Symplegades

[ sim-pleg-uh-deez ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

plural noun

, Classical Mythology.

a pair of rocky islands, at the entrance to the Black Sea, that often clashed together: Athena helped the Argonauts navigate them, after which they became fixed.

But it interested somewhat as if it had been a part of the Argo, clipped off in passing through the Symplegades.

After the miraculous passage of the Argo, the Symplegades became permanently united, and attached to the bottom of the sea.

The escape of the Argo fulfilled this decree, and the Symplegades have ever since remained immovable.

Euripides, Medea, verse 2, gives them the title of Symplegades.

The first papers passed him by two mountains, which, like the symplegades, threatened to meet and crush him in their embrace.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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