestor's Pylos

Passage 249 of 577 · Greek

Summary

The author continues the geographical identification of Homeric cities under Nestor's rule, and demonstrates that Nestor's homeland was the inland Triphylian Pylos, using the description of Telemachus' voyage.

§8.3.25ὁ δὲ Κυπαρισσήεις ἔστι μὲν περὶ τὴν πρότερον Μακιστίαν, ἡνίκα καὶ πέραν τῆς Νέδας ἔτι ἦν Μακιστία, ἀλλʼ οὐκ οἰκεῖται, ὡς οὐδὲ τὸ Μάκιστον· ἄλλη δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ Μεσσηνιακὴ Κυπαρισσία, ὁμώνυμος μὲν οὔ, ὁμοίως δὲ νῦν κἀκείνη λέγεται Κυπαρισσία ἑνικῶς τε καὶ θηλυκῶς, ὁ δὲ ποταμὸς Κυπαρισσήεις.
And Cyparisseeis is indeed in the territory of what was formerly Macistia, when Macistia was still even beyond the Neda, but it is not inhabited, just as Maciston is not either; and the Messenian Cyparissia is another place, not homonymous indeed, but that one is now likewise called Cyparissia in the singular and feminine, while the river is called Cyparisseeis.
καὶ Ἀμφιγένεια δὲ τῆς Μακιστίας ἐστὶ περὶ τὸν Ὑψόεντα, ὅπου τὸ τῆς Λητοῦς ἱερόν.
And Amphigeneia also belongs to Macistia, near the Hypsoeis, where the temple of Leto is.
τὸ δὲ Πτελεὸν κτίσμα μὲν γέγονε τῶν ἐκ Πτελεοῦ τοῦ Θετταλικοῦ ἐποικησάντων· λέγεται γὰρ κἀκεῖ " ἀγχίαλόν τʼ Ἀντρῶνα ἰδὲ Πτελεὸν λεχεποίην. " ἔστι δὲ δρυμῶδες χωρίον ἀοίκητον, Πτελεάσιον καλούμενον.
And Pteleon was founded by those who migrated from the Thessalian Pteleon; for of that place also it is said: "And Antron near the sea and Pteleon rich in grass." It is a woody place, uninhabited, called Pteleasion.
ἕλος δʼ οἱ μὲν περὶ τὸν Ἀλφειὸν χώραν τινά φασιν, οἱ δὲ καὶ πόλιν, ὡς τὴν Λακωνικήν " ἕλος τʼ ἔφαλον πτολίεθρον. " οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸ Ἀλώριον ἕλος, οὗ τὸ τῆς Ἑλείας Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν τῆς ὑπὸ τοῖς Ἀρκάσιν· ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ ἔσχον τὴν ἱερωσύνην.
As for Helos, some say it is a certain territory near the Alpheios, and others even a city, like the Laconian one: "And Helos, a city on the sea." And others say it is the marsh near Alorion, where is the temple of Heleian Artemis under the Arcadians; for those people held the priesthood.
Δώριον δʼ οἱ μὲν ὄρος, οἱ δὲ πεδίον, φασίν· οὐδὲν δὲ νῦν δείκνυται· ὅμως δʼ ἔνιοι τὴν νῦν Ὄλουριν ἢ Ὄλουραν ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ αὐλῶνι τῆς Μεσσηνίας κειμένην Δώριον λέγουσιν.
And as for Dorion, some say it is a mountain, others a plain; but nothing is shown now; nevertheless, some say that the present Oluris or Olura, situated in the so-called glen of Messenia, is Dorion.
αὐτοῦ δέ που καὶ ἡ Οἰχαλία ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ Εὐρύτου ἡ νῦν Ἀνδανία, πολίχνιον Ἀρκαδικὸν ὁμώνυμον τῷ Θετταλικῷ καὶ τῷ Εὐβοϊκῷ· ὅθεν φησὶν ὁ ποιητὴς ἐς τὸ Δώριον ἀφικόμενον Θάμυριν τὸν Θρᾷκα ὑπὸ Μουσῶν ἀφαιρεθῆναι τὴν μουσικήν.
And somewhere near this place is also Oichalia, that of Eurytus, which is now Andania, an Arcadian small town homonymous with the Thessalian and the Euboean ones; whence the poet says that Thamyris the Thracian, having arrived at Dorion, was deprived of his music by the Muses.
§8.3.26ἐκ δὴ τούτων δῆλον ὡς ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ ἡ ὑπὸ Νέστορι χώρα ἐστίν, ἣν πᾶσαν ὀνομάζει Πυλίων γῆν· οὐδαμοῦ δὲ ὁ Ἀλφειὸς οὔτε τῆς Μεσσηνίας ἐφάπτεται οὔτε τῆς κοίλης Ἤλιδος.
From these things indeed, it is clear that the territory under Nestor is on both sides of the Alpheios, all of which he names the land of the Pylians; and nowhere does the Alpheios touch either Messenia or hollow Elis.
ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ τῇ χώρᾳ ἐστὶν ἡ πατρὶς τοῦ Νέστορος, ἥν φαμεν Τριφυλιακὸν Πύλον καὶ Ἀρκαδικὸν καὶ Λεπρεατικόν.
For in this territory is the homeland of Nestor, which we call the Triphylian and Arcadian and Lepreatic Pylos.
καὶ γὰρ δὴ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι Πύλοι ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ δείκνυνται, οὗτος δὲ πλείους ἢ τριάκοντα σταδίους ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, ὅπερ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπῶν δῆλον.
For indeed, while the other Pyloses are shown on the sea, this one is more than thirty stades above it, which is also clear from the epic poetry.
ἐπί τε γὰρ τοὺς Τηλεμάχου ἑταίρους ἄγγελος πέμπεται πρὸς τὸ πλοῖον καλῶν ἐπὶ ξενίαν, ὅ τε Τηλέμαχος κατὰ τὴν ἐκ Σπάρτης ἐπάνοδον τὸν Πεισίστρατον οὐκ ἐᾷ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἐλαύνειν, ἀλλὰ παρατρέψαντα ἐπὶ ναῦν σπεύδειν, ὡς οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν οὖσαν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν ὅρμον.
For example, a messenger is sent to Telemachus' companions at the ship, inviting them to hospitality, and Telemachus, on his return from Sparta, does not allow Peisistratus to drive toward the city, but bids him turn aside and hasten to the ship, since the way to the city and the way to the anchorage are not the same.
ὅ τε ἀπόπλους τοῦ Τηλεμάχου οὕτως ἂν οἰκείως λέγοιτο " βὰν δὲ παρὰ Κρουνοὺς καὶ Χαλκίδα καλλιρέεθρον.
And the voyage of Telemachus would thus be fittingly described: "And they went past Crounoi and Chalcis with beautiful streams.
δύετό τʼ ἠέλιος, σκιόωντό τε πᾶσαι ἀγυιαί· ἡ δὲ Φεὰς ἐπέβαλλεν, ἀγαλλομένη Διὸς οὔρῳ, ἠδὲ παρʼ Ἤλιδα δῖαν, ὅθι κρατέουσιν Ἐπειοί. " μέχρι μὲν δὴ δεῦρο πρὸς τὴν ἄρκτον ὁ πλοῦς, ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ πρὸς ἕω μέρος ἐπιστρέφει.
And the sun set, and all the ways grew dark; and she made for Pheas, rejoicing in the breeze of Zeus, and past divine Elis, where the Epeians rule." Now indeed as far as this point the voyage is toward the north, but from here it turns toward the east.
παρίησι δὲ τὸν εὐθὺν πλοῦν ἡ ναῦς καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς καὶ τὸν εἰς Ἰθάκην διὰ τὸ τοὺς μνηστῆρας ἐκεῖ τὴν ἐνέδραν θέσθαι " ἐν πορθμῷ Ἰθάκης τε Σάμοιό τε· " " ἔνθεν δʼ αὖ νήσοισιν ἐπιπροέηκε θοῇσι. " θοὰς δὲ εἴρηκε τὰς ὀξείας· τῶν Ἐχινάδων δʼ εἰσὶν αὗται, πλησιάζουσαι τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ Κορινθιακοῦ κόλπου καὶ ταῖς ἐκβολαῖς τοῦ Ἀχελώου.
But the ship passes by the straight course, both the original one and that to Ithaca, because the suitors had set their ambush there "in the strait between Ithaca and Samos"; "and thence again he let her run on toward the swift islands." And he has called "swift" the "pointed" islands; these are of the Echinades, drawing near to the beginning of the Corinthian Gulf and to the mouths of the Acheloüs.
παραλλάξας δὲ τὴν Ἰθάκην, ὥστε κατὰ νώτου γενέσθαι, κάμπτει πάλιν πρὸς τὸν οἰκεῖον δρόμον τὸν μεταξὺ τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας καὶ τῆς Ἰθάκης, καὶ κατὰ θάτερα μέρη τῆς νήσου ποιεῖται τὴν καταγωγήν, οὐ κατὰ τὸν πορθμὸν τὸν Κεφαλληνιακόν, ὃν ἐφρούρουν οἱ μνηστῆρες.
And having passed Ithaca so as to have it at his back, he bends again toward his proper course between Acarnania and Ithaca, and makes his landing on the other parts of the island, and not through the Cephallenian strait, which the suitors were guarding.

