§30μαρτυροῦσι καὶ οἱ περὶ τοῦτον χορευταί· καὶ τήν γε ῥᾳστώνην τοῦ κράτους νάρθηκές τε ἀντὶ δόρατος καὶ νεβρὶς ἀντὶ λεοντῆς αὐτῷ πεπορισμένα, καὶ κύλιξ ἀντὶ ἀσπίδος κοίλης, ὡς τὸ αὐτὸ ποιούντων Διονύσῳ μάχεσθαί τε καὶ πίνειν.
The dancers around him also bear witness to this; and the ease of his dominion is shown by the fact that he is provided with fennel-stalks instead of spears, a fawn-skin instead of a lion's skin, and a cup instead of a hollow shield, as if fighting and drinking were the same thing for Dionysus.
καὶ οὐ πολὺ τοὐμμέσῳ τοῦ τε ἀγῶνος καὶ τῶν ἐπινικίων.
And there is not much between the contest and the victory celebrations.
Ἰνδοὺς δὲ καὶ Τυρρηνοὺς λέγουσιν ὡς κατεστρέψατο, αἰνιττόμενοι δοκεῖν ἐμοὶ διὰ μὲν τῶν Τυρρηνῶν τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέραν, διὰ δὲ τῶν ἑτέρων τὸν πρὸς ἕω τόπον τῆς γῆς ὡς ἁπάσης αὐτὸν ἄρχοντα.
They say that he subdued the Indians and Tyrrhenians, riddling, as it seems to me, by the Tyrrhenians the western region of the earth, and by the others the eastern, showing that he rules over the whole of it.
Βάκχαι δὲ καὶ ἀνθʼ ἱππέων αὐτῷ προϊοῦσαι καὶ τοξοτῶν, τῆς τε σκευῆς ἀκόλουθα ἣν ἀρτίως ὑμνοῦμεν καὶ ἅμα καὶ τοῦτο ἐπισφραγίζονται ὅτι τῆς Διονύσου πολιτείας ἄρα ἦν καὶ γυναικεῖα στρατόπεδα ὁμοῦ τοῖς τῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ οὐ τοὺς ἄνδρας θηλύνειν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς γυναῖκας εἰς ἀνδρῶν τάξιν καθιστάναι Διονυσιακόν· οὕτω μέγας καὶ πολύτροπος καὶ παναρμόνιός ἐστι.
And the Bacchae, who go before him in place of horsemen and archers, in keeping with the equipment which we have just praised, also set their seal to this—namely, that in the commonwealth of Dionysus there were indeed female armies together with those of men, and that it is Dionysiac not so much to effeminate men as to place women in the ranks of men; so great, versatile, and all-harmonious is he.
δῆλον δὲ καὶ ἐνθένδε. Ἀφροδίτῃ μὲν γὰρ κοινωνήσας θέατρά τε ἀνοίγνυσι καὶ συμποσίων καὶ θιάσων ἔξαρχος γίγνεται, Ἄρει δὲ εἰς ταυτὸν ἐλθὼν ἔνοπλος γίγνεται· καὶ μὴν ἔμπυρός γε ἅμα Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ Ἡφαίστῳ γενόμενος.
This is also clear from the following: for having partnered with Aphrodite, he opens theaters and becomes the leader of banquets and sacred bands; and having come to the same place with Ares, he becomes armed; and indeed he is associated with fire along with Athena and Hephaestus.
κήρυκες δὲ καὶ Εὐμολπίδαι πάρεδρον Ἐλευσινίαις αὐτὸν ἐστήσαντο, καρπῶν ἔφορον καὶ τροφῆς ἀνθρώποις.
And the heralds and the Eumolpidae established him as an assessor to the Eleusinian goddesses, as an overseer of crops and nourishment for humans.
ὃ δὲ τούτῳ πρέπειν μοι δοκεῖ προσθεῖναι, μόνος γὰρ τῶν ἱερῶν φασμάτων ἐξεφοίτησεν ἐν τῷ κινδύνῳ τῷ Μηδικῷ.
And what seems to me proper to add to this is that he alone of the sacred apparitions went forth in the Persian danger.
οὕτω τοῖς ὅλοις φιλάνθρωπος ὢν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ῥέπει.
Being thus completely a lover of humankind, he inclines towards the Greeks.
Νύμφαις τοίνυν ἀνακραθεὶς πολλὰ δὴ καὶ παντοῖα ἐχόρευσέ τε καὶ χορεύει κατʼ ἀνθρώπους, ἀκριβέστερον Εὐρυκλέους τἄνδοθεν καταλαμβάνων, καὶ ποιεῖ χορευτὴν κἂν ἄμουσος ᾖ τὸ πρίν.
Mixed, therefore, with the Nymphs, he has danced and still dances many and various dances among humans, possessing them from within more precisely than Eurycles did, and making one a dancer even if he was unmusical before.
ὁ δὲ σκιρτᾷ τε καὶ παίζει καὶ μελῳδεῖν ἐθέλει, καὶ ταῦτα μέντοι ἀπὸ κλίνης καὶ σκίμποδος.
And he leaps and plays and wishes to sing, and that too from his couch and pallet.
οὕτως πᾶν δρᾶν ὁ θεὸς πεφυκώς ἐστιν.
Thus the god is by nature suited to do everything.
ὁ δὲ θαυμαστὸς ἀνθρώπων τύραννος Ἔρως ἐκ Διονύσου πηγῶν ἀρυσάμενος γῆν ἅπασαν ἐπέρχεται προηγητῇ Διονύσῳ χρώμενος, οὐδʼ αὐτῷ θᾶκοι τούτου χωρὶς οὐδʼ ἔργα οὐδʼ εὐναί.
And that wonderful tyrant of humans, Eros, having drawn from the springs of Dionysus, goes over the whole earth using Dionysus as his leader, and without him there are neither seats, nor works, nor beds for him.
νυκτὸς τοίνυν καὶ ἡμέρας πέρατα ἐπισκοπεῖ, τὴν μὲν §31ἡμέραν αὐτὸς δᾳδοῦχός τε καὶ ἡγεμὼν τῆς ὄψεως γιγνόμενος, τὴν δὲ νύκτα ἑτέροις παριείς· ἀργῶν δʼ ὅμως οὐδʼ οὕτως, ἀεὶ δʼ ἐν φορᾷ καὶ κινήσει τὸν αἰῶνα διεξέρχεται.
He therefore oversees the boundaries of night and day, on the one hand making himself during the day the torch-bearer and leader of vision, and on the other hand yielding the night to others; yet even so he is not idle, but always passes his life in course and motion.
πρεσβύτατος δὲ ὢν θεῶν αὐτὸς καὶ νεώτατός ἐστι, τῆς δʼ ἀεὶ παρούσης ὥρας καὶ μοίρας φίλος.
Being himself both the oldest and the youngest of the gods, he is the friend of the always present season and portion.
καί μοι χαίρειν ἤδη τὸν Ἴακχόν τε καὶ τὰ πολλὰ δὴ ταῦτα κεκλημένον. πλήρης γὰρ ὡς τὰ νῦν ἡ φιλοτησία.
And let me now bid farewell to Iacchus and him who is called by these many names; for the cup of friendship is fully poured for the present.