οὐκ ἀγνοῶ μὲν ὅτι τοῖς τὰς παλαιὰς μυθολογίας συνταττομένοις συμβαίνει κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν ἐν πολλοῖς ἐλαττοῦσθαι. ἡ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀναγραφομένων ἀρχαιότης δυσεύρετος οὖσα πολλὴν ἀπορίαν παρέχεται τοῖς γράφουσιν, ἡ δὲ τῶν χρόνων ἀπαγγελία τὸν ἀκριβέστατον ἔλεγχον οὐ προσδεχομένη καταφρονεῖν ποιεῖ τῆς ἱστορίας τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἡ ποικιλία καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν γενεαλογουμένων ἡρώων τε καὶ ἡμιθέων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνδρῶν δυσέφικτον ἔχει τὴν ἀπαγγελίαν· τὸ δὲ μέγιστον καὶ πάντων ἀτοπώτατον, ὅτι συμβαίνει τοὺς ἀναγεγραφότας τὰς ἀρχαιοτάτας πράξεις τε καὶ μυθολογίας ἀσυμφώνους εἶναι πρὸς ἀλλήλους.
διόπερ τῶν μεταγενεστέρων ἱστοριογράφων οἱ πρωτεύοντες τῇ δόξῃ τῆς μὲν ἀρχαίας μυθολογίας ἀπέστησαν διὰ τὴν δυσχέρειαν, τὰς δὲ νεωτέρας πράξεις ἀναγράφειν ἐπεχείρησαν.
Ἔφορος μὲν γὰρ ὁ Κυμαῖος, Ἰσοκράτους ὢν μαθητής, ὑποστησάμενος γράφειν τὰς κοινὰς πράξεις, τὰς μὲν παλαιὰς μυθολογίας ὑπερέβη, τὰ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἡρακλειδῶν καθόδου πραχθέντα συνταξάμενος ταύτην ἀρχὴν ἐποιήσατο τῆς ἱστορίας. ὁμοίως δὲ τούτῳ Καλλισθένης καὶ Θεόπομπος, κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡλικίαν γεγονότες, ἀπέστησαν τῶν παλαιῶν μύθων.
I am not unaware of the fact that those who compile the narratives of ancient mythology labour under many disadvantages in their composition. For, in the first place, the antiquity of the events they have to record, since it makes record difficult, is a cause of much perplexity to those who would compose an account of them; and again, inasmuch as any pronouncement they may make of the dates of events does not admit of the strictest kind of proof or disproof, a feeling of contempt for the narration is aroused in the mind of those who read it; furthermore, the variety and the multitude of the heroes, demi-gods, and men in general whose genealogies must be set down make their recital a difficult thing to achieve; but the greatest and most disconcerting obstacle of all consists in the fact that those who have recorded the deeds and myths of the earliest times are in disagreement among themselves. For these reasons the writers of greatest reputation among the later historians have stood aloof from the narration of the ancient mythology because of its difficulty, and have undertaken to record only the more recent events. Ephorus of Cymê, for instance, a pupil of Isocrates, when he undertook to write his universal history, passed over the tales of the old mythology and commenced his history with a narration of the events which took place after the Return of the Heracleidae. Likewise Callisthenes and Theopompus, who were contemporaries of Ephorus, held aloof from the old myths.
ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν τούτοις κρίσιν ἔχοντες, καὶ τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀναγραφῆς πόνον ὑποστάντες, τὴν πᾶσαν ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιησάμεθα τῆς ἀρχαιολογίας. μέγισται γὰρ καὶ πλεῖσται συνετελέσθησαν πράξεις ὑπὸ τῶν ἡρώων τε καὶ ἡμιθέων καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν· ὧν διὰ τὰς κοινὰς εὐεργεσίας οἱ μεταγενέστεροι τοὺς μὲν ἰσοθέοις, τοὺς δʼ ἡρωικαῖς θυσίαις ἐτίμησαν, πάντας δʼ ὁ τῆς ἱστορίας λόγος τοῖς καθήκουσιν ἐπαίνοις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καθύμνησεν.
