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Ancient knowledge of the birds now known at Lake Stymphalus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

J. J. Hall
J. J. Hall
Affiliation:
University Library, Cambridge
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Extract

There seems to be no record of what the ancients knew or believed about birds actually at Lake Stymphalus, apart from the legend of the Stymphalian Birds, and the representations of birds on Stymphalian coins—one perhaps a Great Crested Grebe, and one not identifiable as any species—which have been discussed in previous notes in JHS; but it will perhaps be of interest to see what knowledge ancient authors show of the birds which Dr Bourne saw at the lake and notes above.

Type
Notes
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 102 , November 1982 , pp. 235 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1982

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References

1 Benton, S., ‘Note on sea-birds’, JHS xcii (1972) 172–3CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Anderson, J. K., ‘Stymphalian and other birds’, JHS xcvi (1976) 146CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 The identifications of these ancient bird-names are those accepted by Thompson, D'Arcy W., A glossary of Greek birds2 (London/Oxford 1936)Google Scholar, and by Pollard, J., Birds in Greek life and myth (London 1977)Google Scholar, and seem certain. (The whole of this note is heavily indebted to these two works, and I do not indicate every obligation to them.)

3 The Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is nearly as large, but does not nest in trees. See Cramp, S. et al. (edd.), Handbook of the birds of Europe i (Oxford 1977) 205, 212Google Scholar.

4 E.g. HA viii 593b17 f.Google Scholar, βόσκας is ὅμοιος μὲν νήττῃ , τὸ δὲ μέγεθος ἐλάττων. Cf. similar phrases in Athen. 395d–e.

5 So D'Arcy Thompson 158. Pollard 70 seems to suggest that κολυμβίς on its own means the Little Grebe; but I can see no reason for assuming this, except when it is qualified by μικρά.

6 Anderson, J. K., Θρᾷξ, ⊿υτῖνος, Καταρράκτης, JHS xcii (1972) 171–2CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Buxton, J., ‘A further note on sea-birds’, JHS xciv (1974) 170–1CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Benton (n. 1).

7 HA ix 609b22, 616b33Google Scholar.

8 Ixeut. ii 9Google Scholar.

9 HA ix 617a2–5Google Scholar.

10 They certainly also meant the Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), which is pure white, small and tree-nesting, presumably also the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) and the Great White Egret (Egretta alba; though that is almost as large as the Grey Heron and normally nests in reeds), and, if they knew it, the Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis; nowadays, at least, only a vagrant in south east Europe). (Aristotle clearly mentions the Spoonbill as λευκερωδιός at HA viii 593b2Google Scholar, referring to its long, broad bill.) On these herons see Cramp et al. (n. 3) i 273 ff., 352 ff.

11 HA ix 617a7Google Scholar.

12 See Cramp et al. (n. 3) i 247, 256, 263.

13 So Pollard 66. D'Arcy Thompson 76 suggests other species of duck.

14 As Pollard 70 points out.

15 On the identification of πορφυρίων see D'Arcy Thompson 252 f., Pollard 69. Its dark blue colour and large size distinguish it from the Moorhen.

16 See Dionysius, Ixeut. ii 3Google Scholar, Homer, Od. xv 479Google Scholar. On καταράκτης see J. K. Anderson (n. 6) 171, (n. 1) 146; Hall, J. J., ‘The bird cataractes’, JHS xcix (1979) 163–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Birds 882 mentions πελεκᾶντι καὶ πελεκίνῳ, but says nothing about them. Birds 1155 f., πελεκᾶντες, οἳ τοῖς ῥύγχεσιν ἀπεπελέκησαν τὰς πύλας, is simply a pun on πέλεκυς, ‘axe’, and shows no knowledge of pelicans as birds. (According to D'Arcy Thompson 233 the reference is to woodpeckers, not pelicans.)

18 Hesiod, Op. 448 ffGoogle Scholar; Homer, Il. iii 3 ffGoogle Scholar; other passages quoted by D'Arcy Thompson 70–2. Nowadays, no cranes winter in Greece, though some do in Turkey; but most of the cranes of Europe winter in Africa. See Cramp et al. (n. 3) ii (1980) 620.

19 There is no evidence that the ancients distinguished the two European species of pelican, the White (Pelecanus onocrotalus) and the Dalmatian (P. crispus); nor, apparently, do Greek writers distinguish the Crane (Grus grus) from the Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo; though Pliny, NH x 135Google Scholar mentions ‘minor grus’, presumably the latter species. See Pollard 84, D'Arcy Thompson 69).

20 Cf. Peace 1004 χῆνας νήττας φάττας τροχίλους.