[135]
Oh! happy that votary, when from the
hurrying revel-rout he sinks to earth, in his holy robe of fawnskin,
chasing the goat to drink its blood, a banquet sweet
of flesh uncooked, as he hastes to Phrygia's
or to Libya's hills; while in the van the Bromian god
exults with cries of Evoe
(Eve,
Zoe and now Mary).
With milk
and wine and streams of luscious honey flows the earth, and Syrian incense
smokes.
Paul warned about "uncovered
prophesying" in Corinth:
While the Bacchante holding in his hand a blazing torch of
pine uplifted on his wand waves it, as he
speeds along, rousing wandering votaries, and as he
waves it cries aloud with wanton tresses tossing in the breeze; and thus to
crown the revelry, he raises
loud his voice,
"On, on,
ye Bacchanals, pride of Tmolus
(a gold-producing mountain in Lydia, near Sardis:)
with its rills of gold to the sound of the booming drum, chanting in joyous strains the praises
of your joyous god with Phrygian accents lifted
high, what time the holy lute
with sweet complaining note invites you to your hallowed
sport,
melpete ton Dionuson
barubromôn hupo tumpanôn,
euia ton euion agallomenai theon
Melpô [melos]
I. to sing of, celebrate with song and dance,
Il., Eur.; m. tina kata chelun Eur.
2. intr. to sing, Aesch., Eur.;-- c. acc. cogn.,
m. thanasimon goon
II. also as Dep. melpomai to sing to the lyre
or harp, Od.; to dance and sing, as a chorus,
meta melpomenêisin en chorôi Il.; melpesthai
Arêi to dance a war-dance in honour
of Ares, i. e. to fight, id=Il.
Barubromos:
Drum Pindar, Nagy 21: On the basis
of these self-references, it becomes clear that
there were in fact other such harmoniai,
besides the ones listed en passant by Plato in Republic
398e-399a. Most notably missing from Plato's
list is the harmoniâ named as the Aeolian
harmoniâ described as Aeolian in
Lasus of Hermione PMG 702.3, where it is described
as barubromostessitura of the Aeolian
was marked by its frequency of lower notes. in the
Archaic diction of lyric poetry. I cite the
specific reference to a 'deep-roaring', suggesting
that the
Agallomenai Ar. Th.128 Agallô [Pass., mostly in
pres. and imperf.] to make glorious, glorify, exalt, c. acc. : esp. to
pay honour to a god, ag. tina thusiaisi Ar.; to adorn, deck,
gamêlious eunas Eur.; Pass. to glory, take delight, exult in a thing,
a. strut in borrowed plumes,
Gamelios. Nuptial of
divinities presiding over a marriage. koitêId.Supp.805
Koite: the marriage
Bed. IV. of sexual connexion, to
become pregnant by a man, Ep.Rom.9.10;
in bad sense, lasciviousness, ib. 13.13
(pl.).
Phrygian accents lifted
high: enopê ,3.
of things, sound, aulôn suringôn t'enopênIl.10.13;
iachênt'enopênte, of thunder,
Hes.Th.708;
kitharas e. E.Ion882
(anap.); sarkônêd'osteôn
crushing, Pi.Fr.168 .--Ep. and Lyr.
word, used by E. in lyr.
e.
Bombus , i, m., = bombos,
I. a hollow, deep sound, a booming, humming, buzzing: Ennius sonum
pedum bombum pedum dixit, Fortun. Dial. (v. Enn.
p. 183 fin. Vahl.); of bees; of a horn; of the clapping
of hands: si (apes) intus faciunt
bombum, Varr. R. R. 3, 16, 32 : cum tuba...
mugit, Et reboat raucum regio cita barbara bombum, Lucr. 4,
546 : raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos, Cat.
64, 263 : torva mimalloneis inplerunt cornua
bombis, Pers. 1, 99 Coningt. ad loc.; Mart. Cap.
1, § 67; 2, § 197: organorum, Serv. ad Verg. A.
7, 23 : qui plausuum genera condiscerent (bombos
et imbrices et testas vocabant), Suet. Ner. 20
Casaub.
Barbaria Bombum is why Paul
compared INSTRUMENTS to SPEAKING IN TONGUES.
Surely, humming or clapping would be speaking in
tongues.
according well
with feet that hurry wildly to the hills;
like a colt that gambols at its mother's side in
the pasture, with gladsome heart each Bacchante bounds along."
Enter TEIRESIAS.
TEIRESIAS
-[170]
What loiterer at the gates will call Cadmus from the
house, Agenor's son, who left the city of Sidon
and founded here the town of Thebes? Go one of you,
announce to him that Teiresias is seeking him; he
knows himself the reason of my coming and the
compact I and he have made in our old age to bind
the thyrsus with leaves and don the fawnskin, crowning
our heads the while with ivy-sprays.
Sidon Articles
Enter CADMUS.
CADMUS
Best of friends!
I was in the house when I heard thy voice, wise as
its owner. I come prepared, dressed in the livery of
the god. For 'tis but right
I
should magnify with all my might my own daughter's
son, Dionysus, who hath shown his godhead
unto men. Where are we to join the dance?
where plant the foot and shake the hoary head?
Do thou, Teiresias, be my guide, age leading age,
for thou art wise. Never shall I weary, night or
day, of beating the
earth with my
thyrsus. What joy to forget our years?
Godhead theos b.
theoi,
opp. “andres,
patēr
andrōn
te
theōn
te
Helios
anthrōpos 2 Thess
2:3[3] Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will
not be, unless the falling away comes first, and the man
of sin is revealed, the son of destruction
Prop. opp. thērion,
cf. anēr;
but opp. gunē,
Aeschin.3.137;
“apu
anthrōpou
heōs
gunaikos”
LXX 1 Es.9.40,
etc.
TEIRESIAS
Why, then thou
art as I am. For I too am young again, and will
essay the dance.
CADMUS
We will drive
then in our chariot to the hill.
TEIRESIAS
Nay, thus would
the god not have an
equal honour paid.
CADMUS
Well, I will lead
thee, age leading age.
TEIRESIAS
The god will
guide us both thither without toil.
CADMUS
Shall we alone of
all the city dance in
Bacchus' honour?
TEIRESIAS
Yea, for we
alone are wise, the rest are mad.
CADMUS
We stay too long;
come, take my hand.
TEIRESIAS
There link thy
hand in my firm grip.
CADMUS
Mortal that I am,
I scorn not the gods.
TEIRESIAS
No subtleties do
I indulge about the powers of heaven. The faith we
inherited from our fathers, old as time itself, no
reasoning shall cast
down; no! though it
were the subtlest invention of wits refined.
Maybe some one
will say, I have no respect for my grey hair in
going to dance with ivy round my head; not so, for
the god did not define whether old or young should
dance, but from all alike he claims a universal homage,
and scorns
nice calculations in his worship.
CADMUS
Teiresias, since
thou art blind, I must prompt thee what to say.
Pentheus is coming hither to the house in haste, Echion's
son, to whom I resign the government. How scared
he looks I what strange tidings will he tell?
Here is something on Echion:
THOUGH I speak with
the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1 Corinthians
13:1
And
though
I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge;
and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2
Enter
PENTHEUS.
PENTHEUS
[215]
I had left my kingdom for awhile, when tidings of
strange mischief in this city reached me;
I hear that our women-folk
have left their homes on pretence of Bacchic rites, and on the wooded hills rush wildly to
and fro, honouring in the dance this new god Dionysus, whoe'er he is; and in the midst of each
revel-rout the brimming wine-bowl stands, and one by one they steal away
to lonely spots to gratify their lust, pretending
forsooth that they are Maenads bent on sacrifice, though it is Aphrodite
they are placing before the Bacchic god. As many as I caught, my gaolers are
keeping safe in the public prison fast bound; and all
who are gone forth, will I chase from the hills, Ino
and Agave too who bore me to Echion,
and Actaeon's mother Autonoe. In fetters of iron will I bind them and
soon put an end to these outrageous Bacchic rites.
They say there
came a stranger hither, a trickster and a sorcerer, from Lydia's land, with golden hair and perfumed locks,
the flush of wine upon his face, and in his eyes each
grace that Aphrodite gives; by day and night he
lingers in our maidens' company
on the plea
of teaching Bacchic mysteries.
Here is something on Echion:
THOUGH
I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1
Corinthians 13:1
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries, and all
knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that
I could remove mountains, and have not charity,
I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2
Echeo (g2278)
ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make a loud noise,
i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound.
Lu.21:25
And there shall be signs in the
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon
the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;
the sea and the waves roaring;
Echos (g2279) ay'-khos; of
uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise
("echo"), i.e. roar: fig. a rumor: - fame,
sound.
Heb.12:19
And the sound of a trumpet, and
the voice of words; which voice they that heard
intreated that the word should not be spoken to
them any more:
êch-eô , I. intr., sound,
ring, peal, êchei de karê . . Olumpou Hes.Th.42
; hotan achêsêi polios buthos Mosch.Fr.1.4 ;
achousi prospolôn cheres E.Supp.72 (lyr.); of
metal, êcheeske ho chalkos tês aspidos (round
brass shield) Hdt.4.200 ; ta
chalkia plêgenta makron êchei Pl.Prt.329a , cf.
Men.66.4; of the grasshopper, chirp, Alc.39,
Theoc.16.96; of the ears, tingle, êchêsei ta ôta
LXX 1 Ki.3.11 ; dia ti êchei ê dia ti
emphainetai; impers., of anecho,
Arist.AP0.98a27.
2. suffer from noises in the
ears, Herod.Med. ap. Orib.10.40.3.
