This would be sure to baffle the Alexandrian editors. “How,” they would ask themselves, “could an island be a horseman?” and they would cast about for an emendation. A visit to the top of Mt. Eryx might perhaps make the meaning intelligible, and suggest my proposed restoration of the text to the reader as readily as it did to myself. I have elsewhere stated my conviction that the writer of the “Odyssey” was familiar with the old Sican city at the top of Mt. Eryx, and that the Aegadean islands which are so striking when seen thence did duty with her for the Ionian islands—Marettimo, the highest and most westerly of the group, standing for Ithaca. When seen from the top of Mt. Eryx Marettimo shows as it should do according to “Od.” ix. 25, 26, “on the horizon, all highest up in the sea towards the West,” while the other islands lie “some way off it to the East.” As we descend to Trapani, Marettimo appears to sink on to the top of the island of Levanzo, behind which it disappears. My friend, the late Signor E. Biaggini, pointed to it once as it was just standing on the top of Levanzo, and said to me “Come cavalca bene” (“How well it rides”), and this immediately suggested my emendation to me. Later on I found in the hymn to the Pythian Apollo (which abounds with tags taken from the “Odyssey”) a line ending {Greek} which strengthened my suspicion that this was the original ending of the second of the two lines above under consideration.] [49] [ See note on line 3 of this book. The reader will observe that the writer has been unable to keep the women out of an interpolation consisting only of four lines.] [50] [ Scheria means a piece of land jutting out into the sea. In my “Authoress of the Odyssey” I thought “Jutland” would be a suitable translation, but it has been pointed out to me that “Jutland” only means the land of the Jutes.] [51] [ Irrigation as here described is common in gardens near Trapani. The water that supplies the ducts is drawn from wells by a mule who turns a wheel with buckets on it.] [52] [ There is not a word here about the cattle of the sun-god.] [53] [ The writer evidently thought that green, growing wood might also be well seasoned.] [54] [ The reader will note that the river was flowing with salt water i.e. that it was tidal.] [55] [ Then the Ogygian island was not so far off, but that Nausicaa might be assumed to know where it was.] [56] [ Greek {Greek}] [57] [ I suspect a family joke, or sly allusion to some thing of which we know nothing, in this story of Eurymedusa’s having been brought from Apeira. The Greek word “apeiros” means “inexperienced,” “ignorant.” Is it possible that Eurymedusa was notoriously incompetent?] [58] [ Polyphemus was also son to Neptune, see “Od.” ix. 412, 529. he was therefore half brother to Nausithous, half uncle to King Alcinous, and half great uncle to Nausicaa.] [59] [ It would seem as though the writer thought that Marathon was close to Athens.]