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to Hera. And as he has intercourse with her, Semele is struck by lightning and perishes. And then Zeus, taking Dionysus, who was an embryo, sewed him into his own thigh. And later in the seventh month, Hermes came and opened the thigh of Zeus. And Dionysus, as they say, is born. And he takes him to Nyssa of Thrace, and there he is nursed with milk by the Nymphs. 5.21 The twenty-first story is about Hephaestus, the lame one. It is this. Hephaestus was lame, hence also called `amphigyes`; he was a smith by trade. His wife was Aphrodite, and Ares committed adultery with her. So Hephaestus discovers the adultery that had happened by setting a snare. He calls him a god covered in soot and smoke; for soot is a kind of thicker smoke. And he was covered in smoke, as a smith. The poets call him 'of famous art' because he had this glorious craft of smithing. He calls him an Olympian Thersites for such a reason; Homer introduces a certain man, Thersites by name, lame and squinting and hunchbacked and bald and rash. And he says that this man followed the army, not to fight but to be laughed at. Since, therefore, Hephaestus was lame and covered in smoke, he says that your Hephaestus was like Thersites. He called him Olympian, as if heavenly. For Olympus is heaven. Therefore, an Olympian Thersites and a lame and rash god of yours. And the phrase 'Ares the captive because of adultery' is connected to the same story. For while committing adultery with Aphrodite, Ares was bound in the snares by Hephaestus. And he says 'With Deimos and Phobos and Kydoimos', because these are said to be the attendants of Ares, and the sons of War, and that these also suffered with Ares, and that Hephaestus did not fear Phobos and Deimos and Kydoimos. And he calls Ares 'the wounded', because he was wounded by Diomedes while being rash in the war. And the story about Aphrodite is connected, that she was a harlot; for she was committed adultery with by Ares. And that the Greeks also say she is the overseer of sexual union, for this reason I called her a handmaid. 5.22 The twenty-second story is how Athena, being a virgin, gives birth to a dragon. It is this. Zeus, wishing to bring forth Athena from his own brain, asked for a helper to take and strike his head so that she might be born. And he makes proposals to Hephaestus about this. But Hephaestus did not agree to split the head of Zeus unless he might deflower the one who was born; and Zeus consented. So Hephaestus, taking the ox-smiting axe, cuts the head of Zeus. And Athena comes forth, and Hephaestus pursued her, in order to have intercourse with her. And pursuing her, he ejaculated onto the thigh of Athena. But Athena, taking some wool, wiped off the seed, and threw it on the earth. And from the earth and the wool a man with serpent feet was born, who was called Erichthonius, taking his name from the wool (erion) and the earth (chthon). 