Notes

  1. 8.3.25ὁ δὲ Κυπαρισσήεις ἔστι μὲν περὶ τὴν πρότερον Μακιστίαν — ὁ δὲ Κυπαρισσήεις (masculine nominative) can be taken as the city name in Homer's catalogue, but is clearly defined as the river name in the subsequent sentence. Here, it initiates a contrastive structure (ὁ μὲν... ἄλλη δʼ...) to avoid confusion between the ancient city and the current river.
  2. 8.3.25τὸ δὲ Πτελεὸν κτίσμα μὲν γέγονε τῶν ἐκ Πτελεοῦ τοῦ Θετταλικοῦ ἐποικησάντων — The genitive participle phrase τῶν ἐκ Πτελεοῦ τοῦ Θετταλικοῦ ἐποικησάντων functions as a genitive of agent modifying the noun κτίσμα (foundation/thing founded), meaning 'a foundation made by those who migrated from the Thessalian Pteleon.'
  3. 8.3.26ὅ τε ἀπόπλους τοῦ Τηλεμάχου οὕτως ἂν οἰκείως λέγοιτο — ἂν λέγοιτο is a potential optative, expressing a confident assertion that 'it would be fittingly described (in the poetry)' in this way. This serves to justify the relevance of the following quotation for Strabo's geographical hypothesis.
  4. 8.3.26παρίησι δὲ τὸν εὐθὺν πλοῦν ἡ ναῦς — The subject of the verb παρίησι (lets pass/avoids) is ἡ ναῦς (the ship), indicating that Telemachus' vessel bypassed the direct course. This describes an intentional deviation from the original route to avoid the suitors' ambush in the strait between Ithaca and Samos.

Cite this passage

Strabo, Geography §8.3.25-8.3.26. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.3.25-8.3.26

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