§7.129.1τὴν δὲ Θεσσαλίην λόγος ἐστὶ τὸ παλαιὸν εἶναι λίμνην, ὥστε γε συγκεκληιμένην πάντοθεν ὑπερμήκεσι ὄρεσι.
There is a story that Thessaly was in ancient times a lake, inasmuch as it is enclosed on all sides by exceedingly high mountains.
τὰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἔχοντα τό τε Πήλιον ὄρος καὶ ἡ Ὄσσα ἀποκληίει συμμίσγοντα τὰς ὑπωρείας ἀλλήλοισι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς βορέω ἀνέμου Ὄλυμπος, τὰ δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέρην Πίνδος, τὰ δὲ πρὸς μεσαμβρίην τε καὶ ἄνεμον νότον ἡ Ὄθρυς·
For its parts facing the east are shut off by Mount Pelion and Mount Ossa, which join their foothills together; those facing the north wind by Olympus, those facing the west by Pindus, and those facing the south and the south wind by Othrys.
τὸ μέσον δὲ τούτων τῶν λεχθέντων ὀρέων ἡ Θεσσαλίη ἐστὶ ἐοῦσα κοίλη.
The middle of these aforementioned mountains is Thessaly, which is a hollow basin.
§7.129.2ὥστε ὦν ποταμῶν ἐς αὐτὴν καὶ ἄλλων συχνῶν ἐσβαλλόντων, πέντε δὲ τῶν δοκίμων μάλιστα τῶνδε, Πηνειοῦ καὶ Ἀπιδανοῦ καὶ Ὀνοχώνου καὶ Ἐνιπέος καὶ Παμίσου, οἳ μέν νυν ἐς τὸ πεδίον τοῦτο συλλεγόμενοι ἐκ τῶν ὀρέων τῶν περικληιόντων τὴν Θεσσαλίην ὀνομαζόμενοι διʼ ἑνὸς αὐλῶνος καὶ τούτου στεινοῦ ἔκροον ἔχουσι ἐς θάλασσαν, προσυμμίσγοντες τὸ ὕδωρ πάντες ἐς τὠυτό·
Therefore, since many other rivers also empty into it, and especially these five famous ones, namely, the Peneus, Apidanus, Onochonus, Enipeus, and Pamisus, these, gathering from the mountains that enclose Thessaly into this plain, and being called by their individual names, have their outlet into the sea through a single and narrow glen, all mingling their waters together into the same place.
§7.129.3ἐπεὰν δὲ συμμιχθέωσι τάχιστα, ἐνθεῦτεν ἤδη ὁ Πηνειὸς τῷ οὐνόματι κατακρατέων ἀνωνύμους τοὺς ἄλλους εἶναι ποιέει.
As soon as they are mingled, from that point onward the Peneus, prevailing with its name, makes the others nameless.
τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν λέγεται, οὐκ ἐόντος κω τοῦ αὐλῶνος καὶ διεκρόου τούτου, τοὺς ποταμοὺς τούτους, καὶ πρὸς τοῖσι ποταμοῖσι τούτοισι τὴν Βοιβηίδα λίμνην, οὔτε ὀνομάζεσθαι κατά περ νῦν ῥέειν τε οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ νῦν, ῥέοντας δὲ ποιέειν τὴν Θεσσαλίην πᾶσαν πέλαγος.
But in ancient times, it is said, when this glen and outlet did not yet exist, these rivers, and in addition to these rivers the Boebeian lake, were not named as they are now, yet flowed no less than they do now, and by their flowing made the whole of Thessaly a sea.
§7.129.4αὐτοὶ μέν νυν Θεσσαλοί φασι Ποσειδέωνα ποιῆσαι τὸν αὐλῶνα διʼ οὗ ῥέει ὁ Πηνειός, οἰκότα λέγοντες· ὅστις γὰρ νομίζει Ποσειδέωνα τὴν γῆν σείειν καὶ τὰ διεστεῶτα ὑπὸ σεισμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου ἔργα εἶναι, κἂν ἐκεῖνο ἰδὼν φαίη Ποσειδέωνα ποιῆσαι·
Now the Thessalians themselves say that Poseidon made the glen through which the Peneus flows, speaking reasonably; for anyone who believes that Poseidon shakes the earth and that clefts caused by earthquakes are the works of this god, would, on seeing that sight, say that Poseidon made it.
ἔστι γὰρ σεισμοῦ ἔργον, ὡς ἐμοὶ φαίνεται εἶναι, ἡ διάστασις τῶν ὀρέων.
For the separation of the mountains is indeed the work of an earthquake, as it seems to me.