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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.24.1-5.24.3

Union of Heracles and the Celtic Princess and the Birth of Galates

Passage 346 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Having finished the description of the western islands, the author begins to discuss the peoples near Europe. He recounts the legend of the daughter of Celtica's ruler, who united with Heracles during his expedition and gave birth to Galates, the ancestor of the Galatae.

§5.24.1διεληλυθότες δὲ περὶ τῶν νήσων τῶν κειμένων ἐν τοῖς πρὸς δυσμὰς μέρεσιν, οὐκ ἀνοίκειον εἶναι νομίζομεν περὶ τῶν πλησίον τῆς Εὐρώπης ἐθνῶν βραχέα διελθεῖν, ἃ παραλελοίπαμεν ἐν ταῖς πρότερον βίβλοις.
Having traversed the subject of the islands lying in the western parts, we consider it not inappropriate to run briefly through the nations adjacent to Europe, which we have passed over in our previous books.
τῆς Κελτικῆς τοίνυν τὸ παλαιόν, ὥς φασιν, ἐδυνάστευσεν ἐπιφανὴς ἀνήρ, ᾧ θυγάτηρ ἐγένετο τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ σώματος ὑπερφυής, τῇ δʼ εὐπρεπείᾳ πολὺ διέχουσα τῶν ἄλλων.
Now in ancient times, as they say, Celtica was ruled by an illustrious man, who had a daughter of extraordinary bodily stature, far surpassing all others in beauty.
αὕτη δὲ διά τε τὴν τοῦ σώματος ῥώμην· καὶ τὴν θαυμαζομένην εὐπρέπειαν πεφρονηματισμένη παντὸς τοῦ μνηστεύοντος τὸν γάμον ἀπηρνεῖτο, νομίζουσα μηδένα §5.24.2τούτων ἄξιον ἑαυτῆς εἶναι.
Highly proud because of her bodily strength and admired beauty, she refused marriage with any of her suitors, thinking that none of them was worthy of her.
κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἡρακλέους ἐπὶ Γηρυόνην στρατείαν, καταντήσαντος εἰς τὴν Κελτικὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ πόλιν Ἀλησίαν ἐν ταύτῃ κτίσαντος, θεασαμένη τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ θαυμάσασα τήν τε ἀρετὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ὑπεροχήν, προσεδέξατο τὴν ἐπιπλοκὴν μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας, §5.24.3συγκατανευσάντων καὶ τῶν γονέων.
But during Heracles' expedition against Geryones, when he arrived in Celtica and founded the city of Alesia there, she, upon seeing Heracles and marveling at his valor and the superiority of his body, accepted his embrace with all eagerness, her parents also consenting.
μιγεῖσα δὲ τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ ἐγέννησεν υἱὸν ὀνόματι Γαλάτην, πολὺ προέχοντα τῶν ὁμοεθνῶν ἀρετῇ τε ψυχῆς καὶ ῥώμῃ σώματος.
Having united with Heracles, she gave birth to a son named Galates, who far surpassed his fellow countrymen in excellence of soul and strength of body.
ἀνδρωθεὶς δὲ τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ διαδεξάμενος τὴν πατρῴαν βασιλείαν, πολλὴν μὲν τῆς προσοριζούσης χώρας κατεκτήσατο, μεγάλας δὲ πράξεις πολεμικὰς συνετέλεσε.
When he grew to manhood and succeeded to his father's kingdom, he conquered much of the neighboring territory and performed great deeds of war.
περιβόητος δὲ γενόμενος ἐπʼ ἀνδρείᾳ τοὺς ὑφʼ αὑτὸν τεταγμένους ὠνόμασεν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ Γαλάτας· ἀφʼ ὧν ἡ σύμπασα Γαλατία προσηγορεύθη.
Becoming famous for his courage, he named those subject to his rule Galatae after himself, from whom the whole of Galatia took its name.

Notes

  1. 5.24.1διεληλυθότες — The perfect participle indicates an action completed prior to the main verb `νομίζομεν` ('having traversed [the subject of the islands]'), marking the transition to a new topic.
  2. 5.24.1νομίζουσα μηδένα — Although the milestone `¦p.v.2.p.36¦` and the section break `§5.24.2` are placed immediately after `μηδένα` (the negative subject of the accusative-and-infinitive construction led by `νομίζουσα`), the syntactic structure continues directly into the next section with the partitive genitive `τούτων` ('of these') and the predicate `ἄξιον` ('worthy').
  3. 5.24.2καταντήσαντος — `καταντήσαντος... αὐτοῦ` (referring to Heracles) and `κτίσαντος` form a genitive absolute construction, taking `αὐτοῦ` as their semantic subject. While they could theoretically be construed as attributive participles agreeing with the preceding genitive noun `Ἡρακλέους`, they function as a genitive absolute to describe the circumstances.
  4. 5.24.3συγκατανευσάντων καὶ τῶν γονέων — A genitive absolute construction with `τῶν γονέων` as its semantic subject, expressing the circumstances or approval ('the parents also consenting') under which the daughter accepted Heracles' embrace.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.24.1-5.24.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.24.1-5.24.3

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