| 7.129. τὴν δὲ Θεσσαλίην λόγος ἐστὶ τὸ παλαιὸν εἶναι λίμνην, ὥστε γε συγκεκληιμένην πάντοθεν ὑπερμήκεσι ὄρεσι. τὰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἔχοντα τό τε Πήλιον ὄρος καὶ ἡ Ὄσσα ἀποκληίει συμμίσγοντα τὰς ὑπωρείας ἀλλήλοισι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς βορέω ἀνέμου Ὄλυμπος, τὰ δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέρην Πίνδος, τὰ δὲ πρὸς μεσαμβρίην τε καὶ ἄνεμον νότον ἡ Ὄθρυς· τὸ μέσον δὲ τούτων τῶν λεχθέντων ὀρέων ἡ Θεσσαλίη ἐστὶ ἐοῦσα κοίλη. ὥστε ὦν ποταμῶν ἐς αὐτὴν καὶ ἄλλων συχνῶν ἐσβαλλόντων, πέντε δὲ τῶν δοκίμων μάλιστα τῶνδε, Πηνειοῦ καὶ Ἀπιδανοῦ καὶ Ὀνοχώνου καὶ Ἐνιπέος καὶ Παμίσου, οἳ μέν νυν ἐς τὸ πεδίον τοῦτο συλλεγόμενοι ἐκ τῶν ὀρέων τῶν περικληιόντων τὴν Θεσσαλίην ὀνομαζόμενοι διʼ ἑνὸς αὐλῶνος καὶ τούτου στεινοῦ ἔκροον ἔχουσι ἐς θάλασσαν, προσυμμίσγοντες τὸ ὕδωρ πάντες ἐς τὠυτό· ἐπεὰν δὲ συμμιχθέωσι τάχιστα, ἐνθεῦτεν ἤδη ὁ Πηνειὸς τῷ οὐνόματι κατακρατέων ἀνωνύμους τοὺς ἄλλους εἶναι ποιέει. τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν λέγεται, οὐκ ἐόντος κω τοῦ αὐλῶνος καὶ διεκρόου τούτου, τοὺς ποταμοὺς τούτους, καὶ πρὸς τοῖσι ποταμοῖσι τούτοισι τὴν Βοιβηίδα λίμνην, οὔτε ὀνομάζεσθαι κατά περ νῦν ῥέειν τε οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ νῦν, ῥέοντας δὲ ποιέειν τὴν Θεσσαλίην πᾶσαν πέλαγος. αὐτοὶ μέν νυν Θεσσαλοί φασι Ποσειδέωνα ποιῆσαι τὸν αὐλῶνα διʼ οὗ ῥέει ὁ Πηνειός, οἰκότα λέγοντες· ὅστις γὰρ νομίζει Ποσειδέωνα τὴν γῆν σείειν καὶ τὰ διεστεῶτα ὑπὸ σεισμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου ἔργα εἶναι, κἂν ἐκεῖνο ἰδὼν φαίη Ποσειδέωνα ποιῆσαι· ἔστι γὰρ σεισμοῦ ἔργον, ὡς ἐμοὶ φαίνεται εἶναι, ἡ διάστασις τῶν ὀρέων. | 7.129. Thessaly, as tradition has it, was in old times a lake enclosed all round by high mountains. On its eastern side it is fenced in by the joining of the lower parts of the mountains Pelion and Ossa, to the north by Olympus, to the west by Pindus, towards the south and the southerly wind by Othrys. In the middle, then, of this ring of mountains, lies the vale of Thessaly. ,A number of rivers pour into this vale, the most notable of which are Peneus, Apidanus, Onochonus, Enipeus, Pamisus. These five, while they flow towards their meeting place from the mountains which surround Thessaly, have their several names, until their waters all unite and issue into the sea by one narrow passage. ,As soon as they are united, the name of the Peneus prevails, making the rest nameless. In ancient days, it is said, there was not yet this channel and outfall, but those rivers and the Boebean lake, which was not yet named, had the same volume of water as now, and thereby turned all Thessaly into a sea. ,Now the Thessalians say that Poseidon made the passage by which the Peneus flows. This is reasonable, for whoever believes that Poseidon is the shaker of the earth and that rifts made by earthquakes are the work of that god will conclude, upon seeing that passage, that it is of Poseidon's making. It was manifest to me that it must have been an earthquake which forced the mountains apart. |
