The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus:

the Origin of the Names

and Early Greek Haplology
Dedicated to Henry and Renee Kahane*

DEMETRIUS J. GEORGACAS

ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. A few abbreviations are listed:

AJA = American Journal of Archaeology.

AJP = American Journal of Philology (The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Md.).
BB = Bezzenbergers Beitriige zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen.
BNF = Beitriige zur Namenforschung (Heidelberg).
OGL = Oorpus Glossariorum Latinorum, ed. G. Goetz. 7 vols. Lipsiae, 1888-1903.
Chantraine, Dict. etym. = P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque.
Histoire des mots. 2 vols: A-K. Paris, 1968, 1970.
Eberts RLV = M. Ebert (ed.), Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte. 16 vols. Berlin, 1924-32.
EBr = Encyclopaedia Britannica. 30 vols. Chicago, 1970.
EEBE = 'E:rccr'YJel~ t:ET:ateeta~ Bv~avnvwv E:rcovowv (Athens).
EEC/JE = ' E:rcuJT'YJfhOVtUn ' E:rccrrJel~ C/JtAOaocptufj~ EXOAfj~
EIsl = The Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden and London) 1 (1960)-.
Frisk, GEJV = H. Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch. 2 vols. Heidelberg, 1954
to 1970.
GEL = Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford, 1925-40.
A Supplement, 1968.
GaM = Geographi Graeci Minores, ed. C. Miiller.
GLM = Geographi Latini Minores, ed. A. Riese.
GR = Geographical Review (New York).
GZ = Geographische Zeitschrift (Berlin).
IF = Indogermanische Forschungen (Berlin).
10 = Inscriptiones Graecae (Berlin).
LB = Linguistique Balkanique (Sofia).

* A summary of this paper was read at the meeting of the Linguistic Circle of Manitoba
and North Dakota on 24 October 1970. My thanks go to Prof. Edmund Berry of the Univ.
of Manitoba for reading a draft of the present study and for stylistic and other suggestions,
and to the Editor of Names, Dr. Conrad M. Rothrauff, for his remarks upon reading the
same; I am also indebted for help to Prof. Edward Bassett, Univ. of Chicago, and Dr.
Evangelos Petrounias, Univ. of Calif. at Los Angeles, and for useful pertinent information
to Prof. P. Kannowski, Univ. of North Dakota; to Prof. G. G. Arnakis, Univ. of Texas,
to Dr. Vasileios Christides, Univ. of Minnesota, to Prof. Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs, Tiibingen;
and Mr. Nikos Zeros, Kalamata (Greece).

65
66 Demetrius J. Georgacas
OCD2 (1970) = Oxfard Classical Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970. XXII,
1176 p.
OCT = Oxford Olassical Texts.
Pape-Benseler = W. Pape - G. E. Benseler, Worterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen3•
Braunschweig, 1870, 1911; Graz, 1958.
Pokorny, lEW = J. Pokorny, lndogermanisches etymologisches Worterbuch. 2 vols. Bern
und Miinchen, 1959-69.
Proceed. of ICOS = Proceedings of the International Congress of Onmnastic Sciences.
RE = Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopiidie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
REG = Revue des etudes grecques (Paris).
RhM = Rheinisches Museum fur Philologie (Frankfurt a.M.).
RLV = Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte. Berlin, 1924-32.
Roscher, Lexikon d. Mythol. = W. H. Roscher, Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der griechischen una
romischen Mythologie. 6 vols. in 9. Leipzig, Berlin, 1884-1937. - See next section on
details.
SB = Sitzungsberichte. \.i
SIFO = Studi italiani di filologia classica (Firenze). ;~
ThG L = Thesaurus Graecae Linguae (Paris).
ThLL = 'l'hesaurus Linguae Latinae (Munich).

2. Bibliography

Atlas of the Warld. Mid-Century Edition. Ed. by John Bartholomew. Vol. II: Southwest
Asia & Russia. London, Times Publishing Co., 1959. [Plate 37: Turkey East.]
Otfrid Becker, "Das Bild des Weges und verwandte Vorstellungen im friihgriechischen
Denken," Hermes Einzelschriften, H. 4 (Berlin, 1937). 223 pp. [The third chapter
IIOPOI:, 23-24: an interesting assemblage of the material on 7t6poc;and congeners
and synonyms; on BoO'7t0p0C; 26, 18f.; on 7top8!J.oe;
and "EAA1JC; 7top8!J.6c;,
25.]
Serge von Bubnoff, Geologie von Europa (Berlin, 1939), 2, 3, pp. 1472f.
-, Neue Jahrbucher fur Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaontologie 3 (1938), 1068.
L. Biirchner, art. Hellespontos, RE 8 (1912), 182-188.
Viktor Burr, Nostrum Mare; Ursprung und Geschichte der Namen des Mittelmeeres und se,iner
Teilmeere im Altertum. Stuttgart, 1932 (W urzburger Studien zur Altertumswissenschaft,
4. Heft). [On the Hellespont, the Propontis and the Bosporos, Thracian and Cim-
merian, including the names, pp. 11-37. This item and Ronconi's (below) are in-
dispensable.]
A. Ch. Chatzis, "tlEAA"!) - ~EAA&e; - "EAA1Jv,"EE<D~ of the University of Athens 1 (1935,
published in 1937), 128-161. [On ~EAA~O'7tov"t'oC;, p. 135, 140f.; on i:lcxp8cxveAALcx,
p. 136 with notes 2 and 3; on "EAA"!),p. 135f., 137 with notes 1-3, 138. The author is
unaware of previous important bibliography such as Burr, Ronconi, Becker, etc.]
Ch. M. Danoff, art. Pontos Euxei1ws, RE, N.B., Suppl.-Band 9 (1962), 866-1175. [§ 11,
950-955: Die Namen des Pontos Euxeinos und seiner Teile.]
Dimiter Detschew, Die thrakischen Sprachreste. Wien, 1957. (Osterreich. Akad. d. Wiss.,
philos.-hist. Kl.; Schriften der Balkankommission, Lingu. Abt. XIV). [On the place-
names with -para, -phara, -7tCXPOV, pp. 356f. Cf. J. Puhvel, Language
-paro, -7tCXPOC;,
33 (1957), 439-40; A. Heubeck, BNF 9 (1958) 118-122; G. Solta, IF 46 (1961)
65-78.]
-, Charakteristik der thrakischen Sprache. Sofia, 1952. (Public. de l'Acad. Bulgare des
Sciences.) A new ed., LB, Annexe, 1957.
Dionysius Byzantius, Anaplus Bospori, ed. Rud. Giingerich. Berolini, 1927; 2nd ed., 1958.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 67
Eitrem, art. 10 (Iro), RE 9 (1916), 1732-1743.
R. Engelmann, art. Helena, Roschers Lexikon d. Myth., 12 (1886-90), 1968-78.
-, art. 10, Roschers Lexikon d. Myth., III (1890-93), 263-280.
A. Fick, Die ehemalige Spracheinheit der 1ndogermanen Europas. Eine sprachgeschichtliche
Untersuchung. Gottingen, 1873. [Thracian -para is considered to be present also in
BOO1t'OpOC;.]
-, "Altgriechische Ortsnamen," BB 21 (1896), 268f., 283; 22 (1897), 11, 61, 63, 67, 97
[on B6cmopoc;, p. 11]; 23 (1897), 226; 24 (1899), 295 [on Thracian -para and Gr.
7t'6poc;].
P. Friedlander, art. Helle 2, RE 8 (1912), 159-163.
Vladimir Georgiev, "La toponymie ancienne de la Peninsule Balkanique et la these medi-
terraneenne," LB 3, 1 (1961),5-62. [II. Region thrace, 9-11; some 41 examples with
-para and similar; six more are added to these by Georgiev but are rather doubtful.]
-, "Hellespontos and Bosporos," LB 3, 2 (1961), 25-27.
L. Grasberger, Studien zu den griechischen Ortsnamen. Wiirzburg, 1888. [On B60'Tmpoc;,
p. 95; on this and II6poC;, IIop6{L6C;, etc., p. 211ff.]
R. Guliand, "La chaine de la Corne d'Or," EEBL: 25 (1955),99, 104 [on AL{L1)VBocm6pLOC;,
't'o B00'7t6pLOV, also A. IIpoocp6pLOc;, IIpoO'cp6pLov].
Paul Haupt, "Philological and Archeological Studies," AJP (1924), 238-259. [Under
caption 7. The Hittite Name of Troy, pp. 252-255, the author speaks of ~EAA~cmOV't'OC;
and the etymon of ~'EAA1J from EAOC;"meadow land," with no explanation of the AA.
With a reservation, Haupt's interpretation is accepted by V. Burr, Nostrum mare
(1932), p. 12 note 5: "vielleicht ist <die neue Deutung von Haupt) richtig."] I am
very much indebted to the Kahanes for their gracious help in locating this item for
me as well as to Dr. Athanasios Papadopoulos (London).
R. Hoernes, "Die Bildung des Bosporus und der Dardanellen," SB d. Akad. d. TViss. Wien,
mathem.-naturw. Kl., Abt. I, vol. 118 (1909), 693-758. [Superseded by the following.]
-, "Das Bosporusproblem," BB d. Akad. d. Wiss. Wien, mathem.-naturw. Kl., Abt. I,
vol. 120 (1911), 1087-1111.
E. B. J., art. Bosporus Thracius, W. Smith (ed.), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geo-
graphy (London, 1878), 422b--424b; idem, art. Bosporus Cimmerius, ibid. 421b-422b;
idem, art. Hellespontus, ibid. 1038b-l039a.
Giinther Jachmann, "Der Name Hellespont," RhM 70 (1915),640-644.
Norbert Jokl, art. Thraker. B. Sprache, Eberts RLV 13 (1929),278-298. [On the linguistic
matters, 284--296; on -para, -pera 285b und 289a.]
Alfred Klotz, "Uber die Bedeutung des Namens Hellespont bei den Geographen," RhM
68 (1913), 286-296. Cf. Jachmann.
P. Kretschmer, Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache. Gottingen, 1896.
[Die thrakisch-phrygischen Stamme, 170-243; Stellung der thrakisch-phrygischen
Sprache, 217-243. On -7t'(XPOC;,-7t'(xP(X,p. 221.] Of. A. Fick, [review of this book] BB 24
(1899), 295.
-, "Literaturbericht fiir das Jahr 1935. Griechisch," Glotia 27 (1939), 29. [On the names
~EAA~cmOV't'OC; and B6cmopoc;;.]
Albin Lesky, Thalatta; der Weg der Griechen zum Meer. Vienna, 1947.
-, "Hellos-Hellotis, III," Wiener Studien 46 (1927/28) 107-129. [On goddess Helle and
Hellespontos, pp. 127-129.]
F. Maehatsehek, Das Relief der Erde (Berlin, 1955), P. 509f. [Die Balkanhalbinsel; das
Bosporusgebiet. ]
L. Malten, "Motivgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zur Sagenforschung III. Hero und
Leander," RhM, N.F., 93 (1949/50), 65-81. [On Bosporos and Hellespont, 71ff.;
"EAA<X and C!>(J)O'cp6poc;,79; etc.; also bibliography is listed on p. 71 note 23.]
86 Demetrius J. Georgacas
A. M. Mansel, art. Hellespontos, Der Kleine Pauly 2 (1967), 1010-1012.
A. Merz, "Die Stromungen des Bosporus," Bibliothek Geographischer Handbucher, N.F.,
Festband Albrecht Penck (Stuttgart, 1928), pp. 277-295.
-, "Die Stromungen von Bosporus und Dardanellen," Verhandlungen des 20. Deutschen
Geographischen Tages Juni 1921, pp. 106-112. [These two items by A. Merz are
superseded by the following item, especially chapter B. Die Stromungen, pp. 99-152.]
-, Hydrographische Untersuchungen in Bosporus und Dardanellen, bearbeitet von Lotte
Moller. (VeroUentlichungen des 1nstituts fur Meereskunde, Univ. Berlin, N.F., A. Geo-
graphisch-naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, H. 18.) Berlin, [1928]. 284 pp. Also atlas.
[The author Alfred Merz made his observations in the Bosporus 22 Sept. to 14 Oct.
1917, 6 May to 5 June 1918, and 19 June to 21 July 1918. The observations by Merz
at 186 stations in the Bosporus and 115 stations in the Dardanelles are listed on
pp. 233-284. Mter his death in 1925 Lotte lVlollerworked out the data. Cf. the chapter
"Morphologie und Geologie der Meerengen. A. Bosporus" (pp. 38-41) and "B. Dar-
danellen" (41-44). Their joint work remained the standard treatise on the Bosporus
up to 1946 (cf. Ullyott and Ilgaz in this bibliography).]
E. Meyer, art. Bosporos (B6cr1t'0p0<;)1, Der Kleine Pauly 1 (1964) 933f.
E. Oberhummer, art. Bosporos, RE 3 (1899), 741-757.
-, art. Hellespontos, RE 8 (1912), 188-193.
Oxford English Dictionary, s. v. Hellespont.
W. Penck, "Bau- und Oberflachenformen der Dardanellenlandschaft," Zeitschrift der Ge-
8ellschaft fur Erdkunde (Berlin), 1917, pp. 30-49.
-, Grundzuge der Geologie des Bosporus. Berlin, 1919. (VeroUentlichungen des 1nst. f.
Meereskunde, N.F., A. Geograph.-naturwiss. Reihe, 4.) 71 p. Geologische Karten-
skizze des Bosporusgebietes. [Das Bosporustal, 58-69. Summary, 68f.]
A. Philippson, "Bosporus und Hellespont," GZ 4 (1898), 16-26. [A lecture; also compar-
ison of the Bosporus valley with the Rheintal; p. 17 note 1, five items of bibliography
on Bosporus; p. 23 note, three on the Hellespont. The whole superseded by his DaB
Mittelmeergebiet4 (1922); cf. also R. Hoernes and W. Penck.]
-, Kleinasien, in Handbuch der regionalen Geologie 5,2, Heft 22 (Heidelberg, 1918), 183 pp.
-, Das M ittelmeergebiet; seine geographische und kulturelle Eigenart4• Leipzig, Berlin,
1922. [Die Mittelmeerzone eine Bruchzone, 6-7; Erosionstaler des Hellespont und
Bosporus, 18-21; FluBtaler des H. und B., 44; die Stromungen im B. und H., 52; etc.]
Theodore Reinach, "Le Bosphore chez Eschyle," REG 36, No. 164 (1923), 62-65; idem,
ibid., 349f.
G. Rohlfs, "FluBnamen imheutigen Kalabrien," BNF, NF, 4 (1969), 114-142.
A. Ronconi, "Per l'onomastica antica dei mari," SIFG 9 (1931) 193-242 and 257-331.
[II Bosforo, 220-225; Ellesponto e Propontide, 225-242. Cf. Burr, above.]
W. H. Roscher (ed.), Ausfuhrliehes Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie.
6 vols in 9. Leipzig-Berlin, 1884-1937. II (1884-85), 12 (1886-90), III (1890-93),
1I2 (1894-97), IIII (1897-1902), lIP (1902-09), IV (1909-15), V (1916-24), and
VI (ed. K. Ziegler) (1924-37). Suppl. I (E. H. Berger), 1904. Suppl. II (0. Gruppe),
1921. [Articles: R. Engelmann on 10 III, colI. 263-280; K. Seeliger on Athamas II,
colI. 669-675; R. Engelmann on Helena, 12, colI. 1977f.; K. Seeliger on Helle, 12,
colI. 2028 f.; Tiirk on Phrixos, lIP, colI. 2458-2467.]
Martin Rudolph, IlOPO~. Marburg, 1912. [Discussion in Latin of the development of
the word through almost the entire Greek literature with a rich collection of the
relevant material, also of the adjectives compounded with -1tOpO<;; largely superseded
by O. Becker, "Das Bild des Weges usw."]
K. Seeliger, art. Helle, Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol., 12 (1886-90), 2028-2029.
-, art. Athamas, Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol. II (1884-85), 669-675.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 69

w. Sieglin, "Die Ausdehnung des Hellespontes bei den antiken Geographen," Beitrage
zur alten Geschichte und Geographie. Festschrift fur Heinrich Kiepert (Berlin, 1898),
323-331. [On the sea stretches which the name Hellespont designated in the ancient
authors, who display five coverages. The author presents all pertinent statements and
interprets them. The matter was investigated anew by A. Klotz and some important
corrections were made (see A. Klotz, RhM 68 [1913], 286-296, and A. Ronconi,
BIFO 9 [1931], 225-242.)
William Smith (ed.), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (London, 1878), s. vv.
Bosporus Oimmerius, Bosporus Thracius, Hellespontus.
George R. Stewart, American Place-names. New York, 1970.
P. de Tchihatcheff, Le Bosphore et Oonstantinople. Paris, 1864. 3rd ed., 1877.
Wilhelm Tomaschek, Die alten Thraker. Eine ethnologische Untersuchung. I: Ubersicht
der Btamme, BB d. philos.-hist. Ole d. k. Akad. d. Wiss. Wien, 128 (1893), IV. Ab-
handlung, pp. 1-130; 11: Die Sprachreste. 1. Halfte: Glossen aZZerArt und Gotternamen,
ibid., 130 (1894), II. Abhandlung, pp.I-70; 2. Hu,lfte: Personen- und Ortsnamen, ibid.,
131 (1894), 1. Abhandlung, pp. 1-103. [To a large degree superseded by the work of
D. Detschew. 130.16: on -1tCXP0C;, -1tCXPCX, -phara; 131.63: names in -para, -pera, -1tCXP0C;.]
N. Tun~dilek et alii, art. Bosporus, EBr 3 (1970), 985b-986a.
-, art. Dardanelles, EBr 7 (1970), 73. [A map shows the exact length of the strait of the
Dardanelles. ]
Tiirk, art. Phrixos, Roschers Lexicon d. Mythol., 1II2 (1902-1909), 2458-67.
Philip Ullyott and Orhan Ilgaz, "The Hydrography of the Bosporus: An Introduction,"
GR 36, No.1 (1946),44-66. [An excellent review of the hydrographical investigations
with bibliography and presentation of the authors' theory. The authors have refuted
the explanation of the movements of the waters of the Bosporus propounded by Alfred
Merz and Lotte Molleras untenable; the subsurface current never reaches the Black Sea.]
K. Vlahov, "Das thrakische Wort PARA und seine Deutung," Ziva Antika (Anti quite
Vivante) (Skopje) 15 (1966), 295-304.

INTRODUCTORY

SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH OF GEOGRAPHIC has to go hand in hand

NAMES
with topography, geography, history, and in certain instances with
geology. A case in point is the waterway between the Aegean (and
the Mediterranean) Sea and the Black Sea, consisting of the Helles-
pont (the Dardanelles), the Propontis (Sea of Marmara), and the Bospo-
ros, and the names covering them. There are valid grounds for requiring
parallel examination and interpretation of these names: (a) the geologic
formation of the entire ,vaterway centered at the Propontis, (b) the very
fact that the name Bosporos was used for the straits of the Hellespont,
for the straits at Byzantion, and for the Cimmerian straits (the straits
of Kerch), (c) that both the Hellespont and the Bosporos were associated
with a myth, the former with Helle and the latter with 10 transformed
into a cow, and (d) the fact that the name Hellespontos at some time
covered even all of the Propontis. Both these nalnes, as well as that of
the Cimmerian Bosporos, are attested very early and are more than
25 centuries old.
70 Demetrius J. Georgacas
The geographical configuration of Southeast Europe includes the straits
of the Hellespont, the in-between Propontis, and the Bosporos. These
waterways are parts of one system, having geographic and hydrographic
features in common, and constitute the only access to a large, otherwise
landlocked sea. Their extraordinary aspect is that no case analogous to
this can be found anywhere else on earth.! When searching minds pressed
on the quest for the causes of the origin of the straits, the geographic
question turned into a geological problem. 2 It is now common scientific
knowledge that both the Hellespont and the Bosporos are maritime
rivers with two water currents, one deep below the surface flowing from
the Aegean to,vard the Black Sea but not reaching into it and a second
one on the surface flowing from the Black Sea in the opposite direction.
As to their origin, according to geological investigations, the Bosporos
and the Hellespont are not tectonic forms but were erosion valleys
which once were inundated by the sea and were, in fact, submerged and
transformed through marine erosion into what they are now.3 What
happened is this: the Pontus Basin was an inland lake till the middle
diluvium (middle pliocene); in the upper pliocene period a large stream
cut the Bosporos furrow and into it the Bosporos valleys and the Hel-
lespont valleys. The Bosporos and the Hellespont as well as the Euripos
of Chalcis of Euboea can be explained only as submerged river valleys;
for no other power, according to geologists, could create furrows of this
kind.4
Among the intriguing aspects of the seaways are the water currents
flowing both ways. The main surface current flows NNE to SSW from
the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and this southward current in the
Bosporos is strong enough to hinder the passage of small craft north-
ward.5 The subsurface current, called kanal by local boatmen and fisher-
men,6 flows along the floor of the Bosporos from the Sea of Marmara.
toward the Black Sea; the kanal in the deeper layers of the Bosporos
and the greater salinity of its water than that of the surface current are
confirmed realities. The surface layer of the water in the Sea of Marmara
1A. Philippson, GZ 4 (1898), 16.
ICf. W. Penck, Grundzilge der Geologie des Bosporus (1919), p. 5.
3 See A. Philippson, W. Penck, S. von Bubnov, F. Machatschek, and others; see

bibliography.
4. A. Philipps on, Das Mittelmeergebiet4 (1922), p. 21.

6 Cf. P. Ullyott and O. TIgaz, "The Hydrography of the Bosporus: An Introduction,"

OR 36 (1946), p. 44. On the adverse effect of the intermittent northeasterly winds on the
southward current and on sailing Greek triremes in ancient times see B. W. Labaree,
"How the Greeks Sailed into the Black Sea," AJA 61 (1957), pp. 29-33.
6 The Turk. term kanal in the Bosporus (attested as early as 1656), borrowed from

Venetian canal "channel," designates the bed of the main current and kanal suyu (lit.
"channel water") the deep current flowing toward the Black Sea; see H. and R. Kahane
and A. Tietze, The Lingua Franca in the Levant (Urbana, Ill., 1958), p. 136f. (No. 146).
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 71

has low salinity (ca. 24 parts per 1,000) and is like the water of the Black
Sea, while the deeper water has a higher salinity (ca. 39 parts per 1,000)
all year round. The lower layer water of the Sea of ~Iarmara flows north-
ward along the bed of the channel; but the depth of the undercurrent in
the Bosporos progressively diminishes toward the north and none of it
enters the Black Sea, the same amount of flowing water being carried
back southward in the upper current, mixed with water from the Black
Sea.' There is a system of flow in the Kerch strait very much like the
one in the Bosporos.
The balance of water in the Black Sea seems to be complete without
any inflow through the Bosporos, according to illlyott and Ilgaz. But
the deep water of the Sea of Marmara is constantly depleted and is
replenished by the inflow of water at a depth from the Aegean Sea. The
threshold at the Dardanelles between the Aegean and the Sea of Mar-
mara, being deep enough (ca. 65 m.), permits the flow of deep water
from the Aegean. 8
The Bosporos has the following measurements: length 30 km. (27 km.
in a straight line), width between 550 m. and 3 km., and depth an aver-
age of 50 m.9
The Dardanelles seaway was originally almost dry, so that Europe was
connected with Asia Minor and the strait represented a wide river
valley.lO The straits of Nagara and Qanak, at which the European and
Asiatic shores are as close to each other as 1.2 km., separate the inner
from the outer Dardanelles.ll
The straits between the NE Aegean and the Black Sea have also been
the traditional boundary line between the two continents, Europe and
Asia. They played a highly important role throughout the past as the
channel connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and as a bridge
between Anterior Asia and SE Europe; here the continental masses lie
within a few hundred meters of each other and enabled peoples and
armies to cross from continent to continent, so that they were spared
risky seafaring; with the development of navigation, the straits assumed
enhanced significance because the seaway from the Atlantic led through
7 The evidence is that the salinity in the surface water of the Bosporos increases as it

moves southward, i. e., it is produced by progressive incorporation of the water of the saline
current with that of the surface current. For the above see Ullyott and TIgaz, ope cit.,
pp. 44-66; conclusion, p. 65f. For earlier views on the currents see A. Philipps on, Das
Mittelmeergebietf (1922), p. 52; here also on the flows (currents) in the Strait of Gibraltar.
8 Ullyott and TIgaz, loco cit.

9 Philippson, GZ 4 (1898), p. 20; cf. A. Merz, Hydrographische Untersuchungen (1928),

p.38.
10 F. Machatschek, Das Relief der Erde (Berlin, 1955), p. 510 [according to W. Penck].

11 Cf. Merz, Opecit., p. 41.

72 Demetrius J. Georgacas
these Straits as far as the inland parts of the continental mass called the
Old World.12
The history of the straits is interrelated with Greek history since the
Greek colonization of the area. While Greek colonization in the west
started in the mid-eighth century (Kyme in Campania was founded by
colonists from Chalcis of Euboea ca. 750 B.C. and a series of settlements
appeared in Sicily a little later in the same cent.), the great colonization
activity of Miletus (itself founded in the eleventh cent. B.C. and called
the Greek Venice) reached the Sea of Marmara and the coasts of the Black
Sea soon after 700 B.C. and strove toward the peak of its colonization
activities in the mid-seventh century. An important point for our dis-
cussion here is also that the earliest of these sea voyages have, here and
there, influenced the evolvement of the sagas; e.g., the penetration of
Ionic seafarers into the Black Sea determined the scene of the Argonautic
Expedition. Conceptions originally mythological are subsequently filled
with geographical ingredients.13
After this orientation, we may tackle the onomastic data and the names
H ellespontos and Bosporos.
The statement to the effect that etymologizing onomastic items is a
dangerous business and also that the paucity of sources has often enabled
scholars to etymologize hand-picked onomastic data to suit vaguely
substantiated theories is correct.14 The names B6C17tOPOC:;and C'EAA~(j7tO"'t"oc:;
are two cases in point.
A. HELLESPONTOS
C'EAA~(j7tO"'t"OC:;, Lat. Hellespontus, has been a name since the Iliad
(2.845; 12.30: &y&ppooc:; C'EAA~(j7tO"'t"oc:; "strong-flowing Hellespont"), a
designation for both the Propontis (Sea of Marmara, Turk. Marmara
Denizi) and the Dardanelles, including part of the outside sea opening
toward the Aegean, but since the fifth century B.C. confined to the Dar-
danelles.I5 The narrows are to the Turks 9anakkale Bogaz~ and inter-
12 w. Penck, Opecit., p. 5. 13 Cf. A. Lesky, Thalatta (1947), pp. 61, 188.

14 J. Puhvel, (review of D. Detschew's Thrakische Sprachreste), Language 33 (1957),

pp. 441 and 443.
15 On the Hellespont in general see A. M. Mansel, art. H ellespontos, Der Kleine Pauly 3

(1967), pp. 1010-12 [with the most important literature cited]; L. Biirchner, art. Hel-
lespontos, RE 8 (1912), pp. 182-188; E. Oberhummer, ibid., pp. 188-193. The Byz. name
was also t'EAA~cr1t'OV"t"Oc;. Cf. Biirchner, Opecit., p. 192.
t'EAA~cr1t"OV"t"Oc; covered three main senses: (1) the strait of the Dardanelles, (2) the
stretch east of Lampsacus as far as the line Perinthus-Cyzicus, and (3) the unit of both
the strait and the entire Propontis. See A. Ronconi, "Ellesponto e Propontide," SIFO 9
(1931), pp. 225-242 (an exhaustive study); V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), pp. 11-21
(almost adequate). Cf. also A. Klotz, RhM 68 (1913), pp. 290-292; G. Jachmann, RhM 70
(1915), pp. 640-643 [a Hellenistic poet added the use of t'EAA~cr1t"OV"t"Oc; for the Aegean
Sea]. A description of the Hellespont is given also by Strabo 13.1.22-23; Dionys. Byz.,
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 73

nationally the Dardanelles and the Straits of Gallipoli.l6 Other names

were: Stretto della Romania (fifteenth cent.), B1lcca Romaniae, Golfo di
Gallipoli, ~1"evov 1"WV~cxpocxveAA(wv, all for "the seaway of the Dardanelles."
fl EAA~<; n6po<; and f/EAA'YJ<; n6po<; has also been ,veIl attested from the
fifth cent. B.C.: Pin dar fro 292 (189) unEp n6v1"wv f/EAA~<; n6pov; Aeschy-
lus, Pers. 875 f/EAA"IJc; n6poc;; Aristophanes, Vespae 808 n6pov f/E) .•AC'.<; r.p6v
(sacrum Hellae meatum),17 f/EAA"IJ<; nop6{J6<; (Aeschylus, Pers. 67, 722,
799) for f'EAA'YJ<; n6v1"o<; may be poetic (though nop8fL6c; means "sea"
generally in Pind., Isthm. 4.97) as are f/EAA"IJ<; x.u[Lcx, f'EAA'Yjc; ~~v, etc.
They are, despite Georgiev,18not real names but varying transformations
employed in the creative process of poetry.
Various early etymologies are not worth discussing today.19
The main name C'EAA~crnOV1"oc; has been explained as a hypostasized
compound with the first component a genitive, so that f'EAA'YJ<; n6v1"o<;,
which in fact occurs in an adespoton fragment, yielded the one-word
name C'EAA~crnOV1"oc; "Helle's sea," which in Doric appears as C'EAA&cr7tOV1"Oc;
(Theocr. 13.29: -ov ~x.ov't"o); probably the name f/EAA'Yjc; n6poc; for the
strait at Abydos was also a real name.
P. Kretschmer's etymological exposition (1939)20 was sanctioned by
the authors of both Greek etymological dictionaries,21 but the interpreta-
Anaplus Bospori, 4f. On t'EAA~cmoV't'O<; 0 X6A7t'O<; XtXt 1} XWptX -1J 7t'tXPtXXe:Lflev't): Herodiani
technici reliquiae, 1.227,11.25f., ed. A. Lentz. t'EAA~O'7t'OV't'o<; for Hesychius was a river flow-
ing on the shore and the sea between the Troad and the Thracian Chersonese: t'EAA~O'7t'OV-
"t'o<;· 7t'o't'tXflo<; bd 't'~<; 7t'tXPtXALtX<; / -1J fle:'t'tX~U TpOLtX<; XtXt Xe:ppov~O'OlJ 6&AtXO'O'tX (ed. Latte, vol. 2).
16 A foundation of KalIias, the city was called KtXAALOlJ 7t'6AI.<; (cf. A. Fick, BB 23 [1897],

pp. 9, 11) and KtXAALOtmOAI.<; in Byzantine sources (cf. RE, 10 [1917], p. 1659f.; Der Kleine
Pauly 3 [1969], 82b). However, since there was KtXAAL7t'OAI.<; in Aetolia (called also K&AAI.OV),
in Macedonia, and in Italy near Tarentum (now Gallipoli), also our city name KtXAAI.OtmOAI.<;
in the Hellespont became by analogical interference KtXAAL7t'OAI.<;, and this form is reflected
as early as the thirteenth century: Pertinentia Gallipoli, in: Partitio Romaniae, ed. G. L. Fr.
Tafel und G. M. Thomas, Urkunden zur iiltesten Handels- und Staatsgeschichte der Republik
Venedig, Theil 1 (Wien, 1856), p. 467f., where it is recorded as Gallipoli from 't'~v KtXAAL7t'OAl.'J
+- ti13galipoli, the same form as Gallipoli in South Italy; so also 't'ov KtXAAL7t'0POV -+ Ital.
GalliParo (infra, p. 97). The Turk. name form for Gallipoli is Gelibolu. The inhabitant name
KtXAAI.7t'OAL't'YJ<; occurs in the thirteenth and sixteenth cent. (Marie Vogel und Victor Gardt-
hausen, Die griechischen Schreiber des Mittelalters und der Renaissance [Leipzig, 1909],
pp. 238, 286).
17 Also in Meleager, Anthol. Pal. 12.53: e:ucpop't'OI. v'ije:<; 7t'e:AtXyL't'I.Oe:<; tXt 7t'6pov tlEAA't)<; 7t'Ae:L't'€.

