The Homeric Hymn to Dionysus: Translation and Greek Explained

An English translation

Some say you were born at Drakanon, others on windswept Ikaros, and others on Naxos, illustrious child, Eiraphiotes. Others say that Semele, having conceived, bore you to Zeus, lover of thunderbolts, beside the deep-swirling river Alpheios.

Others, lord, say you came into being in Thebes—but they speak falsely. Your father, father of mortals and gods, bore you far from humankind, keeping white-armed Hera unaware.

There is a Nysē, a lofty mountain blooming with woodland, far from Phoenicia and near the streams of Egypt. [The surviving text breaks off.] They will set up many images for him in temples. Thus, as for those three, people will always make complete offerings of a hundred cattle to you at festivals held every third year.

The son of Kronos nodded beneath his dark brows. His deathless locks streamed from his deathless head, and he shook great Olympus. Having spoken, Zeus, skilled in counsel, nodded his assent.

Be gracious, Eiraphiotes, you who are mad for women. We singers sing of you at the beginning and at the end; no one who forgets you can remember sacred song. So rejoice, Dionysus Eiraphiotes, together with your mother Semele, whom they also call Thyone. 4813

What the Greek changes

The opening moves through competing accounts rather than establishing a single birthplace. The claim about Semele explicitly uses τεκέειν, “to bear”; in the preceding place-name clauses, the birth claim is understood. The later σὲ δʼ ἔτικτε πατήρ changes the grammatical subject: it is the father who “bore you.” ἔτικτε is imperfect, not the aorist ἔτεκε. The translation keeps that striking shift instead of quietly assigning both births to Semele. 4

The hymn does not identify what τὰ μὲν τρία, translated here as “those three,” refers to in the surviving words. Its two verbs for nodding, νεῦσε and ἐπένευσε, likewise remain two distinct actions. 4

Eiraphiotes translates the Greek vocative εἰραφιῶτα. “Insewn” or “stitched-in one” is a traditional interpretation associated with ῥάπτω, “to stitch,” and the story of Dionysus and Zeus’s thigh. The derivation is debated, so retaining the Greek epithet avoids presenting that interpretation as certain. The LSJ entry for Εἰραφιώτης provides a starting point for checking the form. 19

A compact grammar guide

• οἳ … οἳ … οἳ: nominative masculine plural forms used substantively: “some … others.” φάσʼ is an elided form of φασί, “they say.” 4
• κυσαμένην: aorist middle participle, accusative feminine singular, agreeing with Σεμέλην; τεκέειν: epic aorist active infinitive of τίκτω, “bear.” 4
• ψευδόμενοι: present middle participle, nominative masculine plural, describing those who make the Thebes claim. κρύπτων: present active participle, nominative masculine singular, agreeing with πατήρ; Ἥρην is its accusative object. 4
• ἀναστήσουσιν and ῥέξουσι: future active indicative, third plural, for the promised images and offerings. οἱ in καί οἱ ἀναστήσουσιν is dative singular, “for him,” not the nominative plural “some.” 4
• ἵληθʼ: elided second-person singular imperative, rendered “be gracious.” μεμνῆσθαι: perfect middle infinitive, “to remember”; ἐπιληθομένῳ: a dative participle referring to someone who forgets. 4

For another useful dictionary check, θεῶν is the genitive plural of θεός, “god”: the phrase describes a father of both mortals and gods. 4