Note 1493 — Chapter I

It is difficult to clear up this passage ἣν ΑΙΓΑ τινὲς ὀνομαζουσιν ὁμωνύμως τῷ ξώῳ· δεῖ δὲ μακρῶς τὴν δευτέραν συλλαβὴν ἐκφέρειν ἈΙΓΑΝ ὡς ἈΚΤΑΝ καὶ ἈΡΧΑΝ. There is no doubt that the first of these words in capitals, to be homonymous with goat, should be αἶγα, as is read in the old editions, and in many manuscripts, and not αἰγᾶ, αἰγὰ, or, αἰγὰν, as in others. Αἶγα is the accusative of Αἲξ, (Æx,) a goat, which name Artemidorus actually gives to this promontory. But as our language has no termination of cases, the passage requires some explanation. If the Greeks desired to express in the nominative case the position of the promontory with respect to the island of Lesbos, they would say, according to Artemidorus, The cape Æx (Αἲξ) is in front of Lesbos; according to Strabo, The cape Æga (Αἰγᾶ) is in front of Lesbos. The first, Æx, signifies a goat, as Artemidorus intended; the second, Æga, in the Doric dialect (for Æge, Αἰγῆ) means a goat’s skin. If they desired to employ the word in the accusative, they said, according to Artemidorus, We have doubled Cape Æga (Αἶγα); according to Strabo, We have doubled Cape Ægan (Αἰγᾶν). The matter is clear thus far, but what follows, δεῖ δὲ μακρῶς * * * ὡς ἀκτᾶν καὶ ἀρχᾶν, is difficult to explain. The two last words are Doric genitive plurals, the first for ἀκτῶν, shores, the second for ἀρχῶν, beginnings; and yet one would expect to find examples of accusatives in the singular number, as ἀκτὰν and ἀρχὰν; the difference of accent is here of no importance, for the last syllables of these accusatives are long, as Strabo wishes to make the last syllable long of Ægan (Αἰγᾶν). If he had required examples agreeing with this last word in quantity, accent, and case, he might have cited sycan, (συκᾶν, a fig-tree,) or some other word of this form. It might be supposed that Ακτᾶν was here taken in the acceptation [ἀκτέην, ἀκτῆν, and, in the Doric dialect, ἀκτᾶν]; but there still remains ἀρχᾶν, unless we change the word to ἀρχτᾶν, a bear’s skin.—Coraÿ.]