18 V. Georgiev, "Hellespontos und Bosporos," LB 3, 2 (1961), p. 25.

19 They are indicated by V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), p. 12, note 5 (Seliger and Hofer

in Roscher; Gruppe and Oberhummer, rejected by Friedlander; Biirchner's connecting of

the name with Cretan t'EAA~V and &AAOfltXl..)
20 Cf. E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik, 1.446 (H. Kuhn, BNF 4 [1953], p. 171f.,
on the compounding with a genitive in Germanic place-names); P. Kretschmer, "Litera-
turbericht fur das Jahr 1935. Griechisch," Glotta 27 (1939), p. 29.
21 Frisk, GEW 1 (1960), p. 500 [the relevant installment publ. in 1957]; Chantraine,

Diet. etym. 2 (1970), p. 341.

74 Demetrius J. Georgacas
tion has been questioned by three other scholars, who instead postulated
other solutions, which are to be discussed here.
At least two etymologies of the name EAA1l as pre-Hellenic were in
fl

fact based on some elements of the myth discussed earlier by scholars.

Prehellenic origin of the name f/EAA'Y) from *hella "north" (this from
*hela "fog, north"), whence also *Hellane "Nordic people" -7 f/EAA(x'Je~,
f/EXA1l'Je~ was suggested by L. Deroy. 22
First of all, the etymology here is not really one that was built up by
the author's independent linguistic insights but has derived from an
opinion previously held by others: I mean, Lauer in the nineteenth
century explained f/EAA1l as "shining cloud."23 Now, as is well-known,
in the myth of Phrixos and Helle their shadowy mother was Necp€A'Y),
which means "Cloud." This "cloud" redundancy does not really enhance
Deroy's interpretation. If objectively and carefully examined and evalu-
ated, Deroy's proposal is hardly supported by data (which are non-
existent) but is based on imaginative projections. My objection to this
suggestion is as follows: the naming process is not an exclusive one but
the naming of geographic features is unpredictable and the naming of a
given place may have been one of hundreds of possibilities. To be sure,
names from the concept "fog" are not uncommon in foggy regions, e.g.,
Foggy Island in Alaska (at which Sir John Franklin was detained by fog
in 1826 for eight days); but Foggy Peak in the state of Washington
(U.S.A.) was so named probably because of fog encountered on a partic-
ular day.24However, though other places are foggier and more northerly
than the Hellespont, we would not necessarily expect such areas like
Scandinavia, England, Oanada, Russia, etc., to have received their names
from terms meaning, "very cold," "'northern," "foggy," etc. In place-
names each case has to be examined for itself on the basis of evidence.
Helle and Hellespont may be northern relative to Greece and Asia Minor
but, in a general geographic picture, are really not. If we had evidence
for the designation "north," I would agree; as it is, I find no validity in
this attempt.
The name f/EAA'Y) was interpreted in 1837 to signify "swamp" and
"moist soil" (€AOc;).25 In our century two scholars, Paul Haupt and Vla-
dimir Georgiev, have used the same attempt in different ways.
22 L. Deroy, "L'origine prehelIenique de quelques noms de peuples mediterraneens,"

Annuaire de l'Institut de Philol. et d'Hist. Orientales et Slaves 13 (Bruxelles, 1955), pp.

90-92.
23 Lauer, Systematik der griechischen Mythologie, p. 216; see K. Seeliger, art. Helle,
Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol., P (1886-90), p. 2029.
24 Of. G. R. Stewart, American Place-names (1970), p. 169.
25 So P. V. Forchhammer, Hellenika (1837), p. 177ff.; cf. K. Seeliger, lococit.; in part
also Ed. Gerhard, Griechische Mythologie, § 688 (cf. Seeliger, ibid.).
 The Waterway ot Hellespont and Bosporus 75

Paul Haupt suggested in 1924 that fl EAAYJ may be a name in -YJ like
0p4x.YJ, Kp~'!"I), <Do~v(x.YJ and it may be connected with ~AOC; "meadow land"
(11. 20.221; cf. Strabo 7.7.10).26 However, the author did not elaborate
and so left more questions unanswered than solved; e.g., where are the
parallel formations in -"I) from neuter es-nouns ~Moreover, the geminate II
is hardly explained from ~AOC;; in fact, ~AOC; and derivatives like ~AeLOC;
sho,v no trace of AA from *AY, *AV, *AO', etc. In addition, the Mycenaean
ethnic ereeu does not support such a relationship. As is well known, 't'o
~AOC; is from IE *selos as Skt. saras- "pond" is and ~AeLOC; is from
*selesyo- . 27
v. Georgiev's attempt may have been based on an identical suggestion
as a starting-point, as indicated above. Georgiev holds that the age-old
interpretation of t"EAA~cr7t'OV't'oc; as flEAAYJC; 7t'6v't'oc; was the outcome of
folk-etymology;28 but I miss cogent reasons leading to such a conclusion.
Georgiev offers his hypothesis: the hypothetical *t"EA"t)C; 7t'6v't'oc; "sea full
of swalnps" (wherein f/EAA"t)C; with -ll- is explained away by paretymolog-
ical influence of the Greek name flEAA"t), which he derives from IE *swel-);
thus *ZA"f)C; is from the IE adj. *seles-went-s "full of swamps, swampy,"
this from *selos-, seles- "swamp" with h- (in both Greek and Phrygian)
from IE s-; the postulated *E:AYJC; is considered equivalent to *~eA~eLC;,
name for the river in the Troasemptying into the Hellespont.29 The
name is, according to Georgiev, Phrygian, not Greek, and, in the same line
of reasoning, n6poc; in the also descriptive name flEAA"t)C; 7t'6poc; is like,vise
Phrygian, meaning "river, stream"; the genuine Phrygian toponym,
according to the author, was f/EA'Y)C; 7t'6poc;, as the "Phrygian designation
B6cr-7t'opoC;" leads us to conclude, he says.
It appears that Georgiev's etymology is refutable. To begin with, the
sense "stream, river" assigned to the alleged Phrygian term 7t'6poc; (on
account of such names as ITOp6ALGcrov side by side with IT(XpcX.A~(1(10V)
is nothing certain, for there is no Phrygian evidence in sight; when
Herodotus calls the strait "a turbid and a briny river" (7.35) nothing is
proved by this for two reasons: first, Herodotus immediately after this
quotation calls the Hellespont a sea ('t'~v 't'e o~ ecX.A(X(1O'llVXA1t) and, sec-
ond, because the chief name for the straits is flEAAYJC; 7t'6v't'oc; "Helle's
sea." Herodotus actually calls the Hellespont a river in the passage quoted
from Xerxes' allegedly verbatim message to the Hellespont, which he
26 Paul Haupt, "The Hittite Name of Troy," in his "Philological and Archeological

Studies. 7," AJP 45 (1924), pp. 252-255 [the entire study on pp. 238-259]. Haupt's
suggestion was favored with some caution by V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), p. 12, note 5,
who, however, did not present it to his own readers.
27 Cf. H. Frisk, GEW 1 (1960), p. 501f.; P. Chantraine, Dict. etym. 2 (1970), p. 342;

J. Pokorny, lEW 901, s. selos-.

28 LB 3 (1961), p. 25.

29 Ibid., 25f. Iliad 2.659; 15.531: 1to't'cx(J.ou <X1tO~e;AA~evt'oc; "from the river Selleeis."
 76 Demetrius J. Georgacas
will yoke with a bridge (as if the Hellespont were a river); to Xerxes
the strait looked like a (salty) river on account of its length. Further-
more, the adjective &.yappooc; "strong-flowing" used for the Hellespont
(1l. 2.~45, 12.30) mayor may not imply a river, since p6oc; stands for
"sea" in the Odyssey and &:yappooc; 7t6v"t"oc; is attested in hymn. Cere 34,
and Crete is called 7te:pLppU"t"OC; "surrounded with water" (Od. 19.173).30
Of course both the Hellespont and the Bosporos are maritinle rivers;
however, the term 7t6poc; is so abundantly attested in Greek of all periods
that place-names descriptive or compounded with it, such as B6()7t'opoc;
and f'EAA1JC; 7t'6poc; , are not susceptible to being stamped as Thracian or
Phrygian or otherwise without unequivocal evidence. Georgiev has not
advanced such evidence and the record is unshakable. The postulated
adj. l"EAYJC; from *seleswents presumes that Phrygian had exactly the
Greek form *EA~C; gen. *EA~V"t"OC; (from EA~e:V"t"-); if so, why should this
Greek form be ascribed to Phrygian 1
The idea that the name f' EAAYJ can in some way be explained linguistical-
ly within Greek was persistent with some nineteenth -century scholars,
when the adoption of antique etymologies was easy and etymological
method left much to be desired. Thus, based on the Etymologicum
Magnum, there are three different etymologies: f'EAA1J would be from a
noun ~AA1J meaning as much as ~ALOC; or as (Je:A~V1J and would mean
"Strehlke" (in German).31In the same line of thinking, f'EAA1J would be
connected with l"EAEVYJ because this latter name was explained from (Jfe:A-
(Skt. svar-) in ()e:A~VYJ "moon." 32 ~e:A~VYJ is a Greek moon-goddess and
properly would signify "Strehlke" (connected as it is with ()EAClC;; cf.
Etym. M. 828.15); ~e:A~V1J had little cult in Greece; she was identified
with Artemis, probably before the fifth cent. B.C., perhaps because both
had been identified with Hecate.33 l"EAEV1J, however, in origin is a non-
Greek name and several aspects about her fit an ancient, pre-Hellenic
goddess.34
We now know that f'EAA1J is etymologically unrelated to ()e:A~V1J or to
l"EASV1J. A. Chatzis' claim, therefore, in 1937 that the name f1EAA1J of a
moon-goddess (like ~e:A~V1J and l"EASV1J) is a hypocoristic of the name
l"EAEV1J, this meaning "moon," is a repetition of worthless nineteenth-
century method and opinions. His argument that Etym. M. 549.18
30 A. Ronconi, SIFO 9 (1931), pp. 226-228.
31 Pape-Benseler, 1.351a; K. Seeliger, Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol., 2029, who also
stresses that "we may at least explain Helle as sun, for this is considered in classical
mythology throughout as a male being" (ibid.).
32 G. Curtius, Grundzuge der griechischen Etyrnologie 5(1879), p. 552; Pape-Benseler,
1.344; R. Engelmann, art. Helena, Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol., col. 1977.
33 Pape-Benseler, 2.1364; W. H. Roscher, Uber Selene und Verwandtes (1890); cf. J. E.

Fontenrose, art. Selene, OOD2 (1970), p. 970f.

34 OOD2 (1970), p. 492f.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 77

equates ~AAYJ with (j~A~'JYJ and ~ALO~ and that the name "EAAYJ has, there-
fore, yielded the noun ~AAYJ, 35 simply does not hold true; it still represents
the indiscriminate pre-linguistic throwing together of flagrantly un-
related terms to prove indemonstrable combinations. For the truth is as
follows:
(j~A~'JYJ is from (J~Ar!t.'J'JFi: (jEA(x'~
~A~O~, &.EALO~ is from *(J&fE'ALO~ sawelyos --+

f1EAAYJ is certainly not from ~EAE'JYJ this in turn being of unknown origin.
All the above attempts must be considered unsatisfactory.

18 there an explanation?

Before any new attempt, though a tentative one, we had better clarify
some thoughts about Helle in the myth from what has been found out or
attempted by scholars.
f'EAA~, an old goddess, was identified with the deity of light who was
worshipped on the shores of the Hellespont and Bosporos, i. e., the deity
of light by name rr(X.pes'Jo~ or <D{t)(jep6po~ or ' Iep~ys'J~~a or ' HASx-rp(X.. 36
From another viewpoint, Helle was rather a goddess thought of, in the
same situation, riding on a male animal as Europa rode on the back of a
bull across the sea.37 Helle is placed by A. Lesky in the group of Hellos -
Hellotis, thus connecting "EAAYJ with the name ~EAAOL (and, further,
with f'EAAYJ'JE~ "Greeks") ""vith a certain degree of probability" ;38 but,
as the author concedes, the very late tradition of Helle causes a critical
examination of this luythical figure to appear extremely difficult.39
The author has also stressed40 the statement that Helle appears stead-
fastly connected with the Hellespont.
Helle in the fleece saga of Athamas, Nephele, and the ram is of but
subordinate significance41 and the connection of the entire myth of
Athamas-Nephele-ram with the Argonaut saga is held to have been sec-
35 A. Chatzis, ""EAAll - t'EAAllV - tEAA&~," EE(]JE of the Univ. of Athens 1 (1937),
pp. 135-38; on the above, p. 137 with note 3.
36 Cf. L. Malten, "Hero und Leander," RhM, NF, 93 (1949), p. 79 (with references to
U. v. Wilamowitz- Moellendorff).
37 This assumption by O. Gruppe (Griechische Mythologie una. Religionsgeschichte,
[1906], p. 1146) is considered probable by A. Lesky, "Hellos-Hellotis, III," Wiener Stu-
dien 46 (1927-28), p. 129. The story of Phrixos and Helle voyaging through the air on the
back of the golden-fleeced ram, a marvelous and intelligent beast, is best connected with
the tale of Pegasos' journey; so C. Kerenyi, The Heroes of the Greeks (1959), p. 85.
38 Lesky, loco cit.

39 Ibid., p. 127.

40 Ibid., pp. 127-129.

n Of. K. Seeliger, Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol., 2029.

78 Demetrius J. Georgacas
ondary.42 This, however, does not entail that Helle's figure was spun out
of the geographic name Hellespontos as an eponymous heroine, as
Miiller thought43 and as this explanation, fixed in Roscher's Lexikon der
Mythologie, continued.44 If this were really the case, then we still have
to unravel the name f/EAA"/)~ 1C6v'ro~ and ask the question who f/EAA"/)
was; in other words, we are in a vicious circle.
The only reasonable and plausible solution in sight is to assume that
the derivation of the geographic name ('EAA~cr1Cov'ro~ from Helle's sudden
fall into the waters of the strait presents a characteristic aition for the
place so named.45 Analogous is the motif of Daidalos and Ikaros and the
derivation of the names " Ixcx.po~ for the island and ' Ix&pLOv 1CEAcx.yo~
"Icarian Sea." The inclusion of Helle in the story is, in comparative
mythology, explained by L. Radermacher from parallel folk tales.46
The aforementioned Chatzis elaborated about f/EAA"/) as follows: a
city called f'EAA"/) and located in the Thracian Chersonese on the shore at
the strait of the Hellespont, after Homer renamed IIcx.x'rtrfJ by Ephesian
colonists, AyLO~ re:WpyLO~ in Christian times, and Brachium Sancti
,I

Georgii among Westerners in the Middle Ages, was named "EAA"/) after
the temple of Helle there.47 The question arises whether or not the temple
was primary and the name of the city secondary. According to P. Fried-
Hinder, a tomb-like looking hill was designated as Helle's tomb after the
relevant saga had become well established and Helle's mythical figure
was later inserted into the body of the saga.48

The names" E'A}.r; and (/Je{~o~

While the name <DPL~O<; is reasonably explicable fronl Greek epPLQ'Q'e:~V,

i.e., adj. eppL~6~ "standing on end, bristling" (used of hair), and specific-
ally as a shortened form of compounds such as epp~~6ep~~ and eppL~ox6!-L'l)~,
these latter both meaning "with bristling hair,"49 so that the name <DPL~O~
42 H. D. Miiller, Mythologie der griechischen Stiimme, 2 (1861), p. 158ff.; cf. Seeliger,

Ope cit., p. 673f.

43 Miiller, Opecit., 2.165.

44 Lesky, TViener Studien 46 (1927-28), 129 note 50, stamps this explanation un-
fortunate.
45 Cf. H. Hunger, Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie (1953), p. 275.
46 L. Radermacher, Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen3 (Vienna, 1943), p. 181f., pointed

out that the folk tale of the little brother and little sister, in which a lamb, a ram or a
sheep plays a role, is widespread even in today's folk tales; cf. Hunger, Opecit., s. Phrixos,
p.276.
'7 So O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie und Religionsguchichte (1906), 1.565 note 7
(with references); followed by Chatzis, Ope cit., p. 135f.
48 P. Friedlander, art. Helle 2, BE 8 (1912), 160f. - Chatzis (op. cit., 138) states ideas

derived from Friedlander and modified.

41» Of. H. Frisk, GEW 2 (1961-70), p. 1044, s. q>pL~.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 79

would mean "Curly,"50 we do not have an equally good explanation for

the name "EAAYJ'
In any case, we would be wise to adhere to a traditional explanation of
the descriptive geographic name "EAA1jC; rc6v't'oc; that appears to be true
to fact: "Helle's sea."51 We are appreciative of the fact that we have
received the cherished precious tradition we now have; unduly to question
facts at our disposal and to substitute for them fanciful reconstructions
that add almost nothing to knowledge goes too far, indeed.
However, if we should have one tentative explanation for the name
"EAA1),the only one seeming probable to me is that linking the name with
the term for "young deer, fawn," so that "EAAYJ would originally mean
"a young doe or roe;"52 EAA6c; and (with rough breathing) EAA6c; ID.
"a young deer, fawn" (Od. 19.228; cf. the mythographer Antoninus
Liberalis [second cent. A.D.] 28.3;53 Eustathius, Oomm. ad Hom. 1863.40;
Hesychius EAA6v' ••• ~A(Xq>OV vEoyv6v ['t' 228]. There is also compd. EAAOq>6voc;
"fawn-slaying": Callim. Diana, 190).
This zoological term is the final form of an earlier one, *EAV6c;, which is
warranted in Indo-European by Lithuanian elnis "stag"; see also the
obscure Hesychian gloss E:VEAOC;' vE~p6c; ("young of the deer, fawn"),
possibly from *EAEVOC; ~ *elen-. Of the same origin is EACXCP0C;"cervus
Elaphus, deer": EACX- from *elT}-, i. e., E:ACXCP0C;from *elT}bhos; sufI. -cpOC;
(from *-bhos) as in ~p~-q>oC;. 54
A form *EAA~, therefore, for "a young doe or roe" ""vaspossible and
might have existed before it fell into disuse because the form ~AO:CPOC; f.
prevailed; yet, it lingered on as an endearing nanle55 or nickname of girls.
If this attempt is not convincing, the name" EAA'l) must be declared
of obscure origin.

*
In closing, the following reasonable assumption may be in order:
"EAA1)was the name of the promontory on the Thracian Chersonese at the
entrance to the strait of the Dardanelles and after this place-name the
50 C. Kerenyi, The Heroes of the Greeks (1959), p. 85. The meaning "he who causes

shivering" (from ~PL(j(jW) in L. Radermacher, Ope cit., p. 312 (cf. also Hunger, Lexikon,
S. Phrixos, p. 275) is made to fit more the mythical than it appears natural or actual.
51 As Chantraine, Diet. etym., S. "EAJ.:l), most recently put it, "TI n'y a aucune raison

de renoncer a l'interpretation traditionnelle depuis l'antiquite 'mer d'Helle'."

52 Cf. Kerenyi, op. cit., p. 86.

53 E. Martini (ed.), Mythographi Graeci, 2 (1) (Leipzig: Teubner, 1896), p. 107, 1. 21.

54 Of. Frisk, Ope cit., 1 (1960), 483f., s. ~A(x~O<;; Chantraine, Ope cit., 2 (1970), p. 333,
S. ~A(XcpO<;.
55 Cf. Modem Greek EA(xCPLV(x [lOU, etc.
80 Demetrius J. Georgacas
strait was named fl EAA1J4; 7C6v'ro4; and fl EAA1J4; 7C6p04;.56 The name f/EAA'Y)
was on the Thracian Chersonese but the saga used the name aetiological-
/
ly.57 But beyond this we know nothing certain about the name EAA1J. r

L1aetJaveAAta - The Dardanelles

The modern name oaroanelya has reached international status and

thus to a large extent replaced the ancient name:
Italian: Dardanelli
French: les Dardanelles
Spanish: Dardanelli
English: the Dardanelles58
German: die Dardanellen
Russian: Dardanelli (gen. plur. Dardanell; adj. Dardanell'skiy)
etc.
The medieval and modern Greek name 'reX. ~Ll:paLl:VEAA~OC, the source of
these forms, has been with good reasons linked with the ancient city
name ~&paLl:V04;. 59 Actually, the strait name ~OCpaOCVEAA~OC has been ex-
56 On the term 7t6v't'oc; and the like for "sea" a brief note: the Indo-European word
*mari "sea" is missing in East Indo-European (Sanskrit, Greek, and Armenian). On the
terms 6&ACXO'O'CX,&.AC;, 7t6v't'oc;, and 7tEACXY0C; cf. A. Lesky, Thalatta (1947), pp. 8-14. I take
exception to the vague interpretation of 6&ACX't''t'CX as pre-Hellenic: in view of the (presumed
Macedonian) form 8CXACXYXCX"sea" in Hesychius the approach of 6&ACXO'O'CXwith 6CXACX- (in
6cX.ACX-[J.OC;"inner room") from a preceded noun form *6&ACXXYCi (cf. yA(;)O'O'rt. from *y"A(;)xyft.),
used presumably for inner waters, is to me very probable; C. D. Buck, "0&"AocO'O'rt.," Olassical
Studies Presented to Edward Oapps (Princeton, 1936), pp. 42-45 (this study is not men-
tioned by P. Chantraine, Dict. etym., 2.420a, and H. Frisk, GEW, 1.648f., knows it only
from the notice in Indogerman. Jahrbuch 22.220.); cf. E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik 1
(1939), p. 3197, who suggested the earlier form was 6&"Art.yxyCl on account of Macedonian
8cx"Acxyxcxv (O'O'f't''t' results from both -XY- and -YXY-). W. Steinhauser's setup of IE *sal-
aky'a "salt water" -+ Pelasgian salassa -+ Gr. 6&"AcxO'O'rt. and IE dhol-'an-ka "the one that finds
itself below, depth" -+ Pelasgian dalankha ("Zwei Wege der Wortdeutung," Gedenk-
Bchrift fur P. Kretschmer 2 [1957], 152-154) is a failure because it splits 6&AOCO'O'CXand
8CXACXYXCXand works with too many imaginary forms.
57 Cf. the analysis of the saga in P. Friedlander, art. Helle 2, RE 8 (1912), 161; and in

C. Kerenyi, The Heroes of the Greeks (London, 1959), pp. 85-87, and notes 429-443 [on
p. 391]; cf. also art. Helle, Der Kleine Pauly 2 (1967), 1008. - Herodotus (7.58) mentions
"the tomb of Athamas' daughter Helle."
58 The name Dardanelle and Dardanelles in the United States became popular for Cali-

fornia mines in the 1850's and the cause of the naming was either transfer of the name or a
fancied resemblance to the strait. The name is now used in the United States for The
Dardanelles and associate names in California and for places in other states. Dardanelle in
Arkansas, on the other hand, originally derived from the French family name Dardenne
but it is supposed to have been attracted to the form of the name of the straits. See G. R.
Stewart, American Place-names (1970), 127f.
5g The strait of the Dardanelles was named after the city name ~&p8cxvoc; according to
Karl Kerenyi (Die Heroen der Griechen [Darmstadt, 1959], p. 99), who, however, for
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 81

plained from ~'cx.p8cx.VSAAf.Ct.

Q""t'E:Vcl
as a derivative adjective from a hypo-
thetical ~ * dCt.p8cx.vSAA"Y),
compound from d&p8Ct.vo~ (name of the ancient
city on the southern, the Asiatic side) and r'EAA1J60(at the Thracian ex-
tremity). According to Chatzis,61 the name "t'rX. drxp8rxvsAAf.(I.
for the strait
was in use, along with ('EAA~(,J"7t'OV"t'o~,
for centuries by the neighboring
peoples. The author, however, left out of consideration a very im-
portant fact: r'EAA'YJ was on the extreme Thracian promontory at the
entrance to the Hellespont but ancient d&p8Ct.vo~was located many
kilometers away to the northeast, below the narrowest central section
on the Asiatic side in the Troas, which renders the assumption of the
dvandva compound unlikely. One would have expected the two names
to be those of points opposite one another, such as Nagara and Qanak,
Abydos and Sestos, at the narrowest point of the Hellespont. The inter-
pretation is highly improbable.
The name "t'rX.drxp8rxvzAAf.Ct.
for the city (Turk. 9anak-kalesi "pottery
castle"), with a present population of about 25,000, on the Asiatic side
at the mouth of the river Rhodios (Turk. Saru;ay), at the narrowest
point of the strait and facing ancient Kuvo~ crii[LCt. in the Thracian Cher-
sonese, is, I submit, a neuter derivative with the diminutive suffix -SAAf. 62

reasons unknown to me, omitted this statement from the English edition (The Heroes of
the Greek [London, 1959], p. 86f.) of his book. The city called Dardanos appears on the
coast in a little bay on the south end of a little peninsula; see W. Judeich, "Skepsis,"
Festschrift H. Kierpert (Berlin, 1898), map, figure 1, on p. 228. - On the Homeric city
Dardania (Il. 20.215ff.), erected by Dardanos, alleged mother city ofTIion, and transferred
from Ida to Scamander see Judeich, Ope cit., p. 239. On the connection of L\cxp8cxveAALCX
with the city L\&.p8cxvoc; cf. more recently N. TunQdilek et alii, EBr 3 (1970), p. 73.
What in names has not, to my knowledge, been mentioned before and may be of inter-
est to some is the fact that in Modern Greek there are surnames: L\&.p8cxvoc; (thrice), L\cxp-
S&.V"I)C;
(twice), and L\cxp8cxvL8"1)c;(once), listed in the Athens Telephone Directory 1966
(the much shorter telephone directory of Salonica and the rest of the northern region,
which I consulted, does not list these names).
60 Demetrios Pelekidis and A. Chatzis in the latter's article, EEC/J}; of the Univ. of
Athens 1 (1937), p. 136 with note 3. Parallel examples were cited: 't'lXMOOCUK6pcuvcx, 1) IIcxpo-
VCX~LCX,'t'lXKA"I)[lEV't'OKCXLaCXpcx,
etc. Anc. Mcx~ouaLcx (or Mcxa't'ouaLcx)
&KpCX is now called Eles
burun, and the latter stands for r'EAA"I)C; &KpCX (E. Oberhummer, art. Mastusia, RE 14, 2
[1930], 2178); Cape Helles is found on maps (English sea map N 1608: Entrance of the
Dardanelles; Kiepert; Diest. Cf. Oberhummer, ibid.). Chatzis' assumption that "EAA1)had
also the meaning "Peninsula of Helle" (op. cit., 136) is unsupported and needless.
61 Ibid., note 3.

62 The suff. -eAALis well known in the eastern modern Greek dialects. The name form

Dardanelo is recorded for the locality of Kale Sultanijeh "The Sultan Castle" (this created
ca. 1470), located not far from Dardanos; see W. Tomaschek, "Zur historischen Topo-
graphie von Kleinasien," SB d. Wiener Akad., 124, 8 (1891), p. 17. If Ital. Dardanello
was used by sailors, as it seems, the Greek form't'lX D.cxp8cxveAALcx would be a Greek adapta-
tion of the corresponding Italian plural Dardanelli.
If anyone wonders about the hypocoristic form Dardanello, he may consider that hypo-
coristic forms are not strange at all; e.g., beside the Italian river name Salandra (today
82 Demetrius J. Georgacas

from the name ~ ~&p~(xvo~ of the ancient city, which is located some ten
kilometers southwest of the modern city ~(XP~(xVEAAr.(X. 63 It was, then
this medieval and modern name that yielded the designation ~'t"C:VbV 't"WV
~(xP~(xVC:AA£(oV "Strait of the Dardanelles," an exact parallel of the Strait
of Gallipoli (cf. also Peninsula of Gallipoli), drawn likewise from a city
name KClAAL7tOALC;, this being no dvandva either.

