πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀθαυμαστίαν τῶν τοιούτων μεταβολῶν, οἵας ἔφαμεν αἰτίας εἶναι τῶν ἐπικλύσεων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων παθῶν, οἷα εἴρηται τὰ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν καὶ τὰς Αἰόλου νήσους καὶ Πιθηκούσσας, ἄξιον παραθεῖναι καὶ ἄλλα πλείω τῶν ἐν ἑτέροις τόποις ὄντων ἢ γενομένων ὁμοίων τούτοις. ἀθρόα γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα παραδείγματα πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τεθέντα παύσει τὴν ἔκπληξιν. νυνὶ δὲ τὸ ἄηθες ταράττει τὴν αἴσθησιν καὶ δείκνυσιν ἀπειρίαν τῶν φύσει συμβαινόντων καὶ τοῦ βίου παντός, οἷον εἴ τις λέγοι τὰ περὶ Θήραν καὶ Θηρασίαν νήσους ἱδρυμένας ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ πόρῳ Κρήτης καὶ τῆς Κυρηναίας, ὧν ἡ Θήρα μητρόπολίς ἐστι τῆς Κυρήνης, καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ πολλὰ μέρη τοιαῦτα τῆς Ἑλλάδος. ἀνὰ μέσον γὰρ Θήρας καὶ Θηρασίας ἐκπεσοῦσαι φλόγες ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους ἐφʼ ἡμέρας τέτταρας, ὥστε πᾶσαν ζεῖν καὶ φλέγεσθαι τὴν θάλατταν, ἀνεφύσησαν κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐξαιρομένην ὡς ἂν ὀργανικῶς συντιθεμένην ἐκ μύδρων νῆσον ἐπέχουσαν δώδεκα σταδίων τὴν περίμετρον. μετὰ δὲ τὴν παῦλαν τοῦ πάθους ἐθάρρησαν πρῶτοι Ῥόδιοι θαλαττοκρατοῦντες ἐπιπροσπλεῦσαι τῷ τόπῳ καὶ Ποσειδῶνος Ἀσφαλίου ἱερὸν ἱδρύσασθαι κατὰ τὴν νῆσον. ἐν δὲ τῇ Φοινίκῃ φησὶ Ποσειδώνιος γενομένου σεισμοῦ καταποθῆναι πόλιν ἱδρυμένην ὑπὲρ Σιδῶνος, καὶ αὐτῆς δὲ Σιδῶνος σχεδόν τι τὰ δύο μέρη πεσεῖν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀθρόως, ὥστε μὴ πολὺν φθόρον ἀνθρώπων γενέσθαι. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ πάθος καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Συρίαν ὅλην διέτεινε, μετρίως δέ πως. διέβη δὲ καὶ ἐπί τινας νήσους τάς τε Κυκλάδας καὶ τὴν Εὔβοιαν, ὥστε τῆς Ἀρεθούσης (ἔστι δʼ ἐν Χαλκίδι κρήνη) τὰς πηγὰς ἀποτυφλωθῆναι, συχναῖς δʼ ἡμέραις ὕστερον ἀναβλύσαι κατʼ ἄλλο στόμιον, μὴ παύεσθαι δὲ σειομένην τὴν νῆσον κατὰ μέρη πρὶν ἢ χάσμα γῆς ἀνοιχθὲν ἐν τῷ Ληλάντῳ πεδίῳ πηλοῦ διαπύρου ποταμὸν ἐξήμεσε.
