Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.24.11

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Passage 8.24.11: Aetolian abandonment stopped the Achelous from silting the Echinades to the mainland.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τὰς δὲ Ἐχινάδας νήσους ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀχελῴου μὴ σφᾶς ἤπειρον ἄχρι ἡμῶν ἀπειργάσθαι γέγονε δὴ αἰτία τὸ Αἰτωλῶν ἔθνος, γεγόνασι δὲ αὐτοί τε ἀνάστατοι καὶ ἡ γῆ σφισι πᾶσα ἠρήμωται· ταῖς Ἐχινάσιν οὖν ἅτε ἀσπόρου μενούσης τῆς Αἰτωλίας οὐχ ὁμοίως ὁ Ἀχελῷος ἐπάγει τὴν ἰλύν. μαρτύριον δέ μοι τοῦ λόγου· ὁ γὰρ Μαίανδρος διὰ τῆς Φρυγῶν καὶ Καρῶν ἀρουμένης ὅσα ἔτη ῥέων τὴν μεταξὺ Πριήνης καὶ Μιλήτου θάλασσαν ἐν οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ πεποίηκεν ἤπειρον.

English Translation

As for the Echinades islands, it is the people of Aetolia who are responsible for their not having been joined to the mainland by the river Achelous even down to our own time. For the Aetolians have themselves become refugees, and all their land has been abandoned. Since Aetolia thus remains uncultivated, the Achelous does not deposit silt towards the Echinades as it once did. As proof for my statement: the river Maeander, flowing year by year through a region cultivated by Phrygians and Carians, has within a short period turned the sea between Priene and Miletus into dry land.

Proper Nouns

Achelous (Ἀχελῷος) deity
Aetolians (Αἰτωλοί) person
Carians (Κᾶρες) person
Phrygians (Φρύγες) person
Aetolia (Αἰτωλία) place Q26857
Miletus (Μίλητος) place Q169460
Maeander (Μαίανδρος) place Q211089
Priene (Πριήνη) place Q142819
Also in: 7.2.9 7.2.10 7.5.5
Echinades (Ἐχινάδες) place Q767387
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