ἐν μὲν οὖν ταῖς πρὸ ταύτης βίβλοις τρισὶν ἀνεγράψαμεν τὰς παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσι μυθολογουμένας πράξεις καὶ τὰ περὶ θεῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἱστορούμενα, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὰς τοποθεσίας τῆς παρʼ ἑκάστοις χώρας καὶ τὰ φυόμενα παρʼ αὐτοῖς θηρία καὶ τἄλλα ζῷα καὶ καθόλου πάντα τὰ μνήμης |ἄξια καὶ παραδοξολογούμενα διεξιόντες, ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἱστορούμενα κατὰ τοὺς ἀρχαίους χρόνους περὶ τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων ἡρώων τε καὶ ἡμιθέων καὶ καθόλου τῶν κατὰ πόλεμον ἀξιόλογόν τι κατειργασμένων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐν εἰρήνῃ τι χρήσιμον πρὸς τὸν κοινὸν βίον εὑρόντων ἢ νομοθετησάντων.
ποιησόμεθα δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ Διονύσου διὰ τὸ καὶ παλαιὸν εἶναι σφόδρα τοῦτον καὶ μεγίστας εὐεργεσίας κατατεθεῖσθαι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. εἴρηται μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐν ταῖς προειρημέναις βίβλοις ὅτι τινὲς τῶν βαρβάρων ἀντιποιοῦνται τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου. Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν γὰρ τὸν παρʼ αὑτοῖς θεὸν Ὄσιριν ὀνομαζόμενόν φασιν εἶναι τὸν παρʼ Ἕλλησι Διόνυσον καλούμενον.
We, however, holding the opposite opinion to theirs, have shouldered the labour which such a record involves and have expended all the care within our power upon the ancient legends. For very great and most numerous deeds have been performed by the heroes and demi-gods and by many good men likewise, who, because of the benefits they conferred which have been shared by all men, have been honoured by succeeding generations with sacrifices which in some cases are like those offered to the gods, in other cases like such as are paid to heroes, and of one and all the appropriate praises have been sung by the voice of history for all time.
Now in the three preceding Books we have recorded the deeds of mythological times which are found among other nations and what their histories relate about the gods, also the topography of the land in every case and the wild beasts and other animals which are found among them, and, speaking generally, we have described everything which was worthy of mention and was marvellous to relate; and in the present Book we shall set forth what the Greeks in their histories of the ancient periods tell about their most renowned heroes and demi-gods and, in general, about all who have performed any notable exploit in war, and likewise about such also as in time of peace have made some useful discovery or enacted some good law contributing to man’s social life. And we shall begin with Dionysus because he not only belongs to a very ancient time but also conferred very great benefactions upon the race of men.
We have stated in the previous Books that certain barbarian peoples claim for themselves the birthplace of this god. The Egyptians, for example, say that the god who among them bears the name Osiris is the one whom the Greeks call Dionysus.
τοῦτον δὲ μυθολογοῦσιν ἐπελθεῖν ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην, εὑρετὴν γενόμενον τοῦ οἴνου, καὶ τὴν φυτείαν διδάξαι τῆς ἀμπέλου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ διὰ ταύτην τὴν εὐεργεσίαν τυχεῖν συμφωνουμένης ἀθανασίας. ὁμοίως δὲ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς τὸν θεὸν τοῦτον παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς ἀποφαίνεσθαι γεγονέναι, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν φυτείαν τῆς ἀμπέλου φιλοτεχνήσαντα μεταδοῦναι τῆς τοῦ οἴνου χρήσεως τοῖς |κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀνθρώποις. ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ κατὰ μέρος περὶ τούτων εἰρηκότες νῦν τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι λεγόμενα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου διέξιμεν.
And this god, as their myths relate, visited all the inhabited world, was the discoverer of wine, taught mankind how to cultivate the vine, and because of this benefaction of his received the gift of immortality with the approval of all. But the Indians likewise declare that this god was born among them, and that after he had ingeniously discovered how to cultivate the vine he shared the benefit which wine imparts with human beings throughout the inhabited world. But for our part, since we have spoken of these matters in detail, we shall at this point recount what the Greeks have to say about this god.
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