Note 40 — Chapter I · CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE SIXTH CENTURY[3]
Reading edition
Notwithstanding the southerliness of these regions, natives of the Levant have always been well acquainted with frost and snow. Thus wintry weather is a favourite theme with Homer:
ἤματι χειμερίῳ. .. κοιμήσας δ’ ἁνέμους χέει ἔμπεδον, ὄφρα καλύψῃ ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων κορυφὰς καὶ πρώονας ἄκρους, καὶ πεδία λωτεῦντα καὶ ἀνδρῶν πίονα ἔργα, καί τ’ ἐφ’ ἁλὸς πολιῆς κέχυται λιμέσιν τε καὶ ακταῖς, κῦμα δέ μιν προσπλάζον ἐρύκεται· ἄλλα τε πάντα εἰλύαται καθύπερθ’ ὅτ ἐπιβρίση Διὸς ὔμβρας. Iliad, xii, 279, κ.τ.λ.