εἰς Οἴτην. The three names here—Oeta—Trachis—the Spercheius— mark the great features of the region. Typhrestus, at the southern end of Pindus, throws off two ranges towards the eastern sea. One runs nearly due east, and skirts the s. borders of Thessaly: this is Othrys, the lofty ‘brow’ which looks down from the north on the plain of Malis. The other—Oeta, the ‘sheep-land’ —runs s. of Othrys, and parallel with it at first; then, turning S. and E. , it throws out cliffs which enclose the plain of Malis on S. and W. Trachis—‘the rugged’— stood below those cliffs; they themselves were called ‘the Trachinian Rocks.’ ( Her. 7. 198“ὄρεα ὑψηλὰ καὶ ἄβατα περικλῄει πᾶσαν τὴν Μηλίδα γῆν, Τρηχίνιαι πέτραι καλεόμεναι”.) The Spercheius— ‘the vehement’—rises at the base of Typhrestus. As it runs eastward, its broad valley separates the ranges of Othrys and Oeta. It passes through the plain of Malis, and enters the Malian Gulf. Its old mouth was about five miles N. of Trachis: the present mouths are more to the south.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
