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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.65.1-5.65.4

Origins and Inventions of the Curetes and the Rearing of Zeus

Passage 387 of 406 · Greek

Summary

The birth of the Curetes, their various contributions to human life and social order, and the mention of the tradition concerning their rearing of Zeus.

§5.65.1μετὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἰδαίους Δακτύλους ἱστοροῦσι γενέσθαι Κούρητας ἐννέα.
After the Idaean Dactyls, they record that nine Curetes were born.
τούτους δʼ οἱ μὲν μυθολογοῦσι γεγονέναι γηγενεῖς, οἱ δʼ ἀπογόνους τῶν Ἰδαίων Δακτύλων.
Of these, some mythologize that they were earth-born, while others that they were descendants of the Idaean Dactyls.
κατοικεῖν δʼ αὐτοὺς τῶν ὀρῶν τοὺς συνδένδρους καὶ φαραγγώδεις τόπους καὶ τὸ σύνολον τοὺς ἔχοντας σκέπην καὶ ὑπόδυσιν φυσικήν, διὰ τὸ μήπω κατασκευὰς οἰκιῶν εὑρῆσθαι.
And they inhabited the wooded and ravine-filled places of the mountains, and in general those having natural shelter and retreat, because the construction of houses had not yet been discovered.
§5.65.2διενεγκόντας δʼ αὐτοὺς συνέσει πολλὰ τῶν κοινῇ χρησίμων καταδεῖξαι· τάς τε γὰρ ποίμνας τῶν προβάτων τούτους ἀθροῖσαι πρώτους καὶ τὰ γένη τῶν ἄλλων βοσκημάτων ἐξημερῶσαι καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς μελιττουργίας καταδεῖξαι.
And having excelled in intelligence, they introduced many things useful for common life; for they were the first to gather flocks of sheep, to domesticate the kinds of other beasts, and to introduce the matters concerning bee-keeping.
§5.65.3ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν τοξικὴν καὶ τὰς κυνηγίας εἰσηγήσασθαι, καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους κοινῆς ὁμιλίας καὶ συμβιώσεως, ἔτι δʼ ὁμονοίας καί τινος εὐταξίας ἀρχηγοὺς γενέσθαι.
Likewise, they also introduced matters concerning archery and hunting, and became the originators of mutual social intercourse and living together, and furthermore of concord and a certain good order.
§5.65.4εὑρεῖν δὲ καὶ ξίφη καὶ κράνη καὶ τὰς ἐνοπλίους ὀρχήσεις, διʼ ὧν ποιοῦντας μεγάλους ψόφους ἀπατᾶν τὸν Κρόνον.
And they also discovered swords, helmets, and the armed dances, by means of which, making great noises, they deceived Cronus.
φασὶ δʼ αὐτοὺς τὸν Δία, λάθρᾳ τοῦ πατρὸς Κρόνου παραδούσης Ῥέας τῆς μητρός, ὑποδέξασθαι καὶ θρέψαι· περὶ οὗ τὰ κατὰ μέρος μέλλοντας ἡμᾶς δηλοῦν ἀναγκαῖον ἀναλαβεῖν μικρὸν ἀνωτέρω τὴν διήγησιν.
And they say that, when his mother Rhea delivered Zeus to them secretly from his father Cronus, they received and reared him; concerning whom, as we are about to declare the details, it is necessary to resume our narrative a little further back.

Notes

  1. §5.65.1κατοικεῖν — An infinitive in indirect discourse governed by the main verb ἱστοροῦσι ("they record") in the preceding sentence, with its subject accusative being αὐτούς ("they").
  2. §5.65.4ἀπατᾶν — Although inside the relative clause introduced by the relative pronoun διʼ ὧn ("by means of which"), the verb appears as an infinitive rather than a finite verb because the context of indirect discourse (reporting the tradition) continues.
  3. §5.65.4μέλλοντας ἡμᾶς — Accusative functioning as the subject of the infinitive ἀναλαβεῖν ("to resume/take up"), which is introduced by the impersonal expression ἀναγκαῖον [estí] ("it is necessary").

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.65.1-5.65.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.65.1-5.65.4

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