Samothrace

Samothrace (also known as Samothraki; Greek: Σαμοθράκη) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is 17 km (11 mi) long, 178 km² (69 sq mi) in size and has a population of 2,596 (2021 census). Its main industries are fishing and tourism. Resources on the island include granite and basalt. Samothrace is one of the most rugged Greek islands, with Mt. Saos and its highest peak Fengari rising to 1,611 m (5,285 ft). The Winged Victory of Samothrace statue, which is now displayed at the Louvre in Paris, originates from the island.

Quotes

• But the lord, the Shaker of Earth, kept no blind watch, for he sat marvelling at the war and the battle, high on the topmost peak of wooded Samothrace, for from thence all Ida was plain to see; and plain to see were the city of Priam, and the ships of the Achaeans. There he sat, being come forth from the sea, and he had pity on the Achaeans that they were overcome by the Trojans, and against Zeus was he mightily wroth.
  • Homer, Iliad, XIII (tr. A. T. Murray)

• The lofty height of Samothrace appears in Homer in a very picturesque connection with the scenery of Troy. He describes Poseidon as gazing from this throne on the incidents of the war: and travellers in the Troad have noticed the view of Samothrace towering over Imbros as a proof of the truthfulness of the Iliad.
  • J. S. Howson, "Samothrace", Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Vol. 2 (1854)

• Threiciamque Samum quae nunc Samothracia fertur.
• ... and to the Thracian Samos that is now called Samothrace.
  • Virgil, Aeneid, 7, 208 (tr. J. W. Mackail)

• Insula importuosissima omnium.
• The most harbourless of all isles.
  • Pliny the Elder, 4, 12, 23, § 73
    • Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1879)
    • The New Imperial Encyclopedia and Dictionary, Vol. 33 (1906), Samothrace

• The Isle of Samothrace gives its name to a stone which it produces, black and imponderous, and similar to wood in appearance.
  • Pliny the Elder, 37, 67 (tr. J. Bostock & H. T. Riley)
  • The stone is supposed to be jet