ΒΙΒΛΙΟΝ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ
Second Book
Second Book
ΠΡΟΟΙΜΙΟΝ
Preface
Preface
| 1 Τὰ μὲν δὴ τῆς Φοινίκων θεολογίας τὸν προειρημένον περιέχει τρόπον· ἣν ἀμεταστρεπτὶ φεύγειν καὶ τῆς τῶν παλαιῶν φρενοβλαβείας τὴν ἴασιν μεταδιώκειν ὁ σωτήριος εὐαγγελίζεται λόγος. | 1 Such, then, is the character of the theology of the Phoenicians; which the saving word preaches that we should flee without turning back, while pursuing the healing of the ancient madness of mind. |
| 2 ὅτι δὲ μὴ μῦθοι ταῦτα καὶ ποιητῶν ἀναπλάσματα λανθάνουσάν τινα ἐν ὑπονοίαις ἔχοντα θεωρίαν τυγχάνει, σοφῶν δὲ καὶ παλαιῶν, ὡς ἂν αὐτοὶ φαῖεν, θεολόγων ἀληθεῖς μαρτυρίαι, τὰ καὶ ποιητῶν ἁπάντων καὶ λογογράφων πρεσβύτερα περιέχουσαι, τό τε πιστὸν τῶν λόγων ἐπαγόμεναι ἀπὸ τῆς εἰσέτι δεῦρο ἐν ταῖς κατὰ Φοινίκην πόλεσί τε καὶ κώμαις κρατούσης τῶν θεῶν προσηγορίας τε καὶ ἱστορίας, τῶν τε παρ’ ἑκάστοις ἐπιτελουμένων μυστηρίων, δῆλον ἂν εἴη ἀπό τε τῆς τῶν λοιπῶν συγγραφέων καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν νομιζομένων θεολόγων ὁμολογίας, δι’ ἧς ἐμαρτύρησαν τοὺς παλαιοὺς καὶ πρώτους τὰ περὶ θεῶν συστησαμένους μηδὲν εἰς φυσικὰς ἀναφέρειν τροπολογίας, μηδ’ ἀλληγορεῖν τοὺς περὶ θεῶν μύθους, ἐπὶ μόνης δὲ τῆς λέξεως φυλάττειν τὰς ἱστορίας. | 2 And that these things are not myths and fabrications of poets containing some hidden, underlying allegorical theory, but the true testimonies of wise and ancient theologians—as they themselves would say—containing things older than all poets and chroniclers, and bringing credibility to their accounts from the names and histories of the gods that still prevail to this day in the cities and villages throughout Phoenicia, as well as from the mysteries celebrated among each of them; this should be clear both from the agreement of other writers and indeed from that of the acknowledged theologians themselves, through which they testified that the ancients and the very first to formulate these matters concerning the gods referred nothing to physical allegories, nor did they allegorize the myths about the gods, but kept the stories according to the literal word alone. |
| 3 ταῦτα γὰρ αἱ προπαρατεθεῖσαι τῶν εἰρημένων ἐδήλουν φωναί, ὡς μηκέτι χρῆναι τούτων βιαίους ἀνιχνεύειν φυσιολογίας, σαφῆ τὸν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἔλεγχον ἐπιφερομένων τῶν πραγμάτων. | 3. For the statements of those cited above previously made this clear, so that it is no longer necessary to force unnatural physical interpretations out of these, since the facts themselves carry their own clear refutation. |
| 4 Τοιαύτη μὲν οὖν ἡ Φοινίκων θεολογία. ὥρα δὲ μεταβάντας καὶ τὰ Αἰγυπτίων ἐπιθεωρῆσαι, εἰς τὸ κατανοῆσαι ἀκριβῶς καὶ συνιδεῖν ἐξητασμένως εἰ μὴ κεκριμένη καὶ εὔλογος συνέστηκεν ἡμῖν ἡ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀναχώρησις, οὐδ’ ἄλλως ἢ διὰ μόνης τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς ἀποδείξεως, πρώτιστα πάντων αὐτοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, εἶτα δὲ καὶ τοῖς τὰ ἴσα φρονοῦσιν αὐτοῖς κατορθουμένη. | 4. Such, then, is the theology of the Phoenicians. And it is time to turn and inspect that of the Egyptians as well, so as to understand accurately and examine thoroughly whether or not our departure from them stands as a judged and reasonable decision, accomplished in no other way than through the evangelical proof alone—first of all to the Egyptians themselves, and then also to those who hold the same views as they. |
| 5 πᾶσαν μὲν οὖν τὴν Αἰγυπτιακὴν ἱστορίαν εἰς πλάτος τῆς Ἑλλήνων μετείληφε φωνῆς ἰδίως τε τὰ περὶ τῆς κατ’ αὐτοὺς θεολογίας Μανεθῶς ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ἔν τε ᾗ ἔγραψεν ἱερᾷ βίβλῳ καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις αὐτοῦ συγγράμμασι. | 5. Now then, Manetho the Egyptian translated the entire Egyptian history at length into the Greek language, particularly the matters concerning their theology, both in the Sacred Book which he wrote and in his other works. |
| 6 πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Διόδωρος ὁ πρόσθεν ἡμῖν μνημονευθείς, ἐκ πλειόνων τὰς ἱστορίας ἀναλεξάμενος καὶ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα τὰ παρ’ ἑκάστοις ἔθνεσιν ἀπηκριβωκώς, ἐπιφανὴς ἀνὴρ καὶ δόξαν οὐ μικρὰν παιδείας παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς φιλολόγοις κτησάμενος, καὶ δὴ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν παλαιὰν συναγαγὼν ἱστορίαν, συνάψας τε τὰ πρῶτα τοῖς ἑξῆς πράγμασι, τὴν καταρχὴν τῆς ὅλης ἐποιήσατο πραγματείας ἀπὸ τῆς κατ’ Αἰγυπτίους θεολογίας· ἀφ’ ἧς ἡγοῦμαι κρεῖττον εἶναι ποιήσασθαι τὴν τῶν προκειμένων παράθεσιν, ὡς ἂν μᾶλλον οὔσης γνωριμωτέρας τοῖς Ἕλλησι τῆς τούτου γραφῆς. ἱστορεῖ δ’ οὖν ταῦτα πρὸς λέξιν· | 6. Furthermore, Diodorus, whom we mentioned earlier—a distinguished man who gathered his histories from many sources and evaluated the traditions among each nation with the utmost accuracy, having acquired no small reputation for learning among all lovers of literature, and who indeed collected all the ancient history, linking the earliest events to those that followed—made the beginning of his entire treatise start from the theology according to the Egyptians; from which I believe it is better to make the presentation of the matters before us, since his writing is more familiar to the Greeks. At any rate, he records these things word for word: |
Chapter 1
| 1.1 Φασὶ τοίνυν Αἰγύπτιοι κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῶν ὅλων γένεσιν πρώτους ἀνθρώπους γενέσθαι κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον διά τε τὴν εὐκρασίαν τῆς χώρας καὶ διὰ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ Νείλου. τοῦτον γὰρ πολύγονον ὄντα καὶ τὰς τροφὰς αὐτοφυεῖς παρεχόμενον ῥᾳδίως ἐκτρέφειν τὰ ζωογονηθέντα. | 1.1 Now the Egyptians say that at the original generation of the universe, the first human beings came into existence in Egypt, both on account of the favorable climate of the land and because of the nature of the Nile. For this river, being very fertile and providing self-growing nourishment, easily nurtured all living things that were brought forth. |
| 1.2 τοὺς δὲ θεοὺς ἀνθρώπους μὲν ὑπάρξαι θνητούς, διὰ δὲ σύνεσιν καὶ κοινὴν ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίαν τυχεῖν τῆς ἀθανασίας, ὧν ἐνίους καὶ βασιλεῖς γενέσθαι. μεθερμηνευομένων δὲ αὐτῶν τινὰς μὲν ὁμωνύμους ὑπάρχειν τοῖς οὐρανίοις, τινὰς δὲ ἰδίαν ἐσχηκέναι προσηγορίαν, Ἥλιόν τε καὶ Κρόνον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Δία τὸν ὑπό τινων Ἄμμωνα προσαγορευόμενον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ἥραν καὶ Ἥφαιστον, ἔτι δὲ Ἑστίαν, καὶ τελευταῖον Ἑρμῆν. | 1.2 And they say that the gods were originally mortal human beings, but because of their wisdom and common beneficence toward mankind, they attained immortality, some of whom also became kings. Some of them, when their names were translated, were homonymous with the celestial gods, while others retained their own proper name—such as Sol (Helios), Saturn (Kronos), and furthermore Jupiter (Zeus), who is called Ammon by some, and in addition to these, Juno (Hera), Vulcan (Hephaestus), and also Vesta (Hestia), and finally Mercury (Hermes). |
| 1.3 καὶ πρῶτον μὲν Ἥλιον βασιλεῦσαι τῶν κατ’ Αἴγυπτον, ὁμώνυμον ὄντα τῷ κατ’ οὐρανὸν ἄστρῳ. ἔνιοι δὲ τῶν ἱερέων φασὶ πρῶτον Ἥφαιστον βασιλεῦσαι, πυρὸς εὑρετὴν γενόμενον. | 1.3 And first, Helios reigned over the people in Egypt, bearing the same name as the heavenly star. But some of the priests say that Hephaestus was the first king, having been the discoverer of fire. |
| 1.4 μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὸν Κρόνον ἄρξαι, καὶ γήμαντα τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ῥέαν γεννῆσαι κατὰ μὲν τινὰς τὸν Ὄσιριν καὶ τὴν Ἴσιν, κατὰ δὲ τοὺς πλείστους Δία τε καὶ Ἥραν, οὓς δι’ ἀρετὴν βασιλεῦσαι τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου. | 1.3 And first, Helios reigned over the people in Egypt, bearing the same name as the heavenly star. But some of the priests say that Hephaestus was the first king, having been the discoverer of fire. |
| 1.5 ἐκ δὲ τούτων γενέσθαι πέντε θεούς, Ὄσιριν καὶ Ἴσιν καὶ Τυφῶνα, Ἀπόλλωνά τε καὶ Ἀφροδίτην. καὶ τὸν μὲν Ὄσιριν εἶναι τὸν Διόνυσον, τὴν δὲ Ἴσιν τὴν Δήμητραν. ταύτην δὲ γήμαντα τὸν Ὄσιριν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν διαδεξάμενον πολλὰ πρᾶξαι πρὸς εὐεργεσίαν τοῦ κοινοῦ· | 1.5 From these were born five gods: Osiris, Isis, Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite. And they say Osiris is Dionysus, and Isis is Demeter. Having married Isis and succeeded to the kingdom, Osiris accomplished many things for the beneficence of the public realm; |
| 1.6 κτίσαι τε πόλιν ἐν τῇ Θηβαίδι ἑκατόμπυλον, ἣν τινὰς μὲν Διὸς πόλιν, ἐνίους δὲ Θήβας προσειπεῖν. ἱδρύσασθαι δὲ καὶ ἱερὸν τῶν γονέων, Διός τε καὶ Ἥρας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ θεῶν ναοὺς χρυσοῦς, ὧν ἑκάστῳ τιμὰς ἀπονεῖμαι, καὶ καταστῆσαι τοὺς ἐπιμελομένους ἱερεῖς· | 1.6 and he founded a hundred-gated city in the Thebaid, which some called the City of Zeus (Diospolis), and others Thebes. He also established a temple to his parents, Zeus and Hera, and built golden temples for the other gods, assigning honors to each of them and appointing priests to take care of them. |