II. c. acc. cogn., achein
(iachein codd.) humnon to let it sound, A.Th.869
(lyr.); kôkuton S.Tr.866 ; goous Id.Fr.523 ;
humnous E.Ion883 (lyr.); chalkeon achei sound
the cymbal! Theoc.2.36; ephexês êchounta auta
(sc. ta phônêenta) Demetr.Eloc.71: --Med.,
acheisthai tina to sound his praises, dub. in
Pi.Fr.75.19:-- Pass., êcheitai ktupos a sound is
made, S.OC1500. (Cf. sq.)
êchetês , ou, ho, Ep.
êcheta^ , Dor. achetas , acheta^ , ( [êcheô] )
A. clear-sounding, musical, shrill, donax achetas
A.Pr.575 (lyr.); kuknos E.El.151 (lyr.); epith.
of the cicada [locusts], chirping, êcheta tettix
Hes.Op.582 , AP 7.201 (Pamphil.); achetat.
ib.213 (Arch.): abs., achetas, ho, the chirper,
i.e. the male cicada, Anan.5.6, Ar.Pax1159
(lyr.), Av.1095 (lyr.), cf.
Arist.HA532b16,556a20: Orph.A.1250 has Ep.acc.
êcheta porthmon the sounding strait.
Once let me
catch him within these walls, and I will put an
end to his thyrsus-beating and his waving of his tresses, for I
will cut
his head from his body.
This is the
fellow who says that Dionysus
is a god, says that
he was once stitched up in the thigh of Zeus-that
child who with his mother was blasted by the
lightning flash, because the woman falsely said her
marriage was with Zeus. Is not this enough to
deserve the awful penalty of hanging, this
stranger's wanton insolence, whoe'er he be?
But lo! another marvel.
I see Teiresias, our
diviner, dressed in dappled fawn-skins, and my
mother's father too, wildly waving the Bacchic wand; droll sight enough! Father, it grieves
me to see you two old
men so void of sense.
Oh! shake
that ivy from thee! Let
fall the thyrsus from thy hand, my mother's sire! Was it thou,
Teiresias, urged him on to this? Art bent on
introducing this fellow as another new deity amongst
men, that thou mayst then observe the fowls of the
air and make a gain
from fiery [lewd] divination?
Divination: orgi-a
A. secret rites, secret worship,
practised by the initiated, of the rites of the
Cabeiri and Demeter cogn. with erdô, rhezô, cf. ergon,
orgeôn.)
Organon , to, ( [ergon, erdô] ) I.
an implement, instrument, A.
instrument, implement, tool, for making
or doing a thing 3.musical
instrumen
Ergon
[Ergô] I.work,
1. in Il. mostly of deeds of
war, polemêïaerga, 3.a
hard piece of work, a hard task, Il.:
also, a shocking deed or act,
"Candidates for
initiation into the KABIRI were crowned with a
garland of olive and wore a purple band round
their loins. The dancing was then begun.
In fact, homosexuality
was part of the ritual, what the
historians in their scholarly dungeons called
their "most immoral tendencies." The purpose was
to evoke a passage beyond earth to
a higher life. That is,
"to lead the worshipers into the presence of
the gods."
That
is,
in their mystical dances, continued leaping into
the air achieves a shamanic state of trance, a transfer of
consciousness analogous to the transformation of
the
magician into a bird whereby the
apprentice masters his powers to join a gay
brotherhood "who, by nature, are
superior to other men." 14
"Smiths and shamans are from the same nest," also declares a
Yakut proverb from early North America, cited by
the mythologist Mircea Eliade. 15
According
to
Herodotus, they surfaced some
2,000 years after that as an effeminate
priesthood in what is now southern Russia
and present-day Ukraine. They were called
the ENAREE, "endowed by the
goddess Venus with the gift of
prophecy." Source
Hislop: Hence
the "Horned
bull" signified "The Mighty Prince,
and
constant
friction (minemployment)
between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who
think that godliness is a means to
financial gain. 1 Timothy 6:5
Were it not that
thy grey hairs protected thee, thou shouldst sit in
chains amid the Bacchanals,
for
introducing knavish mysteries;
for where the gladsome
grape is found at women's feasts,
I deny that their rites have any longer good results.
CHORUS
What impiety!
Hast thou no reverence, sir stranger, for the gods
or for Cadmus who sowed the crop of earth-born
warriors? Son of Echion as thou art, thou dost shame thy
birth.
Sounding
brass is:
Echeo
(g2278) ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make a loud noise,
i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound.
TEIRESIAS
[266]
Whenso a man
of wisdom finds a good topic for argument, it is no difficult matter to speak
well; but thou,
though
possessing a glib tongue as if
endowed with sense,
art yet devoid thereof in all thou sayest.
[a
proper
prophets with the true "voice of the angels" would
by nature be insane and therefore speak in
gibberish or tongues because they believed that
dod always used the emotionally or sexual abnormal
to make people trust the gods.]
A headstrong
man, if he have influence and a capacity for
speaking, makes a bad citizen because he lacks
sense.
This new deity,
whom thou deridest, will rise to power I cannot say
how great, throughout Hellas. Two things there are,
young prince, that hold first rank among men,
the goddess Demeter, that is, the earth, call her which
name thou please; she it is that feedeth men with solid food; and as her counterpart came this god,
(Dionysus) the son of Semele, who discovered the juice of the grape and introduced it to mankind,
stilling thereby each grief that
mortals suffer from,
soon as e'er they are filled with the juice
of the vine; and sleep also he giveth, sleep that brings forgetfulness of daily ills, the sovereign charm
for all our woe.
God though he is,
he serves all other gods for libations, so that
through him mankind is blest.
He it is whom thou dost mock,
because he was sewn up in the thigh of Zeus. But I
will show thee this fair mystery. When Zeus had
snatched him from the lightning's blaze, and to
Olympus borne the tender babe, Hera
would have cast him
forth from heaven,
but Zeus, as such a god well might, devised a
counterplot.
He broke off
a fragment of the ether which surrounds the world, and
made thereof a hostage against Hera's
bitterness, while he gave out Dionysus into
other hands; hence, in time, men said that he
was reared in the thigh of Zeus, having changed
the word and invented a legend, because the god
was once a hostage to the goddess Hera.
[298]
This god too hath prophetic power, [Bakcheusimos]
for there is no
small prophecy inspired by Bacchic frenzy;
for whenever the god in his full might enters
the human frame,
he makes his frantic votaries foretell the future.
Maniôdês
A. like madness, noseumata Hp.
Aër.7, cf. Coac.475.
2. like a madman, crazy, Kunas,
II. causing madness,
Dsc. 1.68, 4.68; himasthlê Panos
Nonn.D.10.4 .Pan is horn footed
Kunas: Kuôn II. as a word of
reproach, freq. in Hom. of women, to denote
shamelessness or audacity; applied by Helen to
herself rhapsôidos of the Bakchai,
Lussas k. E.Ba.977 Lussao
rave, be mad, erotic. also of offensive persons,
compared to yapping dogs
[977] To
the hills! to the hills! fleet hounds of madness, where the daughters of Cadmus hold their revels,
goad
them into wild fury
against the man
disguised in woman's dress, a frenzied
spy upon the
Maenads.
Rhapsoidos
stitching songs together. Reciter of poems, of Aoide
Used with "hypokrites" 5. = eppsdê, spell,
incantation
3. of the Cynics, areskei
toutois kunôn metamphiennusthai bion. Catamites.
Epôidos
A. singing to or over,
using songs or charms to heal
wounds, epôidoi muthoi
b. Subst., enchanter, e. kai goês
E.Hipp. 1038 (but goês e. Ba.234): c. gen., a charm for or against,
c. c. dat., assisting, profitable,
2. Pass., sung to
music, phônai Plu.2.622d ; fit
for singing, poiêtikên e. parechein
S.E.M.6.16 .
2. epôidos, ho, verse or passage
returning at intervals, in Alcaics and
Sapphics, D.H.Comp.19 ; chorus, burden,
Psalm 22: [14] I am
poured out like water. All my bones are out of
joint. My heart is like wax; It is melted
within me. [15] My strength is dried up
like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof
of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust
of death. [16] For dogs have surrounded
me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me.
They pierced my hands and my feet. [17]
I can count all of my bones. They look and
stare at me. [18] They divide my
garments among them. They cast lots for my
clothing. [19] But don't be far off,
Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me.
[20] Deliver my soul from the sword, My
precious life from the power of the dog.
Rhapsôid-os , ho,
A. reciter of Epic poems, sts. applied to
the bard who recited his own poem, as to Hesiod,
Nicocl. ap. Sch.Pi.N.2.2 (v. infr.); but usu., professional
reciters, esp. of the poems of Homer, Hdt.5.67,
Pl.Ion 530c, etc.: also rh. kuôn,
ironically, of the Sphinx who chanted
her riddle, S.OT391. (Prob.
from rhaptô, aoidê; Hes.Fr. 265
speaks of himself and Homer as en nearois humnois
rhapsantes aoidên, and Pi.N.2.2
calls Epic poets rhaptôn epeôn aoidoi: not from
rhabdos (cf. rhabdos 1.6 ) as if
rhabdôidos (Eust.6.24, rhabdôidia ib.16).)
Pindar Ode 2
[1] Just as the Homeridae,
the singers [rhapton] of woven
verses [epos], most often begin
with Zeus as their prelude, so this man
has received a first down-payment of victory [nike]
in the sacred games by winning [5] in the grove
of Nemean Zeus, which is celebrated in
many hymns.
Likewise he hath
some share in Ares' rights; for oft, or ever a weapon is
touched, a panic seizes an army when it is
marshalled in array; and this too is a frenzy
sent by Dionysus. Yet shalt thou behold him e'en on
Delphi's rocks leaping o'er the cloven height, torch
in hand, waving and brandishing the branch
by Bacchus loved, yea, and through the length and
breadth of Hellas.
