Bacchae 34-46 Arrowsmith
Ezekiel Aurelius /
- Created on 2021-03-12 18:52:51
- Modified on 2021-03-12 20:11:00
- Translated by Arrowsmith
- Aligned by Ezekiel Aurelius
English
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
Because of that offense
I have stung them with frenzy , hounded them from home
up to the mountains where they wander , crazed of mind
and compelled to wear my orgies ' livery .
Every woman in Thebes but the women only ;
I drove from home , mad . There they sit
rich and poor alike even the daughters of Cadmus ,
beneath the silver firs on the roofless rocks .
Like it or not this city must learn its lesson :
it lacks initiation in my mysteries ;
that I shall vindicate my mother Semele
and stand revealed to mortal eyes as the god
she bore to Zeus .
Cadmus the king has abdicated ,
leaving his throne and power to his grandson Pentheus ;
who now revolts against divinity , in me ;
thrusts me from his offerings ; forgets my name
in his prayers :
I have stung them with frenzy , hounded them from home
up to the mountains where they wander , crazed of mind
and compelled to wear my orgies ' livery .
Every woman in Thebes but the women only ;
I drove from home , mad . There they sit
rich and poor alike even the daughters of Cadmus ,
beneath the silver firs on the roofless rocks .
Like it or not this city must learn its lesson :
it lacks initiation in my mysteries ;
that I shall vindicate my mother Semele
and stand revealed to mortal eyes as the god
she bore to Zeus .
Cadmus the king has abdicated ,
leaving his throne and power to his grandson Pentheus ;
who now revolts against divinity , in me ;
thrusts me from his offerings ; forgets my name
in his prayers :
σκευήν
τ᾽
ἔχειν
ἠνάγκασ᾽
ὀργίων
ἐμῶν
,
καὶ πᾶν τὸ θῆλυ σπέρμα Καδμείων ὅσαι
γυναῖκες ἦσαν , ἐξέμηνα δωμάτων :
ὁμοῦ δὲ Κάδμου παισὶν ἀναμεμειγμέναι
χλωραῖς ὑπ᾽ ἐλάταις ἀνορόφοις ἧνται πέτραις
δεῖ γὰρ πόλιν τήνδ᾽ ἐκμαθεῖν , κεἰ μὴ θέλει
ἀτέλεστον οὖσαν τῶν ἐμῶν βακχευμάτων
Σεμέλης τε μητρὸς ἀπολογήσασθαί μ᾽ ὕπερ
φανέντα θνητοῖς δαίμον᾽ ὃν τίκτει Διί
Κάδμος μὲν οὖν γέρας τε καὶ τυραννίδα
Πενθεῖ δίδωσι θυγατρὸς ἐκπεφυκότι ,
ὃς θεομαχεῖ τὰ κατ᾽ ἐμὲ καὶ σπονδῶν ἄπο
ὠθεῖ μ᾽ ἐν εὐχαῖς τ᾽ οὐδαμοῦ μνείαν ἔχει
καὶ πᾶν τὸ θῆλυ σπέρμα Καδμείων ὅσαι
γυναῖκες ἦσαν , ἐξέμηνα δωμάτων :
ὁμοῦ δὲ Κάδμου παισὶν ἀναμεμειγμέναι
χλωραῖς ὑπ᾽ ἐλάταις ἀνορόφοις ἧνται πέτραις
δεῖ γὰρ πόλιν τήνδ᾽ ἐκμαθεῖν , κεἰ μὴ θέλει
ἀτέλεστον οὖσαν τῶν ἐμῶν βακχευμάτων
Σεμέλης τε μητρὸς ἀπολογήσασθαί μ᾽ ὕπερ
φανέντα θνητοῖς δαίμον᾽ ὃν τίκτει Διί
Κάδμος μὲν οὖν γέρας τε καὶ τυραννίδα
Πενθεῖ δίδωσι θυγατρὸς ἐκπεφυκότι ,
ὃς θεομαχεῖ τὰ κατ᾽ ἐμὲ καὶ σπονδῶν ἄπο
ὠθεῖ μ᾽ ἐν εὐχαῖς τ᾽ οὐδαμοῦ μνείαν ἔχει