| 1.7 εὑρετὴν δὲ γενέσθαι τὸν Ὄσιριν τῆς ἀμπέλου, πρῶτόν τε ψιλῷ χρήσασθαι, καὶ διδάξαι τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους τὴν γεωργίαν. | 1.7 Osiris was also the discoverer of the vine; he was the first to use it stripped of leaves and taught other human beings the art of agriculture. |
| 1.8 τιμᾶσθαι δὲ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ μάλιστα πάντων τὸν Ἑρμῆν διαφόρῳ φύσει κεχορηγημένον πρὸς ἐπίνοιαν τῶν δυναμένων ὠφελῆσαι τὸν κοινὸν βίον. εὑρετήν τε γὰρ αὐτὸν γενέσθαι τῶν γραμμάτων καὶ θυσίας θεῶν διατάξασθαι, λύραν τε εὑρεῖν, καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας διδάξαι τὴν περὶ τούτων ἑρμηνείαν· ἀφ’ οὗπερ αὐτὸν Ἑρμῆν ὀνομασθῆναι. | 1.8 Hermes was honored by him most of all, being endowed with a extraordinary nature for inventing things capable of benefiting common life. For he was the discoverer of letters, arranged the sacrifices to the gods, invented the lyre, and taught the Greeks the interpretation regarding these matters; from which cause he was named Hermes. |
| 1.9 τοῦτον δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐλαίας τὸ φυτὸν εὑρεῖν. τὸν δὲ Ὄσιριν ἐπελθόντα πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπὶ μὲν Φοινίκης καταστῆσαι Βούσιριν, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν καὶ Λιβύην Ἀνταῖον. αὐτὸν δὲ ἐπιστρατεῦσαι μετὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, ὅν φασιν εὑρετὴν τοῦ φυτοῦ τῆς δάφνης γενέσθαι. | 1.9 He also discovered the olive plant. And Osiris, having traversed the whole inhabited world, appointed Busiris in Phoenicia, and Antaeus in Ethiopia and Libya. And he himself marched out with his brother Apollo, whom they say was the discoverer of the laurel tree. |
| 1.10 συστρατεῦσαι δὲ τῷ Ὀσίριδι τοὺς δύο υἱούς, Ἄνουβίν τε καὶ Μακεδόνα, παραλαβεῖν δὲ καὶ τὸν Πᾶνα διαφερόντως ὑπ’ Αἰγυπτίων τιμώμενον, οὗ καὶ ἐπώνυμον εἶναι τὴν Πανὸς πόλιν. ὄντι δ’ αὐτῷ περὶ τὴν Ταφόσιριν ἀχθῆναι τὸ τῶν Σατύρων γένος. | 1.10 His two sons, Anubis and Macedon, joined Osiris in his campaign, and he also took along Pan, who is exceptionally honored by the Egyptians, after whom Panopolis is named. While he was near Taposiris, the race of Satyrs was brought to him. |
| 1.11 φιλόμουσον δὲ ὄντα περιάγειν πλῆθος μουσουργῶν, ἐν οἷς παρθένους ἐννέα δυναμένας ᾄδειν καὶ τἄλλα πεπαιδευμένας, τὰς παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὀνομαζομένας Μούσας, ὧν ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα. | 1.11 Being a lover of music, he carried along a multitude of musicians, among whom were nine maidens who were able to sing and were educated in other arts—those who are called the Muses among the Greeks—whose leader was Apollo. |
| 1.12 παντὸς δὲ ἔθνους ὡς θεὸν ἀποδεχομένου τὸν Ὄσιριν διὰ τὰς εὐεργεσίας πανταχοῦ μνημεῖα ἑαυτοῦ καταλιπεῖν, | 1.12 And since every nation received Osiris as a god on account of his acts of beneficence, he left behind monuments of himself everywhere, |
| 1.13 κτίσαι δὲ καὶ πόλεις οὐκ ὀλίγας ἐν Ἰνδοῖς. | 1.13 and he also founded not a few cities among the Indians. |
| 1.14 ἐπελθεῖν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ κατὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν ἔθνη, καὶ περαιωθῆναι κατὰ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην. καὶ Μακεδόνα μὲν τὸν υἱὸν ἀπολιπεῖν βασιλέα τῆς Μακεδονίας, Τριπτολέμῳ δὲ ἐπιτρέψαι τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἀττικὴν γεωργίας. | 1.14 He also traversed the other nations throughout Phrygia, and crossed over the Hellespont into Europe. He left his son Macedon behind as king of Macedonia, and entrusted the agricultural affairs throughout Attica to Triptolemus. |
| 1.15 καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων εἰς θεοὺς μεταστάντα τυχεῖν ὑπὸ Ἴσιδος καὶ Ἑρμοῦ ἱερῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων ἐν θεοῖς τιμῶν. τούτους δὲ καὶ τελετὰς καταδεῖξαι καὶ πολλὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ μυστικῶς εἰσηγήσασθαι. | 1.15 And after these things, having passed from among men to the gods, he obtained a temple from Isis and Hermes, as well as the other most distinguished honors among the gods. And these two also instituted sacred rites and introduced many things concerning him mystically. |
| 1.16 ἀναιρεθῆναι δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ Τυφῶνος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, πονηροῦ καὶ ἀσεβοῦς ὄντος, ὃν διελόντα τὸ σῶμα τοῦ φονευθέντος εἰς ἓξ καὶ εἴκοσι μέρη δοῦναι τῶν συνεπιτιθεμένων ἑκάστῳ μερίδα, βουλόμενον ἅπαντας μετασχεῖν τοῦ μύσους. | 1.16 But he was slain by his brother Typhon, who was wicked and impious; having divided the body of the slain man into twenty-six parts, he gave a portion to each of his fellow-conspirators, wishing all of them to share in the pollution. |
| 1.17 τὴν δὲ Ἴσιν ἀδελφὴν οὖσαν Ὀσίριδος καὶ γυναῖκα μετελθεῖν τὸν φόνον, συναγωνιζομένου τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτῆς Ὤρου. ἀνελοῦσαν δὲ τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ τοὺς συμπράξαντας παρὰ τὴν νῦν Ἀνταίου κώμην καλουμένην βασιλεῦσαι τῆς Αἰγύπτου. | 1.17 But Isis, being the sister and wife of Osiris, avenged the murder, with her son Horus fighting alongside her. Having slain Typhon and those who assisted him near what is now called the village of Antaeus, she reigned over Egypt. |
| 1.18 εὑροῦσαν δὲ πάντα τὰ μέρη τοῦ σώματος πλὴν τῶν αἰδοίων τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἑκάστῳ μέρει περιπλάσαι λέγουσιν αὐτὴν τύπον ἀνθρωποειδῆ, παραπλήσιον Ὀσίριδι τὸ μέγεθος ἐξ ἀρωμάτων καὶ κηροῦ, καὶ παραδοῦναι τοῖς ἱερεῦσι καθ’ ὅλης τῆς Αἰγύπτου τιμήν. καθιερῶσαι δὲ καὶ τῶν γινομένων παρ’ αὐτοῖς ζῴων ἓν ὁποῖον ἂν βουληθῶσιν. | 1.18 Having found all the parts of Osiris's body except the genitals, they say she fashioned a human-like image corresponding to Osiris in size out of spices and wax for each part, and handed them over to the priests throughout all of Egypt to honor. She also consecrated one of the animals existing among them, whichever one they wished. |
| 1.19 τοὺς δὲ ταύρους τοὺς ἱεροὺς τόν τε ὀνομαζόμενον Ἄπιν καὶ τὸν Μνεῦιν Ὀσίριδι καθιερωθῆναι, καὶ τούτους σέβεσθαι καθάπερ θεοὺς κοινῇ καταδειχθῆναι πᾶσιν Αἰγυπτίοις. ταῦτα γὰρ τοῖς εὑροῦσι τὸν τοῦ σίτου καρπὸν συνεργῆσαι πρὸς τὸν σπόρον καὶ τὰς κοινὰς γεωργίας. | 1.19 The sacred bulls—the one called Apis and the one called Mnevis—were consecrated to Osiris, and it was established for all Egyptians in common to worship these just as gods. For these animals assisted those who discovered the grain of wheat with sowing and common farming. |
| 1.20 ὀμόσαι δὲ τὴν Ἴσιν μηδενὸς ἀνδρὸς ἔτι συνουσίαν προσδέξασθαι· μεταστᾶσαν δὲ καὶ αὐτὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τυχεῖν ἀθανάτων τιμῶν καὶ ταφῆναι κατὰ τὴν Μέμφιν. | 1.20 Isis swore never again to receive the intercourse of any man; and when she herself passed from among men, she obtained immortal honors and was buried at Memphis. |
| 1.21 τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀνευρεθέντα τοῦ Ὀσίριδος μέρη ταφῆς ἀξιωθῆναί φασι τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον· τὸ δὲ αἰδοῖον ὑπὸ μὲν Τυφῶνος εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ῥιφῆναι λέγουσιν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς Ἴσιδος οὐδὲν ἧττον τῶν ἄλλων ἀξιωθῆναι τιμῶν ἰσοθέων. | 1.21 Now they say that the recovered parts of Osiris were granted burial in the manner mentioned; but the genital part, they say, was thrown into the river by Typhon, yet was granted no less equal-to-gods honors by Isis than the rest. |
| 1.22 ἔν τε γὰρ τοῖς ἱεροῖς εἴδωλον αὐτοῦ κατασκευάσασαν τιμὰς καταδεῖξαι καὶ τελετὰς καὶ τὰς θυσίας τὰς τῷ θεῷ τούτῳ γινομένας ἐντιμοτάτας ποιῆσαι. διὸ καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐξ Αἰγύπτου παρειληφότας τὰ περὶ τοὺς ὀργιασμοὺς καὶ τὰς Διονυσιακὰς ἑορτὰς τιμᾶν τοῦτο τὸ μόριον ἐν τοῖς μυστηρίοις καὶ ταῖς τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου τελεταῖς τε καὶ θυσίαις, ὀνομάζοντας αὐτὸ φαλλόν. | 1.22 For having constructed an image of it in the temples, she instituted honors and sacred rites, making the sacrifices that take place to this god the most esteemed. Wherefore the Greeks, having received the matters concerning orgiastic rites and Dionysian festivals from Egypt, honor this part in the mysteries and in the rites and sacrifices of this god, naming it the phallus. |
| 1.23 τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας ἐν Θήβαις ταῖς Βοιωτικαῖς γεγονέναι τὸν θεὸν ἐκ Σεμέλης καὶ Διὸς σχεδιάζειν. Ὀρφέα γὰρ εἰς Αἴγυπτον παραβαλόντα καὶ μετασχόντα τῆς τελετῆς καὶ τῶν Διονυσιακῶν μυστηρίων μεταλαβεῖν, τοῖς τε Καδμείοις φίλον ὄντα καὶ τετιμημένον ὑπ’ αὐτῶν μεταθεῖναι τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκείνοις χαριζόμενον, τοὺς δὲ ὄχλους τὰ μὲν διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν, τὰ δὲ διὰ τὸ βούλεσθαι τὸν θεὸν Ἕλληνα ὀνομάζεσθαι, προσδέξασθαι προσηνῶς τὰς τελετὰς καὶ τὰ μυστήρια. | 1.23 But those who say that the god was born in Boeotian Thebes from Semele and Zeus are fabricating. For Orpheus, having visited Egypt and participated in the initiation and Dionysian mysteries, received these things, and being a friend to the Cadmeans and honored by them, transferred the birth of the god to grant them a favor. The crowds, partly out of ignorance and partly out of a desire for the god to be named a Greek, gladly accepted the rites and mysteries. |
