Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §161.1

Seasonal Difference in the Weight of Mt. Pangaeon's Water

Passage 166 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Reports Theophrastus' account of a spring near Mt. Pangaeon in Thrace, whose water weighs twice as much in winter as in summer when measured in the same vessel.

§161.1Fr. 161 Ἐν δὲ Θράκῃ περὶ τὸ Πάγγαιον ἱστορεῖ Θ. εἶναι κρήνην ἐφʼ ἧς ταὐτὸ γέμον ὕδατος σταθμώμενον χειμῶνος ἕλκειν διπλάσιον σταθμὸν ἢ θέρους.
In Thrace, near Mt. Pangaeon, Theophrastus reports that there is a spring, at which the same vessel full of water, when weighed, weighs twice as much in winter as in summer.

Notes

  1. 161.1ἐφʼ ἧς — The antecedent is κρήνην (feminine singular accusative), and the preposition ἐπί + genitive indicates location ('at which' or 'by which spring').
  2. 161.1ταὐτὸ γέμον ὕδατος — ταὐτό (τὸ αὐτό) is neuter singular nominative (or accusative), functioning as the subject with an implied neuter noun like 'vessel' (ἀγγεῖον). γέμον is the neuter singular present participle of γέμω ('to be full of'), governing the genitive ὕδατος and modifying ταὐτό.
  3. 161.1ἕλκειν — An infinitive depending on ἱστορεῖ. While ἕλκω primarily means 'to drag' or 'to pull', here it is used intransitively and idiomatically to mean 'to weigh' (literally, to pull the scale), taking the accusative διπλάσιον σταθμόν as its measure of weight.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §161.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:161.1

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