DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14699#0023
Floating Islands 987
the same thing happens: the opening lines run 'When Britain first at Heaven's
command | Arose from out the azure main,' etc., yet the burden 'Rule,
Britannia' and the succeeding stanzas bring the allegorical figure to the fore.
(9) The Strophades, two islets off the coast of Messene to the south of
Zakynthos, were originally called the Plotai (Antimachosfrag. 13 Bergk4,60 Wyss
ap. schol. Paris. Ap. Rhod. 2. 296 rairas ovv <prjo-'tv rds vrjo-ovs 'AjtoXXuivios 2rpo<^)-
o8as pera ravra KXrjd^vai Sm to iKeidev virocrTpi^aL rovs liopeafias Km prjKiri Smdkclv
auras, napa Avripdvov fie rouro eiXrf<f>ev 6 AjroXXuivios• ouruy yap eneivos iv rrj AuSt/
wept avTwv pipvrjrai. dXXoi fie koi did tovto 2rpo(pd8as <pao-\v auras KXrjdrjvai oti iv
ourais viroo-Tpa<p(vt(s ol Bopfadai rjvtjavTO tco Ail Xafielv auras. k.t.X. (cp. supra ii.
907 n. 2), Ap. Rhod. 2. 285 cqo-ourtv fin nXan/iri Kixdvres with schol. ad loc.-
Favorin. lex. p. 1523, 25 ff., Ap. Rhod. 2. 296 f. 2rpo<f>d8as fit peraKXelovo-'
""0pa)7roL I frjo-ovs toio y eKJjri, rrdpns HXutrds KaXiovTfS, Hyg. fab. 14 p. 47, IffL
quae inhabitabant insulas Strophadas in Aegaeo {sic) mari, quae Plotae appel-
lantur, Mela 2. 110 olim Plotae nunc Strophades, Plin. nat. hist. 4. 55 ante
Zacynthum xxxv in Eurum ventum Strophades duae, ab aliis Plotae dictae).
I he names are significant. The two Turning Isles or Floating Isles, haunted by
the Harpies (Apollod. 1. 9. 21, Verg. Acn. 3. 2ioff., Hyg. fab. 19, alib.: see
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. pp. 398, 813 n. 8, 846 n. 5), are in all probability an early
variant of the Planktai or Symplegades (Gruppe op. cil. p. 556 n. 3)—a perilous
gateway of the Otherworld.
(10) The same name Plotai was given by Dionysios the geographer to the
seven islands of Aiolos in the Sicilian Sea (Dionys. per. 465 f. Inrd fit o! rot y
ei(rn>, enutvupoi dv8pdo-t nXa>rm, | ovvena piacrov exovo~l nep'mXoov dpfpiiXiKTov with
Eustath. and paraphr. ad loc, cp. schol. Ap. Rhod. 2. 297 ai fit nXwral vtjorot
ictivrai iv t<u SiKfXtcoj ire\dya). Homer had made Aiolos live ttXiot;/ M vtjo-co
{supra (1)), and Apollonios had perhaps spoken of Hiera or Lipara as vyo-ow
wXcorfjs (so schol. Flor. on Ap. Rhod. 3. 42 vr^aroia wXayKrrjs {supra (2))).
