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Ἄτλας. H. (or his informant) has blended the Greek tradition (cf. ii. 33. 3n.) as to the giant, who ἔχει . . . κίονας αὐτὸς μακρὰς αἳ γαῖάν τε καὶ οὐρανὸν ἀμφὶς ἔχουσι (Od. i. 53), with vague knowledge of the mountain-block of the Atlas, which runs half across North Africa, from Morocco to the lesser Syrtis. The ‘Pillar of Heaven’ may be a native idea, but it looks suspiciously Greek (cf. Aesch. P.V. 351, and Pind. Pyth. i. 19, of Etna).

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