5.23 The twenty-third story is that Heracles goes mad. It is this. Megara, so called, the daughter of Creon king of Thebes, was married to Heracles. And he had children by her. But Hera, having a hostile disposition towards Heracles for many reasons, cast madness upon him. And having gone mad, he killed his own children from Megara. 5.24 The twenty-fourth story is how Zeus becomes all things for the sake of lust. It is this. It is said that Zeus, having fallen in love with Danae, became gold and flowed and thus had intercourse with her. Likewise, having fallen in love with Ganymede, he became an eagle; and having fallen in love with Europa, he became a bull, and with Leda and Nemesis, a swan. And so he was always changing, becoming all things for the sake of impurity, he who is the most excellent god among them, and who draws all the other gods up to the heavens. 5.25 The twenty-fifth story is about the tomb of Zeus in Crete. It is this. It is said that Zeus was raised there in Crete and died, and that there is a tomb on which is inscribed that Zeus lies there, and that this is a refutation against those who say Zeus is a god. For they are refuted, because he was a man and has died and lies in Crete. 5.26 The twenty-sixth story is about the

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Ἥρᾳ. καὶ ὡς συγγίνεται αὐτῇ, κεραυνοῦται καὶ ἀπόλλυται ἡ Σεμέλη. καὶ τότε λαβὼν ὁ Ζεὺς τὸν ∆ιόνυσον ἔμβρυον ὄντα ἔρραψεν ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ μηρῷ. καὶ ὕστερον ἐν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ Ἑρμῆς ἀναπτύσσει τὸν μηρὸν τοῦ ∆ιός. καὶ γεννᾶται, ὥς φασι, ὁ ∆ιόνυσος. καὶ λαμβάνει αὐτὸν εἰς Νύσσαν τῆς Θρᾴκης, κἀκεῖ παρὰ τῶν Νυμφῶν γαλακτοτροφεῖται. 5.21 Εἰκοστὴ πρώτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ ἀμφιγύου Ἡφαίστου. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Χωλὸς ἦν ὁ Ἥφαιστος, διὸ καὶ ἀμφιγύης· ἦν δὲ χαλκεὺς τὴν τέχνην. τούτου γυνὴ ἦν ἡ Ἀφροδίτη, καὶ αὐτὴν ἐμοιχεύετο ὁ Ἄρης. εὑρίσκει οὖν ὁ Ἥφαιστος τὴν μοιχείαν γενομένην, στήσας πάγας. θεὸν δὲ αὐτὸν λέγει κατῃθαλωμένον καὶ κεκαπνισμένον· αἰθάλη γὰρ εἶδος καπνοῦ παχυτέρου. ἐκεκάπνιστο δέ, ὡς χαλκεύς. κλυτοτέχνην δὲ αὐτὸν καλοῦσιν οἱ ποιηταί, ἐπειδὴ ἔνδοξον εἶχε τέχνην ταύτην τὴν χαλκευτικήν. Θερσίτην δὲ αὐτὸν Ὀλύμπιον καλεῖ διὰ τοιαύτην αἰτίαν· ὁ Ὅμηρος εἰσφέρει τινὰ ἄνθρωπον, Θερσίτην ὀνόματι, χωλὸν καὶ στραβὸν καὶ κυρτὸν καὶ μαδαρὸν καὶ προπετῆ. καί φησιν ὅτι οὗτος ἠκολούθει τῷ στρατοπέδῳ, οὐ διὰ τὸ πολεμεῖν ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ γελᾶσθαι. ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ Ἥφαιστος χωλὸς ἦν καὶ κεκαπνισμένος, λέγει αὐτὸν ὅτι ὡς Θερσίτης ἦν ὁ Ἥφαιστος ὑμῶν. Ὀλύμπιον δὲ αὐτὸν εἶπεν, οἱονεὶ οὐράνιον. Ὄλυμπος γὰρ ὁ οὐρανός. Θερσίτης οὖν Ὀλύμπιος καὶ χωλὸς καὶ προπετὴς ὑμῶν θεός. Τὸ δὲ ∆εσμώτης Ἄρης διὰ μοιχείαν, τῆς αὐτῆς ἐξήρτηται ἱστορίας. μοιχεύων γὰρ ὁ Ἄρης τὴν Ἀφροδίτην ἐδέθη ταῖς πάγαις ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου. τὸ δὲ Μετὰ τοῦ ∆είμου καὶ τοῦ Φόβου καὶ τοῦ Κυδοιμοῦ λέγει, ὅτι οὗτοι θεράποντες λέγονται εἶναι τοῦ Ἄρεως, υἱοὶ δὲ τοῦ Πολέμου, καὶ ὅτι καὶ οὗτοι συμπεπόνθασι τῷ Ἄρει, καὶ ὅτι ὁ Ἥφαιστος οὐκ ἐφοβήθη τὸν Φόβον καὶ τὸν ∆εῖμον καὶ τὸν Κυδοιμόν. τραυματίαν δὲ λέγει τὸν Ἄρεα, ἐπειδὴ ἐτρώθη ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆ιομήδους, προπετευόμενος ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ. Καὶ ἡ περὶ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱστορία ἐξήρτηται, ὅτι πόρνη ἦν· ἐμοιχεύθη γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἄρεως. καὶ ὅτι καὶ τῆς μίξεως αὐτὴν λέγουσιν ἔφορον εἶναι οἱ Ἕλληνες, διὰ τοῦτο εἶπον αὐτὴν ὑπηρέτιν. 