The Dutch Tiphys

[...of those] regions, they turned the diligence of those people into the error of myth. So that they did not hesitate to assert that ships were given to men by divine power, and were built and fashioned under the auspices of the Gods,

The flight of Phryxus and Helle In Greek myth, these siblings fled their stepmother on the back of a magical golden ram. is attributed to a golden-fleeced original Greek: χρυσομάλλῳ (chrysomallō) ram who carried them; for this kind service, it shines as the leader among the signs of the Zodiac The constellation Aries. and opens the spring for us. All the fables of the poets echo with this story; every stage teems with it, and from that event, a name was even given to the narrowest strait between Asia and Europe The Hellespont, named after Helle, who fell into the sea during the flight.. But while Phryxus was fleeing the snares of his stepmother with his sister Helle, he happened upon a ship whose figurehead was a ram original Greek: ἐτύχησε πλοίῳ ᾧ τὸ παράσημον κριὸς ἦν; he found a ship whose emblem—and thus also its name—was "The Ram." For it stood on the prow, either painted or sculpted.

Yet, because many accounts concerning this ship’s emblem or figurehead original Greek: παρασήμῳ (parasēmō) exist—passed down not only by grammarians but even by the most learned philologists—which are too playful and exceedingly absurd, it will be worthwhile to hear Joseph Scaliger Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609) was a towering figure in Renaissance scholarship, known for his work on historical chronology and classical texts. explain these matters in detail. "The figurehead original Greek: παράσημον (parasēmon)," he says, "was on the prow: and there was placed a God, a Hero, a beast, or something else from which the ship took its name." In the 28th chapter The Latin text cites chapter 27, but the account of the ship with the Dioscuri emblem occurs in Acts 28:11. of the Acts of the Apostles: on a ship with the figurehead of the Dioscuri original Greek: ἐν πλοίῳ παρασήμῳ Διοσκύροις; clearly, the figurehead of the ship on its prow featured the Dioscuri The "Heavenly Twins" Castor and Pollux, protectors of sailors. Original Greek: τὸ παράσημον τοῦ πλοίου ἐν τῇ πρώρᾳ εἶχε τοὺς Διοσκύρους.. From the Scholia Ancient explanatory notes or commentaries. on Juvenal: PEGASUS. The son of a Trierarch A commander of a trireme., from whose Liburnian ship A fast, light galley used by the Roman navy. the figurehead original Latin: parasia, likely a corruption of the Greek word for emblem. received its name. Vi-