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Euripides
ΒΑΚΧΑΙ
ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ
Ἥκω Διὸς παῖς τήνδε Θηβαίαν χθόνα
Διόνυσος, ὃν τίκτει ποθ᾿ ἡ Κάδμου κόρη
Σεμέλη λοχευθεῖσ᾿ ἀστραπηφόρῳ πυρί·
μορφὴν δ᾿ ἀμείψας ἐκ θεοῦ βροτησίαν
5πάρειμι Δίρκης νάμαθ᾿ Ἱσμηνοῦ θ᾿ ὕδωρ.
ὁρῶ δὲ μητρὸς μνῆμα τῆς κεραυνίας
τόδ᾿ ἐγγὺς οἴκων καὶ δόμων ἐρείπια
τυφόμενα Δίου πυρὸς ἔτι ζῶσαν φλόγα,
ἀθάνατον Ἥρας μητέρ᾿ εἰς ἐμὴν ὕβριν.
10αἰνῶ δὲ Κάδμον, ἄβατον ὃς πέδον τόδε
τίθησι, θυγατρὸς σηκόν· ἀμπέλου δέ νιν
πέριξ ἐγὼ ᾿κάλυψα βοτρυώδει χλόῃ.
λιπὼν δὲ Λυδῶν τοὺς πολυχρύσους γύας
Φρυγῶν τε, Περσῶν ἡλιοβλήτους πλάκας
15Βάκτριά τε τείχη τήν τε δύσχιμον χθόνα
Μήδων ἐπελθὼν Ἀραβίαν τ᾿ εὐδαίμονα
Ἀσίαν τε πᾶσαν ἣ παρ᾿ ἁλμυρὰν ἅλα
κεῖται μιγάσιν Ἕλλησι βαρβάροις θ᾿ ὁμοῦ
πλήρεις ἔχουσα καλλιπυργώτους πόλεις,
20ἐς τήνδε πρῶτον ἦλθον Ἑλλήνων χθόνα,
τἀκεῖ χορεύσας καὶ καταστήσας ἐμὰς
τελετάς, ἵν᾿ εἴην ἐμφανὴς δαίμων βροτοῖς.
πρώτας δὲ Θήβας τάσδε γῆς Ἑλληνίδος
ἀνωλόλυξα, νεβρίδ᾿ ἐξάψας χροὸς
25θύρσον τε δοὺς ἐς χεῖρα, κίσσινον βέλος·
ἐπεί μ᾿ ἀδελφαὶ μητρός, ἃς ἥκιστ᾿ ἐχρῆν,
Διόνυσον οὐκ ἔφασκον ἐκφῦναι Διός,
Σεμέλην δὲ νυμφευθεῖσαν ἐκ θνητοῦ τινος
ἐς Ζῆν᾿ ἀναφέρειν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λέχους,
30Κάδμου σοφίσμαθ᾿, ὧν νιν οὕνεκα κτανεῖν
Ζῆν᾿ ἐξεκαυχῶνθ᾿, ὅτι γάμους ἐψεύσατο.
τοιγάρ νιν αὐτὸς ἐκ δόμων ᾤστρησ᾿ ἐγὼ
μανίαις, ὄρος δ᾿ οἰκοῦσι παράκοποι φρενῶν,
σκευήν τ᾿ ἔχειν ἠνάγκασ᾿ ὀργίων ἐμῶν.
35καὶ πᾶν τὸ θῆλυ σπέρμα Καδμείων, ὅσαι
γυναῖκες ἦσαν, ἐξέμηνα δωμάτων·
ὁμοῦ δὲ Κάδμου παισὶν ἀναμεμειγμέναι
χλωραῖς ὑπ᾿ ἐλάταις ἀνορόφους ἧνται πέτρας.
δεῖ γὰρ πόλιν τήνδ᾿ ἐκμαθεῖν, κεἰ μὴ θέλει,
40ἀτέλεστον 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,
45ὃς θεομαχεῖ τὰ κατ᾿ ἐμὲ καὶ σπονδῶν ἄπο
ὠθεῖ μ᾿ ἐν εὐχαῖς τ᾿ οὐδαμοῦ μνείαν ἔχει.
ὧν οὕνεκ᾿ αὐτῷ θεὸς γεγὼς ἐνδείξομαι
πᾶσίν τε Θηβαίοισιν. ἐς δ᾿ ἄλλην χθόνα,
τἀνθένδε θέμενος εὖ, μεταστήσω πόδα,
50δεικνὺς ἐμαυτόν· ἢν δὲ Θηβαίων πόλις
ὀργῇ σὺν ὅπλοις ἐξ ὄρους βάκχας ἄγειν
ζητῇ, ξυνάψω μαινάσι στρατηλατῶν.
