Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 13.1.48

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[48] The temple of Apollo Smintheus is in this Chrysa, and the symbol, a mouse, which shows the etymology of the epithet Smintheus, lying under the foot of the statue.¹ They are the workmanship of Scopas of Paros. They reconcile the history, and the fable about the mice, in this following manner.

The Teucri, who came from Crete, (of whom Callinus, the elegiac poet, gave the first history, and he was followed by many others,) were directed by an oracle to settle wherever the earth-born inhabitants should attack them, which, it is said, occurred to them near Hamaxitus, for in the night-time great multitudes of field-mice came out and devoured all arms or utensils which were made of leather; the colony therefore settled there. These people also called the mountain Ida, after the name of the mountain in Crete. But Heracleides of Pontus says, that the mice, which swarmed near the temple, were considered as sacred, and the statue is represented as standing upon a mouse.

Others say, that a certain Teucer came from Attica, who belonged to the Demus of Troes, which is now called Xypeteon, but that no Teucri came from Crete. They adduce as a proof of the intermixture of Trojans with Athenians, that an Ericthonius was a founder of both people.

This is the account of modern writers. But the traces which now exist in the plain of Thebe, and at Chrysa situated there, coincide better with the description of Homer; and of these we shall speak immediately.²

The name of Smintheus is to be found in many places, for near Hamaxitus itself, besides the Sminthian Apollo at the temple, there are two places called Sminthia, and others in the neighbouring district of Larissa. In the district also of Pariane is a place called Sminthia; others in Rhodes,³ Lindus, and in many places besides. The temple is now called Sminthium.

Separate from the other is the Halesian plain near Lectum, which is not extensive, and the Tragasaean salt-pan near Hamaxitus,⁴ where the salt spontaneously concretes on the blowing of the Etesian winds. On Lectum stands an altar dedicated to the Twelve Gods, erected, it is said, by Agamemnon.

These places are in sight of Ilium, at the distance of a little more than 200 stadia. On the other side the parts about Abydos are visible, although Abydos is somewhat nearer.

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

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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.)

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Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 13.1.48 focus

[48] ἐν δὲ τῇ Χρύσῃ ταύτῃ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Σμινθέως Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστιν ἱερόν, καὶ τὸ σύμβολον τὸ τὴν ἐτυμότητα τοῦ ὀνόματος σῶζον, ὁ μῦς, ὑπόκειται τῷ ποδὶ τοῦ ξοάνου· Σκόπα δʼ ἐστὶν ἔργα τοῦ Παρίου· συνοικειοῦσι δὲ καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν εἴτε μῦθον τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ τὴν περὶ τῶν μυῶν. τοῖς γὰρ ἐκ τῆς Κρήτης ἀφιγμένοις Τεύκροις (οὓς πρῶτος παρέδωκε Καλλῖνος ὁ τῆς ἐλεγείας ποιητής, ἠκολούθησαν δὲ πολλοί) χρησμὸς ἦν, αὐτόθι ποιήσασθαι τὴν μονὴν ὅπου ἂν οἱ γηγενεῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιθῶνται· συμβῆναι δὲ τοῦτʼ αὐτοῖς φασι περὶ Ἁμαξιτόν· νύκτωρ γὰρ πολὺ πλῆθος ἀρουραίων μυῶν ἐξανθῆσαν διαφαγεῖν ὅσα σκύτινα τῶν τε ὅπλων καὶ τῶν χρηστηρίων· τοὺς δὲ αὐτόθι μεῖναι· τούτους δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἴδην ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Κρήτῃ προσονομάσαι. Ἡρακλείδης δʼ ὁ Ποντικὸς πληθύοντάς φησι τοὺς μύας περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν νομισθῆναί τε ἱεροὺς καὶ τὸ ξόανον οὕτω κατασκευασθῆναι βεβηκὸς ἐπὶ τῷ μυΐ. ἄλλοι δʼ ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἀφῖχθαί τινα Τεῦκρόν φασιν ἐκ δήμου Τρώων, ὃς νῦν οἱ Ξυπετεῶνες λέγεται, Τεύκρους δὲ μηδένας ἐλθεῖν ἐκ τῆς Κρήτης. τῆς δὲ πρὸς τοὺς Ἀττικοὺς ἐπιπλοκῆς τῶν Τρώων τιθέασι σημεῖον καὶ τὸ παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις Ἐριχθόνιόν τινα γενέσθαι τῶν ἀρχηγετῶν. λέγουσι μὲν οὖν οὕτως οἱ νεώτεροι, τοῖς δʼ Ὁμήρου μᾶλλον ἔπεσι συμφωνεῖ τὰ ἐν τῷ Θήβης πεδίῳ καὶ τῇ αὐτόθι Χρύσῃ ἱδρυμένῃ ποτὲ δεικνύμενα ἴχνη, περὶ ὧν αὐτίκα ἐροῦμεν. πολλαχοῦ δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ τοῦ Σμινθέως ὄνομα· καὶ γὰρ περὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Ἁμαξιτὸν χωρὶς τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν Σμινθίου δύο τόποι καλοῦνται Σμίνθια· καὶ ἄλλοι δʼ ἐν τῇ πλησίον Λαρισαίᾳ· καὶ ἐν τῇ Παριανῇ δʼ ἔστι χωρίον τὰ Σμίνθια καλούμενον, καὶ ἐν Ῥόδῳ καὶ ἐν Λίνδῳ, καὶ ἄλλοθι δὲ πολλαχοῦ· καλοῦσι δὲ νῦν τὸ ἱερὸν Σμίνθιον. χωρὶς γοῦν καὶ τὸ Ἁλήσιον πεδίον οὐ μέγα ἐντὸς τοῦ Λεκτοῦ καὶ τὸ Τραγασαῖον ἁλοπήγιον αὐτόματον τοῖς ἐτησίαις πηγνύμενον πρὸς Ἁμαξιτῷ. ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ Λεκτῷ βωμὸς τῶν δώδεκα θεῶν δείκνυται, καλοῦσι δʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἵδρυμα· ἐν ἐπόψει δὲ τῷ Ἰλίῳ ἐστὶ τὰ χωρία ταῦτα, ὡς ἐν διακοσίοις σταδίοις ἢ μικρῷ πλείοσιν· ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ τὰ περὶ Ἄβυδον ἐκ θατέρου μέρους, μικρὸν δʼ ὅμως ἐγγυτέρω ἡ Ἄβυδος.

