As all uncouth, of strangers ill-approached.
Hybristes'[1] river then—not falsely named—
Thou'lt reach; the ford, for hard it is to cross,
Attempt not until Caucasos thou gain,
Highest of mountains, from whose very brow
The river spouteth forth its might; forthwith
Its crest surmounting, neighbour to the stars, 740
Southward direct thy course until thou reach
The host of man-abhorring Amazons,
Who Themiscyra, near Thermodon's stream,
Shall one day people, where the cruel jaw
Of Salmydessus[2] hems the briny sea,
Rude host to sea-men, step-dame unto ships;
These will conduct thee and right willingly;
Then the Kimmerian isthmus[3] thou shalt gain
Hard by the narrow portals of the lake,
Which it behoveth thee with dauntless heart
To leave, and traverse the Mæotic strait; 750
- ↑ The river which the poet calls Hybristes (i. e., insolent or violent) agrees with none so well as with the Kouban, which runs down violently from the Caucasos into the Crimean Bosporos.
- ↑ Salmydessos. "This name was originally applied to the whole coast, from the promontory of Thynia to the entrance of the Bosporos; and it was from this coast that the Black Sea obtained the name of Pontus Ἄξενος, or inhospitable;" afterwards changed to Euxeinos, or hospitable.
- ↑ Leaving the Kimmerian isthmus (the Crimea), she was to cross the Bosporos, which flows into the Mæotic Lake (the Sea of Azov). It may be remarked that in the foregoing account of Io's wanderings no consistency with our known geography is attainable.