ὧν οὕνεκ᾿ εἶδος θνητὸν ἀλλάξας ἔχω
μορφήν τ᾿ ἐμὴν μετέβαλον εἰς ἀνδρὸς φύσιν.
55ἀλλ᾿, ὦ λιποῦσαι Τμῶλον, ἔρυμα Λυδίας,
θίασος ἐμός, γυναῖκες ἃς ἐκ βαρβάρων
ἐκόμισα παρέδρους καὶ ξυνεμπόρους ἐμοί,
αἴρεσθε τἀπιχώρι᾿ ἐν Φρυγῶν πόλει
τύπανα, Ῥέας τε μητρὸς ἐμά θ᾿ εὑρήματα,
60βασίλειά τ᾿ ἀμφὶ δώματ᾿ ἐλθοῦσαι τάδε
κτυπεῖτε Πενθέως, ὡς ὁρᾷ Κάδμου πόλις.
ἐγὼ δὲ βάκχαις, ἐς Κιθαιρῶνος πτυχὰς
ἐλθὼν ἵν᾿ εἰσί, συμμετασχήσω χορῶν.
ΒΑΚΧΑΙ
ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ
Ἥκω Διὸς παῖς τήνδε Θηβαίαν χθόνα
Διόνυσος, ὃν τίκτει ποθ᾿ ἡ Κάδμου κόρη
Σεμέλη λοχευθεῖσ᾿ ἀστραπηφόρῳ πυρί·
μορφὴν δ᾿ ἀμείψας ἐκ θεοῦ βροτησίαν
5πάρειμι Δίρκης νάμαθ᾿ Ἱσμηνοῦ θ᾿ ὕδωρ.
ὁρῶ δὲ μητρὸς μνῆμα τῆς κεραυνίας
τόδ᾿ ἐγγὺς οἴκων καὶ δόμων ἐρείπια
τυφόμενα Δίου πυρὸς ἔτι ζῶσαν φλόγα,
ἀθάνατον Ἥρας μητέρ᾿ εἰς ἐμὴν ὕβριν.
10αἰνῶ δὲ Κάδμον, ἄβατον ὃς πέδον τόδε
τίθησι, θυγατρὸς σηκόν· ἀμπέλου δέ νιν
πέριξ ἐγὼ ᾿κάλυψα βοτρυώδει χλόῃ.
λιπὼν δὲ Λυδῶν τοὺς πολυχρύσους γύας
Φρυγῶν τε, Περσῶν ἡλιοβλήτους πλάκας
15Βάκτριά τε τείχη τήν τε δύσχιμον χθόνα
Μήδων ἐπελθὼν Ἀραβίαν τ᾿ εὐδαίμονα
Ἀσίαν τε πᾶσαν ἣ παρ᾿ ἁλμυρὰν ἅλα
κεῖται μιγάσιν Ἕλλησι βαρβάροις θ᾿ ὁμοῦ
πλήρεις ἔχουσα καλλιπυργώτους πόλεις,
20ἐς τήνδε πρῶτον ἦλθον Ἑλλήνων χθόνα,
τἀκεῖ χορεύσας καὶ καταστήσας ἐμὰς
τελετάς, ἵν᾿ εἴην ἐμφανὴς δαίμων βροτοῖς.
πρώτας δὲ Θήβας τάσδε γῆς Ἑλληνίδος
ἀνωλόλυξα, νεβρίδ᾿ ἐξάψας χροὸς
25θύρσον τε δοὺς ἐς χεῖρα, κίσσινον βέλος·
ἐπεί μ᾿ ἀδελφαὶ μητρός, ἃς ἥκιστ᾿ ἐχρῆν,
Διόνυσον οὐκ ἔφασκον ἐκφῦναι Διός,
Σεμέλην δὲ νυμφευθεῖσαν ἐκ θνητοῦ τινος
ἐς Ζῆν᾿ ἀναφέρειν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λέχους,
30Κάδμου σοφίσμαθ᾿, ὧν νιν οὕνεκα κτανεῖν
Ζῆν᾿ ἐξεκαυχῶνθ᾿, ὅτι γάμους ἐψεύσατο.
τοιγάρ νιν αὐτὸς ἐκ δόμων ᾤστρησ᾿ ἐγὼ
μανίαις, ὄρος δ᾿ οἰκοῦσι παράκοποι φρενῶν,
σκευήν τ᾿ ἔχειν ἠνάγκασ᾿ ὀργίων ἐμῶν.
35καὶ πᾶν τὸ θῆλυ σπέρμα Καδμείων, ὅσαι
γυναῖκες ἦσαν, ἐξέμηνα δωμάτων·
ὁμοῦ δὲ Κάδμου παισὶν ἀναμεμειγμέναι
χλωραῖς ὑπ᾿ ἐλάταις ἀνορόφους ἧνται πέτρας.
