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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.67.1-5.67.5

Inventions and Contributions of the Titans to Mankind

Passage 389 of 406 · Greek

Summary

The inventions and cultural or institutional contributions made to humanity by Titans such as Hyperion, Prometheus, Mnemosyne, and Themis are explained. Due to their great benefits, they were deified after their departure from among men and became the first to inhabit Olympus.

§5.67.1Ὑπερίονα δέ φασι τοῦ τε ἡλίου τὴν κίνησιν καὶ σελήνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἄστρων, ἔτι δὲ τὰς ὥρας τὰς συντελουμένας ὑπὸ τούτων, πρῶτον ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καὶ παρατηρήσεως κατανοήσαντα τοῖς ἄλλοις εἰς γνῶσιν παραδοῦναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν πατέρα τούτων ὀνομασθῆναι, καθαπερεὶ γεγεννηκότα τὴν τούτων θεωρίαν καὶ φύσιν.
And they say that Hyperion was the first to understand, through careful attention and observation, the movement of the sun and moon and the other stars, and furthermore the seasons that are completed by these, and to hand them down to others for their knowledge, and that for this reason he was named the father of these, as if he had begotten their observation and nature.
§5.67.2καὶ Κοίου μὲν καὶ Φοίβης Λητὼ γενέσθαι, Ἰαπετοῦ δὲ Προμηθέα τὸν παραδεδομένον μὲν ὑπό τινων μυθογράφων ὅτι τὸ πῦρ κλέψας παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἔδωκε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, πρὸς δʼ ἀλήθειαν εὑρετὴν γενόμενον τῶν πυρείων, §5.67.3ἐξ ὧν ἐκκάεται τὸ πῦρ.
And they say that of Coeus and Phoebe was born Leto, and of Iapetus, Prometheus, who has been handed down by some mythographers as having stolen fire from the gods and given it to mankind, but who in truth became the discoverer of fire-sticks, from which fire is kindled.
τῶν δὲ Τιτανίδων φασὶ Μνημοσύνην λογισμοὺς εὑρεῖν καὶ τὰς τῶν ὀνομάτων θέσεις ἑκάστῳ τῶν ὄντων τάξαι, διʼ ὧν καὶ δηλοῦμεν ἕκαστα καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁμιλοῦμεν· ἅ τινες τὸν Ἑρμῆν φασιν εἰσηγήσασθαι.
And of the Titanides, they say that Mnemosyne discovered reasoning and established the giving of names to each of the things that exist, by which we both point out each thing and converse with one another; which things some say Hermes introduced.
προσάπτουσι δὲ τῇ θεῷ ταύτῃ καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀνανέωσιν καὶ μνήμην γινόμενα παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἀφʼ ὧν δὴ καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας τυχεῖν αὐτὴν ταύτης.
And they attribute to this goddess also the things that are done among men for renewal of memory and remembering, from which indeed she also obtained this very appellation.
§5.67.4Θέμιν δὲ μυθολογοῦσι μαντείας καὶ θυσίας καὶ θεσμοὺς τοὺς περὶ τῶν θεῶν πρώτην εἰσηγήσασθαι καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν εὐνομίαν καὶ εἰρήνην καταδεῖξαι.
And they mythologize that Themis was the first to introduce prophecies and sacrifices and the ordinances concerning the gods, and to establish the things concerning good order and peace.
διὸ καὶ θεσμοφύλακας καὶ θεσμοθέτας ὀνομάζεσθαι τοὺς τὰ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ὅσια καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων νόμους διαφυλάττοντας· καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω, καθʼ ὃν δὴ χρόνον τοὺς χρησμοὺς διδόναι μέλλει, θεμιστεύειν λέγομεν ἀπὸ τοῦ τὴν Θέμιν εὑρέτριαν γεγονέναι τῶν χρησμῶν.
Wherefore also those who preserve the sacred duties concerning the gods and the laws of men are called thesmophylakes and thesmothetai; and we say that Apollo themisteuei at that very time when he is about to give oracles, because Themis became the discoverer of oracles.
§5.67.5οὗτοι μὲν οὖν οἱ θεοὶ πολλὰ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον εὐεργετήσαντες οὐ μόνον ἀθανάτων τιμῶν ἠξιώθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρῶτοι τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἐνομίσθησαν οἰκεῖν μετὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων μετάστασιν.
These gods, then, having rendered many benefits to human life, were not only deemed worthy of immortal honors, but were also thought to be the first to inhabit Olympus after their departure from among men.

Notes

  1. §5.67.1καθαπερεὶ γεγεννηκότα — The accusative participle γεγεννηκότα (perfect active) agrees with αὐτόν (Hyperion), the subject of the infinitive. Combined with καθαπερεί ("as if"), it forms a metaphorical expression indicating that he was called their "father" as though he had actually created the scientific observation and nature of the celestial bodies.
  2. §5.67.2τὸν παραδεδομένον — The accusative participle παραδεδομένον modifies Προμηθέα (Prometheus). While indirect discourse after verbs of reporting usually takes an accusative and infinitive construction, here it is followed by an ὅτι clause introducing the content of the myth. This structure highlights the contrast between the common myth and the historical/rationalized truth.
  3. §5.67.4ἀπὸ τοῦ τὴν Θέμιν εὑρέτριαν γεγονέναι — The preposition ἀπό governs the genitive articular infinitive τοῦ γεγονέναι. The accusative τὴν Θέμιν serves as the subject of the infinitive γεγονέναι, and εὑρέτριαν is its predicate accusative. The entire phrase forms an adverbial clause of cause ("from the fact that Themis became the discoverer").

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.67.1-5.67.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.67.1-5.67.5

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