| 1.24 ἀφορμὰς δὲ ἔχειν τὸν Ὀρφέα πρὸς τὴν μετάθεσιν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ γενέσεως καὶ τελετῆς τοιαύτας· Κάδμον ἐκ Θηβῶν ὄντα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων γεννῆσαι σὺν ἄλλοις τέκνοις καὶ Σεμέλην· ταύτην δὲ ὑφ’ ὅτου δήποτε φθαρεῖσαν ἔγκυον γενέσθαι, καὶ τεκεῖν ἑπτὰ μηνῶν διελθόντων βρέφος οἷόν περ οἱ κατ’ Αἴγυπτον τὸν Ὄσιριν γεγονέναι νομίζουσι· | 1.24 Orpheus had the following starting points for transferring the birth and initiation of the god: Cadmus, being from Egyptian Thebes, begot Semele along with other children; she, having been corrupted by whomever, became pregnant, and after seven months elapsed, gave birth to a fetus such as the people in Egypt believe Osiris to have been. |
| 1.25 τὸν δὲ Κάδμον τελευτῆσαν τὸ βρέφος χρυσῶσαι, καὶ τὰς καθηκούσας αὐτῷ ποιήσασθαι θυσίας, ἀνάψαι δὲ καὶ τὴν γένεσιν εἰς Δία, σεμνύνοντα τὸν Ὄσιριν, καὶ τῆς φθαρείσης τὴν διαβολὴν ἀφαιρούμενον. διὸ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐκδοθῆναι λόγον ὡς ἡ Κάδμου θυγάτηρ Σεμέλη τέτοκεν ἐκ Διὸς Ὄσιριν. | 1.25 Cadmus, when the infant died, covered it with gold and performed the proper sacrifices for it, and attributed its generation to Zeus, exalting Osiris and removing the slander from the corrupted girl. Wherefore a story was published among the Greeks that Cadmus’s daughter Semele bore Osiris to Zeus. |
| 1.26 ἔπειτα παρελθόντων τῶν μυθογράφων ἐμπλῆσαι τὸ θέατρον, καὶ τοῖς ἐπιγινομένοις ἰσχυρὰν πίστιν καὶ ἀμετάθετον γενέσθαι. καθόλου δέ φασι τοὺς Ἔλληνας ἐξιδιάξεσθαι τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους Αἰγυπτίων ἥρωάς τε καὶ θεούς. | 1.26 Afterwards, as mythographers came forward, they filled the theater, and strong and unchangeable belief arose among subsequent generations. Generally, they say the Greeks appropriate the most distinguished Egyptian heroes and gods for themselves. |
| 1.27 καὶ γὰρ Ἡρακλέα τὸ γένος Αἰγύπτιον ὄντα δι’ ἀνδρείαν ἐπελθεῖν πολλὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης. ἐξοικειοῦσθαι δὲ αὐτόν φασι, καὶ μὴν ἕτερον ὄντα τοῦ ἐξ Ἀλκμήνης παρ’ Ἕλλησιν ὕστερόν ποτε γενομένου. | 1.27 For indeed Heracles, being Egyptian by birth, traversed much of the inhabited world through his bravery. But they claim him as their own, even though he was different from the son of Alcmene who was born among the Greeks much later. |
| 1.28 φασὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν Περσέα γενέσθαι κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, καὶ τῆς Ἴσιδος τὴν γένεσιν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἰς Ἄργος μεταφέρεσθαι, μυθολογούντων αὐτὴν εἶναι Ἰὼ τὴν εἰς βοὸς τύπον μεταμορφωθεῖσαν. τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ τοὺς μὲν Ἴσιν, τοὺς δὲ Δήμητρα, τοὺς δὲ Θεσμοφόρον, ἄλλους δὲ Σελήνην, καὶ ἄλλους Ἥραν νομίζειν. | 1.28 They say that Perseus also was born in Egypt, and that the origin of Isis was transferred by the Greeks to Argos, mythologizing that she is Io, who was transformed into the shape of a cow. But some consider the same goddess to be Isis, others Demeter, others Thesmophoros, others the Moon, and others Hera. |
| 1.29 τὸν Ὄσιριν τοὺς μὲν Σάραπιν, τοὺς δὲ Διόνυσον, τοὺς δὲ Πλούτωνα, τοὺς δὲ Ἄμμωνα, τοὺς δὲ Δία, ἑτέρους δὲ Πάνα νομίζειν. | 1.29 And some consider Osiris to be Serapis, others Dionysus, others Pluto, others Ammon, others Zeus, and others Pan. |
| 1.30 εὑρετὴν δὲ γενέσθαι τὴν Ἴσιν φασὶ φαρμάκων πολλῶν καὶ ἰατρικῆς ἐπιστήμης· εὑρεῖν δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀθανασίας φάρμακον, δι’ οὗ τὸν υἱὸν Ὦρον ὑπὸ τῶν Τιτάνων ἐπιβουλευθέντα, καὶ νεκρὸν εὑρεθέντα καθ’ ὕδατος, μὴ μόνον ἀναστῆσαι δοῦσαν τὴν ψυχήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας ποιῆσαι μεταλαβεῖν. | 1.30 They say Isis was the discoverer of many medicines and medical science; and she also discovered the medicine of immortality, by which, when her son Horus was plotted against by the Titans and found dead under the water, she not only raised him up by giving him his soul, but also caused him to partake of immortality. |
| 1.31 τὸν δὲ Ὦρον ὕστατον ὄντα τῶν θεῶν βασιλεῦσαι τῆς Αἰγύπτου. μεθερμηνευόμενον δέ φασιν αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα, τήν τε ἰατρικὴν καὶ μαντικὴν ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς Ἴσιδος διδαχθέντα διὰ τῶν χρησμῶν καὶ θεραπειῶν εὐεργετεῖν. | 1.31 And Horus, being the last of the gods, reigned over Egypt. They say that when translated, he is Apollo; having been taught medicine and divination by his mother Isis, he beneficially served humankind through oracles and healings. |
| 1.32 συμφωνεῖται δὲ παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις ὅτι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Δία καὶ τὸν Ὄσιριν θεοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἴσιδος ἡλικίαν μεγαλόσωμοί τινες γίγαντες ἐπὶ τὸ τερατῶδες κοσμούμενοι πόλεμον ἤγειραν. νομοθετῆσαι δὲ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους γαμεῖν ἀδελφάς, διὰ τὸ τὴν Ἴσιν τῷ Ὀσίριδι ἀδελφῷ ὄντι αὐτῆς γαμηθῆναι. | 1.32 It is agreed among most that during the time of Isis, certain giant-bodied men adorned in a monstrous fashion waged war against the gods around Zeus and Osiris. And the Egyptians enacted a law to marry sisters, because Isis was married to her brother Osiris. |
| 1.33 Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτων ἱστοροῦσι. περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀφιερωμένων ζῴων κατ’ Αἴγυπτον τοιοῦτός τις παρ’ αὐτοῖς κατέχει λόγος· "Τινὲς μέν φασι τοὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς γενομένους θεούς, ὀλίγους ὄντας καὶ κατισχυομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας τῶν γηγενῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁμοιωθῆναί τισιν ἀλόγοις ζῴοις, καὶ οὕτως διαφυγεῖν· ἔπειτα χάριν ἀποδιδόντας τῆς σωτηρίας ἀφιερῶσαι τὰς φύσεις εἰς αὐτῶν τῶν ζῴων, οἷς ἀφωμοιώθησαν. | 1.33 Such are the accounts they relate concerning these matters. But regarding the sacred animals in Egypt, such an account holds sway among them: "Some say that the gods who existed from the beginning, being few and overpowered by the multitude and impiety of the earth-born humans, made themselves like certain irrational animals, and in this way escaped; then, returning thanks for their salvation, they consecrated the natures of these very animals to which they had been made like. |
| 1.34 οἱ δέ φασιν ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους συμβολαῖς κατασκευάσαντας εἰκόνας τῶν ζῴων ἃ νῦν τιμῶσι, φορεῖν ταύτας τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, καὶ τοῦτο γνώρισμα τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔχειν· ἐν δὲ ταῖς κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν νίκαις, ὡς ἂν αἴτια τὰ ζῷα γενόμενα, ὧν τὰς εἰκόνας ἔφερον, ἀποθεῶσαι. | 1.34 But others say that in battles against enemies, having constructed images of the animals which they now honor, the leaders wore them on their heads and had this as a sign of their command; and in victories over their enemies, considering the animals whose images they bore to have been the causes of victory, they deified them. |
| 1.35 ἕτεροι δὲ τρίτην αἰτίαν φέρουσι, τῆς χρείας ἕνεκα τῶν ζῴων φάσκοντες αὐτὰ τετιμῆσθαι. τὴν μὲν γὰρ θήλειαν βοῦν τίκτειν καὶ ἀροῦν, τὰ δὲ πρόβατα τίκτειν καὶ σκέπην παρέχειν καὶ τὴν διὰ τοῦ γάλακτος καὶ τοῦ τυροῦ τροφήν, τὸν δὲ κύνα συνθηρεύειν ἀνθρώποις καὶ φυλακτικὸν εἶναι· διόπερ τὸν θεὸν τὸν παρ’ αὐτοῖς καλούμενον Ἄνουβιν κυνὸς ἔχειν κεφαλήν· ἐμφαίνοντες ὅτι σωματοφύλαξ ἦν τῶν περὶ τὸν Ὄσιριν καὶ τὴν Ἴσιν. | 1.35 Others bring forward a third cause, asserting that the animals were honored for the sake of utility. For the cow gives birth and plows, sheep give birth and provide shelter and nourishment through milk and cheese, and the dog hunts with humans and acts as a guardian; wherefore the god called Anubis among them has the head of a dog, indicating that he was a bodyguard of those around Osiris and Isis. |
| 1.36 ἔνιοι δέ φασι Ἴσιδος προηγουμένους τοὺς κύνας καθ’ ὃν καιρὸν ἐζήτει τὸν Ὄσιριν τά τε θηρία καὶ τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας ἀπείργειν. | 1.36 Some say dogs went before Isis at the time when she was searching for Osiris, keeping off wild beasts and those who met them. |
| 1.37 καὶ τὸν μὲν αἴλουρον πρὸς τὰς ἀσπίδας εὔθετον ὑπάρχειν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δακετὰ τῶν ἑρπετῶν, τὸν δὲ ἰχνεύμονα τὰ τῶν κροκοδείλων ᾠὰ συντρίβειν, ἀναιρεῖν τε τοὺς κροκοδείλους πηλῷ κυλιόμενον καὶ ἐπιπηδῶντα κεχηνόσι τοῖς στόμασι, διαφαγόντα τε αὐτῶν τὰ ἐντὸς τῆς κοιλίας νεκροὺς ἀπεργάζεσθαι. | 1.37 And the cat is well-suited against asps and other biting reptiles; the ichneumon crushes the eggs of crocodiles, and destroys crocodiles by rolling in mud and leaping into their gaping mouths, devouring their entrails and rendering them dead. |
| 1.38 τῶν δὲ ὀρνέων τὴν μὲν ἶβιν χρησίμην ὑπάρχειν πρός τε τοὺς ὄφεις καὶ τὰς ἀκρίδας καὶ τὰς κάμπας, τὸν δὲ ἱέρακα πρὸς τοὺς σκορπίους καὶ κεράστας, καὶ τὰ μικρὰ τῶν δακετῶν θηρίων, καὶ διὰ τὸ συμβάλλεσθαι ταῖς μαντείαις· τὸν δ’ ἀετὸν διὰ τὸ βασιλικὸν εἶναι. | 1.38 Among birds, the ibis is useful against snakes, locusts, and caterpillars; the hawk against scorpions, horned vipers, and small biting beasts, as well as contributing to divinations; and the eagle because it is regal. |
