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συστῆσαι. H. excludes the miraculous elements of the story (e.g. in Apollodorus i. 9. 11), which make Melampus learn his lore from young snakes and from meeting Apollo. H.'s argument is as follows: the similarity of Dionysiac worship in Greece and Egypt might be explained by three hypotheses (cf. ἂν ἦν below for one apodosis): (a) the Greeks might have borrowed from the Egyptians; (b) the resemblance might be accidental (cf. συμπεσεῖν, ‘agree by mere chance’); (c) the Egyptians might have borrowed from Greece. Having accepted (a), H. proceeds to refute (b) and (c); (b) is rendered impossible by the facts that Dionysiac rites were not ‘like any other Greek rites, ὁμότροπα, and were known to have been ‘introduced lately’ (νεωστί); (c) he rejects without argument (οὐ μὲν οὐδὲ φήσω).

τοῖς Ἕλλησι = τοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων τρόποις.

νεωστί. The recent origin of the rites was shown by legends like those of Lycurgus and of Pentheus; that Dionysus was a later element in the Greek pantheon is usually accepted by scholars; cf. Farnell, G. C. v. 87-92.

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