§3.64.1δεύτερον δὲ μυθολογοῦσι γενέσθαι Διόνυσον ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Φερσεφόνης, ὡς δέ τινες, ἐκ Δήμητρος.
Secondly, they mythologize that Dionysus was born of Zeus and Persephone, or, as some say, of Demeter.
τοῦτον δὲ παρεισάγουσι πρῶτον βοῦς ὑπʼ ἄροτρον ζεῦξαι, τὸ πρὸ τοῦ ταῖς χερσὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν γῆν κατεργαζομένων.
They introduce this one as the first to yoke oxen under the plow, whereas before that time men cultivated the land with their hands.
πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα φιλοτέχνως ἐπινοῆσαι τῶν πρὸς τὴν γεωργίαν χρησίμων, διʼ ὧν ἀπολυθῆναι τοὺς ὄχλους τῆς πολλῆς κακοπαθείας· §3.64.2ἀνθʼ ὧν τοὺς εὖ παθόντας ἀπονεῖμαι τιμὰς ἰσοθέους αὐτῷ καὶ θυσίας, προθύμως ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἀπονειμάντων τὴν ἀθανασίαν.
And they say that he also devised with artistic skill many other things useful for agriculture, by which the multitudes were released from their great hardship; in return for which those who had benefited assigned to him godlike honors and sacrifices, all men eagerly granting him immortality because of the magnitude of his beneficence.
παράσημον δʼ αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι κέρατα τοὺς κατασκευάζοντας τὰς γραφὰς ἢ τοὺς ἀνδριάντας, ἅμα μὲν δηλοῦντας ἑτέραν Διονύσου φύσιν, ἅμα δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὸ ἄροτρον εὑρέσεως ἐμφαίνοντας τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐπινοηθείσης τοῖς γεωργοῖς εὐχρηστίας.
And those who made his paintings or statues gave him horns as a distinctive mark, on the one hand indicating the other nature of Dionysus, and on the other hand, from his discovery of the plow, showing the magnitude of the utility devised for the farmers.
§3.64.3τρίτον δὲ γενέσθαι Διόνυσόν φασιν ἐν Θήβαις ταῖς Βοιωτίαις ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Σεμέλης τῆς Κάδμου.
And they say that the third Dionysus was born in Boeotian Thebes of Zeus and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus.
μυθολογοῦσι γὰρ ἐρασθέντα Δία μιγῆναι πλεονάκις αὐτῇ διὰ τὸ κάλλος, τὴν δʼ Ἥραν ζηλοτυποῦσαν καὶ βουλομένην τιμωρίᾳ περιβαλεῖν τὴν ἄνθρωπον, ὁμοιωθῆναι μέν τινι τῶν ἀποδοχῆς τυγχανουσῶν παρʼ αὐτῇ γυναικῶν, παρακρούσασθαι δὲ τὴν Σεμέλην· §3.64.4εἰπεῖν γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὴν ὅτι καθῆκον ἦν τὸν Δία μετὰ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐπιφανείας τε καὶ τιμῆς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ὁμιλίαν ᾗπερ χρᾶται κατὰ τὴν πρὸς τὴν Ἥραν συμπεριφοράν.
For they relate in myth that Zeus, having fallen in love, slept with her repeatedly because of her beauty, but Hera, being jealous and wishing to encompass the mortal woman with punishment, likened herself to one of the women who found acceptance with Semele, and deceived her; for she said to her that it was proper for Zeus to make his intercourse with her with the same manifestation and honor that he uses in his relations with Hera.
διὸ καὶ τὸν μὲν Δία, τῆς Σεμέλης ἀξιούσης τυγχάνειν τῶν ἴσων Ἥρᾳ τιμῶν, παραγενέσθαι μετὰ βροντῶν καὶ κεραυνῶν, τὴν δὲ Σεμέλην οὐχ ὑπομείνασαν τὸ μέγεθος τῆς περιστάσεως τελευτῆσαι καὶ τὸ βρέφος ἐκτρῶσαι πρὸ τοῦ καθήκοντος χρόνου.
Therefore, when Semele demanded to receive honors equal to Hera's, Zeus indeed arrived with thunders and lightnings, but Semele, unable to endure the magnitude of the visitation, died and miscarried the infant before the proper time.
§3.64.5καὶ τοῦτο μὲν τὸν Δία ταχέως εἰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μηρὸν ἐγκρύψαι· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν τῆς γενέσεως χρόνου τὴν λελείαν αὔξησιν ποιήσαντος ἀπενεγκεῖν τὸ βρέφος εἰς Νῦσαν τῆς Ἀραβίας.
And Zeus quickly concealed this infant in his own thigh; and after this, when the natural time of birth had accomplished its smooth growth, he carried the infant away to Nysa in Arabia.
§3.64.6ἐνταῦθα δʼ ὑπὸ νυμφῶν τραφέντα τὸν παῖδα προσαγορευθῆναι μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ τόπου Διόνυσον, γενόμενον δὲ τῷ κάλλει διάφορον τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐν χορείαις καὶ γυναικῶν θιάσοις καὶ παντοδαπῇ τρυφῇ καὶ παιδιᾷ διατελεῖν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα στρατόπεδον ἐκ τῶν γυναικῶν συναγαγόντα καὶ θύρσοις καθοπλίσαντα στρατείαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ποιήσασθαι τὴν οἰκουμένην.
There, having been reared by nymphs, the boy was named Dionysus after his father and the place, and, becoming outstanding in beauty, he spent his time at first in dances, women's bands, and every kind of luxury and play; but after this, having gathered an army of women and armed them with thyrsuses, he made a campaign over the whole inhabited world.
§3.64.7καταδεῖξαι δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς τελετὰς καὶ μεταδοῦναι τῶν μυστηρίων τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ δίκαιον βίον ἀσκοῦσι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις πανταχοῦ πανηγύρεις ἄγειν καὶ μουσικοὺς ἀγῶνας συντελεῖν, καὶ τὸ σύνολον συλλύοντα τὰ νείκη τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ πόλεων ἀντὶ τῶν στάσεων καὶ τῶν πολέμων ὁμόνοιαν καὶ πολλὴν εἰρήνην κατασκευάζειν.
And he also introduced the matters concerning the initiations and shared the mysteries with those of men who were pious and practiced a righteous life, and in addition to these, he celebrated festivals and held musical contests everywhere, and, in short, resolving the feuds of nations and cities, established harmony and abundant peace instead of factions and wars.