§9.5.1ἔστι δʼ αὐτῆς πρὸς θαλάττῃ μὲν ἡ ἀπὸ Θερμοπυλῶν μέχρι τῆς ἐκβολῆς τοῦ Πηνειοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄκρων τοῦ Πηλίου παραλία βλέπουσα πρὸς ἕω καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄκρα τῆς Εὐβοίας τὰ βόρεια.
Its coastal side, on the sea, is the coastline from Thermopylae to the mouth of the Peneus and the peaks of Pelion, looking towards the east and the northern peaks of Euboea.
ἔχουσι δὲ τὰ μὲν πρὸς Εὐβοίᾳ καὶ Θερμοπύλαις Μαλιεῖς καὶ οἱ Φθιῶται Ἀχαιοί, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τῷ Πηλίῳ Μάγνητες.
And the Malians and Phthiotic Achaeans hold the parts towards Euboea and Thermopylae, and the Magnetes the parts towards Pelion.
αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ πλευρὰ τῆς Θετταλίας ἑῴα λεγέσθω καὶ παραλία.
Let this side of Thessaly, then, be called the eastern and coastal side.
ἑκατέρωθεν δʼ ἀπὸ μὲν Πηλίου καὶ Πηνειοῦ πρὸς τὴν μεσόγαιαν Μακεδόνες παράκεινται μέχρι Παιονίας καὶ τῶν Ἠπειρωτικῶν ἐθνῶν, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν τὰ παράλληλα τοῖς Μακεδόσιν ὄρη τὰ Οἰταῖα καὶ Αἰτωλικά, τοῖς Δωριεῦσι καὶ τῷ Παρνασσῷ συνάπτοντα.
And on either side, from Pelion and the Peneus towards the interior, the Macedonians lie adjacent as far as Paeonia and the Epirote tribes, and from Thermopylae, the Oetaean and Aetolian mountains, which run parallel to the Macedonian territory, adjacent to them and joining the land of the Dorians and Parnassus.
καλείσθω δὲ τὸ μὲν πρὸς τοῖς Μακεδόσι πλευρὸν ἀρκτικόν, τὸ δʼ ἕτερον νότιον.
And let the side towards the Macedonians be called the northern, and the other the southern.
λοιπὸν δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ ἑσπέριον, ὃ περικλείουσιν Αἰτωλοὶ καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶνες καὶ Ἀμφίλοχοι καὶ τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν Ἀθαμᾶνες καὶ Μολοττοὶ καὶ ἡ τῶν Αἰθίκων ποτὲ λεγομένη γῆ καὶ ἁπλῶς ἡ περὶ Πίνδον πλὴν τοῦ Πηλίου καὶ τῆς Ὄσσης.
The remaining side is the western, which is enclosed by the Aetolians, Acarnanians, Amphilochians, and of the Epirotes, the Athamanes and Molossians, and the land once called that of the Aethices, and simply the region around Pindus, except for Pelion and Ossa.
ταῦτʼ ἐξῆρται μὲν ἱκανῶς, οὐ μήν γε πολλὴν περιλαμβάνει κύκλῳ χώραν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὰ πεδία τελευτᾷ.
These latter are indeed sufficiently elevated, yet they do not enclose much territory around them, but end in the plains.
§9.5.2ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ τὰ μέσα τῆς Θετταλίας, εὐδαιμονεστάτη χώρα πλὴν ὅση ποταμόκλυστός ἐστιν.
And these are the interior parts of Thessaly, a most fertile country except for so much of it as is subject to river floods.
ὁ γὰρ Πηνειὸς διὰ μέσης ῥέων καὶ πολλοὺς δεχόμενος ποταμοὺς ὑπερχεῖται πολλάκις· τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν καὶ ἐλιμνάζετο, ὡς λόγος, τὸ πεδίον ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν ὄρεσι περιειργόμενον καὶ τῆς παραλίας μετεωρότερα τῶν πεδίων ἐχούσης τὰ χωρία ὑπὸ δὲ σεισμῶν ῥήγματος γενομένου τὰ νῦν καλούμενα Τέμπη καὶ τὴν Ὄσσαν ἀποσχίσαντος ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὀλύμπου, διεξέπεσε ταύτῃ πρὸς θάλατταν ὁ Πηνειὸς καὶ ἀνέψυξε τὴν χώραν ταύτην.
