Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 13.1.40

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[40] The present Ilians further tell us that the city was, in fact, not completely wiped out at its capture by the Achaeans and that it was never even deserted. At any rate the Locrian maidens, beginning a little later, were sent every year.¹ But this too is non-Homeric, for Homer knows not of the violation of Cassandra, but he says that she was a maiden at about that time,

for he² slew Othryoneus, a sojourner in Troy from Cabesus, who had but recently come, following after the rumor of war,³ and he was asking Cassandra in marriage, the comeliest of the daughters of Priam, without gifts of wooing,

⁴ and yet he does not so much as mention any violation of her or say that the destruction of Aias in the shipwreck took place because of the wrath of Athena or any such cause; instead, he speaks of Aias as “hated by Athena,”⁵ in accordance with her general hatred (for since they one and all committed sacrilege against her temple, she was angry at them all), but says that he was destroyed by Poseidon because of his boastful speech.⁶ But the fact is that the Locrian maidens were first sent when the Persians were already in power.

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.) — 13.1.40 focus

[40] λέγουσι δʼ οἱ νῦν Ἰλιεῖς καὶ τοῦτο ὡς οὐδὲ τελέως ἠφανίσθαι συνέβαινεν τὴν πόλιν κατὰ τὴν ἅλωσιν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, οὐδʼ ἐξελείφθη οὐδέποτε. αἱ γοῦν Λοκρίδες παρθένοι μικρὸν ὕστερον ἀρξάμεναι ἐπέμποντο κατʼ ἔτος· καὶ ταῦτα δʼ οὐχ Ὁμηρικά· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς Κασάνδρας φθορὰν οἶδεν Ὅμηρος, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὲν παρθένος ἦν ὑπʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον λέγει

πέφνε γὰρ Ὀθρυονῆα, Καβησόθεν ἔνδον ἐόντα,

ὅς ῥα νέον πτολέμοιο μετὰ κλέος εἰληλούθει.

ᾔτεε δὲ Πριάμοιο θυγατρῶν εἶδος ἀρίστην,

Κασσάνδρην, ἀνάεδνον.

¹ βίας δὲ οὐδὲ μέμνηται, οὐδʼ ὅτι ἡ φθορὰ τοῦ Αἴαντος ἐν τῇ ναυαγίᾳ κατὰ μῆνιν Ἀθηνᾶς συνέβη ἢ κατὰ τοιαύτην αἰτίαν, ἀλλʼ ἀπεχθανόμενον μὲν τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ κατὰ τὸ κοινὸν εἴρηκεν (ἁπάντων γὰρ εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἀσεβησάντων ἅπασιν ἐμήνιεν), ἀπολέσθαι δὲ ὑπὸ Ποσειδῶνος μεγαλορρημονήσαντα· τὰς δὲ Λοκρίδας πεμφθῆναι Περσῶν ἤδη κρατούντων συνέβη.

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.) — 13.1.40 focus

[40] The present Ilienses affirm that the city was not entirely demolished when it was taken by the Achaeans, nor at any time deserted. The Locrian virgins began to be sent there, as was the custom every year, a short time afterwards. This however is not told by Homer. Nor was Homer acquainted with the violation of Cassandra,¹ but says that she was a virgin about that time:

He slew Othryoneus, who had lately come to the war from Cabesus, induced by the glory of the contest, and who sought in marriage the most beautiful of the daughters of Priam, Cassandra, without a dower.²

He does not mention any force having been used, nor does he attribute the death of Ajax by shipwreck to the wrath of Minerva, nor to any similar cause, but says, in general terms, that he was an object of hatred to Minerva, (for she was incensed against all who had profaned her temple,) and that Ajax died by the agency of Neptune for his boasting speeches.

The Locrian virgins were sent there when the Persians were masters of the country.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. To appease the wrath of Athena, caused after the Trojan War by the sacrilege of Aias the Locrian in her temple (he dragged Cassandra away from the altar of the Palladium), the Locrians were instructed by an oracle from Delphi to send to her temple (as temple slaves) at Ilium two maidens every year for a thousand years. It appears that the servitude of the maidens lasted for only one year, each pair being released at the end of the year when the next pair arrived, but that upon their return home they were forced to remain unmarried (see Leaf, Annual of the British School at Athens, XXI, p. 148-154).

2. Idomeneus, son of Minos and King of Crete; one of the bravest heroes of the war.

3. Or perhaps “in quest of war’s renown” (Leaf).

4. Hom. Il. 13.363 . Homer mentions Cassandra in only two other places, Hom. Il. 24. 699 and Odyssey 11. 422

5. Hom. Od. 4.502

6. Hom. Od. 4.500 ff

Strabo Geography 13.1.40

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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