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Theophrastus · Fragments §165.1

Roaring Fire of Aeolian Islands and Thunder at Tauromenium

Passage 170 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus describes the roaring fire from the islands of Aeolus burning up to one stadium and a thunder-like sound heard around Tauromenium.

§165.1Fr. 165 Θ. ἐν τοῖς Ἱστορικοῖς ὑπομνήμασι τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Αἰόλου νήσων φησὶ βρόμον τοῦ πυρὸς καίεσθαι μέχρις ἑνὸς σταδίου καὶ περὶ τὸ Ταυρομένιον ἀκούεσθαι ψόφον βροντῇ παραπλήσιον.
Theophrastus says in the Historical Memorabilia that the roaring of the fire from the islands of Aeolus burns up to one stadium, and that around Tauromenium a sound resembling thunder is heard.

Notes

  1. Fr. 165τὸν ... βρόμον τοῦ πυρὸς καίεσθαι — An unusual expression where the noun denoting sound, βρόμος (roaring), functions as the subject accusative of the verb καίεσθαι (to burn). It vividly depicts the fiery volcanic eruption as conceptually unified with its deafening sound, or βρόμος is used metonymically to refer to the roaring fire itself.
  2. Fr. 165ἀκούεσθαι ψόφον — Part of the accusative and infinitive construction in indirect speech dependent on the main verb φησί. The noun ψόφον (sound) serves as the subject accusative of the passive infinitive ἀκούεσθαι, meaning 'a sound is heard'.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §165.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:165.1

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