For the Peneus, flowing through the middle of it and receiving many rivers, often overflows; and in ancient times, as the story goes, the plain was even a lake, being enclosed by mountains on the other sides, while the coastal region held lands higher than the plains; but when a cleft was made by earthquakes, forming what is now called Tempe, and splitting Ossa away from Olympus, the Peneus flowed out to the sea through this passage and dried up this land.
ὑπολείπεται δʼ ὅμως ἥ τε Νεσσωνὶς λίμνη μεγάλη καὶ ἡ Βοιβηὶς ἐλάττων ἐκείνης καὶ πλησιεστέρα τῇ παραλίᾳ.
Nevertheless, there still remain both the Nessonis lake, which is large, and the Boebeis, which is smaller than the former and closer to the coast.
§9.5.3τοιαύτη δʼ οὖσα εἰς τέτταρα μέρη διῄρητο· ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ τὸ μὲν Φθιῶτις τὸ δὲ Ἑστιαιῶτις τὸ δὲ Θετταλιῶτις τὸ δὲ Πελασγιῶτις.
Being of such a nature, it was divided into four parts; and one was called Phthiotis, another Hestiaeotis, another Thessaliotis, and another Pelasgiotis.
ἔχει δʼ ἡ μὲν Φθιῶτις τὰ νότια τὰ παρὰ τὴν Οἴτην ἀπὸ τοῦ Μαλιακοῦ κόλπου καὶ Πυλαϊκοῦ μέχρι τῆς Δολοπίας καὶ τῆς Πίνδου διατείνοντα, πλατυνόμενα δὲ μέχρι Φαρσάλου καὶ τῶν πεδίων τῶν Θετταλικῶν· ἡ δʼ Ἑστιαιῶτις τὰ ἑσπέρια καὶ τὰ μεταξὺ Πίνδου καὶ τῆς ἄνω Μακεδονίας· τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ οἵ τε ὑπὸ τῇ Ἑστιαιώτιδι νεμόμενοι τὰ πεδία, καλούμενοι δὲ Πελασγιῶται, συνάπτοντες ἤδη τοῖς κάτω Μακεδόσι, καὶ οἱ ἐφεξῆς τὰ μέχρι Μαγνητικῆς παραλίας ἐκπληροῦντες χωρία.
Phthiotis occupies the southern parts along Oeta, extending from the Malian and Pylaic gulf to Dolopia and Pindus, and widening as far as Pharsalus and the Thessalian plains; Hestiaeotis occupies the western parts, and the region between Pindus and Upper Macedonia; and the remaining parts are held by those who inhabit the plains below Hestiaeotis, who are called Pelasgiotes and already border on Lower Macedonia, and those next in order who fill up the places as far as the Magnesian coast.
κἀνταῦθα δʼ ἐνδόξων ὀνομάτων ἔσται ἀρίθμησις καὶ ἄλλως διὰ τὴν Ὁμήρου ποίησιν· τῶν δὲ πόλεων ὀλίγαι σώζουσι τὸ πάτριον ἀξίωμα, μάλιστα δὲ Λάρισα.
And here, too, there will be an enumeration of famous names, both otherwise and on account of the poetry of Homer; but of the cities, only a few preserve their ancestral dignity, and most of all Larissa.
§9.5.4ὁ δὲ ποιητὴς εἰς δέκα μέρη καὶ δυναστείας διελὼν τὴν σύμπασαν γῆν ἣν νῦν Θετταλίαν προσαγορεύομεν, προσλαβών τινα καὶ τῆς Οἰταίας καὶ τῆς Λοκρικῆς, ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ τῆς ὑπὸ Μακεδόσιν νῦν τεταγμένης, ὑπογράφει τι κοινὸν καὶ πάσῃ χώρᾳ συμβαῖνον, τὸ μεταβάλλεσθαι καὶ τὰ ὅλα καὶ τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστα παρὰ τὰς τῶν ἐπικρατούντων δυνάμεις.
But the poet, having divided into ten parts and dynasties the entire land which we now call Thessaly, adding also some parts of the Oetaean and Locrian territories, and likewise of that which is now classed under the Macedonians, describes something common and happening to every country, namely, that both as a whole and in detail they undergo changes according to the power of those who hold sway.