| 1.39 τὸν δὲ τράγον φασὶν ἀποτεθεῶσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὸν Πρίαπον, διὰ τὸ γεννητικὸν μόριον· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ζῷον εἶναι τοῦτο κατωφερέστατον πρὸς τὰς συνουσίας, τὸ δὲ μόριον τοῦ σώματος τὸ τῆς γενέσεως αἴτιον τιμᾶσθαι προσηκόντως ὡς ἂν ἀρχέγονον τῆς τῶν ζῴων φύσεως. καθόλου δὲ τὸ αἰδοῖον οὐ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὐκ ὀλίγους καθιερωκέναι κατὰ τὰς τελετάς, ὡς αἴτιον τῆς τῶν ζῴων γενέσεως· | 1.39 They say the goat was deified, just as Priapus among the Greeks, because of its generative organ; for this animal is extremely inclined toward intercourse, and the part of the body responsible for generation is properly honored as the origin of the nature of living beings. Generally, not only the Egyptians, but also many other peoples have consecrated the phallus in rites, as the cause of the generation of living beings; |
| 1.40 τούς τε ἱερεῖς τοὺς παραλαβόντας τὰς πατρικὰς ἱερωσύνας κατ’ Αἴγυπτον τούτῳ τῷ θεῷ μυεῖσθαι. καὶ τοὺς Πᾶνας δὲ καὶ τοὺς Σατύρους φασὶν ἕνεκα τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας τιμᾶσθαι παρ’ ἀνθρώποις· διὸ καὶ τὰς εἰκόνας αὐτῶν ἀνατιθέναι τοὺς πλείστους ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐντεταμένας καὶ τῇ τοῦ τράγου φύσει παραπλησίας· τὸ γάρ τοι ζῷον τοῦτο παραδίδοσθαι πρὸς τὰς συνουσίας ὑπάρχειν ἐνεργότατον. | 1.40 and the priests who inherit hereditary priesthoods in Egypt are initiated to this god. They say Pans and Satyrs are honored for the same reason among men; wherefore most people set up images of them erect and similar to the nature of a goat; for this animal is handed down as being most energetic for intercourse. |
| 1.41 τοὺς δὲ ταύρους τοὺς ἱεροὺς τὸν Ἄπιν καὶ τὸν Μνεῦιν τιμᾶσθαι παραπλησίως τοῖς θεοῖς, ἅμα μὲν διὰ τὴν γεωργίαν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ τὴν εὕρεσιν τῶν καρπῶν αὐτοῖς ἀνατιθέναι. | 1.41 The sacred bulls, Apis and Mnevis, are honored similarly to gods, partly on account of agriculture, and partly because they attribute the discovery of fruits to them. |
| 1.42 τοὺς δὲ λύκους τιμᾶσθαι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς κύνας τῆς φύσεως ὁμοιότητα καὶ ἐπεὶ τὸ παλαιόν, φασί, τῆς Ἴσιδος μετὰ τοῦ παιδὸς Ὤρου μελλούσης διαγωνίζεσθαι πρὸς Τυφῶνα, παραγενέσθαι βοηθὸν ἐξ Ἅιδου τὸν Ὄσιριν τῷ τέκνῳ καὶ τῇ γυναικί, λύκῳ τὴν ὄψιν ὁμοιωθέντα. | 1.42 Wolves are honored on account of the similarity of their nature to dogs, and because anciently, they say, when Isis with her son Horus was about to battle against Typhon, Osiris came from Hades as a helper to his child and wife, having likened his appearance to a wolf. |
| 1.43 ἕτεροι δὲ λέγουσιν Αἰθίοπας στρατεύσαντας ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ὑπὸ πλήθους λύκων διωχθῆναι· διὸ καὶ Λυκόπολιν κληθῆναι τὴν χώραν. τὸν δὲ κροκόδειλον σέβεσθαί φασι διὰ τὸ μὴ τολμᾶν διανήχεσθαι τὸν Νεῖλον τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀραβίας καὶ Λιβύης λῃστὰς τῶν κροκοδείλων χάριν. | 1.43 Others say that when Ethiopians marched against Egypt, they were driven off by a multitude of wolves; wherefore the land was called Lycopolis. They say the crocodile is worshipped because robbers from Arabia and Libya do not dare to swim across the Nile on account of the crocodiles. |
| 1.44 φασὶ δέ τινα τῶν παρ’ αὐτοῖς βασιλέων διωκόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων κυνῶν καταφυγεῖν εἰς τὴν λίμνην, ἔπειτα ὑπὸ κροκοδείλου παραδόξως ἀναληφθέντα εἰς τὸ πέραν ἀπενεχθῆναι. | 1.44 And they say one of their kings, being pursued by his own dogs, fled into the lake, and then was unexpectedly picked up by a crocodile and carried across to the other side. |
| 1.45 αἰτίας δὲ καὶ ἄλλας φασί τινες τῆς τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τιμῆς. τοῦ γὰρ πλήθους τὸ παλαιὸν ἀφισταμένου τῶν βασιλέων, καὶ συμφρονοῦντος εἰς τὸ μηκέτι βασιλεύεσθαι, ἐπινοῆσαί τινα διάφορα σεβάσματα αὐτοῖς τῶν ζῴων παρασχεῖν, ὅπως ἑκάστων τὸ μὲν παρ’ αὐτοῖς τιμώμενον σεβομένων, τοῦ δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀφιερωμένου καταφρονούντων, μηδέποτε ὁμονοῆσαι δύνωνται πάντες οἱ κατ’ Αἴγυπτον. | 1.45 Some mention other causes for the honor of irrational animals. For when the multitude anciently revolted against the kings and conspired to no longer be ruled by a king, someone devised to provide them with different objects of worship among the animals, so that with each group worshipping what was honored among themselves and despising what was consecrated among others, all the people throughout Egypt might never be able to agree. |
| 1.46 ὅταν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ τι τῶν εἰρημένων ζῴων, σινδόνι καλύψαντες καὶ μετ’ οἰμωγῆς τὰ στήθη καταπληξάμενοι ἐν ἱεραῖς θήκαις θάπτουσιν. ὃς δ’ ἂν τι τούτων τῶν ζῴων ἑκὼν διαφθείρῃ, θανάτῳ περιπίπτει, πλὴν ἐὰν αἴλουρον ἢ τὴν ἶβιν ἀποκτείνῃ· ταῦτα δὲ ἐάν τε ἑκὼν ἐάν τε ἄκων ἀποκτείνῃ τις, πάντως θανάτῳ περιπίπτει. | 1.46 Whenever one of the mentioned animals dies, having wrapped it in linen and beaten their breasts with wailing, they bury it in sacred tombs. Whoever intentionally destroys any of these animals suffers death, except if he kills a cat or an ibis; whether anyone kills these intentionally or unintentionally, he unconditionally suffers death. |
| 1.47 ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ καθ’ ἣν ἂν οἰκίαν εὑρεθῇ κύων τετελευτηκώς, ξυρῶνται πάντες ὅλον τὸ σῶμα καὶ ποιοῦνται πένθος· κἂν οἶνος, ἢ σῖτος, ἤ τι τῶν πρὸς τὸν βίον ἀναγκαίων τύχῃ κείμενον ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι χρήσασθαι αὐτοῖς ὑπομείνειαν. | 1.47 Furthermore, in whichever house a dog is found dead, everyone shaves their entire body and enters into mourning; and if wine, wheat, or any of the necessities of life happen to be laying in the house, they would no longer endure to use them. |
| 1.48 τρέφουσι δὲ τὸν Ἄπιν ἐν Μέμφει, καὶ τὸν Μνεῦιν ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει, καὶ τὸν τράγον ἐν Μένδητι, καὶ τὸν κροκόδειλον ἐν τῇ Μοιρίδος λίμνῃ, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ θηρία ἐν ἱεροῖς περιβόλοις, σεμίδαλιν προσφέροντες, ἢ χόνδρον ἕψοντες ἐν γάλακτι, καὶ πέμματα παντοδαπὰ μέλιτι φύροντες καὶ κρέα χήνεια τὰ μὲν ἕψοντες, τὰ δὲ ὀπτῶντες. | 1.48 They feed Apis in Memphis, Mnevis in Heliopolis, the goat in Mendes, the crocodile in Lake Moeris, and the remaining beasts in sacred enclosures, offering fine flour, or boiling coarse grain in milk, and mixing all kinds of cakes with honey, and goose meat—some boiled, some roasted. |
| 1.49 τοῖς δὲ ὠμοφάγοις πολλὰ τῶν ὀρνέων παραβάλλουσι, καὶ θηλείας ἑκάστῳ τῶν ζῴων τὰς εὐειδεστάτας συντρέφουσιν, ἃς παλλακίδας προσαγορεύουσιν. | 1.49 To the carnivores they throw many birds, and they rear with each animal the most beautiful females of their species, which they call concubines. |
| 1.50 ὅταν δὲ ὁ Ἆπις τελευτήσας ταφῇ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ζητοῦσιν ἕτερον ὅμοιον· ὅταν δὲ εὑρεθῇ, τὰ μὲν πλήθη τοῦ πένθους ἀπολύεται, ἄγεται δὲ ὁ μόσχος πρῶτον εἰς Νείλου πόλιν. καὶ τότε μόνον αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτὸν ὁρῶσι κατὰ πρόσωπον ἱστάμεναι, καὶ δεικνύουσιν ἀνασυράμεναι τὰ ἑαυτῶν γεννητικὰ μόρια, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον χρόνον ἅπαντα κεκωλυμένον ἐστὶν εἰς ὄψιν αὐτὰς ἔρχεσθαι τούτῳ τῷ θεῷ. φασὶ δὲ τὴν τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ψυχὴν εἰς τοῦτον μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν μεταστῆναι. | 1.50 Whenever Apis dies and is buried magnificently, they seek another like him; and when he is found, the crowds are released from mourning, and the calf is brought first to the City of the Nile. And then only, women stand face to face and look at him, and uncover themselves to show their generative parts; but for all the rest of the time they are forbidden to come into the sight of this god. They say that the soul of Osiris passed into this bull after his death." |
| 1.51 Τοιαύτη καὶ ἡ Αἰγυπτίων ἀσχήμων ἀθεότης μᾶλλον ἢ θεολογία, πρὸς ἣν καὶ τὸ ἐνίστασθαι αἰσχρόν. ἧς καὶ εἰκότως καταπτύσαντες ἀνεχωρήσαμεν, λύτρωσιν καὶ ἐλευθερίαν τῶν τοσούτων κακῶν οὐδετέρως εὑράμενοι ἢ διὰ μόνης τῆς σωτηρίου καὶ εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας, τῆς τὰς διανοίας τυφλοῖς τὴν ἀνάβλεψιν εὐαγγελισαμένης. | 1.51 Such is the indecent ungodliness rather than theology of the Egyptians, against which even to contend is shameful. Spitting upon it with good reason, we turned away, having found redemption and freedom from such great evils in no other way than through the saving and evangelical teaching alone, which brought good news of the recovery of sight to the blind in mind. |
| 1.52 τούτων δὲ αὐτῶν τὰς σεμνοτέρας δὴ θεωρίας τε καὶ φυσιολογίας μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐπισκεψόμεθα, ἐπὰν καὶ τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ διαλάβωμεν. οὕτω δῆτα ἀναμὶξ Αἰγυπτιακῆς ὁμοῦ καὶ Φοινικικῆς συνδραμούσης μυθολογίας κεκράτηκεν εἰκότως παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις τῶν ἐθνῶν ἡ τῆς παλαιᾶς πλάνης δεισιδαιμονία. | 1.52 We shall examine the more dignified theories and physical interpretations of these very matters a little later, after we have discussed Greek matters. Thus, mixed together, Egyptian and Phoenician mythology running concurrently has naturally gained control over most nations as the superstition of ancient error. |
