Note 95 — Chapter III

Lycophron’s words are—

Πυράμου πρὸς ἐκβολαῖς.

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Αἰπὺς δ’ ἀλιβρὸς ὄχμος ἐν μεταιχμίῳ

Μέγαρσος.—(Cassandr. v. 439.)

The river Pyramus, according to Scylax, could be ascended by ships as far as Mallus, but the poets feigned that its mud would, in time, join Cyprus to the mainland. The poetical words are—

Ἔσσεται ἐσσομένοις ὅτε Πύραμος εὐρυοδίνης

Ἡϊόνα προχέων ἱερὴν εἰς Κύπρον ἵκεται.

It has been disputed whether Megarsus was really on the river, but the legend on its coins—ΜΕΓΑΡΣΕΩΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΩ ΠΥΡΑΜΩ—sets this question at rest. The Aleian plain, which lay between Tarsus and Mallus, was the traditional scene of Bellerophon’s disaster (Il. z. 200).