περὶ δὲ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὸ Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος κειμένων νῦν διέξιμεν, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Σαμοθρᾴκης ποιησάμενοι. ταύτην γὰρ τὴν νῆσον ἔνιοι μέν φασι τὸ παλαιὸν Σάμον ὀνομασθῆναι, τῆς δὲ νῦν Σάμου κτισθείσης διὰ τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν ἀπὸ τῆς παρακειμένης τῇ παλαιᾷ Σάμῳ Θρᾴκης Σαμοθρᾴκην ὀνομασθῆναι.
ᾤκησαν δʼ αὐτὴν αὐτόχθονες ἄνθρωποι· διὸ καὶ περὶ τῶν πρώτων γενομένων παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἡγεμόνων οὐδεὶς παραδέδοται λόγος. ἔνιοι δέ φασι τὸ παλαιὸν Σαόννησον καλουμένην διὰ τοὺς ἀποικισθέντας ἔκ τε Σάμου καὶ Θρᾴκης Σαμοθρᾴκην ὀνομασθῆναι.
ἐσχήκασι δὲ παλαιὰν ἰδίαν διάλεκτον οἱ αὐτόχθονες, ἧς πολλὰ ἐν ταῖς θυσίαις μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τηρεῖται. οἱ δὲ Σαμόθρᾳκες ἱστοροῦσι πρὸ τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις γενομένων κατακλυσμῶν ἕτερον ἐκεῖ μέγαν γενέσθαι, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τοῦ περὶ τὰς Κυανέας στόματος ῥαγέντος, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου.
τὸ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ πέλαγος λίμνης ἔχον τάξιν μέχρι τοσούτου πεπληρῶσθαι διὰ τῶν εἰσρεόντων ποταμῶν, μέχρι ὅτου διὰ τὸ πλῆθος παρεκχυθὲν τὸ ῥεῦμα λάβρως ἐξέπεσεν εἰς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον καὶ πολλὴν μὲν τῆς Ἀσίας τῆς παρὰ θάλατταν ἐπέκλυσεν, οὐκ ὀλίγην δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐπιπέδου γῆς ἐν τῇ Σαμοθρᾴκῃ θάλατταν ἐποίησε· καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐν τοῖς μεταγενεστέροις καιροῖς ἐνίους τῶν ἁλιέων ἀνεσπακέναι τοῖς δικτύοις λίθινα κιονόκρανα,
We shall now give an account of the islands which lie in the neighbourhood of Greece and in the Aegean Sea, beginning with Samothrace. This island, according to some, was called Samos in ancient times, but when the island now known as Samos came to be settled, because the names were the same, the ancient Samos came to be called Samothrace from the land of Thrace which lies opposite it. It was settled by men who were sprung from the soil itself; consequently no tradition has been handed down regarding who were the first men and leaders on the island. But some say that in ancient days it was called Saonnesus and that it received the name of Samothrace because of the settlers who emigrated to it from both Samos and Thrace. The first and original inhabitants used an ancient language which was peculiar to them and of which many words are preserved to this day in the ritual of their sacrifices. And the Samothracians have a story that, before the floods which befell their peoples, a great one took place among them, in the course of which the outlet at the Cyanean Rocks was first rent asunder and then the Hellespont. For the Pontus, which had at the time the form of a lake, was so swollen by the rivers which flow into it, that, because of the great flood which had poured into it, its waters burst forth violently into the Hellespont and flooded a large part of the coast of Asia and made no small amount of the level part of the land of Samothrace into a sea; and this is the reason, we are told, why in later times fishermen have now and then brought up in their nets the stone capitals of columns, since even cities were covered by the inundation.
ὡς καὶ πόλεων κατακεκλυσμένων. τοὺς δὲ περιληφθέντας προσαναδραμεῖν εἰς τοὺς ὑψηλοτέρους τῆς νήσου τόπους· τῆς δὲ θαλάττης ἀναβαινούσης ἀεὶ μᾶλλον, εὔξασθαι τοῖς θεοῖς τοὺς ἐγχωρίους, καὶ διασωθέντας κύκλῳ περὶ ὅλην τὴν νῆσον ὅρους θέσθαι τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ βωμοὺς ἱδρύσασθαι, ἐφʼ ὧν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν θύειν· ὥστʼ εἶναι φανερὸν ὅτι πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ κατῴκουν τὴν Σαμοθρᾴκην.
The inhabitants who had been caught by the flood, the account continues, ran up to the higher regions of the island; and when the sea kept rising higher and higher, they prayed to the native gods, and since their lives were spared, to commemorate their rescue they set up boundary stones about the entire circuit of the island and dedicated altars upon which they offer sacrifices even to the present day. For these reasons it is patent that they inhabited Samothrace before the flood.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν κατὰ τὴν νῆσον Σάωνα, γενόμενον, ὡς μέν τινές φασιν, ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Νύμφης, ὡς δέ τινες, ἐξ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ Ῥήνης, συναγαγεῖν τοὺς λαοὺς σποράδην οἰκοῦντας, καὶ νόμους θέμενον αὐτὸν μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου Σάωνα κληθῆναι, τὸ δὲ πλῆθος εἰς πέντε φυλὰς διανείμαντα τῶν ἰδίων υἱῶν ἐπωνύμους αὐτὰς ποιῆσαι.