B. BOSPOROS

The waterway bet,veen the Propontis and the Black Sea offers an-
other example, interesting from the onomastic point of view, of multiple
names during its nearly 3,000 year-long history. It is called Karadeniz
Bogaz~, Istanbul Bogaz~, Bogaz~, and Bogaz~9~64 by the Turks (while it
is called also V6sporos in the Greek of the Greek-speaking people living
in the area), was called ' A'J&7tAOU~ during the postclassical and Byzantine
period,65t'PC:Uf!(X "stream" by the Byzantines, and more commonly ~'t"c:v6'J
officially Gavone) in the area of Metaponto (Lucania) there occurs Salandrella, name for
its upper flow; the river name Galatrella in the province of Cosenza is diminutive of galatru
"burrone" (from anc. Gr. X&pcx8poc;;).See G. Rohlfs, "FluBnamen im heutigen Kalabrien,"
BNF, NF, 4 (1969), 117 notes 5 and 6; 126.
63 The city 1j Ll&p8cxvoc;;existed in the province of Hellespontos as late as the sixth
century A.D.; Hierocles, Synecdemos, 662.7, ed. E. Honigmann (Bruxelles, 1939), p. 23.
Cf. L. Biirchner, art. Dardanos 1, BE 4 (1901), 2163f.
64 Cf. V. J. Parry, art. Boghaz-ici, EIsl 1 (1960), 1251a-1252b; Besim Darkot and
M. Tayyib Gokbilgin, art. Bogazir;i, Islam Ansiklopedisi 2 (1944-49), 666-692. The
narrows at the south end of the Bosporos are called Marmara Bogaz?'; see the Atlas of
Turkey, prepared by Ali Tanoglu et alii (Istanbul, 1961), map Ifa: Istanbul and map 1:
Turkiye. Cf. Atlas of the JVorld, vol. II (1959), plate 37: Dardanelles; on the Karadeniz
Bogaz?' and Istanbul Bogaz?': N. Tun~dilek et alii, art. Bosporus, EBr 3 (1970), 985b.
65 Pseudo-Scylax [ca. 300 B.C.], TI€p£rrAOUC;; 't"YjC;;6CXA&0'CTI)C;; obwu(.Lev1)c;;,GGM 1
't"YjC;;
(1855), 15, 67: KCXAd1'cx~ 0 1'6rroc;;eXVtX
8E ' AvrJ:rtAOUC;; B60'rropov (.LexpLC;;eXveA671C;;ecp' t'1€p6v KA1t.;
Dionys. Byz. [second cent. A.D., written before A.D. 196], ,Avoc7tAouC;;
BoO'rr6pou (Voyage
Up the Thracian Bosporus), ed. R. Giingerich (Berlin, 1927; 21958): ' AvocrrAouc;; for
Dionysius Byzantinus was (1) the entire Bosporos and (2) the place called t'EO'1'£CXL
(Dionys. Byz. 22.11), Turk. Kuru-r;esme, where the MLXCX~ALOV
was located (so named from
the church to the archangel Michael, erected by Constantine the Great and renewed with
magnificence by Justinian); cf. the scholiast [tenth cent.] ad Dion. Byz. 21.8. Cf. R.
Giingerich, Ope cit., p. XLV f. Then, Dionys. perieg. [first / second cent. A.D.], GGM 2
(1861), 102, together with Eustathius ad Dion. Perieg. 140.240.42: 1'ou KCXAOU(.LEVOU
'Av&-
1tAoU. Steph. Byz., S. Ll&cpv1): EO'1'LKCXt7tpoOCcr1'€LOV
Ll&cpv1)ev 1'<T>
0'1'6(.Lcx't'L
1'OUII6v1'ou, Ev
&pLO'1'€P~bd 1'ov 'AVcX7tAOUV
&VLOOOLV (cf. Eustathius ad Dion. Perieg. 916, who reproduces
this information from Steph. Byz.); Steph. Byz. s. KcxAA£rroALC;;:KcxAA£rroALC;,7tOA£XV1)
Acx(.L~cXxoU[ ... ]. 8€u1'€pcx [sc. KCXAA£rrOALC;;]
XCX1'tX
1'OV'AvcXrrAouv. 't'p£'t'1) 7t6ALC;;
KA7t. Malalas
[sixth cent., before A.D. 563], Chronographia, 78.8. There is the site on the European bank
of the Bosporos called ' AVOC7tAOUC;;
(Procopius, De aedif., 1.8.2; 6; 17); in Procop., Opecit.,
1.5.1, ,AV&7tAOUC;;
is the suburb of Byzantion on the site of the modern suburb called
Arnavutkoy. Cf. Steph. Byz. S. ruvcxLx6crrtOALC;;.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 83
"narrow, straits" ;66 it was Brachium Sancti Georgii to the Latins at the
time of the Crusades, the same name as that for the Hellespont, and since
ancient times the name has been B6a1topoc;/b6sporos, in modern Greek
v6sporos/.67 This age-old name of the straits at Byzantion, meaning
"channel" (or even "crossing") was given about the early seventh cen-
tury B.C.68 Bosporos and Bosporus has been the international designa-
tion for these straits. Some additional substitute terms for it were used in
antiquity but these described a geographic reality and did not really be-
come names in their own right.69
B6G1topoc; was chiefly the strait between Byzantion and Chalcedon in
Aristotle70 and was also early called B6a1topoc; MOGwc; "Mysian Bospo-
ros."71 But generally B6G1topoc; was the strait between the Sea of Mar-

66 ~'t'ev6v (strait) "Bosporos" was in general use (and 'E1tcXVCU

~'t'ev6v "Upper Strait"
in G. Sphrantzes, Ohronicon, 115.13) and in contrast to 't'ci ~'t'evcX "Straits" ('t"Yic;'A~u8ou)
or KcX't'cu ~'t'evcX "Lower Straits" for the Hellespont; so Polyb. 4.44.6: 't'ci 't"Yic;
llpo1toV't't8oc;
(J't'evci xcx't" "A~u8ov XCXL~"I)(J't'6v. ~'t'ev6v 't'ou ll6V't'ou: Theophanes, Ohronographia, ed. de
Boor, 1.367; 0pcxxcrcx 't'ou ~'t'evou ~€P"l), ibid., 1.481; in early Byzantine times 't'ci ~'t'evcX, e.g.,
x6~"I)c; 't'&v ~'t'ev&v 't"Yic;llOV't'LX1jc;8CXAcXO'CJ"I)c;
(he had his seat in ~Iep6v on the Asiatic shore).
~'t'ev6v "Bosporos" in C. Porphyrogen., De admin. imp., 51.13, 92 (and ~'t'evL't'CXL"sailors
of the Bosporos," ibid., 51.12, 91). Cf. K. Amantos, ""A~u8oc; - ~'t'ev6v," ~E;'J.1]Vl~a 1
(1928), 403f. [with quotations from Byzantine sources]; Ph. Koukoules, eeaaaJ..ovb"1]~
Evm:a()lov TO. ),aOY(Jaepl~a(Athens, 1950), 2.234. ~'t'ev6v was, in addition, a settlement near
the City. EEBE 22 (1952), 179f. Hence the name Stenum in the
Cf. also D. Zakythinos,
Partitio Romaniae (1204); Tafel und Thomas, Urkunden I (1856), p. 473 note 7.
As a parallel there may be mentioned Narrows (used as a singular form; cf. 't'ci ~'t'evcX)
in the United States, which designates a narrow place in a generally broader body of
water; hence the name The Narrows and (as a habitation) Narrows in the state of Virginia.
See G. R. Stewart, American Place-names (1970), p. 318.
67 The Russian forms of the name are Vosp6r from middle Greek V6sporos and Bosp6r
and Bos/6r, new borrowings from medieval Latin Bosporus and Bosphorus (Bos/orus);
cf. M. V asmer, Russisches etymologisches W orterbuch I (1953), Ill, s. Bosp6r. The accent
on the last syllable (Vosp6r, Bosp6r) of the Russian reflex for Greek V6sporos or Latin
B6sporus, not explained by Vasmer, is an internal linguistic matter, the result of inner-
Russian practice about names of foreign provenience; this was the result of my discussion
of this matter with my colleagues Eugene Grinbergs (Univ. of North Dakota) and Dr.
Jaroslav Rudnyckyj (Univ. of Manitoba).
68 On the early date of Bosporos' naming cf. V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), p. 27f.
Cf. Favorinus [ca. A.D. 130] in Steph. Byz., s. B60'1topoc;: BU~CXV't'LCUV
AL~~V B60'1t0p0c;
XCXAeL't'CXL.
69 These geographic descriptions are 't'ou ll6v't'ou dO'~OACXL, ll6v't'ou €X~OACX£,Ponti col-
lum, Ponti canalis, Ponti fauces (Ovid, Tristia, 1.9.31). Cf. GGM 2.6; E. Oberhummer,
art. Bosporos I, RE 3 (1899), 755; Burr, Opecit., p. 24. On Turkish descriptive names for
"Bosporos" see Parry, Opecit., 1251 b.
70 Aristotle, meteor. 1.14.30; 3.2.6; animo hist. 8.15.4.
71 Strabo 12.4.8: E:1te:L't'CX
~LOVUO'LOC;b 't'cXC;X't'LO'e:Lc;
O'uYYPcXq;cxc;, OC;'t'cXxcx't'cXXcxAx"I)86vcxXCXL
BU~cXV't'LOV &. vuv 0p~XLOc; B60'1t0p0C; XCXAe:l:'t'CXL,
O''t'e:vcX, MUO'LOV
1tp6't'e:p6v cp"IJO'L B60'1t0poV 1tpoO'cxyo-
pe:Ue:0'8CXL.
Apollon. Rhod. 1.1114f.: CPCXLVe:'t'O I MUO'LCXL.
~' ije:p6e:vG't'6p.ocBOG1t6pou ij~€ XOAWVOCL
Schol. Apollon. Rhod. 2.168.
84 Demetrius J. Georgacas
mara (Propontis, Greek IIpo7tov"dc;= ~ 1tpOII6v"t'oue&:AOCO'O'(X.)72 and the
Black Sea (Pontos). 73
The first attestations of the name B60'7topoc; are found in Herodotus
(fifth cent. B.C.), who defines it as "t'o ~"t'6~oc"t'ouII6v"t'ou"the Mouth
toward Pontos" and, in its broader sense "the entire strait," as evidenced
from the statement about its length and from the addition "t'ot)cr"r6~oc"roc; 0
OCUX~V "narrow neck."74 And he had to define it because several straits
in the NE Mediterranean bear the name B60'1topoc;;e.g., Aeschylus
[fifth cent. B.C.] employed the same name for the Hellespont and the
Cimmerian strait. The Bosporos in the area of Byzantion is called
"Thracian Bosporos" in Herodot. 4.83: B6cr7topoc.; 0PYJLXWc.;75(Polyb.
4.39.4;76 Strabo 12.4.8, etc.: 0p~xwc;; Dion. Byz., ,AVOC7tAOUC; BOO'7t6pou,
2.8; 4.16, ed. R. Glingerich: 0p~x~oc;B.; Eustathius ad Dionys. perieg.
140: 0p~x~x6c.;)and in Latin literature Bosporus Thracius or Bosporus, 77
spelled also Bosporos and Bosphorus. The contrast usually is to the strait
72 The Greek name is 0etAOCcrcrOC 't'OU Mocp~ocp~ from Mocp~ocp~~ m., name of a village on
the island of Prokonnesos, this latter located at the northern exit of the Hellespont.
73 According to Polybius, who offers a description of the Bosporos (4.43f.), the south-

ern boundary line, i.e., the beginning, of the (Thracian) Bosporos was the strait between
Chalcedon and Byzantion (Polyb. 4.39.5) and the northern end point toward the Black
Sea was the so-called l"Ie:p6v (4.39.6, now in Turkish Yoros). Cf. F. W. Walbank, A Historical
Oommentary on Polybius, vols. 1, 2 (Oxford, 1957, 1967), on Polyb. 4.39.5 and 6.
74 Herodot. 4.85: 't'O\J't'ou 't'OU 1t'e:A&:.ye:O~[sc. 't'OU I16v't'ou] 't'o cr't'6~oc OO't'L e:3po~ 't'ecrcre:pe:c;
CJ't'&:.~LOL·~1ixo~ ~e 't'ou cr't'6~oc't'o~ 0 ocuXYJv, 't'o ~~ B6cr1'mpo~ XeXA'Yl't'OCL•.• 't'e:(Ve:L~' e~ 'T~V I1po-
1t'ov't'(8oc 0 B6crrtOpO~ (ocux.~v is used also for Hellespont by Aeschyl. Per8. 71: ocux.evL rt6v't'ou
"upon the neck of the deep"). 86: 0 ~ev vuv II6v't'o~ Oi5'TO~XOCLB6crrtop6~ 't'e: XOCLl"E).)\:~crrtov't'o~
o{hw 't'e ~OL ~e:~e;'t'peoc't'ocL XA1t. 87: 8e:'Ylcr&:.~e:vo~8e XOCL't'ov B6C11topov O''t'1jAOC~~0''t''Y10'e:Esc. dOCpe:LOC;]
8uo e1t' OCU'TOUA(8ou Ae:UXOUXA1t. and further: 't'OU 8e Bocrrt6pou 0 X<7>po~'t'ov ~~e:u~e: ~OCcrLAe:U~
.6.OCpe:LO~••• ~zcrov ecr't'L BU~OCV't'LOU't'e: XOCL't'OU rnL 0''t'6~OC't'L[pou. 88: Mocv8poXAe'Yl~ 't'ov O''t'poc't'ov
cxu't'ou ~LOC~OC(vov't'oc••• eXve8'Ylxe:. The bridge of boats set up by order of Darius to facilitate
the crossing over the Bosporos for his campaign against the Scythians was perhaps at the
narrowest point at Rumeli Hisar.
75 Herodot. 4.83: ~e:uyvucr8OCL 't'ov 0p't)(XLOV B6crrtopov (Darius was sending messengers
to charge some men to bridge the Thracian Bosporos); 7.10: 1toc't'~p 0 cro~ Esc.Darius, Xerxes'
father] ~e:u~oc~ B6crrtopov 't'ov 0p't)LXLOV. Cf. also 7.20. The adj. occurs further in the name
~cX~o~ 0p't)'r:XL't) (fl. 13.12f.; hymn. 1.34), i.e. ~oc~o8p~x't).
76 On the Thracian Bosporus see also the comments and bibliography in Walbank,
Ope cit. 1.488f. [on Polyb. 4.39.3f.: XOCAe:L't'OCL 8e 't'o ~ev 't'1i~ MOCL~'t'L8o~ CJ't'6~oc KL~~e:PLXOC;
B6crrtopo~ ••• 't'o 8e 't'OU I16v't'ou 1t'OCPOC1tA't)O'(W~ ovo~cX~e:'t'OCL~ev B60'1topo~ 0P~XLO~, ~cr't'L 8e 't'o
~ev ~ljxo~ XA1t.]. On the personal viewing by Polybius of the Thracian Bosporos see C. M.
Danoff, art. Pontos Euxeinos, RE, Suppl., 9 (1962), 883.
77 Varro [ca. 37 B.C.], Res rust., 2.1.8, ed. Goetz (Teubner, 1929): Bosporum unum

Thracium, alterum Oimmerium; Mela [ca. A.D. 40] 1.14; Pliny [ca. A.D. 23-70], NH 4.76;
etc. Bosporos: Lucanus [mid-first cent. A.D.], 5.436, ed. Housman (Oxford, 1916); B08-
phoros: Ovid, Tristia [written A.D. 9-12], 3.4.49, ed. Owen (OCT, 1915). - Cf. ThLL, S.
Bosporus, 2 (1900-06), 2143ff. [with derivatives]; J. Perin, Onomasticon, in: Ae. Forcel-
lini, Lexicon totiu8 Latinitati8 5 (Patavii, 1940), 277; Oxford Latin Dictionary, fasc. 1
(1968), 240a, B. Bosp(h)oru8.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 85

of Kerch, i. e., the Cimmerian Bosporos: KL[L[J1pLOC; or KL[L[LE:pLXOC;

B60'7topOC;,78
in Latin Bosporus Cimmerius, and less so to the Hellespont.79
We may note a few derivatives: adj. BOCJ7t6pLOC;,e. g., Boa7t6pLOC;axptX,80
't'0 BOO'7t6pLOV,
name of the port of Byzantion (called also B6cr1topOC;),81
adj. BOO'7tOpLtXv6C;, e.g., O'1tE:~P(l.BOO'1tOPLtXV~
"cohors Bosporiana" (recruit-
ed principally from the inhabitants of the B. Cimmerius},82 and in-
habitant name BOO'7toph""flC; referring to B. Cimmerius (year 268 B.C.), 83
but also to the B. Thracius.84

Folketymological name forms:

B60'~opoc;, Bosphoros, -us, 1:0 <D6)O'cp6pLOV(for BOO'1t6pLOV),
TIpoO'cp6pr.oc;
)..LtL~V
(for BOO'7t6pLOC;),
1:0 TIpoO'cp6pr.ov
(for BOO'1t6pLOV).
The form B6crcpopoc;for Bosporos appears in late writings85 as do't"o <Dcucrcp6ptov(used
locally)86 and the name for the great port IIpomp6pLOC;AL{l-~Vand 't"o IIpoO'ep6ptov (also
Ne~ptov).87 This last case is the result of a folk etymology with 7tpooepop&:,while the forms
with -ep- (B60'epopoc;)or with <D-ep-came about as the outcome of the interference of C'Ex&:TI)
<I>cucrep6poc;
(cf. Steph. Byz. s. B60'7t0poc;); there was at the place called Bolos a 't"E{l-e'JOC;
,Ap't"E{l-taoC;<I>cuO'ep6pou
XlXL'AeppOaLTI)C;
IIplXe:LlXC;,
a temple of Diana Lucifera and of Venus
Placida, where the inhabitants of Byzantium offered sacrifices annually. 88
78 On the B6cr7topoC;for tcr6{l-oc; Kt{l-{l-epLX6c;,the Straits of Kerch, modern Yenikale,
see Aeschylus, Prom. 729-734: L0'6{l-ova' ... / KL{l-{l-eptxov1)~eLC;,8'.1 6PlXO'UO'7tA&:YXVCUC; O'eXP~
At7tOUO'lXVlXUAWV'€x7tepCiv l\1lXtCU't"tx6v· / EO''t"lXt
a€ 6v"IJ't"oL'c;;
eLO'lXdA6yoc; {l-EYlXC; 't"i)c;cri)c;7t0Pe:LlXC;,
B60'7topoc;a' e7t~vuI-LOC;/ Xe:XA~O'e:'t"lXL.
- B60'7t0poc; KLI-LI-LEPLOC;: Herodot. 4.12; 100; Dion. Byz.,
Anaplus W2, ed. R. Giingerich, 2.1f.: 't"ov XlXAOU{l-e'JOV Kt{l-{l-EptOV B60'7topov: W5, 4.16; 0
X6A7tOC; 0 KtI-LI-LEPLOC;:
Steph. Byz. s. B6O'7topoC;;also 0''t"6I-LlX 't"i)c;MlXL~'t"taoc;and ~xu6txOC; B60'-
7tOPOC;.On the Cimmerian Bosporos extensively: V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), 36f.;
cf. also E. B. J., art. Bosporus Cimmerius, in: W. Smith (ed.), A Dictionary of Greek and
Roman Geography (1878), 421 bf.
79 Cf. Servius, ad Georg. 3.152 (Bosphoros = Hellespontus).
80 Dionys. Byz., Anaplus Bospori (ed. R. Giingerich), p. 3, 1.2-3; 4.1; 4.10; 13.1;
16.16; 22.13.
81 Herodiani technici reliquiae, ed. A. Lentz (Leipzig, 1867), 1.365.35.
82 w. Dittenberger, Orientis graeci inscriptiones selectae 2 (1960), p. 122, inscr. 489,
1. 7 [the inscription was found at the mouth of the Hermos, 3 km. from ancient Phocaea
in Asia Minor]. Hesych. Milesius, fro 61, FHG 4.175: ~LepLAOV ... 't"ovB00'7tOPLlXV6v.
83 G. Dittenberger, Sylloge inscriptionum graecarum4, 4 (1960), inscr.424, 1.50: "IcruAoc;
XPUO'OA&:OU BOO'7tOpL't""'IJC;:
p. 68 (index). Personal name <DtA~VLXOC; Bocr1topL-r"IJC;
on papyri.
84 In a mod. Greek poem ~ 7t6A"IJ~ BOcr7tOPL't"tO'O'lX, 't"OUKCUO''t"lXV't"LVOU~ x6p"IJis Constanti-
nople; K. Palamas, C'H (])loyeea TOV fJarnlul, 4oC; A6yoC;,1. 50 = Idem, tlAnavra 5.58. Boo-
7tOphtO'O'lXis fem. of BOO'7tOPL't""'I)C;
used adjectively.
85 Schol. Flor. Eurip. Moo. I; ap. Asterium, p. 180, E cod. Combef.; Georg. Syncellus,
p. 594, 3. Cf. Stephanus, ThGL 2.336, s. v. B6cr7topoc;.
86 Steph. Byz., s. B6cmopoC;; Eustathius ad Dionys. perieg. 142; Hesych. Milesius,
fro 26, FHG 4.151.
87 R. Janin, Constantinople byzantine (Paris, 1950), pp. 241 and 275; cf. R. Guilland,
"La chaine de la Corne d'Or," EE BE 25 (1955), pp. 99 and 104.
88 Dionys. Byz., Anaplus Bospori, ed. R. Giingerich, p. 16, 1. 4f.; cf. Petri Gellii, De
Bosporo Thracio, II, 6, p. 32 (in the same ed. by Giingerich). See also Phosphorus in Giinge-
rich, p. 28, 1. 10.
86 Demetrius J. Georgacas
The Latin equivalent forms are Bosphoros,89 Bosphorus (also Bosforus),90 Thracius
Bosphorus,91 Cimmerius Bosphorus,92 and B08phoro8 = Hellespont.93 The lexica also
reflect these forms.94 From the Latin form derive the forms in western European languages:
Bosphorus is found in early English and German writings, the French form Bosphore,
ItaI. Bosforo, Span. Bosforo, etc. In Greek itself, however, the sporadically occurring form
B60"qJ0poc;has not survived as such probably because it was not used orally but rather only
by copyists of manuscripts (xw~~xoYPlXepm) who were familiar with the folk etymologies
and the Latin form Bosphorus (and Bosforus).
In keeping with Greek IIp0O"qJ6pwC;
)."L(L~\I
and 't"oIIpoO"ep6p~o\l
there is also recorded
PortU8 Prosphorius in Latin.95

A byform of the city name B6ci1topOC;96 on the Cimmerian Bosporos is

Bou()7topOC; (280 B.C.) and its pertinent inhabitant name BOUcr7tOpL'!"tJC;,
occurring in a dedicatory inscription of Isyllus from Epidaurus in Ar-
golis,97instead of B6crrmpoc;; this seems to me to be the result of analogical
influence of ~ou- compounds such as Bouaopoc;, Boucp&:yoC;, etc.98

The Interpretation

There have been advanced a few possible explanations for the name
one in the Thracian language, one in Phrygian (originally a
B6cr7topoc;,
dialect of Thracian), and another in Greek.
89 Bosphoros: Ovid, Tristia, 3.4.49, ed. Owen (OCT, 1915).
90 Bosphorus: Varro, Re8 rust., 2.1.8; Horace, Carm. 2.13f. (with schoI. Valero Flacc.
4.344; 419); Curtius [mid-first cent. A.D.], 6.12.13, ed. Hadicke (Teubner, 1908); Miiller,
GaM 2.7 note 7.
91 Mela [written ca. A.D. 40], De chorographia, 1.7; 1.14 (ed. Frick, Teubner, 1880);
Pliny [ca. A.D. 23-70], NH 4.76; 92; etc. (cf. Solinus [ca. mid-third cent. A.D.], 12.2,
ed. Mommsen, 1895 ; Julius Honorius, Cosmographia, recensio A 28: mare Bosphoru&
Thraciu8 (GLM, ed. Riese).
92 Mela 1.7; Pliny, NH 4.76; etc.

93 Servius [fourth/fifth cent. A.D.], ad Georg. 3.152, ed. G. Thilo (Leipzig, 1887): [Io]
transiit ... per mare angustum, quod B08phoron appellatum est, nunc Hellespontum
nominatur.
94 ThLL 2.2143: Borphorus Bosforus in libris usitatior (bosforus in: Notae Tironianae,
110.79, ed. Schmitz, 1893: Commentarii notarum Tironianarum. Perin, Onomasticon (1940),
277; Oxford Latin Dictionary 1 (1968), s. Bosp(h)orus.
95 Cf. Janin, Opecit., pp. 241 and 275; Guilland, EEBE 25.98f., 104.
96 The metropolis II(x\I"nx&1t(x~o\l
or B60"1t0p0C;, a Milesian colony, was located on the
west edge of the Cimmerian strait. Cf. B60"1topoC; in inscriptions of the third or second cent.
B.C.: H. Collitz, Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt-Inschriften (Gottingen, 1884-1915),
Nos. 3086.5; 3087.10; 32; 35.
97 Die argivischen 1nschriften von W. Prellwitz, in: Collitz, ibid., No. 3342, 1. 62 = 1G
4.1 (1929), No. 128,1. 62 (Isylli carmina): TOU't"lXXL 0' 1i).,,6e:,
OX' 0 7t(xLC;
ex BOU0"1t6pou
1i).,,6e:\I
XlX(L\lW\I. Cf. the commentary in 1G 4.1, p. 83: NLXt(XC; l"Hp(Xx)."d~ouBouO"1topt"t7)C;,
proxenus
at Delphi, 277/6 or 276/5 B.C.
98 On the form Bo6cmopoc;see below, p. 91 with note 126.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 87

a. THRACIAN AND PHRYGIAN

The Thracian explanation of the name B6cr7topo~, advanced in 1873,

has been held to seriously for three reasons: (1) the descriptive name
B6cr7topo~ 0PYJ(X.LO~ would imply that the name was drawn on the Thracian
language, (2) there are names (and only place-names) in -para (and [the
irrelevant] -poris) in Thracian,99 and a Byzantine fortress called Bospara
(sixth cent. A.D.),lOO and (3) folk etymology at "rork by the first Greek
colonists (~ocr- with Greek ~OU~ "ox," gen. ~o6~) brought about the Greek
form B6cr7topo~ involving the mythological motif of the saga of 10 trans-
formed into a cow. Several scholars, even most recently, believe in the
Thracian101 and one in a Phrygian explanation.l°2
In the last t"\vodecades considerable progress has been made in the
study of the Thracian language, especially by the Bulgarian scholar,
99 A. Fick, Die ehemalige Bpracheinheit der Indogermanen Europas. Eine sprachgeschicht-

liche Untersuchung (Gottingen, 1873), 423 (on Thracian -Para in the compounded place-
names BessaPara "Bessenfurth," BubzuPara and Druzipara, meaning "Furth" with refer-
ence to Gr. 1t6poc;and:MHG var "crossing, passage"). Later on Fick (BB 24 [1899], 295)
suggested that Thracian -Para in place-names is unrelated to 7t6poc;"Furth" but it should
be compared with Gothic fera "side, area," Gr. rr~pE:~ct,in ablaut to which the preposition
7tctp&:stood, and Bessa in Bessapara should have adjectival function. E. Oberhummer,
art. Bosporos 1, RE 3 (1899), 741ff. [with earlier bibliography cited]. A.D. Mordtmann
(Historische Bilder vom Bosporus [Konstantinopel, 1907], p. 14) concludes from the ter-
mination -1tOpOC; of B60'1topoC;
that the name is of Thracian origin because the names Dindi-
poris, Mukaporis (also on p. 18f.), and Gegaepyris, are Thracian as is BessiPara; the truth,
however, is that -poris and -pyris are irrelevant to -Para, and also -Para and Gr. 7t6poC;
are equally unrelated.
100 Among 35 fortresses in the Byzantine eparchia of Thrace (Upper Hebros valley),

erected by Justinian I, there are listed for the sixth cent. A.D. by Procopius, De aedific.,
4.11.20: B60'1tCxpct (Boo1tCxpct
is listed by Tomaschek, BB Wien 131 [1894], 63, along with
23 other examples in -7t&:pct, -7t&:P0C;,
-7tepct,-phara; cf. Oberhummer, Opecit., 741), BE:O'ou-
7tctpOV(BessaPara: ltin. Ant. 136.3), B1jpL1tctpct, ,IcryL7tE:pct,
B1jAct·c~L1tCXPct,
Be7tctpct.These
names include as second component -para, also -1tctpOV,-1tE:pct.It is highly improbable
that -Para in these denoted "ford" and researchers have not agreed on the semantic side of
the word Para: "trail, gathering place or assembly point, market place, e~1t6p~ov"or
"section, clan" (Tomaschek, BB Wien 130,2 [1894] 16); "ford" like Greek 7t6poc;"way,
passage through" (N. Jokl, RLV 13 [1929], 285b, 289a; against Tomaschek's semantic
suggestions V. Burr, Nostrum mare [1932], 27).
101 For the foreign origin of the name B60'1topoc; is also V. Burr, Ope cit., 26-28, con-
sidering it a Thracian (though with a question mark) designation which was Hellenized
into B6cr7topoc;but admitting the meaning of ~oO'-to be unknown, so that a precise render-
ing of the name is "today not yet possible" (p. 27). GEL (1925-40), s. B60'1topoC;, states
that the name was "wrongly explained by the Greeks as Ox-ford, name of several straits";
O. Becker, Das Bild des lVeges (1937), p. 26 note 13 [he follows Oberhummer and adds that
the Thracian term -Para (-paros) frequent in place-names, is equated with Gr. 7t6poc;with
reference to Walde-Pokorny, 2.39]; V. J. Parry, art. Boghaz-ici, Eisl 1 (1960), 1251a
[with reference to Oberhummer, RE s. Bosporos]; Ernst Meyer, art. Bosporos (B6a:n;oeo~)
1, Der Kleine Pauly 1 (1964), 933f. [probably routinely following Oberhummer, as the
preceding writers]. 102 See V. Georgiev, below.
88~ Demetrius J. Georgacas
D. Deeev, to whose credit are two important works, but also by a number
of other scholars.103 Their work has also been beneficial to our problem
at hand.
Could Greek -7t'OPO~of B60'7t'opo~
be from Thracian -para or Phrygian
*-poros? Our answer is this: the IE phoneme 0 yielded Thracian a, also
IE p changed into either p- or ph-, therefore phonologically IE *poros
changed into Greek 7t'6po~and could have changed into Thracian *para
(variants: -para and -1t~p~,-phara, -1t€pex).I°The
4 realia, however, are
the insurmountable obstacle to this explanation: the sense "ford" at-
tached to Thracian -para would be suitable, in case it were about a major
and deep river which can be crossed at definite points only. The meaning
of para as Greek E(L7t'6pw\l"market place, assembly point" and the like,
endorsed by D. Deeev, who therein is following suit with W. Toma-
schek,105 is unacceptable; such a semantic content for para is unwar-
ranted, as demonstrated by V. Georgiev.I°6 A further explanation of para
from IE *gWorii "lnountain"107 has also been refuted on the ground that
the expected Thracian form fronl IE *gWorii would be kara and in fact
it is, as the Thracian cOlnpounded names K~p~~~~(LO~,K(y'P~~L~{),YJ,
K~p&O'oupex show.108
103 D. Detschew [1877-1958], Die thrakischen Sprachreste. Wien, 1957. IX, p. 584.

(Osterreich. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Xl., Schriften der Balkankommission, Lingu. Abt.
XIV). [Proper names and glosses, 1-535; addenda, 535-540; Dacian plant names,
541-565; corrections, 583f.] Cf. the reviews by J. Puhvel, Language 33 (1957), 439-446;
A. Heubeck, BNF 9 (1958), 118-122; G. R. Solta, IF 46 (1961),65-78. Decev's work has
been praised as an indispensable tool for future studies of the Thracian language, a model
collection, and a work to figure as a landmark in the investigation of the ancient Balkan
languages. Decev lists (356f.) 39 Thracian place-names and/or derivatives of such
names: Idem, Charakteristik der thrakischen Sprache. Sofia, 1952 (Publications de l'Acade-
mie Bulgare des Sciences). A revised second edition appeared in LB 2 (1960), Annexe,
145-213. However, it should be said that both works of Decev contain much that is
unacceptable.
N. Jokl, art. Thraker, Eberts RLV 13 (1929), 277-298. The section on the Thracian
language (284-296) is quite original (joining this is W. Brandenstein, art. Thrakische
Sprache, RE 11 [1936], 407-414). Many other studies by various scholars have ap-
peared in the last 20 years; some of them are cited further below.
104 Deeev, LB 2 (1960), Annexe, 148; Pokorny, lEW (1959), 816f., s. per-, per9-,
indicates that Thrac. -rc6poc;;,-para occur in place-names. For -rc6poc;; he obviously has
B60'7topoc;;in mind, which is not the case. Frisk, GEW 2 (Lieferung 16, 1967),492, s.rce(pw,
mentions Thracian place-names in -rccxpoc;;, -rccxpcx;
actually they are either -:n;a(!ov (neut.
sing.) or -:n;a(!a (neut. plur.). See below.
105 Deeev, LB 2 (1960), Annexe, 148.

106 V. Georgiev, "Trakijskata duma PARA etc.," Isvestija na Instituta za biilgarski

jezik 9 (Sofia, 1962), 3.
107 B. Simeonov, "Noms des lieux thraces recemment decouvertes," LB 6 (~963),
pp.87-92.
108 K. Vlahov, "Das thrakische Wort PARA und seine Deutung," Ziva Antika (.Anti-

quite Vivante) 15 (1966), p. 297.

 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 89

The Phrygian language preserved 0 unchanged (which Thracian

changed into a).I09 This apparently prompted V. Georgiev to advance
the interpretation of the name B60'7topo!; (Herodotus, Aeschylus) as a
Phrygian correspondence of the Thracian place-name B60"7tllPll (Procop.,
De aedific. 4.11.20), both names supposed to designate "light river, white
river." The noun suffix -para is assigned the sense "little stream, rivulet,
river" (on the ground that the Hellespont is designated as a river in
Hesychius and Stephanus of ByzantiumllO and bears the second name
EA)':~!;7t6po!;);the second component, -7tOPO!;,
rl is traced back to IE
*boro- (with feme *bora) "river" (Bulg. bara "brook" is compared); the
IE 0 in -7tOPO!; of B60'7topo!; is retained because of the not-occurring
sound-shift (Lautverschiebung), a trait that is characteristic of some
Phrygian dialects. llI
The first component of B60'-7topo!; is linked with IE
*bhos-: Greek ~W!; "light", ~wO"x.e:~ "it dawns," Skt. bhiis- "light, shine,"112
Because of the byform <Dcu(jcp6p~ov for BO()7t6pwv,the author postulates
<DCUO"cp6pLOV
as being "eine griechische Teiliibersetzung des phrygischen
Namens B60'1COPO!;."113 I have presented the exposition in detail because
it is ingenious in combining data, but it is at the same time too far-
fetched and unconvincing both in the phonological and the semantic
aspects, explaining ignotum per ignotius. If this complex interpretation
is countered with Boo!; 7t'6pos(IE gWowos poros), the simplicity of the
latter is obvious. As for <DCUO'cp6pLOV, the name <DcuO'ep6po~was one of the
several nalnes of the goddess of light; therefore the folketymological
influence of <DcuO'cp6po!;on B60'7t'0p0!;is understandable, the more so since
EAAa (in EAAa~7t'6v'!o~)
rl fl was also a name of the san1e goddess and B60'7t'o-
PO!;was also "Hellespont. "114As far as the Byzantine fortress B60'7ta.pa.
109 Cf. F. Solmsen, "Zum Phrygischen," KZ 34 (1897), 49, and P. I{retschmer, Ein-

leitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache (1896), p. 221.

