[4] Continuous with Methone is Acritas,1 where the Messenian Gulf begins, which they call also Asinæus from Asine, a small city, the first we meet with on the gulf, and having the same name as the Hermionic Asine. This is the commencement of the gulf towards the west. Towards the east are the Thyrides,2 as they are called, bordering upon the present Laconia near Cænepolis,3 and Tænarum. In the intervening distance, if we begin from the Thyrides, we meet with Œtylus,4 by some called Beitylus; then Leuctrum, a colony of the Leuctri in Bœotia; next, situated upon a steep rock, Cardamyle;5 then Pheræ, bordering upon Thu- ria, and Gerenia, from which place they say Nestor had the epithet Gerenian, because he escaped thither, as we have mentioned before. They show in the Gerenian territory a temple of Æsculapius Triccæus, copied from that at the Thessalian Tricca. Pelops is said to have founded Leuctrum, and Charadra, and Thalami, now called the Bœotian Thalami, having brought with him, when he married his sister Niob to Amphion, some colonists from Bœotia. The Nedon, a different river from the Neda, flows through Laconia, and discharges its waters near Pheræ. It has upon its banks a remarkable temple of the Nedusian Minerva. At Pœaessa also there is a temple of the Nedusian Minerva, which derives its name from a place called Nedon,6 whence, they say, Teleclus colonized Pœaessa,7 and Echeiæ, and Tragium.
1 Cape Gallo. The Gulf of Messenia is now the Gulf of Coron.
2 The name Thyrides, the little gates, is probably derived from the fable which placed the entrance of the infernal regions at Tænarum, Cape Matapan.
3 For Cinæthium I read Cænepolis, as suggested by Falconer, and ap proved by Coray.
4 Vitulo.
5 Scardamula.
6 As Strabo remarks, in b. x., that the temple was built by Nestor on his return from Troy, Falconer suggests that it might have derived its name from the river Nedon, near Gerenia, the birth-place of Nestor.
7 In the island of Cos.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.