| The difficult conditions associated with overwintering and the dangers inherent in crossing the Cretan Sea are common topoi in Ancient Greek, Latin and Byzantine literature. The article traces references to these topoi in works by Sophocles, Horace, Thucydides, Apollonius Rhodius, Eustathius and the Palatine Anthology, placing emphasis on certain uses of the term πέλαγος (sea) by Hesychius, Aeschylus and Sophocles, and on uses of the term κρήσιος (Latin cres(s)ius = Cretan) by Euripides, Pausanias, Stephanus Byzantius, the Souidas Lexicon, Virgil and Ovid. Lastly, the author points out excerpts in classical texts where the Cretan Sea and the Sea of Myrtos are confused, as are other stretches of water. |