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Hoplopoeia, note he places the ocean in a circle round the border
of Achilles' shield. Another proof of the extent of his knowledge, is his acquaintance with the ebb and flow of the sea,
calling it the ebbing ocean. note Again,
Each day she thrice disgorges, and again
Thrice drinks, insatiate, the deluge down. note
The assertion of thrice, instead of twice, is either an error of
the author, or a blunder of the scribe, but the phenomenon is
the same, and the expression soft-flowing, note has reference to
the flood-tide, which has a gentle swell, and does not flow with
a full rush. Posidonius believes that where Homer describes
the rocks as at one time covered with the waves, and at another left bare, and when he compares the ocean to a river, he
alludes to the flow of the ocean. The first supposition is correct, but for the second there is no ground; inasmuch as there
can be no comparison between the flow, much less the ebb of
the sea, and the current of a river. There is more probability
in the explanation of Crates, that Homer describes the whole
ocean as deep-flowing, ebbing, and also calls it a river, and
that he also describes a part of the ocean as a river, and the
flow of a river; and that he is speaking of a part, and not the
whole, when he thus writes:—
When down the smooth Oceanus impell'd
Odyssey xii. l.
By prosperous gales, my galley, once again,
Cleaving the billows of the spacious deep,
Had reach'd the Aeaean isle. note
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Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Str.].