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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §3.71.1-3.71.6

Rise of Cronus and Victory of Dionysus

Passage 232 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Rhea abandons Ammon to marry Cronus, who subsequently defeats Ammon and forces him to flee to Crete. Dionysus allies with the Amazons to defeat Cronus in a fierce battle, after which he pardons the captives and enlists them under a sacred oath.

§3.71.1τῆς δὲ περὶ αὐτὸν ἀρετῆς τε καὶ δόξης διαδιδομένης, λέγεται τὴν Ῥέαν ὀργισθεῖσαν Ἄμμωνι φιλοτιμηθῆναι λαβεῖν ὑποχείριον τὸν Διόνυσον· οὐ δυναμένην δὲ κρατῆσαι τῆς ἐπιβολῆς τὸν μὲν Ἄμμωνα καταλιπεῖν, ἀπαλλαγεῖσαν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς Τιτᾶνας συνοικῆσαι Κρόνῳ τῷ ἀδελφῷ·
As his virtue and fame spread, they say that Rhea, angered at Ammon, eagerly desired to get Dionysus into her power; but being unable to succeed in her attempt, she abandoned Ammon, and departing to her brothers, the Titans, married her brother Cronus.
§3.71.2τοῦτον δʼ ὑπὸ τῆς Ῥέας πεισθέντα στρατεῦσαι μετὰ τῶν Τιτάνων ἐπʼ Ἄμμωνα, καὶ γενομένης παρατάξεως τὸν μὲν Κρόνον ἐπὶ τοῦ προτερήματος ὑπάρξαι, τὸν δʼ Ἄμμωνα σιτοδείᾳ πιεζόμενον φυγεῖν εἰς Κρήτην, καὶ γήμαντα τῶν τότε βασιλευόντων Κουρήτων ἑνὸς θυγατέρα Κρήτην δυναστεῦσαί τε τῶν τόπων καὶ τὸ πρὸ τοῦ τὴν νῆσον Ἰδαίαν καλουμένην ἀπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς ὀνομάσαι Κρήτην.
And they say that he, being persuaded by Rhea, marched with the Titans against Ammon, and when a battle took place, Cronus got the upper hand, while Ammon, hard pressed by famine, fled to Crete, and marrying Crete, the daughter of one of the Curetes who were ruling at that time, made himself master of those regions and named the island Crete after his wife, which before that time had been called Idaea.
§3.71.3τὸν δὲ Κρόνον μυθολογοῦσι κρατήσαντα τῶν Ἀμμωνίων τόπων τούτων μὲν ἄρχειν πικρῶς, ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν Νῦσαν καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον στρατεῦσαι μετὰ πολλῆ δυνάμεως.
And they relate in myth that Cronus, having conquered the regions of Ammon, ruled over them harshly, and marched against Nysa and Dionysus with a great force.
τὸν δὲ Διόνυσον πυθόμενον τά τε τοῦ πατρὸς ἐλαττώματα καὶ τὴν τῶν Τιτάνων ἐπʼ αὐτὸν συνδρομήν, ἀθροῖσαι στρατιώτας ἐκ τῆς Νύσης, ὧν εἶναι συντρόφους διακοσίους, διαφόρους τῇ τε ἀλκῇ καὶ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίᾳ· προσλαβέσθαι δὲ καὶ τῶν πλησιοχώρων τούς τε Λίβυας καὶ τὰς Ἀμαζόνας, περὶ ὧν προειρήκαμεν ὅτι δοκοῦσιν ἀλκῇ διενεγκεῖν, καὶ πρῶτον μὲν στρατείαν ὑπερόριον στείλασθαι, πολλὴν δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης τοῖς ὅπλοις καταστρέψασθαι.
But Dionysus, having learned of his father's defeats and the onset of the Titans against him, gathered soldiers from Nysa, among whom were two hundred of his foster-brothers, outstanding in courage and in goodwill toward him; and he also took to himself from the neighbouring peoples both the Libyans and the Amazons, concerning whom we have previously said that they are considered to have excelled in courage, and first dispatched an expedition beyond their borders, and subdued a large part of the inhabited world by force of arms.
§3.71.4μάλιστα δʼ αὐτάς φασι παρορμῆσαι πρὸς τὴν συμμαχίαν Ἀθηνᾶν διὰ τὸν ὅμοιον τῆς προαιρέσεως ζῆλον, ὡς ἂν τῶν Ἀμαζόνων ἀντεχομένων ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς ἀνδρείας καὶ παρθενίας.
And they say that Athena especially urged them to the alliance because of a similar zeal in their life's purpose, since the Amazons clung for a long time to courage and virginity.
διῃρημένης δὲ τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀνδρῶν στρατηγοῦντος Διονύσου, τῶν δὲ γυναικῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐχούσης Ἀθηνᾶς, προσπεσόντας μετὰ τῆς στρατιᾶς τοῖς Τιτᾶσι συνάψαι μάχην.
When their forces were divided, and Dionysus commanded the men while Athena held the leadership of the women, they fell upon the Titans with their army and joined battle.
γενομένης δὲ παρατάξεως ἰσχυρᾶς, καὶ πολλῶν παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις πεσόντων, τρωθῆναι μὲν τὸν Κρόνον, ἐπικρατῆσαι δὲ τὸν Διόνυσον ἀριστεύσαντα κατὰ τὴν μάχην.
A fierce engagement took place, and many fell on both sides; Cronus was wounded, and Dionysus, having shown outstanding valour in the battle, prevailed.
§3.71.5μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς μὲν Τιτᾶνας φυγεῖν εἰς τοὺς κατακτηθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἄμμωνα τόπους, τὸν δὲ Διόνυσον ἀθροίσαντα πλῆθος αἰχμαλώτων ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Νῦσαν.
After this, the Titans fled to the regions that had been acquired by the followers of Ammon, while Dionysus, having gathered a great number of captives, returned to Nysa.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ τὴν δύναμιν περιστήσαντα καθωπλισμένην τοῖς ἁλοῦσι κατηγορίαν ποιήσασθαι τῶν Τιτάνων, καὶ πᾶσαν ὑπόνοιαν καταλιπεῖν ὡς μέλλοντα κατακόπτειν τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους.
There, having surrounded the captives with his armed force, he made an accusation against the Titans, and left every suspicion that he was about to slaughter the prisoners.
ἀπολύσαντος δʼ αὐτοῦς τῶν ἐγκλημάτων καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν δόντος εἴτε συστρατεύειν εἴτε ἀπιέναι βούλοιντο, πάντας ἑλέσθαι συστρατεύειν· διὰ δὲ τὸ παράδοξον τῆς σωτηρίας προσκυνεῖν αὐτοὺς ὡς θεόν.
But when he released them from the charges and gave them the choice either to campaign with him or to depart if they wished, they all chose to campaign with him; and because of the unexpectedness of their salvation, they worshipped him as a god.
§3.71.6τὸν δὲ Διόνυσον παράγοντα καθʼ ἕνα τῶν αἰχμαλώτων καὶ διδόντα σπονδὴν οἴνου πάντας ἐξορκῶσαι συστρατεύσειν ἀδόλως καὶ μέχρι τελευτῆς βεβαίως διαγωνιεῖσθαι· διὸ καὶ τούτων πρώτων ὑποσπόνδων ὀνομασθέντων τοὺς μεταγενεστέρους ἀπομιμουμένους τὰ τότε πραχθέντα τὰς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις διαλύσεις σπονδὰς προσαγορεύειν.
And Dionysus, bringing forward the captives one by one and giving them a libation of wine, bound them all by oath to campaign without guile and to fight firmly until the end; wherefore these were the first to be called "those under libation", and later generations, imitating what was then done, call treaties of peace in wars "libations".

