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Final translation

For some say you were born at Drakanon, others on wind-swept Ikaros, and others on Naxos, O illustrious offspring (LSJ: δῖος, excellent; contextual sense distinguished offspring), O stitched-in one (LSJ: proposed connection with ῥάπτω, “stitch”; contextual sense one stitched in). Others say that beside the deep-whirling river Alpheios, Semelē, having conceived, bore you for Zeus, the thunderbolt-delighter (LSJ: τέρπω, “delight,” and κεραυνός, “thunderbolt”; contextual sense one who delights in thunderbolts).

Others say you came into being in Thēbai, O ruler (LSJ: ἄναξ, “master”; contextual sense one addressed as ruler), but they speak falsely. Your father (LSJ: πατήρ, “male parent”; contextual sense parent of the one addressed), father of men and of deity (plural), bore you far from human beings, keeping white-armed (LSJ: λευκός, “white,” and ὠλένη, “arm”; contextual sense white-armed) Hērā unaware.

There is a certain Nysē, a lofty mountain flowering with woodland, far from Phoinikē and near the streams of Aigyptos. And they will set up many images for him in temples. And so, as for those three, people will assuredly always perform complete hundred-cattle offerings for you at every-third-year festivals.

The son of Kronos (LSJ: Κρονίων, “offspring of Kronos”; contextual sense patronymic) nodded with his dark brows; the deathless locks then streamed from the ruler’s (LSJ: ἄναξ, “master”; contextual sense one holding authority) deathless head, and he shook vast Olympos. Having spoken thus, Zeus, skilled in counsel (LSJ: μῆτις, “counsel”; contextual sense skilled in planning), nodded assent with his head.

Be kindly disposed, O stitched-in one (LSJ: proposed connection with ῥάπτω, “stitch”; contextual sense one stitched in), O one mad for women (LSJ: γυνή, “woman,” and μαίνομαι, “be mad”; contextual sense mad for women). We singers sing of you when we begin and when we finish; there is no way for someone who forgets you to remember sacred song. And you, Dionysos, stitched-in one (LSJ: proposed connection with ῥάπτω, “stitch”; contextual sense one stitched in), be glad in this way, together with your mother Semelē, whom they also call Thyōnē.

Morphological analysis

• οἳ … οἳ … οἳ … οἳ: nominative masculine plural relative forms used substantively, “some … others.” φάσʼ is elided φασί, present indicative third plural of φημί. σʼ / σε are accusative singular forms of σύ. κυσαμένην is an aorist middle participle, accusative feminine singular, agreeing with Σεμέλην; τεκέειν is an epic aorist active infinitive of τίκτω. 4
• δῖον γένος: neuter singular forms used in address. εἰραφιῶτα is a masculine singular vocative. τερπικεραύνῳ is dative masculine singular, agreeing with Διί. ἄναξ is a form of address; γενέσθαι is an aorist middle infinitive; ψευδόμενοι is a present middle participle, nominative masculine plural. 49
• ἔτικτε: imperfect active indicative, third singular, of τίκτω—not the aorist ἔτεκε. θεῶν is genitive plural of θεός; κρύπτων is a present active participle, nominative masculine singular, agreeing with πατήρ. λευκώλενον is accusative feminine singular, agreeing with Ἥρην. 4
• ἀνθέον: present active participle, neuter singular, agreeing with ὄρος. In καί οἱ ἀναστήσουσιν, οἱ is dative singular, “for him”; ἀναστήσουσιν is future active indicative, third plural, and ἀγάλματα is accusative neuter plural. τριετηρίσιν is dative plural; τεληέσσας is accusative feminine plural, agreeing with ἑκατόμβας; ῥέξουσι is future active indicative, third plural. 4
• νεῦσε, ἐλέλιξεν, ἐπένευσε: aorist active indicative, third singular. ἐπερρώσαντο is aorist middle indicative, third plural, with χαῖται as subject. εἰπών is an aorist active participle, nominative masculine singular; καρήατι is dative singular. 4
• ἵληθʼ: elided second-singular imperative. ἀρχόμενοι and λήγοντες are present participles, nominative masculine plural, agreeing with ἀοιδοί. ἐπιληθομένῳ is a dative masculine singular participle used substantively; μεμνῆσθαι is a perfect middle infinitive. ἥν is accusative feminine singular, referring to Σεμέλῃ; Θυώνην is its predicate accusative after καλέουσι. 4

Syntactic analysis

• The opening alternates groups of speakers and proposed birthplaces. The infinitive τεκέειν supplies the explicit birth claim in the clause about Semelē; the earlier clauses leave that claim understood. Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ is dative with her bearing of the child. 4
• ψευδόμενοι qualifies the people who name Thēbai. The following σὲ δʼ ἔτικτε πατήρ makes the father—not Semelē—the grammatical subject of “bore you”; the translation retains that change. κρύπτων … Ἥρην takes Hērā as its accusative object. 4
• τὰ μὲν τρία is left as “those three”: the supplied words do not name its referents. οἱ δέ σʼ ἀοιδοὶ ᾄδομεν identifies the speakers as “we singers.” The two nodding verbs, νεῦσε and ἐπένευσε, remain two separate actions in the translation. 4

LSJ-linked lemmatization

• θεῶν → θεός: genitive plural; rendered with the fixed English value “deity,” with plurality marked separately. 4
• εἰραφιῶτα → Εἰραφιώτης: vocative epithet. Its connection with “stitching” is proposed rather than a secure derivation; the translation adds no location or object of stitching absent from these words. 19
• δῖον → δῖος; τερπικεραύνῳ → τερπικέραυνος; λευκώλενον → λευκώλενος; γυναιμανές → γυναιμανής: descriptive forms rendered according to their immediate grammatical referents. Κρονίων is a patronymic, whereas Ζεύς and Διώνυσος function here as names. 4
• τεκέειν / ἔτικτε → τίκτω; γενέσθαι → γίγνομαι; ἀναστήσουσιν → ἀνίστημι; μεμνῆσθαι → μιμνήσκω: the distinct forms account for “bore,” “came into being,” “set up,” and “remember” without making their subjects interchangeable. 4