110 This statement is made by A. Chatzis, EEClJ'l; of the Univ. of Athens 1 (1935, pub!.

1937), 140 and again by V. Georgiev, LB 3, 2 (1961), 26 note 1. In fact, however, neither
Hesychius nor Stephanus of Byzantium calls the Hellespont a river. In the new ed. of
Hesychius by K. Latte we read: <"EAA~Q'1tO'J't"Oc;· 1t'o't"a:tL0C; E:1t't T1jc; 1t'a:pa:ALa:C; [this from a
Cyrillian gloss, fifth cent. A.D.] ASn [ca. A.D. 1200] 1) tLe't"a:~u TpOLa:C; xa:t Xeppo'J~crou 6eX-
Aa:crcra:. This means that there was a river <"EAA~Q'1tO'J't"OC; on the seacoast (bd. T1jc; 1ta:pa:ALa:C;)
and <"EAA~Q'1tO'J't"OC; was also the seaway. Steph. Byz. s. <"EAA~cr1tO'J't"oC; states: <"EAA~cr1tO'J't"oC;,
1) xwpa: 1) 1t'a:pa:xe~tLbn) 't"ij} X6A1t'cp, &1tO I'IEAA1)C; and adds the inhabitant names <"EAA1)cr1t6'J't"LOC;,
t'EAA1)Q'1tO'J't"La:, t'EAA1)Q'1tO'J't"LC;; at the end he explains <"EAA~Q'1tO'J't"OC; &1tO ~uo 1ta:P1)YtLEvo'J [i.e.
"EAA1)C; 1t'6v't"oc;] and advances parallels: 1t'a:pwxea:'Jr:'t"~C; from 1t'a:p' wxea:'J6v and 1t'a:pa:1to't"eXtLLOC;
from 1t'a:PQ: 1t'o't"a:tLij}. It is an utter misunderstanding that he calls Hellespont a river.
111 V. Georgiev, "La toponymie ancienne de la Peninsule Balkanique et la these medi-

terraneenne," LB 3, 1 (1961), p. 9 [the author lists on p. 9f. 41 examples in -para etc.,

to which six more are added, though doubtful]; also pp. 25-27; idem, "Trakijskata duma
PARA etc.," Isvestija na Instituta za b1ilgarski jezik 9 (1962), pp. 5-10.
112 Georgiev. LB 3 (1961), p. 26.

113 Loc. cit.

11& L. Malten, RhM, NF, 93 (1949), p. 79.

90 Demetrius J. Georgacas
in Thrace is concerned, it is obviously recorded too late (sixth cent. A.D.)
to carry any weight in considering seriously the interpretation of B60'7to-
po~,which had existed over a millennium earlier.
Pertinent arguments brought up against this novel attempt by K.
Vlahov are as follows: (1) the forms with -7tC<POV (i.e., sing. neut. of
para) came about much later in time than the form 7t6po~in Greek, e.g.,
in Hesiod [eighth cent. B.C.], and (2) the forms -para and -7tC<POV are at-
tested in names, and this points to the fact that such compounded names
refer to settlements; B60'7topo~, however, designates an area at the water,
where a ford is fittingly expected; ford carries also the basic meaning
of the Greek term 7t6pO~.115 The sense "river" was rejected with good
reasons: among the 1110rethan 42 different places named with para-
compounded words no rivers are included but all of these places are at-
tested as located in mountainous areas.116
Vlahov's discussion, the most recent (1966) that I know, seems to me
plausible. The Thracian appellative para is, in fact, a neut. plur. noun;
ten instances out of the certain 42 compounds show plural genitive or
dative forms, which are the earliest recorded ones. The Thracian term
para, corresponding to Dacian dava "settlenlent," signifies something
similar: originally nleaning "fences, palisades," then "farms fenced-in
with palisades," "farms," and then "group of farms, village, settlement";
Dacian dava and Thracian para are, therefore, synonyms. The etymology
for para offered by Vlahov is from IE *por-a (basic radical *sper- "spar,
rafter; stake"), whence Old Bulg. -pora "fulcrum, baculum."117 A sing.
neut. form -7tC<POV is found in compounds such as BPL7tC<POV (~pL-of
dimin. *~PLOV "town" from Thracian ~PLC< "city"),118 T&p7topoV, T67tC<pov,
etc. The -7tC:Pcx.
form, attested in late literary sources, is explained as the
outcome of false renderings of -para, so ~PUO'L7tC<Pcx., ~PL~L7tc:pc<.119
Mr. Vlahov's laudable exposition has solved the crux of para. His con-
clusions entail also the demolition of the Thracian origin of the name
B60'7topo~,
which, in his own words, "eher griechischer Herkunft ist und
nichts mit dem thrakischen B60'7tC<pc< gemein hat. "120
115 So Vlahov, "Das thrakische Wort PARA und seine Deutung," Ziva Antika (Anti-
quite Vivante) 15 (1966), 304. It should be noted that B6cr1t0poc; is attested in Herodotus
but not in Hesiod, as both Georgiev (LB 3.26) and Vlahov (loc. cit.) inadvertently let
their readers believe. The term rr6poc; occurs in Hesiod.
116 K. Vlahov, op. cit., p. 297.

117 With regard to Old Church Slavic -pora see IE 1. (s)per- in Pokorny, lEW 990f.

(with references to A. Walde - J. Pokorny, Vergleiehendes W orterbuch der indogermaniscken

Sprachen [Berlin, 1928-32], 2.665f. and others). Pokorny (lEW 816) holds both -rrcxpcx;
and -1t6poC; (as Greek rr6poc;) to be Thracian from IE per-: per'd-:paros, etc.
118 Since the original meaning of Thraco-Phrygian ~PLCX;(from IE *wriya: *wer-) was
"stronghold, citadel," BPL1tCXPOV would have signified "fortified city" or "city citadel."
Of. Pokorny, lEW (1959), 1152; s. 2. yer. B "high."
119 Vlahov, op. cit., pp. 298-303; summary, p. 304. 120 Ibid., p. 303f.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 91

b. GREEK
The Greek etymology of B6cr7topoc; has come down to us from anti-
quity.l21 Its discrediting, however, by scholars was based on the con-
viction that a Thracian (or Phrygian) etymon had been proved, so that
Eugen Oberhummer felt confident enough to state that the derivation
of B6cr7topoc; from ~ouc; is etymologically inadmissible and that this
"derivation of ~ocr- was perhaps made a nless by the original Greek
colonists."122Other scholars have done likewise. The name B60'7topoc; as a
derivative of ~ouc; (IE gWou- "ox," nomine gWous) and 7t6poc; (IE per-
etc.) is not honored by Walde and Pokorny; instead Thracian -7t6poc;,
-7tCXPCXin place-nalnes are placed together with Gr. 7t6poc; "ford."123
Likewise the Greek etymon is rejected byV. Georgiev as being an old folk
etymology untenable both on the semantic and the phonological counts.124
Here the case and the arguments in its favor ,viII be presented, a solu-
tion about the first component of B6cr7topoc; suggested, and pertinent de-
tails discussed.
The ancients were aware of a connection (correct or not) between
B6cr'ir0poc; and Boac; 7t6poc;. A late name form Boac; 7t6poc; for the Thracian
Bosporos occurs in a dactylic hexameter in appian (second / third cent.
A.D.) and for the Cimmerian Bosporos in the Orphic Argonautica (prob-
ably of imperial times ).125In addition, while B6cr7t0poc; is the name in
many inscriptions from the Northern Black Sea, the form Bo6cr7topoc;
quadrisyllabic is used in four inscriptions from the same area.126As for
121 Cf. the etymology in Roman authors from Varro [first cent. B.C.] to ca. A.D. 400:

Varro [ca. 37 B.C.], Res rusticae 2.1.8, ed. Goetz (Teubner, 1929); Pliny [A.D. 23-70],
NH 6.2, ed. Schuster (Teubner, 1952 (and SoHnus [after A.D. 200] 23.16); C. Valerius
Flaccus [died A.D. 92], Argonautica, 4.419, ed. Kramer (Teubner, 1913); Ammianus
Marcellinus [ca. A.D. 390], Res gestae, 22.8.13, ed. Gardthausen (1874:ff.); Hieronymus,
Okron. ad annum Abrahae [ca. A.D. 380] 161, ed. Schone, Eusebii ckronica 2 (1866);
Sckolia in Horatium [a late compilation] in carmina 2.13.15, ed. Keller 1 (1902): quasi
bo(o)s phoros; Avienus [middle of fourth cent.], orbis terrae, 199, ed. Holder (1887).
122 Oberhummer, art. Bosporos 1, RE 3 (1899), 741 ["etymologisch unerlaBlich"].
123 A. Walde und J. Pokorny, Vergleickendes Worterbuck der indogermanischen Sprachen

1 (1930), 696f.; 2 (1927), 39. The authors also mention (2.39) Fick (BB 24.295), who treats
Thracian -1t6poC;, -7t(XP(X differently.
124 V. Georgiev, LB 3 (1961), p. 26: B6(j7topoC; aus Bo6C;-7topoe; "ist nichts weiter als eine
alte Volksetymologie. Semantisch und lautlich ist sie unhaltbar."
125 Oppian, Halieutica, 1.617: 0p1)"tXLOV 8' eXvuoucrL Boor;II6eov (xLOA6epUAOL / E:(j[.Lol B€~PUX(1)V

"t'€ XA7t. (And swarms of various tribes make the Thracian Ford of the Ox, past the
Bebrycian Sea [i.e., the Propontis = the Sea of Marmara] etc.); Orphic Argonautica,
1056, ed. G. Dottin (Paris, 1930): 8L(j(j(Xi.'C; 8' €V "t'pL[.L6pOL(jL Booe; I16pov €~Lx6[.L€(je(X / AL[.LV1)C;
()v"t'(X [.L€(j1)yU, XA7t'. (en deux fois trois quarts de jour, nous arrivons au Bosphore, au milieu
d'un etang, etc.).
126 B. Latychev, Inscriptiones regni Bosporani Graecae et Latinae (Petropoli 1890)
(= Inscr. Antiquae Orae Septentrionalis Ponti Euxini Graecae et Latinae, vol. 2), No. 355,
li. 1-3, p.181f. [A.D. 71]: Au't'oxpoc't'opcx OU€(j1t(X(jL(Xv6v ••• X.UpLOV 't'ou crU[.L7t'(Xv"t'oe; Bo007t'6pou;
92 Demetrius J. Georgacas
the form Boac; n6pov in Oppian and the Argonautica, this de-compound-
ing, as it were, of the name B6cr7t'opoc; was dictated to the author prob-
ably by the metrical need for u/!-uu Bo/ae; n6pov, for B6cr7t'0poV (~uu)
would not do for the hexameter. The form Bo6cr7t'opoe; in inscriptions, on
the other hand, shows, I submit, an influence of the learned tendencies of
bureaucratese.
The etymology of B6cr7t'opoe; was associated also with the mythical
motif about 10 who, transformed into a cow, is supposed to have swum
across the strait near Byzantion.127 However, when concrete names like
B6cr7t'opoc;, Oxford, Ochsenfurt, etc., lie before us, we should examine the
language first and then the myths.

Bosporos "Hellespont"
~EAA~cr7t'OV~OC;"Hellespont" is used as a synonym to Bosporos in Aesch.
Pers. 722f. and 745f. [fifth cent. B.C.].I28 B6cr7t'opoe; "Hellespont" is
clearly documented in the ancient commentators: the scholion on Aesch.
Pers. 725: B6cr7t'opov' ~av ~EAA~cr7t'OV~OV, and 726: B6cr7t'opov oe AEye:r. ~av
~EAA~cr7t'OV~OV.129 And the old editions of the play by Wecklein, Sidgwick,
Mondry-Baudouin, and Mazon130 have adopted this interpretation.
No. 358,1. 3 (p. 185-187) [third cent. A.D.]: ~c(O'LAEc(
~c(O'LAECUV
~EYC(V't"OU/ m)~7tc(v't"oc;Booo-
1t6pou TL~EPLOV'IouALOv KA1t.; No. 42, p. 43f. [A.D. 291]: TL~EPLOV'IouALOv "'P1)O"XOU7tOpLV
~c(O'LAEc(
Boocm6pou Kc(f. 't"(;)V1tEPL~ E8v(;)v 't"ov CPLAOPW~c(LOV
Kc(f.CPLAEAA1)Vc(
KA7t.; No. 37, 1. 2,
p. 37f. (Pantikapaion): Bc(O"LAEct:
[.LEyct:V'AO"1toupyov KA7t. / CPLAOXOCLO"c(Pc(
xC(f. CPLAOPW[.LC(LOV,
~ct:O'LAe;uov't"ct:
7tct:v't"OC;
BooO"1t6pou, 0e;0800"(1)C;/ xct:f. ~Lv8(;)v XA7t. Cf. H. Stephanus, ThGL 2
(1833), 336, s. B6Ci1t0P0C;.
127 Polyb. 4.43.6; etc. Cf. Walbank, Opecit., 1.497. Other attestations in Oberhummer,
Opecit., 741f.; Pape-Benseler 1.220f. Cf. V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932),26.
Another version of the To myth is given by the Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2.168a. This saga
is very old as an important part of the mythology of the Argives, who Hesychius of Miletus
[sixth cent. A.D.] asserts were the first colonists of Byzantion; Hesychius of Miletus,
3 FHG 4.147.
Another version is that at the time of the incursion of the Phrygians an ox swam
across the strait at Byzantium and thus led the Phrygians across the ford (Eusthathius
ad Dionys. Perieg. 140; Arrian, fr. 35; FHG 3.593). This precise localization enhances the
assumption that the name B6Ci1tOPOC;would have been set near Byzantium; Steph. Byz.
B. B6cmopoc;: Bu~C(v't"(cuv AL~~V B6<mopoc; KC(AE:L't"c(L.
Cf. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), p. 26;
above, note 40.
128 Aeschyl. Pers. 723: Kc(L 't"68' E~E7tPc(~E:V,WCi't"E:B6Ci1t0POV KA'fiCiC(L~EyC(V. 745f.:
<)Ci't"Le;
"'EAA~cmOV't"ov lpov 80UAOV we; 8e;0"~w~C(O'LV
/ 1)A1tLO"e;
O"x~O"e;Lv
PEOV't"ct:,B6cmopov p60v
6E:ou. This B6cmopoe; at Sestos and Abydos is considered the end of the Hellespont. Abydos
was on the Asian side in Mysia (south of modern Nagara Point) and Sestos was located on
a plateau 350 feet from the Hellespontine shore of the Thracian Chersonese at the narrowest
point of the straits (the Sestos site now being occupied by a Turkish monastery); cf.
Walbank, Opecit., 2.539 [on Polyb. 16.29.3].
129 Scholia ad Aesch. Pers., ed. Dahnhardt (1894), 1. 725 (scholia of the Mediceus),
1. 726 (scholia Byzantina).
130 Cf. Th. Reinach, REG 36 (1923), p. 349 (letter to the editor dated 21 Jan. 1924:).
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 93

For the geographer Phileas of Athens [also of the fifth cent. B.C.] there
were in the area of Byzantion two B6()7toPOL, as we learn from the Souda.131
In Sophocles, Ajax, 879-884, BO()7t6pWL (1. 882), i. e., Bosporos'
7tO't"cx.flOL
rivers, end in Bosporos = Hellespont. 132 Finally, the historian Hesychius
of Miletus [sixth cent. A.D.] calls ~EAA~()7tOV't"Lcx.Y..~
the city implied in an
adespoton fragment: rrpL~7tL~Oc; 't"C':
't"~c;7tpOBoO'7t6pou 7t6AC':Oc;.133
E. Oberhummer considered the extension of the B60'7topoc; to the Hel-
lespont arbitrary on Aeschylus' part,134 while Th. Reinach criticized
Oberhummer's judgment as unjustified on the basis of the facts ;135he
also observed that Pape-Benseler and Bailly erroneously interpreted
Aeschylus, Pers. 723, as the strait of Constantinople.136 But it was A.
Ronconi who argued, in my opinion, successfully against Oberhummer.137
No more needs to be said about the matter since the application of the
name B60'7topoc;to the Hellespont is now accepted.13s
Here the onomastic aspects of the matter also come to the fore. One
well known principle in place naming is the expansion of the area that
was originally represented by the name. In our case, it seems to me that
131 SJJ.ll S. BoO'7topor.: BoO'7topor.8uo· 0 [L~VX!x't'a ~v I1po7tov't'L8cx:,0 8e 8pCfx~x6c;, &c;ep1)cn
<P~AZCX:C;
(ed Thomas Gaisford, Oxford, 1834; ed Gaisford-Bernhardy, 1853). - A. Ronconi,
"II B03foro" in his article "Per l'onomastica antica di mari," SlF09 (1931), 221f. Ronconi
treats the matters of Hellespont and Propontis in a separate chapter, "Ellesponto e Pro-
pontide," ibid., 225-242. - Phileas' testimony, which had been disregarded by Reinach and
Cahen, eliminates in Ronconi's opinion every doubt about the existence of a geographic term
B60'7topoC; 0 xcx:'t'a't'~v IIpo7tov't'L8cx:,a term which must quite early have fallen into disuse for
obvious reasons: the name C'EAA~O'7t'OV't'oC;,
an earlier one and more convenient, easily pre-
vailed over BoO'7topoC;,which already designated two other straits and needed, therefore, an
additional qualifier: 0 xlt't'a ~v I1po7t'ov't'L81t (Ronconi, ibid., 223). I agree with Ronconi.
132 Cf. on this view commentaries and criticisms in Cahen, Revue des etudes anciennes
27 (1914), p. 179f.
133 E. Diehl, Anthologia lyrica Graeoo, fasc. 3: Iamborum scriptores3 (Leipzig, 1952),
p. 73, No.2 (19). Cf. Strabo 13.1.12: I1PLlt7tOC;8' eO''t'!.7t6A~C;rn!. 8ltA&.'t'''t"[j
Xlt!. A~[L~V·X't'LO'[L1t
8'
01.[L~VM~A1)O'LWV
epCX:O'£v,
ot7tS:P XCX:!."
A~u80v Xlt!. I1pox6vv1)c)QvO'UV~}X~O'CX:v
XCl't'tX't'ov Itu't'ov Xlt~pov· 01.
OE: Ku~~x1)v(;)v· e7t~VufLOC;8' eO''t'!.'t'oijI1P~&.7tOU
't'~[LWfLZvOU
7tCXP'ItU't'OLC;
XA7t. On the site of the city
of Priapus see Walter Leaf, Strabo on the TroM (Cambridge, 1923), p. 73. Hesychius of
Miletus: I1p~1)7t£8oC;'t's: 't"Yic;7tpO Bocr7t'6pou 7t6As:WC;·C'EAA1)O'7t'OV't'~ClX1iC;,
<~v> 't'~v I1PLCl7tOV't"1)V
Ll~ovuO'ouXCX:!. otxLO'Cl~.
I1s:px~'t"'I)C;ep1)O'!.v
134 Oberhummer, RE 3.742.
135 Th. Reinach, "Le Bosphore chez Eschyle," REG 36 (1923),64. The author mentions
Henri Weil's comment on Aeschylus, Pers. 723: Bospori nomen ad Hellespontum etiam
v. 731 transfertur (1867) (Reinach, p. 63), and Alexis Pierron in his translation of Aeschylus
(eighth ed., 1869); Pierron says, "Aeschylus gives poetically the name of the Bosporos to
the strait of Helle, as he could have given it to any other strait," and voices his surprise
about the fact that the new editors of the Thesaurus did not pick up this remarkable
peculiarity (Reinach, p. 63).
136 Pape-Benseler, 220 s. v.; Bailly, Dictionnaire grec-franyais, s. B60'7t'opoc;.
137 See above, note 102.
138 Thus, GEL, s. B6O'7topoC;,p. 323a.
 94 Demetrius J. Georgacas
the name B60'7topo~ of the area of Byzantion could in time be extended
from the general meaning "narrows" of Byzantion to the lower part
toward the Aegean and, since the Hellespont presented the same qualifi-
cations as, and was the continuation of, the upper part toward the Black
Sea, so also the Hellespont was named B6()1t0po~. In fact, the qualifica-
tion consisted of being the narrow straits extending from the Black
Sea to the Aegean, and this is again reflected in the Byzantine name
~"t"ev6v: "t"<X~"t"eveX (and "t"<XKeX"t"w ~"t"eveX) were the straits of the Hellespont
and "t"O ~"t"ev6v (or ' E7teXvw ~"t"ev6v) the channel north of Constantinople.
It is fitting to dicuss in this respect the possibility of a common noun
~6(j7topo~, like the synonymous common noun (j"t"ev6v "narrows."

The relationship of appellative fJ6(J:n;oeo~ to the geographic name B6(J:n;oeo~

The name B60'7topo~ could originally have been a common noun. As

€{)pr7tO~ "sea strait, channel" (literally, "sea strait with a strong flow")139
had a place-name already in Mycenaean Greek, written Ewiripo (An
610.6; with ethnic EUp(7tLO~, written Ewripia Aa 60), so a narrow water-
way, a strait, could be called ~6(j7topo~, literally "ox-ford," i. e., "point
of crossing (the waterway),"140 therefore a synonym of anc. Bou7tope[.Lo~
(now Mou~eXxr.), name for a cape near Hermione at the strait facing the
islet of Aperopia (mod. Llox6~), and another in the Sporades. The only
difficulty in establishing the appellative ~60'7topo~ for classical Greek is
139 Cf. also "6 eup~7to<; euripus": Hermeneumata Einsidlensia [cod. of 1503], GGL 3
(1892), 246, 1. 1.
140 Etymol. Magnum, s. v.: 't'Lvec;; ~e
't'ouC;; O''t'e:VOUC;; 1t'op8(Louc;; ~007t6pouC;; e:lp'Yj0'8IXL (sc.
({)IXO'q. Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2.168a (ed. C. Wendel [Berlin, 1935], p. 138): ~ ~LcX <'t'o) mx.v't'cx<;
't'OUC;; O''t'€Vouc;; 1t'op8(LouC;; ~o0'1t'6pouC;; xcxAe:!.'0'8IXL· EVLOL ~e 't'OUC;; E:7d 't'ou 0''t'6(LIX't'oc;; olxouv't'lXC;; 't'o
1t'CXACXL6v, e:'l7to't'e: E:8EAOL€V e:lc;; 't'o 1t'EPCXV ~LCX~CX(Ve:LV,O'Xe:~(CXC;;1t'1lyvuv't'CXC;; xcxt ~6cxc;; btL~e:U~CXV't'cxC;;
btt 't'ou't'<Uv ~LIX7te:PIXLOU0'8cxL, o8e:v XlXt wVO(LcX0'8CXL TI)v 8cXA1X0"0"1XV.And the gloss "~60'1t'opoC;;
bosphorus," GGL 3 (1892), 246, 1. 2; Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, ed. G. Goetz,
GGL 6-7 (Lipsiae, 1899-1901), part I, vol. 6, p. 150 [here the spelling of ~60'7topoc;;
with lower case ~- means nothing since the codex lists other geographic names, all with
initial minuscules: 0 e:U~e:LVOC;; 7t6v't'o<;, 't'o XL(L(Le:PLXOV 1t'EACXY0C;;, 't'o CXlYCXLOV7tEACXY0C;;.]; also
bos/oros (4.26.11), bustyrum transitus maris (5.543.19), bosphorus transitus ponti in Asia
(4.212.28; 586.18); transitus maris in Asia, stella uespertina (4.594.5; 489.22 [in Africa]);
transitus maris uel stella (4.595.12); stella matutina, Lucifer uel transitus maris in Asia
(4.602.1); these were reproduced in ThLL s. Bosporus, 2 (1900-06), 2143, 1. 74f., and A.
Forcellini, Lexicon totius Latinitatis, V. Onomasticon (Patavii, 1940), s. Bosporus, p. 277.
The noun seems to have been adopted in Latin as bosporus "fretum," as seen in Horace,
carma 2.13.14: navita Bosporum / Poenus perhorrescit. "Bosporum pro quolibet freto dixit,"
i.e. he said bosporus in place of any "fretum"; cf. Th. Reinach, "Le Bosphore chez Eschyle,"
REG 36 (1923), 350. The appellative has been also in French in the form bosphore; cf. E.
Littre, Dictionnaire de la langue /ran({<Lise2 (1885-86), s. Bosphore: " ... par extension
tout detroit de peu d'etendue"; employed in this sense often by the author Elisee Reclus
(cf. Reinach, loco cit.).
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 95

that, beside the late, medieval, testimonies for it, i. e., in the Etymologi-
cum Magnum, in the scholiast to Apollonius Rhodius, and the dubious
glosses, no classical literary or epigraphic ones are availa ble, none of the
fifth cent. B.C.,141for which the term is claimed. However, the old edi-
tion of Aeschylus, Pers. 723, by Schiller and revised by Conradt accepts
~6cr7topoc; as an appellative, and the same was independently assumed
by Th. Reinach.142The latter scholar maintains that ~60'7topoc; was used
as synonymous to 7top6!L6c; in Pers. 723 and 746 and that ~60'7topoc; de-
signates a "very narrow strait" (or passage, crossing) and so he trans-
lates the passage ("EAA~O'7tOV'"t"ov LpOV / . .. ~60'7topov, p60v 6e:ou "the sacred
Hellespont, the narrowed strait, where a god flows" (i.e., the anonymous
aquatic god); and it is for this that he draws support from the Etymol.
Magnum.
Conversely, Ronconi understands this as an opinion, expressed in the
Etymol. Magnum but not generally shared, and suggests an ancient ety-
mologist conceived ~60'7topoc; as "a strait across which an ox can swim."143
Ronconi's conclusion is that this testimony carries not too much author-
ity. As Cahen had observed much earlier, this testimony alone can prove
nothing for the noun ~60'7topoc; in the Greek language usage of the fifth
cent. B. C. since no other instances of the noun have been transmitted.144
By the way, the content in Aesch. Pers. 723: ~6a7topov ... ~yav is
hardly a contradiction in terms, as Ronconi (ibid., 223) thinks; for here
the adj. !LEY(xc; either refers to the entire upper waterway B60'7t0poc; as
against the B60'7topoc; = Hellespont or means "important, significant," as
it really was.
Since we can hardly dismiss ~6Q"7topoc; recorded as an appellative noun
in the Etymol. Magnum and mentioned by the scholiast to Apollonius
Rhodius as carrying no weight, V. Burr145and P. Kretschmer146accepted
the noun as a fact. In favor of this view I may recall the fact that many
words of the ancient languages have not been preserved in the texts for
us because they either were not used in writings or the texts in which
they were employed were accidentally lost to us forever; yet the Etymol.
Magnum (whose lexica-sources go back to the ninth cent. A.D.) and the
scholiast may have had more texts containing this particular word than
141 Ronconi, SIFO 9 (1931),220-225; on p. 222 he considers the statement in Etymol.
Magnum to be an opinion of an ancient etymologist with no validity for us; he also dis-
misses the comment to Horace, carm., 2.13.14 (Navita Bosporum Poenus perhorrescit):
Bosporum pro quolibet jreto dixit. But Ronconi is unaware of the scholion to Apoll. Rhod.
2.168a and the gloss in the Thes. glossarum emendatarum (see preceding note).
142 Th. Reinach, REG 36 (1923), p. 349 (per letter to the editor of REG, dated 21 Jan.

1924). 143 Ibid., p. 64.

144 Cahen, REG 27 (1914), p. 178; Ronconi, SIFO 9 (1931), p. 223.

145 V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), p. 26 with note 47.

146 P. Kretschmer, Glotta 27 (1939), p. 29.

96 Demetrius J. Georgacas
we now have at our disposal; or because the term, after becoming a
name, fell into disuse.147
When three or more instances of the name B6(j~opo~ for "straits" in
the NE Mediterranean area came into being and needed to be more
closely defined to be kept distinct from one another ("t"Yj~ KriAx~8ov£'YJc; "t"bV
B6a1topov: Herodot. 4.85; Moamc; B6a1topoc; and later 0P~XLO~ B.: Strabo
12.4.8; KL~~SPLO~ B6(j1topo~),147a the postulating of a common noun
underlying them all was worth exploring. On the other hand, place-
names do also become appellative nouns. Lacking ancient literary and
inscriptional testimonies, it would seem that we are forced to assume that
the latter is the case about B6a1topo~. The solution is, of course, also
closely related to the etymology of the name; a non-Greek etymology for
it would exclude the preexistence of a Greek appellative. The Greek
etymology again must draw on comparison with the terms "ford" and
"ox-ford" in other languages.
One would be tempted to suggest that ~6(j1topoc; as an appellative
could have two connotations, (1) ford, strait, and (2) large strait. us
The latter of these could evolve secondarily on the basis of compounds
with ~ou- that signify "big, large, great, mighty, severe," e.g., ~ou1tp'YJ6vE:c;
"great precipices" (Hesych. ~ou1tp'YJ6ve:c;· xp'YJ!J.voL !J.E:ycX.AOL,XtXLA6epOL), ~oo(J'uxov
"a large, coarse fig," ~oux6pu~(X. "severe cold in the head," ~oO~P<U(j"t"LC;,
~OUAL~L(x', ~OO~e:LV(x, ~OO1t(xL~ "big boy," ~oocpoP1"O~ (= 1t'OAOCPOP1"O~), and
~oopu"t"oc; "mighty river" (Hesychius ~oopu"t"oc;· 1t'O"t"(X!J.bC;~SYCl pE:U!J.Cl~X<Uv; adj.
pU1"6~ "flowing, fluid" in PU1"OL 7t6pOL). This may then be the answer to
the aforementioned passage: ~6(j1t'opoV ~sY(x.v (Aesch. Pers. 723).

-IIOPO~

The second member of the compound B6a1topoe;, held to be of Greek

origin, presents hardly any difficulty in interpreting it within Greek. The
noun 1t'6poe; m. "ford" occurs in Homer for rivers (Iliad; Aeschylus, Hero-
dotus) and "seaway, narrows, strait": Herodot. 7.176 E:le; (j1"E:LVOVi6v1"(x'
1"OV 1t'6pov "t"bV ~E:"t"(X.;u v~(jou "t"E: ~XLcX.eOU XtXL ~1t'dpou "to the seaway which
is narrow between the island of S. and the continent" (Hesiod [eighth
147 The premise that in classical times and in the colonization period places were named

after those occurring in the Homeric epics, e.g., ,ApYLvoua(J(xL, ll&vop(l.oc; (from TI&VOP(l.Oc;
AL(1.1)VOde 13.195), Te:LXLoua(J(x, etc., and that a certain name type was created through the
influence of the Homeric language (see E. Risch, "Ein Gang durch die Geschichte der
griechischen Ortsnamen," Museum Helveticum 22 [1965], 196-199) is, in my opinion,
erroneous. The epic poets utilized names that were used by the Greek-speaking people.
147 a The Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Italian continent is called the Bosporus

of Italy.
148 This was indicated by A. Fick, BB 22 (1896), 11: B6aTI0p0c; "large or main ford."
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 97

cent. B.C.], Aeschylus, Pindar, Aristophanes) ;149 thus, Hesiod Theog.

291 f.: ~ouc; ~Arx(JEVEUPUp..E"t'6>7tOUC; / T(puv6' Elc; LEP~V~Lrx~~C; 7t6pov ' .QXErxVO~O.
A place near Selybria was called II6poc; (Diod. Sic. 14.12) and so was
an Attic demos; a torrent Poro in the area of Zungri (province of
Catanzaro) in South Italy is from Gr. 7t6pOC;150;in fact, 116poc; "pas-
sage" is really a common toponym in Greece.151 In Modern Greek, II6poc;
and the component -7tOPOC;, found in countless compounded toponyms,
designate river crossings; I need not parade examples here. Furthermore,
we have the compounds EUPU7t0P0C; "with broad ways" (about the sea)
in Homer and Aeschylus and (J"t'Ev67topoc;"with a narrow pass (or out-
let)" (with &x't'~, 5pp..oc;,etc.) in Aeschylus, Euripides, etc., and noun
"t'~ (J"t'Ev67toprx"narrows" (Herodot. 7.223) and "t'o (J"t'Ev67topov"a strait,
narrow" (Herodot. 7.211). From adjectives there have derived toponyms
such as t"E7t'"rcX7topOC; for a river in the Troas (ll. 12.20; Hesiod, Theog. 341;
cf. Strabo 12.3.27; etc.), derived from adj. E7t"t'&7tOPOc; "having seven
crossing-points" (this used for the Nile meant "seven-mouthed"), IIoAu-
7t'OPOC; "with many fords" in the Troas (Strabo 13.1.441: t"E7t"t'cX7t'opOC; ~z,
8'1 xrxtIIoAu7topOVAZYOU(JW, E7t'"rcXXLC;
~Lrx~rxLV6p..EVOC;
ex "t'WV 7t€pt "t'~VKrxA~VII€ux"IJv
XWp(wv)152from the adj. 7tOAU7tOPOC; "with many passages," KrxAA(7t0P0C; for
a river in South Italy (thirteenth cent. A.D.),153 today Galliparo. I do
think that it makes sense to take 7t6poc;in f/EAArxC; 7t6poc;to mean "the way
from sea to sea, the seaway" or "a passing-through (for the sailing ship )."154
A quasi-synonym is the aforementioned 7t'op6p..6c;m. "crossing-point,
place crossable by a ferry; narrow sea, strait" and a compound with it
(J"t'€v67t'OP6110C;
(XllAX(C;) "(Chalcis) at a strait" (Eurip., Iph. Aul. 167,
codd.; lyre ).155 The port of Eretria in Euboea was also called IIop6116c;
(Demosthenes, etc.). Another synonym is 1:0 Ilfprxp..ti."ford," a commonly
used toponym in Greek territory.
The terms 7t6poc;and 7top6p..6c;are also etymologically related, deriving
from the stem 7t'Op-(7t'€P- in the verb 7t'€(pw"pierce, run through": 7t'Op-:
7tiip-). Thus, B60'7t'opoc; would have an etymological synonym BOU7t'Op611oc;.156
149 On the word 1t'6po<; see O. Becker, Das Bild des Weges (1937), pp. 25-29.
150 G. Rohlfs, BNF, NF, 4 (1969), p.129.
151 So, e.g., the name II6po<; for an island (anc. KlXAlXUpe:LlX)is probably also very old

(E. Curtius, Peloponnesos 2.447); II6po<; is a deep gorge in the coastal mountain range in
Kephallenia.
152 Cf. on t'E1t''t'&.1t'0p0<; and IIoAu1t'opo<; A. Fick, "Altgriechische Ortsnamen," BB 22
(1897), pp. 61 and 63.
153 That river emptying into the Ionian Sea is attested in F. Trinchera, Syllabus grae-

carum membranarum (Napoli, 1865), p. 381; cf. Rohlfs, Ope cit., p. 121.
154 O. Becker, Das Bild des Weges (1937), p. 28f.