| 1.53 ἀλλὰ γὰρ λεκτέον καὶ τὰ Ἑλλήνων. τὰ μὲν δὴ σεμνὰ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων μυθολογίας τὸν προτεθέντα περιείληφε τρόπον, τὰ δὲ Ἑλληνικὰ ὅτι τούτων αὐτῶν ἀποσπάσματα καὶ παρακούσματα τυγχάνει προείρηται μὲν πολλάκις καὶ διὰ τῆς τῶν προτεθέντων συγγραφέων διαγνώσεως, | 1.53 But we must also speak of the affairs of the Greeks. The dignified parts of Egyptian mythology are contained in the manner set forth; and that the Greek traditions are fragments and mishearings of these very things has often been said before, including through the critical examination of the set-forth authors. |
| 1.54 οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς θεολογίας γένοιτ’ ἂν ἔκδηλον, ἐπαγομένων ἐν ταῖς οἰκείαις περὶ θεῶν ἀναγραφαῖς οἴκοθεν μὲν οὐδέν, ταῖς δὲ τῶν ἔξωθεν περιπιπτόντων μυθολογίαις· | 1.54 Nevertheless, it will become clear from Greek theology itself, as they introduce nothing of their own home into their own records concerning the gods, but fall into the mythologies of those from outside. |
| 1.55 ξοάνοις τε γὰρ τοῖς παραπλησίοις καὶ μυστηρίοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀποδείκνυνται συγχρώμενοι, ὡς ἔνεστι μαθεῖν ἐκ τῆς περὶ τούτων ἱστορίας, ἣν ὁ τὰς βιβλιοθήκας ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν ὁμοῦ συναγαγὼν οὗ καὶ πρόσθεν ἐμνημόνευσα, κατὰ τὸ τρίτον καὶ τέταρτον τῆς δηλωθείσης αὐτοῦ πραγματείας ἱστορεῖ, τὴν τῆς ἱστορίας ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν Κάδμου χρόνων πεποιημένος. | 1.55 For they are demonstrated to use similar wooden images (xoana) and the same mysteries, as can be learned from the history concerning these things, which the man who collected the libraries together into one place—whom I mentioned earlier—recounts in the third and fourth books of his declared work, having made the beginning of his history from the times of Cadmus. |
| 1.56 τὸν δὲ Κάδμον μετὰ Μωσέα γενέσθαι αἱ ἀκριβεῖς τῶν χρονογραφιῶν παριστῶσι διαδοχαί, ὡς κατὰ καιρὸν ἐπιδείξομεν. ὥστε καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν θεῶν ἀποδείκνυσθαι τὸν Μωσέα προτερεῖν, εἰ δὴ πρὸ Κάδμου μὲν οὗτος, οἱ δὲ θεοὶ νεώτεροι τῆς Κάδμου γεγονότες ἡλικίας ἀναφαίνονται. ἄκουε δ’ οὖν τῶν τοῦ συγγραφέως φωνῶν· | 1.56 That Cadmus lived after Moses is shown by the accurate successions of chronographers, as we shall demonstrate in due course. So it is demonstrated that Moses precedes the Greek gods, if indeed he was before Cadmus, while the gods turn out to have been born later than the age of Cadmus. Listen then to the words of the author: |
Chapter 2
| 2.1 Κάδμον τὸν Ἀγήνορός φασιν ἐκ Φοινίκης ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποσταλῆναι πρὸς ἀναζήτησιν τῆς Εὐρώπης, ἣν ὑπὸ Διὸς ἁρπαγῆναι· μὴ εὑρόντα δὲ εἰς Βοιωτίαν ἐλθεῖν κτίσαι τε τὰς αὐτόθι Θήβας, γήμαντα δὲ Ἁρμονίαν τὴν Ἀφροδίτης γεννῆσαι ἐξ αὐτῆς Σεμέλην καὶ τὰς ταύτης ἀδελφάς. | 2.1 They say that Cadmus, the son of Agenor, was sent from Phoenicia by the king to search for Europa, who had been carried off by Zeus. When he failed to find her, he came to Boeotia and founded the city of Thebes in that land. Having married Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite, he fathered upon her Semele and her sisters. |
| 2.2 τῇ δὲ Σεμέλῃ Δία μιγέντα παρακληθῆναι τὰς ἐπιπλοκὰς ὁμοίας αὐτῇ ποιήσασθαι ταῖς πρὸς Ἥραν. ἐπελθόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ θεοπρεπῶς μετὰ βροντῶν καὶ ἀστραπῶν, οὐκ ἐνεγκοῦσαν τὴν Σεμέλην ἐγκύμονα οὖσαν ἐκτρῶσαι τὸ βρέφος, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς αὐτὴν τελευτῆσαι. | 2.2 Zeus, having united with Semele, was requested by her to make his physical approach to her similar to his unions with Hera. When he came to her in divine majesty with thunder and lightning, Semele, being unable to endure it while pregnant, aborted the child and perished by the fire. |
| 2.3 τὸν δὲ Δία λαβόντα τὸ παιδίον παραδοῦναι τῷ Ἑρμῇ, ἐκπέμψαι τε εἰς τὸ ἐν τῇ Νύσῃ ἄντρον, κείμενον μεταξὺ Φοινίκης τε καὶ Νείλου. οὕτω δὲ τραφέντα τὸν Διόνυσον ὑπὸ τῶν νυμφῶν εὑρετὴν τοῦ οἴνου γενέσθαι, καὶ τὴν φυτείαν διδάξαι τῆς ἀμπέλου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. | 2.3 Zeus, taking up the child, handed him over to Hermes, and sent him away to the cave in Nysa, situated between Phoenicia and the Nile. Thus reared by the nymphs, Dionysus became the discoverer of wine and taught human beings the cultivation of the grapevine. |
| 2.4 εὑρεῖν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῆς κριθῆς κατασκευαζόμενον πόμα, τὸ καλούμενον ζῦθον· περιφέρειν δὲ στρατόπεδον οὐ μόνον ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναικῶν, καὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων κολάζειν. στρατεῦσαι δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικὴν τριετεῖ χρόνῳ. | 2.4 He also discovered the drink made from barley, which is called zythos. He led about a military force not only of men, but also of women, and punished the unjust and impious among mankind. He also undertook a military campaign into India lasting three years. |
| 2.5 ἐντεῦθεν τοὺς Ἕλληνας καταδεῖξαι τριετηρικὰς θυσίας Διονύσῳ, καὶ τὸν θεὸν νομίζειν κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ποιεῖσθαι τὰς παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιφανείας, σέβειν τε αὐτὸν πάντας ἀνθρώπους διὰ τὴν τοῦ οἴνου δόσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὴν Δήμητρα διὰ τὴν τῆς τοῦ σίτου τροφῆς εὕρεσιν. | 2.5 From this, the Greeks instituted triennial sacrifices to Dionysus, believing that the god makes his appearances among men at this interval. All people reverence him because of the gift of wine, just as they reverence Demeter because of her discovery of the nourishment provided by grain. |
| 2.6 Εἶναι δέ φασι καὶ ἄλλον Διόνυσον πολὺ τοῖς χρόνοις προτεροῦντα τούτου, τὸν ὑπό τινων Σαβάξιον ὀνομαζόμενον, ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Περσεφόνης γενόμενον· οὗ τὴν γένεσιν καὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰς τιμὰς νυκτερινὰς καὶ κρυφίους εἰσάγουσιν, διὰ τὴν αἰσχύνην τὴν ἐκ τῆς συνουσίας ἐπακολουθοῦσαν. | 2.6 They say that there is also another Dionysus, much earlier in time than this one, who is named Sabazios by some, born of Zeus and Persephone. They introduce his birth, sacrifices, and nocturnal, secret rites because of the shame that attends such intercourse. |
| 2.7 ὃν καὶ πρῶτον βοῦς ἐπιχειρῆσαι ζευγνύειν, ἀφ’ οὗ δὴ καὶ κερατίαν αὐτὸν εἰσάγουσιν. τὸν δὲ ἐκ Σεμέλης νεώτερον, τρυφερὸν τῷ σώματι, καὶ εὐπρεπείᾳ διενεγκεῖν καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀφροδισιακὰς ἡδονὰς εὐκατάφορον γεγονέναι φασίν, κατὰ δὲ τὰς στρατείας γυναικῶν πλῆθος περιάγειν καθωπλισμένας λόγχαις συναποδημεῖν. | 2.7 He was also the first to attempt to yoke oxen, from which circumstance they represent him with horns. But the younger Dionysus, born of Semele, was delicate in body, surpassed all in beauty, and was easily inclined toward amorous pleasures. On his military expeditions, he led about a multitude of women armed with spears who traveled with him. |
| 2.8 φασὶ δὲ καὶ τὰς Μούσας αὐτῷ συναποδημεῖν παρθένους οὔσας καὶ πεπαιδευμένας διαφερόντως, ἃς καὶ διὰ μελῳδίας καὶ ὀρχήσεως ψυχαγωγεῖν τὸν θεόν. παιδαγωγόν τε αὐτοῦ Σειληνὸν μεγάλα συμβάλλεσθαι αὐτῷ πρὸς ἀρετήν. πρὸς δὲ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ πλεονάζοντος οἴνου κεφαλαλγίας ἀναδεδέσθαι τὴν κεφαλὴν μίτρᾳ. | 2.8 They say also that the Muses traveled with him, being virgins and extraordinarily educated, who charmed the god through song and dance. His tutor, Silenus, contributed greatly to his path of virtue. Moreover, to counter headaches resulting from excessive wine consumption, Dionysus bound his head with a headband (mitra). |
| 2.9 διμήτορα δὲ αὐτὸν προσαγορεύουσι διὰ τὸ πατρὸς μὲν ἑνὸς ὑπάρξαι τοὺς δύο Διονύσους, μητέρων δὲ δυοῖν. νάρθηκα δὲ προσάπτουσιν αὐτῷ, διὰ τὸ πίνοντας ἄκρατον τοὺς παλαιοὺς τὸν οἶνον μανιώδεις γίνεσθαι καὶ ταῖς βακτηρίαις ἀλλήλους τύπτειν, ὡς καὶ ἀναιρεῖσθαί τινας, ὅθεν καὶ ἀντὶ ξύλων νάρθηξι χρῆσθαι καταδεῖξαι. | 2.9 They call him "twice-born" (dimētōr) because the two Dionysuses share one father, but have two mothers. They attribute a fennel stalk (narthex) to him because when the ancients drank unmixed wine, they became wild and struck one another with walking sticks, even killing some. Consequently, he introduced the use of fennel stalks instead of wooden sticks. |
| 2.10 καλεῖσθαι δὲ αὐτὸν Βάκχιον ἀπὸ τῶν Βακχῶν, Ληναῖον δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ πατεῖσθαι τὰς σταφυλὰς ἐν ληνοῖς, Βρόμιον δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν αὐτοῦ γενομένου βρόμου. | 2.10 He is called Bacchius from the Bacchae, Lenaeus from the treading of the grapes in winepresses (lenoi), and Bromius from the thunderous roaring (bromos) that occurred at his birth. |
| 2.11 καὶ Σατύρους δέ φασιν αὐτὸν περιάγεσθαι ἐν ταῖς ὀρχήσεσι καὶ ταῖς τραγῳδίαις τέρψιν αὐτῷ καὶ ἡδονὴν παρέχοντας, καταδεῖξαι δὲ θέατρον καὶ μουσικῶν ἀκροαμάτων σύστημα. τοιαῦτα μὲν τὰ περὶ Διονύσου. | 2.11 They also say he brought along Satyrs in his dances and theatrical representations, who provided him with delight and pleasure, and that he established the theater and a system of musical performances. Such, then, are the accounts concerning Dionysus. |
