----- Original Message -----

From: Daniel J. Milton

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 12:27 AM

Subject: [tied] Re: etymology of Eridanus

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Smith"
<mytoyneighborhood@s...> wrote:
>
>      Does anyone know the etymology of Eridanus?  I'm assuming,
from
> what I've been told, that it is a word of Celtic origin.  As it
> appears in early Greek mythology (Hesiod, for example), the Greeks
> must have known about this river in southern Gaul pretty early on,
> and so could this be considered an early Celtic loanword into
Greek?
>
> -Michael
*************
     So what river do you have in mind?  The Po?
     As I understand it, Eridanus was a mythical river, or if it had
a real referent, it was long lost.    At some point (pre-Herodotus)
it was placed in the NW (from a Greek point of view). I can't find
when it was associated with the Po, but I believe late.
     As to your specific question, I'll let Herodotus answer it:
Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley) book 3, chapter 115,
section 1
"But concerning those in Europe that are the farthest away towards
evening, I cannot speak with assurance; for I do not believe that
there is a river called by foreigners Eridanus issuing into the
northern sea, where our amber is said to come from, nor do I have
any knowledge of Tin Islands, where our tin is brought from. (5.13)"

Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley) book 3, chapter 115,
section 2
"The very name Eridanus betrays itself as not a foreign but a Greek
name, invented by some poet; nor for all my diligence have I been
able to learn from one who has seen it that there is a sea beyond
Europe"

Dan Milton