§3.62.1ἡμεῖς δʼ ἐπεὶ προειρήκαμεν ἐν τοῖς Αἰγυπτιακοῖς περὶ τῆς τοῦ Διονύσου γενέσεως καὶ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πραχθέντων ἀκολούθως ταῖς ἐγχωρίοις ἱστορίαις, οἰκεῖον εἶναι διαλαμβάνομεν προσθεῖναι τὰ μυθολογούμενα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι.
Since we have already spoken in our Egyptian history about the birth of Dionysus and the deeds performed by him in accordance with the local histories, we consider it appropriate to add what is mythologized about this god among the Greeks.
§3.62.2τῶν δὲ παλαιῶν μυθογράφων καὶ ποιητῶν περὶ Διονύσου γεγραφότων ἀλλήλοις ἀσύμφωνα καὶ πολλοὺς καὶ τερατώδεις λόγους καταβεβλημένων, δυσχερές ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου καὶ τῶν πράξεων καθαρῶς εἰπεῖν.
Since the ancient mythographers and poets have written accounts about Dionysus that are discordant with one another and have set down many monstrous tales, it is difficult to speak clearly about the birth and deeds of this god.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἕνα Διόνυσον, οἱ δὲ τρεῖς γεγονέναι παραδεδώκασιν, εἰσὶ δʼ οἱ γένεσιν μὲν τούτου ἀνθρωπόμορφον μὴ γεγονέναι τὸ παράπαν ἀποφαινόμενοι, τὴν δὲ τοῦ οἴνου δόσιν Διόνυσον εἶναι νομίζοντες.
For some have handed down that there was one Dionysus, others three, and there are those who declare that his birth did not take place in human form at all, believing that the gift of wine is Dionysus.
§3.62.3διόπερ ἡμεῖς τῶν παρʼ ἑκάστοις λεγομένων τὰ κεφάλαια πειρασόμεθα συντόμως ἐπιδραμεῖν.
Therefore, we shall attempt to run through briefly the main points of what is said by each group.
οἱ τοίνυν φυσιολογοῦντες περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου καρπὸν Διόνυσον ὀνομάζοντές φασι τὴν γῆν αὐτομάτως μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων φυτῶν ἐνεγκεῖν τὴν ἄμπελον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπό τινος εὑρετοῦ φυτευθῆναι.
Now those who explain this god physically and call the fruit of the vine Dionysus say that the earth produced the vine spontaneously along with the other plants, and that it was not originally planted by some discoverer.
§3.62.4τεκμήριον δʼ εἶναι τούτου τὸ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἐν πολλοῖς τόποις ἀγρίας ἀμπέλους φύεσθαι, καὶ καρποφορεῖν αὐτὰς παραπλησίως ταῖς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐμπειρίας χειρουργουμέναις.
And as proof of this they offer the fact that down to the present time wild vines grow in many places and bear fruit in a manner very similar to those which are cultivated by human experience.
§3.62.5διμήτορα δὲ τὸν Διόνυσον ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν ὠνομάσθαι, μιᾶς μὲν καὶ πρώτης γενέσεως ἀριθμουμένης ὅταν τὸ φυτὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν τεθὲν λαμβάνῃ τὴν αὔξησιν, δευτέρας δʼ ὅταν βρίθῃ καὶ τοὺς βότρυς πεπαίνῃ, ὥστε τὴν μὲν ἐκ γῆς, τὴν δʼ ἐκ τῆς ἀμπέλου γένεσιν τοῦ θεοῦ νομίζεσθαι.
And they say that Dionysus was called "of two mothers" by the ancients because, while one and first birth is counted when the plant, having been set in the earth, takes its growth, the second is when it becomes heavy with fruit and ripens its clusters, so that one birth of the god is considered to be from the earth, and the other from the vine.
§3.62.6παραδεδωκότων δὲ τῶν μυθογράφων καὶ τρίτην γένεσιν, καθʼ ἥν φασι τὸν θεὸν ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Δήμητρος τεκνωθέντα διασπασθῆναι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν γηγενῶν καὶ καθεψηθῆναι, πάλιν δʼ ὑπὸ τῆς Δήμητρος τῶν μελῶν συναρμοσθέντων ἐξ ἀρχῆς νέον γεννηθῆναι, εἰς φυσικάς τινας αἰτίας μετάγουσι τοὺς τοιούτους λόγους.
And although the mythographers have also handed down a third birth, according to which they say that the god, begotten of Zeus and Demeter, was torn to pieces by the earth-born and boiled, but was born anew from the beginning, young again, when his limbs were fitted together again by Demeter, they trace such accounts back to certain physical causes.
