§3.65.1διαβοηθείσης δὲ κατὰ πάντα τόπον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ παρουσίας, καὶ διότι πᾶσιν ἐπιεικῶς προσφερόμενος πολλὰ συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὴν ἐξημέρωσιν τοῦ κοινοῦ βίου, πανδημεὶ συναντᾶν αὐτῷ καὶ προσδέχεσθαι μετὰ πολλῆς χαρᾶς.
Since the presence of the god had been rumored in every place, and because, by bearing himself gently toward all, he contributed much to the civilization of common life, it is said that people met him in a body and received him with great joy.
§3.65.2ὀλίγων δʼ ὄντων τῶν διʼ ὑπερηφανίαν καὶ ἀσέβειαν καταφρονούντων καὶ φασκόντων τὰς μὲν βάκχας διʼ ἀκρασίαν αὐτὸν περιάγεσθαι, τὰς δὲ τελετὰς καὶ τὰ μυστήρια φθορᾶς ἕνεκα τῶν ἀλλοτρίων γυναικῶν καταδεικνύειν, κολάζεσθαι τοὺς τοιούτους ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ παραχρῆμα.
And although those who, through arrogance and impiety, despised him and claimed that he led the Bacchae about for the sake of self-indulgence, and that he established the initiations and mysteries for the corruption of other men's wives, were few, such men were punished by him immediately.
§3.65.3ἐνίοτε γὰρ τῇ τῆς θείας φύσεως ὑπεροχῇ χρώμενον τιμωρεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, ποτὲ μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐμβάλλοντα μανίαν, ποτὲ δὲ ταῖς τῶν γυναικῶν χερσὶ ζῶντας διαμελίζοντα· ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ διὰ τῆς στρατηγικῆς ἐπινοίας παραδόξως ἀναιρεῖν τοὺς ἐναντιοπραγοῦντας.
For sometimes, using the supremacy of his divine nature, he punished the impious, at one time throwing them into madness, and at another tearing them limb from limb while still alive by the hands of the women; and sometimes, by his strategic ingenuity, he unexpectedly destroyed those who opposed him.
ἀναδιδόναι γὰρ ταῖς βάκχαις ἀντὶ τῶν θύρσων λόγχας τῷ κιττῷ κεκαλυμμένας τὴν ἀκμὴν τοῦ σιδήρου· διὸ καὶ τῶν βασιλέων διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν καταφρονούντων ὡς ἂν γυναικῶν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἀπαρασκεύων ὄντων, ἀνελπίστως ἐπιτιθέμενον κατακοντίζειν.
For he gave to the Bacchae, instead of thyrsuses, spears with the iron point covered with ivy; therefore, when the kings, because of their ignorance, despised them as if they were mere women and were for this reason unprepared, he attacked them unexpectedly and transfixed them with javelins.
§3.65.4τῶν δὲ κολασθέντων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ φασιν ἐπιφανεστάτους εἶναι Πενθέα μὲν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι, Μύρρανον δὲ τὸν βασιλέα παρʼ Ἰνδοῖς, Λυκοῦργον δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Θρᾳξί.
And of those who were punished by him, they say that the most famous were Pentheus among the Greeks, Myrranus the king among the Indians, and Lycurgus among the Thracians.
μυθολογοῦσι γὰρ τὸν Διόνυσον ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας μέλλοντα τὴν δύναμιν διαβιβάζειν εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην, συνθέσθαι φιλίαν πρὸς Λυκοῦργον τὸν Θρᾴκης βασιλέα τῆς ἐφʼ Ἑλλησπόντῳ· διαβιβάσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ πρώτας τὰς βάκχας ὡς εἰς φιλίαν χώραν, τὸν μὲν Λυκοῦργον παραγγεῖλαι τοῖς στρατιώταις νυκτὸς ἐπιθέσθαι καὶ τόν τε Διόνυσον καὶ τὰς μαινάδας πάσας ἀνελεῖν, τὸν δὲ Διόνυσον παρά τινος τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ὃς ἐκαλεῖτο Χάροψ, μαθόντα τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν καταπλαγῆναι διὰ τὸ τὴν δύναμιν ἐν τῷ πέραν εἶναι, παντελῶς δʼ ὀλίγους αὐτῷ τῶν φίλων συνδιαβεβηκέναι.