155 Becker, ibid., p. 26, gives examples with 1t'op6(.L6<; (Od. 4.671 = 15.29; Pind.jr. 143;
etc.).
156 See above. The adj. ~ou1t'6po<; "ox-piercing" (Herodotus, Euripides, Xenophon)
and a noun ~ou1t'6po<; m. "spit; pointed pillar, obelisk" (syn. o~e:A6<;, O~e:A(O"KO<;):~ou1t6po<;
98 Demetrius J. Georgacas
The explanation of t'EAACi~ 7t6po~ as "Helle's seaway" is very appeal-
ing, wherein the name f'EAAa was the name of a geographic feature in
the area; and so is B6(j7topo~ as the seaway starting at a place called Bou~,
so Boo~ 7t6po~.

BO~-

The crux of the problem rests mainly in the first member of the com-
pound B6(j7topo~ and attempts have been made to explain the syllable
B6cr- of B6cr7topo~. More than half a dozen 1ndo-Europeanist and Hellenist
scholars have so far adopted the Greek origin of the name (though a few
only cautiously). Gustav Meyer explained B6C17tOPO~ from Bo6C17tOPO~
by hyphaeresis, as did Hatzidakis, Schwyzer, and Kretschmer (who
earlier had thought of Thracian origin), and, following the latter, Frisk
and Chantraine. While Schwyzer cautiously remarks that B6C17t0P0C; may
have been the outcome of folk etymology, yet he explains the form from
*B [0 ]6C1-7t0P0C;, i. e., with loss of the unstressed first vowel. 157
. Hyphaeresis
had been assumed earlier by G. Meyer and Hatzidakis.158 Kretschmer,
more convinced of the Greek etymon and based on hyphaeresis explains
the 0 from 00 as follows: "B6C17tOPO~ ist mit Hypharesis aus *Bo6cr7topoc;
entstanden (vgl. e6XAO~ u.dgl.; Schwyzer, Gramm. 252f.) und bedeutet
in der Tat 'Rinderfurt', mythologisch auf die 10-I(uh bezogen"; he
further mentions the existence of mythological place-names and lists a
few, in disagreement with V. Burr's assertion to the contrary.159
Hyphaeresis160 is the expulsion of a syllabic vowel or, in other cases,
of a non-syllabic one ;161again another hyphaeresis includes several
)ApO'r.'J61J~(of Mt. Athos, Callimachus, Aitia 4, fro 45, ed. R. Pfeiffer; cf. GEL, A Supple-
ment [1968],32) contain the active verbal adjective for "piercing."
157 E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik, 1 (1939), p. 577 note 8.

158 G. Meyer, Griechische Orammatik3 (Leipzig, 1896), p. 224 (§152). G. Hatzidakis,

)Auao'YJp,etud avayvw(Jp,ara el~ rnv tM'YJVtUnV uat J..artV(,u~v y(!ap,p,anu~v, 1 (Athens, 1924),
384 [: Bo60'1topo~ - B60'1topoc;; the phenomenon is called by the author cX:1tO~OA~of the
vowel].
159 P. Kretschmer, Olotta 27 (1939), p. 29 [apropos of reviewing V. Burr's Nostrum

mare; see above, note 146, and his discussion of the names AtY(xLO'J, ~EAA~O'1tO'J't'O~,B60'1tO-
po~]; accepted by both authors of the recent Greek etymological dictionaries: Frisk,
OEW 1 (1954-60), p. 254, and Chantraine, Dict. etym. 1 (1968), 187a [both with reference
to Kretschmer]; cf. also J. B. Hofmann, Etymologisches Worterbuch des Griechischen
(Munich, 1949), p. 37. So also K. Vlahov, Ziva Antika 15 (1965), p. 303.
160 In the terminology of ancient grammarians, U({)(xLpe:m~ was "omission" of a letter

(Scholia graeca ad Aristoph. Aves 149, ed. F. Diibner [Paris, 1877; Hildsheim, 1969];
Etym. magnum 389.6), while cruYX0rr1) was "cutting a word short by striking out one or
more letters, or shortening involving loss of a syllable" (Herodiani technici reliquiae,
2.247, ed. A. Lentz [Leipzig, 1868]).
161 Hyphaeresis of the first type is 0 for eo or oe: Ionic eOKAli~, e6Y'J1J't'o~ (from ee:OKAli~,

ee:6Y'J1J't'o~), etc., Doric (Rhodian, fourth cent. B.C.) 7tPOOX&:P(Xr.o~"offered before the
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 99

classes of loss of a vowel. One like our case (B6crTCOPO~

from Bo6crTCOpO~) is
called (Juyxo~, a general term describing visually what happened to
words at different times and by varying causes, without classification.162
If we wish to search deeper for the ultimate cause of this phenomenon
and not be content with the appearances of the written word, a fresh
approach to the clarification of this matter may be attempted. First, let
us survey the compounds with ~ou~.
I. ~ou- is the first member of compounds, at least partly contracted
from ~oo-, in more than one hundred examples, the earliest being in
Homer,163 including names: Boo8opoc:;,
Bou<prXyoc:;,Bouxe:<p&.:Aac:;;
II. ~oo-compounds with no change in the vowels, so ~06XAe:~
(Sophocles),
~06(J"t"CX(JLC:;
(Callimachus), Bo6croupIX(in Cyprus; Strabo), ~oo(Jcr6o~
(Nonnos) ;
III. ~o- in appearance from ~oo-.
The first two sets of examples are well understandable but the third
is problematic. The third category is supposed to reflect the phenomenon
called "hyphaeresis"; the few examples render the phenomenon a
"sporadic" one in view of the instances in category II and show "sur-
reptitious" loss of a vowel to be an invented artificial device in place of
the yet to be found real explanation.
A serious attempt at explaining the hyphaeresis of B60'TCOPO~ from
Bo6crTCOP0C:;
was made by F. Solmsen, which he linked with accent be-
havior in Greek. It is unfortunate that his views did not appear in a full
exposition and we have only a brief report given us by A. Thumb.164
According to Sohnsen, Greek accent is supposed to have had in early
hearth" (from 1tpoe:-); or -E'~ from -e:E'~,; as -XAE'~ from -XAe:E·~. See Schwyzer, Griech.
Grammatik, 1.253; 5802, 3; 3985•
Another type is hyphaeresis of f. in Eu~oe:uc; for EU~OLe:UC; (EU~OLCl) and AE1tpe:OV for
AE1tpe:WV; Etym.Magnum389.6-10 (for Eu~oe:uc;) ;ScholiaAristoph. Aves, 149 (for AE1t'pe:OV);
see note 128.
162 In Herodian's work (see note 128) the chapter ex 'riJJv l'Hpc.u8f.ClVOU 1te:pl. 1t'Cl6iJJv, Nos.
1-712, pp. 166-388, parades many examples. Thus, ~o"IJe6c;, 8opu~61;;, A(X~6c; for ~o"IJ66ol;;,
aopu~6oc;, ACl~6oc; (p. 250); <>P(Le:VOC;, tX(Le:vov, o(Lvuc.u, OAE, ~e:(8c.upoc; for op6(LE:VoC;, Lx6(LE:Vov,
o(Lovuc.u, oAoE, ~e:f.68c.upol;; (250-252); etc. The observation of vowel loss in these and other
paraded instances is visual, superficial, and often against the true derivation of the words,
163 Here are listed the earliest examples: ~OUX6AOC; (~ouAu't'6v8e:) Il., Od.; ~OUepOVEc.u Il.,
~OUep6Vf.Cl Aristoph., ~ouep6voc; Aeschyl., ~ou6u'roc; Aeschyl., Soph., Eurip., Aristoph., ~ou6u'riJJ
Soph., ~ouxe:pc.uC; Herodot., ~OUXEepClAOC; Aristoph., ~OUXAe:~ (cf. ~06XAe:~), ~OU1tP<PPOC;, ~ou(j't'&.C;,
all in Soph., ~OU1t(Xf.C; Aristoph., Eurip., ~OUVO(LOC; Soph., Aristoph., ~OUVO(L(Cl Pind., ~OU1tOPOC;
Herodot., Eurip., ~ou(j(j6oc; Callim. (see below; cf., ~ooo(j6oc;), ~ou'rUpov Hippocr., ~ouepop~6c;,
~ouepop~w, ~oUep6p~f.Cl all in Eurip., ~OUX LAOC; Aeschyl.
164 F. Solmsen, "Zur Frage nach dem Wesen des griechischen Akzents," in the report

of A. Thumb, "Die indogermanische Sektion auf der KoIner Philologenversammlung,

25.-29. Sept. 1895," IF 6 (1896), Anzeiger, p. 154.
100 Dernetrius J. Georgacas

times the musical element plus an expiratory moment, and certain cases
of hyphaeresis of 0 present the phonological phenomenon whereby the
loss of this vowel is caused by the shift of the accent in the word. In our
case, the author suggests, the inflection went as follows: nomine sing.
Bo6cr7COP0C; but genit. BOcr7C6pou on account of the accent shift in the latter
case; likewise, oAo6rppwv but OAorppovewv (this latter misinterpreted as
OAO-rppovswv ), ~oY) 86oc; - * ~oY) 80ew (cf. Aeolic ~a(61)t.LL with receding
accent) ~ ~oY)esw (then a new form ~oY)86c;), etc.I65 No doubt accentua-
tion did have its effects on Greek phonology with new phonological
forms as the result. However, scrutiny of instances is called for on two
important counts: chronology of the data used and crossing factors.
In addition, the Mycenaean stage of Greek data, at our disposal today,
may be more important than a theory on accent of 1896. I, therefore,
do not accept Solmsen's explanation of B6cr7COP0C; in place of earlier
Bo60'1topoc;.
An alternative solution of the crux, originated by Karl Brugmann,
was made with the hope of successfully tracing ~oO'- in B60'7t'opoc; to the
Indo-European level of speech. Though this possibility can no longer be
taken into consideration, since it was doubted even by its author, an
attempt at definitive refutation seems in order here.
Because the derivation and compounding of the word from ~oot; 7t6pot; -7 ~o60"1t'opot;
"ox-ford" would hardly have yielded the form ~6Q"1t'opot;at the date, let us say, of the
early seventh cent. B.C., when the Greeks settled Byzantion, on the ground that the Greek
dialects, including Doric, were at that time more archaic than, e.g., is Attic of the fifth
cent. B.C., it becomes evident why Brugmann in 1892 set up a special IE form to ac-
commodate the form B60"- in B60"1t'opot;: he first analyzed the names as *~Ot; n6pot; and
derived the radical noun form *~Ot; from IE gWos (vanishing grade gW_), which he com-
pared with Skt. gO-$ "bovis," whereas the attested Greek form ~o(f)6t; appeared as a more
recent formation like Vedic gavas and Lat. bovis.166 While this treatment is repeated in
1906 by setting up the modified form IE gWw-os, whence (through *~fot;) the form *~ot;
is received, Brugmann uses a "perhaps" and adds that the term ExC't't'6(L-~1) "sacrificial offer
of 100 oxen" (cf. Skt. sata-gu- "possessing 100 cows") also displays the vanishing grade
-gWw_ in the second component -gWwa- = Gr. -~~, _~1).167 Yet, the author himself cautiously
states that B60"- in B60"1t'opot; may not be utilized for reconstructing an IE gen. *gWw_OS.168
This should have finished the matter for good. However, Brugmann's Greek Grammar,
third ed. of 1900 and the fourth reworked by A. Thumb in 1913, adopted gW-os for B60"-
in B60"7topOt;.169Then important authorities of that period such as A. Fick, W. Prellwitz,

165 Solmsen, loco cit.

166 K. Brugmann, GruruJri{J der vergleicheruJen Grammatik der iruJogermanischen Spra-
ohen1 (StraBburg), 2 (1892), p. 574 (§ 231), p. 584 (§ 238).
167 GrundrifJ, P.313 (§ 344); 22 (1906), 134 (§ 79). - On ExC't't'6(Lf31) cf. F. Sommer, Zur
Geschichte der griechischen Nominalkomposita (Miinchen, 1948), p. 76.
168 GrundrifJ, 22, 1 (1906), p. 234 note l.
169 K. Brugmann, Griechische Grammatik2, p. 115; 3(1900},pp. 44 and 177; 4th ed. re-
worked by A. Thumb (1913), pp. 51 and 208 (here in both references with the warning
"presumably" ).
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 101
and others accepted Brugmann's original suggestion.170 The last Indo-Europeanist to
record his following suit with Brugmann's original suggestion was, as far as I could ascer-
tain, Hermann Hirt (1921).171 For us it is of course certain that the ad hoc reconstructed
IE genitive form gWwos is inadmissible. In this sense both F. Solmsen172and E. Schwyzer
as well as several others ignored this solution. The fact is that there is no basis for the re-
construction of an IE form gWwos.

In scrutinizing the data, I have come to adopt the Greek etymon of

B6cr7topo~ on these grounds: (1) the making of parallel place-names from
animal terms is a toponymic practice in many languages, (2) parallel
place-names with the appellative noun ~OU~ and similar terms are many,
and (3) a series of similar compounds in Greek do well support the case
of B6cr7topo~.
Terms for animals are used as designations of rivers, mountains, etc.,
and there are two aspects in their interpretation: (a) nationalistic inter-
pretation, and (b) mythological motives seen behind the animal terms :173
"wolf": fiume del Lupo, le Loup in the area of Nizza, Greek Aoxo~
(13 times in Greece and Asia Minor)
"horse": Gr. I7t7to~ in Colchis, It. Oavallo, Span. Oavall6n (Anda-
ff

lusia)
"deer'.': It. Cervo, Gr. 'fEA(xCPO~ (Arcadia), Mycenaean Greek erapo
rimene (dat.-Ioc. sing.) = 'EAcX.qJCUV AL[1.EVE:L "port of deers"174
"bull": Gr. Tcxupo~ (mountain in Asia Minor), It. Toro (in E. Italian
Alps)l75
"buffalo": Bufalo rivers and rivulets in the South Italy province of
Cosenza and 16 others. 176
170A. Fick, "Altgriechische Ortsnamen II," BB 22 (1897), p. 11 (*~o~ from ~fo~);
W. Prellwitz, Etymologisches Worterbuch der griechischen Sprache (Gottingen, 1905), p. 81
(with reference to Brugmann's Griech. Grammatik3, 44); G. N. Tserepis, TO. avv(Jcra 't'ij~
~EAA1}Vt'X,ij~ yAwaa1}~ (Athens, 1902), p. 163 (he cites also b'(X't'6!1--~f-"fJ).
171 Greek ~o~ in B6(j1tOpo~ from gWos "of the ox"; R. Rirt, 1ndogermanische Grammatik.
Teil11: Der indogermanische Vokalismus (Heidelberg, 1921), p. 196 (§ 197,1).
172 F. Solmsen, IF 6 (1896), Anzeiger, p. 154.
173 G. Rohlfs, "Europaiscbe FluBnamen und ihre historischen Probleme," Proceed.
of the Sixth 100S (Miinchen, 1960-61), 1.14-18.
174 Rohlfs, loco cit. On the Mycenaean place-name cf. V. Georgiev, "La stratification

des toponymes en Grece ancienne," Proceed. of the Ninth 100S 1966 (Louvain, 1969),
p.231.
175 On the term taurus "bull" used in geographical names, mainly for mountains, in

the Mediterranean cf. K.. Finsterwalder, "Der Name der Taurisker usw.," Studien zur
Sprachwissenschaft und Kulturkunde, Gedenkschrift W. Brandenstein (Innsbruck, 1968),
p.343ff.
176 See G. Rohlfs, "FluBnamen im heutigen Kalabrien," BNF, NF, 4 (1969), p. 14l.
The author suggests that the designation may have one of two causes, either figurative
usage or mytbological animalization. The personal name BOU~(xAO~ in Asia Minor from
~OU~(xAO~ "antelope"; L. Robert, Noms indigenes dans l'Asie Mineure greco-romaine 1
(Paris, 1963), p. 22if.
102 Demetrius J. Georgaeas
"cow": La Vaehe 'enragee in France (Departement Cher).
"ox": Italian Monte Bove (Tuscany, Abruzzi Mountains), Valle del
Bove (Sicily), Gala del Bove (at the Tuscany coast), Bove Marino
(cape south of Syracuse), and Bovo Marino (near Agrigento),
etc.; German Oeh8enfurt (city on Main), Oeh8enbaeh, Oehsenfeld,
Ochsenwerder, Oeh8enburg, Ochsenwang, Oxenbronn, Oxlund,
etc.177

BOY ~ IN GREEK

Botie;f. was the name of an Asiatic headland (&xpa)on the straits north
of the point of Byzantion (Polyb. 4.43), apparently identical with a white
rock mentioned in Stra bo and with a place recorded by Pliny.178 This
name may have been the origin of the geographic feature B6cj7topoc:;.
VUa m., a place in South Calabria, occurring in the genitive form 'TOU
Bo6e;in A.D. 1099, comes from anc. 0 BOUc:;;179this, I suggest, changed
into 0 Bou and then into a first-declension noun 0 Booa(c:;)and accus.
'TOVBooav; in juncture 'TOV~ouv/tombu·n / the pronunciation of mb has
been retained to the present. According to Rohlfs, the same nomin. Booa
JVUaJ was orthographically adjusted into Latinized Bova ;180I agree
with this. The genitive 'TOU Bo6c;has its parallel in another place-name
<~> Bo(;)vin Caria (second cent. A.D.).181
177 The above examples with "ox" in Italy and Germany were listed for me by Professor
Gerhard Rohlfs (per letter dated 2 Dec. 1970), my thanks to whom are here also recorded.
178 Polyb. 4.43.6: 't'1)v Bouv X<XAOU(LEV'Y)V, oe; ron 'rije; ,AGL<xe;"r67toe;; 7: 7tA~V 8 ye poue; ...
Op(L~G<xe;cl7tO 'rije; Booe; E7t' cxu"ro cpEpe"rcxL"r0 BU~&V"rLOV.Strabo [first cent. A.D.] 7.6.2: Ex'rije;
X<XAx'Y)8oVL<xx1ie; clx'rije; Aeux~ "rLe;7tE"rPCX7tPOO7tL7t"rOUG<X cpo~ei: "r0 ~c'i>OV,&G"r' euOue; ete; 't'1)V7tep<XL<XV
't"pE7teGO<XL.Dionys. Byz. [second cent. A.D.], Anaplus Bospori (ed. R. Giingerich), p.34,
1-6: "EvOev (i.e., after Chrysopolis) D'XP<X 7tp07tL7t"reL"rCXLe;'rije; O<XA&"r't"'Y)e;
7tA'Y)Y<XLe;€7tL8p0(Loe;·
7tOAUe;YeXp E7t' CXU't'1)V&OOU(Levoe;0 poue; 7tpOe; 't'1)VXCXAOU(LEV'Y)V clvOCX(LLAAcx"r<XL Bouv· ~G"rL8' otov
cXcpe~pLov "rou 7tpOe; "r~v Eupw7t'YJv 8L&7tAOUXCXLXLC1>V ALOou Aeuxou, x<xO' 1ie; ~oue;, X&p'Y)"t'oe;
•AO'Y)VCXLC1>V G"rp<X't"'Y)You 7tCXAA<XX~V Bot8Lov EV"rCXUOCX xcx(Looo<xvcX7tox'Y)oeuGcxv"roe;· 34, 1. 9: Me"reXOE:
~v Bouv C'Hp<xy6pcx xP~V1J xcxt "rE(Levoe; ~pC1>Oe;EUpwG"rou. Pliny, NH, 9.51: saxum miri
eandoris. Cf. Walbank, op. cit., 1.496f. A district of Constantinople called Boue; (first
quarter of the seventh cent. A.D.; Okron. Pasck., Bonn ed., p. 382) was the cattle market,
the counterpart of Rome's forum boarium, and has, therefore, no significance for geographic
onomastics; cf. also 'IxOuee; fish market (syn. tXOU07tWALOV),A&xcxvcx vegetable market
(syn. A<XXCXV07tWALOV).
179 "rou Bo6e; S. Cusa, I diplomi greci ed arabi di Sicilia (Palermo, 1868-82), p. 358;
G. Rohlfs, Lexicon graecanicum ltaliae inferioris2 (Tiibingen, 1964), 94.
180 Rohlfs, loco cit.: 0 V00 ene mia mafii nora "Bova is a beautiful village," pd.o stam
boo "I go to Bova"; inhabitant name Vutano "inhabitant of Vua" (with -tano certainly
analogical from Napoletano, etc.).
181 Inscription of Aphrodisias, 1. 19: EV "rc'i>AeY0(L€vcp C'P1JG't"'YJAAcp xcxt Bo(;)v -r1i AeyO(LEv1);
see L. and J. Robert, Oarie (Paris) 2 (1954), 233f.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 103

Bou8opoc;m., river in Euboea, literally "Hayer of oxen"; (B.7to't'lX(LoC;

O(L6>vu(LOC;, 't'<:>XlX't'a~v ~lXAlX(LLVll <5pe:r.
't'<:>7tpOC;'t'~ ' A't''t'r.x~) 8trabo
10.1.5.
Boux&p't'e:poc;AOepOC; in Asia; Fick, BB 21 (1896), p. 256.
BOUXPClVOC; ~ 7tpOC;XL<p cape: Philostr. epist., ed. Didot; cf. Gras-
berger 78; Fick, BB 21 (1896), p. 269.
Bouep&yoC;m., river in the Peloponnesus, literally "eater of oxen."
Bo&ypr.oc;m., river in Locris ("the Wild Bull"), Lat. Boagriu8 amni8
(Pliny, HN 4.27): ~OllYPOC; "wild bull" and ~o&ypr.ovn. "shield
of wild bull's hide" (Iliad, Odyssey; cf. Hesychius: ~O&ypr.ll·
&cr7tL8lXC;).
~OU7tOPOC; ,Apcrr.vo"tJc;,referring to Mt. Athos (Callim. Aitia 110.45,
ed. Pfeiffer: ~OU7tOPOC;' Apcrr.vo'YJc;
(L'YJ't'poc;
crEOXlXf. 8r.a (LEcrO"OU / M'YJ8e:LCJ)v
OAOClL v~e:c;e;~ljcrllv"A 6CJ) ).
Beside the syntagma Atyoc; 7tO't'Cl(LOC;, Muoc; ()P(LOC;, etc., the so-called
genitive compounds such as ~AAocru8vlj(Homer), ~HAr.oU7tOAr.C;, KuVOcrOUPll
(Herodotus), KUVOcrlXpye:C; (Herodotus), ~r.ocrxoupor., ~r.o~o't'oc; (Boeotia,
~Locr8o't'oc;),TIe:A07tOVVljO"oc;, Ve:6>O"OLXOC;,
UOcrXUll(LOC;, 8e:cr7to't''YJc;
(from 8e:(Lcr-),etc.,
are well known. Here comes also ~EAA~O"7tOV't'oc; (Iliad, Herodotus) explained
from EAA"tJC;
f
1
7tOV't'OC;.182Periphrastic descriptions of waterway geographic
features are also well known, e.g.,
"ford": 0puov ' AAepe:r.o'LO 7t0P0C;"Thryon the ford of Alpheios" (Iliad)
7t0POV... 8&v6ou (Iliad)
,A~r.ou 7t0P0C;(Aeschylus)
7t0POV... AAUOC;(Herodotus)
fl

"strait": "EAAac; CEAAljC;) 7t0P0C;(Pindar, Aeschylus, Aristophanes)183

, lovr.oc;7t0P0C;"the Ionian sea as the passage way from Greece to
Italy" (Pindar). Merely descriptive are the expressions 7t0P0C;,AAepe:OU for
,AAepe:r.OC; (Pindar), pu't'Of.7tOpOL "liquid paths" (Aeschylus), etc.
Nothing, therefore, is strange about a form Boocr-1tOpoc;.Actually,
there are attested descriptive names with the genitive ~ooc;or compounds,
though these are not attested as early as BOO"7topoc;:
Booc; ClUA~"Cowshed, Cow's Stall," name of a cave in Euboea:
Strabo 10.1.3; cf. Eustathius, Oommentarius 11. 536f.; Gras-
berger, 96 and 302; Fick, BB 21 (1896), 283; Epaphos was
supposed to have been born by 10 in the place called Booc; llUA~;
Eustathius, Ope cit., 278.30; cf. E. Maass, de Aeschyli supplicibu8
commentatio (Greifswald, 1890), p. xxi; Eitrem, art. 10 ('16»,
HE 9 (1916), 1735.
Booc; Xe:eplXAllL "Oxenheads," name of a mountainous area in Asia:
Eratosthenes [third cent. B.C.] in Steph. Byz. s. v.; cf. Gras-
182 See above, p. 73.
183 See above, p. 73.
104 Demetrius J. Georgaeas
berger, pp. 78 and 96; Fick, BB 21. 268. Cf. BOuxscpllAa "Oxen-
head," town and cape (Grasberger 78, 96; Fick, BB 21. 269).
Bo6croUPll
or Boo~oup&(or oupa ~o6~)"Ox- or Cow tail," name of the
NE cape in Cyprus: Strabo 14.6.3; Grasberger, p. 125; Fick,
BB 21. p. 268. Cf. Kuv6croupcc
Boo~ I16po~,Orpheus' Argonautiea 1059 (ed. E. Abel, Leipzig &
Prague, 1885).
B6epE7t't"o~184
[ca. A.D. 500] is added here because it may have stood
for *Bo6epE7t't"o~185
just as there are names compounded with ~ou-.
Outside of Greek, names with a parallel cognate of -7t0PO~ are well
known in many IE languages and in various periods of time:
Scyth. I16pa't"ll,I1upE't"6~
(Herodotus), Av. p()r()()u- "wide" or p'Jr'Jtu-
(noun) "passage, crossing," Prut name of the 350 kilometer long tributary
of the Lower Danube ;186and, on the other hand,
Germanic *furdu, Eng!. ford "passage," Germ. Furt (Erfurt, Frank-
furt, Klagenfurt, Oehsenfurt city on Main, Sehweinfurt, etc.); the Eng!.
place-name Oxnaford (A.D. 912), Oxenaford (ca. 1000), Oxeneford (1086),
and Oxford, which designated a "ford for oxen."187 There are also six
places named Oxford in the United States.188 The IE word was *prtu-
"passage."189
These place-names hardly need the mediation of a prehistorical sub-
stratum to be satisfactorily explained. A Greek name, therefore, designat-
ing also "ox-ford" is equally understandable, possible, and even very
184 Christodorus [poet, fl. ca. A.D. 500] in Anthologia graeca epigrammatum Palatina
cum Planudea, ed. H. Stadtmueller (Leipzig, 1894/99/1906), 1: Epigrammata Ohristiana, 9
(title, autograph of the poet): ELI;; "t"ovVrf.OV"t"oG&pXrf.yyEAOUEV Bo8pE1t'''t"~.The name
B68pe:7t"t"ol;;
listed in Pape-Benseler, 216a, and rendered in German "Ochsenhof," was also
taken over and listed by B. Hansen, Ruckliiufiges W orterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen
(Berlin, 1957), p. 252, s. -1t'''t"OI;;.
185 Since the name form B68pe:1t'''t"ol;;occurs so late (ca. A.D. 500), its explanation from
Bo68pe:1t''t'ol;;
presents no problems: in Byzantine and modern Greek two adjacent identical
vowels contract into one without consequences, so 00 ~ 0, e.g., TIp6ox8m, Byzantine
Greek Bp6x8m and with folk etymology Bp6xm (the names TIp6ox8m and Bp6xm in Pro-
copius, De aedif., 1.8.3), now called KandUli, e:L0"1t'pow8& ~ aor. subj. e:LO"1t'P<DO"w,
pres.
O"7tp<D8w,0"1t'p<DXVW "shove, push," "t"oOPL~W~ "t"'OPL~W, etc.
186 Cf. V. Georgiev, "Die europaische Mikrohydronymie und die Frage nach der Dr-
heimat der Indoeuropaer," Proceed. of the eighth 100S (The Hague, 1966), p. 190.
187 E. Ekwall, The Ooncise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford, 1960),
p. 355, s. Oxford; F. Kluge und A. Gotze, Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschenSprache16
(Berlin, 1953), p. 233, s. Furt.
188 Of these only the one in Idaho is justified by a local story that tracks of oxen were

found at a nearby ford; see G. R. Stewart, American Place-names (1970), p. 351f.

189 Cf. further on Middle Low German vorde, Danish Fjord, etc. W. Laur, "Forden- und

Buchtennamen an der Schleswig-Hoisteinischen Ostseekiiste," Proceed. of the Sixth 1008

(Miinchen) 3 (1961), pp. 511-516.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 105

probable, if a noun ~o6cr7topo~ used on passable rivers was then used for
the Bosporos narrows.
It should also be made clear that B6cr7topo~ 8p"IJbuo~ (actually the
same in content as simple B6cr7topo~) has the adj. from the nan1e 8p~x"IJ
(0p"IJLX"IJ) used for the land which ends at the straits, as contrasted to the
opposing Asiatic shore; however, this does not mean that 0p"IJbuo~
stands for "pertaining to Thracian tribes or tribes that speak the Thracian
language," as some scholars obviously have assumed, with the projected
implication that the name B60"7topo~ too should be of Thracian origin.190
That kind of approach to the matter would be misleading.

