Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 10.4.6

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[6]

But one tongue with others is mixed,

the poet says;

there dwell Achaeans, there Eteo-Cretans¹ proud of heart, there Cydonians and Dorians, too, of waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians.

²³ Of these peoples, according to Staphylus,⁴ the Dorians occupy the part towards the east, the Cydonians the western part, the Eteo-Cretans the southern; and to these last belongs the town Prasus, where is the temple of the Dictaean Zeus; whereas the other peoples, since they were more powerful, dwelt in the plains. Now it is reasonable to suppose that the Eteo-Cretans and the Cydonians were autochthonous, and that the others were foreigners, who, according to Andron,⁵ came from Thessaly, from the country which in earlier times was called Doris, but is now called Hestiaeotis; it was from this country that the Dorians who lived in the neighborhood of Parnassus set out, as he says, and founded Erineüs, Boeüm, and Cytinium, and hence by Homer⁶ are called “trichaïces.”⁷ However, writers do not accept the account of Andron at all, since he represents the Tetrapolis Doris as being a Tripolis,⁸ and the metropolis of the Dorians as a mere colony of Thessalians; and they derive the meaning of “trichaïces” either from the “trilophia,”⁹ or from the fact that the crests were “trichini.”¹⁰

Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Geography (Books 6-14) (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 10.4.6 focus

[6]

ἄλλη δʼ ἄλλων γλῶσσα μεμιγμένη

φησὶν ὁ ποιητής

ἐν μὲν Ἀχαιοί,

ἐν δʼ Ἐτεόκρητες μεγαλήτορες, ἐν δὲ Κύδωνες,

Δωριέες τε τριχάικες δῖοί τε Πελασγοί.

¹τούτων φησὶ Στάφυλος τὸ μὲν πρὸς ἕω Δωριεῖς κατέχειν, τὸ δὲ δυσμικὸν Κύδωνας, τὸ δὲ νότιον Ἐτεόκρητας, ὧν εἶναι πολίχνιον Πρᾶσον, ὅπου τὸ τοῦ Δικταίου Διὸς ἱερόν· τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους ἰσχύοντας πλέον οἰκῆσαι τὰ πεδία. τοὺς μὲν οὖν Ἐτεόκρητας καὶ τοὺς Κύδωνας αὐτόχθονας ὑπάρξαι εἰκός, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἐπήλυδας, οὓς ἐκ Θετταλίας φησὶν ἐλθεῖν Ἄνδρων τῆς Δωρίδος μὲν πρότερον νῦν δὲ Ἑστιαιώτιδος λεγομένης· ἐξ ἧς ὡρμήθησαν, ὥς φησιν, οἱ περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν οἰκήσαντες Δωριεῖς καὶ ἔκτισαν τήν τε Ἐρινεὸν καὶ Βοιὸν καὶ Κυτίνιον, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τριχάικες ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ λέγονται. οὐ πάνυ δὲ τὸν τοῦ Ἄνδρωνος λόγον ἀποδέχονται, τὴν μὲν τετράπολιν Δωρίδα τρίπολιν ἀποφαίνοντος, τὴν δὲ μητρόπολιν τῶν Δωριέων ἄποικον Θετταλῶν· τριχάικας δὲ δέχονται ἤτοι ἀπὸ τῆς τριλοφίας ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ τριχίνους εἶναι τοὺς λόφους².

Translations (1)

Geography Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.) — 10.4.6 focus

[6] One language is intermixed with another, says the poet; there are in Crete,

Achaei, the brave Eteocretans, Cydones, Dorians divided into three bands,¹ and the divine Pelasgi.²

Of these people, says Staphylus, the Dorians occupy the eastern parts of the island, Cydonians the western, Eteocretans the southern, to whom Prasus, a small town, belonged, where is the temple of the Dictaean Jupiter; the other nations, being more powerful, inhabited the plains. It is probable that the Eteocretans³ and Cydonians were aboriginal inhabitants, and that the others were foreigners, who Andron says came from Thessaly, formerly called Doris, but now Hestiaeotis, from which country he says the Dorians, who were settled about Parnassus, migrated, and founded Erineum, Boeum, and Cytinium, whence they are called by the poet Trichaïces, or tripartite. But the account of Andron is not generally admitted, who represents the Tetrapolis Doris as composed of three cities, and the metropolis of the Dorians as a colony of Thessalians. The epithet Trichaïces⁴ is understood to be derived either from their wearing a triple crest,⁵ or from having crests of hair.⁶

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. “Cretans of the old stock.”

2. Hom. Od. 19.175

3. See 5. 2. 4, where the same passage is quoted.

4. Staphylus of Naucratis wrote historical works on Thessaly, Athens, Aeolia, and Arcadia, but only a few fragments are preserved. The translator does not know when he lived.

5. Andron (fl. apparently in the fourth century B.C.) wrote a work entitled Kinships, of which only a few fragments remain. It treated the genealogical relationships between the Greek tribes and cities, and appears to have been an able work.

6. Hom. Od. 19.177 .

7. Andron fancifully connects this adjective with “tricha” (“in three parts”), making it mean “three-fold” (so Liddell and Scott q.v.), but it is surely a compound of θρίξ and ἀΐσσω (cp. κορυθάϊξ), and mans “hairshaking,” or, as translated in the above passage from Homer, “of waving plumes.”

8. i.e., as composed of three cities instead of four.

9. “Triple.crest” (of a helmet).

10. “Made of hair.”

Strabo Geography 10.4.6

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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