Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 10.2.11

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[11] For instance, with respect to Ithaca, when the poet says,

and they who possessed Ithaca, and Neritum with its waving woods,¹

Il. ii. 632. he denotes by the epithet, that he means Neritum the mountain. In other passages he expressly mentions the mountain;

I dwell at Ithaca, turned to the western sun; where is a mountain, Neritum, seen from afar with its waving woods;²

but whether he means the city, or the island, is not clear, at least from this verse;

they who possessed Ithaca, and Neritum.

Any one would understand these words in their proper sense to mean the city, as we speak of Athens, Lycabettus, Rhodes, Atabyris, Lacedaemon, and Taygetus, but in a poetical sense the contrary is implied.

In the verses,

I dwell at Ithaca, turned to the western sun, in which is a mountain Neritum,

the meaning is plain, because the mountain is on the island and not in the city; and when he says,

we came from Ithaca situated under Neium,³

Od. iii. 81. it is uncertain whether he means that Neium was the same as Neritum, or whether it is another, either mountain or place. [He, who writes Nericum for Neritum, or the reverse, is quite mistaken. For the poet describes the former as waving with woods; the other as a well-built city; one in Ithaca, the other on the sea-beach of Epirus.]⁴

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

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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.) — 10.2.11 focus

[11] αὐτίκα γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰθάκης ὅταν φῇ

οἵ ῥʼ Ἰθάκην εἶχον καὶ Νήριτον εἰνοσίφυλλον,

¹ὅτι μὲν τὸ Νήριτον ὄρος λέγει τῷ ἐπιθέτῳ δηλοῖ. ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ καὶ ῥητῶς ὄρος

ναιετάω δʼ Ἰθάκην εὐδείελον· ἐν δʼ ὄρος αὐτῇ,

Νήριτον εἰνοσίφυλλον ἀριπρεπές.

²Ἰθάκην δʼ εἴτε τὴν πόλιν εἴτε τὴν νῆσον λέγει, οὐ δῆλον ἐν τούτῳ γε τῷ ἔπει

οἵ ῥʼ Ἰθάκην εἶχον καὶ Νήριτον.

³ κυρίως μὲν γὰρ ἀκούων τις τὴν πόλιν δέξαιτʼ ἄν, ὡς καὶ Ἀθήνας καὶ Λυκαβηττὸν εἴ τις λέγοι, καὶ Ῥόδον καὶ Ἀτάβυριν, καὶ ἔτι Λακεδαίμονα καὶ Ταΰγετον· ποιητικῶς δὲ τοὐναντίον. ἐν μέντοι τῷ

ναιετάω δʼ Ἰθάκην εὐδείελον· ἐν δʼ ὄρος αὐτῇ

Νήριτον

⁴ δῆλον· ἐν γὰρ τῇ νήσῳ οὐκ ἐν τῇ πόλει τὸ ὄρος. ὅταν δὲ οὕτω φῇ

ἡμεῖς ἐξ Ἰθάκης ὑπὸ Νηίου εἰλήλουθμεν,

⁵ἄδηλον, εἴτε τὸ αὐτὸ τῷ Νηρίτῳ λέγει τὸ Νήιον εἴτε ἕτερον ἢ ὄρος ἢ χωρίον⁶.

Translations (1)

Geography (Books 6-14) Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).) — 10.2.11 focus

[11] For instance, when Homer says in regard to Ithaca,

those who held Ithaca and Neritum with quivering foliage,

¹he clearly indicates by the epithet that he means the mountain Neritum; and in other passages he expressly calls it a mountain;

but I dwell in sunny Ithaca, wherein is a mountain, Neritum, with quivering leaves and conspicuous from afar.

²But whether by Ithaca he means the city or the island, is not clear, at least in the following verse,

those who held Ithaca and Neritum;

³for if one takes the word in its proper sense, one would interpret it as meaning the city, just as though one should say “Athens and Lycabettus,” or “Rhodes and Atabyris,” or “Lacedaemon and Taÿgetus”; but if he takes it in a poetical sense the opposite is true. However, in the words,

but I dwell in sunny Ithaca, wherein is a mountain, Neritum,

⁴his meaning is clear, for the mountain is in the island, not in the city. But when he says as follows,

we have come from Ithaca below Neïum,

⁵it is not clear whether he means that Neïum is the same as Neritum or different, or whether it is a mountain or place. However, the critic who writes Nericum⁶ instead of Neritum, or the reverse, is utterly mistaken; for the poet refers to the latter as “quivering with foliage,”⁷ but to the former as “well-built citadel,”⁸ and to the latter as “in Ithaca,”⁹ but to the former as “shore of the mainland.”¹⁰

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Il. ii. 632.

2. Od. ix. 21.

3. Od. iii. 81.

4. Probably interpolated. Kramer.

Strabo Geography 10.2.11

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

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