δεῖ γὰρ πόλιν τήνδ᾿ ἐκμαθεῖν, κεἰ μὴ θέλει,
40ἀτέλεστον 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,
45ὃς θεομαχεῖ τὰ κατ᾿ ἐμὲ καὶ σπονδῶν ἄπο
ὠθεῖ μ᾿ ἐν εὐχαῖς τ᾿ οὐδαμοῦ μνείαν ἔχει.
ὧν οὕνεκ᾿ αὐτῷ θεὸς γεγὼς ἐνδείξομαι
πᾶσίν τε Θηβαίοισιν. ἐς δ᾿ ἄλλην χθόνα,
τἀνθένδε θέμενος εὖ, μεταστήσω πόδα,
50δεικνὺς ἐμαυτόν· ἢν δὲ Θηβαίων πόλις
ὀργῇ σὺν ὅπλοις ἐξ ὄρους βάκχας ἄγειν
ζητῇ, ξυνάψω μαινάσι στρατηλατῶν.
ὧν οὕνεκ᾿ εἶδος θνητὸν ἀλλάξας ἔχω
μορφήν τ᾿ ἐμὴν μετέβαλον εἰς ἀνδρὸς φύσιν.
55ἀλλ᾿, ὦ λιποῦσαι Τμῶλον, ἔρυμα Λυδίας,
θίασος ἐμός, γυναῖκες ἃς ἐκ βαρβάρων
ἐκόμισα παρέδρους καὶ ξυνεμπόρους ἐμοί,
αἴρεσθε τἀπιχώρι᾿ ἐν Φρυγῶν πόλει
τύπανα, Ῥέας τε μητρὸς ἐμά θ᾿ εὑρήματα,
60βασίλειά τ᾿ ἀμφὶ δώματ᾿ ἐλθοῦσαι τάδε
κτυπεῖτε Πενθέως, ὡς ὁρᾷ Κάδμου πόλις.
ἐγὼ δὲ βάκχαις, ἐς Κιθαιρῶνος πτυχὰς
ἐλθὼν ἵν᾿ εἰσί, συμμετασχήσω χορῶν.
Dionysus
I, the son of Zeus, have come to this land of the Thebans—Dionysus, whom once Semele, Kadmos' daughter, bore, delivered by a lightning-bearing flame. And having taken a mortal form instead of a god's, [5] I am here at the fountains of Dirke and the water of Ismenus. And I see the tomb of my thunder-stricken mother here near the palace, and the remnants of her house, smouldering with the still living flame of Zeus' fire, the everlasting insult of Hera against my mother. [10] I praise Kadmos, who has made this place hallowed, the shrine of his daughter; and I have covered it all around with the cluster-bearing leaf of the vine.
I have left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, the sun-parched plains of the Persians, [15] and the Bactrian walls, and have passed over the wintry land of the Medes, and blessed Arabia, and all of Asia which lies along the coast of the salt sea with its beautifully-towered cities full of Hellenes and barbarians mingled together; [20] and I have come to this Hellene city first, having already set those other lands to dance and established my mysteries there, so that I might be a deity manifest among men. In this land of Hellas, I have first excited Thebes to my cry, fitting a fawn-skin to my body and [25] taking a thyrsos in my hand, a weapon of ivy. For my mother's sisters, the ones who least should, claimed that I, Dionysus, was not the child of Zeus, but that Semele had conceived a child from a mortal father and then ascribed the sin of her bed to Zeus, [30] a trick of Kadmos', for which they boasted that Zeus killed her, because she had told a false tale about her marriage. Therefore I have goaded them from the house in frenzy, and they dwell in the mountains, out of their wits; and I have compelled them to wear the outfit of my mysteries. [35] And all the female offspring of Thebes, as many as are women, I have driven maddened from the house, and they, mingled with the daughters of Kadmos, sit on roofless rocks beneath green pines. For this city must learn, even if it is unwilling, [40] that it is not initiated into my Bacchic rites, and that I plead the case of my mother, Semele, in appearing manifest to mortals as a divinity whom she bore to Zeus. Now Kadmos has given his honor and power to Pentheus, his daughter's son, [45] who fights against the gods as far as I am concerned and drives me away from sacrifices, and in his prayers makes no mention of me, for which I will show him and all the Thebans that I was born a god. And when I have set matters here right, I will move on to another land, [50] revealing myself. But if ever the city of Thebesshould in anger seek to drive the the Bacchae down from the mountains with arms, I, the general of the Maenads, will join battle with them. On which account I have changed my form to a mortal one and altered my shape into the nature of a man. [55] But, you women who have left Tmolus, the bulwark of Lydia, my sacred band, whom I have brought from among the barbarians as assistants and companions to me, take your drums, native instruments of the city of the Phrygians, the invention of mother Rhea and myself, [60] and going about this palace of Pentheus beat them, so that Kadmos' city may see. I myself will go to the folds of Kithairon, where the Bacchae are, to share in their dances.
