Humanitext Reader

Strabo · Geography §1.3.1

Criticism of Eratosthenes for Citing Unreliable Sources

Passage 32 of 577 · Greek

Summary

Strabo criticizes Eratosthenes for citing unreliable authorities like Damastes, pointing out his serious contemplation of a geographically impossible account of sailing from Cilicia to Susa.

§1.3.1οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ εὖ Ἐρατοσθένης, ὅτι ἀνδρῶν οὐκ ἐξίων μνήμης ἐπὶ πλέον μέμνηται, τὰ μὲν ἐλέγχων τὰ δὲ πιστεύων καὶ μάρτυσι χρώμενος αὐτοῖς, οἷον Δαμάστῃ καὶ τοιούτοις ἄλλοις.
Eratosthenes is not right in this either, namely that he makes mention at greater length of men not worthy of remembrance, on the one hand refuting them and on the other hand believing them and using them as witnesses, such as Damastes and other such men.
καὶ γὰρ εἴ τι λέγουσιν ἀληθές, οὐ μάρτυσί γε ἐκείνοις χρηστέον περὶ αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ πιστευτέον διὰ τοῦτο· ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀξιολόγων ἀνδρῶν μόνων τῷ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ χρηστέον, οἳ πολλὰ μὲν εἰρήκασιν εὖ, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παραλελοίπασιν ἢ οὐχ ἱκανῶς ἐξεῖπον, οὐδὲν δʼ ἐψευσμένως.
For even if they say something true, one must not use them as witnesses concerning it, nor believe it on this account; but one must use such a method only in the case of noteworthy men, who have said many things well, and have also omitted or not sufficiently explained many things, but have said nothing falsely.
ὁ δὲ Δαμάστῃ χρώμενος μάρτυρι οὐδὲν διαφέρει τοῦ καλοῦντος μάρτυρα τὸν Βεργαῖον Εὐήμερον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, οὓς αὐτὸς εἴρηκε διαβάλλων τὴν φλυαρίαν.
But he who uses Damastes as a witness differs in no way from one who calls as a witness Euhemerus the Bergaean and the others whom he himself has mentioned when slandering their nonsense.
καὶ τούτου δʼ ἕνα τῶν λήρων αὐτὸς λέγει, τὸν μὲν Ἀράβιον κόλπον λίμνην ὑπολαμβάνοντος εἶναι, Διότιμον δὲ τὸν Στρομβίχου πρεσβείας Ἀθηναίων ἀφηγούμενον διὰ τοῦ Κύδνου ἀναπλεῦσαι ἐκ τῆς Κιλικίας ἐπὶ τὸν Χοάσπην ποταμόν, ὃς παρὰ τὰ Σοῦσα ῥεῖ, καὶ ἀφικέσθαι τετταρακοσταῖον εἰς Σοῦσα· ταῦτα δʼ αὐτῷ διηγήσασθαι αὐτὸν τὸν Διότιμον.
And he himself relates one of this man's foolish stories: on the one hand, that he supposes the Arabian Gulf to be a lake, and on the other hand, that Diotimus, the son of Strombichus, leading an embassy of the Athenians, sailed up through the Cydnus from Cilicia to the river Choaspes, which flows by Susa, and arrived at Susa on the fortieth day; and that Diotimus himself narrated these things to him.
εἶτα θαυμάζειν εἰ τὸν Εὐφράτην καὶ τὸν Τίγριν ἦν δυνατὸν διακόψαντα τὸν Κύδνον εἰς τὸν Χοάσπην ἐκβαλεῖν.
Then he wonders whether it was possible for the Cydnus, cutting through the Euphrates and the Tigris, to empty into the Choaspes.

Notes

  1. §1.3.1οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ εὖ Ἐρατοσθένης — A verb such as ποιεῖ ('does') or λέγει ('says') is omitted. The phrase οὐδὲ τοῦτο ('not this either') introduces Strabo's criticism of Eratosthenes' scholarly attitude.
  2. §1.3.1ἀνδρῶν οὐκ ἐξίων — A scribal error in the manuscript. It is regularly corrected to ἀξίων ('worthy'), which governs the following genitive μνήμης to mean 'men not worthy of remembrance.'
  3. §1.3.1πρεσβείας — A rare typographical error in the text where the Korean letter '스' has been substituted for the Greek sigma (σ/ς). It originally stands for πρεσβείας ('embassy'), meaning here 'leading an embassy.'
  4. §1.3.1διακόψαντα τὸν Κύδνου — τὸν Κύδνου (genitive) is widely regarded as a scribal error for τὸν Κύδνον (accusative). It functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive, with the participle διακόψαντα ('cutting through') describing the Cydnus river crossing the Euphrates and the Tigris to empty into the Choaspes.

Cite this passage

Strabo, Geography §1.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.3.1

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