On the Naming of Rivers, Mountains, and Things Found in Them (1-5)

The wrath of Aphrodite caused Chrysippe to fall in love with her own father, Hydaspes. Unable to resist her unnatural desires and aided by her nurse,[*] she had sex with the aforementioned man in the middle of the night. The king did not do well out of the events. He buried alive the old woman who had ensnared him and nailed his own daughter to a cross. Overwhelming grief caused him to hurl himself into the Indos river, which was renamed the Hydaspes after him. It is a river in India and flows vigorously down into the Saronic Syrtis.

There is produced in this river a stone called lychnis (lantern). It is the colour of olive oil and exceedingly hot. When the moon is waxing, it is gathered to the accompaniment of flute melodies. The elites make use of it.

There is found there a plant, beside the so-called Gates, which is very similar to heliotrope. They pound it up, extract the juice, and anoint themselves with it at the hottest time of day. Thus they safely withstand the drying effect of exceedingly high temperatures.

The local people nail to crosses young maidens who have turned away from the gods and throw them into the river while singing the hymn to Aphrodite in their native dialect. Every year, beside the hill named Therogonos (the bearer of wild beasts), they bury an old woman who has been condemned. As soon as she has been buried, a mass of crawling creatures emerges from the mountain-ridge and devours swarms of flying creatures. Chrysermos recounts this in book 80 of his On India, and Archelaos records these things more precisely in book 13 of his On Rivers.

Below the river is a mountain called Elephas (Elephant) for this reason. When Alexander of Macedon came to India with an army, and the local people had decided to fight him, an elephant belonging to Poros, the king of the region, suddenly became frenzied. It went up to the ridge of Helios and said in a human voice, Lord and King, born of the race of Gegasios, do not do anything at all to oppose Alexander! For Gegasios is of Zeus. After finishing its speech, it died. Hearing these words, Poros was terribly shaken. In supplication he grasped Alexander’s knees and begged for peace. When his request had been granted, he renamed the mountain Elephas. Dercyllos recounts this in book 3 of his On Mountains.

The Ismenos is a river in Boiotia near the city of Thebes. It used to be called Cadmos’ Foot for this reason: after Cadmos killed the spring-guarding snake with an arrow, he discovered that the water seemed poisoned with its blood and so he went around the territory looking for a spring. Near the Corycian cave, by the providence of Athena, he pressed his right foot deeply into the clay. A river flowed forth from his footprint. Cadmos sacrificed a bull and gave this river the name Cadmos’ Foot. Sometime later, Ismenos, son of Amphion and Niobe, in desperate pain from an arrow shot by Apollo, threw himself into the aforementioned river. It was named the Ismenos after him. Sostratos recounts this in book 2 of his On Rivers.

Nearby is Mount Cithairon. It used to be called Asterion (starry) for this reason. Boiotos, son of Poseidon, was trying to decide which of two distinguished women would make a more advantageous marriage. One night, while he was waiting for both of them on the heights of an unnamed mountain, a shooting star suddenly fell from heaven onto the shoulders of Eurythemiste and then disappeared from sight. Boiotos recognised this as a sign: he married her and named the mountain Asterion after this incident.

It was later named Cithairon for this reason. Tisiphone, one of the Erinyes, fell headlong in love with a handsome boy called Cithairon. Unable to restrain the intensity of her passion, she sent him a message suggesting a liaison. Terrified of the aforementioned’s appearance, he did not give her the courtesy of a reply. So Tisiphone, thwarted in her plans, tore one of the snakes from her hair and hurled it at the insolent man. The serpent enveloped him tightly in its coils and killed him as he shepherded his flocks on the heights of Asterion. By the providence of the gods, the mountain was renamed Cithairon after him. Leon of Byzantium recounts this in his On Boiotia.

Hermesianax of Cyprus records this story: Helicon and Cithairon were brothers yet differed markedly from one another in character. Helicon was gentle and mild and looked after his parents attentively; Cithairon, by contrast, was greedy and coveted their power and property for himself. First, he murdered his father; but when he ambushed his brother and went to throw him off a cliff, he too fell over the edge. By the providence of the gods they were transformed into mountains with the same names: Cithairon, because of his outrageous behaviour, became an abode for the Erinyes; Helicon, because of his tender affection, a haunt for the Muses.

The Hebros is a river in Thrace. It used to be called Rhombos (whirling),[*] a name it got from the swirling rapids of its water. Casandros, the king of the region, married Crotonice and fathered with her a son, Hebros. Then, having had enough of his first wife, he married Damasippe, daughter of Atrax, making her stepmother to his son. She fell in love with her stepson and sent a message to him suggesting a liaison. He fled from his stepmother as if fleeing from an Erinys, and dedicated himself to hunting. Thwarted in her plans, the licentious woman made false accusations against the chaste boy, saying that he wanted to rape her. Casandros was overwhelmed by jealousy and driven by impulsive anger to the woods. There, drawing his sword, he pursued his own son thinking him a traitor against his father’s marriage. Trapped, the son hurled himself into the river Rhombos, which was renamed the Hebros after him. Timotheos recounts this in book 11 of his On Rivers.

