What happened to the city of Canopus?
According to the poet Nicander (2nd century BC), Menelaus’ helmsman, Canopus, died here, bitten by a viper on the sands of Thonis. The city located close by was named after this unfortunate sailor: Canopus. How was Canopus destroyed? It has a trade in quails, which are caught in nets hung along the shore. Off Aboukir…