Strabo Geography 13.1.68

1. It is difficult to clear up this passage ἣν αιγα τινὲς ὀνομάζουσιν ὁμωνύμως τῷ ξώω δεῖ μακοͅῶς τὴν δευτὲραν συλλαβὴν ἐκφεοͅειν ̓αιγαν ὡς?̓ακταν καὶ?̓απχαν. There is no doubt that the first of these words in capitals, to be homonymous with goat, should be αἷγα, as is read in the old editions, and in many manuscripts, and not αἰγᾶ, αἰγὰ, or αἰγὰν, as in others. αὶ͂γα is the accusative of αϊξ (Aex,) a goat, which name Artemidorus actually gives to this promontory. But as our language has no termination of cases, the passage requires some explanation. If the Greeks desired to express in the nominative case the position of the promontory with respect to the island of Lesbos, they would say, according to Artemidorus, The cape Aex ( αϊξ) is in front of Lesbos; according to Strabo, The cape Aega ( αἰγᾶ) is in front of Lesbos. The first, Aex, signifies a goat, as Artemidorus intended; the second, Aega, in the Doric dialect (for Aege, αἰγῆ) means a goat’s skin. If they desired to employ the word in the accusative, they said, according to Artemidorus, We have doubled Cape Aega ( αῖγα); according to Strabo, We have doubled Cape Aegan ( αῖγα). The matter is clear thus far, but what follows, δεῖ δὲ μακοͅως * * * ὡς ἀκτᾶν καὶ ἀρχᾶν is difficult to explain. The two last words are Doric genitive plurals, the first for ἀκτῶν shores, the second for ἀρχῶν, beginnings; and yet one would expect to find examples of accusatives in the singular number, as ἀκτὰν and ἀοͅζὰν; the difference of accent is here of no importance, for the last syllables of these accusatives are long, as Strabo wishes to make the last syllable long of Aegan ( αἰγᾶν). If he had required examples agreeing with this last word in quantity, accent, and case, he might have cited sycan, ( συκᾶν, a fig-tree,) or some other word of this form. It might be supposed that ακτᾶν was here taken in the acceptation [ ἀκτέην, ἀκτῆν, and, in the Doric dialect, ἀκτᾶν]; but there still remains ἀοͅχᾶν, unless we change the word to ἀρχτᾶν a bear’s skin.— Coraÿ.