Pallô II.
Pass., swing, dash oneself, vibrate,
of strings, Pl.Phd.94c
psalloito
Plato,
Phaedo 94c. “Did we not agree in our
previous discussion that it could never, if it be a
harmony, give forth a sound at variance with the
tensions and relaxations and vibrations and other
conditions of the elements which compose it, but
that it would follow them and never lead them?”
94d
Homer has shown in the Odyssey when he
says of Odysseus: Hom. Od 20.17-18
He smote
his breast, and thus he chid his heart:
“Endure it, heart, you have
born worse than this.”
Pallo and Seio
or shaking: one dancing, E.Ba. 185; 2. of
earthquakes, which were attributed to Poseidon, 3.
metaph., agitate, disturb, II. Pass., shake, heave,
quake, of the earth, earthquake.
We call her Pallas, you know.[406e] who
think this name is derived from armed dances, for
lifting oneself or anything else from the ground or
[407a] in the
hands is called shaking (pallein) and being
shaken, or dancing and being danced.
Hearken to me,
Pentheus; never boast that might alone doth sway the
world,
nor if thou
think so, unsound as thy opinion is, credit
thyself with any wisdom;
but receive the god into thy realm, pour out
libations, join the revel
rout, and crown thy head.
It is not
Dionysus that will force chastity on women in their
love;
but
this is what we should consider, whether chastity
is part of their nature for good and all; for if it
is,
no really modest
maid will ever fall 'mid Bacchic mysteries.
Mark this: thou thyself art glad when thousands
throng thy gates, and citizens extol the name of Pentheus;
he
too, I trow, delights in being honoured. Wherefore
I and Cadmus, whom thou jeerest so,
will wreath our brows with ivy and join the dance;
pair of grey
beards though we be, still must we take part
therein; never will I for any words of thine fight
against heaven.
Most
grievous is thy madness, nor canst thou find a charm to cure thee,
albeit charms have caused thy
malady.
CHORUS
Old sir, thy
words do not discredit Phoebus, and thou art wise in honouring Bromius,
potent deity.
CADMUS
My son, Teiresias
hath given thee sound advice; dwell with us, but o'erstep not the threshold of custom;
for
now thou art soaring
aloft, and thy
wisdom is no wisdom. E'en though he be no god, as
thou assertest, still say he is; be guilty of a splendid
fraud, declaring him the son of Semele, that she may be
thought the mother
of a god, and we and all our race gain honour.
Dost thou mark
the awful fate of Actaeon? whom savage hounds of his
own rearing rent in pieces in the meadows,
because
he boasted himself a better
hunter than Artemis.
Lest thy fate be the same, come let me crown thy
head with ivy; join us
in rendering homage to the god.
PENTHEUS
[343]
Touch me not, away to thy Bacchic rites thyself! never try to infect
me with thy foolery!
Vengeance will I have on the fellow who teaches thee such senselessness. Away one of you without delay! seek
yonder seat where he observes his birds, wrench it
from its base with levers, turn it upside down, o'erthrowing it in utter confusion,
and toss his garlands to the tempest's blast. For
by so doing shall I wound him most deeply.
Others of you, range the city and hunt down this girl-faced [effeminate] stranger, who is introducing a new complaint amongst our women, and doing outrage to the marriage
tie.
And if haply ye
catch him, bring him hither to me in chains, to be
stoned to death, a bitter ending to his revelry in
Thebes.
Exit
PENTHEUS.
TEIRESIAS
Unhappy wretch!
thou little knowest what thou art saying. Now art
thou become a raving
madman, even before
unsound in mind. Let us away, Cadmus, and pray
earnestly for him, spite of his savage temper, and
likewise for the city, that the god inflict not a
signal vengeance.
Come, follow me
with thy ivy-wreathed staff; try to support my tottering frame as I do thine, for it is unseemly that two old men
should fall; but let that-pass.
For we
must serve the Bacchic
god, the son of Zeus.
Only, Cadmus, beware lest Pentheus' bring sorrow to
thy house;
it is not my prophetic
art, but
circumstances that lead me to say this; for the words of a fool are folly.
Exeunt CADMUS
and TEIRESIAS.
CHORUS
[370]
O holiness, queen amongst the gods, sweeping on golden pinion
o'er the earth! dost hear the words of Pentheus,
dost hear his proud blaspheming Bromius, the son of Semele;
first of
all the blessed gods at every merry festival?
His it is to rouse
the revellers to dance, to laugh away dull care,
.......and wake
the flute, [Gelaô
laugh
to, mock, deride]
.......whene'er at banquets of the gods the luscious
grape appears,
.......or when the winecup
in the feast sheds
sleep on men who
wear the ivy-spray. [ivy-bearing]
Aristophanes,
Thesmophoriazusae
[985] Let us form
fresh measures that keep good time, and may our songs
resound to the very heavens. Do thou, oh divine
Bacchus, who art crowned with ivy, direct our
chorus; 'tis to thee that both my hymns
and my dances are dedicated.
Chorus
[995]
Echo, the nymph of Cithaeron, returns
thy words, which resound beneath the dark vaults
of the thick foliage and in the midst of the rocks
of the forest; the ivy [1000] enlaces thy brow
with its tendrils charged with flowers.
kuklos
A.
kukla Il. , etc., v. infr.11.1, 3,9, 111.1:--ring,
circle, hoppote min dolion peri kuklon agôsin, of the circle which hunters draw
round their game, Od.4.792; k. deka chalkeoi
(concentric) circles of brass on a round
shield,
3.
place
of assembly, of the agora, hieros
[filled divine power, mystical marriage k. Il.18.504 ; ho k. tou Zênos
tôgoraiou Schwyzer 701 B6 (Erythrae, v B.C.);
agoras k. (cf. kukloeis) E.Or.919; of the amphitheatre, D.C.72.19.
Agoarios
A. in, of, or belonging to the agora, Zeus
A. as guardian of popular assemblies, Hermês A. as
patron of traffic, the common sort, low fellows,
2. of things, vulgar, III. generally, proper to
the agora, skilled in, suited for forensic
speaking, skilled in poetry, emporias kai
kapêleias diatribon, Agitators Acts 17:5
Acts
17:5
But the Jews which believed not, moved with
envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the
baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all
the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house
of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the
people.
E.Or.919 Euripides,
Orestes Another then stood up and said
the opposite; he was not handsome in appearance,
but a brave man, rarely coming in contact with the
town or the circle in the market-place
b. crowd of people standing round, ring or circle
of people, k. turannikos S.Aj.749 ; kukla chalkeôn
hoplôn, i.e. of armed men,
chalkeos [chalkos]
I. of copper or bronze,
brasen, Lat. aeneus, aheneus, Hom., etc.; ch.
Zeus a bronze statue
of Zeus, Hdt.; hê chalkê Athêna Dem.;
chalkeon histanai tina (v. histêmi A.
III).
b. ch. agôn a contest
for a shield of brass,
Pind.<>
2. metaph. brasen, i. e. stout,
strong, chalkeon êtor, a heart of brass, Il.;
ops ch. id=Il.; ch. hupnos, i. e. the
sleep of death, Virg. ferreus
somnus, id=Il.
Il.18.504 Homer, Iliad
[490]
Therein
fashioned he also two cities of mortal men
exceeding fair.
In the one there were marriages
and feastings, and by the light of the blazing
torches they were leading the brides from
their bowers through the city, and loud rose the
bridal song. And young men were whirling in the dance, and in
their midst
[495] flutes and lyres sounded
continually; and there the women stood each
before her door and marvelled.
But the folk were gathered in
the place of assembly; for there a strife had arisen, and
two men were striving about the blood-price
of a man slain; the one avowed that he had paid
all,
[500] declaring his cause to the
people, but the other refused to accept aught;
and each was fain to win the issue on the word
of a daysman. Moreover, the folk were
cheering both, shewing favour to
this side and to that. And heralds held back the
folk, and the elders were sitting upon
polished stones in the sacred circle,
But around the other city lay in
leaguer two hosts of warriors
[510] gleaming in armour.
And twofold plans
found favour with them,
either to lay waste the
town
or to divide in portions twain all the substance that the lovely
city contained within.2
Howbeit the besieged would nowise
hearken thereto, but were arming to meet
the foe in an ambush. The wall were their dear
wives and little children guarding,
[515] as they stood thereon, and
there withal the men that were holden of old
age; but the rest were faring forth, led of Ares and Pallas Athene, both fashioned in
gold, and of gold was the raiment
wherewith they were clad. Goodly were they and
tall in their harness, as beseemeth gods, clear
to view amid the rest, and the folk at their
feet were smaller.
[520] But when they were come to
the place where it seemed good unto them to set
their ambush, in a river-bed
where was a watering-place for all herds
alike, there they sate them down,
clothed about with flaming bronze. Thereafter were
two scouts set by them apart from the host,
waiting till they should have sight of the sheep and sleek
cattle.
[525] And these came presently,
and two herdsmen followed with them playing upon
pipes; and of the guile wist they not at
all.
surinx 2.cat-call,
whistle,
hiss, as in theatres, Id.Lg.700c;
cf. surizô11.2
, surigmos:--the
last part of the nomosPuthikos was
called suringes, prob.
because it imitated the dying hisses of
the serpent Pytho, Str.9.3.10.
18.527
But the liers-in-wait, when they saw these coming
on, rushed forth against them and speedily cut off
the herds of cattle and fair flocks of
white-fleeced sheep, and slew the herdsmen withal.[530] But the
besiegers, as they sat before the places of
gathering and heard much tumult among the kine,
mounted forthwith behind their high-stepping
horses, and set out thitherward, and speedily came
upon them. Then set they their battle in array and
fought beside the river banks, and were ever
smiting one another with bronze-tipped spears.
