II.] OUTER GEOGRAPHY OF THE ODYSSEY. 2J
The Aethiopians are now sufficiently well known to be divided
into two families, eastern and western—" the Aethiopians that
are sundered in twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some where
Hyperion sinks and some where he rises1"—a distinction which
corresponds to that drawn at a later time by Herodotus, who
speaks of "the Aethiopians above Egypt" and "the Aethiopians
towards the rising of the sun2." Of the countries to the west of
Greece great ignorance still prevails; Sicania, the l norance of
old name of Sicily8, and the race of Sicels that the Western
inhabited that island4, are introduced; but beyond Countnes>
these, and an incidental mention of the Thesprotians in Epirus5,
scarcely any advance appears to have been made. This need
hardly surprise us, when we consider that the outlets of Greece,
and consequently the opportunities for communication which it
provides, are all towards the east. The coast on that side is
deeply indented with bays, which provide a shelter for the mariner,
and the principal maritime plains, like those of Attica and
Argolis, open out in that direction} whereas the western coast of
the Peloponnese has hardly a harbour to offer except those of
Pylos and Methone in Messenia, and the inlets which lie further
to the north are backed on the land side by inhospitable
mountains.
In the wonderland of Ulysses' adventurous wanderings we
look almost in vain for any real information about
distant countries. Not that these strange scenes are
to be regarded as the mere creation of the poet's
brain; they were rather the product of the popular fancy, which
had combined a variety of old mythological fables Thcir
with reports derived from Phoenician traders. But Mythical
the attempt to associate the incidents of the journey aracter-
with definite places—to identify the land of the Cyclopes with
Sicily, or the island of Aeolus with one of the Lipari islands, or
Circe's isle with the Circeian promontory—cannot bear the test
of examination. Even Phaeacia, notwithstanding the venerable
tradition which both in ancient and modern times has placed it
at Corfu, and the fitness of that delectable island to represent
1 Od. 1.23, 24. a Herod. 7. 69, 70. 8 Od. 24. 307.
4 Od, 20, 383. * Od. 14. 315.