5.22 Εἰκοστὴ δευτέρα ἐστὶν ἱστορία πῶς ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ παρθένος οὖσα τίκτει δράκοντα. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ὁ Ζεὺς βουλόμενος ἀποκυῆσαι ἐκ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου αὐτοῦ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν, ἐδεῖτο συνεργοῦ τοῦ λαβόντος καὶ πλήξαντος τὴν κεφαλὴν ἵνα ἀποκυηθείη. καὶ λόγους προσφέρει τῷ Ἡφαίστῳ περὶ τούτου. ὁ δὲ Ἥφαιστος οὐκ ἄλλως εἵλετο σχίσαι τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ∆ιός, εἰ μὴ τὴν γεννωμένην ἀποπαρθενεύσῃ· καὶ ἠνέσχετο ὁ Ζεύς. λαβὼν οὖν ὁ Ἥφαιστος τὸν βουπλῆγα, τέμνει τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ∆ιός. καὶ ἐξέρχεται ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ, καὶ ἐπεδίωκεν αὐτὴν ὁ Ἥφαιστος, ἵνα αὐτῇ συγγένηται. καὶ ἐπιδιώκων ἀπεσπέρμηνεν εἰς τὸν μηρὸν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς. ἡ δὲ Ἀθηνᾶ λαβοῦσα ἔριον ἐξέμαξε τὸ σπέρμα, καὶ ἔρριψεν ἐν τῇ γῇ. καὶ ἐγίνετο ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ ἐρίου ἄνθρωπος δρακοντόπους, ὃς ἐκαλεῖτο Ἐριχθόνιος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐρίου καὶ τῆς χθονὸς λαβὼν τὸ ὄνομα. 5.23 Εἰκοστὴ τρίτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ὅτι Ὁ Ἡρακλῆς μαίνεται. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Μεγάρη οὕτω καλουμένη, Κρέοντος τοῦ Θηβῶν βασιλέως θυγάτηρ, ἐγαμήθη τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ. καὶ ἐπαιδοποίησεν ἐξ αὐτῆς. ἡ δὲ Ἥρα, ἀπεχθῶς ἔχουσα πρὸς τὸν Ἡρακλέα διὰ πολλά, ἐνέβαλεν αὐτῷ μανίαν. καὶ μανεὶς ἀπέκτεινε τὰ ἑαυτοῦ τέκνα τὰ ἐκ τῆς Μεγάρης. 5.24 Εἰκοστὴ τετάρτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία, πῶς ὁ Ζεὺς δι' ἀσέλγειαν πάντα γίνεται. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Λέγεται ὁ Ζεὺς ἐρασθεὶς τῆς ∆ανάης γενέσθαι χρυσὸς καὶ ῥυῆναι καὶ οὕτως αὐτῇ συγγενέσθαι. ὁμοίως ἐρασθεὶς καὶ Γανυμήδους, ἀετὸς ἐγένετο· ἐρασθεὶς δὲ Εὐρώπης, βοῦς ἐγένετο, Λήδας δὲ καὶ Νεμέσεως, κύκνος. καὶ οὕτως ἀεὶ μετεβάλλετο, πάντα γινόμενος δι' ἀκαθαρσίαν, ὁ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐξοχώτατος θεός, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς ἀνέλκων εἰς οὐρανούς. 5.25 Εἰκοστὴ πέμπτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ τάφου τοῦ ∆ιὸς ἐν Κρήτῃ. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Λέγεται ὁ Ζεὺς ἐκεῖ τραφῆναι ἐν τῇ Κρήτῃ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ εἶναι τάφον ἐν ᾧ ἐπιγέγραπται κεῖσθαι ἐκεῖσε τὸν ∆ία, καὶ εἶναι ἔλεγχον τοῦτο κατὰ τῶν λεγόντων τὸν ∆ία θεόν. ἐλέγχονται γὰρ ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ἦν καὶ τέθνηκε καὶ κεῖται ἐν τῇ Κρήτῃ. 5.26 Εἰκοστὴ ἕκτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