The end of all unbridled speech and lawless senselessness is
misery;
Blaspheming.
[Hubris]
A. wanton violence, arising from the pride of
strength or from passion, insolence
but
the life of calm repose and the rule of reason
abide unshaken and support the home;
for far
away in heaven though they dwell,
....... the powers divine behold man's state.
Stop the:
apo-pauô, A. stop or hinder
from, make to cease from
Stop
the:
Erôt-aô
Stop the questioning 2. in Dialectic,
opp. demonstration, question an opponent in order
to refute him from his answers,
Stop
the: Logos: Stop the speaking III.
explanation, 1. plea, pretext, ground b. plea,
case, in Law or argument 2. statement of a theory,
argument, c. in Logic, proposition, whether as
premiss or conclusion, d. rule, principle, law, as
embodying the result of logismos
Stop
the: Aoide.
2. act of singing, song, 5. = eppsdê, spell, incantation,
ôkus
quick, swift, fleet, 2. of sound, shrill, aoidai
anathrôiskontesaoidaisA.R.4.42
, cf. 59.
Cf. ôidê. [Dissyll.
in Hes.Th.48
(unless lêgousit'aoidês be read)
and in Pi. l.c. (unless melizen be
read).].
Hesoid,
Theo
(ll. 36-52) Come thou, let us begin
with the Muses who gladden the great spirit of their father Zeus in Olympus with their songs, telling of things that are and
that shall be and that were aforetime with
consenting voice.
Unwearying
flows the sweet
sound from their
lips, and the house of their father Zeus
the loud-thunderer is glad at the lily-like voice of
the goddesses as it spread abroad, and the peaks
of snowy Olympus resound, and the homes of the immortals.
Stop the: Merimn-a
A.
care,
thought, solicitude
2. concrete, object of care or thought, 3. pursuit,
ambition,
5. anxious mind, A.Ag. 460
Aeschylus,
Agamemnon. Dangerous is a people's voice
charged with wrath--it acts as a curse of publicly
ratified doom. [460] In anxious fear
I wait to hear something shrouded still in gloom.
The gods are not blind to men with blood upon their
hands. In the end the black Spirits of Vengeance
bring to obscurity that one who has prospered in
unrighteousness and [465] wear down his fortunes by
reverse. Once a man is among the unseen, there is no
more help for him. Glory in excess is fraught with
peril; [470] the lofty peak is struck by Zeus'
thunderbolt. I choose prosperity unassailed by envy.
May I not be a sacker of cities, and may I not
myself be despoiled and live to see my own life in
another's power!
Pindar,
Olympian, 1.[105] whom we shall adorn
with the glorious folds of song. A god is set over
your ambitions as a guardian, Hieron, and he
devises with this as his concern. If he does not
desert you soon, I hope that I will celebrate
an even greater sweetness, [110][110] sped by a
swift chariot, finding a helpful path of song
when I come to the sunny hill of Cronus. For me the
Muse tends her mightiest shaft of courage. Some men
are great in one thing, others in another; but the
peak of the farthest limit is for kings. Do not look
beyond that! [115] May it be yours to walk on high
throughout your life, and mine to associate with
victors as long as I live, distinguished for my
skill among Greeks everywhere.
melos ,
eos, to,
melê, ta, lyric poetry, choral songs opposite
Epic or Dramatic verse,
2. music to which a song is set, tune,
Arist.Po.1450a14;
opp. rhuthmos, metron, Pl.Grg.
502c; opp. rhuthmos, rhêma, Id.Lg.656c;
Krêtikon, Karikon, Iônikon m logou
te kai harmonias kai rhuthmou ib.398d.
Stop the: Burden
laded.
Dangerous: Barus.
2. heavy to bear, grievous, burdensome, grievous,
oppressive, orge. 1. of sound, strong, deep, bass
Orge
3.
c.
gen., Panos orgai visitations of Pan's wrath
[395]
Sophistry is not wisdom, and to indulge in thoughts beyond man's
ken is to shorten life; and if a man on such poor
terms should aim too
high, he may miss the
pleasures in his reach.
These, to my
mind, are the ways of madmen and idiots. Oh! to make my way to Cyprus,
isle of Aphrodite, where dwell the love-gods strong to soothe
man's soul, or to Paphos, which that foreign river, never fed
by rain, enriches with its hundred mouths!
[402]
Oh! lead me, Bromian
[Dionysus "to roar"] god,
celestial
guide
of Bacchic pilgrims, to the hallowed slopes of Olympus,
where Pierian Muses have their haunt most fair.
Bromian
also of music, lura bremetai kai aoida
Pi.N.11.7
Pindar
Nemean
11.
[6] often they worship you, first of the
gods, with libations, and often with the savor of
burnt sacrifice. Lyres and songs
peal among them, and Themis, who belongs to Zeus
the god of hospitality,
There dwell the Graces;
there is soft desire; there thy votaries may hold their revels
freely.
The joy [417]
of our god, the son of Zeus, is in banquets,
his delight is in peace, that giver of riches
and nurse divine of youth. Both to rich and poor alike hath he
granted the delight of
wine, that makes all pain to cease;
Grace
is
CHARA or CHARIS which is the "goddess" of Charismatic which involves pederasty among the
"priesthood."
hateful to him is
every one who careth not to live the life of bliss, that lasts through days and nights of
joy.
True wisdom is to keep the heart and soul aloof
from over-subtle wits. That which the less enlightened
crowd approves and practises, will I accept.
Re-enter
PENTHEUS. Enter SERVANT bringing DIONYSUS bound.
SERVANT
[434]
We are come, Pentheus, having hunted
down this prey, for
which thou didst send us forth; not in vain hath
been our quest. We found our quarry tame; he did
not fly from us, but yielded
himself without a
struggle; his cheek
ne'er blanched, nor
did his ruddy colour change, but with a smile he
bade me bind and lead him away, and he waited, making my task an easy one.
For very shame I
said to him, "Against my will, sir stranger, do I
lead thee hence, but Pentheus ordered it, who sent
me hither." As for his votaries whom thou thyself
didst check, seizing and binding them hand and foot
in the public gaol,
all these have
loosed their bonds and fled into the meadows where
they now are sporting, See the meaning of PLAY or
SPORTING at Mount Sinai.
calling
aloud on the Bromian god. Their chains fell off their feet of
their own accord, and doors flew open without
man's hand to help. Many a marvel hath this stranger brought with him to our city of Thebes;
what yet remains must be thy care.
PENTHEUS
Loose his hands;
for now that I have him in the net he is scarce
swift enough to elude me. So, sir stranger,
thou
art not ill-favoured from a woman's point of view,
which was thy real object in coming to Thebes;
thy hair is long because thou hast never been a
wrestler, flowing right down thy cheeks most wantonly; thy skin is
white to help
thee gain thy end,
not tanned by ray of sun, but kept within the shade,
as thou goest in quest of love with beauty's bait. Come, tell me first of thy race.
DIONYSUS
That needs no
braggart's tongue, 'tis easily told; maybe thou
knowest Tmolus by hearsay.
PENTHEUS
I know it, the
range that rings the city of Sardis
round.
DIONYSUS
Thence I come,
Lydia is my native home.
PENTHEUS
What makes thee
bring these mysteries to Hellas?
DIONYSUS
Dionysus, the son
of Zeus, initiated me.
PENTHEUS
Is there a Zeus
in Lydia, who begets
new gods?
DIONYSUS
No, but Zeus who
married Semele in Hellas.
PENTHEUS
Was it by night
or in the face of day that he constrained thee?
DIONYSUS
'Twas face to face he intrusted his mysteries to me.
PENTHEUS
Pray, what special feature stamps thy rites?
DIONYSUS
That is a secret
to be hidden from the uninitiated.
Jesus refused to BOW
when the Jews (Not Israelites) piped.
See
From Strabo
THE
SATYROI were rustic fertility Daimones (Spirits) of the
wilderness and countryside. They were usually
associated with the gods Dionysos, Rheia, Gaia,
Hermes and Hephaistos; and were said to mate with
the Nymphai in the mountains.
Satyroi
were
depicted as animal-like men with the tail of a
horse, the ears of an ass, upturned pug noses,
reclining hair-lines, and erect members.
As
companions
of Dionysos, they were depicted draped in animal
skins, drinking, dancing, playing tambourines and flutes (the instruments of
the Dionysian orgy) and sporting with the
Nymphai Bakkhai.
They
were
also frequently shown in vase paintings, dancing
around the goddess Gaia (Earth), rising up from
the fertile earth.
Other
closely
related Daimones included: the Panes (goat-legged
satyroi), and the Seilenoi (elderly satyroi).
Child satyrs were known as Satyriskoi.
Orgi-a , iôn, ta,
A.
secret
rites, secret worship, practised by the initiated,
a post-Hom. word ; used of the worship of Demeter at Eleusis,
h.Cer.273,476. Ar.Ra.386, Th.948 ; of the rites of
the Cabeiri and Demeter Achaia,
Hdt.2.51,5.61; of Orpheus, Id.2.81; of
Eumolpus, App.Anth.1.318 ; of Cybele, E.Ba.78
(lyr.): most freq. of the rites of Dionysus, Hdt.2.81, E.Ba.34,
al., Theoc.26.13.