I, the son of Zeus, have come to this land of the Thebans—Dionysus, whom once Semele, Kadmos' daughter, bore, delivered by a lightning-bearing flame. And having taken a mortal form instead of a god's, [5] I am here at the fountains of Dirke and the water of Ismenus. And I see the tomb of my thunder-stricken mother here near the palace, and the remnants of her house, smouldering with the still living flame of Zeus' fire, the everlasting insult of Hera against my mother. [10] I praise Kadmos, who has made this place hallowed, the shrine of his daughter; and I have covered it all around with the cluster-bearing leaf of the vine.
I have left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, the sun-parched plains of the Persians, [15] and the Bactrian walls, and have passed over the wintry land of the Medes, and blessed Arabia, and all of Asia which lies along the coast of the salt sea with its beautifully-towered cities full of Hellenes and barbarians mingled together; [20] and I have come to this Hellene city first, having already set those other lands to dance and established my mysteries there, so that I might be a deity manifest among men. In this land of Hellas, I have first excited Thebes to my cry, fitting a fawn-skin to my body and [25] taking a thyrsos in my hand, a weapon of ivy. For my mother's sisters, the ones who least should, claimed that I, Dionysus, was not the child of Zeus, but that Semele had conceived a child from a mortal father and then ascribed the sin of her bed to Zeus, [30] a trick of Kadmos', for which they boasted that Zeus killed her, because she had told a false tale about her marriage. Therefore I have goaded them from the house in frenzy, and they dwell in the mountains, out of their wits; and I have compelled them to wear the outfit of my mysteries. [35] And all the female offspring of Thebes, as many as are women, I have driven maddened from the house, and they, mingled with the daughters of Kadmos, sit on roofless rocks beneath green pines. For this city must learn, even if it is unwilling, [40] that it is not initiated into my Bacchic rites, and that I plead the case of my mother, Semele, in appearing manifest to mortals as a divinity whom she bore to Zeus. Now Kadmos has given his honor and power to Pentheus, his daughter's son, [45] who fights against the gods as far as I am concerned and drives me away from sacrifices, and in his prayers makes no mention of me, for which I will show him and all the Thebans that I was born a god. And when I have set matters here right, I will move on to another land, [50] revealing myself. But if ever the city of Thebesshould in anger seek to drive the the Bacchae down from the mountains with arms, I, the general of the Maenads, will join battle with them. On which account I have changed my form to a mortal one and altered my shape into the nature of a man. [55] But, you women who have left Tmolus, the bulwark of Lydia, my sacred band, whom I have brought from among the barbarians as assistants and companions to me, take your drums, native instruments of the city of the Phrygians, the invention of mother Rhea and myself, [60] and going about this palace of Pentheus beat them, so that Kadmos' city may see. I myself will go to the folds of Kithairon, where the Bacchae are, to share in their dances.
ἄβατος untrodden,
ἀδελφή sister
ἀθάνατος undying, immortal
ἀλλάσσω make other than it is, change, alter
ἁμαρτίαa failure, fault,
ἀναμίσγω be mixed with,
ἀναφέρω bring, carry up,
ἀνήρ man
ἀπολογέομαι speak in defence, defend oneself,
ἀστραπηφόρος flashing,
αὐτός self
Βακχάω to be in Bacchic frenzy, to rave,
Βάκχευμα Bacchic revelries,
βοτρυώδης like a bunch of grapes
γάμος wedding
γάρ for
γίγνομαι come into a new state of being
γυνή woman,
δαίμων god, goddess,
δύσχιμος troublesome, dangerous, fearful
ἐγγύς near, nigh, at hand
εἰμί to be
εἰς into
ἐκ from out of,
ἐκκαυχάομαι to boast loudly
ἐκφύω generate
ἐμός mine
ἐνδείκνυμι mark, point out
ἔρχομαι I come
εὐχή prayer
ζητέω seek, seek for
ἥκιστος least
θεομαχέω fight against God
θεός God, the Deity
θνητός liable to death, mortal
θυγάτηρ daughter
κίσσινος of ivy
κομίζω take care of, provide for
κτείνω kill, slay
κτυπέω crash
μεθίστημι place in another way, change
μιγάς mixed pell-mell
νᾶμα anything flowing, running water, stream, spring
νεβρίς fawnskin,
νιν him, her
οἰκέω inhabit,
οἰστράω sting.
ὁράω see
οὕνεκα on account of which, wherefore
πάρεδρος sitting beside
πόλις city,
πολύχρυσος rich in gold,
πῦρ fire
συμμετέχω partake of with, take part in with
τίθημι place, put
τίκτω bring into the world, engender
τύφω raise a smoke,
φαίνω show
χθών earth,
ὠθέω thrust, push,
This link provides an original way giving background information about the play.