Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 13.1.41

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[41] Such is the account of the Ilienses. But Homer speaks expressly of the demolition of the city:

The day will come when at length sacred Ilium shall perish,

Il. vi. 448.

After we have destroyed the lofty city of Priam,

Od. iii. 130.

By counsel, by wisdom, and by artifice,

The city of Priam was destroyed in the tenth year.

Il. xii. 15.

Of this they produce evidence of the following kind; the statue of Minerva, which Homer represents as in a sitting posture, is seen at present to be a standing figure, for he orders them

to place the robe on the knees of Athene,¹

Il. vi. 92 and 273. in the same sense as this verse,

no son of mine should sit upon her knees,²

Il. ix. 455. and it is better to understand it thus, than as some explain it, by placing the robe at the knees, and adduce this line,

she sat upon the hearth in the light of the fire,³

Il. vi. 305. for near the hearth. For what would the laying the robe at the knees mean? And they who alter the accent, and for γούνασιν like θυιάσιν, or in whatever way they understand it,⁴ come to no conclusion. Many of the ancient statues of Minerva are found in a sitting posture, as those at Phocaea, Massalia, Rome, Chios, and many other cities. But modern writers, among whom is Lycurgus the rhetorician, agree that the city was destroyed, for in mentioning the city of the Ilienses he says, who has not heard, when it was once razed by the Greeks, that it was uninhabited?⁵

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.) — 13.1.41 focus

[41] οὕτω μὲν δὴ λέγουσιν οἱ Ἰλιεῖς, Ὅμηρος δὲ ῥητῶς τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τῆς πόλεως εἴρηκεν

ἔσσεται ἦμαρ ὅταν ποτʼ ὀλώλῃ Ἴλιος ἱρή.

ἦ γὰρ καὶ Πριάμοιο πόλιν διεπέρσαμεν αἰπήν².

Hom. Od. 3.130

βουλῇ καὶ μύθοισι.

πέρθετο δὲ Πριάμοιο πόλις δεκάτῳ ἐνιαυτῷ

³ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα δὲ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τίθενται τεκμήρια, οἷον ὅτι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τὸ ξόανον νῦν μὲν ἑστηκὸς ὁρᾶται, Ὅμηρος δὲ καθήμενον ἐμφαίνει· πέπλον γὰρ κελεύει

θεῖναι Ἀθηναίης ἐπὶ γούνασιν.⁴

⁵, Hom. Il. 6.273 ὡς καί,

μή ποτε γούνασιν οἷσιν ἐφέζεσθαι φίλον υἱόν.

⁶ βέλτιον γὰρ οὕτως ἢ ὡς τινὲς δέχονται ἀντὶ τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς γόνασι θεῖναι παρατιθέντες τὸ

ἡ δʼ ἧσται ἐπʼ ἐσχάρῃ ἐν πυρὸς αὐγῇ

⁷ ἀντὶ τοῦ παρʼ ἐσχάρῃ. τίς γὰρ ἂν νοηθείη πέπλου ἀνάθεσις παρὰ τοῖς γόνασι; καὶ οἱ τὴν προσῳδίαν δὲ διαστρέφοντες, γουνάσιν ὡς θυιάσιν, ὁποτέρως ἂν δέξωνται, ἀπεραντολογοῦσιν, εἴθʼ ἱκετ είας ἑρμηνεύοντες εἴτε φρένας. πολλὰ δὲ τῶν ἀρχαίων τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ξοάνων καθήμενα δείκνυται, καθάπερ ἐν Φωκαίᾳ Μασσαλίᾳ Ῥώμῃ Χίῳ ἄλλαις πλείοσιν. ὁμολογοῦσι δὲ καὶ οἱ νεώτεροι τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τῆς πόλεως, ὧν ἔστι καὶ Λυκοῦργος ὁ ῥήτωρ· μνησθεὶς γὰρ τῆς Ἰλιέων πόλεως φησί

τίς οὐκ ἀκήκοεν, ὡς ἅπαξ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων κατεσκάφθη, ἀοίκητον οὖσαν;

⁸

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).) — 13.1.41 focus

[41] So the Ilians tell us, but Homer expressly states that the city was wiped out:

The day shall come when sacred Ilios shall perish;

¹and

surely we have utterly destroyed the steep city of Priam,

by means of counsels and persuasiveness;

and in the tenth year the city of Priam was destroyed.

⁴And other such evidences of the same thing are set forth; for example, that the wooden image of Athena now to be seen stands upright, whereas Homer clearly indicates that it was sitting, for orders are given to “put” the robe

upon Athena’s knees

⁵ Hom. Il. 6.273 (compare

that never should there sit upon his knees a dear child).

⁶For it is better to interpret it⁷ in this way than, as some do, to interpret it as meaning “to put the robe ‘beside’ her knees,” comparing the words

and she sits upon the hearth in the light of the fire,

⁸which they take to mean “beside” the hearth. For how could one conceive of the dedication of a robe “beside” the knees? Moreover, others, changing the accent on γούνασιν⁹ accenting it γουνάσιν,¹⁰ like θυιάσιν¹¹ (in whichever of two ways they interpret it), talk on endlessly. . . There are to be seen many of the ancient wooden images of Athena in a sitting posture, as, for example, in Phocaea, Massalia, Rome, Chios, and several other places. Also the more recent writers agree that the city was wiped out, among whom is the orator Lycurgus, who, in mentioning the city of the Ilians, says:

Who has not heard that once for all it was razed to the ground by the Greeks, and is uninhabited?

¹²

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Il. vi. 92 and 273.

2. Il. ix. 455.

3. Il. vi. 305.

4. The corrupt passage replaced by asterisks is εὶ͂θ’ ἱκετεὐοντες τεθοͅένας, which is unintelligible.

5. The following is a translation of the passage, as found in the speech of Lycurgus, still preserved to us:

Who has not heard of Troy, the greatest

City of those times, and sovereign of all

Asia, that when once destroyed by

The Greeks it remained for ever uninhabited

Strabo Geography 13.1.41

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

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