§3.62.7Διὸς μὲν γὰρ καὶ Δήμητρος αὐτὸν λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ τὴν ἄμπελον ἔκ τε γῆς καὶ ὄμβρων λαμβάνουσαν τὴν αὔξησιν καρποφορεῖν τὸν ἐκ τοῦ βότρυος ἀποθλιβόμενον οἶνον· τὸ δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν γηγενῶν νέον ὄντα διασπασθῆναι δηλοῦν τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν γεωργῶν συγκομιδὴν τῶν καρπῶν, τὴν δὲ καθέψησιν τῶν μελῶν μεμυθοποιῆσθαι διὰ τὸ τοὺς πλείστους ἕψειν τὸν οἶνον καὶ μίσγοντας εὐωδεστέραν αὐτοῦ καὶ βελτίονα τὴν φύσιν κατασκευάζειν· τὸ δὲ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν γηγενῶν λυμανθέντα τῶν μελῶν ἁρμοσθέντα πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν προγεγενημένην φύσιν ἀποκαθίστασθαι παρεμφαίνειν ὅτι πάλιν ἡ γῆ τὴν τρυγηθεῖσαν ἄμπελον καὶ τμηθεῖσαν ταῖς κατʼ ἔτος ὥραις εἰς τὴν προϋπάρξασαν ἐν τῷ καρποφορεῖν ἀκμὴν ἀποκαθίστησι.
For they say that he is said to be of Zeus and Demeter because the vine, receiving its growth from both earth and rains, bears as fruit the wine squeezed from the cluster; and that his being torn to pieces while young by the earth-born signifies the harvesting of the fruits by the husbandmen; and the boiling of his limbs has been mythologized because most men boil the wine and, by mixing it, render its natural quality more fragrant and better; and that the restoration of his limbs, which had been ruined by the earth-born, back to their former natural state suggests that the earth restores the harvested and pruned vine, through the annual seasons, back to its former vigor in bearing fruit.
καθόλου γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν καὶ μυθογράφων τὴν Δήμητραν γῆν μητέρα προσαγορεύεσθαι.
For in general, Demeter is addressed as Mother Earth by the ancient poets and mythographers.
§3.62.8σύμφωνα δὲ τούτοις εἶναι τά τε δηλούμενα διὰ τῶν Ὀρφικῶν ποιημάτων καὶ τὰ παρεισαγόμενα κατὰ τὰς τελετάς, περὶ ὧν οὐ θέμις τοῖς ἀμυήτοις ἱστορεῖν τὰ κατὰ μέρος.
And they say that in agreement with these are both the things shown through the Orphic poems and those introduced during the initiations, concerning which it is not lawful for those who are uninitiated to inquire into the details.
§3.62.9ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐκ Σεμέλης γένεσιν εἰς φυσικὰς ἀρχὰς ἀνάγουσιν, ἀποφαινόμενοι Θυώνην ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων τὴν γῆν ὠνομάσθαι, καὶ τεθεῖσθαι τὴν προσηγορίαν Σεμέλην μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ σεμνὴν εἶναι τῆς θεοῦ ταύτης τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ τιμήν, Θυώνην δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν θυομένων αὐτῇ θυσιῶν καὶ θυηλῶν.
In like manner they also trace the birth from Semele back to physical principles, declaring that the earth was named Thyone by the ancients, and that the name Semele was given to her because the care and honor of this goddess is solemn, and Thyone from the sacrifices and burnt offerings offered to her.
§3.62.10δὶς δʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ Διὸς παραδεδόσθαι διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὸν Δευκαλίωνα κατακλυσμῷ φθαρῆναι καὶ τούτους τοὺς καρπούς, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐπομβρίαν πάλιν ἀναφύντων ὡσπερεὶ δευτέραν ἐπιφάνειαν ταύτην ὑπάρξαι τοῦ θεοῦ παρʼ ἀνθρώποις, καθʼ ἣν ἐκ τοῦ Διὸς μηροῦ γενέσθαι πάλιν τὸν θεὸν μεμυθοποιῆσθαι.
And they say that his birth from Zeus twice has been handed down because it was thought that during the flood in the time of Deucalion these fruits also perished along with the rest, and when they grew again after the heavy rains, this was, as it were, a second epiphany of the god among men, in accordance with which the myth has been made that the god was born again from the thigh of Zeus.
οἱ μὲν οὖν τὴν χρείαν καὶ δύναμιν τοῦ κατὰ τὸν οἶνον εὑρήματος ἀποφαινόμενοι Διόνυσον ὑπάρχειν τοιαῦτα περὶ αὐτοῦ μυθολογοῦσι.
Those, then, who declare that the usefulness and power of the discovery of wine is Dionysus, relate such myths about him.