DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14699#0025
Floating Islands
989
altar, though nobody ventured to catch them (Varr. rer. rust. 3. 17. 4 loculatas
habent piscinas, ubi dispares disclusos habent pisces, quos, proinde ut sacri sint
ac sanctiores quam illi in Lydia, quos sacrificanti tibi, Varro, ad tibicinem
[graecum] gregatim venisse dicebas ad extremum litus atque aram, quod eos
capere auderet nemo, cum eodem tempore insutas Lydorum ibi x°Pevo"a'as
v'disses, sic hos piscis nemo cocus in ius vocare audet). Pliny, after his account
of the Lydian Calaminae, goes on to say that in the Nymphaeum too are small
islands called Saliares because, when choruses are sung, they move in time with
the beating feet (Plin. uat. hist. 2. 209 sunt et in Nymphaeo parvae, Saliares
dictae, quoniam in symphoniae cantu ad ictus modulantium pedum moventur).
Elsewhere he asserts, on the authority of Ktesias (?), that the fish in the Lake of
the Nymphs are poisonous (Ktesias frag. 83 Muller ap. Plin. not. hist. 31. 2;
hoc idem et in Lydia in stagno Nympharum tradunt)—a belief still prevalent
with regard to the carp of the Koloe Limne (supra).
Strabon mentions the sanctuary of Artemis KoXoijvij, on the Gygaia or Koloe
Limne, where 'the baskets' are said to dance on festal days (Strab. 626 hi 8i
oTdfii'oif TfTTapiiKovTU a7ro riff jroXewr (sc. Sardeis) fWin fj Tvyaia p.iv viro tov
y«";roC Xcynfiiv,) <.\ifivr) (ius. A. Koraes)>, K0X01) fi' varepov perovopaaBelo-a,
"tou T0 iepav rqs KoXoip/jf ' Aprtpioos, peya\rjv Ayurreiav ex1"1- 4"1<TL & ivrtmOa
X»peu€u. roit ki,\ii6ovs (F. E. Ruhkopf, followed by G. Bernhardy and C. Muller,
cj- Kak&povt. E. Muller cj. KofiaXovs. ttiOtjkovs, a curious variant in codd. m, z
and edd. Aid. Cas., was altered by C. A. Lobeck Aglaophamus Regimontii
Prussorum 1829 p. 226 into irtfdicvas, but may imply some confusion with
K'"XXi'(i£, 'apes,' which A. Westermann would restore to the text) koto, rat ioprdc,
°"K 018' o7rci>s noTe wapal)o£o\oyovi>T(S pdWov fj iiXr;#eVOVTfS = Eustath. in II.
P- 36S, 46 ff.).
Lastly, according to Isigonos the paradoxographer of Nikaia, whose floruit
probably falls in s. i A.D. (W. Kroll in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ix. 2082,
CP- W. Christ Geschichtc der griechischeu LitUratur6 ii. 1. 420 n. 5), in Lydia
there is a lake called Tala (?) sacred to the Nymphs. It bears a multitude
of reeds and in their midst one that the natives term king. A yearly festival is
held, at which sacrifices are offered and a chorus sounds on the shore of the lake.
Thereupon all the reeds dance, and the king dancing with them comes to the
shore. The natives wreath him with fillets and send him off, praying that both
he and they may come again another year; that is their sign of a fertile season
(Isigonos frag. 8 (Fra<r. hist. Gr. iv. 436 Muller) ap. anon, de aquis mirabilibus
43 iv AvSi'a tan Xipvri TaXa pkv (C. Muller, followed by L. Biirchner, cj. KaXapivrj.
But cp. II. 2. 865 vl( TaXaipivfos, ra Tvyair] tckc Xi'/xvi), where TaXatplvip may be
a Greek adaptation of the Lydian name) KoXovftfrq, Upa 8f oio-a vvp<j>S>v, f) <j>tpei
KuXupwv (A. Westermann cj. KnXXtwv (?)) ir\r)8os ucpdovov koi piaov airwv cva,
uv /3(«riXf'a n poaayopcvovtriv pi (Vixwpioi • dvuiat Se koX (oprus iiriTcKovvTts
(Vuivtriovs iiziklHTKOVTlU- TOVTUSV fit (TTITtkovpfVUlV, (TTflhilV (7TI Tljf t}l6vOS KTV1TOS
Wp-tpwvias yevrjrm, ni'ivTfs o! KiiXap.01 xopevovat Kill 6 /'dacriXtir <rvv ovrols xopfvow
7Tal"iyveTai ciri ti)v ntova* oi 5f fVi^oipioi raivlais avrov Karao-Ti^ravrfS ano-
*<P-ttov<tiv, (ixopfvoi teat (Is to tmov avrov Tt <a\ eavrovs irapayevioBai, ais ev(Tr)pias
°vr< trtifuup (p. Sylbui'g cj. ov ti o-rjpf'iov)- i>s io-ropfi '\<riy0V0S iv hfVTepa
"vioTnvY
Isigonos' work was entitled 'Airiora, but his statements here are by no
means incredible and may easily be reconciled with those of our other sources.
Artemis Ko\onvi, (on whom see Scherling in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. xi.