New Explanation of Boa- in B6ano(}or;and Haplology

For the better understanding of the early Greek process of develop-
ment of Bo6cr7t0poc; ~ B60"1Copo~, I suggest the following reconstruction:
Bofoc; 7t6po~ and Bof6(J7topo~. The intervocalic -w- (digamma f) persisted
in the Greek dialects of Mycenaean times and later and is found in the
epigraphy of the historical period. Thus, Mycenaean Amphiliiwos, Arkhe-
liiwos, Ekheldwon, Etewokleweios, Liiwiigetiis, Lawod6kos, Metaliiwos,
Periliiwos, etc.; and in inscriptions (in the alphabetical script): Arfac;,
LlLf6~, I1o-rE3&fwv (whence I100"EL3&wv), &ff:ALO~, ' ApXf:AEl.foc;, fL6:Arxfoc;,
AEl.f6crofoc;, ~rxO"L:A-Y)fo~,raLaf6xo, p6foc;, etc.191
As the Mycenaean form of the IE word for "ox" is gWow-, e.g., in the
man's names GWow-akseus and Stiiti-gWoweus,192 and the term 7t6poc;
may have been involved in the man's name Euporos (MY Au 102), with
the alternative Euphoros,193 the name Bof6cr7topo~ is the form expected
for the seventh century B.C., when Byzantion was colonized by the
Greeks. And, when the Greek settlers of the area pronounced at a fast
tempo this name, which probably they themselves had given to the
narrow strait, it could be subject to change and specifically to shortening;
in the tetrasyllabic word Bof6cr7t0poc; each of the first syllabes contained a
bilabial phoneme: b, w, p.
190 The name of the Byzantine (sixth cent. A.D.) fortress Bospara in inland Thrace

(see above, note 100) occurs relatively too late to carry weight in considering the inter-
pretation of the name B6crTt'Opoc;that existed over a millennium earlier.
191 On the f in Mycenaean and Homeric Greek see V. Georgiev, "Mycenien et Home-

rique: Ie probleme du digamma," Proceedings of the Cambridge Colloquium on Mycenaean

Studies, ed. L. Palmer and J. Chadwick (Cambridge, 1966), pp. 104-124 [here also on
Corinthian IIorEoaFovl.with original f pace Heubeck; see next item]; cf. A. Heubeck,
'''Digamma'-Probleme des mykenischen Dialekts," Die Sprache 9 (1963), pp. 193-202;
idem, "Zu mykenischen Namen und Titeln," IF 64 (1958), p. 119fl'.
192 See M. Ventris and J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek (Cambridge, 1956),

p. 424f.; J. Chadwick and Lydia Baumbach, "The Mycenean Greek Vocabulary," Glotta
41 (1963), p. 180 (s. ~oi3c;).
193 Ventris and Chadwick, op. cit., p. 418; Chadwick and Baumbach, op. cit., p. 238.
106 Demetrius J. Georgacas
The loss of the syllable -fo- fwo f in Bof60'7topo~ -+ B60'7topo~ came
about, I submit, as the result of the phenomenon called syllabic dis-
similation or haplology. This phonological phenomenon, usually affect-
ing long words, is an observable fact in spoken languages and the examples
from the history of ancient and modern languages are legion. From Greek
we may mention a few:
&.(.LepoP€O~ "amphora" from Homeric &.(.LepLepOP€O~
~(.LZ8L(.LVOV from ~(.LL(.LZ8L(.LVOV(syllable -L(.L-); cf. Lat. semodius from
semimodius
xL6xpClVOV from XLOv6x.pClVOV (syllable -v6-)
6>A~X.Pcx.vov from 6>A€v6x.pcx.vov
~~epov from ~~p€epOV, etc.l94
In many examples we observe that the dissimilated consonant of the
lost syllable is identical with that of another syllable in the word, e. g.,
m-m, ph-ph, n-n, r-r, etc. In our case of Bof60'7topo~ -+ B60'7topo~, the
consonant of the lost syllable is not identical with the consonants of the
retained syllables but it is bilabial, i. e., of the same place of articulation,
as they are. This is also possible in haplology, as we see in examples such
as
cx.trroe~V't'"fjC; -+ cx.ue~v't'"fjC;195 (t-th; -'t'O- lost)
't'€'t'pcf8pcx.X(.Lov -+ 't'€'t'pcfX(.LoV (tr-dr; -8pcx.- lost)
IlA€LO''t'oQ'eEV"fj~ -+ IlA€LQ'eEv"fjC; (st-sth; -O''t'O- lost).
Other equivalents, involving f and another bilabial consonant, are
~o'Y)e6~ from *~o~e6fo~ (b-w; syllable -of- or -fo- lost )196
~ouQ'Q'6oc; "driving oxen wild" in Callim. Aetia 110.45 possibly was
~OQ'Q'60C;197 from *~ofo-Q'Q'6foc;, which latter is represented in
Nonnos: ~OOO'Q'60C;.198
194 Cf. Schwyzer, Ope cit., 1.262-265. Cf. also' A[LcpL[L(XpOC; name of a son of Poseidon,

from *'A{J-ept{J-&p{J-(Xpoc;; A.Lesky, RhM 93 (1949-50), pp. 54-59; cf. idem, Tluilatta (1947),
p. 7; ,A7tOAAWV1)O'LTI)C; from *, A7tOAAWVOV"fJO'LTI)C;, inhabitant derivative of' A7t6AAWVOC; V1jO'OC;.
195 In this compound and shortened word P. Kretschmer, "Griechisches. 6. (Xu6evTI)C;,"

Glotta 3 (1912), pp. 289-293. However, it seems that P. Chantraine is correct in rejecting
this etymology and deriving (Xu6evTI)C; from (xu't'o- and ~VTI)C; (another compound is He-
sychius' O'UV-EvTI)C;· O'Uvepy6c;; both (Xu6evTIJC; and O'uvevTIJC; from &vu't'w cf. Skt. sandti)
and considering the form (xu't'o6evTIJC; the result of recompounding; see P. Chantraine,
"Encore (Xu6evTI)C;," 'AqJte(2wpa M. T(2taVTaqJv),J..l~'YJ (Athens, 1960), 89-93; idem, Diet.
etym. 1 (1968), p. 138f.
19G The reconstructed form ~ocx66foc; "hasting to the cry for help, helping, aiding"
(Iliad; "helping, aiding" Pindar; from ~o& and 66foC;, this from *6efw "run") with loss
of intervocalic -f- yielded Doric ~oci66oC; (inscription of Epidaurus, 1G 4.1, No. 128, 1. 60;
name of a Delphic month) and Ionic ~o"fJ86oC;, on the other hand, with haplology ~OlXe [6f]oC;:
Attic ~o"fJ66c;. The so far assumed hyphaeresis (Schwyzer, Griech. Gramm. 1.252) is unsatis-
factory because it describes but does not explain the data.
197 Hesych. ~ooO'0'6oc;· [L&O''t't~ (Callim. fr. 301) x(Xt ~ouTI)C;. So the ed. of K. Latte.
198 The verb O'euw was *O'O'euw as is shown by forms like E;O'O'E:U(x,aor. E!aO'U't'o, etc., and
is from IE *kyew-, whence also -0'0'6foc; as in A(Xo-0'0'6oc; "rousing or stirring men" (Homer).
 The 1l'aterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 107

n6AU~Oe; man's name from *IIoAo~ofoe; (b-w; syllable -fo- was

dropped); also 7tOAO~OL(xfro -~oft(X.199
The name BOO'cpIXYEIXof a locality (actually "slaughter of oxen") is
recorded in an inscription of Salamis (1.7) versus ~oocrcp(Xy((X (Anthol.
Pal. 16.101 ).200
The name form B6cr7topoc; /bosporos / resulting from Bof60'7t0p0C;
/bowosporos/, therefore, is understandable with haplology at work201 and
the explanation is, I hope, satisfactory and convincing as is not that with
the alleged surreptitious loss (hyphaeresis) of the one of the 00 in
*Bo6cr7topoe;. In this positive manner the Thracian etymology of B6cr7t0poc;
is unequivocally dispatched to oblivion.

CONCLUSION

The reconstructed form ~ofoc; 7t6poc; or ~of60'7topoe; was a descriptive

designation for "a narrow channel, strait." The assumed appellative
was either original or a geographic name that was substantivized. If it
was geographic, it meant to convey the notion of a seaway from sea to
sea, and as such could be applied to the Thracian Bosporos, the Hellespont,
and the Cimmerian Bosporos. As to the original naming Bosporos, we
may assume that this occurred at Byzantion, in whose area the head-
land ~ BoDe; "The Cow," on the Asiatic side NE of Byzantion, might have
pre-existed. Since that place was called BoDe;, the seaway could take the
descriptive name Bofoc; 7t6poe;; so then B60'7t0poc; signified the channel
(7t6poe;) at the promontory BoDe;, i.e., the narrow seaway from the Pro-
pontis to the Black Sea. In chronological order, the name B60'7t0poc; at
Byzantion could have been first and then it could have been transferred
and applied to the Hellespont and the Cimmerian isthmus.
199 For consideration of the name II6Au~oc;as shortened from IIoAu~ouTI)C;,as" AAXL!LOC;
from' AAxLfLE8cuv,llEpLfLoC; from llepLfL~81)C;,~eEveAoc; from ~eevEAcxFoc;,T~AefLoc; from
T1)AEfLCXX0C; see E. Risch, Wortbildung der homerischen Sprache (Berlin, 1937), 205f. Still
II6Au~oc;rather from IIoAu~oFoC;is not the same phenomenon as that called "innere W ort-
kiirzung," discussed by P. Kretschmer, Glotta 31 (1951), p. 104f. The proparoxytone form
II6Au~oc;instead of expected *IIoAu~oc;came about by analogy from the oblique cases such
as gen. *IIoAu~OLo(from *IIoAu~o [fo]yo) on the pattern gen. xxx: nomine xxx, e.g.,
&:V8P6l1tOLO: &v8pcu1toC;,XUPLOU: xupwC;, etc. The suggestion that n6AU~OC;should have
derived from a reconstructed form *noAu-~f-oC; (cf. Tserepis, op.cit. [above note 170],
p. 437) with ~f- from gWw- is out of the question; cf. Sommer, Ope cit. [above note 167],
p. 76 note 3.
200 See A. Wilhelm, "Inschrift aus Salamis," Anzeiger d. Akad. d. Wiss. in Wien,
philos.-hist. Kl., 64. Jahrg. (1927), pp. 212-222, especially pp. 214, 215, 217, 222; cf. 1G
112• 1590a, p. 810 (addenda et corrigenda).
201 Doric (Rhodian) Box61tLCX, neut. plur., name of a festival at Lindos (IG 12(1). 792,
etc.) may likewise have resulted from *~oFox61tLCX, while the form Boux.61tLCX(also recorded)
would be a later analogical adaptation to the numerous ~ou-compounds.
 108 Demetrius J. Georgacas
The appellative noun ~6cr1topo<;, I reason, could have applied originally
at crossing-points of rivers and only then it could have been transferred
to channels of seaways.202Otherwise, one has to assume that cattle were
really able to swim across the strait, which is on two counts, i. e. the
strong current and the distance, impossible. Exactly at the narrowest
point of the Bosporos there occur most drownings on account of the strong
current.203While, therefore, the original meaning of the term B6cr1topo<;

202 The original meaning of compound words is lost by the fact that part of the se-
mantic content is depleted in the context, e.g., ht'1to~oux6AOC;, EX(l't'6[l~'Y) (ltywv, 't'ov 7t"(l't'po-
ep6vTY)v(.L'Y)'t'p6e;(Sophocles), ULo8E:'t'e:LV
7t"Cxp8tvov, otxo~o(.Le:LV't'E:'Lxoe;,~ou8u't'e:LV 't'p&yov, ~OU7tpcp-
poe; EX(l't'6(.L~'Y),etc. Cf. Hatzidakis, 'Axuo'Y)f.J,ctxa avuyvw(Jf.J,ur:u2, 2 (1930), 309; Schwyzer, Ope
cit., 1. (1939), p. 426. It is, therefore, possible that B60'1t'opoe; "a narrow seaway of an Ox"
meant simply "narrow seaway."
203 Information on drownings in Bosporos was given me by Prof. George G. Arnakis,
Univ. of Texas, who lived in the area during his early years (per letter 12 Nov. 1970).
Concerning the possibility of cattle swimming and crossing waterways, I addressed
my inquiry to my colleague, Prof. Paul Kannowski, head of the Department of Biology at
the University of North Dakota. Through his services Prof. M. L. Buchanon, head of the
Department of Animal Science, North Dakota State University, and Prof. Jay C. Meiske,
Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, were contacted. To the three
gentlemen I am very grateful for their helpful contribution on this matter.
The facts established are these: almost any mammal and, therefore, cattle can swim,
though the distance is to be ascertained from many cases. Dr . Jess Williams of the Dairy
Section, University of Minnesota, who is from Texas, assured Prof. Jay C.l\leiske that he
has seen cattle at least "float" a mile. Professor Meiske adds, "Apparently, cattle are
natural floaters and, if they have grown up in areas that periodically have high water,
they do not fear it and readily ford streams" (per letter dated 17 Nov. 1970). Professor
Kannowski, after contacting Professor Buchanon, has been assured that cattle "swam at
least one quarter of a mile during a flood in Oklahoma. He (Professor Buchanon) also
stated that how far cattle could swim would depend upon their condition. Animals in
good condition should be able to swim that distance but they would likely be nearly
exhausted. A strong current would increase the difficulties in getting across" (Professor
Kannowski per letter dated 9 Nov. 1970).
If we properly evaluate the foregoing information, we have the fact that cattle can float
in high waters and ford a stream and from these known cases we do know that a quarter
of a mile or even a mile for cattle is a possible swimming or floating distance. Mr. Buchanon
stresses that difficulties during swimming across would increase on account of a strong
current.
In the case of the straits in the Byzantion area three important factors present them-
selves: (a) the narrowest point in the Bosporos is ca. 550 meters between Anadolu Hisar
and Rumeli Hisar (and the widest is a little over three kilometers) and has steep shores;
the narrowest point in the Hellespont is ca. 1200 meters; (b) the depth of the water is
several tens of meters; and (c) the current of the Bosporos and the Hellespont is rather
very strong. The conclusion, therefore, is inescapable that the crossing of these straits by
oxen is precluded. A corroboration of this conclusion comes again from Professor Arnakis,
who (in the aforementioned letter) informs me that it is unknown that cattle ever swam
across the Bosporos channel in modern times.
I reason, therefore, that the term b6sporos "ox-ford" was applied earlier to fordable
rivers and subsequently to these three channels called B6sporos. The common point of
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 109

was "ox-crossing-point" of a river and simply "river-crossing," its mean-

ing applied to our case was "strait, channel" in its length. This as-
sumption, which makes sense to me, will, I hope, appeal to others also
on the ground that the two channels, the Hellespont and the Bosporos,
are called ~'"rEv6v (and ~'"rEV&) "narrow, strait" and by the Turks Bogaz~
(= the Bosporos) and 9anakkale Bogaz~ (= the Hellespont). These names,
in fact, apply to the narrow seaway, not to an "ox-crossing, ox-ford."
In Modern Greek I was able to uncover a hapax, one toponym or. Bo·ca6-
7tOpOL in Aris of Messenia from the archives of the Historical Lexicon,204
which is to be explained from a noun ~o·io67topoC; m. "ox-ford." In any
case, the term 7t6poc; very well stands for the maritime river called by
the ancient descriptive names EAA:YJC; 7t6poc; and Boac; 7t6poc;; again, the
fI

subsequent names, ~'"rEv6v "narro,v" in Byzantine times and Bogaz~ from

the inception of the Turkish period on testify in favor of the meaning
"passage of the seaway, narrow waterway, strait."
The mythological association of the name B6cr7t0poc; (in the Byzantion
area) with 10 was, I suggest, a rather late additive as an aetiological
explanation of the name.205The mythical element had, in fact, nothing
to do with the actual etymon of the name except for the lexical element
(~ouc;) used also in the post factum popular explanations. Seethe appendix.
reference for both rivers (that are fordable) and these channels (that are not fordable)
being the narrowness of the waterways, the application of the term b6sporos to these
seaways was not amiss.
204 Dr. Dikaios Vayacacos, Director of the Historical Lexicon, kindly passed this in-
formation to Dr. John Thomopoulos (Dec. 1970), upon my inquiry. Further and more
precise information on this point I received from Mr. Nikos Zervis (Kalamata, Greece, per
letter 12 Feb. 1971): ot Bo'La6itopo~jvoyooporij is a toponym on the river Pamisos, i.e. a
crossing near the hamlet Balyaga (M1tCXA~cX.yCX, officially renamed" Ap.p.oc;)of the eparchia
Thlessene;in earlier times, oxen crossed the river on that point. In modern Greek I was
unable to uncover a term "cow-ford" (&.yeAcxa6it0poc;) to designate a river crossing-point.
This certainly does not mean that such terms did not exist or, for that matter, do not
exist; they may simply be unrecorded. Actually, I expect to find more such toponyms in
existence.
205 This differs from V. Burr, Nostrum mare (1932), p. 26, who reasons that the Io

saga is very old, in the following: The Io saga is very old but the geographical ingredients
come to it after the opening of the Black Sea and through the penetration of Greek sea-
farers in the seventh or even eighth century B.C. See above, p. 72 with note 13 and addenda,
p.120f.
 110 Demetrius· J. Georgacas

APPENDIX TO BOSPOROS:
A NOTE ON THE MYTH OF 101

Long before history began, a considerable number of myths were

localized in the Black Sea area2 and these might be used as indirect
evidence to show the Greeks' knowledge of the Pontus, though we depend
on comparatively late sources. Our early sources, Homer and Resiod,
locate no myths explicitly in the Pontus. Yet, one of the great genealogi-
cal trees of the (H esiodic) Oatalogue was the genealogy or descendants of
10. The interest of the poet was of a geographic order and he ,vho wished
to give a geographic picture of the world had to make use of the language
and the legend.3 A. J. Graham discusses examples of myths and sets out
some principles: the story of Achilles, Prometheus' punishment in the
Caucasus, the story of the Amazons, the exploits of Heracles, the story
of the Argonauts, and specifically, the myth of the wandering rocks
(rrAocYX-rOC~ 7te-rpocr. Ode I2.59ff.) or clashing rocks C~:UlL7tA'lJycY.ae~, sC.
7te-rpocr.)4; while the first four myths were known to Homer or Hesiod,
the localization in the Pontus area seems to have come later.5
Aristeas' fragmentary poem embodied the experiences of an actual
voyage undertaken by its writer beyond the Pontic regions and into
Central Asia in the later seventh cent. B.C. In a study of Aristeas and his
poem (published in 1962), J. D. Bolton makes a case for this and further
suggests it as a likely source for the local geographic description of Io's
journey as detailed to her in advance in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bo~tnd,
written two centuries later. 6
In the last three decades of this century, advances have been achieved
toward our understanding of sonle Greek nlyths derived from the early
Near East civilizations, this of course also in the broader framework of
literary influence from the same regions.7 Egypt too has had its share.

1 See the bibliography noted in the following addenda, below, p. 119 f.

2 Listed, e.g., by O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte (1906),
sections 136-138.
3 R. Merkelbach, "Les papyrus d'Hesiode et la geographie mythologique de la Grece,"

Ohronique d'Egypte (Bruxelles) 43 (1968), 139.

4 A. J. Graham, BIOS 5 (1958), 36f. The two ('Vandering or Clashing Rocks) are
considered as different; cf. C. Robert, Die griechische H eldensage (3 Bucher, Berlin, 1920-21),
825-827. But the story is essentially the same in both; cf. H. J. Rose, art. Symplegades,
OOD2 (1970), 1028a.
5 Graham, Ope cit., 37.

6 See S. Piggott, "Iron, Cimmerians, and Aeschylus," Antiquity 38 (1964), 300-303,

especially 302.
7 As an example see H. Otten, "Vorderasiatische Mythen als Vorlaufer griechischer
Mythenbildung," For8chungen und Fortschritte, 25. Jahrg., H. 13/14 (1949), 145-147.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus III

While 10 is supposed to have acquired a late association with the

Bosporus and the Caucasus, her earliest association was with Egypt. On
this aspect we have at our disposal a recent study by Ruth I. Hicks on
four stories that seem to have borrowed, or to have been influenced by,
Egyptian elements.8 These mythical elements were introduced into Greek
mythology either in the Mycenaean period (ca. before 1200 B.C.) or
during the Egyptian t,venty-sixth or Saite dynasty (664-525 B.C.), while
for half a millennium (ca. between 1200 and 664 B.C.) Egypt was closed
to the inhabitants of the Aegean world. It should be stated that, while the
majority of extant literary and graphic representations of the stories with
an Egyptian locale are no earlier than the sixth century B.C., the myths
themselves seem to be older by centuries. 9
Jean Berard's novel and detailed suggestion on the legend of 10 and her
descendants in connection with the period of the Hyksos, "the kings of
foreign countries," who are supposed to have been of an essentially
Semitic character and to have come to Egypt from the Syrian and
Palestinian region, at the end of the Middle Bronze period, and on the
adventure of 10 and her descendants not as a purely Egyptian episode
but rather as an episode of Phoenician history in Egypt, has to be taken
into serious consideration, as the only simple strong possibility, as Mr.
Berard claims. The relations among the Greek legend of the descendants
of 10, that of Phaethon, and the story of Joseph have to be considered as
established, he thinks; in each of these three cases it is seen how fabula-
tion intervened to deform and transfigure a historical reality. The legend
of 10 and of her lineage - says Berard - responds in truth to historical
facts, the descendants of 10 representing in effect the last Hyksos, who
were expelled from Egypt ca. 1580 B.C.lOThe adventure of Aigyptos and
the return to Greece of Danaos and Kadmos correspond to that expulsion
of the Hyksos.
[This refers mostly to the Theogony of Hesiod and the Bogazkoy (of the thirteenth cent.
B.C. or earlier) and Ras-Shamra texts as well as to Typhon, who is supposed to render
Canaanite (Baal) Zaphon, wherein the Phoenicians served as intermediaries between the
Canaanites and the Greeks.]
8 Ruth 1. Hicks, "Egyptian Elements in Greek Mythology," TAPA 93 (1962), 90-108.
[The only weakness of this piece of work is that the author was unaware of studies on Io
that had appeared before 1962, so A. Severyns (1926), J. Viirtheim (1928), Ch. Jos-
serand (1937), U. Pestalozza (1939), J. Berard (1952 and 1957), and others; there has of
course also been a number of more recent studies since 1962. See bibliography below, p. 119 f.
(As is well known, Annee Philologique is our best bibliographical tool in this respect.)]
9 Hicks, Ope cit., 92f.
10 See Berard, Syria 29 (1952), 41-43; idem, Revue de l'histoire des religions 51 (1957),
221-230. On the Hyksos cf. T. Save-Soderbeg, "The Hyksos Rule in Egypt," Journal of
Egyptian Archaeology 37 (1951), 53ff. On the negative results of Eusebius' chronology
about To see Berard, Syria 29.7 and II.
112 Demetrius J. Georgacas
Berard's theory may be discussed by his fellow expert authorities. If I
cannot follow Mr. Berard in his conclusions, it is because many details
are not self-evident, as he thinks they are.
In any case, B. Landsberger and R. D. Barnett support the view that
the Phoenicians were intermediaries in cultural diffusion (art, technic,
etc.) in the Near East.ll
Scanty fragments have preserved lo's story for us but we complement
them by drawing on later authors who had more material than we do.
The original form of the 10 myth, therefore, is no longer represented in the
first account of the legend of 10 as provided in Greek literature, i. e. in
Aeschylus, Prom. 589ff., 681if.; Stttppl. 538ff., 572. This is so because
the 10 myth is the amalgam of diverse elements and the Aeschylean
narrative drew on the epic poem called Dana~s, whose redaction was
placed by U. von Wilamowitz in Cyrene in the sixth century B.C., while
E. Maass traces the stories of Apollodorus and Hyginus (essentially not
different from that of Aeschylus) back to the (Hesiodic) Catalogue.12
The main sources of the myth of 10 are well known.13 The four es-
sential points of the story are (a) Io's position as priestess of Hera at
Argos, (b) her transformation into a heifer (with whom Zeus in therio-
morphic shape united), (c) her journey to Egypt, and (d) the birth there
of a son, Epaphos, fathered by Zeus. The fact that Hera's cult at Argos
seemingly dates from Mycenaean times14 lends support to the assumption
that 10 was contemporary with the Egyptian eighteenth dynasty (four-
teenth cent. B.C. or earlier), when there "\-vasdirect contact between
Egypt and southern Greece, including the Peloponnesus and the Argolis.
Two data, i.e. the discovery of votive offerings of cows at the Argive
Heraion 15 and the fact that Hera herself is called ~OW7tL~ "cow-eyed" or
"having large eyes" (Iliad 1.551), are significant, as Hicks stresses.
The thesis advanced by J. Harrison that the cow-headed 10 is another
form of Hera16 has been repeatedly proposed by various scholars. Thus,
Farnell assumes this for the earliest times, though he disproves Miss

11 C. D. Barnett, "Early Greek and Oriental Ivories," JHB 68 (1948), 1.

12 Ch. Josserand, "Io et Ie taon," L'Antiquite Olassique 6 (1937), 259.
13 (Hesiodic) Oatalogue [second half of the eighth cent. B.C.], ed. R. Merkelbach and
M. West (1967); there probably was a genuine Hesiodic core to the Catalogue but much of
it cannot be by Hesiod (cf. A. Lesky, A History of Greek Literature [London, 1966], 103f.),
so the Catalogue is placed in the sixth century (cf. M. L. West, art. Hesiod, OOD2 [1970]
511, § 4; Aeschylus, Prom. 561-886; Buppl. 291-315, 531-594; Diodorus Sic., 5.60.4;
Apollodorus, 2.1.3; Ovid, Metamorphoses, 1.588-750; Hyginus, Fahulae, 145).
14 M. Nilsson, Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology (Berkeley, 1932), 63; cf. Rhys
Carpenter, "Argeiphontes, a Suggestion," AJA 54 (1950), 182; cf. now Hicks, op. cit., 93.
15 C. Waldstein, The Argive Heraeum (Boston, 1905). The reference in Hicks, 93,
note 15.
16 J. Harrison, Olassical Review 1893, p. 74.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 113

Harrison's theory.17 C. Robert and A. B. Cook also take it that 10 was a

byform of Hera18 or that Hera's priestess was originally regarded as Hera
incarnate.19 Even most recently (though without being based on inde-
pendent research) it is stated that 10 is to be derived from the cult cycle
of ~OW1CLC;"Hp'tJ" whose "hypostasis" is 10 and whose earliest outward
shape she reflects.20Also Hicks considers it possible that in 10 we have
Hera by another name. 21

The name 'lw

The name of the mythical 10 was in use also as a personal name for
girls, so in the second cent. B.C.,22in the same way as "EAA"fJ and <I>p£~oc;
were. As for the etymology of the name, attempts have been made but
with no success as yet. The ancient attempt by Herodian to connect
'16> with an alleged noun l6> "moon" 23 is suspect as isolated testimony
and because it sets as proved the thesis that 10 was a moon goddess,
which she was not. The same motive underlay the suggestion by L.
Ross that the name is related to the Coptic noun ioh "moon" on the
ground that '16> as a moon-goddess corresponded to loh, a moon-god.24
Other views of the name were of a shortened form of a longer name such
as fLo~cl't"Lc; "the one who walks fast" or fL61C"fj "the one with swift
feet" 25or with l6c; "virus" as ' lo~cl!J.~, , 16A"fJ, and this on account of the
tales about healing demons at the Argive Heraion.26 And most recently,
, 16> as a shortened form of ' loxclO''t'''tJ, , 16A'tJ, etc., has been sanctioned. 27
I do not preclude such an explanation but I would eliminate the idea
that l6c; which had an earlier form fi0'6c; = Lat. virus, would explain
, 16> from * .R0'6>. The reason is that other words connected with '16> such
as '16vLOC; linked wit~ ' 16> (Aeschylus, Prom. 840) (vis-a-vis ' 1~6vLoc;,
'I6>VLOC;) present difficulties28 and *'I&.fovEc; confirmed by Mycenaean,
has an unknown etymology.29

L. R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, 1 (1896), 199-201.

17

C. Robert, Die griechische Heldensage, 1 (1920),253; A. B. Cook, Zeus, 1 (1914),453

18

[with references].
19 Cook, lococit., with notes.

20 H. von Geisau, art. 10, Der Kleine Pauly 2 (1967), 1427.

21 Hicks, Opecit., 93.

22 Pap. Tebtunis 740 (second cent. B.C.): 'I6l f.; D. Foraboschi, Onornasticon alterum
papyrologicum (Milano, 1970), p. 153.
23 Herodian, ed. Lentz, 1.347.30.
24 L. Ross, 1taliker und Griiken, p. 84 (cited by R. Engelmann, in Roscher's Lexikon

a.Mythol. 2.269); cf. A. B. Cook, Zeus 1 (1914), 455.

25 E. Maass, IF 1 (1892), 168; rejected by O. Gruppe, 2.460 note 5.

26 O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie, 2.460.

27 H. von Geisau, art. 10, Der Kleine Pauly 2 (1967), 1426.

28 Cf. Baumont, JHS 56 (1936), 204. 29 Chantraine, Dict. etym. 475, s. "'Iwvc:<;;.
114 Demetrius J. Georgacas
I find no support for the Egyptian character of 10 from her name. The
name 'Iw was connected with a "great royal spouse," called Inni, at-
tested for the Hyksos by many scarabs30 but this has been doubted.31
For another attempt at an explanation, 'I~ is supposed to be a Helleniza-
tion of an Egyptian term for "moon" or "ox" 32 but the statement is
vague and unconvincing.

The cow form

10 is a ~ouxepc.uc; 1tClp8bJoc; "maiden horned like a cow" (Aeschylus,
Prom. 612; cf. 674: xepClCi-r(c;) and the greatest Mesopotamian goddess
under different names, one being Ishtar, bears the bovine horns; she is
the wild cow that devastates the region, the sacred cow, while the king
(who is also her son) is called the young bull; she is the divine maternal
cow. But 10 is different; she is a mixture of cow and maid (Aeschylus,
Prom. 588: ~er.~6~~po-roc;; Suppl. 568: ~er.~6~~po-rov ... 't'eXv (LEv ~o6C;, 't'eXv 8'
cx.i5yuvClr.x6c;.33
In any case, the cow form may be a characteristic of Egypt, where the
cow had been held in reverence since early times. Hathor, the most
prominent cow-goddess, enjoyed a very ancient cult, was associated
with the sun god Ra as the latter's wife, was a mother goddess of similar
function, particularly with the goddess Isis.
Then the name E\5~or.cx. was a cult epithet of Hera at Argos34 and f'HpCl
Et)~Or.Cl was depicted in a statuette found in the Chersonesus Taurica.35

30 On lnni see R. Weill, La fin du Moyen Empire egyptien (Paris, 1918),780.

31 See J. Berard, Syria 29 (1952), 38.
32 Hicks, op. cit., 93.

33 Engelmann, "Die Io-Sage" (1903), 37; Hicks, op cit., 95. Representations from the
10 saga start in Attic vase painting perhaps ca. 540 B.C. and, first of all, with the killing of
Argos by Hermes (full references in the following item, p. 90, note 147). Konrad Schauen-
burg lists seven such vases (one crater and two each of amphorae, hydriae, and oinochoae)
from South Italy and several vessels of those carried on the head and located in Bari,
Los Angeles and in the Petit Palais in Paris; K. Schauenburg, "Gotterliebe auf unter-
italischen Vasen," Antike und Abendland (Hamburg) 10 (1961), 90f.
The earliest instances of the To myth in Greek art represent her as a heifer (so all
monuments before the Persian Wars); the change to a horned maiden occurred ca. 470 B.C.
(so the formula ~OUXEPCUC; 1tocp6evoc; in Aesch. Prom. 612 and her representation in later
art); cf. J. C. Hoppin, Harvard Btud,ies in Olassical Philology, 12 (1901), 335-345.
Cf. U. Pestalozza, "BOQnI~ nOTNIA t'HPH," Athenaeum, NS, 17 (1939), 106, 113f.
P.'s study (106-110, 137) is devoted to Hera as a non-Hellenic Mediterranean divinity,
and the Argive 10 myth is used for his purposes; his work has been largely superseded by
recent investigations.
34 R. L. Farnell, The Oults 01 the Greek States, 1.182.