Notes

  1. 3.71.1Ἄμμωνι — The dative case functions as the complement of the participle ὀργισθεῖσαν (from the verb of emotion ὀργίζομαι), indicating the object of anger (at Ammon).
  2. 3.71.1φιλοτιμηθῆναι — An infinitive forming part of the accusative-with-infinitive construction governed by the main impersonal verb λέγεται. The verb φιλοτιμέομαι, originally meaning "to value honour", is used here with the infinitive λαβεῖν in the sense of "to be eagerly desirous of" or "to strive earnestly to."
  3. 3.71.2τῶν τότε βασιλευόντων Κουρήτων ἑνὸς θυγατέρα — The genitive of the numeral, ἑνός, does not modify the feminine accusative singular θυγατέρα, but limits the plural genitive τῶν τότε βασιλευόντων Κουρήτων as a partitive genitive, meaning "a daughter of one of the Curetes who were ruling at that time."
  4. 3.71.3ὧν εἶναι συντρόφους διακοσίους — The use of the infinitive εἶναι within the relative clause introduced by ὧν occurs because the entire sentence is in indirect discourse dependent on μυθολογοῦσι, which causes the verb of the subordinate relative clause to assume the infinitive form.
  5. 3.71.4ὡς ἂν τῶν Ἀμαζόνων ἀντεχομένων — A construction of ὡς ἄν followed by the genitive absolute participle phrase (τῶν Ἀμαζόνων ἀντεχομένων). It presents a subjective reason while conveying a potential or conditional nuance ("on the ground that the Amazons would naturally cling to...").
  6. 3.71.5ὡς μέλλοντα κατακόπτειν τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους — The combination of ὡς with the accusative participle μέλλοντα, whose logical subject is Dionysus. It expresses a subjective intent or imminent action ("as though he were about to slaughter"), which he allowed the captives to suspect (ὑπόνοιαν).
  7. 3.71.6ὑποσπόνδων — A compound adjective derived from ὑπό ("under") and σπονδή ("libation"), referring to the captives who entered into an alliance under the libation. This serves as an aetiological explanation for why subsequent generations call peace treaties "libations" (σπονδαί).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §3.71.1-3.71.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:3.71.1-3.71.6

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