| 2.12 Τὸν δὲ Πρίαπον υἱὸν εἶναί φασι Διονύσου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης, διὰ τὸ τοὺς οἰνωθέντας ἐντετάσθαι πρὸς τὰς ἀφροδισιακὰς ἡδονάς. τινὲς δέ φασι τὸ αἰδοῖον τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς παλαιοὺς μυρικῶς Πρίαπον ὀνομάζειν. | 2.12 They say Priapus is the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, because those who are intoxicated are naturally aroused toward amorous pleasures. Some say that the ancients called the human male genitalia "Priapus" in a mythical sense. |
| 2.13 ἔνιοι δὲ λέγουσι τὸ γεννητικὸν μόριον αἴτιον ὑπάρχειν τῆς γενέσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν αἰῶνα τυχεῖν τῆς ἀθανάτου τιμῆς· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τὴν Ἶσιν ἔφησαν τὰ μέλη τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἀναζητοῦσαν, τὸ αἰδοῖον αὐτοῦ μὴ δυναμένην εὑρεῖν, καταδεῖξαι τιμᾶν ὡς θεόν, καὶ ἀναθεῖναι κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐντεταμένον. | 2.13 Some claim that the generative organ is responsible for the generation of human beings, and for this reason it attained immortal honor for all time. Just as the Egyptians said that Isis, while searching for the limbs of Osiris and being unable to find his genitalia, commanded that it be honored as a god and dedicated in the temple in a state of erection. |
| 2.14 ἀλλὰ καὶ παρ’ Ἕλλησιν οὐ μόνον ἐν ταῖς Διονυσιακαῖς τελεταῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἁπάσαις οὗτος ὁ θεὸς τυγχάνει τινὸς τιμῆς, μετὰ γέλωτος καὶ παιδιᾶς παρεισαγόμενος ἐν ταῖς θυσίαις· ὡς καὶ τὸν Ἑρμαφρόδιτον, ὃν ἐξ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ Ἀφροδίτης γεννηθέντα τυχεῖν τῆς προσηγορίας. | 2.14 Indeed, among the Greeks, not only in the Dionysian rites but in almost all other mysteries, this god receives a certain honor, being introduced with laughter and playfulness during the sacrifices; just as with Hermaphroditus, who, born of Hermes and Aphrodite, received his title accordingly. 2.15 They say that this god appears among human beings at certain times and is born possessing a physical nature mixed between male and female. Some, however, say that such occurrences are portents, born rarely, which at times signify evils and at other times blessings. |
| 2.15 τοῦτον δέ φασι τὸν θεὸν κατά τινας χρόνους φαίνεσθαι παρ’ ἀνθρώποις καὶ γεννᾶσθαι τὴν τοῦ σώματος φύσιν ἔχοντα μεμιγμένην ἐξ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικός· ἔνιοι δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα τέρατα ὑπάρχειν φασί, σπανίως τε γεννώμενα σημαντικὰ ποτὲ μὲν κακῶν, ποτὲ δ’ ἀγαθῶν γίνεσθαι. | 2.15 They say that this god appears among human beings at certain times and is born possessing a physical nature mixed between male and female. Some, however, say that such occurrences are portents, born rarely, which at times signify evils and at other times blessings. |
| 2.16 Τὰς δὲ Μούσας θυγατέρας εἶναι Διὸς καὶ Μνημοσύνης, τινὲς δὲ Οὐρανοῦ καὶ Γῆς. παρθένους τε αὐτὰς οἱ πλεῖστοι μυθολογοῦσι, τυχεῖν τε τῆς προσηγορίας ἀπὸ τοῦ μυεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τοῦτο δέ ἐστι διδάσκειν τὰ καλά. | 2.16 As for the Muses, they say they are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, though some say of Uranus and Gaia. Most mythologize them as virgins, receiving their title from initiating (muein) human beings—that is, teaching noble things. |
| 2.17 Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους Ἕλληνες τοιαῦτά φασι· Δανάης τῆς Ἀκρισίου καὶ Διὸς γενέσθαι Περσέα, Πέρσεως δὲ καὶ Ἀνδρομέδας Ἠλεκτρύωνα, ἐκ δὲ τούτου γενέσθαι τὴν Ἀλκμήνην, ᾗ μιγέντα τὸν Δία γεννῆσαι τὸν Ἡρακλέα. μισγόμενον δὲ αὐτῇ τὸν Δία τριπλασίονα τὴν νύκτα ποιῆσαι· μόνην δὲ ταύτην τοῦ Διὸς τὴν ὁμιλίαν οὐκ ἐρωτικῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἕνεκα γενέσθαι, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων γυναικῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς παιδοποιίας χάριν. | 2.17 Concerning Heracles, the Greeks say the following: Perseus was born of Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, and Zeus; from Perseus and Andromeda came Electryon; and from him was born Alcmene, with whom Zeus united to father Heracles. Joining with her, Zeus made the night three times its length. This union alone Zeus undertook not out of erotic desire, as with other women, but chiefly for the sake of procreating a child. |
| 2.18 τὴν δὲ Ἥραν ζηλοτυποῦσαν παρακατασχεῖν μὲν τῆς Ἀλκμήνης τὰς ὠδῖνας, τὸν δὲ Εὐρυσθέα πρὸ τοῦ καθήκοντος χρόνου πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἀγαγεῖν, τοῦ Διὸς προαγορεύσαντος τὸν τεχθησόμενον κατ’ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν βασιλεῦσαι τοῦ Περσειδῶν γένους. | 2.18 Hera, becoming jealous, held back Alcmene’s labor pains, and brought Eurystheus forth into the light before his due time, since Zeus had proclaimed that the child born on that day should rule over the race of the Perseidae. |
| 2.19 τεκοῦσα δὲ ἡ Ἀλκμήνη ἐξέθηκεν, ὥς φασι, τὸ βρέφος, φόβῳ τῆς Ἥρας. τὴν δὲ Ἀθηνᾶν ἀγασθεῖσαν τὸ βρέφος πεῖσαι τὴν Ἥραν ὑποσχεῖν αὐτῷ τὴν θηλήν. τοῦ δὲ παιδὸς ὑπὲρ τὴν ἡλικίαν βιαιότερον ἐπισπασαμένου τὴν θηλὴν ἡ μὲν Ἥρα διαλγήσασα τὸ βρέφος ἔρριψεν, Ἀθηνᾶ δὲ κομίσασα αὐτὸ τὴν μητέρα τρέφειν παρεκελεύσατο. | 2.19 When Alcmene gave birth, she exposed the infant out of fear of Hera. But Athena, marvelling at the child, persuaded Hera to offer him her breast. When the child drew upon the breast with more violence than suited his age, Hera dropped the infant in pain; Athena then picked him up and brought him to his mother to be raised. |
| 2.20 Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἡ μὲν Ἥρα δύο δράκοντας ἀπέστειλε τοὺς ἀναλώσοντας τὸ βρέφος, ὁ δὲ παῖς οὐ καταπλαγεὶς ἑκατέρᾳ τῶν χειρῶν τὸν αὐχένα θλίψας ἀπέπνιξε τοὺς δράκοντας. ἀνδρὶ δὲ γενομένῳ τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ Εὐρυσθεὺς ὁ τὴν βασιλείαν ἔχων τῆς Ἀργείας προστάττει ἄθλους ἐκτελέσαι δώδεκα. | 2.20 After these events, Hera sent two serpents to destroy the child, but the boy, undaunted, squeezed their necks with both hands and strangled them. When Heracles became a man, Eurystheus, who held the kingdom of Argolis, ordered him to perform twelve labors. |
| 2.21 εἰς πολλὴν δὲ ἀμηχανίαν ἐμπεσόντος αὐτοῦ Ἥρα μὲν ἔπεμψεν αὐτῷ λύσσαν, ὁ δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ δυσφορῶν εἰς μανίαν ἐνέπεσε· τοῦ πάθους δὲ αὐξομένου τῶν φρενῶν ἐκτὸς γενόμενος τὸν ἑταῖρον καὶ ἀδελφιδοῦν Ἰόλαον ἐπεβάλλετο κτείνειν, τοῦ δὲ φεύγοντος, τοὺς ἰδίους παῖδας ἐκ Μεγάρας τῆς Κρέοντος τοῦ βασιλέως θυγατρὸς γενομένους αὐτῷ κατετόξευσεν ὡς πολεμίους. | 2.21 When Heracles fell into great despair, Hera sent madness upon him; suffering in his soul, he fell into total insanity. As the affliction grew and he lost his reason, he attempted to kill his companion and nephew Iolaus. When Iolaus fled, Heracles shot his own children born of Megara, daughter of King Creon, mistaking them for enemies. |
| 2.22 καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἠρέμα καταστὰς ὑπουργεῖ τῷ Εὐρυσθεῖ τοὺς δώδεκα ἄθλους. ἀναιρεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς Κενταύρους, μεθ’ ὧν καὶ Χείρωνα τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ἰατρικῇ βοώμενον. | 2.22 Afterward, having regained his composure, he served Eurystheus in the twelve labors. He also slew the Centaurs, among whom was Chiron, famed for his medical skill. |
| 2.23 Φασὶ δὲ ἴδιόν τι συμβῆναι κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ. Ζεὺς γὰρ πρώτῃ μὲν ἐμίγη γυναικὶ θνητῇ Νιόβῃ τῇ Φορωνέως, ἐσχάτῃ δὲ Ἀλκμήνῃ τῇ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους μητρί. ταύτην δὲ ἀπὸ Νιόβης ἑκκαιδεκάτην γενεαλογοῦσιν. ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ τὴν πρὸς τὰς θνητὰς ὁμιλίαν κατέλυσεν. | 2.23 They say a unique thing occurred regarding the origin of this god: Zeus first united with a mortal woman, Niobe, daughter of Phoroneus, and last with Alcmene, the mother of Heracles. Genealogists count Alcmene as the sixteenth generation from Niobe. With her, Zeus ended his unions with mortal women. |
| 2.24 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τελέσας τοὺς ἄθλους ὁ Ἡρακλῆς τὴν μὲν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα Μεγάραν συνῴκισεν Ἰόλᾳ τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ διὰ τὴν περὶ τὰ τέκνα συμφοράν· αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰόλην τὴν Εὐρύτου πρὸς γάμον αἰτήσας, μὴ δόντος δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς νοσήσας, χρησμὸν λαμβάνει ἀπολυθήσεσθαι τῆς νόσου, εἰ πρότερον πραθεὶς δουλεύσειεν. | 2.24 Now, after completing his labors, Heracles gave his wife Megara in marriage to his nephew Iolaus on account of the tragedy involving their children. Seeking Iole, daughter of Eurytus, in marriage, and being refused by her father, he fell ill. He received an oracle stating he would be freed from his disease only if he were first sold into slavery. |
| 2.25 πλεύσας οὖν εἰς τὴν Φρυγίαν ὑπό τινος τῶν φίλων πιπράσκεται, καὶ δοῦλος γίνεται Ὀμφάλης βασιλευούσης τῶν τότε Μαιόνων, νυνὶ δὲ Λυδῶν ὀνομαζομένων. γίνεται δὲ αὐτῷ κατὰ τὸν τῆς δουλείας καιρὸν ἐκ δούλης υἱὸς Κλεόλαος. γήμας δὲ τὴν Ὀμφάλην ποιεῖται καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς παῖδα. | 2.25 Sailing to Phrygia, he was sold by one of his friends and became a slave to Omphale, who was then queen of the Maeonians (now called Lydians). During his time of servitude, he fathered a son, Cleolaus, by a slave woman; later, marrying Omphale, he fathered a child with her as well. |
