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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.51.1-5.51.4

Rule of the Aloadae and Carian Settlement of Naxos

Passage 373 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Otus and Ephialtes, the sons of Aloeus, expel the Thracians from Strongyle and rename the island Dia, but later perish in mutual strife; subsequently, Carians settle there under King Naxos, who renames the island, and Theseus later abandons Ariadne there due to Dionysus' threat.

§5.51.1ὁ δʼ Ἀλωεὺς ἐπὶ ζήτησιν τῆς τε γυναικὸς καὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς ἐξέπεμψε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ὦτον καὶ Ἐφιάλτην· οἳ πλεύσαντες εἰς τὴν Στρογγύλην μάχῃ τε ἐνίκησαν τοὺς Θρᾷκας καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐξεπολιόρκησαν.
But Aloeus sent out his sons, Otus and Ephialtes, in search of both his wife and his daughter; and they, having sailed to Strongyle, defeated the Thracians in battle and took the city by siege.
§5.51.2εἶτα ἡ μὲν Παγκράτις ἐτελεύτησεν, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ὦτον καὶ Ἐφιάλτην ἐπεβάλοντο κατοικεῖν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ ἄρχειν τῶν Θρᾳκῶν· μετωνόμασαν δὲ καὶ τὴν νῆσον Δίαν.
Thereupon Pancratis died, and Otus and Ephialtes and their men undertook to settle on the island and to rule over the Thracians; and they also renamed the island Dia.
ὕστερον δὲ στασιάσαντες πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ μάχην συνάψαντες τῶν τε ἄλλων πολλοὺς ἀπέκτειναν καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀνεῖλον, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ἐγχωρίων εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ὡς ἥρωες ἐτιμήθησαν.
But later, having fallen into strife against one another and joined battle, they slew many of the others and killed one another; and they were honored as heroes by the inhabitants for all subsequent time.
§5.51.3οἱ μὲν οὖν Θρᾷκες ἐνταῦθα κατοικήσαντες ἔτη πλείω τῶν διακοσίων ἐξέπεσον αὐχμῶν γενομένων ἐκ τῆς νήσου.
Now the Thracians, having lived here for more than two hundred years, were driven out of the island when droughts occurred.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Κᾶρες ἐκ τῆς νῦν καλουμένης Λατμίας μεταναστάντες ᾤκησαν τὴν νῆσον· ὧν βασιλεύσας Νάξος ὁ Πολέμωνος ἀντὶ Δίας Νάξον ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ προσηγόρευσεν.
After this, Carians, migrating from the place now called Latmia, inhabited the island; and Naxos, the son of Polemon, who ruled over them, called the island Naxos after himself instead of Dia.
ἐγένετο δʼ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ ἐπιφανὴς ὁ Νάξος, καὶ ἀπέλιπεν υἱὸν Λεύκιππον· οὗ γενόμενος υἱὸς Σμέρδιος ἐβασίλευσε τῆς νήσου.
And Naxos became a good and distinguished man, and left a son Leucippus, whose son Smerdius ruled over the island.
§5.51.4ἐπὶ δὲ τούτου Θησεὺς ἐκ Κρήτης ἀναπλέων μετὰ τῆς Ἀριάδνης ἐπεξενώθη τοῖς ἐν τῇ νήσῳ· καὶ κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον ἰδὼν τὸν Διόνυσον ἀπειλοῦντα αὐτῷ, εἰ μὴ ἀπολείψει τὴν Ἀριάδνην αὐτῷ, φοβηθεὶς κατέλιπε καὶ ἐξέπλευσε.
In his reign, Theseus, sailing back from Crete together with Ariadne, was hospitably received by the inhabitants of the island; and seeing in his sleep Dionysus threatening him unless he should leave Ariadne to him, he was frightened, left her behind, and sailed away.
Διόνυσος δὲ νυκτὸς ἀπήγαγε τὴν Ἀριάδνην εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ καλούμενον Δρίος· καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν ἠφανίσθη ὁ θεός, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ἡ Ἀριάδνη ἄφαντος ἐγενήθη.
And Dionysus by night carried Ariadne away to the mountain called Drios; and at first the god vanished, and after this Ariadne also disappeared.

Notes

  1. §5.51.2οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ὦτον καὶ Ἐφιάλτην — This idiom with `περί` and the accusative usually means 'the circle of...' or 'the companions of...', but here it refers to Otus and Ephialtes themselves, along with their followers. The plural verbs and the subsequent reciprocal pronoun `ἀλλήλους` confirm that it focuses on the two brothers and their close associates.
  2. §5.51.3ὧν βασιλεύσας — The relative pronoun `ὧν` in the genitive refers to the antecedent `Κᾶρες` (Carians) and is governed by the participle `βασιλεύσας` (having ruled over), as verbs of ruling like `βασιλεύω` regularly take the genitive case.
  3. §5.51.4ἰδὼν τὸν Διόνυσον ἀπειλοῦντα αὐτῷ, εἰ μὴ ἀπολείψει τὴν Ἀριάδνην αὐτῷ — The participle `ἀπειλοῦντα` (with its dative argument `αὐτῷ`, referring to Theseus) serves as the supplementary participle after the verb of seeing `ἰδὼν`. The conditional clause `εἰ μὴ ἀπολείψει` retains the future indicative of the direct threat in indirect discourse, vividly representing the threat made by Dionysus.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.51.1-5.51.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.51.1-5.51.4

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