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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.74.1-5.74.6

Inventions of Arts and Technologies by the Gods

Passage 396 of 406 · Greek

Summary

This section outlines the origins of various cultural and technological discoveries brought to humanity by the gods, including writing by the Muses, metalworking by Hephaestus, weaponry by Ares, and medicine and archery by Apollo and Asclepius.

§5.74.1ταῖς δὲ Μούσαις δοθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν τῶν γραμμάτων εὕρεσιν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐπῶν σύνθεσιν τὴν προσαγορευομένην ποιητικήν.
And to the Muses was given by their father the discovery of letters and the composition of verses which is called poetry.
πρὸς δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας, ὅτι Σύροι μὲν εὑρεταὶ τῶν γραμμάτων εἰσί, παρὰ δὲ τούτων Φοίνικες μαθόντες τοῖς Ἕλλησι παραδεδώκασιν, οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ μετὰ Κάδμου πλεύσαντες εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς Ἕλληνας τὰ γράμματα Φοινίκεια προσαγορεύειν, φασὶ τοὺς Φοίνικας οὐκ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εὑρεῖν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς τύπους τῶν γραμμάτων μεταθεῖναι μόνον, καὶ τῇ τε γραφῇ ταύτῃ τοὺς πλείστους τῶν ἀνθρώπων χρήσασθαι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τυχεῖν τῆς προειρημένης προσηγορίας.
But against those who say that the Syrians are the discoverers of letters, and that the Phoenicians, having learned from them, handed them down to the Greeks, and that these Phoenicians are those who sailed with Cadmus into Europe, and that for this reason the Greeks call letters Phoenician, they say that the Phoenicians did not discover them from the beginning, but only changed the forms of the letters, and that the majority of mankind used this writing, and for this reason it obtained the aforementioned appellation.
§5.74.2Ἥφαιστον δὲ λέγουσιν εὑρετὴν γενέσθαι τῆς περὶ τὸν σίδηρον ἐργασίας ἁπάσης καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν χαλκὸν καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐργασίαν ἐπιδέχεται, καὶ τὰς ἄλλας δὲ χρείας τὰς τοῦ πυρὸς ἁπάσας προσεξευρεῖν καὶ παραδοῦναι τοῖς τε τὰς τέχνας ἐργαζομένοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις·
And of Hephaestus they say that he became the discoverer of all working of iron and of bronze, gold, and silver, and of all other things which admit of working by fire, and that he furthermore discovered all the other uses of fire and handed them down both to those who practice the arts and to all other men.
§5.74.3διόπερ οἱ τῶν τεχνῶν τούτων δημιουργοὶ τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ θυσίας τούτῳ τῷ θεῷ μάλιστα ποιοῦσι, καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὗτοί τε καὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι προσαγορεύουσιν Ἥφαιστον, εἰς μνήμην καὶ τιμὴν ἀθάνατον τιθέμενοι τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῷ κοινῷ βίῳ δεδομένην εὐεργεσίαν.
Wherefore the craftsmen of these arts especially offer prayers and sacrifices to this god, and both these and all men call fire Hephaestus, establishing in immortal memory and honor the benefaction given from the beginning to common life.
§5.74.4τὸν Ἄρην δὲ μυθολογοῦσι πρῶτον κατασκευάσαι πανοπλίαν καὶ στρατιώτας καθοπλίσαι καὶ τὴν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις ἐναγώνιον ἐνέργειαν εἰσηγήσασθαι, φονεύοντα τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας τοῖς θεοῖς.
And they relate in myth that Ares first manufactured a full suit of armor and armed soldiers, and introduced the competitive activity in battles, slaying those who disobeyed the gods.
§5.74.5Ἀπόλλωνα δὲ τῆς κιθάρας εὑρετὴν ἀναγορεύουσι καὶ τῆς κατʼ αὐτὴν μουσικῆς· ἔτι δὲ τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐπιστήμην ἐξενεγκεῖν διὰ τῆς μαντικῆς τέχνης γινομένην, διʼ ἧς τὸ παλαιὸν συνέβαινε θεραπείας τυγχάνειν τοὺς ἀρρωστοῦντας· εὑρετὴν δὲ καὶ τοῦ τόξου γενόμενον διδάξαι τοὺς ἐγχωρίους τὰ περὶ τὴν τοξείαν, ἀφʼ ἧς αἰτίας μάλιστα παρὰ τοῖς Κρησὶν ἐζηλῶσθαι τὴν τοξικὴν καὶ τὸ τόξον Κρητικὸν ὀνομασθῆναι.
And they declare Apollo to be the discoverer of the cithara and the music associated with it; and further, that he brought forth the science of medicine which comes about through the art of divination, through which in ancient times it happened that the sick obtained healing; and having become the discoverer of the bow, he taught the inhabitants the things concerning archery, for which reason especially among the Cretans archery was zealously pursued and the bow was named Cretan.
§5.74.6Ἀπόλλωνος δὲ καὶ Κορωνίδος Ἀσκληπιὸν γενηθέντα, καὶ πολλὰ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν εἰς ἰατρικὴν μαθόντα, προσεξευρεῖν τήν τε χειρουργίαν καὶ τὰς τῶν φαρμάκων σκευασίας καὶ ῥιζῶν δυνάμεις, καὶ καθόλου προβιβάσαι τὴν τέχνην ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ὡς ἀρχηγὸν αὐτῆς καὶ κτίστην τιμᾶσθαι.
And that Asclepius, born of Apollo and Coronis, and having learned many of the things pertaining to medicine from his father, furthermore discovered surgery and the preparations of medicines and the powers of roots, and in general advanced the art to such a degree that he is honored as its leader and founder.

Notes

  1. 5.74.1πρὸς δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας... φασὶ — The prepositional phrase πρὸς δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας ('against those who say...') stands at the beginning of the sentence, followed by an ὅτι-clause containing their claim. The main verb φασὶ ('they say') has an implied subject in context (the Cretans or mythographers), introducing an indirect discourse with the accusative subject τοὺς Φοίνικας ('that the Phoenicians...') and the infinitives εὑρεῖν, μεταθεῖναι, χρήσασθαι, and τυχεῖν. It is crucial to trace this structure of counter-argument.
  2. 5.74.5ἔτι δὲ τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐπιστήμην ἐξενεγκεῖν διὰ τῆς μαντικῆς τέχνης γινομένην — The infinitive ἐξενεγκεῖν ('to bring forth') depends on the preceding φασὶ or ἀναγορεύουσι. The participle γινομένην ('happening' or 'practiced') modifies τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐπιστήμην ('the science of medicine'), meaning 'the science of medicine which is practiced through the art of divination,' showing the syntactic linkage between medicine and mantic art in antiquity.
  3. 5.74.6Ἀπόλλωνος δὲ καὶ Κορωνίδος Ἀσκληπιὸν γενηθέντα... προσεξευρεῖν — The participle γενηθέντα ('having been born') is an attributive/circumstantial participle agreeing with the accusative subject Ἀσκληπιὸν, not a genitive absolute. The genitives Ἀπόλλωνος δὲ καὶ Κορωνίδος depend on γενηθέντα as a genitive of origin ('born of Apollo and Coronis'). This forms the framework of a long accusative-with-infinitive construction leading to the infinitives προσεξευρεῖν and προβιβάσαι.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.74.1-5.74.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.74.1-5.74.6

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