Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 14.1.18

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[18] The Athenians formerly sent Pericles their general, and with him Sophocles the poet, who harassed with the evils of a siege the refractory Samians. Afterwards¹ they sent thither a colony of two thousand citizens, among whom was Neocles the father of Epicurus, and, according to report, a schoolmaster. It is said, that Epicurus was educated here and at Teos, and was admitted among the ephebi at Athens, having as his comrade in that class Menander the comic poet. Creophylus was a native of Samos,² who, it is said, once entertained Homer as his guest, and received, in return, his poem entitled The taking of Oechalia. Callimachus, on the contrary, intimates in an epigram that it was the composition of Creophylus, but ascribed to Homer on account of the story of his hospitable entertainment by Creophylus:

I am the work of the Samian, who once entertained in his house, as a guest, the divine Homer. I grieve for the sufferings of Eurytus, and mourn for the yellow-haired Ioleia. I am called Homer’s writing. O Jupiter, how glorious this for Creophylus.

Some say that he was Homer’s master; according to others, it was not Creophylus, but Aristeas of Proconnesus.

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.) — 14.1.18 focus

[18] Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πρότερον μὲν πέμψαντες στρατηγὸν Περικλέα καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Σοφοκλέα τὸν ποιητὴν πολιορκίᾳ κακῶς διέθηκαν ἀπειθοῦντας τοὺς Σαμίους, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ κληρούχους ἔπεμψαν δισχιλίους ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ὧν ἦν καὶ Νεοκλῆς ὁ Ἐπικούρου τοῦ φιλοσόφου πατήρ, γραμματοδιδάσκαλος, ὥς φασι· καὶ δὴ καὶ τραφῆναί φασιν ἐνθάδε καὶ ἐν Τέῳ καὶ ἐφηβεῦσαι Ἀθήνησι· γενέσθαι δʼ αὐτῷ συνέφηβον Μένανδρον τὸν κωμικόν· Σάμιος δʼ ἦν καὶ Κρεώφυλος, ὅν φασι δεξάμενον ξενίᾳ ποτὲ Ὅμηρον λαβεῖν δῶρον τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν τοῦ ποιήματος ὃ καλοῦσιν Οἰχαλίας ἅλωσιν. Καλλίμαχος δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐμφαίνει διʼ ἐπιγράμματός τινος, ὡς ἐκείνου μὲν ποιήσαντος λεγομένου δʼ Ὁμήρου διὰ τὴν λεγομένην ξενίαν

τοῦ Σαμίου πόνος εἰμί, δόμῳ ποτὲ θεῖον Ὅμηρον

δεξαμένου· κλείω δʼ Εὔρυτον ὅσσʼ ἔπαθεν,

καὶ ξανθὴν Ἰόλειαν· Ὁμήρειον δὲ καλεῦμαι

γράμμα· Κρεωφύλῳ, Ζεῦ φίλε, τοῦτο μέγα.

τινὲς δὲ διδάσκαλον Ὁμήρου τοῦτόν φασιν, οἱ δʼ οὐ τοῦτον ἀλλʼ Ἀριστέαν τὸν Προκοννήσιον.

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).) — 14.1.18 focus

[18] The Athenians at first sent Pericles as general and with him Sophocles the poet, who by a siege put the disobedient Samians in bad plight; but later they sent two thousand allottees from their own people, among whom was Neocles, the father of Epicurus the philosopher, a schoolmaster as they call him. And indeed it is said that Epicurus grew up here and in Teos, and that he became an ephebus¹ at Athens, and that Menander the comic poet became an ephebus at the same time. Creophylus, also, was a Samian, who, it is said, once entertained Homer and received as a gift from him the inscription of the poem called The Capture of Oechalia. But Callimachus clearly indicates.the contrary in an epigram of his, meaning that Creophylus composed the poem, but that it was ascribed to Homer because of the story of the hospitality shown him:

I am the toil of the Samian, who once entertained in his house the divine Homer. I bemoan Eurytus, for all that he suffered, and golden-haired Ioleia. I am called Homer’s writing. For Creophylus, dear Zeus, this is a great achievement.

Some call Creophylus Homer’s teacher, while others say that it was not Creophylus, but Aristeas the Proconnesian, who was his teacher.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. After the death of Pericles.

2. Among distinguished natives of Samos, Strabo has omitted to mention Melissus the philosopher, who commanded the fleet of the island, and was contemporary with Pericles.— Plutarch, Life of Pericles.

Strabo Geography 14.1.18

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

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