II.
generally,
rites, sacrifices, SIG57.4 (Milet., v B. C.),
A.Th.179 (lyr.), S.Tr.765, Ant.1013 ; orgia Mousôn Ar.Ra.356
2.
metaph.,
mysteries, without reference to religion,
epistêmês Hp.Lex5 ; tois tês Aphroditês o. eilêmmenon
Ar.Lys.832 , cf. Ach.Tat.4.1; ta Epikourou
theophanta o. Metrod.38 .--The sg. orgion
is rare, Jahresh.13Beibl.29 No.3 (Erythrae, iv B.
C.), Luc.Syr.D.16, Orph.H.52.5. (Prob. cogn. with
erdô, rhezô, cf. ergon, orgeôn.)
Mousa , ês, hê, Aeol. Moisa
Sapph.84, IG42(1).130.16, etc.; Dor. Môsa Alcm. 1,
etc.; Lacon. Môha (for Môsa) Ar.Lys.1298, cf. An.
Ox.1.277:--Muse,
A.
Olumpiades
M., Dios aigiochoio thugateres Il.2.491 , cf.
Hes.Th.25, etc.; nine in number, first in Od.24.60;
named in Hes.Th.75 sqq.
II.
mousa, as Appellat., music, song, m. stugera A.Eu.308
(anap.); euphamos Id.Supp.695 (lyr.); kanachan . .
theias antiluron mousas S.Tr.643 (lyr.); Aiakôi
moisan pherein Pi.N.3.28 ; tis hêde mousa; what
strain is this ? E.Ion757; aluros m. Id.Ph.1028
(lyr.); dia mousas êixa Id.Alc.962 (lyr.): in
Prose, aidein adokimon m. Pl.Lg. 829d : in pl.,
mousai Sphingos, of the Sphinx's riddle, E.Ph.50;
esp. liberal arts, accomplishments, tas mousas
aphanizôn Ar.Nu.972 ; apaideuton tôn peri tas
numphikas m. Pl.Lg.775b : also in sg., tês
alêthinês m. êmelêkenai Id.R.548b ; koinônein
mousês ib.411c.
2.
hautê
hê Sôkratous m. that was Socrates's way, Gal.UP1.9.
But
all
educated men, and especially the musicians, are ministers of
the Muses;
and
both
these and those who have to do with divination are ministers of Apollo;
and the initiated and torch-bearers and
hierophants, of Demeter; and the
Sileni and Satyri and Bacchae, and also the Lenae
and Thyiae and Mimallones and Naïdes and Nymphae
and the beings called Tityri, of Dionysus.
PENTHEUS
What profit bring
they to their votaries?
DIONYSUS
Thou must not be
told, though 'tis well worth knowing.
PENTHEUS
A pretty piece of
trickery, to excite my curiosity!
DIONYSUS
[476]
A man of godless life is an abomination to
the rites of the god.
PENTHEUS
Thou sayest thou
didst see the god clearly; what was he like?
DIONYSUS
What his fancy
chose; I was not there to order this.
PENTHEUS
Another clever twist and turn of thine, without a word of
answer.
DIONYSUS
He were a fool,
methinks, who would utter wisdom to a fool.
PENTHEUS
Hast thou come
hither first with this deity?
DIONYSUS
All foreigners already celebrate
these mysteries with dances.
PENTHEUS
The reason being,
they are far behind Hellenes in wisdom.
DIONYSUS
In this at least
far in advance, though their customs differ.
PENTHEUS
Is it by night or
day thou performest these devotions?
DIONYSUS
By night
mostly; darkness lends solemnity.
PENTHEUS
Calculated to entrap
and corrupt women.
DIONYSUS
Day too for that
matter may discover shame.
PENTHEUS
This vile
quibbling settles thy punishment.
DIONYSUS
Brutish ignorance
and godlessness will settle thine.
PENTHEUS
How bold
our Bacchanal is growing! a very master in this wordy strife!
DIONYSUS
Tell me what I am
to suffer; what is the grievous doom thou wilt
inflict upon me?
PENTHEUS
First will I shear off thy dainty tresses.
DIONYSUS
My locks
are sacred; for the god I let them grow. [It is a shame for a
man to have long hair 1Co.11:14 ]
PENTHEUS
Next surrender
that thyrsus.
DIONYSUS
Take it from me
thyself; 'tis the wand of Dionysus I am bearing.
PENTHEUS
In dungeon deep
thy body will I guard.
DIONYSUS
The god himself
will set me free, whene'er I list.
PENTHEUS
Perhaps he may,
when thou standest amid thy Bacchanals and
callest on his name.
DIONYSUS
Even now he is
near me and witnesses
my treatment.
PENTHEUS
Why, where is he?
To my eyes he is invisible.
DIONYSUS
He is by my side;
thou art a godless man and therefore dost not see him.
PENTHEUS
Seize him! the
fellow scorns me and Thebes too.
DIONYSUS
I bid you bind me
not, reason addressing madness.
PENTHEUS
But I say "bind!"
with better right than thou.
DIONYSUS
Thou hast no
knowledge of the life
thou art leading;
thy very existence is now a mystery to thee.
PENTHEUS
I am Pentheus,
son of Agave and Echion.
DIONYSUS
Well-named to be
misfortune's mate!
PENTHEUS
Avaunt!
Ho! shut him up within the horses' stalls hard by,
that for light he may have pitchy gloom. Do thy dancing there,
and these women whom thou bringest with thee to share
thy villainies
I will either sell as
slaves or make their hands
cease from this noisy
beating of drums,
and set them to work at the loom as servants of my own.
DIONYSUS
I will go; for
that which fate forbids, can never befall me.
For this thy
mockery be sure Dionysus will exact a recompense
of thee-even the god whose existence thou deniest; for thou art injuring him by haling
me to prison.
Exit DIONYSUS,
guarded, and PENTHEUS.
CHORUS
[519]
Hail to thee, Dirce, happy maid, daughter revered of
Achelous! within thy founts thou didst receive in
days gone by the babe of Zeus, what time his father
caught him up into his thigh from out the deathless
flame,
while thus he
cried: "Go rest, my Dithyrambus, there within thy father's womb; by
this name, O Bacchic god, I now proclaim thee to
Thebes." But thou, blest Dirce, thrustest me aside, when in thy midst I strive to hold my revels graced with crowns. Why dost thou scorn me? Why avoid me?
[6] Dithurambos Harmatideô. Dithyrambos, son of
Harmatides, was not the captain, or general of the
Thespians (cp. c. 222 supra). Dithyrambos, as a
proper name, is a little startling: it is primarily
(like Marôn) a title of Bakchos, cp. Eurip. Bakch.
526; it is secondarily a kind of poetry or melody (of which Arion was inventor, cp. 1.
23). This Thespian is the only human
person to whom the name is given. His father ('Wagoner') may have been a musician --of the Dionysiac
order (the dithyramb was always in the 'Phrygian'
mode, and decidedly orgiastic: Aristot. Pol. 5 (8).
7. 9 f.=1342 A-B).
The
dionysus
infleunced clergy hoped that John wore soft clothing
of a king's catamite and that Jesus would lament and
dance the choral to prove that He was also a homosexual:
They
are
like unto children sitting in the
marketplace, and calling one to another, and
saying, We have piped unto you, and ye
have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have
not wept. Lu.7:32
The lament is derived from the
Greek base:
Thriambeuo ((g2358)
three-am-byoo'-o; from a prol. comp. of the base
of 2360 and a der. of 680 (mean. a noisy iambus,
sung in honor of Bacchus); to make an
acclamatory procession, i.e. (fig.) to conquer or
(by Hebr.) to give victory: - (cause) to triumph
(over).
Thriambos A. hymn to Dionysus,
sung in
festal processions to his honour, Cratin.36. 2. epith. of Dionysus,
Because Jesus DRANK they accused
Him of being a winedrinker. Of course in His own
way He called them liars.
By the clustered
charm that Dionysus sheds o'er the vintage I
vow there yet shall come a time when thou wilt turn
thy thoughts to Bromius.
[537]
What furious rage the earth-born race displays,
even Pentheus
sprung of a dragon (serpent) of old,
himself the son of earth-born
Echion, a savage monster in his very mien, not made in human
mould,
THOUGH I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not charity, I
am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal. 1 Cor13:1
Sounding in Greek is: 1
Corinthians chapter 13:, 1 Corinthians chapter
13:,
Echeo (g2278) ay-kheh'-o;
from 2279; to make a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound.
Echos (g2279) ay'-khos; of
uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise ("echo"), i.e. roar: fig. a
rumor: - fame, sound.
Hebrew Dictionary linked to
Strong Numbers Chalal (h2490) an instructor/ of
distance/space, start, commence; to redeem, to desecrate, make void, to
create a cavity, vacuum, hollow, an empty space; a hollow/vacuum
as a means to trap or bring together, nature; a vault, to
make hollow: to wound, pierce, define, violate, make vulgar, wounded, slain,
dead, the action of resisting: to break,
disregard; violating instruction, to arrange/ an
order of instruction; to assign, to pipe, play
pipes
Echo 1 Corinthians chapter 13:,
in
Greek
mythology, a mountain nymph, or oread. Ovid's
Metamorphoses relates that Echo offended the
goddess Hera by keeping her in conversation, thus preventing her
from spying on one of Zeus' amours. To punish
Echo, Hera deprived her of speech, except for the
ability to repeat the last
words of another. Echo's hopeless
love for Narcissus, who fell in love with his own
image, made her fade away until all that was left
of her was her voice.
According
to
the
Greek writer Longus, Echo rejected the advances of the
god Pan; he thereupon drove the shepherds
mad, and they tore her to pieces. Gaea (Earth)
buried her limbs but allowed her to retain the
power of song. (Britannica Members
Ovid Metamorphoses 7.346. 1
Corinthians chapter 13:,
against
the magic-making sound of gongs
........O
wonder-working Moon, I draw you down
against the magic-making sound of gongs
........and brazen vessels of Temesa's ore;
I cast my spells and veil the jeweled
raysof Phoebus'
wain,
........and quench Aurora's
fires.
At my command you tamed the flaming bulls
but like some murderous giant pitted against
heaven; for he means
to bind me, the handmaid of Bromius, in cords
forthwith, and e'en now he keeps my fellow-reveller pent within his palace, plunged in a gloomy dungeon. Dost thou mark this, O Dionysus, son
of Zeus, thy prophets struggling 'gainst resistless
might? Come, O king, brandishing thy golden thyrsus
along the slopes of Olympus; restrain the pride of
this bloodthirsty wretch!
[556]
Oh! where in Nysa, haunt of beasts, or on the
peaks of Corycus art thou, Dionysus, marshalling
with thy wand the revellers?
or haply
in the thick forest depths of Olympus,
where erst Orpheus with his lute gathered trees to his
minstrelsy,
and beasts that range the fields.
Ah blest
Pieria! Evius honours thee, to thee will he come
with his Bacchic
rites to lead the
dance, and thither will he lead the circling Maenads, crossing
the swift current
of Axius and the Lydias, that giveth wealth and
happiness to man, yea, and the father of rivers,
which, as I have heard, enriches with his waters fair a land of steeds.
mainas
, ados, hê, ( [mainomai] )
A. raving, frantic, lussa v. l. in S.Fr.941.4;
bakchê E.Ba.915 .
2. as Subst., mad woman, esp. Bacchante, Maenad,
mainadi isê Il.22.460 , cf. h.Cer.386, A.Fr.382,
S.OT212 (lyr.), etc.; of the Furies, A.Eu.500
(lyr.); of Cassandra, E.Tr. 173 (lyr.).
3. = pornê, Poll.7.203 cod. A, Hdn.Epim.83.
II. Act., causing madness, esp. of love, mainas
ornis Pi.P.4.216 .
Chor-euô
: hence, take part in the chorus, regarded as a
matter of religion
Paizô
play like a child, sport. 4. play on a musical
instrument, h.Ap.206: c. acc., Pan ho
kalamophthonga paizôn Ar.Ra.230 ; dance
and sing, Pi. O.1.16.
5. play amorously, pros allêlous
X.Smp.9.2 ; meta tinos LXX Ge.26.8 ; of mares,
Arist.HA572a30.
Pindar,
Olympian 1 [1] Water is best, and
gold, like a blazing fire in the night, stands
out supreme of all lordly wealth. But if, my
heart, you wish to sing of
contests, [5] look no further for any star
warmer than the sun, shining by day through the
lonely sky, and let us not proclaim any contest
greater than Olympia. From there glorious song
enfolds the wisdom of poets,1 so that they
loudly sing [10] the son of Cronus, when they
arrive at the rich and blessed hearth of Hieron,
[12] who wields the scepter of law in Sicily of
many flocks, reaping every excellence at its
peak, and is glorified [15] by the choicest
music, which we men often play around his
hospitable table. Come, take the Dorian lyre
down from its peg, if the splendor of Pisa and
of Pherenicus placed your mind under the
influence of sweetest thoughts
DIONYSUS Within
[576]
What ho! my Bacchantes, ho! hear my call, oh!
hear.
CHORUS
Who art thou?
what Evian cry is this that calls me? whence comes
it?
DIONYSUS
What ho! once
more I call, I the son of Semele, the child of Zeus.
CHORUS II
My master, O my
master, hail!
CHORUS III
Come to our
revel-band, O Bromian god.
CHORUS IV
Thou solid earth!
CHORUS
Most awful shock!
CHORUS VI
O horror! soon
will the palace of Pentheus totter and fall.
CHORUS VII
Dionysus is
within this house.
CHORUS VIII
Do homage to him.
CHORUS IX
We do! I do!
CHORUS
Did ye mark yon
architrave of stone upon the columns start asunder?
CHORUS XI
Within these
walls the triumph-shout of Bromius himself will rise.
DIONYSUS
Kindle the
blazing torch with lightning's fire, abandon to the
flames the halls of Pentheus.
CHORUS XII
Ha! dost not see
the flame, dost not clearly mark it at the
sacred tomb of Semele, the lightning flame which
long ago the hurler of the bolt left there?
CHORUS XIII
Your trembling
limbs prostrate, ye Maenads, low upon the ground.
CHORUS XIV
Yea, for our
king, the son of Zeus, is assailing and utterly
confounding this house.
Enter DIONYSUS.
DIONYSUS
[604]
Are ye so stricken with terror that ye have fallen to the earth, O foreign dames? Ye saw then, it
would seem, how the Bacchic god made Pentheus' halls
to quake; but arise, be of good heart, compose your
trembling limbs.
CHORUS
O chiefest
splendour of our gladsome Bacchic sport, with what joy I see thee in my
loneliness!
DIONYSUS
Were ye cast down when I was led into the house, to be
plunged into the gloomy
dungeons of Pentheus?
CHORUS
Indeed I was. Who
was to protect me, if thou shouldst meet with
mishap? But how wert thou set free from the clutches
of this godless wretch?
DIONYSUS
My
own
hands worked
out my own salvation, easily and without trouble.
CHORUS
But did he not
lash fast thy hands with cords?
DIONYSUS
There too I mocked
him; he thinks he bound me, whereas he never touched
or caught hold of me, but fed himself on fancy. For at the stall, to which he brought
me for a gaol, he found
a bull, whose legs
and hoofs he straightly tied, breathing out fury the
while, the sweat trickling from his body, and he
biting his lips; but I from near at hand sat calmly
looking on.
katorcheomai
,
A. dance in triumph over one, treat despitefully,
Hdt.3.151, LXX Za.12.10, Phld.Piet.52, Ael.NA5.54;
tês anaisthêsias Plu. 2.57a .
II. subdue or enchant by dancing, Luc.Salt.22.
III. intr., dance vehemently, Str.17.1.17.
Meantime came the
Bacchic god and made the house quake,
and at his mother's
tomb relit the fire;
but Pentheus, seeing this, thought his palace was
ablaze, and hither and thither he rushed, bidding
his servants bring
water; but all in
vain was every servant's busy toil.
Thereon he let
this labour be awhile, and, thinking maybe that I
had escaped, rushed into the palace with his
murderous sword unsheathed.
Then did Bromius-so at least it seemed to me; I only
tell you what I thought-made a phantom in the hall, and he rushed after it
in headlong haste, and stabbed the lustrous air, thinking he wounded me.
Further the Bacchic god did other outrage to him; he
dashed the building to the ground, and there it
lies a mass of ruin, a sight to make him rue most
bitterly my bonds. At last from sheer fatigue he
dropped his sword and fell fainting; for he a
mortal frail,
dared to
wage war upon a god;
but I meantime
quietly left the house and am come to you,
with never a thought of Pentheus. But methinks he
will soon appear before the house; at least there
is a sound of steps within. What will he say, I
wonder, after this? Well, be his fury never so
great, I will lightly bear it; for 'tis a wise man's way to school his temper into due
control.
Enter PENTHEUS.
PENTHEUS
[642]
Shamefully have I
been treated; that stranger, whom but now I made so
fast in prison, hath escaped me. Ha! there is the
man! What means this? How didst thou come forth, to
appear thus in front of my palace?
DIONYSUS
Stay where thou
art; and moderate thy fury.
PENTHEUS
How is it thou
hast escaped thy fetters and art at large?
DIONYSUS
Did I not say, or
didst thou not hear me, "There is one will loose
me."
PENTHEUS
Who was it? there
is always something strange in what thou sayest.
DIONYSUS
He who makes the
clustering vine to grow for man.
PENTHEUS
(I scorn him and
his vines!)
DIONYSUS
A fine taunt
indeed thou hurlest here at Dionysus!
PENTHEUS To his
servants
Bar every tower that hems us in, I order
you.
DIONYSUS
What use? Cannot
gods pass even over walls?
PENTHEUS
How wise thou
art, except where thy wisdom is needed!
DIONYSUS
Where most 'tis
needed, there am I most wise. But first listen to
yonder messenger and hear what he says; he comes
from the hills with tidings for thee; and I will
await thy pleasure, nor seek to fly.
Enter MESSENGER.
Messenger.
Pentheus, ruler of this realm of Thebes! I am come
from Cithaeron, where the dazzling flakes of pure
white snow ne'er cease to fall.
PENTHEUS
What urgent news
dost bring me?
MESSENGER
I have seen, O
king, those frantic
Bacchanals, who
darted in frenzy from this land with bare white feet,
and I am come to tell thee and the city the wondrous
deeds they do, deeds passing strange. But I fain
would hear, whether I am freely to tell all I saw
there, or shorten my story; for I fear thy hasty
temper, sire, thy sudden bursts of wrath and more
than princely rage.
PENTHEUS
Say on, for thou
shalt go unpunished by me in all respects; for to be
angered with the upright is wrong. The direr thy
tale about the Bacchantes, the heavier punishment
will I inflict on
this fellow who
brought his secret arts amongst our women.
MESSENGER (lying?)
[677]
I was just driving the herds of kine to a ridge of
the hill as I fed them, as the sun shot forth his
rays and made the earth grow warm; when lo!
I see three revel-bands of women;
Autonoe was chief of one,
thy mother Agave of the second,
while Ino's was the third.
There they lay
asleep, all tired out; some were resting on branches
of the pine, others had laid their heads in careless
ease on oak-leaves piled upon the ground,
observing
all modesty; not, as thou sayest,
seeking to gratify
their lusts alone
amid the woods,
by wine and soft
flute-music maddened.
