Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 7.3.19

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[19] After the island¹ that lies off the Borysthenes, and next towards the rising sun, one sails to the cape² of the Race Course of Achilles, which, though a treeless place, is called Alsos³ and is sacred to Achilles. Then comes the Race Course of Achilles, a peninsula⁴ that lies flat on the sea; it is a ribbon-like stretch of land, as much as one thousand stadia in length, extending towards the east; its maximum breadth is only two stadia, and its minimum only four plethra,⁵ and it is only sixty stadia distant from the mainland that lies on either side of the neck. It is sandy,⁶ and water may be had by digging. The neck of the isthmus is near the center of the peninsula and is about forty stadia wide. It terminates in a cape called Tamyrace,⁷ which has a mooring-place that faces the mainland. And after this cape comes the Carcinites Gulf. It is a very large gulf, reaching up towards the north as far as one thousand stadia; some say, however, that the distance to its recess is three times as much. The people there are called Taphrians. The gulf is also called Tamyrace, the same name as that of the cape.

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

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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.) — 7.3.19 focus

[19] μετὰ δὲ τὴν πρὸ τοῦ Βορυσθένους νῆσον ἑξῆς πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον ὁ πλοῦς ἐπὶ ἄκραν τὴν τοῦ Ἀχιλλείου δρόμου, ψιλὸν μὲν χωρίον καλούμενον δʼ ἄλσος, ἱερὸν Ἀχιλλέως· εἶθʼ ὁ Ἀχίλλειος δρόμος, ἁλιτενὴς χερρόνησος· ἔστι γὰρ ταινία τις ὅσον χιλίων σταδίων μῆκος ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω, πλάτος δὲ τὸ μέγιστον δυεῖν σταδίων, ἐλάχιστον τεττάρων πλέθρων, διέχουσα τῆς ἑκατέρωθεν τοῦ αὐχένος ἠπείρου σταδίους ἑξήκοντα, ἀμμώδης, ὕδωρ ἔχουσα ὀρυκτόν· κατὰ μέσην δʼ ὁ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ αὐχὴν ὅσον τετταράκοντα σταδίων· τελευτᾷ δὲ πρὸς ἄκραν ἣν Ταμυράκην καλοῦσιν, ἔχουσαν ὕφορμον βλέποντα πρὸς τὴν ἤπειρον· μεθʼ ἣν ὁ Καρκινίτης κόλπος εὐμεγέθης, ἀνέχων πρὸς τὰς ἄρκτους ὅσον ἐπὶ σταδίους χιλίους, οἱ δὲ καὶ τριπλασίους φασὶ μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ καλοῦνται δὲ Τάφριοι. τὸν δὲ κόλπον καὶ Ταμυράκην καλοῦσιν ὁμωνύμως τῇ ἄκρᾳ.

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.) — 7.3.19 focus

[19] After the island¹ situated opposite the mouth of the Dnieper, in sailing towards the east, we arrive at the cape of the Course of Achilles.² The district is quite bare, notwithstanding that it is termed a wood. It is sacred to Achilles. Then we arrive at the Course of Achilles, a low peninsula; for it is a certain tongue of land about a thousand stadia in length, running out towards the east, and its width is but two stadia³ in the broadest part, and but four plethra⁴ in the narrowest. It is distant from the main-land, which runs out on both sides of the neck, about 60 stadia. It is sandy, but water is obtainable by digging. About the midst of the Course of Achilles⁵ is the neck of the isthmus [joining it to the main-land]. It is about 40 stadia in breadth, and terminates in a headland which they call Tamyraca.⁶ This possesses an anchorage opposite the main-land. Next comes the Gulf Carcinites, which is of considerable extent, reaching towards the north⁷ about 1000 stadia. Some affirm that it is three times that distance to the head of the gulf . . . . . . . . are called Taphrii. They likewise call the Gulf Carcinites the Gulf Tamyraca, the same as the headland.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. See 7. 3. 17.

2. Now Cape Tendra.

3. i.e.,, “a grove”; the word usually means a sacred precinct planted with trees, but is often used of any sacred precinct.

4. The western part (now an island) of this peninsula is called “Tendra,” and the eastern, “Zharylgatch” (or Djarilgatch”). According to ancient legends Achilles pursued Iphigenia to this peninsula and there practised for his races.

5. The plethron was one-sixth of a stadium, or 100 feet.

6. We would call it a “sand-bank.”

7. Now Cape Czile.

Strabo Geography 7.3.19

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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