Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 1.2.33

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[33] When, after mentioning Phoenicia, he talks of Sidon, its metropolis, he merely employs a common form of expression, for example,

He urged the Trojans and Hector to the ships.¹ Iliad xiii. 1.

For the sons of magnanimous Oeneus were no more, nor was he himself surviving; moreover, fair-haired Meleager was dead.²

He came to Ida—and to Gargarus.³

Iliad viii. 47.

He possessed Euboea, Chalcis, and Eretria.⁴

Iliad ii. 536. Sappho likewise [says],

Whether Cyprus, or the spacious-harboured Paphos.⁵

But he had some other cause besides this for mentioning Sidon immediately after having spoken of the Phoenicians: for had he merely desired to recount the nations in order, it would have been quite sufficient to say,

Having wandered to Cyprus, Phoenice, and the Egyptians, I came to the Ethiopians.⁶

But that he might record his sojourn amongst the Sidonians, which was considerably prolonged, he thought it well to refer to it repeatedly. Thus he praises their prosperity and skill in the arts, and alludes to the hospitality the citizens had shown to Helen and Alexander. Thus he tells us of the many [treasures]of this nature laid up in store by Alexander.⁷

There his treasures lay,

Works of Sidonian women, whom her son,

The godlike Paris, when he crossed the seas

With Jove-begotten Helen, brought to Troy.⁸

Iliad vi. 289. And also by Menelaus, who says to Telemachus,

‘I give thee this bright beaker, argent all,

But round encircled with a lip of gold.

It is the work of Vulcan, which to me

The hero Phaedimus presented, king

Of the Sidonians, when on my return

Beneath his roof I lodged. I make it thine.⁹

Odyssey xv. 115. Here the expression, work of Vulcan, must be looked upon as a hyperbole: in the same way all elegant productions are said to be the work of Minerva, of the Graces, or of the Muses. But that the Sidonians were skilful artists, is clear from the praises bestowed [by Homer] on the bowl which Euneos gave in exchange for Lycaon:

Earth

Own’d not its like for elegance of form.

Skilful Sidonian artists had around

Embellish’d it, and o’er the sable deep

Phoenician merchants into Lemnos’ port

Had borne it.¹⁰

Iliad xxiii. 742.

Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 1.2.33 focus

[33] εἰ δὲ Φοίνικας εἰπὼν ὀνομάζει καὶ Σιδωνίους τὴν μητρόπολιν αὐτῶν σχήματι συνήθει χρῆται, ὡς Τρῶάς τε καὶ Ἕκτορα νηυσὶ πέλασσε, καί οὐ γὰρ ἔτʼ Οἰνῆος μεγαλήτορος υἱέες ἦσαν, οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔτʼ αὐτὸς ἔην, θάνε δὲ ξανθὸς Μελέαγρος, καί Ἴδην δʼ ἵκανεν καὶ Γάργαρον, καί οἳ δʼ Εὔβοιαν ἔχον καὶ Χαλκίδα τʼ Εἰρέτριάν τε. καὶ Σαπφώ ἤ σε Κύπρος ἢ Πάφος ἢ Πάνορμος. καίτοι καὶ ἄλλο τι ἦν τὸ ποιῆσαν καίπερ ἤδη μνησθέντα τῆς Φοινίκης ἰδίως πάλιν καὶ τὴν Σιδῶνα συγκαταλέξαι.¹ πρὸς μὲν γὰρ τὸ τὰ ἐφεξῆς ἔθνη καταλέξαι ἱκανῶς εἶχεν οὕτως εἰπεῖν Κύπρον Φοινίκην τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίους ἐπαληθεὶς Αἰθίοπάς θʼ ἱκόμην· ἵνα δʼ ἐμφήνῃ καὶ τὴν παρὰ τοῖς Σιδωνίοις ἀποδημίαν τὴν ἐπὶ πλέον γενομένην, καλῶς εἶχεν εἴτʼ ἀναλαβεῖν εἴτε καὶ παραλαβεῖν· ἐμφαίνει δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐπαίνων τῆς παρʼ αὐτοῖς εὐτεχνίας καὶ τοῦ τὴν Ἑλένην προεξενῶσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μετὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου· διόπερ παρὰ τῷ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ἀποκείμενα λέγει ἔνθʼ ἔσαν οἱ πέπλοι παμποίκιλοι, ἔργα γυναικῶν Σιδονίων, ἃς αὐτὸς Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδὴς ἤγαγε Σιδονίηθεν τὴν ὁδόν, ἣν Ἑλένην περ ἀνήγαγε· καὶ παρὰ τῷ Μενελάῳ· λέγει γὰρ πρὸς Τηλέμαχον δώσω τοι κρητῆρα τετυγμένον· ἀργύρεος δὲ ἐστὶν ἅπας, χρυσῷ δʼ ἐπὶ χείλεα κεκράανται. ἄργον δʼ Ἡφαίστοιο· πόρεν δέ ἑ φαίδιμος ἥρως Σιδονίων βασιλεύς, ὅθʼ ἑὸς δόμος ἀμφεκάλυψε κεῖσέ με νοστήσαντα. δεῖ δὲ δέξασθαι πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν εἰρημένον τὸ Ἡφαίστου ἔργον, ὡς λέγεται Ἀθηνᾶς ἔργα τὰ καλὰ καὶ Χαρίτων καὶ Μουσῶν. ἐπεὶ ὅτι γε οἱ ἄνδρες ἦσαν καλλίτεχνοι, δηλοῖ τὸν κρατῆρα ἐπαινῶν, ὃν ὁ Εὔνεως ἔδωκεν ἀντὶ Λυκάονος· φησὶ γάρ κάλλει ἐνίκα πᾶσαν ἐπʼ αἶαν πολλόν· ἐπεὶ Σιδόνες πολυδαίδαλοι εὖ ἤσκησαν, Φοίνικες δʼ ἄγον ἄνδρες.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Iliad xiii. 1. Strabo means that Homer, after having spoken of the Trojans in general, mentions Hector in particular.

2. Iliad ii. 641. Having mentioned the sons of Aeneus collectively, he afterwards distinguishes one of them by name.

3. Iliad viii. 47. Gargarus was one of the highest peaks of Ida.

4. Iliad ii. 536. Chalcis and Eretria were two cities of Euboea.

5. We have here taken advantage of Casaubon’s suggestion to read ἡ πάνορμος instead of ἢ πάνορμος, the Greek name for Palermo in Sicily, which was not founded in the time of Sappho.

6. Odyssey iv. 83.

7. Paris.

Where were her variously embroidered robes, the works of Sidonian females, which godlike Alexander himself had brought from Sidon, sailing over the broad ocean, in that voyage in which he carried off Helen, sprung from a noble sire.

Iliad vi. 289.

I will give thee a wrought bowl: it is all silver, and the lips are bound with gold; it is the work of Vulcan: the hero Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it [to me], when his home sheltered me, as I was returning from thence. I wish to give this to thee.

Odyssey xv. 115.

10.

But in beauty it much excelled [all] upon the whole earth, for the ingenious Sidonians had wrought it cunningly, and Phoenician men had carried it.

Iliad xxiii. 742.

Strabo Geography 1.2.33

Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator)

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