CHAP. 39.—LESBOS.
But Lesbos[1], distant from Chios sixty-five miles, is the
most celebrated of them all. It was formerly called Himerte,
Lasia, Pelasgia, Ægira, Æthiope, and Macaria, and is
famous for its nine cities. Of these, however, that of Pyrrha
has been swallowed up by the sea, Arisbe[2] has perished by
an earthquake, and Methymna is now united to Antissa[3];
these lie in the vicinity of nine cities of Asia, along a
coast of thirty-seven miles. The towns of Agamede and
Hiera have also perished. Eresos[4], Pyrrha, and the free
city of Mitylene[5], still survive, the last of which was a
powerful city for a space of 1500 years. The circumference
of the whole island is, according to Isidorus, 168 miles[6],
but the older writers say 195. Its mountains are, Lepethymnus, Ordymnus, Maicistus, Creon, and Olympus. It is
distant seven miles and a half from the nearest point of the
mainland. The islands in its vicinity are, Sandaleon, and
the five called Leucæ[7]; Cydonea[8], which is one of them,
contains a warm spring. The Arginussæ[9] are four miles
distant from Æge[10]; after them come Phellusa[11] and Pedna.
Beyond the Hellespont, and opposite the shore of Sigeum,
lies Tenedos[12], also known by the names of Leucophrys[13],
Phœnice, and Lyrnesos. It is distant from Lesbos fifty-six
miles, and twelve and a half from Sigeum.
1. Now Mitylene, or Metelin.
2. We find it also stated by Herodotus, that this island was destroyed
by the Methymnæans. The cities of Mitylene, Methymna, Eresus,
Pyrrha, Antissa, and Arisbe, originally formed the Æolian Hexapolis,
or Confederation of Six Cities.
3. The ruins found by Pococke at Calas Limneonas, north-east of Cape
Sigri, may be those of Antissa. This place was the birth-place of
Terpander, the inventor of the seven-stringed lyre.
4. Or Eressus, according to Strabo. It stood on a hill, reaching down
to the sea. Its ruins are said to be near a place still called Eresso. It
was the birth-place of the philosopher Theophrastus, the disciple of
Aristotle.
5. Still called Mitylene, or Metelin.
6. Strabo makes it about only 137 miles.
7. Or the White Islands.
8. So called from its fruitfulness in quinces, or "Mala Cydonia."
9. These were three small islands, near the mainland of Æolis. It
was off these islands that the ten generals of the Athenians gained
a victory over the Spartans, B.C. 406. The modern name of these
islands is said to be Janot.
10. One of the Leucæ, previously mentioned.
11. So called from the fello\s, or "cork," which it produced.
12. Still known as Tenedos, near the mouth of the Hellespont. Here
the Greeks were said to have concealed their fleet, to induce the Trojans
to think that they had departed, and then introduce the wooden horse
within their walls.
13. "Having white eye-brows;" probably from the whiteness of its cliffs.