Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:
chapter:
chapter 1-4chapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 5-15chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8-10chapter 8chapter 9chapter 10chapter 11-12chapter 12chapter 13chapter 14-15chapter 14chapter 15chapter 16-58chapter 16chapter 17chapter 18chapter 19chapter 20chapter 21-5chapter 21chapter 22chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26chapter 28chapter 29chapter 30chapter 31chapter 32-6chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37-45chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46-58chapter 46chapter 47chapter 48chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54-6chapter 54chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59-82chapter 59chapter 60chapter 61chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70chapter 71-2chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83-144chapter 83chapter 85chapter 86chapter 87chapter 88chapter 89chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 93chapter 94chapter 95chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99-101chapter 99chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102-17chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 107chapter 108chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114chapter 116chapter 117chapter 118-44chapter 118chapter 120chapter 123chapter 124chapter 125chapter 127chapter 129chapter 131chapter 134chapter 136chapter 137chapter 138chapter 142chapter 143chapter 144chapter 145-205chapter 145chapter 146chapter 147chapter 148chapter 149chapter 150-8chapter 150chapter 151chapter 152chapter 153chapter 154chapter 155chapter 156chapter 157chapter 158chapter 159-205chapter 159chapter 160chapter 161chapter 162chapter 163chapter 164chapter 165chapter 166chapter 167chapter 168-80chapter 168chapter 169chapter 170chapter 171chapter 172chapter 173chapter 174chapter 175chapter 176chapter 177chapter 178chapter 179chapter 180chapter 181-99chapter 181chapter 182chapter 183chapter 184chapter 185chapter 186chapter 187chapter 188chapter 189chapter 190chapter 191chapter 192chapter 193chapter 194chapter 195chapter 196chapter 197chapter 198chapter 199chapter 200chapter 201chapter 203chapter 204chapter 205
This text is part of:
κατὰ τοὺς νομάδας. H. is on the whole right in his contrast between the fauna of the East and the West; but the asps and the antelopes are common to both regions (R. Neumann, p. 157). Of the twenty beasts in this chapter Neumann (pp. 157 seq.) identifies all but the βόρυες with more or less confidence. Lyon (pp. 271-2) gives a list of sixteen animals of the Fezzan; of these all but the buffalo (βούβαλις—some find this in the β., but v. i.), rat, rabbit, hare, and camel are covered by H.'s list, and the camel was almost certainly introduced much later. Lyon does not mention H.'s wild ass, wild ram, and great lizard; but these are confirmed by other authorities. πύγαργοι. The ‘white rump’ is in Arist. H. A. ix. 32, 618 b, a kind of eagle; but here (as in Plin. viii. 214) it is an antelope. ζορκάδες καὶ βουβάλιες are both species of antelope. ἄποτοι. That the ‘wild asses’ never drink is impossible; what is true is that they can live where any other beast would die of thirst. The ὄρυς seems to be the antelope leucoryx; the ‘arms’ of lyres were certainly made of horns.
βασσάρια κτλ. H. is right as to ‘foxes, hyenas, and porcupines’. The κριὸς ἄγριος may well be the wild sheep (Musimon tragelaphus) of the Atlas; the δίκτυς seems to be a kind of jackal, as also the θῶς. πάνθηρες probably include all the ‘big cats’ (i. e. leopards, panthers, tiger cats, &c.) of North Africa. κροκόδειλοι. The ‘crocodile’ is the Psammosaurus griseus, a land lizard, which reaches a size of three feet. For ostriches cf. 175. 1 n. The ‘small snakes’ (ὄφιες σμικροί), as distinguished from the ‘two-horned vipers’ of ii. 74, are perhaps ‘sand vipers’. πλὴν ἐλάφου τε καὶ ὑὸς ἀγρίου. Aristotle (H. A. viii. 28, 606 a) repeats this, and Pacho (p. 206) vindicates H. as to the stag; Pliny (N. H. viii. 120) also denies the presence of the ‘stag’; as they still are found in only a small region, stags may well have been introduced since the time of H. Although the wild boar proper is unknown, kindred species are found.
δίποδες. Clearly the ‘jerboa’, the fore-feet of which are very short. Rawlinson suggests that the ζέγερις = the ‘guntsha’, a rat-like animal with a bushy tail. The ἐχινεύς seems to be a ‘stiff-haired mouse’. βουνοί, ‘hills’ (199. 1), is a non-Attic word, found in Sicily as well as at Cyrene, and in later Greek, e. g. in Polyb. (βουνώδης). γαλαῖ. The ‘weasels’ of Tartessus were ferrets used in rabbit hunting (Strabo 144).
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
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.