(11) Theophrastos speaks of Ploades or 'Floating' Islands on the lake of
Orchomenos, i.e. Lake Kopais in Boiotia, and compares them with others in the
marshes of Egypt, Thesprotis, etc. (Theophr. hist. pi. 4. 10. 2 (pverai fie <5
""Xeiorof {sc. iXaiayvoc, 'goat-willow', salix caprea) pev ini T&v nXodhav vi]o-usv
eicl yap rives Km ivruuda 7rXoiifies, ao-rrep iv AiyvnTui nepi ra eXi] nai iv Qeo-n-purihi
Ka-i (v uXXais Xipvats, 4. 12. 4 tuiv fie vrjo-av t&v nXodSav tuiv iv 'Opxopeva ra pev
P-eyiOn nuvrohana Tvyvdvu, rd fie peyio-ra avTU>v io~Tiv 00-ov Tpiuiv o-raSiuiv TTjv
Tcptperpov. iv Alyunrui fie pdXicrTa peydXa a-(f>o8pa ovvio-TuTai, ware Kal is iv
avratff eyyiveo-dai noXXovs, ovs Kal Kvvrjyerovo-i 8iaftaivovres, Hesych. nXoiifie? tusv
*v Epxopevm- < vrjo-oi> rives (so M. Schmidt" for 7rXoufies' tuiv inepxopeviov
rives cod.) ovra> KaXouvrai, Theophr. hist. pi. 4. II. I KaXovai fie tov pev loj(0p6v
K"i na^vv (sc. KaXapov) vapaKiav tov 8' erepov TrXoxipov • cnl <f>ueo-0ai tov pev
wXdicipo[> eVl tuiv nXodSwv tov fie xapaxiav eVl rois Kutpvai = Plin. nat. hist. 16. 168
de Orchomenii lacus harundinetis accuratius dici cogit admiratio antiqua.
characian vocabant crassiorem firmioremque, plocian (K. L. von Urlichs cj.
plocimon) vero subtiliorem, hanc in insulis fluvitantibus natam, illam in ripis
exspatiantis lacus). O. Gruppe held that these Boiotian islands were connected
w'th chthonian powers thought to issue from the Underworld in the form of
w inds (Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 813). If so, note the belief that reeds used for
pipes grew in the lake only at intervals of eight years (Theophr. hist. pi. 4. 11. 2
pl ivvearijpiSos = Plin. nat. hist. 16. 169 nono... anno). But Gruppe's assumption
ls gratuitous. We are here dealing with purely natural phenomena. H. N.
Ulrichs Reisen und Forschungen in Griechenland Bremen 1840 i. 192 observes
the same thing happens: the opening lines run 'When Britain first at Heaven's
command | Arose from out the azure main,' etc., yet the burden 'Rule,
Britannia' and the succeeding stanzas bring the allegorical figure to the fore.
(9) The Strophades, two islets off the coast of Messene to the south of
Zakynthos, were originally called the Plotai (Antimachosfrag. 13 Bergk4,60 Wyss
ap. schol. Paris. Ap. Rhod. 2. 296 rairas ovv <prjo-'tv rds vrjo-ovs 'AjtoXXuivios 2rpo<^)-
o8as pera ravra KXrjd^vai Sm to iKeidev virocrTpi^aL rovs liopeafias Km prjKiri Smdkclv
auras, napa Avripdvov fie rouro eiXrf<f>ev 6 AjroXXuivios• ouruy yap eneivos iv rrj AuSt/
wept avTwv pipvrjrai. dXXoi fie koi did tovto 2rpo(pd8as <pao-\v auras KXrjdrjvai oti iv
ourais viroo-Tpa<p(vt(s ol Bopfadai rjvtjavTO tco Ail Xafielv auras. k.t.X. (cp. supra ii.
907 n. 2), Ap. Rhod. 2. 285 cqo-ourtv fin nXan/iri Kixdvres with schol. ad loc.-
Favorin. lex. p. 1523, 25 ff., Ap. Rhod. 2. 296 f. 2rpo<f>d8as fit peraKXelovo-'
""0pa)7roL I frjo-ovs toio y eKJjri, rrdpns HXutrds KaXiovTfS, Hyg. fab. 14 p. 47, IffL
quae inhabitabant insulas Strophadas in Aegaeo {sic) mari, quae Plotae appel-
lantur, Mela 2. 110 olim Plotae nunc Strophades, Plin. nat. hist. 4. 55 ante
Zacynthum xxxv in Eurum ventum Strophades duae, ab aliis Plotae dictae).
