Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 9.1.1

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[1] HAVING completed the description of Peloponnesus, which we said was the first and least of the peninsulas of which Greece consists, we must next proceed to those which are continuous with it.¹

We described the second to be that which joins Megaris to the Peloponnesus [so that Crommyon belongs to Megaris, and not to the Corinthians];² the third to be that which is situated near the former, comprising Attica and Boeotia, some part of Phocis, and of the Locri Epicnemidii. Of these we are now to speak.

Eudoxus says, that if we imagine a straight line to be drawn towards the east from the Ceraunian Mountains to Sunium, the promontory of Attica, it would leave, on the right hand, to the south, the whole of Peloponnesus, and on the left, to the north, the continuous coast from the Ceraunian Mountains to the Crisaean Gulf, and the whole of Megaris and Attica. He is of opinion that the shore which extends from Sunium to the Isthmus, would not have so great a curvature, nor have so great a bend, if, to this shore, were not added the parts continuous with the Isthmus and extending to the Hermionic Bay and Acté; that in the same manner the shore, from the Ceraunian Mountains to the Gulf of Corinth, has a similar bend, so as to make a curvature, forming within it a sort of gulf, where Rhium and Antirrhium contracting together give it this figure. The same is the case with the shore about Crissa and the recess, where the Crissaean Sea terminates.³

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

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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.) — 9.1.1 focus

[1] περιωδευκόσι δὲ τὴν Πελοπόννησον, ἣν πρώτην ἔφαμεν καὶ ἐλαχίστην τῶν συντιθεισῶν τὴν Ἑλλάδα χερρονήσων, ἐφεξῆς ἂν εἴη τὰς συνεχεῖς ἐπελθεῖν. ἦν δὲ δευτέρα μὲν ἡ προστιθεῖσα τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ τὴν Μεγαρίδα, ὥστε τὸν Κρομμυῶνα Μεγαρέων εἶναι καὶ μὴ Κορινθίων· τρίτη δὲ ἡ πρὸς ταύτῃ προσλαμβάνουσα τὴν Ἀττικὴν καὶ τὴν Βοιωτίαν καὶ τῆς Φωκίδος τι μέρος καὶ τῶν Ἐπικνημιδίων Λοκρῶν. περὶ τούτων οὖν λεκτέον. φησὶ δʼ Εὔδοξος, εἴ τις νοήσειεν ἀπὸ τῶν Κεραυνίων ὀρῶν ἐπὶ Σούνιον τὸ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἄκρον ἐπὶ τὰ πρὸς ἕω μέρη τεταμένην εὐθεῖαν, ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν ἀπολείψειν τὴν Πελοπόννησον ὅλην πρὸς νότον, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄρκτον τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν Κεραυνίων ὀρῶν συνεχῆ παραλίαν μέχρι τοῦ Κρισαίου κόλπου καὶ τῆς Μεγαρίδος καὶ συμπάσης τῆς Ἀττικῆς· νομίζει δʼ οὐδʼ ἂν κ οιλαίνεσθαι οὕτως τὴν ᾐόνα τὴν ἀπὸ Σουνίου μέχρι τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ ὥστε μεγάλην ἔχειν ἐπιστροφήν, εἰ μὴ προσῆν τῇ ᾐόνι ταύτῃ καὶ τὰ συνεχῆ τῷ Ἰσθμῷ χωρία τὰ ποιοῦντα τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ἑρμιονικὸν καὶ τὴν Ἀκτήν· ὡς δʼ αὕ τως οὐδʼ ἂν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν Κεραυνίων ἐπὶ τὸν Κορινθιακὸν κόλπον ἔχειν τινὰ τοσαύ την ἐπιστροφὴν ὥστε κοιλαίνεσθαι κολποειδῶς καθʼ αὑ τήν, εἰ μὴ τὸ Ῥίον καὶ τὸ Ἀντίρριον συναγόμενα εἰς στενὸν ἐποίει τὴν ἔμφασιν ταύτην· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ περι έχοντα τὸν μυχόν, εἰς ἃ καταλήγειν συμβαίνει τὴν ταύτῃ θάλατταν.

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).) — 9.1.1 focus

[1] Now that I have completed my circuit of the Peloponnesus, which, as I have said,¹ was the first and the smallest of the peninsulas of which Greece consists, it will be next in order to traverse those that are continuous with it. The second peninsula is the one that adds Megaris to the Peloponnesus,² so that Crommyon belongs to the Megarians and not to the Corinthians; the third is the one which, in addition to the second, comprises Attica and Boeotia and a part of Phocis and of the Epicnemidian Locrians. I must therefore describe these two. Eudoxus³ says that if one should imagine a straight line drawn in an easterly direction from the Ceraunian Mountains to Sunium, the promontory of Attica, it would leave on the right, towards the south, the whole of the Peloponnesus, and on the left, towards the north, the continuous coastline from the Ceraunian Mountains to the Crisaean Gulf and Megaris, and the coastline of all Attica. And he believes that the shore which extends from Sunium to the Isthmus would not be so concave as to have a great bend, if to this shore were not added the districts continuous with the Isthmus which form the Hermionic Gulf and Acte; and, in the same way, he believes that the shore which extends from the Ceraunian Mountains to the Corinthian Gulf would not, viewed by itself alone, have so great a bend as to be concave like a gulf if Rhium and Antirrhium did not draw closely together and afford this appearance; and the same is true of the shores⁴ that surround the recess of the gulf, where the sea in this region⁵ comes to an end.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. The peninsulas described by Strabo, are:

1. The Peloponnesus, properly so called, bounded by the Isthmus of Corinth.

2. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from Pagae to Nisaea, and including the above.

3. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from the recess of the Crissaean Gulf, properly so called, (the Bay of Salona,) to Thermopylae, and includes the two first.

4. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from the Ambracic Gulf to Thermopylae and the Maliac Gulf, and includes the three former.

5. The peninsula bounded by a line drawn from the Ambracic Gulf to the recess of the Thermaic Gulf, and contains the former four peninsulas.

2. These words are transposed from after the word Epicnemidii, as suggested by Cramer.

3. The Crissaean Gulf, properly so called, is the modern Bay of Salona. But probably Strabo (or rather Eudoxus, whose testimony he alleges) intended to comprehend, under the denomination of Crissaean, the whole gulf, more commonly called Corinthian by the ancients, that is, the gulf which commenced at the strait between Rhium and Antirrhium, and of which the Crissaean Gulf was only a portion. The text in the above passage is very corrupt.

Strabo Geography 9.1.1

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

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