Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 13.1.13

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[13] This country was called “Adrasteia”¹ and “Plain of Adrasteia,” in accordance with a custom whereby people gave two names to the same place, as “Thebe” and “Plain of Thebe,” and “Mygdonia” and “Plain of Mygdonia.” According to Callisthenes, among others, Adrasteia was named after King Adrastus, who was the first to found a temple of Nemesis. Now the city is situated between Priapus and Parium; and it has below it a plain that is named after it, in which there was an oracle of Apollo Actaeus and Artemis. . . .² But when the temple was torn down, the whole of its furnishings and stonework were transported to Parium, where was built an altar,³ the work of Hermocreon, very remarkable for its size and beauty; but the oracle was abolished like that at Zeleia. Here, however, there is no temple of Adrasteia, nor yet of Nemesis, to be seen, although there is a temple of Adrasteia near Cyzicus. Antimachus says as follows:

There is a great goddess Nemesis, who has obtained as her portion all these things from the Blessed.⁴ Adrestus⁵ was the first to build an altar to her beside the stream of the Aesepus River, where she is worshipped under the name of Adresteia.

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

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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.) — 13.1.13 focus

[13] ἐκαλεῖτο δʼ ἡ χώρα αὕτη Ἀδράστεια καὶ Ἀδραστείας πεδίον, κατὰ ἔθος τι οὕτω λεγόντων τὸ αὐτὸ χωρίον διττῶς, ὡς καὶ Θήβην καὶ Θήβης πεδίον, καὶ Μυγδονίαν καὶ Μυγδονίας πεδίον. φησὶ δὲ¹ Καλλισθένης ἀπὸ Ἀδράστου βασιλέως, ὃς πρῶτος Νεμέσεως ἱερὸν ἱδρύσατο, καλεῖσθαι Ἀδράστειαν. ἡ μὲν οὖν πόλις μεταξὺ Πριάπου καὶ Παρίου, ἔχουσα ὑποκείμενον πεδίον ὁμώνυμον, ἐν ᾧ καὶ μαντεῖον ἦν Ἀπόλλωνος Ἀκταίου καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος κατὰ τὴν εἰς δὲ Πάριον μετηνέχθη πᾶσα ἡ κατασκευὴ καὶ λιθεία κατασπασθέντος τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ ᾠκοδομήθη ἐν τῷ Παρίῳ βωμὸς, Ἑρμοκρέοντος ἔργον, πολλῆς μνήμης ἄξιον κατά τε μέγεθος καὶ κάλλος· τὸ δὲ μαντεῖον ἐξελείφθη, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ ἐν Ζελείᾳ. ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν ἱερὸν Ἀδραστείας δείκνυται, οὐδὲ δὴ Νεμέσεως, περὶ δὲ Κύζικον ἔστιν Ἀδραστείας ἱερόν. Ἀντίμαχος δʼ οὕτω φησίν

ἔστι δέ τις Νέμεσις μεγάλη θεὸς, ἣ τάδε πάντα

πρὸς μακάρων ἔλαχεν· βωμὸν δέ οἱ εἵσατο πρῶτος

Ἄδρηστος, ποταμοῖο παρὰ ῥόον Αἰσήποιο,

ἔνθα τετίμηταί τε καὶ Ἀδρήστεια καλεῖται.

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.) — 13.1.13 focus

[13] This district was called Adrasteia, and the plain of Adrasteia, according to the custom of giving two names to the same place, as Thebe, and the plain of Thebe; Mygdonia, and the plain of Mygdonia.

Callisthenes says that Adrasteia had its name from King Adrastus, who first built the temple of Nemesis. The city Adrasteia is situated between Priapus and Parium, with a plain of the same name below it, in which there was an oracle of the Actaean Apollo and Artemis near the sea-shore.¹ On the demolition of the temple, all the furniture and the stonework were transported to Parium, where an altar, the workmanship of Hermocreon, remarkable for its size and beauty, was erected, but the oracle, as well as that at Zeleia, was abolished. No temple either of Adrasteia or Nemesis exists. But there is a temple of Adrasteia near Cyzicus. Antimachus, however, says,

There is a great goddess Nemesis, who has received all these things from the immortals. Adrastus first raised an altar to her honour on the banks of the river Aesepus, where she is worshipped under the name of Adrasteia.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. On the site of Adrasteia, see Leaf, p. 77.

2. Three words in the Greek text here are corrupt. Strabo may have said that this temple was “on the shore,” or “in the direction of Pityeia” (the same as Pitya; see section 15 following), or “in the direction of Pactye”.

3. This altar was a stadium (about 600 feet) in length (10. 5. 7).

4. A not uncommon appellation of the gods.

5. Note the variant spelling of the name.

Strabo Geography 13.1.13

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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