The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

through hot passages, it is affected by the adjacent heat
of the sulfur and is itself heated; it does not flow from
its source at such a temperature, but is changed as it
travels. Indeed, waters may carry sulfur and alum with
them; both materials are full of fire and grow hot with
the slightest movement.
xiv. The sea (De mari) 1. Asea is a general gathering
of waters, for every confluence of waters, whether they
are salt or fresh, is, loosely, a ‘sea,’ according to this
(Genesis 1:10): “And the gathering together of waters,
he called seas (maria).” But strictly speaking something
is called sea (mare)because its waters are bitter (amarus).
2.The sea-surface (aequor)isnamed because it is evenly
(aequaliter)raised up, and although surging waters may
swell up like mountains, when the storms have quieted
the sea-surface returns to flatness. The depth of the sea
varies, but the appearance of its surface is unvarying. 3.
The reason why the sea has no increase in its size, even
though it receives all the rivers and springs, is partly
because its own huge size is not affected by the waters
flowing in; then again, it is because the bitter water consumes
the fresh water flowing in; or because the clouds
themselves draw up and absorb a great deal of water;
or because the winds carry away part of the sea, and
the sun dries up part; finally, because it is percolated
through certain hidden openings in the earth, and runs
back again to the source of springs and fountains. The
sea has no specific color; it changes with the quality of
the winds. Sometimes it is golden, sometimes muddy,
and sometimes black.
xv. The Ocean (De oceano) 1.Greekand Latin speakers
so name the ‘Ocean’ (oceanus) because it goes around
the globe (orbis)inthemanner of a circle (circulus), [or
from its speed, because itrunsquickly(ocius)]. Again,
because it gleams with a deep blue color like the sky:
oceanus as if the word were (“blue”). This is what
encircles the edges of the land, advancing and receding
with alternate tides, for when the winds blow over
6 ‘Hyrcanian’ is usually another name for the ‘Caspian’ Sea.
7 Isidore’s phrase iuxta Graecias et Illyricum is puzzling. He may
be using Illyricus as another name for Greek (cf. xiv.iv.7), or it may
conceal a reference to Ilium, as a reference to the Troad would make
good sense here. A stade is about 607 (modern) feet, so Isidore’s
Hellespont is about eight-tenths of a mile wide; the modern strait is
about a mile wide at its narrowest point.
The Etymologies XIII.xiv.1–xvi.5 277
the deep, the Ocean either disgorges the seas or swallows
them back. 2.Also, the Ocean takes different names
from nearby areas, such as Gallic, Germanic, Scythian,
Caspian, Hyrcanian, 6 Atlantic, Gaditanian. The Gaditanian
straits (i.e. the Straits of Gibraltar) are named
from Gades (i.e. Cadiz), where the entrance of the Great
Sea (i.e. the Mediterranean) first opens from the Ocean.
Hence, when Hercules came to Gades he placed pillars
there, believing that the end of the lands of the world
was at that place.
xvi. The Mediterranean Sea (De mediterraneo mari)
1. TheGreatSeaistheonethat flows from the Ocean
out of the west, turns to the south, and finally stretches
to the north. It is called ‘great’ because the other seas
are smaller in comparison with it. This is also called
the Mediterranean because it flows through the ‘middle
of the land’ (media terrae) all the way to the East,
separating Europe, Africa, and Asia. 2. Thecurveofits
first part, which washes the Spanish regions, is called
Iberian and Balearic. Then comes the Gallic part, which
washes against the province of Narbonne (i.e. presentday
southern France). Soon it becomes the Ligurian Sea,
which is near the city of Genoa. After this is the Tyrrhenian
Sea, which touches Italy – the Greeks call this the
Ionian, and the Italians the Inferum (lit. ‘the lower’). And
then the SeaofSicilywhichgoesfromSicilytoCrete.And
then the Sea of Crete, which extends to Pamphylia and
Egypt. 3. And then the Hellespont, which after turning
north, with many a deep inlet around the various shores
of Greece and Illyricus, narrows into a passage seven
stades across. 7 At this point Xerxes made a bridge of ships
and crossed into Greece; Abydos is there. From there it
widens into open sea and is hemmed back again and
makes the Propontis (i.e. the Sea of Marmara), which is
soon narrowed to fifty passus (i.e. about 250 feet) and
becomes the Thracian Bosphorus, where Darius transported
his forces. 4. Fromtherebegins the vast Pontic
gulf, with the marshes of Maeotis (i.e. the Sea of Azov)
at its furthest point. This sea has fresher water than the
others because of the great number of rivers, and is foggy
and rather shallow. Accordingly it is called Pontus (i.e.
the Black Sea), because it is traversable (cf. pons, gen.
pontis, “bridge”), and for that reason it supports seals,
tuna, and dolphins, but no larger sea-creatures.
5.And just as the land, though it is a single thing, may
be referred to with various names in different places, so