The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

14.Further, islands are situated in the Mediterranean,
from the Hellespont to Cadiz. The island of Cyprus
(Cypros)tookitsname from the city of Cyprus, which is
located there. This island is also known as Paphos, dedicated
to Venus, and it lies in the southern part of the
Carpathian Sea. Once it was well known for its wealth,
especially for copper, for this metal was first discovered
and put to use there. 15.CreteisapartofGreece,closeto
and opposite the Peloponnese. Due to its mild climate it
was first called Macaronnesos (cf. , “blessed”;
“isle”); thereafter it was called Crete (Creta), after
one of its inhabitants, a certain Cres (gen. Cretis), who
people say was one of the Curetes; Jupiter was concealed
there and nursed by them. This is the Greek island that
stretches the longest distance from east to west, bathed by
Greek currents in the north, and by Egyptian waves in the
south. Once it was ennobled by a hundred cities, whence
it was also called Hecatompolis (cf. , “hundred”;
,“city”). 16.Itwas the first to be famous for rowing
and archery, the first to put laws into writing, and the first
to train cavalry units. The pursuit of music composed
in Idaean dactyls began on this island. It is plentiful in
goats and lacks deer; it nowhere produces wolves or foxes
or other harmful wild beasts; there are no serpents there
and no night owls, and if one comes upon the island,
it dies immediately. It is abundant in vines and trees.
The herb dittanygrowsinCrete,aswellaspurslane,
which when chewed stops hunger for a day. It produces
venomous spiders and a stone that is called ‘dactyl
of Ida.’
17. Abydos is an island in Europe, positioned above
the Hellespont, cut off by a narrow and dangerous sea; it
is called in Greek because it is at the entrance to
the Hellespont, where Xerxes built a bridge constructed
from ships and crossed over into Greece (cf. ,“not
fordable”). 18. Cos(Coos) isanisland lying adjacent to
the province of Attica; on it the physician Hippocrates
was born and, as Varro testifies, it was first famous for
the art of preparing wool for the adornment of women.
19. The Cyclades were in ancient times islands of
Greece, and people believe that they were called Cyclades
because, although they project out a rather long way
from Delos, they are nevertheless arranged in a circle
10 The terms ‘Aegean’ and ‘Hellespont’ seem to have been interchanged
in this passage.
11 Afavorite epithet of Venus was ‘Cytherea.’
The Etymologies XIV.vi.14–vi.26 295
around it – for the Greeks call a circle . Butothers
think that they are so called not because the islands
are arranged in a circle, but because of the sharp rocks
that are situated around them (i.e. that encircle them).
20. They lie in the Hellespont, between the Aegean and
the Malean Sea, 10 and they are surrounded by Myrtoan
waters. They are fifty-three in number, extending from
north to south for five hundred miles, and from east to
west for two hundred (Roman) miles. Their principal
city is Rhodes.
21. Delos is the island located in the center of the
Cyclades. It is said to be called Delos because, after the
deluge known to have occurredduringthereignofOgygus,
when the globe was cast into continuous night for
many months, it was the first among all places of the
earth to be lit by the rays of the sun; it was allotted its
name from having been the first to become visible to
the eyes; for the Greeks say for “plainly visible.”
The island is also called Ortygia, because there the birds
called ‘quails’ were seen for the first time; the Greeks
call them . Onthis island, Latona gave birth to
Apollo and Diana. The name Delos is applied to both the
city and the island. 22.Rhodesisthe first of the Cyclades
from the east. The rosebud is said to have been discovered
there when the city was founded, whence both
the town and the island are called Rhodes (Rhodos; cf.
, “rose”). In this city was the bronze Colossus of
the Sun, seventy cubits high; there were also one hundred
smaller colossi on this island. 23. Tenedos, one of
the Cyclades, is located in the north, where a city was
founded formerly by a certain Tenes. After him the city,
or rather the island, was named; for this Tenes was infamous
for having had intercourse with his stepmother,
[and] in escaping he took possession of this island, which
was empty of inhabitants; whence it was called Tenedos.
Thus says Cicero (cf. Second Action Against Verres 1.49):
“Tenes himself, after whom Tenedos was named.”
24.Carpathos, another one of the Cyclades, is located
in the south, facing Egypt; the Carpathian Sea is named
after it, while the island itself is so called because crops
ripen there so quickly (cf. , “crops”). It lies
between Egypt and Rhodes. Carpasian ships, which are
big and spacious, are also said to come from this island.
25.The island Cytherea is one of the Cyclades located in
the west; its former name was Porphyris. It was called
Cytherea because Venus was born there. 11 26. Icaria is
an island of the Cyclades which gives the Icarian Sea its