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Main article: Dardanelles

The Helespont/Dardanelles, a long narrow strait dividing the Balkans (Europe) along the Gallipoli peninsula from Asia Anatolia (Asia Minor).

Hellespont (Greek Ἑλλήσποντοs; i.e. "Sea of Helle", variously named in classical literature Hellesponium Pelagus, Rectum Hellesponticum, and Fretum Hellesponticum), was the ancient name of a narrow strait also known by the contemporary European term 'the Dardanelles'. It was so called from Helle, the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece.

Regional perspective.

Herodotus tells us that c. 482 BC, Xerxes, king of Persia and son of Darius, had two bridges built across the width of the Hellespont at Abydos in order that his huge army, ostensibly made of 5 million men (most historians put the actual number of this army at closer to 250,000 men, though a second school of thought lends the accounts of Herodotus more credence, bringing the number closer to 400,000), could cross from Persia into Greece. These bridges were both destroyed by a storm (vii.34), but after the sea was punished by receiving 300 lashes and a pair of fetters thrown into it, engineers finished them. In addition to punishing the Hellespont, Xerxes had the heads of those responsible for building the bridges cut off. The Histories of Herodotus vii.33-37 and vii.54-58 gives details of Xerxes' building and crossing of the bridges.

The Hellespont was also the body of water which Leander would cross in order to tryst with his beloved, the priestess Hero. More recently, the Hellespont was famously swum by Lord Byron.

It is located at approximately 40°13′N 26°26′E. The strait is 61 kilometers (38 mi) long but only 1.2 to 6 kilometers (0.75 to 4 mi) wide, 55 meters (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 82 meters (300 ft). Water flows in both directions along the strait, from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean via a surface current and in the opposite direction via an undercurrent. It is an important international shipping channel giving access to Istanbul and the various Black Sea ports beyond Bosphorus.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

• Map of Hellespont