Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/408

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
394
STRABO.
CASAUB. 262.

Nieto,[1] the name whereof is said to be derived from the following circumstance—they say that certain of the Greeks who had wandered from the fleet which had besieged Troy, having arrived in this place, disembarked to take a survey of the country, and that the Trojan women who accompanied them in the fleet, having observed the absence of the men, and being wearied with a toilsome voyage, set fire to the fleet, so that they were compelled to abide, when they saw, in addition [to the loss of their ships], that the soil was very fertile. Many others arriving soon after, and being desirous to live near their fellow-countrymen, founded several settlements. Most of them derived their names from the Trojans, and the river Nieto received its appellation from the destruction[2] [of the ships]. But Antiochus relates that an oracle having commanded the Greeks to found Crotona, Myscellus went forth to view the place, and having seen Sybaris already built on a neighbouring river of the same name, thought it better, and returned to the god to ask if he might be permitted to settle in that, instead of the other; but that the oracle answered, applying to him an epithet noticing his defective stature, (for Myscellus was somewhat crook-backed,)

“O short-backed Myscellus, whilst seeking somewhat else of thyself,
Thou pursuest only misfortune: it is right to accept that which is
proffered to thee;”[3]

and that he returned and built Crotona, wherein he was assisted by Archias,[4] the founder of Syracuse, who happened to touch at Crotona by chance, as he was proceeding to the colony of the Syracusans. The Iapyges possessed Crotona before this time,[5] as Ephorus relates. The city cultivated martial

    Tarentum and Brundusium, was long a source of great wealth to Crotona, as we are assured by Polybius, Frag. x. 1.

  1. ↑ Neæthus. This river was said to derive its name from the circumstance of the captive Trojan women having there set fire to the Grecian fleet.
  2. ↑ Νέαιθος, from νῆας and αἰθεῖν, “to burn the ships.”
  3. ↑ There is much obscurity in this oracular response. The various manuscripts offer many readings.
  4. ↑ A note in the French translation observes that the establishment of Myscellus at Crotona took place about 709 or 703 years B. C., and that Syracuse was founded as early as 735 years B. C.
  5. ↑ According to some traditions, Crotona was very ancient, and derived its name from the hero Croto. Thus Ovid:
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.