Book 1
2.21
Some writers tell us there are but two principal winds, the north and south, and that the other winds are only a slight difference in the direction of these two. That is, (supposing only two winds, the north and south,) the south wind from the commencement of the summer quarter blows in a south-easterly direction; and from the commencement of the winter quarter from the east. The north wind from the decline of the summer, blows in a westerly direction, and from the decline of the winter, in a north-westerly direction.
2.21
In support of this opinion of the two winds they adduce Thrasyalces and our poet himself, forasmuch as he mentions the north-west with the south, From the north-west south,̓αοͅγέσταο νὀτοιο, Iliad xi. 306, xxi. 334.̓αοͅγέστης strictly speaking means the north-west, and although, to an English ear, the north-west south seems at first absurd, yet in following up the argument which Strabo is engaged in, it is impossible to make use of any other terms than those which he has brought forward, and merely to have translated ἀργέσταο νότοιο by Argest-south, would have mystified the passage without cause. We do not here attempt to reconcile the various renderings of ἀοͅγέσταο νότοιο by Homeric critics, as Strabo’s sense alone concerns us.Iliad xi. 306, xxi. 334. and the west with the north, As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace, Boreas and Zephyrus.The north and west winds, which both blow from Thrace. Iliad ix. 5.Iliad ix. 5.