In order to lessen surprise at such changes as we have mentioned as causes of the inundations and other similar phenomena which are supposed to have produced Sicily, the islands of Aeolus, and the Pitllecussae, it may be as well to compare with these others of a similar nature, which either now are, or else have been observed in other localities. A large array of such facts placed at once before the eye would serve to allay our astonishment; while that which is uncommon startles our perception, and manifests our general ignorance of the occurrences which take place in nature and physical existence. For instance, supposing any one should narrate the circumstances concerning Thera and the Therasian Islands, situated in the strait between Crete and the Cyrenaic, Thera being itself the metropolis of Cyrene; or those [in connexion with] Egypt, and many parts of Greece. For midway between Thera and Therasia flames rushed forth from the sea for the space of four days; causing the whole of it to boil and be all on fire; and after a little an island twelve stadia in circumference, composed of the burning mass, was thrown up, as if raised by machinery. After the cessation of this phenomenon, the Rhodians, then masters of the sea, were the first who dared to sail to the place, and they built there on the island a temple to the Asphalian Neptune. Posidonius remarks, that during an earthquake which occurred in Phoenicia, a city situated above Sidon was swallowed up, and that nearly two-thirds of Sidon also fell, but not suddenly, and therefore with no great loss of life. That the same occurred, though in a lighter form, throughout nearly the whole of Syria, and was felt even in some of the Cyclades and the Island of Euboea, so that the fountains of Arethusa, a spring in Chalcis, were completely obstructed, and after some time forced for themselves another opening, and the whole island ceased not to experience shocks until a chasm was rent open in the earth in the plain of Lelanto, from which poured a river of burning mud.
πολλῶν δὲ συναγωγὰς ποιησαμένων τοιαύτας, ἀρκέσει τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σκηψίου Δημητρίου συνηγμένα οἰκείως παρατεθέντα. μνησθεὶς γὰρ τῶν ἐπῶν τούτων κρουνὼ δʼ ἵκανον καλλιρρόω, ἔνθα τε πηγαὶ δοιαὶ ἀναΐσσουσι Σκαμάνδρου δινήεντος. ἡ μὲν γάρ θʼ ὕδατι λιαρῷ, […] ἡ δʼ ἑτέρη θέρεϊ προρέει εἰκυῖα χαλάζῃ, οὐκ ἐᾷ θαυμάζειν, εἰ νῦν ἡ μὲν τοῦ ψυχροῦ ὕδατος μένει πηγή, ἡ δὲ τοῦ θερμοῦ οὐχ ὁρᾶται. δεῖν γάρ φησιν αἰτιᾶσθαι τὴν ἔκλειψιν τοῦ θερμοῦ ὕδατος. μιμνήσκεται δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα τῶν ὑπὸ Δημοκλέους λεγομένων, σεισμούς τινας μεγάλους τοὺς μὲν πάλαι περὶ Λυδίαν γενομένους καὶ Ἰωνίαν μέχρι τῆς Τρωάδος ἱστοροῦντος, ὑφʼ ὧν καὶ κῶμαι κατεπόθησαν καὶ Σίπυλος κατεστράφη κατὰ τὴν Ταντάλου βασιλείαν […] καὶ ἐξ ἑλῶν λίμναι ἐγένοντο, τὴν δὲ Τροίαν ἐπέκλυσε κῦμα. ἡ δὲ Φάρος ἡ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ἦν ποτε πελαγία, νῦν δὲ τρόπον τινὰ χερρόνησος γέγονεν· ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ Τύρος καὶ Κλαζομεναί. ἡμῶν δʼ ἐπιδημούντων ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ τῇ πρὸς Αἰγύπτῳ, περὶ Πηλούσιον καὶ τὸ Κάσιον ὄρος μετεωρισθὲν τὸ πέλαγος ἐπέκλυσε τὴν γῆν καὶ νῆσον ἐποίησε τὸ ὄρος, ὥστε πλωτὴν γενέσθαι τὴν παρὰ τὸ Κάσιον ὁδὸν τὴν ἐς Φοινίκην. οὐδὲν οὖν θαυμαστὸν οὐδʼ εἴ ποτε διαστὰς ὁ ἰσθμὸς ἢ ἵζημα λαβὼν ὁ διείργων τὸ Αἰγύπτιον πέλαγος ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάττης ἀποφανεῖ πορθμὸν καὶ σύρρουν ποιήσει τὴν ἐκτὸς θάλατταν τῇ ἐντός, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὰς Ἡρακλέους στήλας πορθμοῦ συνέβη. εἴρηται δὲ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων τινὰ καὶ ἐν ἀρχαῖς τῆς πραγματείας, ἃ δεῖ συμφέρειν εἰς ἓν καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἰσχυρὰν κατασκευάζειν τῶν τε τῆς φύσεως ἔργων καὶ τῶν ἄλλως γινομένων μεταβολῶν.