| 2.26 Ἐπανιὼν δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἀρκαδίαν, καὶ καταλύσας παρ’ Ἄλεῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, τῇ θυγατρὶ τούτου λάθρα μιγεὶς, καὶ ποιήσας αὐτὴν ἔγκυον, ἐπανῆλθεν. | 2.26 Returning to Arcadia, he stayed with King Aleus, secretly united with his daughter, left her pregnant, and departed. |
| 2.27 Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν ἔγημε Δηϊάνειραν τὴν Οἰνέως, τετελευτηκότος ἤδη τοῦ Μελεάγρου. Λαβὼν δὲ αἰχμάλωτον τὴν Φυλέως θυγατέρα ἐπεμίγη αὐτῇ καὶ ἐτέκνωσε Τληπόλεμον. δειπνῶν δὲ παρ’ Οἰνεῖ τὸν διακονοῦντα περί τι διαμαρτήσαντα κονδύλῳ πατάξας ἀπέκτεινεν. | 2.27 Afterward, he married Deianira, daughter of Oeneus, Meleager having already died. Taking the daughter of Phyleus as a captive, he slept with her and fathered Tlepolemus. While dining with Oeneus, when the servant made a mistake, Heracles struck him with his fist and killed him. |
| 2.28 ἐπεὶ δὲ πορευόμενος ἦλθε πρὸς τὸν Εὔηνον ποταμόν, καταλαμβάνει Νέσσον τὸν Κένταυρον μισθοῦ διαβιβάζοντα τὸν ποταμόν. οὗτος δὲ πρῶτον διαβιβάσας τὴν Δηϊάνειραν, καὶ διὰ τὸ κάλλος αὐτῆς ἐρασθεὶς ἐπεχείρησεν αὐτὴν βιάσασθαι· ἐπιβοωμένης δὲ αὐτῆς τὸν ἄνδρα ὁ μὲν Ἡρακλῆς ἐτόξευσε τὸν Κένταυρον, ὁ δὲ Νέσσος μεταξὺ μισγόμενος, καὶ διὰ τὴν ὀξύτητα τῆς πληγῆς εὐθὺς ἀποθνῄσκων, ἔφησε τῇ Δηϊανείρᾳ δώσειν φίλτρον, ὅπως μηδεμιᾷ τῶν ἄλλων γυναικῶν Ἡρακλῆς θελήσῃ πλησιάσαι. | 2.28 Proceeding on his way, he came to the Evenus River, where he found Nessus the Centaur carrying travelers across for a fee. Nessus, having carried Deianira across first, fell in love with her beauty and attempted to violate her. When she called out to her husband, Heracles shot the Centaur. Nessus, dying from the sharpness of the wound, told Deianira he would give her a love charm so Heracles would never desire to approach any other woman. |
| 2.29 παρεκελεύσατο οὖν λαβοῦσαν τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ πεσόντα γόνον, καὶ τούτῳ προσμίξασαν ἔλαιον καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκίδος ἀποσταζόμενον αἷμα, χρῖσαι τὸν χιτῶνα τοῦ Ἡρακλέους. τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσασα Δηϊάνειρα κατεῖχε παρ’ ἑαυτῇ τὸ φάρμακον. | 2.29 He urged her to take the seed that fell from him, mix it with oil and the blood dripping from the arrow point, and smear it upon Heracles’ tunic. Having done this, Deianira kept the charm beside her. |
| 2.30 Πάλιν δὲ ὁ Ἡρακλῆς τὴν Φύλαντος θυγατέρα λαβὼν αἰχμάλωτον καὶ μιγεὶς αὐτῇ υἱὸν Ἀντίοχον ἐγέννησε· καὶ πάλιν Ἀστυάνειραν τὴν Ἀρμενίου τοῦ βασιλέως θυγατέρα λαβὼν αἰχμάλωτον καὶ μιγεὶς αὐτῇ Κτήσιππον υἱὸν ἐγέννησε. | 2.30 Later, Heracles again took the daughter of Phylas as a captive, slept with her, and fathered a son, Antiochus; and taking Astyaneira, daughter of King Armenius, as a captive, he slept with her and fathered a son, Ctesippus. |
| 2.31 Θέσπιος δὲ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος Ἐρεχθέως παῖς ἐκ διαφόρων γυναικῶν θυγατέρας ἀριθμῷ πεντήκοντα πεποιηκώς, φιλοτιμησάμενός τε αὐτὰς ἐξ Ἡρακλέους παῖδας κτήσασθαι, καλέσας ἐπί τινα θυσίαν τὸν Ἡρακλέα, καὶ λαμπρῶς αὐτὸν ἑστιάσας, κατὰ μίαν αὐτῷ τῶν θυγατέρων ἀπέστειλεν. ὁ δὲ ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ διέφθειρεν τὰς πάσας, καὶ γίνεται πατὴρ τῶν καλουμένων Θεσπιάδων. | 2.31 Thespius the Athenian, son of Erechtheus, had fathered fifty daughters by various women; desiring to obtain children for them from Heracles, he invited Heracles to a sacrifice, entertained him lavishly, and sent his daughters to him one by one. Heracles slept with all of them in a single night and became the father of those called the Thespiadae. |
| 2.32 Λαβὼν δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰόλην αἰχμάλωτον καὶ θυσίαν ἐπιτελῶν, ἀποστείλας ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα Δηϊάνειραν ᾔτει ἱμάτιον καὶ χιτῶνα οἷς εἰώθει χρῆσθαι πρὸς τὰς θυσίας· ἡ δὲ τὸν χιτῶνα χρίσασα τῷ παρὰ τοῦ Κενταύρου δεδομένῳ φίλτρῳ ἀποστέλλει. | 2.32 Having taken Iole as a captive and preparing a sacrifice, Heracles sent to his wife Deianira asking for a robe and tunic such as he was accustomed to wear during sacrifices. She smeared the tunic with the charm given by the Centaur and sent it. |
| 2.33 ὁ δὲ Ἡρακλῆς τὸν χιτῶνα περιθέμενος περιέπεσε συμφορᾷ τῇ μεγίστῃ. τῆς γὰρ ἀκίδος τὸν ἐκ τῆς Ἐχίδνης ἰὸν ἀπειληφυίας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ χιτῶνος διὰ τὴν θερμασίαν τὴν σάρκα τοῦ σώματος λυμηναμένου, περιαλγὴς γενόμενος τὸν διακονήσαντα ἀπέκτεινεν, αὐτὸς δὲ κατὰ χρησμὸν πυρὶ ἑαυτὸν παραδούς, οὕτως κατέλυσε τὸν βίον. καὶ τὰ μὲν καθ’ Ἡρακλέα τοιαῦτα. | 2.33 Heracles, putting on the tunic, fell into the greatest calamity. For the poison of the Echidna had been absorbed from the arrow point, and as the tunic ruined the flesh of his body through the heat, he was overcome with pain, killed the servant who brought it, and surrendered himself to fire in accordance with an oracle, thus ending his life. Such are the matters concerning Heracles. |
| 2.34 Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ φασιν Ἀπόλλωνος υἱὸν εἶναι καὶ Κορωνίδος, ζηλῶσαι δὲ τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐπιστήμην, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ προβῆναι τῇ δόξῃ ὡς πολλοὺς τῶν ἀπεγνωσμένων ἀρρώστων παραδόξως θεραπεύειν· ὥστε τὸν Δία παροξυνθέντα κεραυνῷ βαλόντα αὐτὸν διαφθεῖραι, τὸν δὲ Ἀπόλλωνα διὰ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ παιδὸς παροξυνθέντα φονεῦσαι τοὺς τὸν κεραυνὸν τῷ Διὶ κατασκευάσαντας Κύκλωπας· ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ τούτων τελευτῇ παροξυνθέντα τὸν Δία προστάξαι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι παρ’ Ἀδμήτῳ δουλεῦσαι, καὶ ταύτην τὴν τιμωρίαν λαβεῖν παρ’ αὐτοῦ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων. | 2.34 Regarding Asclepius, they say he was the son of Apollo and Coronis, that he zealously pursued medical science, and advanced so far in reputation that he miraculously cured many hopeless patients. Consequently, Zeus was enraged and struck him with a lightning bolt, destroying him. Apollo, enraged by the destruction of his child, slew the Cyclopes who had forged the lightning bolt for Zeus. At their death, Zeus was enraged and ordered Apollo to serve Admetus, exacting this punishment from him for his crimes. |
| 2.35 Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν ὁ Διόδωρος παρατέθειται. καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν δὲ θεολογίαν πάλιν ὁ αὐτός φησι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν μετειληφέναι, γράφων ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἱστορίας τάδε· | 2.35 These things, then, Diodorus has set forth in the fourth book of his Library. Furthermore, the same author says that the Greeks derived the rest of their theology from other nations, writing these words in the third book of his history: |
| 2.36 «Φασὶ τοίνυν Ἀτλάντειοι πρῶτον παρ’ αὐτοῖς βασιλεῦσαι Οὐρανόν, τούτου δὲ γενέσθαι παῖδας ὧν πλειόνων γυναικῶν πέντε πρὸς τοῖς τεσσεράκοντα, ὧν ὀκτωκαίδεκα λέγουσιν ὑπάρχειν ἐκ Τιταίας γυναικός, ἣν σώφρονα γενομένην καὶ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτίαν ἀποθεωθῆναι μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν, Γῆν μετονομασθεῖσαν. | 2.36 "The Atlantians say that Uranus was the first to reign among them, and that he had forty-five sons by several wives, eighteen of whom they say were born of Titaia. She, having proven modest and the cause of many blessings, was deified after her death and renamed Gaia (Earth). |
| 2.37 γενέσθαι δὲ Οὐρανῷ θυγατέρας Βασίλειαν καὶ Ῥέαν, τὴν καὶ Πανδώραν. τὴν δὲ Βασίλειαν ἐκθρέψασαν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς μητρὸς εὔνοιαν παρεχομένην μητέρα προσαγορευθῆναι. | 2.37 Uranus had daughters named Basileia and Rhea, who was also called Pandora. Basileia, having raised her brothers with a mother’s affection, was called Mother. |
| 2.38 ὕστερον δὲ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ τελευτὴν συνοικήσασαν Ὑπερίονι τῷ ἀδελφῷ γεννῆσαι δύο παῖδας, οὓς καὶ ὀνομάσαι Ἥλιον καὶ Σελήνην. | 2.38 Later, after the death of Uranus, she married her brother Hyperion and bore two children, whom she named Helios (Sun) and Selene (Moon). |
| 2.39 τοὺς δὲ ἀδελφοὺς τῆς Ῥέας φοβηθέντας τὸν μὲν Ὑπερίονα κατασφάξαι, τὸν δὲ Ἥλιον εἰς τὸν Ἠριδανὸν ποταμὸν ἀποπνῖξαι· τὴν δὲ Σελήνην ταῦτα μαθοῦσαν ἀπὸ τέγους ῥῖψαι, τὴν δὲ μητέρα ἐμμανῆ γενομένην πλανᾶσθαι κατὰ τὴν χώραν, λελυμένην μὲν τὰς τρίχας, διὰ τυμπάνων δὲ καὶ κυμβάλων ἐνθεάζουσαν, καὶ ὅλως ἀφανῆ καὶ αὐτὴν γενέσθαι. | 2.39 Her brothers, fearing Rhea, slaughtered Hyperion and drowned Helios in the Eridanus River. Selene, learning of this, threw herself from the roof, while her mother became insane and wandered the land, her hair disheveled, making ecstatic music with drums and cymbals, until she too completely disappeared. |
| 2.40 τοὺς δὲ ὄχλους θαυμάσαντας τὴν περιπέτειαν τὸν μὲν Ἥλιον καὶ τὴν Σελήνην μεταγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ κατ’ οὐρανὸν ἄστρα, τὴν δὲ μητέρα τούτων θεόν τε νομίσαι καὶ βωμοὺς ἱδρύσασθαι, καὶ ταῖς διὰ τυμπάνων καὶ κυμβάλων ἐνεργείαις τιμῆσαι.» | 2.40 The crowds, marveling at the calamity, transformed Helios and Selene into the stars in the heavens, while they considered their mother a goddess, built altars to her, and honored her with performances on drums and cymbals." |
