Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 10.3.13

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[13] We have the testimony of the poets in favour of these opinions. Pindar, in the Dithyrambus, which begins in this manner;

formerly the dithyrambus used to creep upon the ground, long and trailing.

After mentioning the hymns, both ancient and modern, in honour of Bacchus, he makes a digression, and says,

for thee, O Mother, resound the large circles of the cymbals, and the ringing crotala; for thee, blaze the torches of the yellow pine;

where he combines with one another the rites celebrated among the Greeks in honour of Dionysus with those performed among the Phrygians in honour of the mother of the gods. Euripides, in the Bacchae, does the same thing, con joining, from the proximity of the countries,¹ Lydian and Phrygian customs.

“Then forsaking Tmolus, the rampart of Lydia, my maidens, my pride, [whom I took from among barbarians and made the partners and companions of my way, raise on high the tambourine of Phrygia, the tambourine of the great mother Rhea,] my invention.

Blest and happy he who, initiated into the sacred rites of the gods, leads a pure life; who celebrating the orgies of the Great Mother Cybele, who brandishing on high the thyrsus and with ivy crowned, becomes Dionysus’ worshipper. Haste, Bacchanalians, haste, and bring Bromius Dionysus down from the Phrygian mountains to the wide plains of Greece.

And again, in what follows, he combines with these the Cretan rites.

Hail, sacred haunt of the Curetes, and divine inhabitants of Crete, progenitors of Jove, where for me the triple-crested Corybantes in their caves invented this skin-stretched circle [of the tambourine], who mingled with Bacchic strains the sweet breath of harmony from Phrygian pipes, and placed in Rhea’s hands this instrument which re-echoes to the joyous shouts of Bacchanalians: from the Mother Rhea the frantic Satyri succeeded in obtaining it, and introduced it into the dances of the Trieterides, among whom Dionysus delights to dwell.²

And the chorus in Palamedes says,

Not revelling with Dionysus, who together with his mother was cheered with the resounding drums along the tops of Ida.

Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 10.3.13 focus

[13] μάρτυρες δʼ οἱ ποιηταὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὑπονοιῶν· ὅ τε γὰρ Πίνδαρος ἐν τῷ διθυράμβῳ οὗ ἡ ἀρχή

πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινοτένεια τʼ ἀοιδὰ

διθυράμβων,

μνησθεὶς τῶν περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον ὕμνων τῶν τε παλαιῶν καὶ τῶν ὕστερον, μεταβὰς ἀπὸ τούτων φησί

σοὶ μὲν κατάρχειν,

μᾶτερ μεγάλα, πάρα ῥόμβοι κυμβάλων,

ἐν δὲ κεχλάδειν κρόταλʼ, αἰθομένα τε

δᾲς ὑπὸ ξανθαῖσι πεύκαις,

τὴν κοινωνίαν τῶν περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον ἀποδειχθέντων νομίμων παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ τῶν παρὰ τοῖς Φρυξὶ περὶ τὴν μητέρα τῶν θεῶν συνοικειῶν ἀλλήλοις. Εὐριπίδης τε ἐν ταῖς Βάκχαις τὰ παραπλήσια ποιεῖ, τοῖς Φρυγίοις ἅμα καὶ τὰ Λύδια συμφέρων διὰ τὸ ὅμορον

ἀλλʼ ὦ λιποῦσαι Τμῶλον, ἔρυμα Λυδίας,

θίασος ἐμὸς γυναῖκες, ἃς ἐκ βαρβάρων

ἐκόμισα παρέδρους καὶ ξυνεμπόρους ἐμοί,

αἴρεσθε τἀπιχώριʼ ἐν πόλει Φρυγῶν

τύμπανα, Ῥέας τε μητρὸς ἐμά θʼ εὑρήματα

¹καὶ πάλιν

ὦ μάκαρ, ὅστις εὐδαίμων τελετὰς θεῶν

εἰδώς, βιοτὰν ἁγιστεύει.

τά τε ματρὸς μεγάλας ὄργια Κυβέλας θεμιστεύων

ἀνὰ θύρσον τε τινάσσων, κισσῷ τε στεφανωθεὶς

Διόνυσον θεραπεύει.

ἴτε Βάκχαι, ἴτε Βάκχαι, βρόμιον παῖδα θεὸν θεοῦ

Διόνυσον κατάγουσαι Φρυγίων ἐξ ὀρέων

Ἑλλάδος εἰς εὐρυχόρους ἀγυιάς.

²πάλιν δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς καὶ τὰ Κρητικὰ συμπλέκει τούτοις

ὦ θαλάμευμα Κουρήτων, ζάθεοί τε Κρήτας

διογενέτορες ἔναυλοι,

ἔνθα τρικόρυθες ἄντροις

βυρσότονον κύκλωμα τόδε

μοι Κορύβαντες εὗρον.