Many writers have recorded similar occurrences, but it will suffice us to narrate those which have been collected by Demetrius of Skepsis.
Apropos of that passage of Homer:— And now they reach’d the running rivulets clear, / Where from Scamander’s dizzy flood arise / Two fountains, tepid one, from which a smoke / Issues voluminous as from a fire, / The other, even in summer heats, like hail / For cold, or snow, or crystal stream frost-bound: / this writer tells us we must not be surprised, that although the cold spring still remains, the hot cannot be discovered; and says we must reckon the failing of the hot spring as the cause. He goes on to relate certain catastrophes recorded by Democles, how formerly in the reign of Tantalus there were great earthquakes in Lydia and Ionia as far as the Troad, which swallowed up whole villages and overturned Mount Sipylus; marshes then became lakes, and the city of Troy was covered by the waters. Pharos, near Egypt, which anciently was an island, may now be called a peninsula, and the same may be said of Tyre and Clazomenae.
During my stay at Alexandria in Egypt the sea rose so high near Pelusium and Mount Casius as to overflow the land, and convert the mountain into an island, so that a journey from Casius into Phoenicia might have been undertaken by water. We should not be surprised therefore if in time to come the isthmus which separates the Egyptian sea from the Erythraean, should part asunder or subside, and becoming a strait, connect the outer and inner seas, similarly to what has taken place at the strait of the Pillars.
At the commencement of this work will be found some other narrations of a similar kind, which should be considered at the same time, and which will greatly tend to strengthen our belief both in these works of nature and also in its other changes.
τόν τε Πειραιᾶ νησιάζοντα πρότερον καὶ πέραν τῆς ἀκτῆς κείμενον οὕτως φασὶν ὀνομασθῆναι· ὑπεναντίως δʼ ἡ Λευκὰς Κορινθίων τὸν ἰσθμὸν διακοψάντων νῆσος γέγονεν, ἀκτὴ πρότερον οὖσα· περὶ ταύτης γάρ φασι λέγειν τὸν Λαέρτην οἷος Νήριτον εἷλον ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον, ἀκτὴν ἠπείροιο· ἐνταῦθα μὲν δὴ διακοπαὶ χειρότμητοι γεγόνασιν, ἀλλαχόθι δὲ προσχώσεις ἢ γεφυρώσεις, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῆς πρὸς Συρακούσαις νήσου νῦν μὲν γέφυρά ἐστιν ἡ συνάπτουσα αὐτὴν πρὸς τὴν ἤπειρον, πρότερον δὲ χῶμα, ὥς φησιν Ἴβυκος, λογαίου λίθου, ὃν καλεῖ ἐκλεκτόν. Βοῦρα δὲ καὶ Ἑλίκη ἡ μὲν ὑπὸ χάσματος ἡ δʼ ὑπὸ κύματος ἠφανίσθη. περὶ Μεθώνην δὲ τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἑρμιονικῷ κόλπῳ ὄρος ἑπταστάδιον τὸ ὕψος ἀνεβλήθη γενηθέντος ἀναφυσήματος φλογώδους, μεθʼ ἡμέραν μὲν ἀπρόσιτον ὑπὸ τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ τῆς θειώδους ὀδμῆς, νύκτωρ δʼ ἐκλάμπον πόρρω καὶ θερμαῖνον ὥστε ζεῖν τὴν θάλατταν ἐπὶ σταδίους πέντε, θολερὰν δʼ εἶναι καὶ ἐπὶ εἴκοσι σταδίους, προσχωσθῆναι δὲ πέτραις ἀπορρῶξι πύργων οὐκ ἐλάττοσιν. ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς Κωπαΐδος λίμνης ἥ τε Ἄρνη κατεπόθη καὶ Μίδεια, ἃς ὠνόμακεν ὁ ποιητὴς ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ οἵ τε πολυστάφυλον Ἄρνην ἔχον, οἵ τε Μίδειαν. καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Βιστονίδος δὲ καὶ τῆς νῦν Ἀφνίτιδος λίμνης ἐοίκασι κατακεκλύσθαι πόλεις τινὲς Θρᾳκῶν, οἱ δὲ καὶ Τρηρῶν, ὡς συνοίκων τοῖς Θρᾳξὶν ὄντων. καὶ ἡ πρότερον δὲ Ἀρτεμίτα λεγομένη μία τῶν Ἐχινάδων νήσων ἤπειρος γέγονε· καὶ ἄλλας δὲ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἀχελῶον νησίδων τὸ αὐτὸ πάθος φασὶ παθεῖν ἐκ τῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ προχώσεως τοῦ πελάγους, συγχοῦνται δὲ καὶ αἱ λοιπαί, ὡς Ἡρόδοτός φησι. καὶ Αἰτωλικαὶ δέ τινες ἄκραι εἰσὶ νησίζουσαι πρότερον· καὶ ἡ Ἀστερία ἤλλακται, ἣν Ἀστερίδα φησὶν ὁ ποιητής ἔστι δέ τις νῆσος μέσσῃ ἁλὶ πετρήεσσα, Ἀστερίς, οὐ μεγάλη, λιμένες δʼ ἐνὶ ναύλοχοι αὐτῇ ἀμφίδυμοι· νυνὶ δὲ οὐδʼ ἀγκυροβόλιον εὐφυὲς ἔχει. ἔν τε τῇ Ἰθάκῃ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἄντρον τοιοῦτον οὐδὲ νυμφαῖον, οἷόν φησιν Ὅμηρος· βέλτιον δὲ αἰτιᾶσθαι μεταβολὴν ἢ ἄγνοιαν ἢ κατάψευσιν τῶν τόπων κατὰ τὸ μυθῶδες. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ ἀσαφὲς ὃν ἐν κοινῷ σκοπεῖν.
The Piraeus having been formerly an island, and lying πέραν, or off the shore, is said to have thus received its name. Leucas, on the contrary, has been made an island by the Corinthians, who cut through the isthmus which connected it with the shore [of the mainland]. It is concerning this place that Laertes is made to say, Oh that I possessed / Such vigour now as when in arms I took / Nericus, continental city fair. / Here man devoted his labour to make a separation, in other instances to the construction of moles and bridges. Such is that which connects the island opposite to Syracuse with the mainland. This junction is now effected by means of a bridge, but formerly, according to Ibycus, by a pier of picked stones, which he calls elect. Of Bura and Helice, one has been swallowed by an earthquake, the other covered by the waves. Near to Methone, which is on the Hermionic Gulf, a mountain seven stadia in height was cast up during a fiery eruption; during the day it could not be approached on account of the heat and sulphureous smell; at night it emitted an agreeable odour, appeared brilliant at a distance, and was so hot that the sea boiled all around it to a distance of five stadia, and appeared in a state of agitation for twenty stadia, the heap being formed of fragments of rock as large as towers. Both Arne and Mideia have been buried in the waters of Lake Copaïs. These towns the poet in his Catalogue thus speaks of; Arne claims / A record next for her illustrious sons, / Vine-bearing Arne. Thou wast also there / Mideia. / It seems that several Thracian cities have been submerged by the Lake Bistonis, and that now called Aphnitis. Some also affirm that certain cities of Trerus were also overwhelmed, in the neighbourhood of Thrace. Artemita, formerly one of the Echinades, is now part of the mainland; the same has happened to some other of the islets near the Achelous, occasioned, it is said, in the same way, by the alluvium carried into the sea by that river, and Hesiod assures us that a like fate awaits them all. Some of the Aetolian promontories were formerly islands. Asteria, called by Homer Asteris, is no longer what it was. There is a rocky isle / In the mid-sea, Samos the rude between / And Ithaca, not large, named Asteris. / It hath commodious havens, into which / A passage clear opens on either side. / There is no good anchorage there now. Neither is there in Ithaca the cavern, nor yet the temple of the nymphs described to us by Homer. It seems more correct to attribute this to change having come over the places, than either to the ignorance or the romancing of the poet. This however, being uncertain, must be left to every man’s opinion.
