( 539 ) 



, N . v ON THE 



SYRINX OF STRABO, 



AND 



THE PASSAGE OF THE EURIPUS. 



[£Y MR. HAWKINS.} 



In the very short description which Strabo has transmitted to us of 

 the celebrated Straits of the Euripus, there is an expression which has 

 long exercised the ingenuity of critics, without having received any 

 very clear or satisfactory explanation. The words of the geographer 

 are the following: — "Eg-' F lif uutu yetpu^a SiW-^^'og *> «V el'gvjxa' iriioydsS' 

 tKUTeguBtv etpe^yxev, 6 f4.lv sjc rijg XdXKtdog, o $ sk. rvjg Boi&otioci;' $itijc<tMfii]Tcit 



$ik duTov <rv(>ty%. Here, I believe, with the exception of dbroV, for 

 which some critics have substituted oIvtous, the purity of the text has 

 been generally admitted, but the meaning is nevertheless obscure, 

 because the term ru^f seems not to be used in its ordinary accept- 

 ation ; the passage accordingly has been variously rendered by 

 translators, nearly all of whom have avoided giving any precise inter- 

 pretation of the term <rv(>iy%, without which the whole is unintel- 

 ligible. 



We are indebted to Isaac Vossius f for the first successful attempt 

 to remove this obscurity, by pointing out the true meaning of the 

 verb which is here put in connection with <ru^y|. " Ammidf^sfv" he 



* Two plethra amount to one hundred and seventy-one French feet, which may be 

 stated as about twice the present breadth of the Euripus ; according to Spons's evaluation 

 it is ninety-one French feet, while Gyllius estimates it at seventy-three French feet only. 

 No dependence can be placed on the accuracy of these measurements, which are unfortu- 

 nately the only ones that have been taken by modern travellers. 



f Observ. ad P. Melam. lib. xi. c. 7- 



3 Z 2 



