§4.2.1Κάδμον μὲν γάρ φασι τὸν Ἀγήνορος ἐκ Φοινίκης ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποσταλῆναι πρὸς ζήτησιν τῆς Εὐρώπης, ἐντολὰς λαβόντα ἢ τὴν παρθένον ἀγαγεῖν ἢ μὴ ἀνακάμπτειν εἰς τὴν Φοινίκην.
For they say that Cadmus, the son of Agenor, was dispatched from Phoenicia by the king in search of Europe, having received orders either to bring the maiden back or not to return to Phoenicia.
ἐπελθόντα δὲ πολλὴν χώραν, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενον ἀνευρεῖν, ἀπογνῶναι τὴν εἰς οἶκον ἀνακομιδήν· καταντήσαντα δʼ εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν κατὰ τὸν παραδεδομένον χρησμὸν κτίσαι τὰς Θήβας.
And having traversed much territory and not being able to find her, he gave up hope of returning home; and having arrived in Boeotia, in accordance with the oracle that had been delivered, he founded Thebes.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ κατοικήσαντα γῆμαι μὲν Ἁρμονίαν τὴν Ἀφροδίτης, γεννῆσαι δʼ ἐξ αὐτῆς Σεμέλην %5καὶ Ἰνὼ καὶ Αὐτονόην καὶ Ἀγαύην, ἔτι §4.2.2δὲ Πολύδωρον.
And having settled there, he married Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite, and begot by her Semele, Ino, Autonoe, and Agave, and furthermore Polydorus.
τῇ δὲ Σεμέλῃ διὰ τὸ κάλλος Δία μιγέντα καὶ μεθʼ ἡσυχίας ποιούμενον τὰς ὁμιλίας δόξαι καταφρονεῖν αὐτῆς· διόπερ ὑπʼ αὐτῆς παρακληθῆναι τὰς ἐπιπλοκὰς ὁμοίας ποιεῖσθαι ταῖς πρὸς τὴν Ἥραν συμπεριφοραῖς.
And because of her beauty, Zeus united with Semele, and because he conducted his visits in secret, he seemed to her to look down on her; therefore, she entreated him to make his embraces like his relations with Hera.
§4.2.3τὸν μὲν οὖν Δία παραγενόμενον θεοπρεπῶς μετὰ βροντῶν καὶ ἀστραπῶν ἐπιφανῶς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν συνουσίαν· τὴν δὲ Σεμέλην ἔγκυον οὖσαν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς περιστάσεως οὐκ ἐνέγκασαν τὸ μὲν βρέφος ἐκτρῶσαι, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς αὐτὴν τελευτῆσαι.
So Zeus, arriving in godlike fashion with thunder and lightning, made his visit manifest; but Semele, being pregnant and unable to bear the greatness of the circumstance, miscarried the babe, and herself perished by the fire.
ἔπειτα τὸ παιδίον ἀναλαβόντα τὸν Δία παραδοῦναι τῷ Ἑρμῇ, καὶ προστάξαι τοῦτο μὲν ἀποκομίσαι πρὸς τὸ ἄντρον τὸ ἐν τῇ Νύσῃ, κείμενον μεταξὺ Φοινίκης καὶ Νείλου, ταῖς δὲ νύμφαις παραδοῦναι τρέφειν καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς σπουδῆς ἐπιμέλειαν αὐτοῦ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀρίστην.
Thereupon Zeus, taking up the child, delivered it to Hermes, and ordered him to carry it to the cave in Nysa, which lies between Phoenicia and the Nile, and to deliver it to the nymphs to nurture and to take the greatest care of it with much diligence.
§4.2.4διὸ καὶ τραφέντα τὸν Διόνυσον ἐν τῇ Νύσῃ τυχεῖν τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης ἀπὸ Διὸς καὶ Νύσης.
For this reason also, Dionysus, having been nurtured in Nysa, obtained this appellation from Zeus and Nysa.
καὶ τὸν Ὅμηρον δὲ τούτοις μαρτυρῆσαι ἐν τοῖς ὕμνοις ἐν οἷς λέγει
"ἔστι δέ τις Νύση, ὕπατον ὄρος, ἀνθέον ὕλη, τηλοῦ Φοινίκης, σχεδὸν Αἰγύπτοιο ῥοάων. " §4.2.5τραφέντα δʼ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν νυμφῶν ἐν τῇ Νύσῃ φασὶν εὑρετήν τε τοῦ οἴνου γενέσθαι καὶ τὴν φυτείαν διδάξαι τῆς ἀμπέλου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.
And Homer also bears witness to these things in his Hymns, in which he says: "There is a certain Nysa, a mountain most high, blooming with woods, far from Phoenicia, near to the streams of Egypt." And they say that having been nurtured by the nymphs in Nysa, he became the discoverer of wine and taught men the cultivation of the vine.
ἐπιόντα δὲ σχεδὸν ὅλην τὴν οἰκουμένην πολλὴν χώραν ἐξημερῶσαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τυχεῖν παρὰ πᾶσι μεγίστων τιμῶν.
And traversing almost the entire inhabited world, he civilized much country, and for this reason obtained the greatest honors among all men.
εὑρεῖν δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῆς κριθῆς κατασκευαζόμενον πόμα, τὸ προσαγορευόμενον μὲν ὑπʼ ἐνίων ζῦθος, οὐ πολὺ δὲ λειπόμενον τῆς περὶ τὸν οἶνον εὐωδίας.
And he also discovered the drink prepared from barley, which is called zythos by some, and is not much inferior to wine in its fragrance.
τοῦτο δὲ διδάξαι τοὺς χώραν ἔχοντας μὴ δυναμένην ἐπιδέχεσθαι τὴν τῆς ἀμπέλου φυτείαν.
And he taught this to those whose country was not able to admit the cultivation of the vine.
§4.2.6περιάγεσθαι δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ στρατόπεδον οὐ μόνον ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναικῶν, καὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων κολάζειν.
And they say that he also led about an army not only of men but also of women, and punished those of men who were unjust and impious.
καὶ κατὰ μὲν τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἀποδιδόντα τῇ πατρίδι χάριτας ἐλευθερῶσαι πάσας τὰς πόλεις, καὶ κτίσαι πόλιν ἐπώνυμον τῆς αὐτονομίας, ἣν Ἐλευθερὰς προσαγορεῦσαι.
And in Boeotia, returning thanks to his fatherland, he liberated all the cities, and founded a city named after their autonomy, which he called Eleutherae.