Stephanos of Byzantium - Ethnika
Aptera: a city of Crete, from the contest of the Muses and Sirens, which took place at the Mouseion near the city and the sea, in a place so called, in which after the victory of the Muses in music the Sirens in distress cast off the wings from their shoulders and, having become white, threw themselves into the sea; whence the city Aptera, and the nearby islands Leukai. Others from Glaukos the Kyrenaian. The citizen Apteraios. There is also a city of Lycia, this too neuter. And the ethnonym Aptereus.
External translation supplied by Brady Kiesling; reported Claude Fable 5.5 translation. Credit: Brady Kiesling and the Stephanos project (Greg Baker, Gabriel Jower, Greta Hawes, Brady Kiesling). Not individually verified; exact Greek input not supplied.
Stephanos excerpt (left) is aligned with matched Herodian passages (right). Colors indicate corresponding overlap spans.
Ἄπτερα, πόλις Κρήτης, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν Μουσῶν καὶ Σειρήνων ἔριδος, τῆς ἐν τῷ μουσείῳ πλησίον τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς θαλάττης τόπῳ τοιῶσδε καλουμένῳ γενομένης, ἐν ᾧ μετὰ τὴν ἐν μουσικῇ νίκην τῶν Μουσῶν αἱ Σειρῆνες δυσφοροῦσαι τὰ πτερὰ τῶν ὤμων ἀπέβαλον καὶ λευκαὶ γενόμεναι εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐνέβαλον ἑαυτάς· ὅθεν ἡ πόλις Ἄπτερα, αἱ δὲ πλησίον νῆσοι Λευκαί. οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ Γλαύκου τοῦ Κυρηναίου. ὁ πολίτης Ἀπτεραῖος. ἔστι καὶ Λυκίας πόλις, οὐδετέρως καὶ αὕτη. καὶ τὸ ἐθνικὸν Ἀπτερεύς.
…όλις Σικανίας. Θεόπομπος τεσσαρακοστῷ δευτέρῳ Φιλιππικῶν. Κασσίτερα νῆσος ἐν τῷ ὠκεανῷ, ἐξ ἧς ὁ κασσίτερος. Ἄπτερα πόλις Κρήτης, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν Μουσῶν καὶ Σειρήνων ἔριδος, τῆς ἐν τῷ μουσείῳ πλησίον τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης τόπῳ τοιῶσδε καλουμένῳ γενομένης, ἐν ᾧ μετὰ τὴν ἐν μουσικῇ νίκην τῶν Μουσῶν αἱ Σειρῆνες δυσφοροῦσαι τὰ πτερὰ τῶν ὤμων ἀπέβαλον καὶ λευκαὶ γενόμεναι εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐνέβαλον ἑαυτάς. ὅθεν ἡ πόλις Ἄπτερα, αἱ δὲ πλησίον νῆσοι Λευκαί. οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ Γλαύκου τοῦ Κυρηναίου. ἔστι καὶ Λυκίας πόλις. Τέρμερα πόλις Λυκίας ἀπὸ Τερμέρου. τὸ μέντοι πτερόν—Πτερά δέ τινες τὴν ἀκρόπολιν Βαβυλῶνος—δισύλλαβον, τὸ δὲ γέρρον διὰ δύο 'ρρ' γράφεται, καὶ τὸ σαρόν τὸ μυλήκορον Ἀττικῶς. Τὰ εἰς 'ρον' παραλήγο…