[5] The situation of the country actually called Troja is best marked by the position of Ida, a lofty mountain, looking to the west, and to the western sea, but making a slight bend to the north and towards the northern coast. This latter is the coast of the Propontis, extending from the straits near Abydos to the Æsepus, and to the territory of Cyzicene. The western sea is the exterior (part of the) Hellespont, and the Ægtæan Sea. Ida has many projecting parts like feet, and resembles in figure a tarantula, and is bounded by the following extreme points, namely, the promontory1 at Zeleia, and that called Lectum; the former terminates in the inland parts a little above Cyzicene (to the Cyziceni belongs the present Zeleia), and Lee tum projects into the Ægæan Sea, and is met with in the coasting voyage from Tenedos to Lesbos. “‘They (namely, Somnus and Juno) came, says Homer, to Ida, abounding with springs, the nurse of wild beasts, to Lectum where first they left the sea,’2” where the poet describes Lectum in appropriate terms, for he says correctly that Lectum is a part of Ida, and that this was the first place of disembarkation for persons intending to ascend Mount Ida.3 [He is exact in the epithet ‘abounding with springs;’ for the mountain, especially in that part, has a very large supply of water, which appears from the great number of rivers which issue from it; “‘all the rivers which rise in Ida, and proceed to the sea, the Rhesus, and Heptaporus,’4” and others, which he mentions afterwards, and which are now to be seen by us.] In speaking of the projections like feet on each side of Ida, as Lectum, and Zeleia,5 he distinguishes in proper terms the summit Gargarum,6 calling it the top7 (of Ida), for there is now in existence in the higher parts of Ida a place, from which the present Gargara, an Æolian city, has its name. Between Zeleia and Lectum, proceeding from the Propontis, are first the parts extending to the straits at Abydos. Then the parts below the Propontis, extending as far as Lectum.
1 Near Mussatsch-Koi.
2 Il. xiv. 283.
3 The passage in brackets Meineke suspects to be an interpolation, as Rhesus and Heptaporus cannot be placed in this part of Ida, nor do any of the streams mentioned by Homer in the same passage flow into the Ægean Sea.
4 Il. xii. 19.
5 Il. ii. 824.
6 The whole range of Ida now bears various names: the highest summit is called Kas-dagh. Gossellin says that the range is called Karadagh, but this name (black mountain) like Kara-su (Black river) and Kara-Koi (Black village) are so commonly applied that they amount to no distinction; in more modern maps this name does not appear. It may be here observed that the confusion of names of those parts in the Turkish empire which were formerly under the Greeks, arises from the use of names in both languages.
7 Il. xiv. 292.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.