35 U. Pestalozza, Athenaeum, NS, 17 (1939), Ill, note 3.

36 M. P. Nilsson, The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and its Survivals in Greek Religion

(London, 1927), 431. Cf. Pestalozza, op. cit., 105.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 115

The Argive goddess was unquestionably connected with the COW.36

Furthermore, the hill on which the Heraion stood was called E{)~Or.Cl
"the rich in cows," an epithet relating purely to Hera's cult; this was a
sufficient reason for P. Friedlander's considering the saga Argive.37
The cult epithet, however, could be a coinage much later than the as-
sociation of Hera and 10 with the cow.
The equation of 10 and Isis is impressive and, furthermore, Io's lineage
of descendants such as granddaughter Libya, great-grandson Belos, etc.,
demonstrates the connection of Greek deities with Egypt and Libya;
also Libyans and Greeks are connected with Egypt. 38
10 and Isis were thought to have been moon goddesses39 and the cow
horns of both were explained by speculation as a quarter moon.40 This
misinterpretation, to which even Hicks succumbed, has had its source
in Herodian's statement (ed. Lentz, 1.347.30: 'Iw ~1:"or. ae:A~vYJ )(.1:"1..).
In Egyptian art, Hathor is represented as a cow or a cow-headed
woman or a woman with two horns on her head. Owing to the fusion of
Hathor and Isis, the combined deity Hathor-Isis is usually portrayed with
horns and a disc in late Egyptian art. These representations may well
have played a part in the development of the 10 myth. Egyptian icono-
graphy seems to have exerted an influence on Greek myths. In the case
of 10 as ~oo)(.e:p<u<; 7tClpSEVO<; (Aeschylus, Prom. 588), Egyptian influence
is considered. In Hick's opinion, at the Argive Heraion during Mycenaean
times Hera became associated with cows and the detailed story of the
cow-maiden (this possibly being another form of Hera) arose when the
Greeks had seen the half-animal and half-human Egyptian statues and
learned of Hathor's cult.41
In addition to the Egyptian basis and features, the To myth definitely
also comprises Greek aspects: (1) Zeus' love for To and the resultant
jealousy of Hera (this being paralleled in many other Greek myths).42
(2) The metamorphosis of 10, which is not at all uncommon in Greek
37 P. Friedlander, Argolica, 23; Farnell, loco cit.; cf. Pestalozza, loco cit. L. Deubner
(Philologus, NF, 18 [1905], 490ff.) refers this place-name to the island Euboea, which he
identifies as the native land of Io.
38 Cf. G. Kahlo, "Die blonden Libyer," Helikon 1 (1961), 313.

39 Welcker and Preller in the nineteenth century advanced the theory of To as moon,

but E. Plew, H. D. Miiller, and J. Overbeck opposed such an interpretation. See also R.
Engelmann, Roschers Lexikon d. Mythol. 2.263ff.; Farnell, The Cults 01 the Greek States,
1.200; Eitrem, art. 10, RE 9 (1916), 1732ff.; cf. OCD2 (1970), 549. Further references in
A. B. Cook, Zeus, 1 (1914), 454 note 8.
40 G. Kahlo, "Die jungfrauliche Mutter To," WZULeipz, 11 (1962), H. 2, p. 427.
41 Hicks, 93f.

42 Impunity in cases of false oaths in love-intrigues is an important point beyond

doubt; see R. Merkelbach, "Les papyrus d'Hesiode et la geographie mythologique de la
Grece," Chronique d'Egypte 43 (1968), 134.
116 Demetrius J. Georgacas
mythology; there are, in fact, many examples of the transformation of
maidens into trees, animals, or birds. Pasiphae assumed cow form to
copulate with the Cretan bull and, in the Cadmus legend, the guiding
cow led Cadmus to the site of Thebes in Boeotia.43 In many of the liter-
ary and art versions, 10 actually was changed into a cow-maiden who
retained some human physical and mental characteristics.44 And (3)
the evil spirit in the form of the gadfly (o!O''t'poc;) is not Egyptian.45
In the 10 story the conception of Epaphos and the ensuing wanderings
of 10 are considered to be distinctive Egyptian features. Impregnation
by the breath of a god is an Egyptian motif and the child born of 10 was
perhaps identified with Apis (Hapi).
"Enarpor;. The child to which 10 gave birth in Canopus of the Nile delta
was "E7t~~oc; but in later authors and on papyri he is called "rA7CLC;.46 The
name "E7C~~OC; was held to be a purely Greek word by very few scholars, 47
but the consensus now is that the name "E7C(x~OC; is the Hellenization of
the Egyptian bull-god in Memphis, i.e. TA7CLC; (Hapi) through folk-
etymological interplay with e~&.7t"t"EO'e(xL "to touch," 48 since 10 was im-
pregnated by Zeus by a touch.
The Greeks (probably Argives) living in Egypt identified 10 with the
Egyptian Isis and gave the name "E7t~~oc; to Apis. Possibly Io's son
Epaphos owes his existence to a re-interpretation of the name Api8.50
This in turn has no etymology in Greek.51

43 Fontenrose, Python (1959), 314.

44 Cf. above, p. 23 with note 33.
45 Two Egyptologists tried but were unable to discover it in any Egyptian documents;

cf. Ch. Josserand, L'Antiquite Olassique 6 (1937), 259. It is held that o!O''t'poe; (Aeschylus,
Supple 305f.; Apollodorus 2.3.5; etc.) also belonged to the original form of the 10 myth;
see C. Robert, Die griechische Heldensage, 1 (1920), 254.
46 Oxyrhynchus Papyri 10.1241; Col. 3.31: TA1tLV 't'ov 'Ioue;; Pausan. 5.1.8.
47 E.g., E. Maass, De Aeschyli Supplicibus commentatio (Greifswald, 1890-91), from
err-(Xcp~. Cf. E. Plew, "Zu dem :M:ythusvon 10," Neue JahrbUcher fur Philologie und Pad-
agogik 101 (1870), 671, who rejects the Hellenization of the Egyptian name Apis.
48 L. Deubner, Philologus 64 (1905), 485f.; C. Robert, Die griechische Heldensage, 1

(1920) 261; U. v. Wilamowitz, Der Glaube der Hellenen, 1.246 note 2; J. Viirtheim, Aischy-
los' Schutzflehende (1928), 30-41; especially 34 (hapis was equated with &~IJLe;); cf. Frisk,
GEW 1.533; Chantraine, Dict. etym. 356; H. von Geisau, art. 10, Der Kleine Pauly 2 (1967),
1427.
49 The terms €1ta;ep~, ~epa;~IJLC;, &~cX(.LE:VOe;, €1ta;ep~O'a;'t'o, €1ta;cp1JO'cX(.Levoe; are used in our
sources: Aeschylus, Prom. 849; Supple 18f., 45f., 1066; Apollodorus 2.1.3; Nonnus,
Dionys. 3.285; Schol. Eurip. Phoen. 678; Tzetzes in Lycophron, Hal. 630.
60 See F. Wehrli, "10, Dichtung und Kulturlegende," Festschrift f. K. Schefold (1967),
199a.
61 Viirtheim, Ope cit., 59, attempted to connect 1)1tLOe; with TA1tLe; and clt1t't'<U, &cp~, and
cognates, but this is impossible; as is often the case, many philologists do not appreciate
phonologic and other requirements about such etymological suggestions (cf. P. Kretsch-
mer, GZotta 19 [1931], 176).
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 117

The wandering of 10 in search of her child, stolen upon Hera's com-

mand by the Curetes and finally found by 10 in Phoenicia and specifically
at Byblos (in Syria, now in Lebanon),52 seems to be a reminiscence of
Isis' travels to find the body of Osiris.53
It is a difficult task to determine the time and manner of the contact
of Io's myth with Egypt, but Hicks has made the effort in that line.
While the myth itself arose in the Mycenaean period (since Hera's cult
at Tiryns and Argos was Mycenaean), the initial Egyptian influence ap-
pears to Hicks to have probably occurred at that time. The myth was
certainly treated in epics which were lost for us, but we do have the
earliest extant treatment by Aeschylus (Suppliants and Prometheu8
Bound); who gave to the tale Egyptian coloring and atmosphere, which
he drew from Hecataeus' rre:p£o~oc; Y1)C; "chart (or map) of the earth."
And since we learn that 10 was represented in her cow shape on the
throne at Amyclae (Pausanias 3.18.13: "Hera is gazing at 10, the daughter
of Inachus, who is already a cow"), the metamorphosis was known to the
artists of the sixth cent. B.C. The identification or fusion of 10 and Isis
(the latter goddess had been known to the Greeks at Naucratis for a
long time) was firmly established after the cult of Isis was introduced into
Athens by Egyptian traders living in Piraeus. Literary and art represen-
tations of Io-Isis are multiplied in the Ptolemaic and Roman Imperial
periods.54
The myth of 10, being composite in nature, owes much to the genius of
Greek poets, a great deal to the observations of Greek travelers, and
enough to the syncretistic cults of the Roman empire. 55
52 Apollodorus 2.1.3.
53 Fontenrose, Python (1959), 185; Hicks, op. cit., 95f.
54 F. Wehrli, op. cit., 199a; Hicks, op. cit., 96.
55 Hicks, op. cit., 97.
118 Demetrius J. Georgacas

ADDENDA

Between the delivery of the typescript of this study to the Editor and the time proofs
were received in March 1971, I was in the position to study further the main lines under
investigation as well as details. In bibliography, some items are added here and, though
the myths involved hardly affect the outcome of the discussion and of proposed interpreta-
tions, I thought that presenting bibliographies on the myth of Helle and on that of Io
might be welcome in some scholarly quarters.

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. GENERAL (and abbreviations)

Eugene Belin de Ballu, L'histoire des colonies grecques du littaral nord de la Mer Noire;
a
bibliographie annotee des ouvrages et articles publies en URSS de 1940 1962. 2nd ed. Leiden,
Brill, 1965. [See Rostovtsev below.]
BIOS = Bulletin of the Institutes of Olassical Studies. London.
A. Delatte, Les portulans grecs. Paris-Liege, 1947.
[Great Britain] Hydrographic Department, Admiralty. The Black Sea Pilot, com-
prising the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, Black Sea, and Sea of Azov. 8th ed.,
1930. London, 1930. 420 p. Index, 385-412 [The recent ed. was late; see p. 127.]
Idem, Supplement, No.8 - 1940, relating to the Black Sea Pilot ... corrected to 20th
May, 1940. London, 1940. 83 p. [Additions, alterations, and deletions are made on the
preceding item. On p. 82f. 55 new or altered names are listed alphabetically.]
Th. Homolle, "Inscriptions et monuments figures de la Thrace," Melanges d'archeo-
logie et d'epigraphie, 1892, pp. 307-581. [This material was used also by W. Tomaschek.]
JHS = Journal of Hellenic Studies.
Albin Lesky, "Hethitische Texte und griechischer Mythos," Anzeiger der Osterreich.
Akad. d. Wiss., philos.-hist. Kl., Jahrg. 1950, Nr. 9, pp. 137-159 [on the origin of the myth
of the gods in Hesiod's Theogony from the Near Eastern mythologies].
G. G. Mateescu, "I Traci nelle epigrafi di Roma," Ephemeris Dacorornania 1 (1923),
65-70, 92 [lists many other works on Thracian].
Robert Mayer, "Uber die MeeresstraBe von Konstantinopel als Durchgangslinie,"
J.1fitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft Wien, 1942, pp. 117-142 [I have not seen
this].
Eugen Oberhummer, art. Bus, RE 5 (1897), 1072; cf. also id., RE 5 (1897), 754f.
Idem, "Die Meerengen als Erdteilgrenze," Bulletin de l'Institut Archeologique Bulgare
16 = Sbornik Gavril Katsarov (Sofia, 1950), pp. 301-303.
S. Piggott, "Iron, Cimmerians, and Aeschylus," Antiquity (Cambridge) 38 (1964),
300-303.
F. Preisigke, Namenbuch. Heidelberg, 1922. Cf. the supplement by D. Foraboschi
(above, p. 113, note 22).
Michael Rostovtsev [1870-1952], Skythien und der Bosparus. Band I: Kritische Uber-
sicht der schriftlichen und archiiologischen Quellen. Berlin, 1931. Large format, 651 pp. [On
pp. 613-628 abundant bibliography up to 1930 of works relating to the history, archae-
ology, and culture of the Cimmerian Bosporus. But no material on, or explanations of,
place-names are included. See above Ballu.]
TAPA = Transactions of the American Philological Association.
WZULeipz = Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Universitiit Leipzig, Gesellschafts- und
Sprachwissenschaftliche Reihe.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 119
II. ON THE MYTH OF HELLE AND PHRIXOS
Arthur B. Cook, Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion. 3 vols. Cambridge, 1914/25/40.
Vol. 1 (1914),414-419.
O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte (Miinchen, 1906), 565, 1146.
L. Radermacher, Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen3• Vienna, 1943.
Carl Robert, Die griechische Heldensage. 1. Buch: Landschaftliche Sagen (Berlin, 1920),
pp.41-51.

III. ON THE MYTH OF 10 (AND EPAPHOS)

Jean Berard, "Les Hyksos et la Iegende d'Io; recherches sur la periode premycenienne,'.
Syria (Paris) 29 (1952), 1-43 [a very important new approach].
Idem, "De la Iegende grecque a la Bible, Phaeton et les sept vaches maigres," Revue de
l'histoire des religions (Paris) 51 (1957), 221-230 [important as the preceding item].
Arthur B. Cook, Zeus, Vol. 1 (1914), 438f. [on 10]; 453-438f. [Hera and 10]
R. Engelmann, "Die Jo-Sage," Jahrbuch des kais. Deutschen Archiiolog. Instituts (Ber-
lin) 18 (1903), 37-58.
Lewis R. Farnell, The Oults of the Greek States (Oxford, 1907), 1. 199f. [on Io].
Joseph Fontenrose, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and its Origins (Berkeley, 1959).
[On 10 pp. 185, 314, 338, 484.]
H. von Geisau, art. 10, Der Kleine Pauly 2 (1967), 1426f.
O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte. Miinchen, 1906. [2.59, 460,
503, 747, 1125.]
Ruth 1. Hicks, "Egyptian Elements in Greek Mythology," TAPA 93 (1962), 90-108.
[Four myths are discussed, those of 10, Helen, The Danaides, and Busiris. The first among
these is the "Metamorphosis and Wandering of Io," pp. 93-97. The author concludes
that these myths were borrowed from Egypt but are Greek in spirit.]
Joseph C. Hoppin, "Argos, 10, and the Prometheus of Aeschylus," Harvard Studies in
Olassical Philology 12 (1901), 335-345. [Analysis of the artistic conception of the 10 myth
in Greece until the fifth cent., examination of the literary evidence, and comparison of
the two. Conclusions, p. 345.]
Felix Jacoby, "to. KAAAI0YE~~A," Hermes 57 (1922), 366-374. Cf. Hesychius
s. 'I6l.
Ch. Josserand, "10 et Ie Taon," L'Antiquite Olassique 6 (1937), 259-263.
Gerhard Kahlo, "Die jungfrauliche Mutter 10," WZULeipz, 11 (1962), 425-429.
Reinhold Merkelbach, "Les papyrus d'Hesiode et la geographie mythologique de la
Grece," Ohronique d'Egypte (Bruxelles) 43 (1968), 133-155. [A survey of the content of the
fragments of the new edition of the (Hesiodic) Oatalogue; the great genealogic trees, in-
cluding the genealogy of 10. Very important for mythological geography.]
UbertoPestalozza, "BO.o.nI~ nOTNIA ~HPH," Athenaeum, NS, 17 (1939),105-137.
Eugen Plew, "Zu dem Mythus von der 10," Neue Jahrbucher fur Philologie und Pad-
agogik 101 (1870), 665-672. Cf. also his review of J. Overbeck's Oommentatio de lone (1872)
in: Neue JahrbUcMr fur classische Philologie 107 (1873), 1, pp. 697-700.
Carl Robert, Die griechische Heldensage. 1. Buch: Landschaftliche Sagen (Berlin, 1920),
pp. 253-266.
Wilhelm H. Roscher, Uber Selene und Verwandtes. Leipzig, 1890. (Studien zur griechi-
schen M ythologie und K ulturgeschichte vom vergleichenden Standpunkte, 4. Heft.) 202 p.
[Kapitel II: Die Namen der griechischen Mondgottin, pp. 16-18.]
Idem, N achtriige zu meiner Schrift "Uber Selene und Verwandtes" (Leipzig, 1895, 56 p.)
[Kap. II, p. 19f.]
Edith Schonert, "Der Io-Mythos auf den Silbermiinzen von Byzanz," Helikon 6 (1966),
174-182 .[The author's result is negative; no cow is represented on the coins of Byzantion
120 Demetrius J. Georgacas
but an ox-head that symbolizes cattle-breeding in the area, as the dolphin on other coins
symbolizes Bosporos, the sea.]
Albert Severyns, "Le Cycle epique et l'episode d'Io (Eschyle, Promethee, 771 et s.),"
Le Musee Belge (Liege-Paris) 30 (1926), 119-130.
C. Sourdille, "Une theorie recente sur la formation du my the d'Epaphos," Revue des
etudes anciennes, 4e serie, 14 (1912), 267-276. [A refutation of the article of the American
Ivan M. Linforth, "Epaphos and the Egyptian Apis," University of California Publica-
tions in Classical Philology 2 (1910), No.5, pp. 81-92].
J. Viirtheim, Aischylos' Schutzflehende (mit ausfiihrlicher Einleitung, Text, Kommen-
tar, Exkursen und Sachregister). Amsterdam, 1928, 30-41 [on Epaphos], 49-53 [on Io],
54-59 [Herkunft des Mythos].
Fritz Wehrli, "Io, Dichtung und Kulturlegende," Festschrift f. Karl Schefold (Bern,
1967), pp. 196-199.
Joseph Wiesner, Olympos: Gotter, Mythen und Statten von Hellas. Topographisch-
mythologischer Fiihrer durch das klassische Hellas (Nieder-Ramstadt bei Darmstadt:
E. Techow, 1960), 56f., 79.

B. NOTES

P. 70 with n.1 (cf. also p. 71/. with n.12): The Straits a unique specimen.
The traffic function of the Straits of Bosporos and the Dardanelles in connection with
the Strait of Gibraltar (fretum Gaditanum) as a unique access from the Atlantic ocean into
a widely branched-out landlocked sea with all its hinterland has no match on the entire
Earth. Cf. Oberhummer, Sbornik Gavril Katsarov, 301.

P. 70 with nne 3 and 4: The straits are drowned furrows.

The hexameter line €~ 00 't" Eupw7t'1)v 'AcrLlXC; 8LXlX rc6v't'0c; €V€Lll€V (Anthol. Pal. 7.296)
characterizes a time proverbially far in the past, at which the straits were thought to have
originated through a breakthrough of the sea. Cf. Oberhummer, Ope cit., 301.

P. 70 with nne 5 and 6: The currents.

The double current in the Bosporos was ascertained for the first time by Count L. F.
Marsili of Bologna (1658-1730) in his work titled "Osservazioni al Bosforo Tracio"
(Rome, 1681). Cf. Oberhummer, Opecit., 303.

P. 71: The Straits as the boundary between the two continents. Cf. also Obarhummer, Opecit.
301f.
P. 70-72: Colonization by the Greeks in the Black Sea area.
Recent studies are as follows:
R. M. Cook, "Ionia and Greece in the Eighth and Seventh Centuries, B.C." JHS 66
(1946), 67-98 (colonization, pp. 70-80).
E. Akurgal and L. Budde, "Vorlaufiger Bericht iiber die Ausgrabungen in Sinope."
Ankara, 1956 (Turk Tarih Kurumu Bas'tmevi). Cf. also E. Akurgal, Anatolian Studies 5
(1955),23.
E. Akurgal, "Recherches faites a Cyzique et a Evgili," Anatolia 1 (1956), 14-24.
A. J. Graham, "The Date of the Greek Penetration of the Black Sea," BlCS 5 (1958),
25-42.
The early presence of the Greeks in the Black Sea in the eighth century is argued
successfully by A. J. Graham, and Pontus was known to them by - at the latest - 700 B.C.
(p. 34, 38f.). The excavations at Daskyleion 20 miles to the south of Cyzicus showed that
Cyzicus had been colonized by the Milesians before 700 B.C. to make them sufficiently
 The Waterway ot Hellespont and Bosporus 121
strong and numerous to colonize Daskyleion in the interior, whose pottery is dated to ca.
700 B.C. From the presence of the Greeks in the Propontis their probable appearance in
the Pontus is reasonably argued, for Cyzicus, Bosporos, and Sinope were all famous for
their fish in antiquity and these coasts were explored by fishermen (Akurgal, Anatolia
1.15:ff.; Graham, Ope cit., 32). The myths localized in the Euxine might also be indirect
evidence for the early Greek presence there (cf. Note on the myth of 10).

P. 72f. with n.15; 80f.: Hellespont (Dardanelles).

A detailed description and measurements of the strait are found in Black Sea PilotS
(1969), 90. Length 35 miles, breadth extremes seven-eighths of a mile and four miles;
depth in mid-channel between 40.2 and 100.6 meters. The eastern side of the narrows is
Kale Sultaniye, known also as Dardanelles (16,000 population in 1955). The Old Castles
of Europe and Asia are 9anak-kalesi, a massive quadrangular stone fort, and its opposite
castle Kilitbahir, both erected by Mehmed II in 1470.
The ethnic ~EAAllO'1t6v't'Loc; "Hellespontine" had become also a given name in Athens
in the mid-fifth cent. B.C. in remembrance of warfare around the Trojan coast (J. Kirch-
ner, Prosopographia Attica [1901-03], 4668; cf. W. Judeich, "Politische Namengebung
in Athen," EII1TYMBI01V Heinrich Swoboda dargebracht [Reichenberg, 1927], 101; cf.
also P. Kretschmer, Glotta 18 [1930], 232).

P. 73: The Names of the Dardanelles.

The name M1t'ouxC( 't'lic; POU~c(VLc(C; (i.e., 't"~C; P6)~c(VLc(C; "of the Balkans") designates the
Dardanelles in a Greek portolano (sixteenth cent.); A. Delatte, Les portulans grecs (1947),
p. 242, 1. 26.

P. 73 n.16: KaA.At.7toA.t~.
A fourteenth-cent. form Chalipoli is recorded: ein vest genant Chalipoli (dated 1396);
Joh. Schiltberger, Reisen, ed. K. P. Neumann (Miinchen, 1859), p. 93.

Pp. 74-76: Explanations of the name f'EA.A.'Yj.

P. 74: Helle Prehellenic?
That the obscure name Helle may have been pre-Hellenic was stated also by A. Lesky
(Wiener Studien 46 [1927/28], 127-129), accepted by his fellow Austrian L. Radermacher,
Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen3 (1943), 182.
Lesky linked l'IEAAll further with ~EAAOL (and f'EAAllvec;), as presented above p. 77, but
. this was nothing novel; it is again a repetition of what A. Fick had presented in 1897 and
1901; see addenda to p. 75, p. 122.

P. 74 with n. 23: l'IEA.A.'Yj pre-Hellenic "cloud" or "fog."

The wholesale assigning of the sense "cloud" to names is to be credited to Ed. Gerhard
(Phrixos der Herold, Berlin, 1842) and was adopted and further elaborated on by PreIler;
according to this unfounded theory, beside N eq>eAll, <I>pt~oc; meant "cloud" and t'EAAll
signified a "shining cloud." This outrageous invention was rejected; cf. H. D. Miiller,
Mythologie der griechischen Stiimme, 2,1 (Gottingen, 1861), 162f.
Concerning "fog" and "north" in the case of the assumed noun *hela and its derivatives
it is important to heed the realia. I have uncovered the following facts. In the Bosporos
during the five-month period from October to March, fogs with calms and light winds
from the northeast are experienced but they clear off at sunrise. Fogs come on sometimes
with light SW winds during the same period but clear away in the afternoon. In winter,
sudden shifts of wind are frequent and dangerous, especially if they come on, as often is
the case, at the same time as a thick fog. In the open Black Sea fogs frequently occur in
122 Demetrius J. Georgacas
April and May but on its western coast they occur from the end of September until the
beginning of May. On this and more details see Black Sea Pilotll (1969), 60-62.
The significant point here is that no fogs are mentioned for the Hellespont. The climate
of the Dardanelles, one of the Mediterranean type, is generally good, the winter is on the
whole mild, but spells of cold weather are brought by the northerly winds. In contrast,
the weather of the Bosporos is rather variable, and there are short periods of very cold
weather, sometimes accompanied by heavy snowstorms (op. cit., 60f).
My conclusion is that Mr. Deroy's theory cannot stand from the factual viewpoint of
realia.

P. 75: Haupt's explanation of "EJJ.1].

Paul Haupt's attempt at the explanation of "EAA"1) was abortive. One of the reasons is
that it was not really a new explanation but derived in toto from what A. Fick, "Die
griechischen Verbandnamen (Ethnika)," BB 26 (1901),239, had written: "EAAlX and t'EAAO-
1tLlX are names of Dodona and t'EAAOL is a shortened name of tlEAA07te:C;;; the latter were so
named from their habitation in the EAOC;; "marsh, swamp"; furthermore, t'EAAclC;; for the
place around Pharsalos and in the Apollo hymn for "Middle Greece" was derived from
t'EAA6c;.
Earlier A. Fick had expounded his theory like this: for the early epic name "EAA"1)C;;
7t6v't'oc; people had created a female tlEAA"1),sister of Phrixos; tlEAA"1)was equivalent to
t'EAAOrtLlX and t'EAAOL equivalent to r'EAA07t'e:c; around Dodona. It was through migration
of the Thesprotans to Thessaly that the names t'EAA07t'LOC, r'EAA"1), and rEAAclC; were trans-
planted there and, along with the immigrants, from Thessaly to the Troas. See A. Fick,
"Altgriechische Ortsnamen II," BB 22 (1897), 12.
Both versions of Fick's attempt did not convince any serious scholar. However, the
version of 1901 connecting r'EAA"1) with E:AOC; "swamp" must have attracted Haupt and
Georgiev.
Linking of t'EAAOL or ~eAAo( with Gothic salian "sacrifice" and Latin Salii (H. Giintert,
"Uber die Namen Achaier und Hellenen," Warter und Sachen 9 [1918], 130-136) was
rightly rejected by P. Kretschmer ("Literaturbericht. Griechisch," Glotta 17 [1928], 250)
on account of the vowel difference: sal- in salire "dance" versus hel- (ibid.).

P. 76: The Hellespont and the Bosporos are maritime rivers.

Cf. on the Strait of Messina what is said: "10 Stretto di Messina, quasi come un flume" ;
Guida d'Italia del Touring Club Italiano. Sicilia (Milan, 1953), p. 531.

P. 76 with n. 33: tlEM1], t'EJiv1], Eei.fJv1].

According to Roscher (Uber Selene und Verwandtes, 1890, p. 17) the moon goddess
~e:Al)V"1) occurs in Hesiod, Theog. 371; hymn to Merc. 100. The term cre:Al)V"1) "moon" was
connected with Homeric crEAlXC; "light, brightness, flame, torchlight" already in Plato,
Kratylo8 409: ~mKe: ••. o't't 1j cre:Al)V"1) cX7t'O 1'ot> 1jAL01J ~Xe:t 1'0 cpWC;. - TIwc; 8l); - To (.LEv 7t01J
"crEAocC;" KOCl. 1'0 "cpwc;" 1'lXu1'6v; cf. Etym. M. 709.25: creAl)V"1) 7tlXPcX 1'0 crEAocC; VEOV ~xetv K1'A.
As far as t'EAEV1) is concerned, there was a local saga in Sparta about the egg of Helen that
fell from the moon (Athenaeus 57f.; cf. Eustathius 1488.21); see Roscher, Ope cit., 6 with
note 19. Also a moon heroine group (Helen, Phaedra) corresponding to the Aphrodite
type can be traced (Roscher, 128 and 147). The moon goddess appears in cow form as do
several divinities and Roscher asks the question whether the 10 cow belongs here (op. cit.,
31 note 123; 147). In t'E:AEV1) jhelene·j and ~eAl)V1) jse18·ne·j there is no interchange of
h: 8, as erroneously suggested by G. Kahlo, WZULeipz, 1,2 (1962), p. 427a, note 60. I
agree with him, however, that the interpretation of la's as well as Isis' function as a moon
goddess in ancient and in modern times was speculative. His further explanation of'Ie.:>
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 123
"moon" in the dialect of Argos (Souda s.v.) as referring to the pale complexion of the moon
(p. 427a) is subjective.

P. 77, n. 37: "EM'YJ~ n6VTo~, explanation.

The assumption ofH. D. Miiller, Mythologie der Griechischen Stiimme 2 (1861), 165, that
the heroine "EAA'Y) was named after the strait r'EAA'Y)C; 7t6V't'oc; "sea strait" (which he ex-
plains from etA<.U or etAE<.U "shut in, turn around, etc." and 7t6v't'oc;, which is erroneous) was
an unhappy idea (yet approved by A. Fick, BB 22 [1897], 12), but highly improbable, as
Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte (1906), p. 565 and 751 note 3, al-
ready remarked.
P. 78 with note 46 : Helle was introduced by an Ionian.
According to L. Radermacher, Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen3 (1943), p. 182, only
the Hellespont is firmly linked with Helle, for the strait bears the name from her (the
author approves of FriedHinder, art. Helle, RE 8.161; and C. Robert, Die griechische Hel-
densage 1 [1920], 46), but he considers her mythical fall into the sea as an aetiological
creation; actually, it is the poet who must have made Helle and Phrixos into sister and
brother, so thinks Radermacher; according to him, an Ionian should have introduced
Helle into the myth, as the Helle-reliefs are of Milesian origin (Radermacher, Ope cit.,
358 note 433).
P. 78, n. 47:
Helle fell into the Hellespont and thus became its eponym (Robert, lococit.) or rather
named for the sanctuary, which the Ionians erected in their colony called II<xx't'Ull (this name
after a mountain in Ephesos) ; references in Gruppe, 565 note 7. But "'EAA'Y)C; 't'eXCPOC;in Hero-
dot. 7.58; Hellanicus Ir. 88; Apollodoros 2.1144. Helle's tomb in the Thracian Chersonese
had no cult significance (H. von Geisau, Der Kleine Pauly 2 [1967], 1008); according
to Robert (loc. cit.) a cult cannot be denied to that tomb. The legend of Helle has probably
been a reproduction of the Europa legend; cf. Gruppe, 1146 (who suggests the hypothesis
that the ram was originally Poseidon himself; an echo of this is the saga that Poseidon
begets the golden ram by Theophane).

P. 781. with n. 50: (/)(}l~o~

The sense "cloud" for ~p£~OC; has been pointed out as impossible; see above (add. to
p. 74 with n. 23), p. 121. L. Radermacher's suggestion for cI>PL~oc; as "der Schauderer" and
derived from cppLcrcr<.U"schaudern" (with the parallel "Opu~OC; "Digger" from opoocr<.U "dig")
was also rejected (above, p. 79 note 50).
The explanation adopted above seems quite certain. A poem of Anyte of Tegea (Anthol.
Plan. 291) begins: cI>pL~ox6~<x 't'6~e II<xvt x<xt <xuALeXmv 6e't'o N U~CP<XLC;/ ~wpov uno crxo7tLiiC;
eeu~o't'oc; oLov6~oc;, / XA7t. In this, <XUALeXC;
Nu~cp'Y) is "grotto nymph." It is also a fact that
cI>p£~oC; occurs as a real anthroponym on a tombstone: Eupu~w't'<Xc; <I>p£~ou; see F. Preisigke,
Sammelbuch 1 (1915), 5723 = idem, Namenbuch (Heidelberg, 1922), col. 468.

P. 79: A possible explanation 01tlEM'YJ.

In more detail the n-stem of tAA6c; was treated by F. Specht (Der Ursprung der indo-
germanischen Deklination [Gottingen, 1947], p. 115): Lith. elnis, Old Litj. elenis and Old
Bulg. (j)elenb, all meaning "deer"; on the other hand *elnos in Greek tAA6c; and in ~A<X-CPOC;
(compared with Goth. l-am-b "sheep"), and perhaps also Lat. alnus "alder" from *alen-os

P. 80 with note 59: Oity L1 aec5avo~.

The foundations of the town Dardanos, a city older than Troy, stand on a low hill, ca
one mile south of Kefez point (lat. 40° 06/N.,long. 26° 23/E.). The Dardan liman is formed
by the coast north of Qanak. See Black Sea PilotS (1930), 47 and 49; cf.ll (1969),90.
124 Demetrius J. Georgacas
The name ~cXp8cx'Jo~ and in its Latinized form Dardanus is a Thracian name. Dardani
were the Thracian tribe and Dardania the region. Dardanus is also recorded as a name of
Roman soldiers; so M. Aurel. M. f. Ulp. Dardanus recorded on an inscription of ca. A.D.
180; G. G. Mateescu, "I Traci nelle epigrafi di Roma," Ephemeris Dacoromana (Rome) 1
(1923), 92, 264; GIL 6.3650 (and numerous other occurrences).

