2 Unit 12 (Part 1): Bibliotheca I.1.5-7; 2.1

The Curetes dance in armor around an infant Zeus.
The Curetes dance in armor around baby Zeus. From Jane Ellen Harrison’s Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912. Public Domain.

 

This reading describes the lengths Kronos went to in his attempt to prevent his children from taking away his position as king of the gods, as well as the ways Zeus’ allies protected him from the wrath of his father.

 

ὁ δὲ Κρόνος τούτους μὲν εἰς τὸν Τάρταρον πάλιν νικήσας εἰσέβαλεν, τὴν δὲ Ῥέαν γυναῖκα ἔλαβεν. ἀλλὰ Γῆ τε καὶ Οὐρανὸς ἤγγελλον αὐτῷ μαντεῖον ἀληθὲς καὶ δεινόν· “ὑπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ἡ τοῦ Κρόνου ἀρχὴ καταλυθήσεται.” κατέπινε οὖν τοὺς παῖδας καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας. καὶ πρώτην μὲν Ἑστίαν κατέπιεν, ἔπειτα Δήμητραν καὶ Ἥραν, μεθ᾽ ἃς Πλούτωνα καὶ Ποσειδῶνα.

πάλιν (adv.): back
μαντεῖον, -ου (τό): prophesy
παῖς, παιδός (ὁ): child; son
καταπίνω, καταπίομαι, κατέπιον: to swallow

 

σώσουσα δὲ τὸν Δία Ῥέα αὐτὴ εἰς Κρήτην ἔρχεται καὶ αὐτὸν δίδωσι Κούρησί τε καὶ ταῖς Μελισσέως θυγατράσιν.

Ζεύς, Διός (ὁ): Zeus [acc: Δία]
ἔρχομαι: to go
οἱ Κουρῆτες: the Curetes

 

αὗται μὲν οὖν τὸν Δία ἔτρεφον, οἱ δὲ Κούρητες ἐν τῷ ἄντρῳ αὐτὸν φυλάττοντες τὰ ὅπλα συνέκρουον ἵνα μὴ τοῦ παιδὸς ὁ Κρόνος ἀκούσαι. Ῥέα δὲ λίθον σπαργανώσασα δίδωσιν Κρόνῳ αντὶ τοῦ παιδός.

τρέφω: to nourish, raise (a child)
ἄντρον, -ου (τό): cave
συγκρούω: to strike together
σπαργανόω: to swaddle (in cloth)

 

ἐπειδὴ δὲ Ζεὺς γίγνεται τέλειος, λαμβάνει Μῆτιν τὴν Ὠκεανοῦ συνεργόν, ἣ δίδωσι Κρόνῳ φάρμακον, δι᾽ ὃ ἐκεῖνος πρῶτον ἐξεμεῖ τὸν λίθον, ἔπειτα τοὺς παῖδας οὓς κατέπιε. μετὰ τούτων Ζεὺς κατὰ Κρόνου καὶ Τιτάνων ἐποίησε πόλεμον.

γίγνομαι: to become
τέλειος, -α, -ον: grown, of adult age
συνεργός, -οῦ (ὁ or ἡ): a helper
φάρμακον, -ου (τό): a drug
ἐξεμέω: to vomit out

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A Few Stories in Attic Greek: Adapted to Accompany Hansen & Quinn (11-20) Copyright © 2022 by Christopher Jelen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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