§2.4.1ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν ταύτην ὁ Νίνος ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τὴν Βακτριανήν, ἐν ᾗ Σεμίραμιν ἔγημε τὴν ἐπιφανεστάτην ἁπασῶν τῶν γυναικῶν ὧν παρειλήφαμεν, ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι περὶ αὐτῆς προειπεῖν πῶς ἐκ ταπεινῆς τύχης εἰς τηλικαύτην προήχθη δόξαν.
But when, after this founding, Ninus made a campaign against Bactriana, where he married Semiramis, the most illustrious of all women of whom we have received word, it is necessary to speak beforehand about her, how from a humble fortune she was advanced to such great renown.
§2.4.2κατὰ τὴν Συρίαν τοίνυν ἔστι πόλις Ἀσκάλων, καὶ ταύτης οὐκ ἄπωθεν λίμνη μεγάλη καὶ βαθεῖα πλήρης ἰχθύων.
Now in Syria there is a city called Ascalon, and not far from it a great and deep lake full of fish.
παρὰ δὲ ταύτην ὑπάρχει τέμενος θεᾶς ἐπιφανοῦς, ἣν ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ Σύροι Δερκετοῦν· αὕτη δὲ τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον ἔχει γυναικός, τὸ δʼ ἄλλο σῶμα πᾶν ἰχθύος διά τινας τοιαύτας αἰτίας.
Beside this there is a sacred precinct of a manifest goddess, whom the Syrians call Derceto; and she has the face of a woman, but all the rest of her body is that of a fish, for some such reasons as follow.
§2.4.3μυθολογοῦσιν οἱ λογιώτατοι τῶν ἐγχωρίων τὴν Ἀφροδίτην προσκόψασαν τῇ προειρημένῃ θεᾷ δεινὸν ἐμβαλεῖν ἔρωτα νεανίσκου τινὸς τῶν θυόντων οὐκ ἀειδοῦς· τὴν δὲ Δερκετοῦν μιγεῖσαν τῷ Σύρῳ γεννῆσαι μὲν θυγατέρα, καταισχυνθεῖσαν δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις τὸν μὲν νεανίσκον ἀφανίσαι, τὸ δὲ παιδίον εἴς τινας ἐρήμους καὶ πετρώδεις τόπους ἐκθεῖναι· ἑαυτὴν δὲ διὰ τὴν αἰσχύνην καὶ λύπην ῥίψασαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην μετασχηματισθῆναι τὸν τοῦ σώματος τύπον εἰς ἰχθῦν· διὸ καὶ τοὺς Σύρους μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἀπέχεσθαι τούτου τοῦ ζῴου καὶ τιμᾶν τοὺς ἰχθῦς ὡς θεούς.
The most learned of the inhabitants mythologize that Aphrodite, having taken offense at the aforementioned goddess, inspired in her a terrible passion for a certain youth of those who sacrificed, one who was not unhandsome; and that Derceto, having united with the Syrian, gave birth to a daughter, but being ashamed of her misdeeds, she made the youth disappear and exposed the infant in certain desolate and rocky places; and that she herself, out of shame and grief, threw herself into the lake and transformed the shape of her body into a fish; wherefore also the Syrians even to this day abstain from this creature and honor fish as gods.
§2.4.4περὶ δὲ τὸν τόπον ὅπου τὸ βρέφος ἐξετέθη πλήθους περιστερῶν ἐννεοττεύοντος παραδόξως καὶ δαιμονίως ὑπὸ τούτων τὸ παιδίον διατρέφεσθαι· τὰς μὲν γὰρ ταῖς πτέρυξι περιεχούσας τὸ σῶμα τοῦ βρέφους πανταχόθεν θάλπειν, τὰς δʼ ἐκ τῶν σύνεγγυς ἐπαύλεων, ὁπότε τηρήσειαν τούς τε βουκόλους καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους νομεῖς ἀπόντας, ἐν τῷ στόματι φερούσας γάλα διατρέφειν παρασταζούσας ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν χειλῶν.
And about the place where the infant was exposed, since a multitude of doves nested there, miraculously and divinely the child was nourished by them; for some, surrounding the body of the infant with their wings, kept it warm on all sides, while others, from the neighboring farmsteads, whenever they observed the cowherds and other herdsmen to be away, carrying milk in their mouths, nourished it by dripping it between its lips.
§2.4.5ἐνιαυσίου δὲ τοῦ παιδίου γενομένου καὶ στερεωτέρας τροφῆς προσδεομένου, τὰς περιστερὰς ἀποκνιζούσας ἀπὸ τῶν τυρῶν παρέχεσθαι τροφὴν ἀρκοῦσαν.
And when the child was a year old and in need of more solid food, the doves, pecking off pieces from the cheeses, provided sufficient nourishment.
τοὺς δὲ νομεῖς ἐπανιόντας καὶ θεωροῦντας περιβεβρωμένους τοὺς τυροὺς θαυμάσαι τὸ παράδοξον· παρατηρήσαντας οὖν καὶ μαθόντας τὴν αἰτίαν εὑρεῖν τὸ βρέφος, διαφέρον τῲ κάλλει.
When the herdsmen returned and saw the cheeses pecked all around, they marveled at the strange thing; having watched, therefore, and learned the cause, they found the infant, which was outstanding in beauty.
§2.4.6εὐθὺς οὖν αὐτὸ κομίσαντας εἰς τὴν ἔπαυλιν δωρήσασθαι τῷ προεστηκότι τῶν βασιλικῶν κτηνῶν, ὄνομα Σίμμᾳ· καὶ τοῦτον ἄτεκνον ὄντα τὸ παιδίον τρέφειν ὡς θυγάτριον μετὰ πάσης ἐπιμελείας, ὄνομα θέμενον Σεμίραμιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Σύρων διάλεκτον παρωνομασμένον ἀπὸ τῶν περιστερῶν, ἃς ἀπʼ ἐκείνων τῶν χρόνων οἱ κατὰ Συρίαν ἅπαντες διετέλεσαν ὡς θεὰς τιμῶντες.
Immediately, therefore, they brought it to the farmstead and presented it as a gift to the overseer of the royal herds, whose name was Simmas; and he, being childless, reared the child as his own daughter with all care, giving her the name Semiramis, which is derived, according to the dialect of the Syrians, from the joys of the doves, which from those times all the inhabitants of Syria have continued to honor as goddesses.