(1) ψευδὴς καὶ ὁ περὶ τοῦ Ὀρφέως μῦθος, ὅτι κιθαρίζοντι αὐτῷ ἐφείπετο τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ ὄρνεα καὶ δένδρα. (2) δοκεῖ δέ μοι ταῦτα εἶναι. (3) Βάκχαι μανεῖσαι πρόβατα διέσπασαν ἐν τῇ Πιερίᾳ, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα βιαίως εἰργάζοντο τρεπόμεναί τε εἰς τὸ ὄρος διέτριβον ἐκεῖ τὰς ἡμέρας. (4) ὡς δὲ ἔμειναν, οἱ πολῖται, δεδιότες περὶ τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ θυγατέρων, μεταπεμψάμενοι τὸν Ὀρφέα μηχανήσασθαι ἐδέοντο, ὃν τρόπον καταγάγοι ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους αὐτάς. (5) ὁ δὲ θυσάμενος τῷ Διονύσῳ ὄργια κατάγει αὐτὰς βακχευούσας κιθαρίζων. (6) αἱ δὲ νάρθηκας τότε πρῶτον ἔχουσαι κατέβαινον ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους καὶ κλῶνας δένδρων παντοδαπῶν· τοῖς δὲ ἀνθρώποις τότε θεασαμένοις τὰ ξύλα θαυμαστὰ ἐφαίνετο, καὶ ἔφασαν “Ὀρφεὺς κιθαρίζων ἄγει ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους καὶ τὴν ὕλην.” (7) καὶ ἐκ τούτου ὁ μῦθος ἐπλάσθη.
notes
Orpheus’ skill as a musician was legendary, and many ancient authors claimed that he was able to bewitch animals, plants, and even rocks with his music. In the version of the myth preserved by Ovid, a group of Maenads (frenzied female worshippers of Dionysus/Bacchus) came upon Orpheus while he was playing his lyre and proceeded to tear him to pieces, along with many of the animals that accompanied him.
For a later (and fuller) version of the story that Palaephatus is responding to, see Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.1–66. See also Pausanius 9.30.4–5.
For ancient depictions of this myth, see Attic red-figure stamnos ca. 470 BCE, Attic red-figure neck amphora ca. 470 BCE, Attic red-figure amphora ca. 445/440 BCE.
1
καὶ: adverbial.
ὁ … μῦθος: supply ἐστι.
ἐφείπετο τετράποδα: neut. pl. nom., subject of a verb in the singular, as usual.
3
μανεῖσαι: ptc. pl. aor. pass. fem. nom. > μαίνω.
4
ὡς: here means “when.”
μηχανήσασθαι … ὃν τρόπον: “to devise how (lit., “in what way”) he might …,” the antecedent is incorporated within the relative clause. We do this sometimes in English, He brought what tools he needed, where tools is technically the antecedent to what.
καταγάγοι: oblique optative in secondary sequence within what is functionally an indirect question.
5
θυσάμενος τῷ Διονύσῳ ὄργια: "having celebrated the rites for Dionysus." Orpheus is said to have invented the mysteries of Dionysus. Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.3.2.
6
τὰ ξύλα … ἐφαίνετο: neut. pl. nom., subject of a verb in the singular, as usual.
vocabulary
1
ψευδής –ες false
Ὀρφεύς –έως, ὁ Orpheus, the mythical musician
μῦθος –ου, ὁ tale
κιθαρίζω, κιθαρίσω / κιθαριῶ, ἐκιθάρισα, κεκιθάρικα, —, — to play the lyre
ἐφέπω, ἐφέψω, ἐπέσπον, —, —, — to follow (+ dat.; mid. voice)
τετράπους –ουν (gen. –ποδος) four-legged, quadruped
ἑρπετόν –οῦ, τό reptile, snake
ὄρνεον –ου, τό bird
δένδρον –ου, τό tree
3
Βάκχη –ης, ἡ a Bacchante or Maenad, a female worshipper of Dionysus
μαίνω, μανοῦμαι, ἔμηνα, μέμηνα, μεμάνημαι, ἐμάνην to be mad, delirious
πρόβατον –ου, τό sheep
διασπάω, διασπάσομαι, διέσπασα, διέσπακα, διέσπασμαι, διεσπάσθην to tear apart
Πιερία –ας, ἡ Pieria, a region in the north of Greece
βιαίως, adv. violently, forcibly
διατρίβω to spend (time)
4
πολίτης –ου, ὁ citizen
δείδω, δείσω, ἔδεισα, δέδοικα/δέδια, —, — to fear, be afraid
μεταπέμπω to send for, summon
μηχανάομαι, μηχανήσομαι, ἐμηχανησάμην, —, μεμηχάνημαι, — to devise
δέομαι to beg
κατάγω to lead down
5
θύω, θύσω, ἔθυσα: to offer sacrifice; (mid.) to celebrate (a rite)
Διόνυσος –ου, ὁ Dionysus
ὄργια –ίων, τά secret rites, secret worship, practiψed by the initiated,, especially of the rites of Dionysus
βακχεύω to celebrate the rites of Bacchus; to behave in a frenzied manner
6
νάρθηξ –ηκος, ὁ fennel stalk
καταβαίνω, καταβήσομαι, κατέβην, καταβέβηκα, —, — to go down
κλών, κλωνός, ὁ branch
παντοδαπός –ή –όν of all sorts
θεάομαι, θεάσομαι, ἐθεάσάμην, τεθέαμαι, —, ἐθεάθην to see, witness
ξύλον –ου, τό wood; stick, branch
θαυμαστός –ή –όν marvelous
ὕλη –ης, ἡ forest
7
πλάσσω, πλάσω, ἔπλασα, πέπλακα, πέπλασμαι, ἐπλάσθην to fabricate