P. 81 n. 60: Was a Cape Helles the Turk. Eles burnu?

The Mcx~ouaLcx axpcxor Mcxa"t'ouaLcx
was obviously what later was called H elles Cape, which
was renamed into llyasbaba burnu, recently renamed M ehmetr;ik burnu.
At the southwestern entrance on the European shore of the Dardanelles is the headland
ca. 1.5 miles in breadth, projecting SW and formed by three steep points named Tekke
burnu, llyasbaba (= Cape Helles) (lat. 40° 02' N., long. 26° 11' E.), and Kale burnu. The
SWentrance of the Dardanelles is identified by the white cliffs of Ilyasbaba (Cape Helles),
on which stands a lighthouse. About one-fourth of a mile ENE of the lighthouse is the
obelisk (21.3 meters high) standing on the highest point (ca. 45.7 meters high) at the south
end of the Chersonese peninsula (see Black Sea Pilotll [1969], 86).
The renaming of Cape H elles into llyasbaba Burun was recorded in the Black Sea Pilot,
Supplement 8 (1940), p. 82. The previous name EMs burnu recorded in 1899 (Biirchner, art.
Chersonesos1, BE 6 [1899], col. 2244) seems to have been considered by the Turks as not
a good Turkish name to be renamed just in the 1930's. But Biirchner (ibid.) rejected the
idea that EMs derives from Belles and suggested the derivation of EMs from 'EA€ou~. This
suggestion is worth noting because it is based on no evidence. Actually, an ancient city
name 'EACXWU~ or 'EA€OU~surviving in Modern Greek would have resulted in a form 'EA€-
oU'J"t'cx,
'EAwu'J"t'cx/eZunda/.The mediation of the Greek Middle Ages here is a prerequisite,
for the Turks first heard the name from the Greeks.
The traditional assumption that Turkish Eles burun came from '"'EAAll~ axpcxrather con-
forms to what was expected at the entrance of the Hellespont. To demolish this assumption
would take a meticulous topographical investigation.

P. 820.: B08poros.
The Bosporos seaway begins at Old Seraglio point Saray burnu, i. e. the eastern extremity
of Constantinople, and the Leander Tower (lat. 41° 01' N., long. 29° 00' E.), at its entrance
from the Sea of Marmara and terminates at the entrance of the Black Sea at the two capes,
Rumeli Risar and Anadolu Hisar. Length of the seaway 16 miles, least width four cables.
Depths from 27.4 to 120.7 meters. See Black Sea Pilotll (1969), p. 155.
On the currents of the Hellespont and the Bosporus see the detailed exposition in
Black Sea Pilotll (1969),39-48. The current in the Bosporos attains its maximum strength
of five knots in the narrowest part of the strait between Rumeli point and Anadolu Hisar,
where it is known as the Devil's current; see ibid., 41 f., 46.

The Names lor the Black Sea.

The ancient characterization of the Pontus water as "black" is Iranian axsaina, hence
Greek "A~€'Jo~ 7t6'J"t'o~
and further folketymologically with €u- : Eu~€~'Jo~7t6'J"t'o~;
the color
is reflected in Greek McxuPll0&:AcxaO'cx, Russ. Oernoye More, and Turk. Kara Deniz. It
is, therefore, erroneous to state, as in Black Sea PilotS (1930), 122, that the Greeks called
the sea "hospitable" (the appropriate term for which is ~bJ~o~, not poetic €u~€~\IO~) and
the Turks, expressing their fears in traversing such an open expanse of waters, stormy and
perilous, named it "black." Nor is it any better to present without a comment the passage
ofStrabo (7.3.6), where he speaks of the Pontus as not navigable and being called" A~€~\IO~,
owing to its wintry storms and the savagery of the people who lived around it, as a modern
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 125
Bcholar, A. J. Graham (BIOS 5 [1958], 25) has done. The Iranian origin of the name, as
convincingly demonstrated by Max Vas mer half a century ago (1921), should be common
knowledge by now.

Pp. 80-82: The Dardanelles.

The city Ll&p8cxvoc;,where porto Dardano, is called Dardanelo (Dardanello) on the sea
maps; W. Tomaschek, "Zur histor. Topographie von Kleinasien im Mittelalter," SB a.
Akad. Wien, philos.-hist. Kl., 124, Abh. VIII (1891), p. 17.
The same Dardanello is called TCXp't'CXVEAOC;
in a Greek portolano of the sixteenth cent.:
[cbro 't"1)vTEve80v ECUC;'t"1)VII6ALv] eupLcrxeLC;'t'ov TCXp't'CXVEAOV, XCXcr't'EALCX
~', 't'6 EVCXV/ etc; ~v
POU~CXVLCXV [the Balkans] xcxt 't'o rJ.AAOVetc; / 't"1)V' AVCX't'OAf)v.See A. Delatte, Les portulans
grecs (1947), p. 335, 1. 8. This testimony with the rest belies the proposed etymon of
L\CXp8CXVEAALCX
from L\&p8cxvoC;and "EAA1).
Dardanel(l)o is obviously a diminutive of Daraano; in addition to the examples given
on p. 81 note 62 (Salandrella, Galatrella), add the Turkish names Aydtn and Aya~nc~k,
both occurring in the area of Ankara.

P. 81 with n. 60: * L1 a{}c5aV-eAA1]is no dvandva.

The name * L\CXPOCXVEAA1)
can hardly be understood as dvandva, if one considers closely
each of such dvandva geographic names. E. Honigmann, "Les dvandvas dans la toponymie
byzantine," Melanges E. Boisacq (Bruxelles, 1937), 1.499-512, has assembled some 15
instances of dvandva names, many of them dated: KcxPOepPUYLCX,
~UPO~1)8LCX,~UPOepOLVLXl)
(Syria Punica or S. Phoenix), Auyoucr't'oeueppcx't'1)crLcx
(Augusta Euphratensis), ZcuYPO~CXYOUA1)
(A.D. 530) (ZUYPLC;XW~1) and ZXYUALC;xW~1)), 'Ayxupocruvcxoc;(seventh cent.; "Ayxupcx and
~uvcx6c;), ~cxpcroxoPWV1) (A.D. 805 or 807), IIcxpovcx~Lcx(A.D. 1083), ~ouy80epOUAACX(A.D.
1158; ~ouy8cxLCXand cxl <l>OUAACXL),
IIuAo1t'u8LCX(1236; (ca.
IIuAcxL and II68Lcx), ~'t'CX8LO't'PCXXLCX
1264; ~'t'&8eLcx and TpcxXeLcx,MOp&XpL8cx(fourteenth cent.; M6ppcx and' AXpL86c;), AXfL1t'CX-
801t'cxp8ev£'t'cx(1390; ACXfL1t'&8cx and 1) IIcxp8evL't'cx, names of two ports in the Crimaea), Mo8cu-
xOPWV1)(1500; Mo8wv1) and Kopwv1)).
All these dvandvas semantically are equivalent to the area that includes both units.
Thus, IIcxpovcx~Lcxincludes II&poc;, N cx~(cx, and even other islands, 't'~ Mo6cux6pcuvcx includes
Mo6wv1) and Kopwv1), etc. Accordingly, if * L\CXp8CXVEAA1)
were such a dvandva name, it
would mean "EAA1) and L\&p8cxvoc;,i.e. designate part of the European coast and part of the
Asiatic coast but would hardly designate the maritime river between them.

P. 84: II(JonoVTl~, (n. 72) edAaaaa TOU Ma{}/l-a{}fi Marmara denizi.

As IIpo1t'ov't'LC;from 1) 1t'p6 II6v't'ou 8&ACXcrcrCX,
so also Chalcedon was called IIpoxepcxcr't'LC;as
situated 1t'pO KEpCXOC;
"before the Golden Horn"; on IIpoxepcxcr't'LC;cf. A. Fick, "Altgriechi-
Bche Ortsnamen II," BB 22 (1897),12. Propontides are called by Pliny the IIp LYXL1t'6v1)crOL,
now Kizil adalar, i.e. nine islands lying parallel with the coast six miles SE of Constantin-
ople; see Black Sea Pilotll (1969), 101.
The Sea of Marmara, ca. 150 miles long from E. to W. and 40 miles in breadth in its
widest part from N. to S., derives its name from the island of Marmara (ancient IIpox6vv1)croc;),
from which also the name Marmara Bogaz~ has its name (this is the southern chennel be-
tween the Marmara island and the Pasha Liman group). This naming occurred of course
and 't'o v1)crt 't'~ M&p~cxpcx or 't'O V1)crt't'OUMcxp~cxp(i (anc. Proconnesos)
in Greek: 't'~ M&pfLcxPCX
with six hamlets on the coast has given its name to the Sea and divides it into two channels
of unequal breadth (op. cit., 61, 79f.); its celebrated quarries have been worked for cen-
turies and are still on a very small scale. The debris from them has formed on the S~lores of
M emerc~ hman~ a steep white slope, which is very conspicuous from the north (cf. Black
Sea Pilotll [1969], 117).
126 Demetrius J. Georgacas
P. 84f.: Oimmerian Bosporos.
For the period of 22 years there were listed approximately 300 Russian bibliographical
items on the Cimmerian Bosporos (out of ca. 700 works referring to the ancient Greek
colonies of the northern littoral in the Black Sea) ; see Eugene Belin de Ballu, L' histoire des
colonies grecques du littoral nord de la Mer Noire (Leiden, 1962). This fact demonstrates in a
way the cultural importance of the area.

Pp. 92-94: B6(]lWeO~ "Hellespont."

On account of the existence of three straits named B60itopOLin the NE l\'Iediterranean,
it seems to me that it was natural that the more distinctive term t'E)\)...
~Oitov"t'oC;
won the
upper hand and became current among the Greeks and thus replaced the (Hellespontine
name) B60itopoc;.

P. 96 n.148: B6(]:rtoeo~"large ford."

According to A. Fick (BB 22.11) the name B60itopoc;was only later linked with Io.

P. 102 with n.178: fJ Bofj~ the Asiatic headland.

The promontory, called Bouc; f., was located NE of B00it6ptoC;lXKPOC and east of the
entrance to the Golden Horn (see map in Oberhummer, art. Bosporos1, BE 5 [1897], colI.
749f.). The name Bouc;or (according to Hesychius s.v.) ~&:[LOCAtC; is referred to the islet
(before the west tip of Skutari), which islet carries a tower, erected by Mehmed II and
called Leander Tower by the Franks and Kizkulesi "girl tower" by the Turks; both the
Leander saga and the Turkish tale seem to join an obscure tradition of the ancient saga.
Cf. Oberhummer, BE 5 (1897), 755.
Our most reliable topographical guide for the area is the Black Sea Pilotll (1969). We
are informed as follows: the shore in the vicinity of tJskiidar (on the site of ancient
Ohrysopolis) is bordered by a sand flat extending from 279.8 meters to 555.6 meters from
it. A light (lat. 41 01' N., long. 29 00' E.) is exhibited at an elevation of 9.4 meters from
0 0

a white framework structure (11 m. in height) on the tower (Kizkulesi), situated at the
extremity of a rocky ledge extending 185.2 meters from the western point of Skutari.
A rock with a depth of 1.8 m.lies half a cable (94.6 m.) NNE of Kiz kulesi; a 5 m. patch
lies close to the north of the rock; see Black Sea Pilotll (1969), 148.
Gruppe (Griechische Mythologie, 2.747) thinks that the recorded topographic names
~&:[LOCAtC;and Bouc;in the Bosporos were really given after 10 in cow shape, as sacred beasts
of Artemis or of the god mother identified with her gave the following names from the
corresponding designations: 'OpWyLOC"Quail-island" (from 6p-ru; "quail"), IIpoK6vV1jO"oc;
(7t'p6; "roe deer"), and 'ApK"t'6v'IJO"oc;
(&pK"t'OC;
"bear"). Yet, these may not have had as-
sociations with myths. Here also the fact should be recorded that the name Bouc; on a
papyrus of the third century A.D. stands for an anthroponym; F. Preisigke, Namenbuch
(1922), col. 78 [names in Egypt]; D. Foraboschi, Onomasticon (1967-), 81b.

P.102: Bofj~ as 10 on coins?

A recent study has investigated the silver coins of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.
of Byzantion to ascertain whether or not the Io myth is represented on them. It was found
that no cow (with udders) represents 10 but an ox-head on them symbolizes cattle-breed-
ing as the dolphin (on the same coins or on other coins) symbolizes Bosporos or the sea
as the source of the wealth of the Byzantines; also agricultural land of Byzantion in
Thrace and Asia Minor is represented by Demeter's head on the obverse and the cornu-
copia on the reverse. The Byzantines have, however, portrayed on their coins the head of
Keroessa, Io's daughter, and on the reverse the ox. See Edith Schonert, "Der Io-Mythos
auf den Silbermiinzen von Byzanz," Helikon 6 (1966), 174-182.
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 127
P. 109: Boi~6no(}ot etc. in Modern Greek.
In Modern Greek the term 7t'OPOC; underlies simplicia and compounded place- names.
From an area I have covered rather thorougWy I parade examples that speak for them-
selves, from the nomos of Messenia:
IIopoc;is the crossing point of torrents in Kefalinou and Makrena, in HadZali (also XCX-r<:~OCAO-
7t'OpOC;);
BAOCX07tOPOC; crossing point, used by seminomadic shepherds in the area of Tzeferemini and
Hasambasa (cf. BAOCX&(.L7t'e:AOCin the area of Karteroli), on the river Pirnakas;
Kcx(.L~v67topoc; river crossing in Xcfcrt'e:(.L1)
(now called Auxoxwpoc);
IIAoc-ru7t'opOC;in Kaloyerorachi;
Koxx~v67topoC; (twice);
IIe:-rp67t0p0C;
;
rr.867topoc;"crossing of goats" in Pylia (village Kambasi);
<ITO\)~HPOCXA1i -r6v7t6po- name for a trench in the swamp of Ayios Floros (eparchia Kala-
mata); the name is a man's, not the hero's.
In eparchia Alagonia (area of the village Karveli) -roIIope:'Lois a narrow crossing point on a
torrent.

LAST ADDENDA

In bibliography it is important to mention the latest edition of a book listed (above,

p. 118): The Black Sea Pilot, 11th ed., 1969 (pub!. by the Hydrographer of the [British]
Navy).
Straits officially are considered and called the entire seaway of the Dardanelles, Mar-
mara Denizi, and the Bosporus (so Black Sea Pilotll, p. 10).
Narrows, on the other hand, is the part of the Dardanelles between Qanakkale kalesi
and Nara burnu (ca. 3 miles N.) on the east and Ki1itbahir and Bigali kalesi (ca. 4 miles
N.) on the west (ibid., p. 90).
P. 103: Boac;xe:cpocAcxL Like this toponym is Kuvoc;Xe:CPOCAOCt
Hdog's heads" from a similar-
ity of the feature. On how the aition could arise see M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechi-
schen Religion2 (Miinchen, 1955), 30.
Pp. 78, 123: The aition for Helle's myth. - The aitiological myths or tales, called aitia,
are well-known: a tale can be made into aition by adding an aitiological narrative or,
conversely, a tale may originate from an etymological narrative by dropping the aitio-
logical relationship; illustrations of both phenomena are presented by Nilsson. In addition,
cult aitia frequently narrate the motive of the installation of a cult (thus, several tragedies
of Euripides have an aitiological conclusion, the setting-in of a cult). See Nilsson, op. cit.,
1. 26-35.
128 Demetrius J. Georgacas

INDEX
Note the abbreviations: n. = note, nne = notes, add. = addenda, app. = appendix

Abbreviations 65f., 118 Bosphoros (Lat.) 85 with n. 88; nne 77,

r'Aytor;,rewpytor;, 78 79, 89; (= Hellespont) 86 with n. 93
aition in myths 78, 127 B6crepopor;, (not surviving) 86 with n. 85
,All-epLIl-CXPOr;,
n. 194 Bosphorus (Lat.) 84, 86
&:Il-epopeur;,
106 Bosp6r (Bosf6r) (Russ.) n. 67
,AVeX.7tAOUr;,82 with n. 65 Bocr7t'optcxv6r;,85 with n. 82
"A~ewor;,7t6v't'0r;,
add. 124 Bocrn6ptm 7tO't'CXIl-OL (Hellespont area) 93
Apis, TA7ttr;,app. 7, nne 46, 47, 51 Bocr7t'6pLOV't'6 85
,A7tOAAWV1)crL't7)r;,
n. 194 B007t6ptor;,85; - a.xpcx85 with n. 80; add. 126
Arna vutkoy (Turk.) n. 65 BOOnOpL't7)r;, 85 n. 83; 1l1t'6A'Y) 1l BOO7tophtcrcrcx
Aydin, Aydincik (Turk.) add. 125 n.84
cxu8ev't7)r;,
106 with n. 195 Bosporos 69, 70; add. 120f.; realia against
axsana (Iran.) add. 124 the Thracian explanation 88-90
B6crnopor;,87f.; 89; 105; 106; 107 n. 121
~e8pov 106 (etymon in Roman authors), 94ff.
Bessapara n. 99 nne 68, 74, 85, 86 (city), 96, 101, 127,
bibliography 65-69; add. 118-120 128, 133, 136, 137, 159; "large ford"
Black Sea 118; 124; -- area & Greek add. 126;
colonization add. 120 Boo7t6pou: B06crnopor;, 106; B6cr7t'opor;,
~o- in compounds 199 (port) 84; B6cr7t'0p0r;,(Hellespont) 92
BoeX.yptor;, 103 with n. 93; pp. 94-96; add. 126
~0(X86for;,106 with n. 196 B6crnopor;,Ktll-Il-eptor;,n. 78; B. Mucrtor;,83
~0(X860r;, n. 196 with n. 71; B. -ri)r;, KCXAx.1)oOVL1)r;, 96;
(301)860r;,106 B. 0 xcx't'cX 't'7)VIIponov't'Locxn. 131; B.
(301)86r;, 106 with n. 196 ®p'Y)buor;,(®p~xwr;,) 84 with nne 75, 76
Bogazl (Turk.) 82 ~6crnopor;,(noun) 94-96, 108; nne 140, 148;
Bogazlcl (Turk.) 82 with n. 64 "strait, channel" 108
Bo"';o6nopmtoponym in Messenia 109 with bosporus (etc.) "fretum" (Lat.) n. 140
n. 204; (parallels) add. 127 Bosporus (Lat.) 83, 84, nne 77, 140; B.
Box61t'tCX 'reX.(Rhodes) n. 201 Cimmerius 85; B. Thracius 84, nne 77,
f300- compounds 99 91, 94; Bosporus of Italy (Strait of
B06r;, 't'ou (place-name) 102 with n. 179 Messina) n. 147a
Boor;, CXUA-1) 103; - xeepcxAcxL 103 B68pen't'0r;,104 with nne 184, 185
B06croupcx104 ~ou- compounds 99 with n. 163
Boor;, 1t'6por;,91 with n. 125; 92; 104 Boucx 102
B06crnopor;,(city and area) 91 with n.126; 103 BoUf3CXAOr;, n. 176
f300crcr60r;, 106 with n. 197 Bouoopor;, 103
~oocrepcxy LCX 107 BouxeX.p't'epor;, 103
(*f30r;,)100, nne 170, 171 f3ouxepwr;,7tcxp8evor;,(Io) app. 5, 6, n. 33
Bosforo (Ital.) 86 BouxeepcxAcx 104
Bosforo (Span.) 86 Bouxpcxvor;,f. 103
Bosforus 86 Bou1t'op81l-0r;, 94, 97
Bospara, B6cr1t'cxpcx (Thracian) 87 with n. f3oun6por;,(adj. ) n. 156; - 'Apcrtv6'Y)r;, 103
100; 89; 90; n. 190 f3oupu't'or;,96
Bocrepcxyecx 107 Bour;, 1l (headland) 102; add. 126; anthro-
Bosphore (French) 86 ponym add. 126
bosphore (French) n. 140 Boucr7t'opL't7)r;,(inhab. of city) 86 with n. 97
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 129
Bou(j1tOpO~ (city = B6(j1topo~) 86 with n. 97 Devil's current add. 124
~ou(j(j6o~ 106 digamma (f) in Mycen. and Doric 105
Bouep&yo~ 103 dvandva geographic names add. 125
Bova (in Italy) 102
Bove (Ital.) in descriptive place-names 102 l"Ex&'t'l) et>cu(jcp6po~ 85
Bofo~ 7t6po~ 105; Bof6cmopo~ 105, 106, EXCt't'6[l~l) 100 with n. 167
107; ~of6(j1topo~ 107 'EACttOu~ add. 124
*~ofo(j(j6fo~ 107 "EACtepOC;101; 'EA&cpCUVAt[leVEL Mycen. 101
Bowv 1] (place-name, Caria) 102 with n. 181 l"EAeVl) 76; add. 122
Brachium Sancti Georgii 78; 83 Eles burun (Turk.) n. 60; add. 124
~p(Ct f. 90 with n. 118 *"EAl)~ (Phryg.) 75, 76
BPL7tCtPOV90 with n. 118 NEAACX77
Bp6xot n. 185 l"EAA&(j1tOV't'o~ 73
Bucca Romaniae 73 "'EAACiC;7t6poC; 97, 98, 103
Bufalo 102 E:AAl) (noun) 76f.
*€AA~ (noun) 79
Callipoli (mediev. Lat.) n. 16 "'EAAl) 73, 74, 75, 76, 77; 78 with n. 42;
Qanakkale Bogazl (Turk.) 72 79; 80; add. 121£, 123, 125
Qanak-kalesi (Turk). 81; add. 124 "'EAAl)~ &xpCt n. 60; add. 124
canal (Ven.) n. 6 l"EAAl)cmOV't'tCtx~ (city) 93 with n. 133
Cape Helles n. 60; add. 124; C. Greco, C. l"EAAl)(j1t6v't'LO~ etc. n. 110; anthroponym
Tekke add. 124 add. 121
Cavallo (Ital.) 101 NEAAl)~ 7t6V't'o~ 73, 75, 78, 79, 80; add. 123
Cavall6n (Span.) 101 "EAA~(j1tOV't'o~ 72 with n.15; 73; 75; 78; 103;
Cernoye More (Russ.) add. 124 (semantic content) n. 15; (river) n. 110;
Cervo (Ital.) 101 (land) n. 110; add. 123
Chalipoli add. 121 "'EAAl)C; 7t6poc; 73, 75, 80
Cimmerian Bosporos 84f.; add. 126;- "'EAAl)~ 7tope[l6~ 73
Straits 69 -€AAt suff. 81 with nne 60, 62
Cimmerius Bosporus n. 121; - Bosphorus €AA6~, eAA6~ 79; add. 123
86 with n. 92 l"EAAO( 77; add. 121, 122
colonization of Greeks in Black Sea add. NEAA07tEC;, -7tLCt add. 122
120f. E:AO~75; add. 122
compound names: genitive - - 103f e7tCtcp~etc. app. n. 49
cow form of 10 app. 114 -116 Epaphos app. 112, 116; add. 119f; "E1tCtcpo~
currents 70; add. 120 app. 116
l"E7t't'&1t0p0C; 97 with n. 152
~&[lCtAt~ f. add. 126 l"E(j't'LCtt n. 65
Dardanelles, the, 71; 73; 80; n. 58; add. 123 7)AtOC;77
* ~Ctp8CtVeAAl) (dvandva) 81; add. 125 1][le8L[lvov 106
Dardanelli (Russ.) 80 etymologizing onomastic data 72
~Ctp8CtVeAAtCt 't'&, 80; (city) 81; etymon add. Eu~or.Ct app. 114
125 EU~EtVO~ 7t6v't'o~ add. 124
Dardanello (Ital.) n. 62; add. 125; Darda- EUPt7tO~ 94 with n. 139
nelli 80 Euriposo; 94
~&p8Ctvo~ .80 with n. 59; 1] - (city) 82 and
n. 63; add. 123f., 125; ~&p8Ctvo~, ~Ctp- flume del Lupo 101
8&vl)~, ~Ctp8Ctv(8l)C; surnames in Mod. Fjord n. 189
Gr. n. 59 floating cattle in high water n. 203
Dardanus add. 124 fog in the Straits add. 121, 122
deities of light 76f. Foggy Island, Foggy Peak 74
descriptive names for "Bosporos" n. 69 folketymological forms of Bosporos 85
130 Demetrius J. Georgacas
ford 90, 104 XL6xptXvov106
*furdu (Germanic) 104 Kizkulesi (Turk.) add. 126
Furt 104 KU\loc;Xe:cptXAtXL
127
Kuru -gesme n. 65
Galatrella n. 62
Galliparo 97; cf. KtXAAL1t0P0C; law-, lawo-, -lawos compounds 105
Gallipoli 73, n. 16 Afi.f-, Afi.fo-, -Afi.foc; compounds 105
Gelibolu (Turk.) n. 16 Leander Tower add. 126
Golfo di Gallipoli 73 Loup 101
gwora 88 Auxoc; 101
gWowos poros 89
gwos 101, n. 171 maritime rivers 70
(gWos) 101 M&.p(ltXptX
't"&:,add. 125
Marmara Bogazl (Turk.) n. 64
haplology 106 Marmara Denizi (Turk.) n. 72; add. 125
Hathor (Egypt. goddess)app. 114, 115 MtXp(l(XpiiC;
m. (village) n. 72
(*hela) 74; add. 121 MtXO"t"OUO'LtX,
MtX~OUO'LtX
(txptX,n. 60; add. 124
(*hella, *Hellane) 74 moon goddess add. 122
Helle (myth) 69; add. 119 [bibliography], M1touxtXTIjc; POU(ltXVLtXC;
add. 121
121f. MuO'LoC;B60'1topoC;91, n. 71
Hellespont 69, 70; add. 121 mythological conceptions and geography 72
Hellespontos, (Lat.) -us 72 myths localized in Euxine add. 110
hydrography of Bosporos 70 n. 5; 71 n. 9
Hyksos app. 161 Narrows (U.S.A.) n. 66; add. 127
hyphaeresis (loss of one of vowels) 98 with Ne:cpeA1) 74
nne 160, 161 V1)O't
't"ot)M(Xp(ltXpiiadd. 125
UcptXLpe:cnc;
n. 160
o from 00 98, 99, 107, n. 185
~Ie:p6vnne 65, 73 Ochse (Germ.) in place-names 102 with
"IxtXpoc;,'Ix&:ptov rtF;AtXYOC;
78 n.177
Ilyasbaba burnu (Turk.) add. 124f. Ochsenfurt 102
Io (myth) 69, 87, 91 with n. 122; 92 with o!O''t"poC;
app. 116
n. 127; 109 with n. 205; app. 110-117; WAEXPtXVOV 106
equated with Isis app. 115,117,122; 'OP't"UYLtXadd. 126
bibliography 119f.; 'IeJ>app. n. 22 ox-ford 109
rlI7t'ltOC;
101 Oxford 104; six times in U.S. 104 with n.188
Istanbul Bogazl 82 with n. 64 ox-head on Byzantion coins add. 126

Kale Sultanije n. 62; add. 121 TItXX-rUll78

KtXAAL'ltOAtC;
73 nn. 16, 65 TItXv't"tX&:1ttXLo\l
n. 96
KtXAAtOU'ltOAtC;
(Byz.) 73 n. 16 -para (etc.) Thracian compounds 87 with
KtXAAL1tOPOC;97 with n. 153 nne 99, 100, III
kanal (subsurface current) (Turk.) 70 with TIep(X(l(X97
n.6 periphrastic names 103f
Kara Deniz (Turk.) add. 124 Phoenicians app. III with n. 7
Karadeniz Bogazl (Turk.) 82 with note 64 et>PL~OK6ll-1lC;78f; add. 123
Kerch, Strait of, 71, 85, n. 78 cpPL~6C;,CPPL~O- 78
Kilid Bahr (Turk.) add. 121 et>PL~OC;78f.; add. 119, 121, 123; bibliogra-
KL(l(le:PLXOC;B60'1topoC;85 with nne 76, 78; phy on - add. 119
L0'6(l6C;
K. n. 78 cpwC; 89
Kt(l(lEptOC;B60'1tOpoC;85 with n. 78; 91 et>CI)O'cp6PLOV
't"6,85 with n. 86; 89
 The Waterway of Hellespont and Bosporus 131

<I>wO'ep6poc; rEx&'t"YJ<I>.,"Ap't'e:llLC;
<I>.. ) 89 semantic content depleted in compounds
with n. 88; 89 n.202
place-names from animal terms 101f. semodius 106
IIArxyx't'rxt7t"€'t'prxLapp. 110 O'e:uwn. 198
IIAe:LO'eEv'Y)C;106 LXue LXOC; B60'7topoC;n. 78
II6Au~oc;107 with n. 199 (J't'e:v6v't'6"narrows" 94
IIoAu7topOC; 97 with n. 152 L't'e:v6v't'6,82f. withn. 66;94; 109;'t'~ ~'t'e:v&
II6v't'oc;,Pontus, n. 69 n. 66; 109; 't'o L't'e:vov't'wv ~rxparxVe:)..)..LWV
por-a (IE) 90 73, 82; ~'t'e:vov't'ou II6v't'ou n. 66
-pora (OChSI) n. 117 (J't'e:v67topellOC;
97
II6prx't'rx,IIupe:'t'6c;104 Stenum n. 66
IIope:i:o't'6, add. 127 L't'6(Lrx 't'OUII6v't'ou 84
-poris (Thracian) n. 99 Straits of the Dardanelles (Nagara & Qanak)
Poro (torrent) in S. Italy 97 with n. 150 71; Strait(s) of Gallipoli 73 with n. 16;
*poros (IE) 88 82; Strait of Gibraltar n. 7; add. 120, 127 ;
7t"6poC; 88, 97, 103 with nne 99, 100, 101, Strait of Kerch 78; history of the
149, 151, 152; add. 127; (Phryg.) 75; Straits 72; Straits as boundary be-
-7t"OPOC; compounds 97; -7t"0P0C;com- tween Europe and Asia 71; add. 120
pounds in Mod. Greek place-names Stretto della Romania 73; Stretto di Mes-
add. 127 sina add. 122
II6poc; 97 with nne 151, 152; add. 127 O'Uyxo~ n. 160; 99
~7t"OPOC; compounds 97; in Mod. Gr. n. 204 LUfL7tA'Y)y&aEC; app. 110
7t"Opell6C; 73, 97; in geogr. names n. 155 swimming cattle in floods n. 203
IIopell6c; 97
Porto Dardano add. 125 TrxP't'rxVEAOC; add. 125
Portus Prosphorius 86 with n. 95 Trxupoc;101
IIpLyxL7t6Vl1O'oL add. 125 terms designating animals as place-names
IIpoxe:prxO''t'£C; add. 125 101f.
IIpox6vv'Y)O'oC; add. 125 't'e:'t'p&X(LOV
106
IIp6oXeOLn. 185 e &ArxO'(Jrx (etymon) 80 note 56
IIp07tov-r£C;69, 70, 84; add. 125; Propon- 0&ArxO'O'rx 't'ou MrxPllrxpCi(Propontis) n. 72;
tides (Lat.) add. 125 add. 125
IIpocrcp6pLov 't'6, 85 with n. 87 Thracian Bosporus n. 76
IIpOO'ep6pLoc; ALll~V85 with n. 87 Thracian language 87 with n. 103
Thracius Bosphorus 86 with n. 91
c.'Pe:U(Lrx
(Byz.) 82 0p~ XLXOC; B60'7t0p0C;84
0P~XLOC; B60'7t0p0C;84, nne 71, 131
rivers fordable n. 203
0p'Y)lxLOC; B60'1tOpoC;
84, 87, 105, nne 75, 131
river valleys 70
Toro 102

Salandra, Salandrella n. 62 Vache enragee 102

Salii (Lat.) add. 122 Vosp6r (Russ.) n. 67
salinity of the water in Hellespont and V6sporos (Mod. Gr.) 82f. with n. 67
Bosporos 71 with n. 7 Vila (S. Calabria) 102 with n. 180
(*Le:A~e:LC;)75 with n. 29
Le:A~V'Y),
O'e:A~V'Y)
76, 77; add. 122 waterway geogr. features (between the
Le:AA~e:LC;n. 29 Aegean & the Black Sea) 69
Le:AAOladd. 122 Yoros (Turk.) = c.'Ie:p6vn. 73

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