̔η 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. 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. γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ περὶ ταῦτα τοιαῦται μεταβολαί. καὶ ὁ Λάδων δὲ ὁ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ ἐπέσχε ποτὲ τὸ ῥεῦμα. 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. Ἴων δὲ περὶ τῆς Εὐβοίας φησὶν ἐν Ὀμφάλῃ Σατύροις Εὐβοΐδα μὲν γῆν λεπτὸς εὐρίπου κλύδων Βοιωτίας ἐχώρισʼ, ἀκτὴν ἐκτεμὼν προβλῆτα πορθμῷ.
Myrsilus tells us that Antissa was formerly an island, and so called because it was opposite to Lesbos, then named Issa. Now, however, it forms one of the towns of Lesbos. Some have believed that Lesbos itself has been disjoined from Mount Ida in the same way as Prochytas and Pithecussa from Misenum, Capreae from the Athenaeum, Sicily from Rhegium, and Ossa from Olympus. Many changes similar to these have occurred elsewhere. The river Ladon in Arcadia ceased for some time its flow. Duris informs us that the Rhagae in Media gained that appellation from chasms made in the ground near the Gates of the Caspian by earthquakes, in which many cities and villages were destroyed, and the rivers underwent various changes. Ion, in his satirical composition of Omphale, has said of Euboea, The light wave of the Euripus has divided the land of Euboea from Boeotia; separating the projecting land by a strait.
δημήτριος 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· 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. 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.
Demetrius of Callatis, speaking of the earthquakes which formerly occurred throughout the whole of Greece, states that a great portion of the Lichadian Islands and of Kenaeum were submerged; that the hot springs of Aedepsus and Thermopylae were suppressed for three days, and that when they commenced to run again those of Aedepsus gushed from new fountains. That at Oreus on the sea-coast the wall and nearly seven hundred houses fell at once. That the greater part of Echinus, Phalara, and Heraclaea of Trachis were thrown down, Phalara being overturned from its very foundations. That almost the same misfortune occurred to the Lamians and inhabitants of Larissa; that Scarpheia was overthrown from its foundations, not less than one thousand seven hundred persons being swallowed up, and at Thronium more than half that number. That a torrent of water gushed forth taking three directions, one to Scarphe and Thronium, another to Thermopylae, and a third to the plains of Daphnus in Phocis. That the springs of [many] rivers were for several days dried up; that the course of the Sperchius was changed, thus rendering navigable what formerly were highways; that the Boagrius flowed through another channel; that many parts of Alope, Cynus, and Opus were injured, and the castle of Oeum, which commands the latter city, entirely overturned. That part of the wall of Elateia was thrown down; and that at Alponus, during the celebration of the games in honour of Ceres, twenty-five maidens, who had mounted a tower to enjoy the show exhibited in the port, were precipitated into the sea by the falling of the tower. They also record that a large fissure was made [by the water] through the midst of the island of Atalanta, opposite Euboea, sufficient for ships to sail in; that the course of the channel was in places as broad as twenty stadia between the plains; and that a trireme being raised [thereby] out of the docks, was carried over the walls.
