Bacchae 3
Shawn Geison /
- Created on 2021-03-09 03:20:26
- Modified on 2021-03-09 20:21:42
- Aligned by Shawn Geison
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
πρώτας δὲ Θήβας τῆσδε γῆς Ἑλληνίδος
ἀνωλόλυξα , νεβρίδ᾽ ἐξάψας χροὸς
θύρσον τε δοὺς ἐς χεῖρα , κίσσινον βέλος : 25
ἐπεί μ᾽ ἀδελφαὶ μητρός , ἃς ἥκιστα χρῆν ,
Διόνυσον οὐκ ἔφασκον ἐκφῦναι Διός ,
Σεμέλην δὲ νυμφευθεῖσαν ἐκ θνητοῦ τινος
ἐς Ζῆν᾽ ἀναφέρειν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λέχους ,
Κάδμου σοφίσμαθ᾽ , ὧν νιν οὕνεκα κτανεῖν 30
Ζῆν᾽ ἐξεκαυχῶνθ᾽ , ὅτι γάμους ἐψεύσατο .
τοιγάρ νιν αὐτὰς ἐκ δόμων ᾤστρησ᾽ ἐγὼ
μανίαις , ὄρος δ᾽ οἰκοῦσι παράκοποι φρενῶν :
ἀνωλόλυξα , νεβρίδ᾽ ἐξάψας χροὸς
θύρσον τε δοὺς ἐς χεῖρα , κίσσινον βέλος : 25
ἐπεί μ᾽ ἀδελφαὶ μητρός , ἃς ἥκιστα χρῆν ,
Διόνυσον οὐκ ἔφασκον ἐκφῦναι Διός ,
Σεμέλην δὲ νυμφευθεῖσαν ἐκ θνητοῦ τινος
ἐς Ζῆν᾽ ἀναφέρειν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λέχους ,
Κάδμου σοφίσμαθ᾽ , ὧν νιν οὕνεκα κτανεῖν 30
Ζῆν᾽ ἐξεκαυχῶνθ᾽ , ὅτι γάμους ἐψεύσατο .
τοιγάρ νιν αὐτὰς ἐκ δόμων ᾤστρησ᾽ ἐγὼ
μανίαις , ὄρος δ᾽ οἰκοῦσι παράκοποι φρενῶν :
Thebes
is
the
first
city
of
the
Greeks
where I’ve roused people to shout out my cries ,
with this deerskin draped around my body ,
this ivy spear , a thyrsus , in my hand .
For my mother’s sisters have acted badly ,
something they , of all people , should avoid .
They boasted aloud that I , Dionysus ,
was no child of Zeus , claiming Semele ,
once she was pregnant by some mortal man ,
attributed her bad luck in bed to Zeus ,
a story made up ( they said ) to trick Cadmus .
Those sisters state that is why Zeus killed her ,
because she lied about the man she’d slept with .
So I’ve driven those women from their homes
in a frenzy — they now live in the mountains ,
out of their minds .
where I’ve roused people to shout out my cries ,
with this deerskin draped around my body ,
this ivy spear , a thyrsus , in my hand .
For my mother’s sisters have acted badly ,
something they , of all people , should avoid .
They boasted aloud that I , Dionysus ,
was no child of Zeus , claiming Semele ,
once she was pregnant by some mortal man ,
attributed her bad luck in bed to Zeus ,
a story made up ( they said ) to trick Cadmus .
Those sisters state that is why Zeus killed her ,
because she lied about the man she’d slept with .
So I’ve driven those women from their homes
in a frenzy — they now live in the mountains ,
out of their minds .