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Strabo · Geography §1.3.19-1.3.20

Place Names from Fissures and Greek Earthquakes

Passage 41 of 577 · Greek

Summary

The author explains the origins of place names like Antissa and Rhagae resulting from geological splits, and details catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis across Greece as recorded by Demetrius of Callatis.

§1.3.19̔η δὲ Ἄντισσα νῆσος ἦν πρότερον, ὡς Μυρσίλος φησί· τῆς δὲ Λέσβου καλουμένης πρότερον Ἴσσης, καὶ τὴν νῆσον Ἄντισσαν καλεῖσθαι συνέβη· νῦν δὲ τῆς Λέσβου πόλις ἐστίν.
And Antissa was formerly an island, as Myrsilus says; and since Lesbos was formerly called Issa, it happened that the island was called Antissa; but now it is a city of Lesbos.
οἱ δὲ καὶ τὴν Λέσβον τῆς Ἴδης ἀπερρωγέναι πεπιστεύκασι, καθάπερ τὴν Προχύτην καὶ τὴν Πιθηκοῦσσαν τοῦ Μισηνοῦ, τὰς δὲ Καπρέας τοῦ Ἀθηναίου, τὴν Σικελίαν δὲ τῆς Ῥηγίνης, τὴν Ὄσσαν δὲ τοῦ Ὀλύμπου.
And some have believed that Lesbos also was torn away from Ida, just as Prochyte and Pithecoussa were from Misenum, and Capreae from the Athenaeum, and Sicilia from the Rhegine territory, and Ossa from Olympus.
γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ περὶ ταῦτα τοιαῦται μεταβολαί.
And such changes have also occurred in these parts.
καὶ ὁ Λάδων δὲ ὁ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ ἐπέσχε ποτὲ τὸ ῥεῦμα.
And the Ladon in Arcadia once checked its flow.
Δοῦρις δὲ τὰς Ῥάγας τὰς κατὰ Μηδίαν ὠνομάσθαι φησὶν ὑπὸ σεισμῶν ῥαγείσης τῆς περὶ τὰς Κασπίους πύλας γῆς, ὥστε ἀνατραπῆναι πόλεις συχνὰς καὶ κώμας καὶ ποταμοὺς ποικίλας μεταβολὰς δέξασθαι.
And Douris says that Rhagae in Media was named because the land about the Caspian Gates was rent by earthquakes, so that many cities and villages were overturned, and rivers underwent various changes.
Ἴων δὲ περὶ τῆς Εὐβοίας φησὶν ἐν Ὀμφάλῃ Σατύροις "Εὐβοΐδα μὲν γῆν λεπτὸς εὐρίπου κλύδων Βοιωτίας ἐχώρισʼ, ἀκτὴν ἐκτεμὼν προβλῆτα πορθμῷ. " §1.3.20δημήτριος δʼ ὁ Καλλατιανὸς τοὺς καθʼ ὅλην τὴν Ἑλλάδα γενομένους ποτὲ σεισμοὺς διηγούμενος τῶν τε Λιχάδων νήσων καὶ τοῦ Κηναίου τὰ πολλὰ καταδῦναί φησι, τά τε θερμὰ τὰ ἐν Αἰδηψῷ καὶ Θερμοπύλαις ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἐπισχεθέντα πάλιν ῥυῆναι, τὰ δʼ ἐν Αἰδηψῷ καὶ καθʼ ἑτέρας ἀναρραγῆναι πηγάς·
And Ion says of Euboea in his satyr-play Omphale: "The narrow wave of Euripus separated the Euboean land from Boeotia, having cut off the projecting shore with a strait." And Demetrius of Callatis, in his account of the earthquakes which once occurred throughout the whole of Greece, says that the greater part of both the Lichades islands and Cenaeum was submerged, and that the hot springs at Aedepsos and Thermopylae were checked for three days and then flowed again, and those at Aedepsos broke forth also from other springs; and that at Oreos the wall facing the sea and about seven hundred of the houses collapsed, and of Echinos and Phalara and Heracleia in Trachis, a large part fell, and at Phalara the town was overturned from its foundations.
Ὠρεοῦ δὲ τὸ πρὸς θαλάττῃ τεῖχος καὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν περὶ ἑπτακοσίας συμπεσεῖν, Ἐχίνου τε καὶ Φαλάρων καὶ Ἡρακλείας τῆς Τραχῖνος, τῶν μὲν πολὺ μέρος πεσεῖν, Φαλάρων δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἐδάφους ἀνατραπῆναι τὸ κτίσμα. παραπλήσια δὲ συμβῆναι καὶ Λαμιεῦσι καὶ Λαρισαίοις· καὶ Σκάρφειαν δʼ ἐκ θεμελίων ἀναρριφῆναι, καὶ καταδῦναι σώματα χιλίων καὶ ἑπτακοσίων οὐκ ἐλάττω, Θρονίους δʼ ὑπὲρ ἥμισυ τούτων· κῦμά τε ἐξαρθὲν τριχῆ τὸ μὲν πρὸς Τάρφην ἐνεχθῆναι καὶ Θρόνιον, τὸ δὲ πρὸς Θερμοπύλας, ἄλλο δὲ εἰς τὸ πεδίον ἕως τοῦ Φωκικοῦ Δαφνοῦντος, πηγάς τε ποταμῶν ξηρανθῆναι πρὸς ἡμέρας τινάς· τὸν δὲ Σπερχειὸν ἀλλάξαι τὸ ῥεῖθρον καὶ ποιῆσαι πλωτὰς τὰς ὁδούς, τὸν δὲ Βοάγριον κατʼ ἄλλης ἐνεχθῆναι φάραγγος, καὶ Ἀλόπης δὲ καὶ Κύνου καὶ Ὀποῦντος πολλὰ καταβλαβῆναι μέρη, Οἶον δὲ τὸ ὑπερκείμενον φρούριον πᾶν ἀνατραπῆναι, Ἐλατείας δὲ τοῦ τείχους καταρραγῆναι μέρος, περὶ δὲ Ἄλπωνον θεσμοφορίων ὄντων πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι παρθένους ἀναδραμούσας εἰς πύργον τῶν ἐλλιμενίων κατὰ θέαν, πεσόντος τοῦ πύργου, πεσεῖν καὶ αὐτὰς εἰς τὴν θάλατταν.
And similar things happened also to the Lamian and Larisaean peoples; and Scarpeia was thrown up from its foundations, and no fewer than seventeen hundred bodies were submerged, and of the Thronians more than half of this number; and a wave, being raised and split in three, was carried, one part toward Tarphe and Thronion, another toward Thermopylae, and another into the plain as far as Daphnous in Phocis, and the sources of the rivers were dried up for some days; and the Spercheios changed its bed and made the roads navigable, and the Boagrios was carried through another ravine, and many parts of Alope, Kynos, and Opous were severely damaged, and Oion, the fortress situated above them, was entirely overturned, and a part of the wall of Elateia collapsed; and near Alponos, during the festival of the Thesmophoria, twenty-five maidens who had run up into one of the harbor towers for a view, fell into the sea when the tower collapsed.
λέγουσι δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἀταλάντης τῆς πρὸς Εὐβοίᾳ τὰ μέσα ῥήγματος γενομένου διάπλουν δέξασθαι, μεταξὺ καὶ τῶν πεδίων ἔνια καὶ μέχρι εἴκοσι σταδίων ἐπικλυσθῆναι, καὶ τριήρη τινὰ ἐκ τῶν νεωρίων ἐξαιρεθεῖσαν ὑπερπεσεῖν τοῦ τείχους.
And they say also that a passage for ships was opened in the middle of Atalante near Euboea, a cleft having been made, and some of the plains were flooded as far as twenty stadia, and a certain trireme was lifted out of the docks and thrown over the wall.

