[9] Danaus is said to have built the citadel of the Argives. He seems to have possessed so much more power than the former rulers of the country, that, according to Euripides, “‘he made a law that those who were formerly called Pelasgiotæ, should be called Danai throughout Greece.’” His tomb, called Palinthus, is in the middle of the marketplace of the Argives. I suppose that the celebrity of this city was the reason of all the Greeks having the name of Pelasgiotæ, and Danai, as well as Argives. Modern writers speak of Iasidæ, and Argos Iasum, and Apia, and Apidones. Homer does not mention Apidones, and uses the word apia only to express distance. That he means Peloponnesus by Argos we may conclude from these lines,
and,“ Argive Helen;1
”Il. vi. 623.
and,“ in the farthest part of Argos is a city Ephyra;2
”Il. vi. 152.
and,“ the middle of Argos;3
”Od. i. 344.
Argos, among modern writers, denotes a plain, but not once in Homer. It seems rather a Macedonian and Thessalian use of the word.“ to rule over many islands, and the whole of Argos.4
”Il. ii. 108.