οὕτω δʼ αὐτῶν πολιτευομένων λέγουσι παρʼ αὐτοῖς τοὺς ἐκ Διὸς καὶ μιᾶς τῶν Ἀτλαντίδων Ἠλέκτρας γενέσθαι Δάρδανόν τε καὶ Ἰασίωνα καὶ Ἁρμονίαν.
ὧν τὸν μὲν Δάρδανον μεγαλεπίβολον γενόμενον, καὶ πρῶτον εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐπὶ σχεδίας διαπεραιωθέντα, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον κτίσαι Δάρδανον πόλιν καὶ τὸ βασίλειον τὸ περὶ τὴν ὕστερον κληθεῖσαν Τροίαν συστήσασθαι καὶ τοὺς λαοὺς ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ Δαρδάνους ὀνομάσαι. ἐπάρξαι δʼ αὐτόν φασι καὶ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ Θρᾴκης Δαρδάνους κατοικίσαι.
τὸν δὲ Δία βουληθέντα καὶ τὸν ἕτερον τῶν υἱῶν τιμῆς τυχεῖν, παραδεῖξαι αὐτῷ τὴν τῶν μυστηρίων τελετήν, πάλαι μὲν οὖσαν ἐν τῷ νήσῳ, τότε δέ πως παραδοθεῖσαν, ὧν οὐ θέμις ἀκοῦσαι πλὴν τῶν μεμυημένων. δοκεῖ δʼ οὗτος πρῶτος ξένους μυῆσαι καὶ τὴν τελετὴν διὰ τοῦτο ἔνδοξον ποιῆσαι.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Κάδμον τὸν Ἀγήνορος κατὰ ζήτησιν τῆς Εὐρώπης ἀφικέσθαι πρὸς αὐτούς, καὶ τῆς τελετῆς μετασχόντα γῆμαι τὴν ἀδελφὴν τοῦ Ἰασίωνος Ἁρμονίαν, οὐ καθάπερ Ἕλληνες μυθολογοῦσι, τὴν Ἄρεος.
After the events we have described one of the inhabitants of the island, a certain Saon, who was a son, as some say, of Zeus and Nymphê, but, according to others, of Hermes and Rhenê, gathered into one body the peoples who were dwelling in scattered habitations and established laws for them; and he was given the name Saon after the island, but the multitude of the people he distributed among five tribes which he named after his sons. And while the Samothracians were living under a government of this kind, they say that there were born in that land to Zeus and Electra, who was one of the Atlantids, Dardanus and Iasion and Harmonia. Of these children Dardanus, who was a man who entertained great designs and was the first to make his way across to Asia in a make-shift boat, founded at the outset a city called Dardanus, organized the kingdom which lay about the city which was called Troy at a later time, and called the peoples Dardanians after himself. They say also that he ruled over many nations throughout Asia and that the Dardani who dwell beyond Thrace were colonists sent forth by him. But Zeus desired that the other of his two sons might also attain to honour, and so he instructed him in the initiatory rite of the mysteries, which had existed on the island since ancient times but was at that time, so to speak, put in his hands; it is not lawful, however, for any but the initiated to hear about the mysteries. And Iasion is reputed to have been the first to initiate strangers into them and by this means to bring the initiatory rite to high esteem. And after this Cadmus, the son of Agenor, came in the course of his quest for Europê to the Samothracians, and after participating in the initiation he married Harmonia, who was the sister of Iasion and not, as the Greeks recount in their mythologies, the daughter of Ares.
τὸν δὲ γάμον τοῦτον πρῶτον δαῖσαι θεούς, καὶ Δήμητραν μὲν Ἰασίωνος ἐρασθεῖσαν τὸν καρπὸν τοῦ σίτου δωρήσασθαι, Ἑρμῆν δὲ λύραν, Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ τὸν διαβεβοημένον ὅρμον καὶ πέπλον καὶ αὐλούς, Ἠλέκτραν δὲ τὰ τῆς μεγάλης καλουμένης μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἱερὰ μετὰ κυμβάλων καὶ τυμπάνων καὶ τῶν ὀργιαζόντων· καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα μὲν κιθαρίσαι, τὰς δὲ Μούσας αὐλῆσαι, τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους θεοὺς εὐφημοῦντας συναυξῆσαι τὸν γάμον.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὸν μὲν Κάδμον κατὰ τὸν παραδεδομένον χρησμὸν κτίσαι Θήβας τὰς ἐν Βοιωτίᾳ φασί, τὸν δʼ Ἰασίωνα γήμαντα Κυβέλην γεννῆσαι Κορύβαντα. Ἰασίωνος δὲ εἰς θεοὺς μεταστάντος, Δάρδανον καὶ Κυβέλην καὶ Κορύβαντα μετακομίσαι εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν τὰ τῆς μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἱερὰ καὶ συναπᾶραι εἰς Φρυγίαν.
