§3.74.1τὸν μὲν οὖν πρῶτον Διόνυσον ἐξ Ἄμμωνος καὶ Ἀμαλθείας γενόμενον τοιαύτας οἱ Λίβυες ἱστοροῦσιν ἐπιτελέσασθαι πράξεις· τὸν δὲ δεύτερόν φασιν ἐξ Ἰοῦς τῆς Ἰνάχου Διὶ γενόμενον βασιλεῦσαι μὲν τῆς Αἰγύπτου, καταδεῖξαι δὲ τὰς τελετάς· τελευταῖον δὲ τὸν ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Σεμέλης τεκνωθέντα παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι τῶν προτέρων.
The Libyans, then, relate that the first Dionysus, who was born of Ammon and Amaltheia, performed such deeds; and they say that the second, who was born to Zeus of Io, the daughter of Inachus, ruled over Egypt and introduced the initiatory rites; and, finally, that the one who was fathered by Zeus and Semele became among the Greeks an emulator of the former ones.
§3.74.2τὰς δʼ ἀμφοτέρων προαιρέσεις μιμησάμενον στρατεῦσαι μὲν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην, στήλας δʼ οὐκ ὀλίγας ἀπολιπεῖν τῶν ὅρων τῆς στρατείας· καὶ τὴν μὲν χώραν ἐξημεροῦν ταῖς φυτείαις, στρατιώτιδας δʼ ἐπιλέξασθαι γυναῖκας, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς τὰς Ἀμαζόνας.
And having imitated the purposes of both, he campaigned over the entire inhabited world and left behind not a few pillars as the boundaries of his campaign; he also reclaimed the land by means of cultivation, and selected women as soldiers, just as the ancient Dionysus had done with the Amazons.
ἐνεργῆσαι δʼ ἐπὶ πλέον καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς ὀργιασμούς, καὶ τελετὰς ἃς μὲν μεταθεῖναι πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον, ἃς δʼ ἐπινοῆσαι.
He also put into greater effect the matters concerning the orgiastic rites, and of the initiatory rites, some he altered for the better, while others he invented.
§3.74.3διὰ δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ χρόνου τῶν προτέρων εὑρετῶν ἀγνοηθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν, τοῦτον κληρονομῆσαι τὴν τῶν προγενεστέρων προαίρεσίν τε καὶ δόξαν.
But because of the lapse of time, as the earlier discoverers were forgotten by the majority of men, this Dionysus inherited both the purpose and the reputation of his predecessors.
οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτου δὲ μόνου συμβῆναι τὸ προειρημένον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐφʼ Ἡρακλέους.
And this aforementioned phenomenon occurred not only in his case, but also after these times in the case of Heracles.
§3.74.4δυοῖν γὰρ ὄντων τῶν προγενεστέρων τῶν τὴν αὐτὴν ἐσχηκότων προσηγορίαν, τὸν μὲν ἀρχαιότατον Ἡρακλέα μυθολογεῖσθαι γεγονέναι παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις, καὶ πολλὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης τοῖς ὅπλοις καταστρεψάμενον θέσθαι τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς Λιβύης στήλην, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον ἐκ Κρήτης ἕνα τῶν Ἰδαίων ὄντα Δακτύλων καὶ γενόμενον γόητα καὶ στρατηγικὸν συστήσασθαι τὸν Ὀλυμπικὸν ἀγῶνα· τὸν δὲ τελευταῖον μικρὸν πρὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν ἐξ Ἀλκμήνης καὶ Διὸς τεκνωθέντα πολλὴν ἐπελθεῖν τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὑπηρετοῦντα τοῖς Εὐρυσθέως προστάγμασιν.
For although there were two of earlier times who had held the same name, the oldest Heracles is mythologized to have been born among the Egyptians, and after subduing much of the inhabited world by force of arms, to have set up the pillar in Libya; while the second, who was from Crete and was one of the Idaean Dactyls, having become a magician and a master of military strategy, established the Olympic games; and the last one, fathered by Alcmene and Zeus a little before the Trojan War, traversed much of the inhabited world while serving the commands of Eurystheus.
§3.74.5ἐπιτυχόντα δὲ πᾶσι τοῖς ἄθλοις θέσθαι μὲν καὶ στήλην τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης, διὰ δὲ τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν καὶ τὴν τῆς προαιρέσεως ὁμοιότητα χρόνων ἐπιγενομένων τελευτήσαντα κληρονομῆσαι τὰς τῶν ἀρχαιοτέρων πράξεις, ὡς ἑνὸς Ἡρακλέους γεγονότος ἐν παντὶ τῷ πρότερον αἰῶνι.
And having succeeded in all his labours, he also set up the pillar in Europe; but because of the identity of name and the similarity of purpose, when times passed, after his death he inherited the deeds of the older ones, so that it was thought that there had been only one Heracles in all previous time.
§3.74.6ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ πλείους Διονύσους γεγονέναι σὺν ἄλλαις ἀποδείξεσι πειρῶνται φέρειν τὴν ἐκ τῆς Τιτανομαχίας· συμφωνουμένου γὰρ παρὰ πᾶσιν ὅτι Διόνυσος τῷ Διὶ συνηγωνίσατο τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Τιτᾶνας πόλεμον, οὐδαμῶς πρέπειν φασὶ τὴν τῶν Τιτάνων γενεὰν τιθέναι κατὰ τοὺς τῆς Σεμέλης χρόνους οὐδὲ Κάδμον τὸν Ἀγήνορος ἀποφαίνεσθαι πρεσβύτερον εἶναι τῶν Ὀλυμπίων θεῶν.
And in support of the view that there were several Dionysuses, they endeavour to bring forward, along with other proofs, the one drawn from the Titan war; for since it is agreed among all that Dionysus fought on the side of Zeus in the war against the Titans, they say it is by no means fitting to place the generation of the Titans in the times of Semele, nor to declare Cadmus, the son of Agenor, to be older than the Olympian gods.
οἱ μὲν οὖν Λίβυες περὶ Διονύσου τοιαῦτα μυθολογοῦσιν· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρόθεσιν τετελεκότες αὐτοῦ περιγράψομεν τὴν τρίτην βίβλον.
Now the Libyans relate such myths concerning Dionysus; and we, having fulfilled the purpose proposed at the beginning, will bring our third book to a close here.