CYNEGETICA, IV. 225-241 



the fishes of their o\*'n -will to the weel, and they are 

 unable to get out again and meet a terrible death ; 

 so the Leopard, hearing the puppy from afar, runs 

 and makes his spring, suspecting no guile, and 

 obeying the call of hunger, enters the recesses of 

 the pit. 



Leopards are overcome also by the gifts of 

 Dionysus, when crafty hunters pour for them the 

 crafty draught, shunning not the anger of holy 

 Dionysus. Leopards are now a race of wild beasts, 

 but aforetime they were not fierce wild beasts but 

 bright-eyed women, wine-drinking, carriers of the 

 vine branch," celebrators of the triennial festival,* 

 flower-crowned, nurses of frenzied Bacchus who 

 rouses the dance. For Ino," scion of Agenor, reared 

 the infant Bacchus and first gave her breast to the 

 son of Zeus, and Autonoe hkewise and Agave joined 

 in nursing him, but not in the baleful halls of Athamas,** 

 but on the mountain which at that time men called by 

 the name of the Thigh (Mrjpo'i).' For greatly fearing 



Dionysus (Bacchus), died at his birth and the child was 

 conveyed by Hermes to Ino (ApoUod. iii. 4. 3). 



"* Athamas, s. of Aeolus and king of Boeotia, married Ino 

 as his second wife. 



• When Dionysus was born untimely, Zeus sewed the 

 infant in his thigh {firip6s). After Athamas and Ino, driven 

 mad by Hera, had slain their children, Hermes conveyed 

 the child Dionysus irpbs i>iifjL<pas iv Xi'crj KaroiKovcra^ ttjj 'Atrt'as 

 (Apollod. I.e.) and the name Meros was given to a hill there. 

 The location of Meros thus depends on the location of Nysa 

 which is usually placed in India; Strabo 687 Niffat'ow Sti 

 Tivas idvos TrpccrwvofJLoaa.v Kai -roKiv nrap avroli "Svaav \iovvcov 

 KTtfffia Kal opos TO vwfp TTJi TToXewy Mijp6«' ; Plin. \i, 79 Nysam 

 urbem plerique Indiae adscribunt raontemque Merum Libero 

 Patri sacrum, unde origo fabulae lovis femine editum ; cf. 

 id. xvi. 144; Solin. Iii. 16; Dion. P. 1159. But there were 

 other localizations ; see note on 351 below. 



179 



