Lucian of Samosata, De Syria dea, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 16

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[16] Me liketh what men seyn of the seyntuarye that acorden fulle wel to hem of Grece,that demen the goddesse Iuno and the seyntuarye mad of Bachus, Semeles sone. For withouten doubte Bachus cam to Surrye in that passage in the whiche he wente to Ethiope. And in the temple ben manye tokenes of Bachus foundour, as namely foreyne garnements and precious stones of Ynde and olifauntes hornes, that Bachus broght from Ethiope. And two yerdes, or pileres, stont in the entree, passynge highe, on the whiche is writen this scripture: “I Bachus presentede thise yerdes to Iuno my step moder.”¹ Now to me this sufficeth, natheles I schalle seye you another thing that is in the temple, that longeth to ceremonyes of Bachus. Men of Grece formen yerdes for worschipe of Bachus that beren on hem litylle men made of wode that han grete membres, the whiche men thei nempnen Popets.² And in the temple ther is this same thing; on the righte syde sitt a lityl man of brasse that hath a gret membre.

De Syria dea. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Goddesse of Surrye (English) (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τῆς Συρίης Θεοῦ Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 16 focus

[16] ἁνδάνει δέ μοι ἃ λέγουσιν τοῦ ἱροῦ πέρι τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὰ πολλὰ ὁμολογέοντες, τὴν μὲν θεὸν Ἥρην δοκέοντες, τὸ δʼ ἔργον Διονύσου τοῦ Σεμέλης ποίημα· καὶ γὰρ δὴ Διόνυσος ἐς Συρίην ἀπίκετο κείνην ὁδὸν τὴν ἦλθεν ἐς Αἰθιοπίην. καὶ ἔστι πολλὰ ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ Διονύσου ποιητέω σήματα, ἐν τοῖσι καὶ ἐσθῆτες βάρβαροι καὶ λίθοι Ἰνδοὶ καὶ ἐλεφάντων κέρεα, τὰ Διόνυσος ἐξ Αἰθιόπων ἤνεικεν, καὶ φαλλοὶ δὲ ἑστᾶσι ἐν τοῖσι προπυλαίοισι δύο κάρτα μεγάλοι, ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπίγραμμα τοιόνδε ἐπιγέγραπται, τούσδε φαλλοὺς Διόνυσος Ἥρῃ μητρυιῇ ἀνέθηκα. τὸ ἐμοὶ μέν νυν καὶ τόδε¹ ἀρκέει, ἐρέω δὲ καὶ ἄλλʼ ὅ τι ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ νηῷ Διονύσου ὄργιον. φαλλοὺς Ἕλληνες Διονύσῳ ἐγείρουσιν, ἐπὶ τῶν καὶ τοιόνδε τι φέρουσιν, ἄνδρας μικροὺς ἐκ ξύλου πεποιημένους, μεγάλα αἰδοῖα ἔχοντας· καλέεται δὲ τάδε νευρόσπαστα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ τόδε ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ· ἐν δεξιῇ τοῦ νηοῦ κάθηται μικρὸς ἀνὴρ χάλκεος ἔχων αἰδοῖον μέγα.

Notes on the current edition

The Goddesse of Surrye

Phallic pillars, further described below, cc. 28-29. The inscription is much too pointed to be genuine; it is a hoax like that in the True Story 1, 7 (vol. i, p. 255). Pillars were an ordinary feature of Semitic “high places,” both of wood (asherim) and of stone (masseboth); see Frazer, Folklore, iii, 62 sqq. In the case of the asherim I know of no direct evidence that they were phallic, but the masseboth, many of which still survive, are sometimes clearly of that nature (Cook, 14, 28; see also le Strange, Palestine wnder the Moslems, p. 294, for a curious survival of this significance). The pillars at Hieropolis were made of wood, since cleats were nailed to them; they were therefore asherim, and form a further bond between Ashera (Astarte) and Atargatis. Whether originally phallic or not, they were in Lucian’s day themselves used as “high places”; see below.

See Herodotus 2, 48, on Egyptian puppets (ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα).

Lucian of Samosata De Syria dea 16

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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