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The epithet "many fountained"1 is thought to be especially applied to Mt. Ida because of the great number of rivers that flow from it, particularly in those parts below it where lie the territory of Dardanus—even as far as Scepsis—and the region of Ilium. Demetrius, who as a native was acquainted with the topography of the country, says in one place as follows: There is a hill of Ida called Cotylus; and this hill lies about one hundred and twenty stadia above Scepsis; and from it flow the Scamander, the Granicus, and the Aesepus, the two latter flowing towards the north and the Propontis and constituting a collection of streams from several sources, while the Scamander flows towards the west from only one source; and all the sources lie close together, being comprised within a distance of twenty stadia; but the end of the Aesepus stands farthest away from its beginning, approximately five hundred stadia. But it is a matter of argument what the poet means when he says:“And they came to the two fair-flowing streams, where well up the two springs of eddying Scamander; for the one flows with soft water
2(that is, with "hot water"), and the poet adds,“and round about a smoke arises from it as if from a blazing fire, whereas the other even in summer flows forth cold as hail or chill snow.
3But, in the first place, no hot waters are now to be found at the site,4 and, secondly, the source of the Scamander is not to be found there, but in the mountain; and it has only one source, not two. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that the hot spring has given out, and that the cold one is evacuated from the Scamander through an underground passage and rises to the surface here, or else that because of the nearness of the Scamander this water is called a source of the Scamander; for people are wont to ascribe several sources to one and the same river in this way.

1 Cf. 13. 1. 5.

2 Hom. Il. 22.147

3 Hom. Il. 22.149

4 i.e., of Troy.

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