I he names are significant. The two Turning Isles or Floating Isles, haunted by
the Harpies (Apollod. 1. 9. 21, Verg. Acn. 3. 2ioff., Hyg. fab. 19, alib.: see
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. pp. 398, 813 n. 8, 846 n. 5), are in all probability an early
variant of the Planktai or Symplegades (Gruppe op. cil. p. 556 n. 3)—a perilous
gateway of the Otherworld.
(10) The same name Plotai was given by Dionysios the geographer to the
seven islands of Aiolos in the Sicilian Sea (Dionys. per. 465 f. Inrd fit o! rot y
ei(rn>, enutvupoi dv8pdo-t nXa>rm, | ovvena piacrov exovo~l nep'mXoov dpfpiiXiKTov with
Eustath. and paraphr. ad loc, cp. schol. Ap. Rhod. 2. 297 ai fit nXwral vtjorot
ictivrai iv t<u SiKfXtcoj ire\dya). Homer had made Aiolos live ttXiot;/ M vtjo-co
{supra (1)), and Apollonios had perhaps spoken of Hiera or Lipara as vyo-ow
wXcorfjs (so schol. Flor. on Ap. Rhod. 3. 42 vr^aroia wXayKrrjs {supra (2))).
(11) Theophrastos speaks of Ploades or 'Floating' Islands on the lake of
Orchomenos, i.e. Lake Kopais in Boiotia, and compares them with others in the
marshes of Egypt, Thesprotis, etc. (Theophr. hist. pi. 4. 10. 2 (pverai fie <5
""Xeiorof {sc. iXaiayvoc, 'goat-willow', salix caprea) pev ini T&v nXodhav vi]o-usv
eicl yap rives Km ivruuda 7rXoiifies, ao-rrep iv AiyvnTui nepi ra eXi] nai iv Qeo-n-purihi
Ka-i (v uXXais Xipvats, 4. 12. 4 tuiv fie vrjo-av t&v nXodSav tuiv iv 'Opxopeva ra pev
P-eyiOn nuvrohana Tvyvdvu, rd fie peyio-ra avTU>v io~Tiv 00-ov Tpiuiv o-raSiuiv TTjv
Tcptperpov. iv Alyunrui fie pdXicrTa peydXa a-(f>o8pa ovvio-TuTai, ware Kal is iv
avratff eyyiveo-dai noXXovs, ovs Kal Kvvrjyerovo-i 8iaftaivovres, Hesych. nXoiifie? tusv
*v Epxopevm- < vrjo-oi> rives (so M. Schmidt" for 7rXoufies' tuiv inepxopeviov
rives cod.) ovra> KaXouvrai, Theophr. hist. pi. 4. II. I KaXovai fie tov pev loj(0p6v
K"i na^vv (sc. KaXapov) vapaKiav tov 8' erepov TrXoxipov • cnl <f>ueo-0ai tov pev
wXdicipo[> eVl tuiv nXodSwv tov fie xapaxiav eVl rois Kutpvai = Plin. nat. hist. 16. 168
de Orchomenii lacus harundinetis accuratius dici cogit admiratio antiqua.
characian vocabant crassiorem firmioremque, plocian (K. L. von Urlichs cj.
plocimon) vero subtiliorem, hanc in insulis fluvitantibus natam, illam in ripis
exspatiantis lacus). O. Gruppe held that these Boiotian islands were connected
w'th chthonian powers thought to issue from the Underworld in the form of
w inds (Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 813). If so, note the belief that reeds used for
pipes grew in the lake only at intervals of eight years (Theophr. hist. pi. 4. 11. 2
pl ivvearijpiSos = Plin. nat. hist. 16. 169 nono... anno). But Gruppe's assumption
ls gratuitous. We are here dealing with purely natural phenomena. H. N.
Ulrichs Reisen und Forschungen in Griechenland Bremen 1840 i. 192 observes