Nearby is Mount Pangaion. It got its name for this reason. Pangaios, son of Ares and Critoboule, had sex with his daughter without realizing who she was. He was engulfed by despair and ran to Mount Carmanios where his overwhelming grief caused him to take up a sword and kill himself. By the providence of the gods, the place was renamed Pangaion.

There is produced in the aforementioned river a plant similar to oregano. The Thracians pluck the tips and place them in the fire after taking their fill of the food of Demeter. Inhaling the rising smoke with deep breaths, they are overcome with drowsiness and carried off into a deep sleep.

There is also produced on Mount Pangaion a plant called cithara for this reason. The women who tore apart Orpheus threw the limbs of the aforementioned into the river Hebros. By the providence of the gods, the head of the dead man changed its physical form into a serpent, while his lyre was made into a constellation as Apollo intended, and the plant called cithara appeared out of the flowing blood.

During the rites of Dionysos, this plant gives forth the sound of a cithara. The locals drape themselves in fawn-skins and wield thrysoi and sing a hymn: Whenever you are wise in vain, you will be wise. Cleitonymos recounts this in book 3 of his On Thrace.

The Ganges is a river in India. It got its name for this reason. Calauria, a nymph, produced a son with Indos. He was universally admired for his beauty and named Ganges. He became intoxicated and had sex with his mother, without realizing who she was; she seduced him. In the days that followed, he learnt the truth from his nurse and overwhelming grief caused him to hurl himself into a river called Chliaros, which was renamed Ganges after him.

There is produced beside this river a plant that resembles bouglossos (ox-tongue). People are constantly pounding it up and keeping the juice. Late at night, they sprinkle it around the lairs of tigers. The potency of the scattered droplets makes the tigers unable to emerge and they die. Callisthenes recounts this in book 3 of his On Hunting.

Nearby is a mountain called Anatole (rising sun) for this reason. While the nymph Anaxibia was enjoying spending time in the region, Helios saw her and fell in love with her. Unable to restrain his desire, he pursued the aforementioned woman, intending to force himself on her. Trapped, she fled into the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia which was on a mountain called Coryphe (summit), and she disappeared from sight. The god followed after her, and when he could not find his beloved anywhere, overwhelming grief caused him to rise up from that place. The locals renamed the mountain Anatole from this event. Caimaron recounts this in book 10 of his On India.

The Phasis is a river in Scythia that flows past a city. It used to be called Arctouros. It received its name because it is located in a frozen landscape. It was renamed for this reason. Phasis, the son of Helios and Ocyrrhoe (daughter of Oceanos), caught his mother in the act of adultery and killed her. He was driven mad by the sudden appearance of the Erinyes and hurled himself into the Arctouros river, which was renamed the Phasis after him.

There is produced in the river a reed named leukophyllos (white-leaf). It is gathered there during the mysteries of Hecate at dawn to the accompaniment of a paean sung about it,[*] around the beginning of spring. Men who are prone to jealousy pick this plant for their own use, scatter it around the bridal bed-chamber, and thus ensure the marriage is unadulterated. If an intoxicated person is on the verge of committing an outrage and he enters that place, his sound judgment is snatched away, and he immediately starts reciting to everyone all the unlawful things he has done or intends to do. The people nearby seize him and hurl him, sewn up in a leather bag, into the so-called Mouth of Outrages. It is circular and resembles a well. After thirty days, the body is disgorged into Lake Maiotis, riddled with worms. Vultures then suddenly appear out of nowhere and tear apart the body. Ctesippos recounts this in book 2 of his On Scythia.

Nearby is Mount Caucasos. It used to be called the Marriage-bed of Boreas for this reason. Passionate desire caused Boreas to abduct Chione, daughter of Arctouros. He carried her down to a ridge called Niphante and he fathered with the aforementioned woman a son Hyrpax who succeed to the kingdom of Heriochos. And the mountain was renamed the Marriage-bed of Boreas

It came to be called Caucasos because of this event. After the battle between the giants and the Olympians, Cronos escaped Zeus’ threats by going to the heights of the Koite of Boreas. There, he transformed himself into a crocodile and put an end to one of the local shepherds, Caucasos. He observed the arrangement of the dead man’s entrails and proclaimed that his enemies were not far off. Zeus appeared, bound his father with a plaited woollen rope, and cast him down to Tartaros. Zeus then renamed the mountain in honour of the shepherd Caucasos. He chained Prometheus to it and forced him to be tortured by an entrail-eating eagle, because he had defied the laws with regard to the entrails. Cleanthes recounts this in book 3 of his Battle of the Gods.

There is produced on this mountain a plant called Promethean. Medeia gathered it, ground it up and used it against the hostility of her father, as Cleanthes also recounts.