Ino and Autonoe and apple-cheeked Agave themselves, being three, led three bands of worshipers to the mountain.
§26.3χαἱ μὲν ἀμερξάμεναι λασίας δρυὸς ἄγρια φύλλα §26.4κισσόν τε ζώοντα καὶ ἀσφόδελον τὸν ὑπὲρ γᾶς §26.5ἐν καθαρῷ λειμῶνι κάμον δυοκαίδεκα βωμούς, §26.6τὼς τρεῖς τᾷ Σεμέλᾳ, τὼς ἐννέα τῷ Διονύσῳ.
And they, having plucked the wild leaves of the shaggy oak and living ivy and the asphodel that grows above the earth, built twelve altars in a pure meadow, three for Semele, and nine for Dionysus.
§26.7ἱερὰ δʼ ἐκ κίστας ποπανεύματα χερσὶν ἑλοῖσαι §26.8εὐφάμως κατέθεντο νεοδρέπτων ἐπὶ βωμῶν, §26.9ὡς ἐδίδασχʼ, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐθυμάρει Διόνυσος.
And taking the sacred offerings of cakes from the chest with their hands, they laid them reverently upon the newly-cut altars, as Dionysus himself had instructed, as he himself was pleased.
§26.10Πενθεὺς δʼ ἀλιβάτου πέτρας ἄπο πάντʼ ἐθεώρει, §26.11σχῖνον ἐς ἀρχαίαν καταδύς, ἐπιχώριον ἔρνος.
But Pentheus watched everything from a lofty rock, having crept into an ancient mastic bush, a plant of the country.
§26.12Αὐτονόα πράτα νιν ἀνέκραγε δεινὸν ἰδοῖσα, §26.13σὺν δʼ ἐτάραξε ποσὶν μανιώδεος ὄργια Βάκχου, §26.14ἐξαπίνας ἐπιοῖσα, τὰ δʼ οὐχ ὁρέοντι βέβηλοι.
Autonoe was the first to see him and cried out terribly, and with her feet she threw into confusion the rites of frenzied Bacchus, rushing in suddenly, which things are not to be seen by the uninitiated.
§26.15μαίνετο μέν θʼ αὕτα, μαίνοντο δʼ ἄρʼ εὐθὺ καὶ ἄλλαι.
She indeed was driven mad, and straightway the others also raged.
Pentheus indeed fled in terror, and they pursued, having tucked up their robes from their girdles to their knees.
§26.18Πενθεὺς μὲν τόδʼ ἔειπε· τίνος κέχρησθε γυναῖκες; §26.19Αὐτονόα τόδʼ ἔειπε
τάχα γνώσῃ πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι. §26.20μάτηρ μὲν κεφαλὰν μυκήσατο παιδὸς ἑλοῖσα, §26.21ὅσσόν περ τοκάδος τελέθει μύκημα λεαίνας· §26.22Ἰνὼ δʼ ἐξέρρηξε σὺν ὠμοπλάτᾳ μέγαν ὦμον §26.23λὰξ ἐπὶ γαστέρα βᾶσα, καὶ Αὐτονόας ῥυθμὸς ωὑτός· §26.24αἱ δʼ ἄλλαι τὰ περισσὰ κρεανομέοντο γυναῖκες.
Pentheus said this: "What do you want, women?" Autonoe said this: "You will soon know, before you hear it." His mother, taking her son's head, uttered a loud roar, as great as the roar of a lioness with cubs; and Ino tore off his great shoulder together with the shoulder blade, treading with her foot upon his belly, and Autonoe's movement was the same; and the other women partitioned the rest of the flesh.
And they all arrived in Thebes splattered with blood, bringing from the mountain not Pentheus, but a grief.
§26.27οὐκ ἀλέγω· μηδʼ ἄλλος ἀπεχθομένω Διονύσῳ §26.28φροντίζοι, μηδʼ εἰ χαλεπώτερα τῶνδʼ ἐμόγησεν, §26.29εἴη δʼ ἐνναέτης ἢ καὶ δεκάτω ἐπιβαίνοι· §26.30αὐτὸς δʼ εὐαγέοιμι καὶ εὐαγέεσσιν ἅδοιμι.
I care not; and let no other care for one hated by Dionysus, not even if he suffered things more grievous than these, and even if he were a nine-year-old or entering his tenth year; but may I myself be pure and please the pure.
§26.31ἐκ Διὸς αἰγιόχω τιμὰν ἔχει αἰετὸς οὗτος.
From aegis-bearing Zeus this eagle has honor.
§26.32εὐσεβέων παίδεσσι τὰ λώια, δυσσεβέων δʼ οὔ.
To the children of the pious belongs what is better, but not to the impious.
§26.33χαίροι μὲν Διόνυσος, ὃν ἐν Δρακάνῳ νιφόεντι §26.34Ζεὺς ὕπατος μεγάλαν ἐπιγουνίδα κάτθετο λύσας· §26.35χαίροι δʼ εὐειδὴς Σεμέλα καὶ ἀδελφεαὶ αὐτᾶς §26.36Καδμεῖαι πολλαῖς μεμελημέναι ἡρωίναις, §26.37αἳ τόδε ἔργον ἔρεξαν ὀρίναντος Διονύσου §26.38οὐκ ἐπιμωματόν.
Farewell to Dionysus, whom in snowy Dracanum highest Zeus placed, having opened his great thigh; and farewell to beautiful Semele and her sisters, daughters of Cadmus, honored by many heroines, who did this deed at the instigation of Dionysus, not to be blamed.
μηδεὶς τὰ θεῶν ὀνόσαιτο.
Let no one find fault with the deeds of the gods.