Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §162.1

The Water of River Krathis Turning Animal Hair White

Passage 167 of 196 · Greek

Summary

It quotes Theophrastus' report that the water of the river Krathis has the property of turning the hair color of animals white.

§162.1Fr. 162 Τὸ ὕδωρ ὁ Κρᾶθις λευκῆς χρόας ποιητικὸν μεθἵησι ποταμὸς ὤν· τὰ γοῦν πρόβατα πιόντα αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ βόες καὶ πᾶσα ἡ τετράπους ἀγέλη, καθά φησι Θ., λευκὰ ἐκ μελάνων ἐγένετο ἢ πυρρῶν.
The Krathis, being a river, emits water that is productive of a white color; at any rate, the sheep, oxen, and the entire four-legged herd, having drunk of it, turned white from black or red, as Theophrastus says.

Notes

  1. §162.1ποιητικόν — Adjective in the neuter accusative singular, modifying τὸ ὕδωρ, which is the direct object of the verb μεθίησι.
  2. §162.1πιόντα — Aorist active participle in the neuter plural nominative from πίνω. Among the multiple subjects listed (τὰ πρόβατα, οἱ βόες, ἡ ἀγέλη), it grammatically agrees with the first one, τὰ πρόβατα (neuter plural). The genitive αὐτοῦ is a partitive genitive governed by πίνω, referring back to τὸ ὕδωρ.
  3. §162.1ἐγένετο — Third-person singular verb. Despite the multiple subjects including plurals, it is in the singular form due to the rule that neuter plural subjects (τὰ πρόβατα) take singular verbs, or by agreement with the nearest singular subject (ἡ ἀγέλη).

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §162.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:162.1

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