ἀνὰ δὲ βακχεῖα συντόνῳ

κέρασαν ἁδυβόᾳ Φρυγίων

αὐλῶν πνεύματι, ματρός τε Ῥέας

εἰς χέρα θῆκαν κτύπον εὐάσμασι Βακχᾶν,

παρὰ δὲ μαινόμενοι Σάτυροι

ματέρος ἐξανύσαντο Ῥέας.

εἰς δὲ χορεύματα

προσῆψαν τριετηρίδων,

αἷς χαίρει Διόνυσος.

³καὶ ἐν Παλαμήδει φησὶν ὁ χορός

Θύσαν Διονύσου

κόραν, ὃς ἀνʼ Ἴδαν

τέρπεται σὺν ματρὶ φίλᾳ

τυμπάνων ἐπʼ ἰακχαῖς.

⁴

Translations (1)

Geography (Books 6-14) Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).) — 10.3.13 focus

[13] The poets bear witness to such views as I have suggested. For instance, when Pindar, in the dithyramb which begins with these words,

In earlier times there marched¹ the lay of the dithyrambs long drawn out,

mentions the hymns sung in honor of Dionysus, both the ancient and the later ones, and then, passing on from these, says,

To perform the prelude in thy honor, great Mother, the whirling of cymbals is at hand, and among them, also, the clanging of castanets, and the torch that blazeth beneath the tawny pine-trees,

he bears witness to the common relationship between the rites exhibited in the worship of Dionysus among the Greeks and those in the worship of the Mother of the gods among the Phrygians, for he makes these rites closely akin to one another. And Euripides does likewise, in his Bacchae, citing the Lydian usages at the same time with those of Phrygia, because of their similarity:

But ye who left Mt. Tmolus, fortress of Lydia, revel-band of mine, women whom I brought from the land of barbarians as my assistants and travelling companions, uplift the tambourines native to Phrygian cities, inventions of mine and mother Rhea.

²And again,

happy he who, blest man, initiated in the mystic rites, is pure in his life, . . . who, preserving the righteous orgies of the great mother Cybele, and brandishing the thyrsus on high, and wreathed with ivy, doth worship Dionysus. Come, ye Bacchae, come, ye Bacchae, bringing down³ Bromius,⁴ god the child of god, out of the Phrygian mountains into the broad highways of Greece.

⁵And again, in the following verses he connects the Cretan usages also with the Phrygian:

O thou hiding-bower⁶ of the Curetes, and sacred haunts of Crete that gave birth to Zeus, where for me⁷ the triple-crested⁸ Corybantes⁹ in their caverns invented this hide-stretched circlet,¹⁰ and blent its Bacchic revelry with the high-pitched, sweet-sounding breath of Phrygian flutes, and in Rhea’s hands placed its resounding noise, to accompany the shouts of the Bacchae,¹¹ and from Mother Rhea frenzied Satyrs obtained it and joined it to the choral dances of the Trieterides,¹² in whom Dionysus takes delight.

¹³ And in the Palamedes the Chorus says,¹⁴

Thysa, daughter of Dionysus, who on Ida rejoices with his dear mother in the Iacchic revels of tambourines.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. διὰ τὸ ὃμοοͅον, for διά τε Ὅμηρον. Meineke.

2. The literal translation has been preserved in the text for the sake of the argument. The following is Potter’s translation, in which, however, great liberty is taken with the original.

To whom the mysteries of the gods are known,

By these his life he sanctifies,

And, deep imbibed their chaste and cleaning lore,

Hallows his soul for converse with the skies.

Enraptur’d ranging the wild mountains o’er,

The mighty mother’s orgies leading,

He his head with ivy shading,

His light spear wreath’d with ivy twine,

To Bacchus holds the rites divine.

Haste then, ye Bacchae, haste.

Attend your god, the son of heaven’s high king.

From Phrygia’s mountains wild and waste

To beauteous-structur’d Greece your Bacchus bring

O ye Curetes, friendly band,

You, the blest natives of Crete’s sacred land,

Who tread those groves, which, dark’ning round,

O’er infant Jove their shelt’ring branches spread,

The Corybantes in their caves profound,

The triple crest high waving on their head,

This timbrel framed, whilst clear and high

Swelled the Bacchic symphony.

The Phrygian pipe attemp’ring sweet,

Their voices to respondence meet,

And placed in Rhea’s hands.

The frantic satyrs to the rites advance,

The Bacchae join the festive bands,

And raptur’d lead the Trieteric dance.

Strabo Geography 10.3.13

Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator)

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