Bacchae 23-33 Johnston
Ezekiel Aurelius /
- Created on 2021-03-04 18:09:54
- Modified on 2021-03-04 18:13:16
- Translated by Ian Johnston
- Aligned by Ezekiel Aurelius
English
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
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 .
πρώτας
δὲ
Θήβας
τῆσδε
γῆς
Ἑλληνίδος
ἀνωλόλυξα νεβρίδ᾽ ἐξάψας χροὸς
θύρσον τε δοὺς ἐς χεῖρα , κίσσινον βέλος
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
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
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
Ζῆν᾽ ἐξεκαυχῶνθ᾽ ὅτι γάμους ἐψεύσατο .
τοιγάρ νιν αὐτὰς ἐκ δόμων ᾤστρησ᾽ ἐγὼ
μανίαις , ὄρος δ᾽ οἰκοῦσι παράκοποι φρενῶν