For they relate in myth that when Dionysus was about to transport his force from Asia into Europe, he concluded a friendship with Lycurgus, the king of Thrace on the Hellespont; but when he had transported the Bacchae first, as if into a friendly country, Lycurgus ordered his soldiers to attack by night and destroy both Dionysus and all the maenads, and Dionysus, having learned of the plot from one of the inhabitants named Charops, was struck with consternation because his force was on the opposite side and very few of his friends had crossed over with him.
§3.65.5διόπερ λάθρᾳ τούτου διαπλεύσαντος πρὸς τὸ σφέτερον στρατόπεδον, τὸν μὲν Λυκοῦργόν φασιν ἐπιθέμενον ταῖς μαινάσιν ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Νυσίῳ πάσας ἀποκτεῖναι, τὸν δὲ Διόνυσον περαιώσαντα τὰς δυνάμεις μάχῃ κρατῆσαι τῶν Θρᾳκῶν, καὶ τὸν Λυκοῦργον ζωγρήσαντα τυφλῶσαί τε καὶ πᾶσαν αἰκίαν εἰσενεγκάμενον ἀνασταυρῶσαι.
Therefore, when Dionysus had secretly sailed across to his own camp, they say that Lycurgus attacked the maenads in the place called Nysium and killed them all, but Dionysus, having ferried his forces over, conquered the Thracians in battle, and having taken Lycurgus alive, blinded him, and after inflicting every kind of torture upon him, crucified him.
§3.65.6μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῷ μὲν Χάροπι χάριν ἀποδιδόντα τῆς εὐεργεσίας παραδοῦναι τὴν τῶν Θρᾳκῶν βασιλείαν καὶ διδάξαι τὰ κατὰ τὰς τελετὰς ὄργια· Χάροπος δʼ υἱὸν γενόμενον Οἴαγρον παραλαβεῖν τήν τε βασιλείαν καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς μυστηρίοις παραδεδομένας τελετάς, ἃς ὕστερον Ὀρφέα τὸν Οἰάγρου μαθόντα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, καὶ φύσει καὶ παιδείᾳ τῶν ἁπάντων διενεγκόντα, πολλὰ μεταθεῖναι τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀργίοις· διὸ καὶ τὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ Διονύσου γενομένας τελετὰς Ὀρφικὰς προσαγορευθῆναι.
And after this, returning thanks to Charops for his beneficence, he delivered the kingdom of the Thracians to him and taught him the rites connected with the initiations; and Charops' son Oeagrus, having succeeded to it, took over both the kingdom and the initiations handed down in the mysteries, which later Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus, having learned from his father and having excelled all men in natural talent and education, altered in many of their rites; and for this reason the initiations established by Dionysus were called Orphic.
§3.65.7τῶν δὲ ποιητῶν τινες, ὧν ἐστι καὶ Ἀντίμαχος, ἀποφαίνονται τὸν Λυκοῦργον οὐ Θρᾴκης, ἀλλὰ τῆς Ἀραβίας γεγονέναι βασιλέα, καὶ τῷ τε Διονύσῳ καὶ ταῖς βάκχαις τὴν ἐπίθεσιν ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὴν Ἀραβίαν Νύσῃ πεποιῆσθαι.
But some of the poets, of whom Antimachus is one, declare that Lycurgus was not king of Thrace, but of Arabia, and that the attack upon Dionysus and the Bacchae was made in the Arabian Nysa.
τὸν δʼ οὖν Διόνυσόν φασι κολάσαντα μὲν τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, ἐπιεικῶς δὲ προσενεχθέντα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις, ἐκ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἐπʼ ἐλέφαντος τὴν εἰς Θήβας ἐπάνοδον ποιήσασθαι.
At any rate, they say that Dionysus, having punished the impious and behaved gently toward the rest of mankind, made his return to Thebes from India upon an elephant.
§3.65.8τριετοῦς δὲ διαγεγενημένου τοῦ σύμπαντος χρόνου, φασὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς αἰτίας ἄγειν τὰς τριετηρίδας.
And when a total time of three years had elapsed, they say that the Greeks for this reason celebrate the triennial festivals.
μυθολογοῦσι δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ λαφύρων ἠθροικότα πλῆθος ὡς ἂν ἀπὸ τηλικαύτης στρατείας, πρῶτον τῶν ἁπάντων καταγαγεῖν θρίαμβον εἰς τὴν πατρίδα.
And they mythologize that he, having also gathered a multitude of spoils as would be expected from so great a campaign, was the first of all to lead a triumph into his homeland.