DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9804#0182
156 THE COMING OF THE GREEKS
ending, it is not particularly associated with Praesos or
the east of the island as a whole. Rhadamanthus and
the Labyrinth belong to Knossos, and Puranthos survives
in the modern Purathi, almost due south of it.1 Of
Surinthus we have no certain knowledge, but the nearest
modern name to it seems to be Suri,8 in the west of the
island, close to Suda Bay. Other names in -nd or -th,
in some of which the old term may possibly be hid,5 are
found all over the island, and not only in the east, in
Proesos and its neighbourhood. That some examples of
the termination should be found there would be natural,
on the theory that it belongs to a language common to
the whole island. That any should be found elsewhere
is fatal to a theory that makes it peculiar to the east.
The same remark applies to the connections that can
be established between Crete and Phrygia.4 Some of
them are, so far as we know, common to the island, such
as the word anLvOos, a mouse, with its analogy to Apollo
Smintheus in the Troad.5 Of the three that are local, the
little island of Chrysa, south of Hierapetra,6 might be
included in the Eteo-Cretan district, but Mount Ida
is west of Knossos, and Pergamon in the extreme west.7
The fact, too, that the Phrygians of Classical times were
Indo-Europeans proves nothing as to the affinities of the
place names of Phrygia. They may have taken words
1 Steph. Byz. ad voc. Kiepert, Creta.
2 Ibid.
3 In Kiepert's Creta we find (a) in the East—Anguthi, Epitlii,
(b) in the East centre—Lasithi, Psathi, Elunda ; (c) in the Centre—
Zinda, Akhendrias ; (d) in the West—Arolithi, Marathi, Asphcndu.
I do not suggest that all, or indeed any, of these names are
ancient, but merely that this line of research is not promising as
a support for the connection of -nth with Prassos.
4 Conway, B.S.A. viii. pp. 144, 145, 151, 154.
6 Ibid. pp. 136, 145. The disc with 2MJ211 on it, picked up
somewhere in the cast of the island, hardly helps us.
« Ibid. pp. 139, 144, 145.
7 Pliny, iv. 20, 59.
ending, it is not particularly associated with Praesos or
the east of the island as a whole. Rhadamanthus and
the Labyrinth belong to Knossos, and Puranthos survives
in the modern Purathi, almost due south of it.1 Of
Surinthus we have no certain knowledge, but the nearest
modern name to it seems to be Suri,8 in the west of the
island, close to Suda Bay. Other names in -nd or -th,
in some of which the old term may possibly be hid,5 are
found all over the island, and not only in the east, in
Proesos and its neighbourhood. That some examples of
the termination should be found there would be natural,
on the theory that it belongs to a language common to
the whole island. That any should be found elsewhere
is fatal to a theory that makes it peculiar to the east.
The same remark applies to the connections that can
be established between Crete and Phrygia.4 Some of
them are, so far as we know, common to the island, such
as the word anLvOos, a mouse, with its analogy to Apollo
Smintheus in the Troad.5 Of the three that are local, the
little island of Chrysa, south of Hierapetra,6 might be
included in the Eteo-Cretan district, but Mount Ida
is west of Knossos, and Pergamon in the extreme west.7
The fact, too, that the Phrygians of Classical times were
Indo-Europeans proves nothing as to the affinities of the
place names of Phrygia. They may have taken words
1 Steph. Byz. ad voc. Kiepert, Creta.
2 Ibid.
3 In Kiepert's Creta we find (a) in the East—Anguthi, Epitlii,
(b) in the East centre—Lasithi, Psathi, Elunda ; (c) in the Centre—
Zinda, Akhendrias ; (d) in the West—Arolithi, Marathi, Asphcndu.
I do not suggest that all, or indeed any, of these names are
ancient, but merely that this line of research is not promising as
a support for the connection of -nth with Prassos.
4 Conway, B.S.A. viii. pp. 144, 145, 151, 154.
6 Ibid. pp. 136, 145. The disc with 2MJ211 on it, picked up
somewhere in the cast of the island, hardly helps us.
« Ibid. pp. 139, 144, 145.
7 Pliny, iv. 20, 59.