Anonymous
On a Statue of Dionysus Which Stood Near Athens
A. "Tell me what hast thou in common with Pallas; for to
her javelins and wars, to thee banquests are exceeding dear."
B. "Do not rashly, O stranger, ask such questions about
the gods, but learn in how many ways I am like to this goddess.
For the glory of wars is dear to me likewise; all India, subdued
by me as far as the Indian Ocean, knows it. The race of mortals,
too, have we gifted, she with the olive, and I with the sweet
clusters of the vine. Neither again did a mother suffer the pangs
of labour for me, but I burst from our father's thigh, she from
his head."