Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 13.1.61

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[61] Homer says that Thebe was the city of Eetion;

We went to Thebe, the sacred city of Eetion.¹

Il. i. 366. To him also belonged Chrysa, which contained the temple of Apollo Smintheus, for Chryseis was taken from Thebe;

We went,

he says,

to Thebe, ravaged it, and carried everything away; the sons of the Achtaeans divided the booty among themselves, but selected for Atrides the beautiful Chryseis.

Lyrnessus he calls the city of Mynes, for

having plundered Lyrnessus, and destroyed the walls of Thebe,²

Il. ii. 691. Achilles slew Mynes and Epistrophus, so that when Bryseis says,

you suffered me not to weep when the swift Achilles slew my husband, and laid waste the city of the divine Mynes,³

the poet cannot mean Thebe, for that belonged to Eetion, but Lyrnessus, for both cities lay in what was afterwards called the plain of Thebe, which, on account of its fertility, was a subject of contest among the Mysians and Lydians formerly, and latterly among the Greeks who had migrated from Aeolis and Lesbos. At present Adramytteni possess the greater part of it; there are Thebe and Lyrnessus, a strong place, but both are deserted. One is situated at the distance of 60 stadia from Adramyttium on one side, and the other 88 stadia on the other side.

Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 13.1.61 focus

[61] τοῦ μὲν οὖν Ἠετίωνος λέγει πόλιν Θήβην

ᾠχόμεθʼ ἐς Θήβην ἱερὴν πόλιν Ἠετίωνος

¹ τούτου δὲ καὶ τὴν Χρῦσαν τὴν ἔχουσαν τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Σμινθέως Ἀπόλλωνος ἐμφαίνει, εἴπερ ἡ Χρυσηὶς ἐκ τῆς Θήβης ἑάλω· ᾠχόμεθα γάρ, φησίν,

ἐς Θήβην·

τὴν δὲ διεπράθομέν τε καὶ ἤγομεν ἐνθάδε πάντα.

καὶ τὰ μὲν εὖ δάσσαντο μετὰ σφίσιν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν,

ἐκ δʼ ἕλον Ἀτρείδῃ Χρυσηίδα.

² τοῦ δὲ Μύνητος τὴν Λυρνησσόν· ἐπειδὴ

Λυρνησσὸν διαπορθήσας καὶ τείχεα Θήβης

³ τόν τε Μύνητα καὶ τὸν Ἐπίστροφον ἀνεῖλεν Ἀχιλλεύς, ὥστε ὅταν φῇ ἡ Βρισηίς

οὐδέ μʼ ἔασκες, ὅτʼ ἄνδρʼ ἐμὸν ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς

ἔκτεινεν, πέρσεν δὲ πόλιν θείοιο Μύνητος,

⁴ οὐ τὴν Θήβην λέγοι ἄν (αὕτη γὰρ Ἠετίωνος) ἀλλὰ τὴν Λυρνησσόν· ἀμφότεραι δʼ ἦσαν ἐν τῷ κληθέντι μετὰ ταῦτα Θήβης πεδίῳ, ὃ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν περιμάχητον γενέσθαι φασὶ Μυσοῖς μὲν καὶ Λυδοῖς τὸ πρότερον, τοῖς δʼ Ἕλλησιν ὕστερον τοῖς ἐποικήσασιν ἐκ τῆς Αἰολίδος καὶ τῆς Λέσβου. ἔχουσι δὲ νῦν Ἀδραμυττηνοὶ τὸ πλέον· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ καὶ ἡ Θήβη καὶ ἡ Λυρνησσός, ἐρυμνὸν χωρίον· ἔρημοι δʼ ἀμφότεραι· διέχουσι δὲ Ἀδραμυττίου σταδίους ἡ μὲν ἑξήκοντα ἡ δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἐπὶ θάτερα.

Translations (1)

Geography (Books 6-14) Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).) — 13.1.61 focus

[61] Now Homer calls Thebe the city of Eëtion:

We went into Thebe, the sacred city of Eëtion;

¹and he clearly indicates that also Chrysa, which had the temple of Sminthian Apollo, belonged to Eëtion, if it be true that Chryseïs was taken captive at Thebe, for he says,

We went into Thebe, and laid it waste and brought hither all the spoil. And this they divided aright among themselves, but they chose out Chryseïs for the son of Atreus;

²and that Lyrnessus belonged to Mynes, since Achilles

laid waste Lyrnessus and the walls of Thebe

³and slew both Mynes and Epistrophus; so that when Briseïs says,

thou wouldst not even let me,⁴ when swift Achilles slew my husband and sacked the city of divine Mynes,

⁵Homer cannot mean Thebe (for this belonged to Eëtion), but Lyrnessus. Both were situated in what was afterwards called the Plain of Thebe, which, on account of its fertility, is said to have been an object of contention between the Mysians and Lydians in earlier times, and later between the Greeks who colonized it from Aeolis and Lesbos. But the greater part of it is now held by the Adramytteni, for here lie both Thebe and Lyrnessus, the latter a natural stronghold; but both places are deserted. From Adramyttium the former is distant sixty stadia and the latter eighty-eight, in opposite directions.⁶

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Il. i. 366.

2. Il. ii. 691.

3. Il. ii. 295.

Strabo Geography 13.1.61

Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator)

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