From the book
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordChthoniē is a feminine name related to the earth.
- In EmpedoclesEarth-Maid begins the catalogue at B122/123 and is followed by far-glancing Sun-Maid.
- In this editionThe combined heading B122/123 is this edition's presentation.
- A place to readEarth-Maid opens the catalogue beside far-glancing Sun-Maid.
Meaning
Chthoniē is a feminine name related to the earth. “Earth-Maid” makes its personal character intelligible in English; “maid” is an interpretive rendering of the feminine name, not a separately printed word for a girl.
Use in the book
Earth-Maid begins the catalogue at B122/123 and is followed by far-glancing Sun-Maid. Their juxtaposition sets an earthly presence beside a solar one. The subsequent pairs show that the catalogue repeatedly places unlike qualities or conditions together, but the first line does not itself explain the relationship between its two figures.
The word should not silently become another unambiguous name for a root-deity in B6. Chthoniē is not the same printed form as Chthōn, Earth, in the physical account of blood and flesh at B98. Their lexical relationship invites comparison, while the difference of context prevents certainty about identity. The fragment gives neither a separate cult nor a genealogy of Earth-Maid. What can be said securely is that an earthly quality has been made a feminine presence in a crowded, highly figurative catalogue.
Places to read
- B 122/123.1Earth-Maid opens the catalogue beside far-glancing Sun-Maid.
- B 98.1–5Earth acts in the mixture producing blood and flesh; this is a related word in another setting.
Translation in this edition
The combined heading B122/123 is this edition's presentation. It must not turn the introductory “there” into a securely identified geographic location or fix the original poem's scene.