ABSTRACT
The crossing of the Ægean Sea was rendered easy by the presence of a world of islands which led the sailor step by step to his destination. To the west, the Ionian Sea contained no islands except close along the mainland, and Greek mariners might hesitate before setting forth over open tracts of water. Nevertheless, here too there were natural conditions which aided navigation. One current, from the Ægean, ran up the Greek coast towards the Adriatic; 1 another, from the Adriatic, hugged southern Italy closely, and finally washed the eastern coasts of Sicily, about the point where the earliest Greek colony, Naxos, was founded. 2
