Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.33.6

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Passage 1.33.6: Mount Atlas and its muddy, crocodile-filled spring said to feed the Nile

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Ἄτλαντος θολερόν τέ ἐστι καὶ πρὸς τῇ πηγῇ κροκόδειλοι δι πήχεων ἦσαν οὐκ ἐλάσσους, προσιόντων δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατεδύοντο ἐς τὴν πηγήν. παρίστατο δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγοις τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦτο ἀναφαινόμενον αὖθις ἐκ τῆς ψάμμου ποιεῖν τὸν Νεῖλον Αἰγυπτίοις. ὁ δὲ Ἄτλας ὄρος ὑψηλὸν μέν ἐστιν οὕτως ὥστε καὶ λέγεται ταῖς κορυφαῖς ψαύειν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἄβατον δὲ ὑπὸ ὕδατος καὶ δένδρων ἃ διὰ παντὸς πέφυκε· τὰ μὲν δὴ πρὸς τοὺς Νασαμῶνας αὐτοῦ γινώσκεται, τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸ πέλαγος οὐδένα πω παραπλεύσαντα ἴσμεν.

English Translation

The water from the Atlas is muddy, and near the spring crocodiles were seen, no less than two cubits long; whenever humans approached, they plunged into the spring. Not a few people were convinced that this water, after reemerging from the sand, formed the Nile for the Egyptians. Mount Atlas is indeed so high that its peaks are said to touch the sky, and it is rendered inaccessible by water and trees which grow densely everywhere. On the side facing the Nasamones it is somewhat known, but on the side toward the ocean we know of no one who has ever sailed past it.

Proper Nouns

Egyptians (Αἰγύπτιοι) person
Nasamones (Νασαμῶνες) person
Also in: 1.33.5
Nile (Νεῖλος) place Q3392
Atlas (Ἄτλας) place Q130135
Also in: 1.33.5 8.43.3
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