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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §1.26.1-1.26.8

Egyptian Chronology and the Origin of the Giants

Passage 27 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Diodorus presents the Egyptian priests' calculation of a vast timespan from the reign of Helios to Alexander's expedition, along with theories rationalizing these years as months or seasons, and discusses the origins of the Giants who fought against the gods of Zeus and Osiris.

§1.26.1οἱ δʼ ἱερεῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὸν χρόνον ἀπὸ τῆς Ἡλίου βασιλείας συλλογιζόμενοι μέχρι τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου διαβάσεως εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν φασὶν ὑπάρχειν ἐτῶν μάλιστά πως δισμυρίων καὶ τρισχιλίων.
And the priests of the Egyptians, calculating the time from the reign of Helios to the crossing of Alexander into Asia, say that it is about twenty-three thousand years.
§1.26.2μυθολογοῦσι δὲ καὶ τῶν θεῶν τοὺς μὲν ἀρχαιοτάτους βασιλεῦσαι πλείω τῶν χιλίων καὶ διακοσίων ἐτῶν, τοὺς δὲ μεταγενεστέρους οὐκ ἐλάττω τῶν τριακοσίων.
And they relate in their myths that the oldest of the gods reigned more than twelve hundred years, and the later ones not less than three hundred.
§1.26.3ἀπίστου δʼ ὄντος τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐτῶν, ἐπιχειροῦσί τινες λέγειν ὅτι τὸ παλαιόν, οὔπω τῆς περὶ τὸν ἥλιον κινήσεως ἐπεγνωσμένης, συνέβαινε κατὰ τὴν τῆς σελήνης περίοδον ἄγεσθαι τὸν ἐνιαυτόν.
Since the multitude of these years is incredible, some attempt to say that in ancient times, when the movement of the sun was not yet known, it happened that the year was reckoned according to the course of the moon.
§1.26.4διόπερ τῶν ἐτῶν τριακονθημέρων ὄντων οὐκ ἀδύνατον εἶναι βεβιωκέναι τινὰς ἔτη χίλια καὶ διακόσια· καὶ γὰρ νῦν δωδεκαμήνων ὄντων τῶν ἐνιαυτῶν οὐκ ὀλίγους ὑπὲρ ἑκατὸν ἔτη ζῆν.
Therefore, since the years consisted of thirty days, it was not impossible for some to have lived twelve hundred years; for even now, when the years consist of twelve months, not a few live over a hundred years.
§1.26.5παραπλήσια δὲ λέγουσι καὶ περὶ τῶν τριακόσια ἔτη δοκούντων ἄρξαι· κατʼ ἐκείνους γὰρ τοὺς χρόνους τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἀπαρτίζεσθαι τέτταρσι μησὶ τοῖς γινομένοις κατὰ τὰς ἑκάστων τῶν χρόνων ὥρας, οἷον ἔαρος, θέρους, χειμῶνος· ἀφʼ ἧς αἰτίας καὶ παρʼ ἐνίοις τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοὺς ἐνιαυτοὺς ὥρους καλεῖσθαι καὶ τὰς κατʼ ἔτος ἀναγραφὰς ὡρογραφίας προσαγορεύεσθαι.
And they say similar things also about those who are believed to have ruled for three hundred years; for in those times the year was made up of four months, which corresponded to each of the seasons of the year, such as spring, summer, and winter; for which reason, even among some of the Greeks, years are called "horoi", and the yearly records are called "horographiai".
§1.26.6οἱ δʼ οὖν Αἰγύπτιοι μυθολογοῦσι κατὰ τὴν Ἴσιδος ἡλικίαν γεγονέναι τινὰς πολυσωμάτους τοὺς ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὀνομαζομένους γίγαντας, ὑφʼ ἑαυτῶν δὲ διακοσμουμένους τερατωδῶς ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ τυπτομένους ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ὄσιριν.
At any rate, the Egyptians relate in their myths that in the time of Isis there lived certain men of many bodies, whom the Greeks call Giants, but who are represented by themselves in monstrous form in their temples and are shown being beaten by the followers of Osiris.
§1.26.7ἔνιοι μὲν οὖν αὐτοὺς γηγενεῖς φασιν ὑπάρξαι, προσφάτου τῆς τῶν ζῴων γενέσεως ἐκ τῆς γῆς ὑπαρχούσης, ἔνιοι δὲ λέγουσι σώματος ῥώμῃ διενεγκόντας καὶ πολλὰς ἐπιτελεσαμένους ἀπὸ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος μυθολογηθῆναι πολυσωμάτους.
Now some say that they were earth-born, because the generation of living things from the earth was recent, but others say that, because they excelled in strength of body and accomplished many deeds, they came to be mythologized as having many bodies based on what had actually happened.
§1.26.8συμφωνεῖται δὲ παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις ὅτι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Δία καὶ τὸν Ὄσιριν θεοῖς πόλεμον ἐνστησάμενοι πάντες ἀνῃρέθησαν.
But it is agreed by most that, having entered into war against the gods associated with Zeus and Osiris, they were all destroyed.

Notes

  1. §1.26.1τὸν χρόνον ἀπὸ τῆς Ἡλίου βασιλείας συλλογιζόμενοι μέχρι τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου διαβάσεως — The prepositional phrases starting with `ἀπὸ` and `μέχρι` either attributively modify `τὸν χρόνον` (the object of the present participle `συλλογιζόμενοι`) or depend directly on `συλλογιζόμενοι` to indicate the starting and ending points of the calculation.
  2. §1.26.3ἀπίστου δʼ ὄντος τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐτῶν — A genitive absolute construction expressing cause ("since the multitude of these years is incredible"), where `τοῦ πλήθους` serves as the subject of the participle `ὄντος`.
  3. §1.26.5τοῖς γινομένοις κατὰ τὰς ἑκάστων τῶν χρόνων ὥρας — The article `τοῖς` agrees with `μησὶ` (dative plural), modifying "four months." Here, `ὥρας` refers to "seasons" rather than generic "hours" or "time," meaning "the four months that occur during each of the seasons."
  4. §1.26.6τοὺς ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὀνομαζομένους γίγαντας — The noun phrase containing the participle `ὀνομαζομένους` serves as an appositive or an attributive modifier to the preceding `τινὰς πολυσωμάτους` (which is the subject of the infinitive `γεγονέναι`).
  5. §1.26.7ἀπὸ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος — The prepositional phrase `ἀπὸ...` expresses the ground or origin ("based on..."). It is a substantivized perfect participle of `συμβαίνω` in the neuter genitive singular, meaning "from what had actually happened" or "from the actual circumstances."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §1.26.1-1.26.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:1.26.1-1.26.8

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