καὶ τὴν μὲν Κυβέλην Ὀλύμπῳ τῷ πρώτῳ συνοικήσασαν γεννῆσαι Ἀλκήν, καὶ τὴν θεὰν Κυβέλην ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς ὀνομάσαι· τὸν δὲ Κορύβαντα τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς τῆς μητρὸς ἱεροῖς ἐνθουσιάσαντας ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ Κορύβαντας προσαγορεῦσαι,
γῆμαι δὲ Θήβην τὴν Κίλικος θυγατέρα. ὁμοίως δὲ τοὺς αὐλοὺς εἰς Φρυγίαν ἐντεῦθεν μετενεχθῆναι, καὶ τὴν λύραν τὴν Ἑρμοῦ εἰς Λυρνησσόν, ἣν Ἀχιλλέα ὕστερον ἐκπορθήσαντα λαβεῖν. ἐξ Ἰασίωνος δὲ καὶ Δήμητρος Πλοῦτον γενέσθαι φασὶν οἱ μῦθοι, τὸ δʼ ἀληθές, τὸν τοῦ σίτου πλοῦτον, δωρηθέντα ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἁρμονίας γάμῳ διὰ τὴν συνουσίαν τοῦ Ἰασίωνος.
This wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia was the first, we are told, for which the gods provided the marriage-feast, and Demeter, becoming enamoured of Iasion, presented him with the fruit of the corn, Hermes gave a lyre, Athena the renowned necklace and a robe and a flute, and Electra the sacred rites of the Great Mother of the Gods, as she is called, together with cymbals and kettledrums and the instruments of her ritual; and Apollo played upon the lyre and the Muses upon their flutes, and the rest of the gods spoke them fair and gave the pair their aid in the celebration of the wedding. After this Cadmus, they say, in accordance with the oracle he had received, founded Thebes in Boeotia, while Iasion married Cybelê and begat Corybas. And after Iasion had been removed into the circle of the gods, Dardanus and Cybelê and Corybas conveyed to Asia the sacred rites of the Mother of the Gods and removed with them to Phrygia. Thereupon Cybelê, joining herself to the first Olympus, begat Alcê and called the goddess Cybelê after herself; and Corybas gave the name of Corybantes to all who, in celebrating the rites of his mother, acted like men possessed, and married Thebê, the daughter of Cilix. In like manner he also transferred the flute from Samothrace to Phrygia and to Lyrnessus the lyre which Hermes gave and which at a later time Achilles took for himself when he sacked that city. To Iasion and Demeter, according to the story the myths relate, was born Plutus or Wealth, but the reference is, as a matter of fact, to the wealth of the corn, which was presented to Iasion because of Demeter’s association with him at the time of the wedding of Harmonia.
καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ μέρος τῆς τελετῆς ἐν ἀπορρήτοις τηρούμενα μόνοις παραδίδοται τοῖς μυηθεῖσι· διαβεβόηται δʼ ἡ τούτων τῶν θεῶν ἐπιφάνεια καὶ παράδοξος ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις βοήθεια τοῖς ἐπικαλεσαμένοις τῶν μυηθέντων.
γίνεσθαι δέ φασι καὶ εὐσεβεστέρους καὶ δικαιοτέρους καὶ κατὰ πᾶν βελτίονας ἑαυτῶν τοὺς τῶν μυστηρίων κοινωνήσαντας. διὸ καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἡρώων τε καὶ ἡμιθέων τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους πεφιλοτιμῆσθαι μεταλαβεῖν τῆς τελετῆς· καὶ γὰρ Ἰάσονα καὶ Διοσκόρους, ἔτι δʼ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Ὀρφέα, μυηθέντας ἐπιτυχεῖν ἐν ἁπάσαις ταῖς στρατείαις διὰ τῆν τῶν θεῶν τούτων ἐπιφάνειαν.
Now the details of the initiatory rite are guarded among the matters not to be divulged and are communicated to the initiates alone; but the fame has travelled wide of how these gods appear to mankind and bring unexpected aid to those initiates of theirs who call upon them in the midst of perils. The claim is also made that men who have taken part in the mysteries become both more pious and more just and better in every respect than they were before. And this is the reason, we are told, why the most famous both of the ancient heroes and of the demi-gods were eagerly desirous of taking part in the initiatory rite; and in fact Jason and the Dioscori, and Heracles and Orpheus as well, after their initiation attained success in all the campaigns they undertook, because these gods appeared to them.
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