Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/239

 B. in. c. ii. 13. SPAIN. 225 had been pillaged of every thing ; the latter, on account of the shame which each one anticipated to himself: " The shame That must attend us, after absence long Returning unsuccessful, who can bear ? " l In the same way is related the wandering of -ZEneas, of An- tenor, and of the Heneti ; likewise of Diomedes, of Menelaus, of Ulysses, 2 and of many others. Hence the poet, knowing of similar expeditions to the extremities of Iberia, and having heard of its wealth and other excellencies, (which the Phoe- nicians had made known,) feigned this to be the region of the Blessed, and the Plain of Elysium, where Proteus informs Menelaus that he is to depart to : " But far hence the gods Will send thee to Elysium, and the earth's Extremest bounds ; there Rhadamanthus dwells, The golden-haired, and there the human kind Enjoy the easiest life ; no snow is there, No biting winter, and no drenching shower, But zephyr always gently from the sea Breathes on them to refresh the happy race." 3 Now the purity of the air, arid the gentle breathing of the zephyr, are both applicable to this country, as well as the softness of the climate, its position in the west, and its place at the extremities of the earth, where, as we have said, he feigned that Hades was. By coupling Rhadamanthus with it, he signifies that the place was near to Minos, of whom he says, " There saw I Minos, offspring famed of Jove; His golden sceptre in his hand, he sat Judge of the dead." 4 Similar to these are the fables related by later poets ; such, for instance, as the expeditions after the oxen of Geryon, and the 1 But still it would be disgraceful to remain here so long, and to return home without fitting booty. Iliad ii. 2S8. 2 We should probably here read Menestheus. 3 But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the bound- aries of the earth, where is auburn -haired Rhadamanthus ; there of a truth is the most easy life for men. There is nor snow nor long winter, nor ever a shower, but ever does the ocean send forth the gently blowing breezes of the west wind to refresh men. Odyssey iv. 063. sceptre, giving laws to the dead. Odyssey xi. 567. Bohn's edition. VOL. i. Q
 * There then I beheld Minos, the illustrious son of Jove, having a golden