Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 9.5.20

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[20] The poet next mentions both Titaresius and the Perrhaebians, when he says,

“And Guneus led from Cyphus twenty-two ships. And there followed him the Enienians,¹ and the Perrhaebians steadfast in war, who had established their homes round wintry Dodona,² and dwelt in the fields about lovely Titaresius.”

³Now he speaks of these places as belonging to the Perrhaebians, places which fell into their possession as a part of Hestiaeotis.⁴ And also the cities subject to Polypoetes were in part Perrhaebian. However, he assigned them to the Lapiths because the two peoples lived intermingled with one another,⁵ and also because, although the Lapiths held possession of the plains and the Perrhaebian element there were for the most part subject to the Lapiths, the Perrhaebians held possession of the more mountainous parts near Olympus and Tempe, as, for example, Cyphus, and Dodona, and the region about the Titaresius; this river rises in the Titarius Mountain, which connects with Olympus, and flows into the territory of Perrhaebia which is near Tempe, and somewhere in that neighborhood unites with the Peneius. Now the water of the Peneius is pure, but that of the Titaresius is oily, because of some substance or other, so that it does not mingle with that of the Peneius,

“but runs over it on the top like oil.”

⁶Because of the fact that the two peoples lived intermingled, Simonides uses the terms Perrhaebians and Lapiths of all the Pelasgiotes who occupy the region about Gyrton and the outlets of the Peneius and Mount Ossa and Mount Pelion, and the region about Demetrias, and the region in the plain, I mean Larisa, Crannon, Scotussa, Mopsium, Atrax, and the region about Lake Nessonis and Lake Boebeïs. Of these places the poet mentions only a few, because the rest of them had not yet been settled, or else were only wretched settlements, on account of the inundations which took place at various times. Indeed, he does not mention Lake Nessonis either, but Lake Boebeïs only (though it is much smaller), because the latter alone persisted, whereas the former, in all probability, was at times filled at irregular intervals and at times gave out altogether. Scotussa I have already mentioned in my account of Dodona and of the oracle in Thessaly, saying that originally it was near this place.⁷ In the territory of Scotussa there is a place called Cynoscephalae,⁸ near which Titus Quintius⁹ and the Romans, along with the Aetolians, in a great battle¹⁰ conquered Philip the son of Demetrius, king of the Macedonians.

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.) — 9.5.20 focus

[20] λέγει δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτου καὶ περὶ τῶν Περραιβῶν ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ὁ ποιητὴς ὅταν φῇ Γουνεὺς δʼ ἐκ Κύφου ἦγε δύω καὶ εἴκοσι νῆας. τῷ δʼ Ἐνιῆνες ἕποντο μενεπτόλεμοί τε Περαιβοί, οἳ περὶ Δωδώνην δυσχείμερον οἰκίʼ ἔθεντο, οἵ τʼ ἀμφʼ ἱμερτὸν Τιταρήσιον ἔργʼ ἐνέμοντο. λέγει μὲν οὖν τούτους τοὺς τόπους τῶν Περραιβῶν, ἀπὸ μέρους τῆς Ἑστιαιώτιδος ἐπειληφότας· ἦσαν δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τῷ Πολυποίτῃ ἐκ μέρους Περραιβικαί, τοῖς μέντοι Λαπίθαις προσένειμε διὰ τὸ ἀναμὶξ οἰκεῖν καὶ τὰ μὲν πεδία κατέχειν τοὺς Λαπίθας καὶ τὸ ἐνταῦθα Περραιβικὸν ὑπὸ τούτοις τετάχθαι ὡς ἐπὶ πλέον, τὰ δʼ ὀρεινότερα χωρία πρὸς τῷ Ὀλύμπῳ καὶ τοῖς Τέμπεσι τοὺς Περραιβούς, καθάπερ τὸν Κύφον καὶ τὴν Δωδώνην καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Τιταρήσιον, ὃς ἐξ ὄρους Τιταρίου συμφυοῦς τῷ Ὀλύμπῳ ῥέων εἰς τὰ πλησίον τῶν Τεμπῶν χωρία τῆς Περραιβίας αὐτοῦ που τὰς συμβολὰς ποιεῖται πρὸς τὸν Πηνειόν. τὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Πηνειοῦ καθαρόν ἐστιν ὕδωρ, τὸ δὲ τοῦ Τιταρησίου λιπαρὸν ἔκ τινος ὕλης ὥστʼ οὐ συμμίσγεται ἀλλά τέ μιν καθύπερθεν ἐπιτρέχει ἠύτʼ ἔλαιον. διὰ δὲ τὸ ἀναμὶξ οἰκεῖν Σιμωνίδης Περραιβοὺς καὶ Λαπίθας καλεῖ τοὺς Πελασγιώτας ἅπαντας, τοὺς τὰ ἑῷα κατέχοντας τὰ περὶ Γυρτῶνα καὶ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ Πηνειοῦ καὶ Ὄσσαν καὶ Πήλιον καὶ τὰ περὶ Δημητριάδα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ, Λάρισαν Κραννῶνα Σκοτοῦσσαν Μόψιον Ἄτρακα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Νεσσωνίδα λίμνην καὶ τὴν Βοιβηίδα· ὧν ὁ ποιητὴς ὀλίγων μέμνηται διὰ τὸ μὴ οἰκισθῆναί πω τἆλλα ἢ φαύλως οἰκισθῆναι διὰ τοὺς κατακλυσμοὺς ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλους γινομένους· ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ τῆς Νεσσωνίδος μέμνηται λίμνης, ἀλλὰ τῆς Βοιβηίδος μόνον πολὺ ἐλάττονος οὔσης, ταύτης δὲ μόνης μενούσης, ἐκείνης δὲ ὡς εἰκὸς τοτὲ μὲν πληρουμένης ἀτάκτως, τοτὲ δʼ ἐκλειπομένης. τῆς δὲ Σκοτούσσης ἐμνήσθημεν καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Δωδώνης λόγοις καὶ τοῦ μαντείου τοῦ ἐν Θετταλίᾳ, διότι περὶ τοῦτον ὑπῆρξε τὸν τόπον. ἔστι δʼ ἐν τῇ Σκοτούσσῃ χωρίον τι Κυνὸς κεφαλαὶ καλούμενον, περὶ ὃ Ῥωμαῖοι μετʼ Αἰτωλῶν καὶ Τίτος Κοΐντιος ἐνίκων μάχῃ μεγάλῃ Φίλιππον τὸν Δημητρίου, Μακεδόνων βασιλέα.

