Ταυροφάγον
bull-eating
Translated by Jennifer Benedict28 Sep 2000Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
[sc. An epithet of] Dionysus. Sophocles in Tyros [calls him so].1 [Used] instead of2 because an ox was given to Dionysus by the winners of the dithyrambic [competition].3 Alternatively the eater of raw flesh. From which Aristophanes has even applied the name, metaphorically, to Cratinus.
"Who [...] has neither seen or danced the orgies of the noble Muses, nor been initiated in the Bacchic rites of the tongue of bull-eating Cratinus."4 As to Aristarchus5 and his circle, who think that [the word arises] because a bull is the prize for them; this is false. What the passage from the Tyros of Sophocles says [is]: "of Dionysus the bull-eater". And because he [Cratinus] loved wine; and because of this, they give this epithet of Dionysus to him. Some apply the word, even more curiously, to the mother of Cratinus, who had been initiated in the Bacchic rites, which are those of Dionysus the calf-eater. Alternatively [she is called] rash [tolmera], from the Bacchantes.
"Who [...] has neither seen or danced the orgies of the noble Muses, nor been initiated in the Bacchic rites of the tongue of bull-eating Cratinus."4 As to Aristarchus5 and his circle, who think that [the word arises] because a bull is the prize for them; this is false. What the passage from the Tyros of Sophocles says [is]: "of Dionysus the bull-eater". And because he [Cratinus] loved wine; and because of this, they give this epithet of Dionysus to him. Some apply the word, even more curiously, to the mother of Cratinus, who had been initiated in the Bacchic rites, which are those of Dionysus the calf-eater. Alternatively [she is called] rash [tolmera], from the Bacchantes.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ταυροφάγον· τὸν Διόνυσον. Σοφοκλῆς ἐν Τυροῖ. ἀντὶ τοῦ ὅτι τοῖς τὸν διθύραμβον νικήσασι βοῦς ἐδίδοτο. ἢ τὸν ὠμηστήν. ἀφ' οὗ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Κρατῖνον μετήνεγκε τοὔνομα Ἀριστοφάνης. ὅστις ἢ γενναίων ὄργια Μουσῶν μήτ' εἶδεν μήτ' ἐχόρευσε, μήτε Κρατίνου τοῦ ταυροφάγου γλώττης βακχεῖ' ἐτελέσθη. τοὺς περὶ Ἀρίσταρχον οἰομένους ὅτι ταῦρος ἦν αὐτοῖς ἔπαθλον· ψευδῶς. εἴρηται δὲ παρὰ τὸ Σοφοκλέους ἐκ Τυροῦς· Διονύσου τοῦ ταυροφάγου. καὶ ὅτι φίλοινος ἦν· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπίθετον τοῦ Διονύσου αὐτῷ περιτιθέασιν. οἱ δὲ ἔτι περιεργότερον τὸν λόγον ἀποδιδόασι μητέρα Κρατίνου, ἥτις Βακχεῖα ἐτελέσθη, ἅ εἰσι τοῦ μοσχοφάγου Διονύσου. ἢ τολμηρά, ἀπὸ τῶν Βακχῶν.
Betacode
*taurofa/gon: to\n *dio/nuson. *sofoklh=s e)n *turoi=. a)nti\ tou= o(/ti toi=s to\n diqu/rambon nikh/sasi bou=s e)di/doto. h)\ to\n w)mhsth/n. a)f' ou(= kai\ e)pi\ to\n *krati=non meth/negke tou)/noma *)aristofa/nhs. o(/stis h)\ gennai/wn o)/rgia *mousw=n mh/t' ei)=den mh/t' e)xo/reuse, mh/te *krati/nou tou= taurofa/gou glw/tths bakxei=' e)tele/sqh. tou\s peri\ *)ari/starxon oi)ome/nous o(/ti tau=ros h)=n au)toi=s e)/paqlon: yeudw=s. ei)/rhtai de\ para\ to\ *sofokle/ous e)k *turou=s: *dionu/sou tou= taurofa/gou. kai\ o(/ti fi/loinos h)=n: kai\ dia\ tou=to e)pi/qeton tou= *dionu/sou au)tw=| peritiqe/asin. oi( de\ e)/ti periergo/teron to\n lo/gon a)podido/asi mhte/ra *krati/nou, h(/tis *bakxei=a e)tele/sqh, a(/ ei)si tou= mosxofa/gou *dionu/sou. h)\ tolmhra/, a)po\ tw=n *bakxw=n.
Notes (5)
- The first paragraph here follows Photius, Lexicon tau79 Theodoridis; the second, the scholia on Aristophanes, Frogs 357.
- 1Sophocles fr. 668 Radt. ↩
- 2Evidently another adjective is missing here; perhaps bouphagos "ox-eating". ↩
- 3For dithyrambs (choral songs in honor of Dionysus) see delta 1029, delta 1030, delta 1031, and generally OCD(4) s.v. ↩
- 4Aristophanes, Frogs 355-357, here abridged. See web address 1 below. For Cratinus see kappa 2344. ↩
- 5A learned Hellenistic scholar: see alpha 3892. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Neighbouring entries
Revision history7 revisions · last 28 Jun 2022
- tweaked translation — Catharine Roth
- coding — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- added primary note; tweaking — David Whitehead
- tweaked note, upgraded link — Catharine Roth
- added keywords; restorative and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- modified translation; augmented notes — David Whitehead
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict