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[3] Aboard the ship itself there was wild confusion. The crew struggled against the might of the water but the river was superior to all human skill and power. Nevertheless, Alexander and the ships1 with him got safely ashore with difficulty. Thus narrowly escaping, he sacrificed to the gods as having come through mortal danger, reflecting that he, like Achilles, had done battle with a river.2

1 This is the manuscript reading, possibly a mistake for νέων, "young men," or νεόντων, "swimmers." This last is the suggestion of Professor Post.

2 Hom. Il. 21.228-382. Cp. Curtius 9.4.14: "cum amne bellum fuisse crederes"; Plut. De Fortuna aut Virtute Alexandri 2.9.340e: θαλάτταν μαχομένην ἔπλευσε. Curtius, like Arrian. 6.5.1-4, says that Alexander was not wrecked.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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