April
18
/ 2014
As a saviour of Greeks, this watchman of Pharos, O Lord Proteus, was erected by Sostratus, son of Dexiphanes, from Cnidus. For in Egypt there are no lookout posts on a mountain, as in the islands, but low lies the breakwater where ships take harbor. Therefore this tower, in a straight and upright line, appears to cleave the sky from countless stadia away, during the day, but throughout the night quickly a sailor on the waves will see a great fire blazing from its summit. And he may even run to the Bull’s horn, and not miss Zeus the Saviour, O Proteus, whosoever sails this way. The epigram above was written by Posidippus of Pella, who lived in Alexandria during