προστιθέασι δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν μεταστάσεων μεταβολὰς ἐπὶ πλέον τὴν ἀθαυμαστίαν ἡμῖν κατασκευάζειν ἐθέλοντες, ἣν ὑμνεῖ Δημόκριτος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι φιλόσοφοι πάντες· παράκειται γὰρ τῷ ἀθαμβεῖ καὶ ἀταράχῳ καὶ ἀνεκπλήκτῳ. οἷον Ἰβήρων μὲν τῶν ἑσπερίων εἰς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ τῆς Κολχίδος τόπους μετῳκισμένων (οὓς ὁ Ἀράξης, ὥς φησιν Ἀπολλόδωρος, ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀρμενίας ὁρίζει, Κῦρος δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ τὰ ὄρη τὰ Μοσχικά), Αἰγυπτίων δʼ εἴς τε Αἰθίοπας καὶ Κόλχους, Ἑνετῶν δʼ ἐκ Παφλαγονίας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδρίαν. ἅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἐθνῶν συνέβη, Ἰώνων καὶ Δωριέων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν καὶ Αἰολέων· καὶ Αἰνιᾶνες οἱ νῦν Αἰτωλοῖς ὅμοροι περὶ τὸ Δώτιον ᾤκουν καὶ τὴν Ὄσσαν μετὰ Περραιβῶν· καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ Περραιβοὶ μετανάσται τινές. πλήρης δέ ἐστι τῶν τοιούτων παραδειγμάτων ἡ νῦν ἐνεστῶσα πραγματεία. τινὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ πρόχειρα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐστιν· αἱ δὲ τῶν Καρῶν καὶ Τρηρῶν καὶ Τεύκρων μεταναστάσεις καὶ Γαλατῶν, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων οἱ ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐκτοπισμοί, Μάδυός τε τοῦ Σκυθικοῦ καὶ Τεαρκὼ τοῦ Αἰθίοπος καὶ Κώβου τοῦ Τρηρὸς καὶ Σεσώστριος καὶ Ψαμμιτίχου τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Περσῶν τῶν ἀπὸ Κύρου μέχρι Ξέρξου οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐν ἑτοίμῳ πᾶσίν εἰσιν. οἵ τε Κιμμέριοι, οὓς καὶ Τρῆρας ὀνομάζουσιν, ἢ ἐκείνων τι ἔθνος, πολλάκις ἐπέδραμον τὰ δεξιὰ μέρη τοῦ Πόντου καὶ τὰ συνεχῆ αὐτοῖς, τοτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ Παφλαγόνας τοτὲ δὲ καὶ Φρύγας ἐμβαλόντες, ἡνίκα Μίδαν αἷμα ταύρου πιόντα φασὶν ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὸ χρεών. Λύγδαμις δὲ τοὺς αὑτοῦ ἄγων μέχρι Λυδίας καὶ Ἰωνίας ἤλασε καὶ Σάρδεις εἷλεν, ἐν Κιλικίᾳ δὲ διεφθάρη. πολλάκις δὲ καὶ οἱ Κιμμέριοι καὶ οἱ Τρῆρες ἐποιήσαντο τὰς τοιαύτας ἐφόδους· τοὺς δὲ Τρῆρας καὶ Κῶβον ὑπὸ Μάδυος τὸ τελευταῖον ἐξελαθῆναί φασι τοῦ τῶν Σκυθῶν βασιλέως. ταῦτα μὲν εἰρήσθω πρὸς ἅπασαν κοινῇ τὴν περίοδον τῆς γῆς ἔχοντα οἰκείαν ἱστορίαν.
Those who desire to instil into us that more perfect freedom from [ignorant] wonder, which Democritus and all other philosophers so highly extol, should add the changes which have been produced by the migrations of various tribes: we should thus be inspired with courage, steadiness, and composure. For instance, the Western Iberians, removed to the regions beyond the Euxine and Colchis, being separated from Armenia, according to Apollodorus, by the Araxes, but rather by the Cyrus and Moschican mountains. The expedition of the Egyptians into Ethiopia and Colchis. The migration of the Heneti, who passed from Paphlagonia into the country bordering on the Adriatic Gulf. Similar emigrations were also undertaken by the nations of Greece, the Ionians, Dorians, Achaians, and Aeolians; and the Aenians, now next neighbours to the Aetolians, formerly dwelt near Dotium and Ossa, beyond the Perrhaebi; the Perrhaebi too are but wanderers here themselves. Our present work furnishes numerous instances of the same kind. Some of these are familiar to most readers, but the migrations of the Carians, the Treres, the Teucrians, and the Galatae or Gauls, are not so generally known. Nor yet for the most part are the expeditions of their chiefs, for instance, Madys the Scythian, Tearko the Ethiopian, Cobus of Trerus, Sesostris and Psammeticus the Egyptians; nor are those of the Persians from Cyrus to Xerxes familiar to every one. The Kimmerians, or a separate tribe of them, called the Treres, have frequently overrun the countries to the right of the Euxine and those adjacent to them, bursting now into Paphlagonia, now into Phrygia, as they did when, according to report, Midas came to his death by drinking bull’s blood. Lygdamis led his followers into Lydia, passed through Ionia, took Sardis, but was slain in Cilicia. The Kimmerians and Treres frequently made similar incursions, until at last, as it is reported, these latter, together with [their chief] Cobus, were driven out by Madys, king of the Scythians. But enough has been said in this place on the general history of the earth, as each country will have a particular account.
Ἐπάνιμεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ἀφʼ ὧν παρέβημεν. τοῦ γὰρ Ἡροδότου μηδένας ὑπερβορείους εἶναι φήσαντος, μηδὲ γὰρ ὑπερνοτίους, γελοίαν φησὶν εἶναι τὴν ἀπόδειξιν καὶ ὁμοίαν ὁ Ἐρατοσθένης τῷ σοφίσματι τούτῳ, εἴ τις λέγοι μηδένας εἶναι ἐπιχαιρεκάκους, μηδὲ γὰρ ἐπιχαιραγάθους. κατὰ τύχην τε εἶναι καὶ ὑπερνοτίους· κατὰ γοῦν τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν μὴ πνεῖν νότον, ἀλλὰ κατωτέρω. θαυμαστὸν δʼ εἰ καθʼ ἕκαστον κλίμα πνέοντος ἀνέμου καὶ πανταχοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας νότου προσαγορευομένου, ἔστι τις οἴκησις ἐν ᾗ τοῦτο μὴ συμβαίνει. τοὐναντίον γὰρ οὐ μόνον Αἰθιοπία ἔχοι ἂν τὸν καθʼ ἡμᾶς νότον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ἀνωτέρω πᾶσα μέχρι τοῦ ἰσημερινοῦ. εἰ δʼ ἄρα, τοῦ Ἡροδότου τοῦτʼ ἐχρῆν αἰτιᾶσθαι, ὅτι τοὺς ὑπερβορείους τούτους ὑπέλαβε λέγεσθαι, παρʼ οἷς ὁ βορέας οὐ πνεῖ. καὶ γὰρ εἰ οἱ ποιηταὶ μυθικώτερον οὕτω φασίν, οἵ γʼ ἐξηγούμενοι τὸ ὑγιὲς ἂν ἀκούσαιεν, ὑπερβορείους τοὺς βορειοτάτους λέγεσθαι. ὅρος δὲ τῶν μὲν βορείων ὁ πόλος, τῶν δὲ νοτίων ὁ ἰσημερινός· καὶ τῶν ἀνέμων δʼ ὁ αὐτὸς ὅρος.
We must now return to the point whence we digressed. Herodotus having observed that there could be no such people as Hyperborean, inasmuch as there were no Hypernotii, Eratosthenes calls this argument ridiculous, and compares it to the sophism, that there are no epichaerekaki, inasmuch as there are no epichaeragathi; [adding] perhaps there are Hypernotii; since at all events in Ethiopia Notus does not blow, although lower down it does.
It would indeed be strange, since winds blow under every latitude, and especially the southern wind called Notus, if any region could be found where this latter was not felt. On the contrary, not only does Ethiopia experience our Notus, but also the whole country which lies above as far as the equator.
If Herodotus must be blamed at all, it is for supposing that the Hyperboreans were so named in consequence of Boreas, or the north wind, not blowing upon them. The poets are allowed much licence in their modes of expression; but their commentators, who endeavour always to give us the correct view, tell us that the people who dwelt in the extreme north, were styled Hyperboreans. The pole is the boundary of the northern winds, and the equator of the southern; these winds have no other limit.
̔εξῆς δὲ λέγει πρὸς τοὺς φανερῶς πεπλασμένα καὶ ἀδύνατα λέγοντας, τὰ μὲν ἐν μύθου σχήματι τὰ δʼ ἱστορίας, περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἄξιον μεμνῆσθαι· οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐχρῆν ἐν ὑποθέσει τοιαύτῃ φλυάρους ἐπισκοπεῖν.
Eratosthenes next finds fault with the writers who fill their narrative with stories evidently feigned and impossible; some as mere fable, but others as history, which did not deserve mention. In the discussion of a subject like his, he should not have wasted his time about such trifles. Such is the way in which this writer completes the First Book of his Memoirs.
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