Bosphorus/Bosporus

The straits that separate the Black Sea from the Sea of Asov, near Istanbul, were named after the Greek for ox ford, from bos or bous meaning ox and poros meaning, ford. The naming of the straits is associated with the legend of Io, after whom the Ionian Sea is named. Hera, the wife of Zeus, suspected Io of having an affair with her husband and turned Io into a cow. As the legend goes, Io swam across the straits, as a cow, to escape the wrath of Hera. One wonders, however, why the straits were not called ‘cow ford’ rather than ‘ox ford’.