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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.58.1-5.58.5

Visits of Danaus and Cadmus and Phorbas Slaying the Serpents

Passage 380 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Danaus and Cadmus consecutively visited Rhodes, establishing the worship of Athena and Poseidon respectively, with the latter dedicating a cauldron inscribed with Phoenician letters. Later, when giant serpents plagued the island, Phorbas was summoned in accordance with an oracle, freed the inhabitants, and settled there.

§5.58.1κατὰ δὲ τούτους τοὺς χρόνους Δαναὸς ἔφυγεν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετὰ τῶν θυγατέρων· καταπλεύσας δὲ τῆς Ῥοδίας εἰς Λίνδον καὶ προσδεχθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ἱδρύσατο τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερὸν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τῆς θεοῦ καθιέρωσε.
At this time Danaus fled from Egypt with his daughters; and sailing to Lindus in Rhodes and being welcomed by the inhabitants, he established a temple of Athena and dedicated the statue of the goddess.
τῶν δὲ τοῦ Δαναοῦ θυγατέρων τρεῖς ἐτελεύτησαν κατὰ τὴν ἐπιδημίαν τὴν ἐν τῇ Λίνδῳ, αἱ δʼ ἄλλαι μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς Δαναοῦ εἰς Ἄργος ἐξέπλευσαν.
Three of the daughters of Danaus died during their stay in Lindus, but the others sailed away to Argos with their father Danaus.
§5.58.2μικρὸν δʼ ὕστερον τούτων τῶν χρόνων Κάδμος ὁ Ἀγήνορος, ἀπεσταλμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως κατὰ ζήτησιν τῆς Εὐρώπης, κατέπλευσεν εἰς τὴν Ῥοδίαν· κεχειμασμένος δʼ ἰσχυρῶς κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν καὶ πεποιημένος εὐχὰς ἱδρύσασθαι Ποσειδῶνος ἱερόν, διασωθεὶς ἱδρύσατο κατὰ τὴν νῆσον τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου τέμενος καὶ τῶν Φοινίκων ἀπέλιπέ τινας τοὺς ἐπιμελησομένους.
A short time after these events, Cadmus, the son of Agenor, having been dispatched by the king in search of Europe, sailed to Rhodes; and having been severely tossed by a storm during his voyage and having made vows to establish a temple of Poseidon, upon being saved he established a sacred precinct of this god on the island, and left some of the Phoenicians to take care of it.
οὗτοι δὲ καταμιγέντες Ἰαλυσίοις διετέλεσαν συμπολιτευόμενοι τούτοις· ἐξ ὧν φασι τοὺς ἱερεῖς κατὰ γένος διαδέχεσθαι τὰς ἱερωσύνας.
These men, mixing with the Ialysians, continued to share in their citizenship; and from them, they say, the priests succeed to the priesthoods by family descent.
§5.58.3ὁ δʼ οὖν Κάδμος καὶ τὴν Λινδίαν Ἀθηνᾶν ἐτίμησεν ἀναθήμασιν, ἐν οἷς ἦν χαλκοῦς λέβης ἀξιόλογος κατεσκευασμένος εἰς τὸν ἀρχαῖον ῥυθμόν· οὗτος δʼ εἶχεν ἐπιγραφὴν Φοινικικοῖς γράμμασιν, ἅ φασι πρῶτον ἐκ Φοινίκης εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα κομισθῆναι.
Cadmus, then, also honored the Lindian Athena with votive offerings, among which was a remarkable bronze cauldron made in the ancient style; and this had an inscription in Phoenician characters, which they say were first brought from Phoenicia to Greece.
§5.58.4μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῆς Ῥοδίας γῆς ἀνείσης ὄφεις ὑπερμεγέθεις συνέβη πολλοὺς τῶν ἐγχωρίων ὑπὸ τῶν ὄφεων διαφθαρῆναι· διόπερ οἱ περιλειφθέντες ἔπεμψαν εἰς Δῆλον τοὺς ἐπερωτήσοντας τὸν θεὸν περὶ τῆς τῶν κακῶν ἀπαλλαγῆς.
After this, the land of Rhodes having produced huge serpents, it happened that many of the inhabitants were destroyed by the serpents; therefore those who survived sent messengers to Delos to inquire of the god concerning their deliverance from the evils.
§5.58.5τοῦ δʼ Ἀπόλλωνος προστάξαντος αὐτοῖς παραλαβεῖν Φόρβαντα μετὰ τῶν συνακολουθούντων αὐτῷ, καὶ μετὰ τούτων κατοικεῖν τὴν Ῥόδον· οὗτος δʼ ἦν υἱὸς μὲν Λαπίθου, διέτριβε δὲ περὶ Θετταλίαν μετὰ πλειόνων, ζητῶν χώραν εἰς κατοίκησιν·
And when Apollo commanded them to receive Phorbas with his followers and to inhabit Rhodes with them; this Phorbas was a son of Lapithes, and was spending his time in Thessaly with a large number of men, seeking a land to settle in.
τῶν δὲ Ῥοδίων μεταπεμψαμένων αὐτὸν κατὰ τὴν μαντείαν καὶ μεταδόντων τῆς χώρας, ὁ μὲν Φόρβας ἀνεῖλε τοὺς ὄφεις, καὶ τὴν νῆσον ἐλευθερώσας τοῦ φόβου, κατῴκησεν ἐν τῇ Ῥοδίᾳ, γενόμενος δὲ καὶ τἄλλα ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ἔσχε τιμὰς ἡρωικὰς μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν.
When the Rhodians sent for him according to the oracle and shared the land with him, Phorbas destroyed the serpents, and freeing the island from its fear, settled in Rhodes; and having shown himself a good man in other respects as well, he received heroic honors after his death.

Notes

  1. 5.58.1τῆς Ῥοδίας — A genitive of place (a type of partitive genitive), modifying the subsequent phrase εἰς Λίνδον ('into Lindus'), meaning 'to Lindus in (of) Rhodes'.
  2. 5.58.4τῆς Ῥοδίας γῆς ἀνείσης — A genitive absolute construction. The participle ἀνείσης is the aorist active feminine singular genitive of ἀνίημι ('to send up, produce'), with 'the land' as its subject, expressing the cause or background ('since the land of Rhodes produced...').
  3. 5.58.5τοῦ δʼ Ἀπόλλωνος προστάξαντος — Starting with a genitive absolute, this clause does not directly connect to a main finite verb but is followed by infinitive clauses (παραλαβεῖν... καὶ... κατοικεῖν), creating a stylistic anacoluthon typical of historical narratives transitioning from indirect command to direct statement.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.58.1-5.58.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.58.1-5.58.5

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