Globe, noun (feminine)

[from the feminine form of the adjective hydrógeios (“of water and earth”)]

  1. The Earth as a sphere; the totality of the continents and seas.

  2. (By extension) The spherical model that represents the Earth, used as a visual aid in teaching geography.

  3. (Further extended) The world, the inhabited Earth.

hydrógeios — masculine/feminine/neuter: -os / -a / -o
Example: hydrógeios sphaira (“globe”), also used as a noun: the globe, the Earth.
— He traveled across the whole globe.
— He looked for Greece on the globe.

[From the learned combination hydro- (“water”) + -geios (“of the Earth”), a mistaken calque of the Old French terraqué (“land and water”)].

Globes serve a similar purpose to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface they depict — they simply represent it to scale. A globe displays detailed information about the subject it describes. Sometimes it shows landmasses and bodies of water; other times it depicts mountains, mountain ranges, and other important landforms. In some versions, or alongside other globes, it may show nations, major cities, and sea routes.

A celestial globe, on the other hand, shows the notable stars and can also indicate the positions of other significant astronomical objects. Typically, celestial globes divide the celestial sphere into constellations.

Globes have a long history. The first known reference to a globe appears in Strabo’s Geographica, where he describes the Globe of Crates (around 150 B.C.), said to have been one of the finest examples of globe-making. Although the globe of Crates has not survived, Strabo remains the primary source documenting its existence. Both Strabo and Crates, through their work in geography and the creation of globes, helped reveal the world and inspired an entire school of remarkable geographers.

Observing the globe was, for them, not merely an act of studying geography but also a philosophical exercise — for to look upon the globe is to open oneself to a universe of questions about the cosmos, life, and existence itself.

Bibliography

«Ανέμη - Ψηφιακή Βιβλιοθήκη Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών - Στράβωνος Γεωγραφικών βιβλία επτακαίδεκα, / Εκδιδοντος και διορθούντος Α. Κοραή, Φιλοτίμω δαπάνη των ομογενών Χίων, επ' αγαθώ της Ελλάδος...». anemi.lib.uoc.gr. Ανακτήθηκε 05 Νοεμβρίου 2025

The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903, as cited in Perseus Tufts database https://catalog.perseus.org/catalog/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng2 under the title Strabo, Geography H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed.  Ανακτήθηκε 05 Νοεμβρίου 2025

Nikos Litinas, "Strabo's Sources in the Light of a Tale", στον τόμο: Daniela Dueck, Hugh Lindsay, Sarah Pothecary (επιμ.), Strabo's Cultural Geography - The Making of a Kolossourgia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, σελ. 108-117.

Crates In: Encyclopædia Britannica. 11. Auflage. Bd 7. London 1910–1911, S. 381.

Crates of Mallos in Cilicia, In: Oskar Seyffert, Henry Nettleship (Hrsg.), J. E. Sandys (Hrsg.): Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1894, S. 169–170 (englisch)

Professor Dr. R. du Bois-Reymond und Oberst z.D. C .Schaefer (1908). «Handbuch zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik». Verlag von Julius Springer. Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (βοήθεια)

Edward Luther Stevenson (1858-1944) (1921). Terrestrial and celestial globes; their history and construction, including a consideration of their value as aids in the study of geography and astronomy. New Heaven: Pub. for the Hispanic society of America by the Yale university press

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