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).) — 13.1.48 focus

[48] In this Chrysa is also the temple of Sminthian Apollo; and the symbol which preserves the etymology of the name,¹ I mean the mouse, lies beneath the foot of his image. These are the works of Scopas of Paros; and also the history, or myth, about the mice is associated with this place: When the Teucrians arrived from Crete (Callinus the elegiac poet was the first to hand down an account of these people, and many have followed him), they had an oracle which bade them to “stay on the spot where the earth-born should attack them”; and, he says the attack took place round Hamaxitus, for by night a great multitude of field-mice swarmed out of the ground and ate up all the leather in their arms and equipment; and the Teucrians remained there; and it was they who gave its name to Mt. Ida, naming it after the mountain in Crete. Heracleides of Pontus says that the mice which swarmed round the temple were regarded as sacred, and that for this reason the image was designed with its foot upon the mouse. Others say that a certain Teucer came from the deme of Troes, now called Xypeteones, in Attica, but that no Teucrians came from Crete. As a further sign of the close relationship of the Trojans with the people of Attica they record the fact the Erichthonius was one of the original founders on both tribes. Now this is the account of the more recent writer; but more in agreement with Homer are the traces to be seen in the plane of Thebe and in the Chrysa which was once founded there, which I shall soon discuss. The name of Smintheus is used in many places, for in the neighborhood of Hamaxitus itself, apart from the Sminthium at the temple, there are two places called Sminthia; and there are others in the neighboring territory of Larisa. And also in the territory of Parium there is a place called Sminthia, as also in Rhodes and in Lindus and in many other places. And they now call the temple Sminthium. Apart, at any rate,² lie both the Halesian Plain, of no great size, and inland from Lectum, and the Tragasaean salt-pan near Hamaxitus, where salt is naturally caused to congeal by the Etesian winds. On Lectum is to be seen an altar of the twelve gods, said to have been founded by Agamemnon. These places are all in sight of Ilium, at a distance of about two hundred stadia or a little more; and the same is the case with the places round Abydus on the other side, although Abydus is a little closer.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. From σμίνθος a rat, in the Aeolic dialect. The worship of Apollo Smintheus was not confined to the town of Chrysa alone; it was common to all the continent of the Troad and to the adjacent islands; it extended along the whole coast to the island of Rhodes, as Strabo afterwards informs us. He has already told us that there was a temple of Apollo Smintheus in the island of Tenedos. Coins of this island exist, bearing the effigy of the god with a rat under the chin. The town of Hamaxitus, on the continent, had also its temple of Apollo Smintheus, where was not only to be seen the picture of a rat near the tripod of the god, but also tame rats, maintained at the public expense.

2. Sect. 63.

3. In the island of Rhodes more especially many Sminthia must have existed, as Andreas, a native of Lindus, one of the three cities of the island, made these temples the subject of a treatise entitled On the Sminthia of Rhodes.

4. The Turks call the place Fousla, the salt-pans.

Strabo Geography 13.1.48

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

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