Associations

The name comes from the Greek word Bosporos (Βόσπορος). Its etymology is from bous (βοῦς: ox) and poros (πόρος: "means of passing a river, ford, ferry") (the similar Ancient Greek word for "passage, strait" is porthmos (πορθμός), thus meaning "oxen passage", which could reflect the older history of the region. The Greeks analysed it as "ox-ford" or "shallow sea ox passage" and associated it with the myth of Io's travels after Zeus turned her into an heifer for her protection. It has also been thought to be a Thracian form of Phôsphoros (Φωσφόρος), "light-bearing", an epithet of the goddess Hecate.


It is also said in myth that floating rocks known as the Symplegades or Clashing Rocks once crushed any ship that attempted passage of the Bosporus until the hero Jason obtained passage, whereupon the rocks became fixed, and Greek access to the Black Sea was opened. [Thanks Wikipedia.]