§3.67.1φησὶ τοίνυν παρʼ Ἕλλησι πρῶτον εὑρετὴν γενέσθαι Λίνον ῥυθμῶν καὶ μέλους, ἔτι δὲ Κάδμου κομίσαντος ἐκ Φοινίκης τὰ καλούμενα γράμματα πρῶτον εἰς τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν μεταθεῖναι διάλεκτον, καὶ τὰς προσηγορίας ἑκάστῳ τάξαι καὶ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας διατυπῶσαι.
He (Dionysius) says, then, that among the Greeks Linus was the first to discover rhythm and melody, and furthermore, when Cadmus had brought the so-called letters from Phoenicia, Linus was the first to transfer them into the Greek language, and to assign a name to each and shape the forms of the letters.
κοινῇ μὲν οὖν τὰ γράμματα Φοινίκεια κληθῆναι διὰ τὸ παρὰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκ Φοινίκων μετενεχθῆναι, ἰδίᾳ δὲ τῶν Πελασγῶν πρώτων χρησαμένων τοῖς μετατεθεῖσι χαρακτῆρσι Πελασγικὰ προσαγορευθῆναι. §3.67.2τὸν δὲ Λίνον ἐπὶ ποιητικῇ καὶ μελῳδίᾳ θαυμασθέντα μαθητὰς σχεῖν πολλούς, ἐπιφανεστάτους δὲ τρεῖς, Ἡρακλέα, Θαμύραν, Ὀρφέα.
Commonly, therefore, the letters were called "Phoenician" because they were brought to the Greeks from the Phoenicians, but individually, since the Pelasgians were the first to use the transferred characters, they were designated as "Pelasgian." And Linus, being admired for his poetry and music, had many pupils, of whom the three most illustrious were Heracles, Thamyras, and Orpheus.
τούτων δὲ τὸν μὲν Ἡρακλέα κιθαρίζειν μανθάνοντα διὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς βραδυτῆτα μὴ δύνασθαι δέξασθαι τὴν μάθησιν, ἔπειθʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ Λίνου πληγαῖς ἐπιτιμηθέντα διοργισθῆναι καὶ τῇ κιθάρᾳ τὸν διδάσκαλον πατάξαντα ἀποκτεῖναι,
Of these, Heracles, while learning to play the cithara, was unable to receive the instruction because of the slowness of his soul, and then, having been chastised with blows by Linus, he flew into a rage and killed his teacher by striking him with the cithara.
§3.67.3Θαμύραν δὲ φύσει διαφόρῳ κεχορηγημένον ἐκπονῆσαι τὰ περὶ τὴν μουσικήν, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ μελῳδεῖν ὑπεροχὴν φάσκειν ἑαυτὸν τῶν Μουσῶν ἐμμελέστερον ᾅδειν.
Thamyras, on his part, being endowed with an extraordinary natural gift, cultivated the art of music and claimed that, because of his superiority in singing, he himself sang more melodiously than the Muses.
διὸ καὶ τὰς θεὰς αὐτῷ χολωθείσας τήν τε μουσικὴν ἀφελέσθαι καὶ πηρῶσαι τὸν ἄνδρα, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν Ὅμηρον τούτοις προσμαρτυρεῖν λέγοντα
"ἔνθα τε Μοῦσαι ἀντόμεναι Θάμυριν τὸν Θρήικα παῦσαν ἀοιδῆς,"
καὶ ἔτι
"αἱ δὲ χολωσάμεναι πηρὸν θέσαν, αὐτὰρ ἀοιδὴν θεσπεσίην ἀφέλοντο καὶ ἐκλέλαθον κιθαριστύν. " §3.67.4περὶ δὲ Ὀρφέως τοῦ τρίτου μαθητοῦ τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἀναγράψομεν, ὅταν τὰς πράξεις αὐτοῦ διεξίωμεν.
Therefore, the goddesses also, being angered with him, deprived him of his music and maimed the man, just as Homer also bears witness to these things, saying: "There the Muses, meeting Thamyras the Thracian, stopped him from his song," and further: "And they, being angered, made him maimed, and deprived him of his wondrous song and made him forget his cithara-playing." Concerning Orpheus, the third pupil, we shall record the details when we recount his deeds.
τὸν δʼ οὖν Λίνον φασὶ τοῖς Πελασγικοῖς γράμμασι συνταξάμενον τὰς τοῦ πρώτου Διονύσου πράξεις καὶ τὰς ἄλλας μυθολογίας ἀπολιπεῖν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν.
At all events, they say that Linus, having compiled the deeds of the first Dionysus and the other myths in the Pelasgian letters, left them behind in his memoirs.
§3.67.5ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις χρήσασθαι τοῖς Πελασγικοῖς γράμμασι τὸν Ὀρφέα καὶ Προναπίδην τὸν Ὁμήρου διδάσκαλον, εὐφυῆ γεγονότα μελοποιόν· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Θυμοίτην τὸν Θυμοίτου τοῦ Λαομέδοντος, κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν γεγονότα τὴν Ὀρφέως, πλανηθῆναι κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους τῆς οἰκουμένης, καὶ παραβαλεῖν τῆς Λιβύης εἰς τὴν πρὸς ἑσπέραν χώραν ἕως ὠκεανοῦ·
In like manner, these Pelasgian letters were used also by Orpheus and by Pronapides, the teacher of Homer, who was a gifted lyric poet; and in addition to these, by Thymoetes, the son of Thymoetes, who was the son of Laomedon, who lived in the time of Orpheus and wandered through many parts of the inhabited world, and visited the western land of Libya as far as the ocean.
θεάσασθαι δὲ καὶ τὴν Νῦσαν, ἐν ᾗ μυθολογοῦσιν οἱ ἐγχώριοι ἀρχαῖοι τραφῆναι τὸν Διόνυσον, καὶ τὰς κατὰ μέρος τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου πράξεις μαθόντα παρὰ τῶν Νυσαέων συντάξασθαι τὴν Φρυγίαν ὀνομαζομένην ποίησιν, ἀρχαϊκοῖς τῇ τε διαλέκτῳ καὶ τοῖς γράμμασι χρησάμενον.
He also beheld Nysa, where the ancient inhabitants of the place relate in their myths that Dionysus was reared, and having learned from the Nysaeans the detailed deeds of this god, he compiled the poem called "The Phrygian Poem," using both language and letters of an archaic character.