88. Thales the Milesian, one of the seven wise men, says that the overflowing of the Nile arises from the Etesian winds; for that they blow up the river, and that the mouths of the river lie exactly opposite to the point from which they blow; and accordingly that the wind blowing in the opposite direction hinders the flow of the waters; and the waves of the sea, dashing against the mouth of the river, and coming on with a fair wind in the same direction, beat back the river, and in this manner the Nile becomes full to overflowing. But Anaxagoras the natural philosopher says that the fulness of the Nile arises from the snow melting; and so, too, says Euripides, and some others of the tragic poets. And Anaxagoras says that this is the sole origin of all that fulness; but Euripides goes further, and describes the exact place where this melting of the snow takes place; for in his play called "Archelaus" he speaks thus:-- Danaus, the noble sire of fifty daughters, Leaving the Nile, the fairest stream on earth, Fill'd by the summer of the Æthiop land, The negro's home, when the deep snow does melt, And o'er the land the Sun his chariot drives. And in the "Helen" he says something similar:-- These are the beauteous virgin streams of Nile, Which in the place of rain bedew the plain Of Egypt when the white snow melts on th' hills. And Æschylus says-- I know its history, and love to praise The race of the Æthiop land, where mighty Nile Rolls down his seven streams the country through, When the spring winds bring down the heavy waters; What time the sun shining along that land Dissolves the mountain snow; and the whole land Of flourishing Egypt, fill'd with th' holy stream, Sends forth the vital ears of corn of Ceres.