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[293] Eustath., and ByzantSteph. , s.v. “Φαιστός”, mention that a doubt afterwards arose whether λισσή here was an epithet or a proper name. Steph. certainly speaks of “ὁ Λισσής”: the same interpretation doubtless lies concealed in the reading “Ὀλύσσην τῆς Φαιστίας” in Strabo. The ‘western headland’ (“σκαιὸν ῥίον”) is the abrupt termination westward of the mountain chain which runs along the island from the south promontory to Cape Ampelos. The simplest way in which to reconcile the geography with the course taken by the ships is not, with some commentators, to redistribute the Cretan tribes, or to imagine that the sailors put to sea again after having gone into the Cydonian bay; but rather that the part of the fleet which was not driven down to Egypt (299) neared Crete (“τὰς μὲν Κρήτῃ ἐπέλασσεν”) at the western extremity of the south coast, say at the promontory of “Κρίου μέτωπον”, and then drifted along under the south coast as far as the sudden bend to the southward; against the cliffs of which southern extension the ships were wrecked.

At the same time it must be remarked that “λισσή τις πέτρη”, described afterwards as “μικρὸς λίθος”, would be a better expression for some isolated rock, which by its position as a natural shelter enabled the men to escape while their ships were wrecked. Therefore, some take “σκαιὸν ῥίον” as a little cape serving as a break-water to the port of Phaestus; Schol. M. Q. V. “τὸ γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ νότου κῦμα τὴν Φαιστὸν ἂν ἐποίει ἀλίμενον, εἰ μὴ προκείμενος ὁ λίθος ἐκώλυεν ἐντὸς μέγα γίνεσθαι κῦμα, προκαταγνυμένων περὶ αὐτὸν τῶν κυμάτων”. There was a tradition that the name of this rock was “Μάλεον”, a tradition preserved in the reading ascribed to Zenodotus: see critical note.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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