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.) — 9.5.20 focus

[20] The poet speaks both of this river and of the Perrhaebi in the subsequent verses, when he says,

Guneus brought from Cyphus two and twenty vessels. His followers were Enienes and Peraebi, firm in battle. They dwelt near the wintry Dodona, and tilled the fields about the lovely Titaresius.¹

He mentions therefore these places as belonging to the Perrhaebi, which comprised a part of the Hestiaeotis.² They were in part Perrhaebic towns, which were subject to Polypcetes. He assigned them however to the Lapithae, because these people and the Perrhaebi lived intermixed together, and the Lapithae occupied the plains. The country, which belonged to the Perrhaebi, was, for the most part, subject to the Lapithae, but the Perrhaebi possessed the more mountainous tracts towards Olympus and Tempe, such as Cyphus, Dodonē, and the country about the river Titaresius. This river rises in the mountain Titarius, which is part of Olympus. It flows into the plain near Tempe belonging to Perrhaebia, and somewhere there enters the Peneius.

The water of the Peneius is clear, that of the Titaresius is unctuous; a property arising from some matter, which prevents the streams mingling with each other,

but runs over the surface like oil.³

Il. ii. 754

Because the Perrhaebi and Lapithae lived intermingled together, Simonides calls all those people Pelasgiotae, who occupy the eastern parts about Gyrton and the mouths of the Peneius, Ossa, Pelion, and the country about Demetrias, and the places in the plain, Larisa, Crannon, Scotussa, Mopsium, Atrax, and the parts near the lakes Nessonis and Boebeis. The poet mentions a few only of these places, either because they were not inhabited at all, or badly inhabited on account of the inundations which had happened at various times. For the poet does not mention even the lake Nessonis, but the Boebeis only, which is much smaller, for its water remained constant, and this alone remains, while the former probably was at one time filled irregularly to excess, and at another contained no water.

We have mentioned Scotussa in our accounts of Dodona, and of the oracle, in Thessaly, when we observed that it was near Scotussa. Near Scotussa is a tract called Cynoscephalae. It was here that the Romans with their allies the Aetolians, and their general Titus Quintius, defeated in a great battle Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. The Homeric spelling of “Aenianians” (9. 4. 11).

2. The Thessalian Dodona mentioned in Fr. 1, 1a, 1b, 1c.

3. Hom. Il. 2.748

4. The Perrhaebians had seized Hestiaeotis (9. 5. 17).

5. See 9. 5. 19.

6. Hom. Il. 2.754

7. 7. 7. 12.

8. “Dogs’ Heads,” a low range of hills.

9. Titus Quintius Flamininus.

10. 197 B.C.

Strabo Geography 9.5.20

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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