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the initiators and the initiated, and being out of their minds, would cut themselves with swords, not perceiving that they were cutting themselves. And certain others would play the flute, charming them and stirring them up for the cutting. And until the present day, some irrational Greeks around the mountainous parts of Caria cut themselves, being held fast by this ancient custom. 39.3 Nor is any maiden seized among us. And this story is found in the *Steliteutika*. And it is this. Demeter, said to be a goddess, bears a daughter by Zeus, whom they called both Kore and Persephone. Pluto fell in love with her, and having fallen in love, he seized her, and went down into Hades. Therefore Demeter went about seeking Kore, and having wandered much, she came to Attica. And having come, she called the place to which she came Eleusis, from the fact of having come, and she learned from Celeus and Triptolemus that Kore had been seized by Pluto and was in Hades. Therefore, having learned these things, the goddess ceased from her wandering. And repaying the men for this favor, she gave them the seeds, the wheat and the barley and the legumes. For Demeter is said to be the overseer of the seed-bearing fruits. And having given the seeds, she also gave serpents and winged chariots for the purpose of going around and giving to all the wheat and the barley. For men did not yet know how to eat bread or use grain, but lived a nomadic life. And she gave not only the grain but also all the seed-bearing fruits, and she initiated them into the mysteries, and showed how one must initiate and be initiated. And the rite took place at night in Eleusis. For a temple of this Demeter was built there. And he said "To do good, and to be done good to," because Demeter both was done good to in hearing about her daughter and ceasing from her wandering, and she in turn did good to those around Celeus by giving the seeds and performing the mysteries. And "Eleusis knows these things" he says concerning the village, in which Demeter, having come, performed the mysteries. And he said "Of things kept silent and truly worthy of silence" because there is a law that commands none of those who have been initiated and have learned the mysteries to publicize the rite, but to keep it in silence and not bring it forth to the uninitiated. 39.4 Nor Dionysus these things and the birth-pangs of a thigh. Semele became the daughter of Cadmus the king of Thebes. Zeus fell in love with her and lay with her, and stirred up jealousy and envy in Hera his wife. Therefore Hera, being jealous, goes to Semele and says to her, "You have been completely deceived, for it is not Zeus who lies with you. For to me," she says, "when he lies with me, he lies with me with lightning and thunderbolts. Therefore if Zeus comes to you, say to him, 'As you lie with Hera, so lie with me.' And if he lies with you with thunder and