Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 10.3.16

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[16] Also resembling these rites are the Cotytian and the Bendideian rites practiced among the Thracians, among whom the Orphic rites had their beginning. Now the Cotys who is worshipped among the Edonians, and also the instruments used in her rites, are mentioned by Aeschylus; for he says,

O adorable Cotys among the Edonians, and ye who hold mountain-ranging¹ instruments;

and he mentions immediately afterwards the attendants of Dionysus:

one, holding in his hands the bombyces,² toilsome work of the turner’s chisel, fills full the fingered melody, the call that brings on frenzy, while another causes to resound the bronze-bound cotylae³

and again,

stringed instruments raise their shrill cry, and frightful mimickers from some place unseen bellow like bulls, and the semblance⁴ of drums, as of subterranean thunder, rolls along, a terrifying sound;

for these rites resemble the Phrygian rites, and it is at least not unlikely that, just as the Phrygians themselves were colonists from Thrace, so also their sacred rites were borrowed from there. Also when they identify Dionysus and the Edonian Lycurgus, they hint at the homogeneity of their sacred rites.

Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Geography (Books 6-14) (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 10.3.16 focus

[16] τούτοις δʼ ἔοικε καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Θρᾳξὶ τά τε Κοτύττια καὶ τὰ Βενδίδεια, παρʼ οἷς καὶ τὰ Ὀρφικὰ τὴν καταρχὴν ἔσχε. τῆς μὲν οὖν Κότυος τῆς ἐν τοῖς Ἠδωνοῖς Αἰσχύλος μέμνηται καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὴν ὀργάνων. εἰπὼν γάρ

σεμνὰ Κότυς ἐν τοῖς Ἠδωνοῖς

ὄρεια δʼ ὄργανʼ ἔχοντες,

τοὺς περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον εὐθέως ἐπιφέρει

ὁ μὲν ἐν χερσὶν

βόμβυκας ἔχων, τόρνου κάματον,

δακτυλόδικτον πίμπλησι μέλος,

μανίας ἐπαγωγὸν ὁμοκλάν·

ὁ δὲ χαλκοδέτοις κοτύλαις ὀτοβεῖ.

καὶ πάλιν

ψαλμὸς δʼ ἀλαλάζει·

ταυρόφθογγοι δʼ ὑπομυκῶνται

ποθὲν ἐξ ἀφανοῦς φοβεροὶ μῖμοι,

τυπάνου δʼ εἰκὼν ὥσθʼ ὑπογαίου

βροντῆς φέρεται βαρυταρβής.

ταῦτα γὰρ ἔοικε τοῖς Φρυγίοις· καὶ οὐκ ἀπεικός γε, ὥσπερ αὐτοὶ οἱ Φρύγες Θρᾳκῶν ἄποικοί εἰσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ ἐκεῖθεν μετενηνέχθαι. καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἠδωνὸν Λυκοῦργον συνάγοντες εἰς ἓν τὴν ὁμοιοτροπίαν τῶν ἱερῶν αἰνίττονται.

Translations (1)

Geography Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.) — 10.3.16 focus

[16] The rites called Cotytia, and Bendideia,¹ celebrated among the Thracians, resemble these. The Orphic ceremonies had their origin among these people. Aeschylus mentions the goddess Cotys, and the instruments used in her worship among the Edoni.² For after saying,

O divine Cotys, goddess of the Edoni,

With the instruments of the mountain worship;”

immediately introduces the followers of Dionysus,

one holding the bombyces, the admirable work of the turner, with the fingers makes the loud notes resound, exciting frenzy; another makes the brass-bound cotylae to re-echo.

And in another passage;

The song of victory is poured forth; invisible mimes low and bellow from time to time like bulls, inspiring fear, and the echo of the drum rolls along like the noise of subterranean thunder;³

for these are like the Phrygian ceremonies, nor is it at all improbable that, as the Phrygians themselves are a colony of Thracians, so they brought from Thrace their sacred ceremonies, and by joining together Dionysus and the Edonian Lycurgus they intimate a similarity in the mode of the worship of both.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. The instruments, like those who play them (cp. sections 19 and 23 following), are boldly referred to as “mountain-ranging.”

2. A kind of reed-flute.

3. Literally “cups”; hence, a kind of cymbal.

4. In connection with this bold use of “semblance” ( εἰκών) by Aeschylus, note Strabo’s studied use of “resembles” ( ἔοικε, twice in this paragraph) and “unlikely” ( ἀπεικός). Others either translate εἰκών “echo,” or omit the thought.

Strabo Geography 10.3.16

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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