Notes

  1. 1.3.19τῆς δὲ Λέσβου καλουμένης πρότερον Ἴσσης — A genitive absolute construction, meaning "since Lesbos was formerly called Issa." This clause explains the cause or background for the main clause `καὶ τὴν νῆσον Ἄντισσαν καλεῖσθαι συνέβη` ("it happened that the island was called Antissa").
  2. 1.3.19τῆς Ῥηγίνης — A possessive genitive of a proper adjective in the feminine. A feminine noun like `γῆς` (land) or `χώρας` (territory) is omitted after the article, yielding the meaning "from the Rhegine territory."
  3. 1.3.19ἀκτὴν ἐκτεμὼν προβλῆτα πορθμῷ — A poetic quote from Ion. The aorist active participle `ἐκτεμὼν` ("having cut off") shares its subject with the main noun `κλύδων` ("wave"), taking the accusative `ἀκτὴν προβλῆτα` ("projecting shore") as its direct object. `πορθμῷ` is a dative of means ("by a strait").
  4. 1.3.20τὰ πολλά — Neuter plural accusative used substantively to mean "the greater part," modified by the partitive genitives `τῶν τε Λιχάδων νήσων καὶ τοῦ Κηναίου`. It serves as the subject of the infinitive `καταδῦναι` in the indirect discourse.
  5. 1.3.20καταδῦναι σώματα χιλίων καὶ ἑπτακοσίων οὐκ ἐλάττω — The comparative adjective `ἐλάττω` (contracted from `ἐλάττονα`, "fewer") is followed by the genitive of comparison `χιλίων καὶ ἑπτακοσίων` ("one thousand and seven hundred"), meaning "no fewer than seventeen hundred." `σώματα` ("bodies/people") is the subject of the infinitive `καταδῦναι`.

Cite this passage

Strabo, Geography §1.3.19-1.3.20. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.3.19-1.3.20

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