thunderbolts, in reality Zeus lies with you; but if in some other way, it is not Zeus." After Hera had suggested these things, when Zeus came to Semele, he was asked by her to lie with her as he lies with Hera. Then, when he lay with her with thunderbolts, Semele, not being able to bear the thunderbolts, died. Therefore Zeus, quickly taking the embryo that was in Semele, threw it into his thigh and sewed it up until it should be nine months old. And this was Dionysus. Therefore he calls this embryo, which was cast into the thigh, an incomplete fetus. And he speaks of a thigh in birth-pangs because the thigh of Zeus conceived him. And he calls Dionysus himself an androgynous god, as at one time being effeminate, and at another being manly. And by "a chorus of drunkards" he means the Satyrs and the Bacchantes and the Sileni. And these are demons, attendants and fellow-travelers of Dionysus. And he calls these same demons also a dissolute army; and he calls it dissolute because of the drunkenness. For since Dionysus is the overseer of wine, they reasonably introduce the demons with him as drunkards. And "the folly of the Thebans honoring him," because Dionysus was a Theban by birth, as having been born from Semele; for we have said that Semele was the daughter of Cadmus the Theban. And he rightly said "the folly of the Thebans," since the Thebans are slandered for foolishness, and there is a proverb that says, "Boeotia is a sow." because

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τελοῦντες καὶ οἱ τελούμενοι, καὶ ἐξιστάμενοι ἑαυτῶν, κατέτεμνον ἑαυτοὺς ὑπὸ ξιφῶν, μὴ αἰσθανόμενοι ὅτι τέμνουσιν ἑαυτούς. καὶ ἄλλοι δέ τινες ηὔλουν, καταθέλγοντες αὐτοὺς καὶ παρεγείροντες περὶ τὴν ἐκτομήν. ἄχρι δὲ τοῦ παρόντος τινὲς περὶ τὰ ὀρεινὰ τῆς Καρίας Ἕλληνες ἀλόγιστοι κατατέμνουσιν ἑαυτούς, τῷ παλαιῷ ἔθει τούτῳ κρατούμενοι. 39.3 Οὐδὲ κόρη τις ἡμῖν ἁρπάζεται. καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἱστορία κεῖται ἐν τοῖς Στηλιτευτικοῖς. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ἡ ∆ημήτηρ θεὸς εἶναι λεγομένη τίκτει θυγατέρα ἀπὸ τοῦ ∆ιός, ἥντινα ἐκάλουν καὶ Κόρην καὶ Περσεφόνην. ταύτης ἐράσθη ὁ Πλούτων, καὶ ἐρασθεὶς ἥρπασε, καὶ κατῆλθεν ἐν τῷ Ἅιδῃ. ἡ οὖν ∆ημήτηρ περιῄει ζητοῦσα τὴν Κόρην, καὶ πολλὰ πλανηθεῖσα ἦλθεν ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ. ἐλθοῦσα δὲ τὸν μὲν τόπον ἐν ᾧ ἦλθεν ἐκάλεσεν Ἐλευσῖνα παρὰ τὸ ἐληλυθέναι, ἔμαθε δὲ παρὰ τοῦ Κελεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Τριπτολέμου ὅτι ἡ Κόρη ἡρπάγη παρὰ τοῦ Πλούτωνος καὶ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ Ἅιδῃ. μαθοῦσα οὖν ἡ θεὸς ταῦτα, ἔληξε τῆς πλάνης. ἀμειβομένη δὲ τοὺς ἄνδρας ὑπὲρ τῆς χάριτος ταύτης, δέδωκεν αὐτοῖς τὰ σπέρματα, τὸν σῖτον καὶ τὴν κριθὴν καὶ τὰ ὄσπρεα. λέγεται γὰρ τῶν σπερματικῶν καρπῶν εἶναι ἔφορος ἡ ∆ημήτηρ. δοῦσα δὲ τὰ σπέρματα, δέδωκε καὶ δράκοντας καὶ ἅρματα πτερωτὰ πρὸς τὸ περιελθεῖν καὶ δοῦναι πᾶσι τὸν σῖτον καὶ τὴν κριθήν. οὔπω γὰρ ᾔδεισαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐσθίειν ἄρτον ἢ χρῆσθαι σίτῳ, ἀλλὰ νομαδικὸν βίον ἔζων. οὐ μόνον δὲ τὸν σῖτον ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς σπερματικοὺς καρποὺς δέδωκε, καὶ τὰ μυστήρια ἐτέλεσεν αὐτούς, καὶ ἔδειξε πῶς δεῖ τελεῖν καὶ τελεῖσθαι. νύκτωρ δὲ ἐγίνετο ἡ τελετὴ ἐν τῇ Ἐλευσῖνι. ἱερὸν γὰρ ἐκτίσθη ἐκεῖσε ταύτης τῆς ∆ήμητρος. Εἶπε δὲ Τὰ μὲν εὖ ποιεῖν, τὰ δὲ εὖ πάσχειν, διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν ∆ημήτραν παθεῖν εὖ ἐν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι περὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς καὶ λῆξαι τῆς πλάνης, καὶ ταύτην δὲ εὖ ποιῆσαι τοὺς περὶ τὸν Κελεὸν τῷ δοῦναι τὰ σπέρματα καὶ τελέσαι τὰ μυστήρια. τὸ δὲ Οἶδεν Ἐλευσὶς ταῦτα περὶ τῆς κώμης λέγει, ἐν ᾗ ἐλθοῦσα ἡ ∆ημήτηρ ἐποίησε τὰ μυστήρια. εἶπε δὲ Τῶν σιωπωμένων καὶ σιωπῆς ὄντως ἀξίων διὰ τὸ νόμον εἶναι τὸν κελεύοντα μηδένα τῶν τελεσθέντων καὶ μυηθέντων τὰ μυστήρια δημοσιεύειν τὴν τελετήν, ἀλλὰ σιωπῇ κατέχειν καὶ μὴ ἐκφέρειν εἰς τοὺς ἀμυήτους. 39.4 Οὐδὲ ∆ιόνυσος ταῦτα καὶ μηρὸς ὠδίνων. Σεμέλη θυγάτηρ γέγονε Κάδμου τοῦ Θηβῶν βασιλέως. ταύτης ἠράσθη ὁ Ζεὺς καὶ συνεγένετο αὐτῇ, καὶ εἰς ζῆλον καὶ φθόνον ἐκίνησεν Ἥραν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ. ζηλοτυπήσασα οὖν ἡ Ἥρα ἀπέρχεται πρὸς τὴν Σεμέλην καὶ λέγει αὐτῇ ὅτι Ἠπάτησαι τὸ ὅλον, οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ Ζεύς ἐστιν ὁ συγγινόμενός σοι. ἐμοὶ γάρ, φησίν, ὅτε συγγίνεται, μετὰ ἀστραπῶν καὶ κεραυνῶν συγγίνεται. ἐὰν οὖν ἔλθῃ πρός σε ὁ Ζεύς, εἶπε αὐτῷ ὅτι Ὡς συγγίνῃ τῇ Ἥρᾳ, οὕτως σύνελθέ μοι. καὶ εἰ μὲν συγγίνεταί σοι μετὰ βροντῶν καὶ κεραυνῶν, τῷ ὄντι ὁ Ζεύς σοι συγγίνεται· εἰ δὲ ἄλλως πως, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Ζεύς. ταῦτα ὑποθεμένης τῆς Ἥρας, ἐλθόντος τοῦ ∆ιὸς πρὸς τὴν Σεμέλην, ᾐτήθη παρ' αὐτῆς συγγενέσθαι αὐτῇ ὡς τῇ Ἥρᾳ συγγίνεται. εἶτα, συγγενομένου αὐτῇ μετὰ κεραυνῶν, μὴ ἐνεγκοῦσα ἡ Σεμέλη τοὺς κεραυνοὺς ἀπέθανεν. ὁ οὖν Ζεὺς θᾶττον τὸ ἔμβρυον ὃ ἦν ἐν τῇ Σεμέλῃ λαβών, ἔβαλεν εἰς τὸν μηρὸν καὶ ἔρραψεν ἕως οὗ γένηται τῶν ἐννέα μηνῶν. ἦν δὲ οὗτος ὁ ∆ιόνυσος. ἀτελὲς οὖν κύημα λέγει τὸ ἔμβρυον τοῦτο τὸ βληθὲν εἰς τὸν μηρόν. ὠδίνοντα δὲ μηρὸν λέγει ὅτι ἐκύησεν αὐτὸν ὁ μηρὸς τοῦ ∆ιός. Θεὸν δὲ ἀνδρόγυνον καλεῖ τὸν ∆ιόνυσον αὐτὸν ὡς ποτὲ μὲν γυναικιζόμενον, ποτὲ δὲ ἀνδριζόμενον. χορὸν δὲ μεθυόντων λέγει τοὺς Σατύρους καὶ τὰς Βάκχας καὶ τοὺς Σειληνούς. δαίμονες δὲ οὗτοι, ὀπαδοὶ καὶ ὁμοκέλευθοι τοῦ ∆ιονύσου. αὐτοὺς δὲ τούτους λέγει καὶ στρατὸν ἔκλυτον τοὺς δαίμονας· ἔκλυτον δὲ αὐτὸν καλεῖ διὰ τὴν μέθην. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῦ οἴνου ἔφορος ὁ ∆ιόνυσος, εἰκότως τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ δαίμονας μεθυστὰς εἰσάγουσιν. τὸ δὲ Θηβαίων ἄνοια τοῦτον τιμῶσα, ὅτι Θηβαῖος ἦν τὸ γένος ὁ ∆ιόνυσος, ὡς ἐκ τῆς Σεμέλης γεννηθείς· εἴπομεν γὰρ ὅτι Σεμέλη θυγάτηρ ἦν Κάδμου τοῦ Θηβαίου. ἄνοιαν δὲ καλῶς εἶπεν Θηβαίων, ἐπειδὴ ἐπὶ μωρίᾳ διαβάλλονται οἱ Θηβαῖοι, καὶ ἔστι παροιμία ἡ λέγουσα, Ἡ Βοιωτία ὗς. διὰ