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Name: Nonnos of Panopolis
Date: 4th - 5th century CE
Region: [modern Egypt]
Citation: Dionysiaca 10.193-216
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Bacchus hid his immortal form from the youth
And approached him as a mortal, flirting with him
with these words: “Who’s your father?
What immortal womb gave you life?
What Grace raised you? Admit it—Apollo’s your father!
Tell me, darling (amice), don’t hide your lineage.
You act like you’re some wingless Cupid, but without weapons and a bow.
What god courted Venus to create you?
For I hesitate to call Venus your mother,
Since Vulcan or Mars can’t be your father.
Or are you the god they call Mercury?
Then show me your feathers, and the wings on your ankles.
Your long hair flows down your neck, but you don’t have a cithara.
Are you Phoebus, shaking his long wavy hair—but without your signature bow?
If Jupiter is my father, but you are mortal-born,
A short-lived satyr with cow-like horns,
Be king alongside me, equal to equal, a god and a mortal together,
For no one would question your godhood
While you were by my side.
Oh! I recognize your lineage—the one you’re trying to hide!
The Moon herself is your mother, having united with the Sun,
You’re as beautiful as Narcissus. For you have the same
Heavenly form as the moon—you both have horns!”
τὸν μὲν ἔχων Διόνυσος ὁμέψιον, ἁβρὸν ἀθύρων,
εἴρετο θαμβαλέην προχέων ἐπὶ κάλλεϊ φωνὴν
ὡς βροτός, ἀθανάτην δὲ δολοπλόκος ἔκρυφε μορφήν:
‘Τίς σε πατὴρ ἐφύτευσε; τίς οὐρανίη τέκε γαστήρ;
τίς Χαρίτων σε λόχευσε; τίς ἤροσε καλός Ἀπόλλων;
εἰπέ, φίλος, μὴ κρύπτε τεὸν γένος: εἰ μὲν ἱκάνεις
ἄπτερος ἄλλος Ἔρως βελέων δίχα, νόσφι φαρέτρης,
τίς μακάρων σε φύτευσε παρευνάζων Ἀφροδίτῃ;
καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ τρομέω σέο μητέρα Κύπριν ἐνίψαι,
μὴ γενέτην Ἥφαιστον ἢ Ἄρεα σεῖο καλέσσω.
εἰ δὲ σύ, τὸν καλέουσιν, ἀπ᾽ αἰθέρος ἤλυθες Ἑρμῆς,
δεῖξον ἐμοὶ πτερὰ κοῦφα καὶ ἔμπνοα ταρσὰ πεδίλων.
πῶς μεθέπεις ἄτμητον ἐπήορον αὐχένι χαίτην;
μὴ σύ μοι αὐτὸς ἵκανες ἄτερ κιθάρης, δίχα τόξου,
Φοῖβος ἀκερσικόμης κεχαλασμένα βόστρυχα σείων;
εἰ Κρονίδης με φύτευσε, σὺ δὲ χθονίης ἀπὸ φύτλης
βουκεράων Σατύρων μινυώριον αἷμα κομίζεις,
ἶσον ἐμοὶ βασίλευε, θεῷ βροτός: οὐ γὰρ ἐλέγξει
οὐράνιον τεὸν εἶδος Ὀλύμπιον αἷμα Λυαίου.
ἀλλὰ τί κικλήσκω σε μινυνθαδίης ἀπὸ φύτλης;
γινώσκω τεὸν αἷμα, καὶ εἰ κρύπτειν μενεαίνεις:
ἠελίῳ σε λόχευσε παρευνηθεῖσα Σελήνη
Ναρκίσσῳ χαρίεντι πανείκελον: αἰθέριον γὰρ
εἴκελον εἶδος ἔχεις, κεραῆς ἴνδαλμα Σελήνης.’
Hunc quidem habens Bacchus consobrinum mollis ludens
querebat admirantem profundens ob pulchritudinem, vocem
tamquam mortalis: immortale v. dolosus abscondebat formam:
"Quis te pater plantavit? Quis caelestis (te) genuit venter?
Que Charitum te enixa? quis (te) aravit pulcher Apollo?
Dic amice, non absconde tuum genus. Siquidem venis
non alatus alter Cupido, telis sine, absque pharetra.
quis deorum te plantavit concumbens cum Venere?
namque ego formido tuam matrem, Cyprin dicere.
Ne genitorem Vulcanum aut Martem tuum dicam,
sin vero tu, quem vocant ab aethere venisti Mercurius,
ostende mihi pennas leves, et vinas alas talarlium
qui habes intonsam sublimem super cervice comam
nisi mihi ipse veneris sine cithara. sine arcu
phoebus intonsus demissos cincinnos vibrans.
Si vero Saturnius me plantavit. Tu vero terrestri agenere
boum cornua habentium Satyrorum brevis qui sanguine fers,
aequaliter mihi regna deo mortalis, non enim arguet
caelestem tuam imaginem caelestis sanguis Bacchi
sed quid voco te ex exigua aliqua familia.
Cognosco tuum sanguinem, quamvis tegere studes.
solite peperit concumbens Luna,
Narcisso gratioso prorsus similem. Caelestem enim
consimilem imaginem habes cornutae simulacrum lunae.
tale verbum dixit.
Translated into Latin from the Greek by Eilhard Lubin
Nonnus of Panopolis [4th - 5th century CE] was an Egyptian born Roman citizen who composed the
Dionysiaca, a massive 48 volume epic about the life of the god Dionysus.
