The Birth of Dionysus: Lucian, Dialogi Deorum IX

TRIGGER WARNING:  rape, death

A Dialogue between Mercury & Neptune / Hermes & Poseidon:

M: Peperit iam modo, Neptune.

N: Apage: illene peperit? ex quo? ergo nobis nec opinantibus fuit ambiguo sexu: sed nec indicium fecit eius uterus tumoris ullius.

M: Recte ais: neque enim ille habebat foetum.

N: Teneo: ex capite peperit iterum, ut Minervam: puerperum enim habet caput.

M: Neutiquam: sed in femore ferebat ex Semele infantem.

N: Euge, ut bonus ille totus nobis uterum gestat& in omni parte corporis! At quaenam est Semele?

M: Thebana, Cadmi filiarum una: illam congressus gravidam fecit.

N: Tum peperit, Mercuri, eius vice?

M: Ita plane, tametsi fidem mereri res tibi non videatur: Semelen enim dolis aggressa Iuno (nosti gravem eius aemulationem) inducit ad petendum a Iove, cum tonitrubus ac fulminibus ut veniat ad se. Cum morigeratus accessit fulmen habens, succensum est tectum, ipsaque Semele perit ab igne: tum me iubet, exsecto utero mulieris, deferre nondum maturum ad se foetum septimestrem: postquam feci, perscisso femori suo indit, ut maturaretur ibi. Nunc tertio iam mense partum edidit, atque imbecillius ex laboribus habet. 

N: Ubinam nunc infans est?

M: In Nysam ablatum tradidi Nymphys educandum, imposito Dionysi nomine.

N: Ergo utrumque Dionysi istius & mater & pater est hicce?

M: Ergo quidem videtur. At abeo, aquam ipsi ad vulnus laturus, ceteraque curaturus, quae solent, tanquam puerperae.

Ἑρμῆς

τέτοκεν ἀρτίως, ὦ Πόσειδον.

Ποσειδῶν

ἄπαγε, τέτοκεν ἐκεῖνος; ἐκ τίνος; οὐκοῦν ἐλελήθει ἡμᾶς ἀνδρόγυνος ὤν; ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ ἐπεσήμανεν ἡ γαστὴρ αὐτῷ ὄγκον τινά.

Ἑρμῆς

εὖ λέγεις: οὐ γὰρ ἐκείνη εἶχε τὸ ἔμβρυον.

Ποσειδῶν

οἶδα: ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἔτεκεν αὖθις ὥσπερ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν: τοκάδα γὰρ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἔχει.

Ἑρμῆς

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ ἐν τῷ μηρῷ ἐκύει τὸ ἐκ τῆς Σεμέλης βρέφος.

Ποσειδῶν

εὖ γε ὁ γενναῖος, ὡς ὅλος ἡμῖν κυοφορεῖ καὶ πανταχόθι τοῦ σώματος. ἀλλὰ τίς ἡ Σεμέλη ἐστί;

Ἑρμῆς

[2] Θηβαία, τῶν Κάδμου θυγατέρων μία. ταύτῃ συνελθὼν ἐγκύμονα ἐποίησεν.

Ποσειδῶν

εἶτα ἔτεκεν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνης;

Ἑρμῆς

καὶ μάλα, εἰ καὶ παράδοξον εἶναί σοι δοκεῖ: τὴν μὲν γὰρ Σεμέλην ὑπελθοῦσα ἡ Ἥρα — οἶσθα ὡς ζηλότυπός ἐστι — πείθει αἰτῆσαι παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς μετὰ βροντῶν [p. 87] καὶ ἀστραπῶν ἥκειν παρ᾽ αὐτήν: ὡς δὲ ἐπείσθη καὶ ἧκεν ἔχων καὶ τὸν κεραυνόν, ἀνεφλέγη ὁ ὄροφος, καὶ ἡ Σεμέλη μὲν διαφθείρεται ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός, ἐμὲ δὲ κελεύει ἀνατεμόντα τὴν γαστέρα τῆς γυναικὸς ἀνακομίσαι ἀτελὲς ἔτι αὐτῷ τὸ ἔμβρυον ἑπτάμηνον: καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐποίησα, διελὼν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μηρὸν ἐντίθησιν, ὡς ἀποτελεσθείη ἐνταῦθα, καὶ νῦν τρίτῳ ἤδη μηνὶ ἐξέτεκεν αὐτὸ καὶ μαλακῶς ἀπὸ τῶν ὠδίνων ἔχει.

Ποσειδῶν

νῦν οὖν ποῦ τὸ βρέφος ἐστίν;

Ἑρμῆς

ἐς τὴν Νῦσαν ἀποκομίσας ἔδωκα ταῖς Νυμφαις ἀνατρέφειν Διόνυσον ἐπονομασθέντα.

Ποσειδῶν

οὐκοῦν ἀμφότερα τοῦ Διονύσου τούτου καὶ μήτηρ καὶ πατὴρ ὁ ἀδελφός ἐστιν;

Ἑρμῆς

ἔοικεν. ἄπειμι δ᾽ οὖν ὕδωρ αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸ τραῦμα οἴσων καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ποιήσων ἃ νομίζεται ὥσπερ λεχοῖ.

--Lucian, Dialogi Deorum IX, translated into Latin by Tiberius Hemesterhusius & Ioannis Fredericus Reitzius (1789)

Mercury: Neptune, Jupiter just gave birth.

Neptune: Really? He gave birth? How? Was he a person of ambiguous sex without us knowing? But he didn’t look pregnant!

Mercury: You’re right: he didn’t have a pregnant belly.

Neptune: Oh—I get it! He gave birth out of his head again, like he did to Minerva! His *head* was pregnant!

Mercury: Nope! He gave birth to Semele’s child from his thigh.

Neptune: Good for him! His whole body is a womb! But who is this Semele gal?

Mercury: She’s from Thebes. She’s one of Cadmus’ daughters: he slept with her and got her pregnant.

Neptune: So he gave birth to the kid instead of her?

Mercury: Yes, although the story isn’t worth your time. Juno attacked Semele (she knew her rival was pregnant), and convinced her to ask Jupiter to come to her with his thunderstorm power. When he approached her all his godly power, the whole house burned down, and Semele perished in the fire. And then Jupiter ordered me to cut the womb out of her, and to bring it to him (it wasn’t quite seven months old—not yet old enough to live). After that I cut him open and put the child inside his thigh, so it could finish growing there. And now, three months later, he gave birth—and now he’s recovering.

Neptune: Where is the infant now?

Mercury: I took the kid (named Dionysus) to Nysa, and handed him over to the Nymphs so they can raise him.

Neptune: So he’s the infant’s father and mother?

Mercury: I guess so. Well, I’ve got to go & give Jupiter some water to wash the wound, and help him take care of the afterbirth.

LUCIAN	MAP:
Name:  Lucianus Samosatensis Date:  125 – 180 CE Works: Dialogue of the Courtesans*                True History, etc.	REGION  4
BIO:	Timeline:
Lucian was a Turkish-born Roman satirist who wrote in ancient Greek. His works are a mixture of sarcasm, wit, and biting social criticism. He is without a doubt one of the most popular authors of the later Roman empire.	ROMAN GREECE