Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 10.4.8

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Chapter

← Previous Next →

[8] But Minos is said to have used as seaport Amnisus, where is the temple of Eileithuia.¹ In earlier times Cnossus was called Caeratus, bearing the same name as the river which flows past it. According to history, Minos was an excellent law-giver, and also the first to gain the mastery of the sea;² and he divided the island into three parts and founded a city in each part, Cnossus in the . . .³ And it, too,⁴ lies to the north. As Ephorus states, Minos was an emulator of a certain Rhadamanthys of early times, a man most just and bearing the same name as Minos’s brother, who is reputed to have been the first to civilize the island by establishing laws and by uniting cities under one city as metropolis⁵ and by setting up constitutions, alleging that he brought from Zeus the several decrees which he promulgated. So, in imitation of Rhadamanthys, Minos would go up every nine years,⁶ as it appears, to the cave of Zeus, tarry there, and come back with commandments drawn up in writing, which he alleged were ordinances of Zeus; and it was for this reason that the poet says,

there Minos reigned as king, who held converse with great Zeus every ninth year.

⁷⁸ Such is the statement of Ephorus; but again the early writers have given a different account of Minos, which is contrary to that of Ephorus, saying that he was tyrannical, harsh, and an exactor of tribute, representing in tragedy the story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, and the adventures of Theseus and Daedalus.

Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Geography (Books 6-14) (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 10.4.8 focus

[8] Μίνω δέ φασιν ἐπινείῳ χρήσασθαι τῷ Ἀμνισῷ, ὅπου τὸ τῆς Εἰλειθυίας ἱερόν. ἐκαλεῖτο δʼ ἡ Κνωσσὸς Καίρατος πρότερον ὁμώνυμος τῷ παραρρέοντι ποταμῷ. ἱστόρηται δʼ ὁ Μίνως νομοθέτης γενέσθαι σπουδαῖος θαλαττοκρατῆσαί τε πρῶτος, τριχῆ δὲ διελὼν τὴν νῆσον ἐν ἑκάστῳ τῷ μέρει κτίσαι πόλιν, τὴν μὲν Κνωσσὸν ἐν τῷ καταντικρὺ τῆς Πελοποννήσου· καὶ αὐτὴ δʼ ἐστὶ προσβόρειος. ὡς δʼ εἴρηκεν Ἔφορος, ζηλωτὴς ὁ Μίνως ἀρχαίου τινὸς Ῥαδαμάνθυος δικαιοτάτου ἀνδρὸς ὁμωνύμου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὃς πρῶτος τὴν νῆσον ἐξημερῶσαι δοκεῖ νομίμοις καὶ συνοικισμοῖς πόλεων καὶ πολιτείαις, σκηψάμενος παρὰ Διὸς φέρειν ἕκαστα τῶν τιθεμένων δογμάτων εἰς μέσον. τοῦτον δὴ μιμούμενος καὶ ὁ Μίνως διʼ ἐννέα ἐτῶν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀναβαίνων ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἄντρον καὶ διατρίβων ἐνθάδε, ἀπῄει συντεταγμένα ἔχων παραγγέλματά τινα, ἃ ἔφασκεν εἶναι προστάγματα τοῦ Διός· ἀφʼ ἧς αἰτίας καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν οὕτως εἰρηκέναι

ἐνθάδε Μίνως

ἐννέωρος βασίλευε Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής.

¹τοιαῦτα δʼ εἰπόντος οἱ ἀρχαῖοι περὶ αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἄλλους εἰρήκασι λόγους ὑπεναντίους τούτοις, ὡς τυραννικός τε γένοιτο καὶ βίαιος καὶ δασμολόγος, τραγῳδοῦντες τὰ περὶ τὸν Μινώταυρον καὶ τὸν λαβύρινθον καὶ τὰ Θησεῖ συμβάντα καὶ Δαιδάλῳ.

Translations (1)

Geography Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.) — 10.4.8 focus

[8] Minos, it is said, used as an arsenal Amnisus,¹ where is a temple of Eileithyia. Cnossus formerly had the name of Caeratus, which is the name of the river² which runs beside it. Minos³ is regarded as an excellent legislator, and the first who possessed the sovereignty of the sea. He divided the island into three portions, in each of which he built a city; Cnossus * * * * * *,⁴ opposite to Peloponnesus, which lies toward the north.

According to Ephorus, Minos was an imitator of Rhadamanthus, an ancient personage, and a most just man. He had the same name as his brother, who appears to have been the first to civilize the island by laws and institutions, by founding cities, and by establishing forms of government. He pretended to receive from Jupiter the decrees which he promulgated. It was probably in imitation of Rhadamanthus that Minos went up to the cave of Jupiter, at intervals of nine years, and brought from thence a set of ordinances, which he said were the commands of Jove; for which reason the poet thus expresses himself;

There reigned Minos, who every ninth year conversed with the great Jupiter.⁵

Od. xix. 178. Such is the statement of Ephorus; the ancients on the other hand give a different account, and say that he was tyrannical and violent, and an exactor of tribute, and speak in the strain of tragedy about the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, and the adventures of Theseus and Daedalus.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. The goddess of child-birth.

2. So Diod. Sic. lc , but see Hdt. 3.122 .

3. The thought, if not the actual Greek words, of the passage here omitted from the Greek MSS. can be supplied from Diod. Sic. 5.78 , who, like Strabo, depends much upon Ephorus for historical material: “(Cnossus in the) part of the island which inclines towards Asia, Phaestus on the sea, turned towards the south, and Cydonia in the region which lies towards the west, opposite the Peloponnesus”.

4. Cydonia, as well as Cnossus.

5. See 10. 4. 14.

6. We should say “every eight years,” or “every ninth year.”

7. Hom. Od. 19.178

8. Five different interpretations of this passage have been set forth, dependent on the meaning and syntax of ἐννέωρος: that Minos (1) reigned as king for nine years, (2) was nine years old when he became king, (3) for nine years held converse with Zeus, (4) every nine years held converse with Zeus, and (5) reigned as king when he had come to mature age. Frazer ( Paus. 3.2.4 adopts the first. Butcher and Lang, and A. T. Murray, adopt the second. Heracleides of Pontus On the Cretan Constitutions 3 seems to have adopted the third, saying that Minos spent nine years formulating his laws. But Plat. Minos 319c and Plat. Laws 624 says that Minos visited the cave of his father “every ninth year” ( δι’ ἐνάτου ἔτους); and Strabo (as 16. 2. 38 shows) expressly follows Plato. Hence the above rendering of the Homeric passage. Apart from the above interpretations, Eustathius (note on Odyssey 10.19, on a different passage) suggests that ἐννέωρος might pertain to “nine seasons, that is, two years and one month” (the “one month,” however, instead of “one season,” seems incongruous). This suggests that the present passage might mean that Minos held converse with Zeus during a period of one season every other year.

Strabo Geography 10.4.8

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers