From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Etesian winds
ἐτησίαι
etēsiaiEtēsiai names winds characterized by yearly recurrence.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEtēsiai names winds characterized by yearly recurrence.
- In StobaeusThe account distinguishes winds by course and season, placing the Etesians among those prevailing in summer and describing them as a combination of northern and western winds.
- In this edition“Etesian winds” preserves the conventional name; “annually recurring” explains its force.
- A place to beginThe summer Etesians combine northern and western components.
- English renderings
- Etesian winds; annually recurring winds
Meaning
Etēsiai names winds characterized by yearly recurrence. The adjective connects their identity with the annual cycle.
Use in the book
The account distinguishes winds by course and season, placing the Etesians among those prevailing in summer and describing them as a combination of northern and western winds. Their periodicity is therefore separate from the geometrical course of any individual gust.
Places to read
- I.40.1.38The summer Etesians combine northern and western components.
Translation in this edition
“Etesian winds” preserves the conventional name; “annually recurring” explains its force.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 264–265. The same passage places the bird-associated Ornithian winds in spring, preserving a separate seasonal class.
From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Etesian winds
ἐτησίων (etēsiōn); τοὺς καρποὺς (tous karpous)
Etēsioi are the annually recurring or seasonal winds named in the report; karpoi are the crops or fruits harmed by them.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEtēsioi are the annually recurring or seasonal winds named in the report; karpoi are the crops or fruits harmed by them.
- In this workDiogenes reports that violent Etesian winds were ruining crops when Empedocles ordered hides fashioned into bags and stretched around hills and headlands.
- In this editionThe edition’s rationalizing interpretation as an ordinary windbreak is possible at the level of story structure, but the source’s seasonal wind and bag imagery should not be replaced with an undocumented engineering specification.
- A place to readNames the Etesian winds and destruction of crops.
Meaning
Etēsioi are the annually recurring or seasonal winds named in the report; karpoi are the crops or fruits harmed by them. The seasonal designation is a specific feature of the Timaeus version, not a generic synonym for every wind in the dossier.
Use in the book
Diogenes reports that violent Etesian winds were ruining crops when Empedocles ordered hides fashioned into bags and stretched around hills and headlands. Their cessation explains the epithet Wind-stopper. The threatened resource is agricultural production, whereas Plutarch emphasizes a heavy and unhealthy south wind, plague, and barrenness. The distinction matters for interpretation: a seasonal weather event damaging produce and a persistently unhealthy airflow are not the same environmental claim. One may compare the accounts as variants of a protective reputation without treating them as technical descriptions of a single installation. The source provides no meteorological measurements or exact topography from which the efficacy of the proposed intervention could be assessed.
Places to read
- A 1 §§ 59–60 (biography)Diogenes Laertius VIII 60, reporting Timaeus. Names the Etesian winds and destruction of crops.
- A 13–A 14 (biography)Plutarch, On Being a Busybody; Against Colotes. Supplies the contrasting south-wind versions.
Translation in this edition
The edition’s rationalizing interpretation as an ordinary windbreak is possible at the level of story structure, but the source’s seasonal wind and bag imagery should not be replaced with an undocumented engineering specification.