Ho8f.) had a temple on a hill close to the southern shore of the lake: its ruins
989
altar, though nobody ventured to catch them (Varr. rer. rust. 3. 17. 4 loculatas
habent piscinas, ubi dispares disclusos habent pisces, quos, proinde ut sacri sint
ac sanctiores quam illi in Lydia, quos sacrificanti tibi, Varro, ad tibicinem
[graecum] gregatim venisse dicebas ad extremum litus atque aram, quod eos
capere auderet nemo, cum eodem tempore insutas Lydorum ibi x°Pevo"a'as
v'disses, sic hos piscis nemo cocus in ius vocare audet). Pliny, after his account
of the Lydian Calaminae, goes on to say that in the Nymphaeum too are small
islands called Saliares because, when choruses are sung, they move in time with
the beating feet (Plin. uat. hist. 2. 209 sunt et in Nymphaeo parvae, Saliares
dictae, quoniam in symphoniae cantu ad ictus modulantium pedum moventur).
Elsewhere he asserts, on the authority of Ktesias (?), that the fish in the Lake of
the Nymphs are poisonous (Ktesias frag. 83 Muller ap. Plin. not. hist. 31. 2;
hoc idem et in Lydia in stagno Nympharum tradunt)—a belief still prevalent
with regard to the carp of the Koloe Limne (supra).
Strabon mentions the sanctuary of Artemis KoXoijvij, on the Gygaia or Koloe
Limne, where 'the baskets' are said to dance on festal days (Strab. 626 hi 8i
oTdfii'oif TfTTapiiKovTU a7ro riff jroXewr (sc. Sardeis) fWin fj Tvyaia p.iv viro tov
y«";roC Xcynfiiv,) <.\ifivr) (ius. A. Koraes)>, K0X01) fi' varepov perovopaaBelo-a,
"tou T0 iepav rqs KoXoip/jf ' Aprtpioos, peya\rjv Ayurreiav ex1"1- 4"1<TL & ivrtmOa
X»peu€u. roit ki,\ii6ovs (F. E. Ruhkopf, followed by G. Bernhardy and C. Muller,
cj- Kak&povt. E. Muller cj. KofiaXovs. ttiOtjkovs, a curious variant in codd. m, z
and edd. Aid. Cas., was altered by C. A. Lobeck Aglaophamus Regimontii
Prussorum 1829 p. 226 into irtfdicvas, but may imply some confusion with
K'"XXi'(i£, 'apes,' which A. Westermann would restore to the text) koto, rat ioprdc,
°"K 018' o7rci>s noTe wapal)o£o\oyovi>T(S pdWov fj iiXr;#eVOVTfS = Eustath. in II.
P- 36S, 46 ff.).
Lastly, according to Isigonos the paradoxographer of Nikaia, whose floruit
probably falls in s. i A.D. (W. Kroll in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ix. 2082,
CP- W. Christ Geschichtc der griechischeu LitUratur6 ii. 1. 420 n. 5), in Lydia
there is a lake called Tala (?) sacred to the Nymphs. It bears a multitude
of reeds and in their midst one that the natives term king. A yearly festival is
held, at which sacrifices are offered and a chorus sounds on the shore of the lake.
Thereupon all the reeds dance, and the king dancing with them comes to the
shore. The natives wreath him with fillets and send him off, praying that both
he and they may come again another year; that is their sign of a fertile season
(Isigonos frag. 8 (Fra<r. hist. Gr. iv. 436 Muller) ap. anon, de aquis mirabilibus
43 iv AvSi'a tan Xipvri TaXa pkv (C. Muller, followed by L. Biirchner, cj. KaXapivrj.
But cp. II. 2. 865 vl( TaXaipivfos, ra Tvyair] tckc Xi'/xvi), where TaXatplvip may be
a Greek adaptation of the Lydian name) KoXovftfrq, Upa 8f oio-a vvp<j>S>v, f) <j>tpei
KuXupwv (A. Westermann cj. KnXXtwv (?)) ir\r)8os ucpdovov koi piaov airwv cva,
uv /3(«riXf'a n poaayopcvovtriv pi (Vixwpioi • dvuiat Se koX (oprus iiriTcKovvTts
(Vuivtriovs iiziklHTKOVTlU- TOVTUSV fit (TTITtkovpfVUlV, (TTflhilV (7TI Tljf t}l6vOS KTV1TOS
Wp-tpwvias yevrjrm, ni'ivTfs o! KiiXap.01 xopevovat Kill 6 /'dacriXtir <rvv ovrols xopfvow
7Tal"iyveTai ciri ti)v ntova* oi 5f fVi^oipioi raivlais avrov Karao-Ti^ravrfS ano-
*<P-ttov<tiv, (ixopfvoi teat (Is to tmov avrov Tt <a\ eavrovs irapayevioBai, ais ev(Tr)pias
°vr< trtifuup (p. Sylbui'g cj. ov ti o-rjpf'iov)- i>s io-ropfi '\<riy0V0S iv hfVTepa
"vioTnvY
Isigonos' work was entitled 'Airiora, but his statements here are by no
means incredible and may easily be reconciled with those of our other sources.
Artemis Ko\onvi, (on whom see Scherling in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. xi.
Ho8f.) had a temple on a hill close to the southern shore of the lake: its ruins