Anon in their midst thy mother uprose and cried aloud to wake them
from their sleep, when she heard the lowing
of my horned kine. And up they started to their feet,
brushing from their eyes sleep's quickening dew, a
wondrous sight of grace and modesty, young and old
and maidens yet unwed.
First o'er
their shoulders they
let stream
their hair;
then all did gird their fawn-skins
up, who hitherto
had left the fastenings loose, girdling the dappled hides with snakes that licked their cheeks.
Others fondled in
their arms gazelles or savage whelps of wolves, and
suckled them-young mothers these with babes at
home, whose breasts were still full of milk; crowns
they wore of ivy or of oak or blossoming convolvulus. And one took her thyrsus and struck
it into the earth,
and
forth there gushed a limpid
spring; and another
plunged her wand into the lap of earth
and there the god sent up a fount of wine; and all who wished for draughts of milk had but to scratch the soil with their
finger-tips and there they had it in abundance,
while from every ivy-wreathed staff sweet rills of honey trickled.
Hadst thou been
there and seen this, thou wouldst have turned to pray to the god, whom now thou dost disparage. Anon we herdsmen and shepherds met to
discuss their strange and wondrous doings;
then one, who
wandereth oft to town and hath a trick of speech, made harangue in the midst,
"O ye who dwell
upon the hallowed mountain-terraces! shall we
chase Agave, mother of Pentheus, from her Bacchic
rites, and thereby do our prince a service?"
We liked his
speech, and placed ourselves in hidden ambush
among the leafy thickets; they at the appointed time
began to wave the thyrsus for their Bacchic rites, calling on Iacchus (Iacchus or Bacchus, honored by all,
deviser of our festal
song and dance
- the Bromian god,
the son of Zeus, in united
chorus, and the
whole mount and the wild creatures re-echoed their
cry; all nature stirred as they rushed on.
[728]
Now Agave chanced to come springing near me, so
up I leapt from out my ambush where I lay concealed, meaning to
seize her.
But she cried
out, "What ho! my nimble
hounds (homosexual priests), here are men upon our track; but
follow me, ay, follow, with the thyrsus in your hand for weapon."
Jesus
IDENTIFIED
them
as the Crooked Generation and as NIMBLE HOUNDS
And when the messengers of John were departed, he
began to speak unto the people concerning John, What
went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed
shaken with the wind? Lu.7:24
But
what
went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft
(clothes of a Catamite=male
prostitute) raiment? Behold, they which are
gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately (effeminate), are in kings
courts. Luke 7:25
Malakos , d. = pathêtikos
e. of music, soft, effeminate, m. harmoniai
Pl.R.398e , 411a, cf. Arist.Pol.1290a28; tuned
to a low pitch, opp. suntonos, chrôma m.
Cleonid.Harm.7 , etc.
And
the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men
of this generation? and to what are they like? Luke
7:31
They are like unto children sitting in the
marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying,
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we
have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. Luke 7:32
Latin: [17] dicunt cecinimus vobis et non saltastis lamentavimus et
non planxistis
CANO , to produce
melodious sounds, whether of men or animals, of
the crowing of a cock, (the crowing of a hen being
considered as an auspicium malum),
[IN ROMANS
14] In the lang. of the
Pythagoreans, of the heavenly
bodies (considered as living beings), the music
of the spheres,C. Since the responses of oracles
were given in verse, to prophesy, foretell,
predict. In poetry: Sibylla,
Canto
III. In the lang. of religion,
as v. n. or a., to use enchantments, charms,
incantations, to enchant, to charm,
Arnobius speaking of the
Parasites: Was it for this He
sent souls, that in men they should become
IMPURE,
in women harlots, players on
the triangle and psaltery; that they should
prostitute their bodies for
hire, should abandon themselves to the lust of
all ready in the brothels, to be met with
in the stews, ready to submit
to anything, prepared to do violence to their
mouth even?
Psaltes , ae, m., =
psaltês, a player on the cithara, a musician,
minstrel, Quint. 1, 10, 18; Mart. Cap. 9,
§ 924; Sid. Ep. 8, 9; Inscr. Grut. 331, 2; Vulg.
2 Reg. 23, 1.
Thrêneô sing a dirge, wail, Mousai
Thriambeuo (g2358)
three-am-byoo'-o; from a prol. comp. of the base
of 2360 and a der. of 680 (mean. a noisy iambus,
sung in honor of Bacchus); to make an
acclamatory procession, i.e. (fig.) to conquer
or (by Hebr.) to give victory: - (cause) to
triumph (over).
For
John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor
drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. Luke
7:33
The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye
say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners Luke 7:34
But wisdom is justified of all
her children. Luke 7:35
Thereat we
fled, to escape being torn in pieces by the
Bacchantes; but
they, with hands that bore no weapon of steel,
attacked our cattle as they browsed. Then wouldst
thou have seen Agave mastering
some sleek lowing calf, while others rent
the heifers limb from limb. Before thy eyes there
would have been hurling of ribs and hoofs this way
and that; and strips of flesh, all blood-bedabbled,
dripped as they hung from the pine-branches.
Wild bulls, that glared but now with rage
along their horns, found themselves tripped up,
dragged down to earth by countless maidens'
hands.
The flesh upon
their limbs was stripped therefrom quicker than
thou couldst have closed thy royal eye-lids.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of
Bashan have beset me round. Psalm 22:12
They gaped
upon
me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Psalm 22:13
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out
of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the
midst of my bowels. Psalm 22:14
See Gilgamesh and The Bull of
Heaven
Then off they
sped, like birds that skim the air, to the plains
beneath the hills, which bear a fruitful harvest for
Thebes beside the waters of Asopus;
to Hysiae and Erythrae, hamlets 'neath Cithaeron's peak, with fell intent, swooping on
everything and scattering all pellmell; and they
would snatch children from their homes; but all that
they placed upon their shoulders, abode there firmly
without being tied, and fell not to the dusky earth,
not even brass or iron; and on their hair
they carried fire and it burnt them not;
but the country-folk rushed to arms, furious at
being pillaged by Bacchanals;
[760]
whereon ensued, O king, this wondrous spectacle. For though the ironshod dart would draw no blood
from them, they with
the thyrsus, which they hurled,
caused many a wound and put their foes to utter rout,
women chasing men, by some god's intervention. Then
they returned to the place whence they had started,
even to the springs the god had made to spout for
them; and there washed off the blood, while serpents
with their tongues were licking clean each gout
from their cheeks.
thursos A.thursaAP6.158
(Sabin.):
--wand wreathed in ivy and vine-leaves with a
pine-cone at the top, carried by the
devotees of Dionysus, E.Ba.80 (lyr.), SIG1109.138, Hero
Spir.2.9, etc.; also of the devotees
themselves, Sch.E.Hec.
261.
II. = klados, rhabdos, Hsch.
(Prob. a loan-word.)
Rhabdos
, hê, A.rod,
wand, Hom. (v. infr.), etc.; lighter than
the baktêria or
walking-stick, X.Eq.11.4
(but = baktêria, Ev.Matt.10.10,
al.) 1.magic wand, as that of Circe, Od.10.238,
319,
6. wand borne by the rhapsôidos, tonepirhabdôimuthonhuphainomenon
[770] Wherefore,
my
lord and master, receive
this
deity, whoe'er he
be, within the city; for, great as he is in all
else, I have likewise heard men say, 'twas he that
gave the vine to man, sorrow's antidote. Take wine
away and Cypris flies, and every other human
joy is dead.
daimôn [Perh. from daiô B,
to divide or distribute destinies.] I.
a
god, goddess, like theos, thea, Hom., Trag.,
etc.:--in Hom. also deity or divine power (theos
denotes a god in person), manes
Kupris, Cypris:
Demoteros
III. = dêmosios
1.2, common, vulgar, Kupris ib.415.2 (Antiphil.).
Kupris 1
I. Cypris,
a
name of Aphrodite, from the island of Cyprus, where
she was most worshipped, Il., Trag., etc. 2.
metaph., of a beautiful girl, a Venus, II. as appellat. love, passion,
Eur., etc.
CHORUS
[775]
Though I fear to speak my
mind with freedom in the presence of my king, still
must I utter this; Dionysus yields to no deity in
might.
PENTHEUS
Already,
look you! the presumption of these Bacchantes is upon us, swift as fire, a sad
disgrace in the eyes of all Hellas. No time for
hesitation now! away to the Electra gate! order a muster of all my men-at-arms, of those that mount fleet steeds, of
all who brandish light bucklers,
of archers
too that make the bowstring
twang; for I will march against the Bacchanals. By Heaven this passes all, if we are
to be thus treated by
women.
Pentheus
êdê tod' engus hôste pur huphaptetai
hubrisma bakchôn, psogos es Hellênas megas.
all' ouk oknein dei: steich' ep' Êlektras iôn
pulas: keleue pantas aspidêphorous
hippôn t' apantan tachupodôn epembatas
peltas th' hosoi pallousi kai toxôn cheri
psallousi neuras, hôs epistrateusomen
bakchaisin: ou gar all' huperballei tade,
ei pros gunaikôn peisomesth' ha paschomen.
Psallous to touch sharply, to
pluck, pull, twitch
Neura,
A.string or cord of sinew, in
Ep. usu. bowstring,
Bakchê , A.Bacchante,
A.Eu.25,
S.Ant.1122
(lyr.), Ar.Nu.605,
Pl.
Ion534a, etc.: generally, BakchêHaidoufrantic
handmaid of Hades, E.Hec.1077;
b. nekuônId.Ph.1489
(lyr.).
mainas , ados, hê, ( [mainomai] )
A.raving, frantic, lussa v. l. in S.Fr.941.4;
bakchêE.Ba.915
.
2. as Subst., mad woman, esp. Bacchante,
Maenad, mainadiisêIl.22.460
, cf. h.Cer.386,
A.Fr.382, S.OT212
(lyr.), etc.; of the Furies, A.Eu.500
(lyr.); of Cassandra, E.Tr.
173 (lyr.).
3. = pornê, Poll.7.203
cod. A, Hdn.Epim.83.
II. Act., causing madness, esp. of
love, mainasornisPi.P.4.216
.
huperballô E.Ba.785
exceed all bounds, excess
Click for: The Twanging Bowstring is the
background to external melody or the Greek
PSALLO in Paul's writings.
Click For: Of the song to Deborah:
This
was
a warrior's song which was a
boasting song. Here, the NIV supports the "musical" position without
authority:
the
voice
of the singers [e] at the watering
places. They recite the righteous acts
of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors
[f] in Israel. "Then the people of the LORD went
down to the city gates. Judges 5:11NIV
- e11 Or 'archers'; the meaning of
the Hebrew
- for this word is uncertain.
f11 Or 'villagers'
Exit MESSENGER.
DIONYSUS (Don't question God's annointed!)
Still obdurate, O
Pentheus, after hearing my words!
In
spite of all the evil treatment I am enduring from
thee,
still I warn thee of the sin of bearing arms against
a god, and bid thee
cease;
for Bromius will not endure thy driving his votaries
from the mountains where they revel.
PENTHEUS
A truce to thy
preaching to me!
thou hast escaped thy bonds, preserve thy liberty;
else will I renew thy punishment.
DIONYSUS
I would rather do
him sacrifice than in a fury kick against the pricks; thou a mortal, he a god.
PENTHEUS
Sacrifice! that
will I, by setting afoot a wholesale slaughter of women 'mid Cithaeron's glens, as they deserve.
DIONYSUS
Ye will all be
put to flight-a shameful thing that they with the Bacchic thyrsus should rout your mail-clad warriors.
PENTHEUS
I find this
stranger a troublesome foe to encounter; doing or
suffering he is alike irrepressible.
DIONYSUS (Let's compromise)
Friend, there is
still a way to compose this bitterness.
PENTHEUS
Say how; am I to
serve my own servants?
DIONYSUS
I will bring the
women hither without weapons.
PENTHEUS
Ha! ha! this is
some crafty scheme of thine against me.
DIONYSUS
What kind of
scheme, if by my craft I purpose to save
thee?
PENTHEUS
You have combined
with them to form this plot, that your revels
may on for ever.
DIONYSUS
Nay, but this is
the compact I made with the god; be sure of that.
PENTHEUS Preparing
to start forth
Bring forth my
arms. Not another word from thee!
DIONYSUS
[810]
Ha! wouldst thou see them seated on the hills?
PENTHEUS
Of all things,
yes! I would give untold sums for that.
DIONYSUS
Why this sudden,
strong desire?
PENTHEUS
'Twill be a
bitter sight, if I find them drunk with wine.
DIONYSUS
And would that be
a pleasant sight which will prove bitter to thee?
PENTHEUS
Believe me, yes!
beneath the fir-trees as I sit in silence.
DIONYSUS
Nay, they will
track thee, though thou come secretly.
PENTHEUS
Well, I will go
openly; thou wert right to say so.
DIONYSUS
Am I to be thy
guide? wilt thou essay the road?
PENTHEUS
Lead on with all
speed, I grudge thee all delay.
(Dionysus, by
getting Pentheus involved in the effeminate
practices will discredit him, emasculate him and
weaken him so that he will be destroyed by his own
charismatic mother)
DIONYSUS
Array thee then in robes of fine linen.
PENTHEUS
Why so? Am I to enlist among women after being
a man?
DIONYSUS
They may kill
thee, if thou show
thy manhood there.
PENTHEUS
Well said! Thou
hast given me a taste of thy wit already.
DIONYSUS
Dionysus schooled
me in this lore.
PENTHEUS
How am I to carry
out thy wholesome advice?
DIONYSUS
Myself will enter
thy palace and robe
thee.
PENTHEUS
What is the robe
to be? a woman's? Nay, I am ashamed.
DIONYSUS
Thy eagerness to
see the Maenads goes no further.
PENTHEUS
But what dress
dost say thou wilt robe me in?
DIONYSUS
Upon thy head
will I make thy hair
grow long.
PENTHEUS
Describe my
costume further.
DIONYSUS
Thou wilt wear a
robe reaching to thy feet; and on thy head shall be a snood.
(a ribbon for unwed girls)
PENTHEUS
Wilt add aught
else to my attire?
DIONYSUS
A thyrsus
in thy hand, and a dappled
fawnskin.
Here
is
the Judas
bag
attached to the dappled fawnskin flute case. The
little box is derived from two Greek words:
"speaking in tongues" and "of the world." Of course,
when the pipers are both drunk and naked they used
the thyrus or crooked stick to prop themselves up.
This is a picture of the KOMO.
PENTHEUS
I can never
put on woman's dress.
DIONYSUS
Then wilt thou cause bloodshed by coming
to blows with the Bacchanals.
PENTHEUS
Thou art right.
Best go spy upon them first.
DIONYSUS
Well, e'en that
is wiser than by evil means to follow evil ends.
PENTHEUS
But how shall I
pass through the city of the Cadmeans unseen?
DIONYSUS
We will go by
unfrequented paths. I will lead the way.
PENTHEUS
Anything rather
than that the Bacchantes should laugh
at me.
DIONYSUS
We will enter
the palace and consider the proper steps.
PENTHEUS
Thou
hast
my leave. I am all readiness. I will enter,
prepared to set out either sword in hand or
following thy advice.
Exit PENTHEUS.
DIONYSUS
Women! our prize is nearly in
the net. Soon
shall he reach the Bacchanals,
and
there
pay forfeit with his life.
O Dionysus! now 'tis thine to
act, for thou art not far away; let us take
vengeance on him.
First drive him mad by fixing in his soul a wayward frenzy;
for never, whilst his senses are his own,
will he consent to don a woman's dress;
but when his mind
is gone astray
he will put it on.
And fain
would I make him a laughing-stock to Thebes as he is led in woman's dress through the city, after those threats with which
he menaced me before.
But I will go
to array Pentheus in those robes which he shall
wear when he sets out for Hades' halls, a victim to his own mother's fury;
so shall he
recognize Dionysus, the son of Zeus, who
proves himself at last a god most terrible, for all his gentleness to man.
Exit
DIONYSUS.
CHORUS
[862]
Will this white foot e'er join the night-long dance? what time in Bacchic ecstasy I toss
my neck to
heaven's dewy breath, like a fawn, that gambols
'mid the meadow's green delights, when she hath
escaped the fearful chase,
clear of the
watchers, o'er the woven nets; while the huntsman, with loud halloo, harks on his hounds'
full cry, and she with laboured breath at
lightning speed bounds o'er the level
water-meadows, glad to be far from man amid the
foliage of the bosky grove.
What is true
wisdom, or what fairer boon has heaven placed in
mortals' reach,
than
to
gain the mastery o'er a fallen foe? What is fair is dear for aye.
Though slow be its advance, yet surely moves the power of the gods, correcting those mortal wights,
that court a senseless pride, or,
in the madness of their fancy, disregard the gods. Subtly they lie in wait, through
the long march of time, and so hunt down the
godless man.
For it is never
right in theory or in practice to o'erride the law of custom. This is a maxim cheaply bought:
whatever comes of god, or in time's long annals,
has grown into a law upon a natural basis, this is sovereign.
What is true
wisdom, or what fairer boon has heaven placed in
mortals' reach,
than to gain the
mastery o'er a fallen foe?
[902]
What is fair is dear for wave. Happy is he who
hath escaped the wave from out the sea, and
reached the haven; and happy he who hath triumphed o'er his troubles; though one surpasses
another in wealth and power; yet there be myriad
hopes for all the myriad minds; some end in
happiness for man, and others come to naught; but
him, whose life from day to day is blest, I deem a
happy man.
The
archaic sound of the English “happy is he...”,
with its implicit echo of the beatitudes from the
Sermon on the Mount, is appropriate here, for the
chorus is describing beatitudes of a kind (though
not strictly religious beatitudes) as appear at
73ff.
Enter
DIONYSUS.
[912]
DIONYSUS
Ho! Pentheus,
thou that art so eager to see what is forbidden, and to show thy zeal in an unworthy
cause, come forth before the palace,
let me see
thee clad as a
woman
in frenzied Bacchante's dress, to spy upon thy
own mother and her company.
Mainas
, ados, hê, ( [mainomai] )
A. raving, frantic, lussa v. l. in
S.Fr.941.4; bakchê E.Ba.915 .
2. as Subst., mad woman, esp.
Bacchante, Maenad, mainadi isê Il.22.460 , cf.
h.Cer.386, A.Fr.382, S.OT212 (lyr.), etc.; of
the Furies, A.Eu.500 (lyr.); of Cassandra,
E.Tr. 173 (lyr.).
3. = pornê, Poll.7.203 cod. A, Hdn.Epim.83.
II. Act., causing madness, esp. of love, mainas
ornis Pi.P.4.216 .
Enter
PENTHEUS.
Yes, thou
resemblest closely a daughter
of Cadmus.
PENTHEUS (already frenzied)
Of a truth I
seem to see two suns, and two
towns of Thebes, our seven-gated city; and thou,
methinks, art a bull going before to guide me, and on thy
head a pair of horns have grown. Wert thou really once a
brute beast? Thon hast at any rate the appearance
of a bull.
mainas ,
ados, hê, ( [mainomai] )
A.raving, frantic, lussa v. l. in
S.Fr.941.4;
bakchêE.Ba.915
.