| 2.41 «Φρύγες δέ φασι Μῄονα βασιλεύσαντα τῆς Φρυγίας παῖδα Κυβέλην κτήσασθαι, ἣν καὶ σύριγγα πρώτην εὑρεῖν, κληθῆναί τε ὀρείαν μητέρα. Μαρσύαν δὲ τὸν Φρύγα πρὸς ταύτην φιλίαν ἔχοντα πρῶτον αὐλοὺς συστήσασθαι, διατελέσαι δὲ μέχρι τελευτῆς ἀπείρατον ἀφροδισίων. | 2.41 "The Phrygians say that Maeon, reigning over Phrygia, had a child named Cybele, who was the first to invent the panpipe (syrinx) and was called the Mountain Mother. Marsyas the Phrygian, having a close friendship with her, was the first to construct double flutes (auloi), and remained completely chaste until his death. |
| 2.42 τὴν δὲ Κυβέλην συνελθοῦσαν εἰς ὁμιλίαν Ἄττιδι γενέσθαι ἐγκύμονα. οὗ γνωσθέντος ὁ ταύτης πατὴρ τὸν Ἄττιν ἀναιρεῖ καὶ τὰς τροφούς· τὴν δὲ Κυβέλην ἐμμανῆ γενομένην ἐπὶ τὴν χώραν ἐκπηδῆσαι, ἐκεῖσέ τε ὀλολύζουσαν καὶ τυμπανίζουσαν διατελεῖν. | 2.42 Cybele, entering into union with Attis, became pregnant. When this was discovered, her father slew Attis and her nursemaids; Cybele, driven mad, rushed out into the countryside, where she continued wailing and beating her drum. |
| 2.43 συνεῖναι δὲ αὐτῇ Μαρσύαν, ὃν εἰς ἅμιλλαν περὶ μουσικῆς ἐλθόντα τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ ἡττηθέντα ζῶντα ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐκδαρῆναι. | 2.43 Marsyas accompanied her, who, entering into a musical contest with Apollo and being defeated, was flayed alive by Apollo. |
| 2.44 τὸν δὲ Ἀπόλλωνα ἐρασθέντα τῆς Κυβέλης συμπλακῆναι αὐτῇ μέχρι τῶν Ὑπερβορέων, κελεῦσαί τε θάψαι τὸ Ἄττιδος σῶμα καὶ τιμᾶν ὡς θεὸν τὴν Κυβέλην. διόπερ εἰσέτι καὶ σήμερον τοὺς Φρύγας τοῦτο ποιεῖν, θρηνοῦντας τοῦ μειρακίου τὸν θάνατον, βωμούς τε ἱδρυσαμένους θυσίαις Ἄττιν τε καὶ τὴν Κυβέλην τιμᾶν. | 2.44 Apollo, falling in love with Cybele, accompanied her as far as the Hyperboreans, ordering that Attis’s body be buried and Cybele honored as a goddess. Wherefore even to this day the Phrygians do this, mourning the young man’s death, establishing altars, and honoring Attis and Cybele with sacrifices. |
| 2.45 ὕστερον δὲ ἐν Πισινοῦντι τῆς Φρυγίας κατασκευάσαι νεὼν πολυτελῆ, καὶ τιμὰς καὶ θυσίας καταδεῖξαι μεγαλοπρεπεστάταις.» | 2.45 Later, in Pessinus in Phrygia, they constructed a costly temple and instituted magnificent honors and sacrifices." |
| 2.46 «Μετὰ δὲ τὴν Ὑπερίονος τελευτὴν τοὺς Οὐρανοῦ παῖδας διελέσθαι τὴν βασιλείαν, ὧν ὑπάρχειν ἐπιφανεστάτους Ἄτλαντα καὶ Κρόνον. τούτων δὲ τὸν Ἄτλαντα λαβεῖν τοὺς παρὰ τὸν Ὠκεανὸν τόπους, γενόμενον ἀστρολόγον ἄριστον· ὑπάρξαι δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ θυγατέρας ἑπτὰ, τὰς καλουμένας Ἀτλαντίδας. ταύτας δὲ μιγείσας τοῖς εὐφυεστάτοις θεοῖς ἀρχηγοὺς καταστῆναι τοῦ πλείστου γένους, τεκούσας δι’ ἀρετὴν θεοὺς καὶ ἥρωας, ὧν τὴν πρεσβυτάτην Μαῖαν Διὶ μιγεῖσαν τεκνοποιῆσαι τὸν Ἑρμῆν.» | 2.46 "After the death of Hyperion, the children of Uranus divided the kingdom, the most prominent among them being Atlas and Cronus. Of these, Atlas received the lands along the Ocean and became an excellent astronomer; he also had seven daughters, called the Atlantides. These women, uniting with the most noble gods, became the progenitors of most of the human race, bearing gods and heroes through their virtue; the eldest of them, Maia, united with Zeus and bore Hermes." |
| 2.47 «Τὸν δὲ Κρόνον διαφέροντα πλεονεξίᾳ καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ γῆμαι τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ῥέαν, ἐξ ἧς γεννῆσαι τὸν Δία. γεγονέναι δὲ καὶ ἕτερον Δία, τὸν ἀδελφὸν μὲν Οὐρανοῦ, τῆς δὲ Κρήτης βασιλεύσαντα, τῇ δόξῃ πολὺ λειπόμενον τοῦ μεταγενεστέρου. | 2.47 "Cronus, outstanding in greed and impiety, married his sister Rhea, by whom he fathered Zeus. There was also another Zeus, the brother of Uranus, who ruled over Crete, but was far inferior in reputation to the later one. |
| 2.48 τοῦτον μὲν οὖν βασιλεῦσαι τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, τὸν δὲ τῆς Κρήτης, καὶ δέκα παῖδας γεννῆσαι τοὺς ὀνομασθέντας Κουρῆτας. δείκνυσθαι δὲ αὐτοῦ φασιν εἰσέτι νῦν τάφον ἐν Κρήτῃ. | 2.48 The latter Zeus ruled over the entire world, while the Cretan Zeus ruled Crete and fathered ten sons, named the Curetes. They say his tomb is still shown in Crete to this day. |
| 2.49 δυναστεῦσαι δὲ τὸν Κρόνον κατὰ Σικελίαν καὶ Λιβύην καὶ Ἰταλίαν. τούτου δὲ γενόμενον τὸν Δία τὸν ἐναντίον τῷ πατρὶ βίον ζηλῶσαι. διαδέξασθαι δὲ αὐτὸν τὴν βασιλείαν οἱ μέν φασιν ἑκόντος τοῦ πατρὸς παραχωρήσαντος, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ὄχλων αἱρεθέντα διὰ τὸ μῖσος τὸ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. | 2.49 Cronus held power over Sicily, Libya, and Italy. Zeus, born to him, chose a life opposite to his father's. Some say he succeeded to the kingdom with his father’s voluntary consent, while others say he was chosen by the masses due to their hatred toward his father. |
| 2.50 ἐπιστρατεύσαντος δὲ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν τοῦ Κρόνου μετὰ τῶν Τιτάνων κρατῆσαι μάχῃ τὸν Δία καὶ ἐπελθεῖν πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην. διενεγκεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν σώματος ῥώμῃ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἀρεταῖς, σπουδήν τε ποιεῖσθαι πᾶσαν εἰς κόλασιν μὲν τῶν ἀσεβῶν, εὐεργεσίας δὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἀνθ’ ὧν μετὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων μετάστασιν ὀνομασθῆναι Ζῆνα, διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν τοῦ καλῶς ζῆν αἴτιον γενέσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. | 2.50 When Cronus campaigned against him with the Titans, Zeus defeated him in battle and traversed the whole inhabited world. He surpassed all in strength of body and other virtues, devoting all his effort to the punishment of the impious and the reward of the good. On account of this, after his departure from among men, he was named Zēn (Zeus), because he seemed to have been the cause of living well (zēn) for human beings. |
| 2.51 τῶν μὲν οὖν παρὰ τοῖς Ἀτλαντείοις θεολογουμένων τὰ κεφάλαια ταῦτά ἐστι. τούτοις δέ φασι καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας συγχρῆσθαι.» | 2.51 These are the main points of the theology among the Atlantians. They say that the Greeks also adopted these accounts." |
| 2.52 Ταῦτα ὁ Διόδωρος ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν. ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς καὶ ἐν τῇ ἕκτῃ ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐημέρου τοῦ Μεσσηνίου γραφῆς ἐπικυροῖ τὴν αὐτὴν θεολογίαν ὧδε κατὰ λέξιν φάσκων· | 2.52 These things Diodorus records in the third book of his Histories. The same author, in the sixth book, using the writings of Euhemerus of Messene, confirms this same theology, stating word for word as follows: |
| 2.53 «Περὶ θεῶν τοίνυν διττὰς οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῖς μεταγενεστέροις παραδεδώκασιν ἐννοίας. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀιδίους καὶ ἀφθάρτους εἶναί φασιν, οἷον ἥλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄστρα τὰ κατ’ οὐρανόν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀνέμους καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς τῆς ὁμοίας φύσεως τούτοις τετευχότας· τούτων γὰρ ἕκαστον ἀίδιον ἔχειν τὴν γένεσιν καὶ τὴν διαμονήν· ἑτέρους δὲ λέγουσιν ἐπιγείους γενέσθαι θεούς, διὰ δὲ τὰς εἰς ἀνθρώπους εὐεργεσίας ἀθανάτου τετευχότας τιμῆς τε καὶ δόξης, οἷον Ἡρακλέα, Διόνυσον, Ἀρισταῖον, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς τούτοις ὁμοίους. | 2.53 "Concerning the gods, then, the men of ancient times have handed down two distinct concepts to subsequent generations. For some, they say, are eternal and imperishable, such as the Sun, the Moon, and the other stars in the sky, as well as the winds and others who possess a similar nature; for each of these possesses an eternal origin and duration. But others, they say, were earthly gods, who on account of their benefactions to mankind attained immortal honor and glory, such as Heracles, Dionysus, Aristaeus, and others like them. |
| 2.54 περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐπιγείων θεῶν πολλοὶ καὶ ποικίλοι παραδέδονται λόγοι παρὰ τοῖς ἱστορικοῖς τε καὶ μυθογράφοις. καὶ τῶν μὲν ἱστορικῶν Εὐήμερος, ὁ τὴν ἱερὰν ἀναγραφὴν ποιησάμενος, ἰδίως ἀναγέγραφεν, τῶν δὲ μυθολόγων Ὅμηρος καὶ Ἡσίοδος καὶ Ὀρφεὺς καὶ ἕτεροι τοιοῦτοι τερατωδεστέρους μύθους περὶ θεῶν πεπλάκασιν· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ παρ’ ἀμφοτέροις ἀναγεγραμμένα πειρασόμεθα συντόμως ἐπιδραμεῖν, στοχαζόμενοι τῆς συμμετρίας.» | 2.54 Concerning the earthly gods, many and varied accounts have been handed down among historians and mythographers. Among the historians, Euhemerus, who composed the Sacred Register, recorded them in his own unique way; while among the mythographers, Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus, and others like them have framed more monstrous myths about the gods. We shall attempt to run through the things recorded by both briefly, aiming at due proportion." |
| 2.55 «Εὐήμερος μὲν οὖν φίλος γεγονὼς Κασάνδρου τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ διὰ τοῦτον ἠναγκασμένος τελεῖν βασιλικάς τινας χρείας καὶ μεγάλας ἀποδημίας φησὶν ἐκτοπισθῆναι κατὰ τὴν μεσημβρίαν εἰς τὸν ὠκεανόν· ἐκπλεύσαντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς εὐδαίμονος Ἀραβίας ποιήσασθαι τὸν πλοῦν δι’ ὠκεανοῦ πλείονας ἡμέρας, καὶ προσενεχθῆναι νήσοις πελαγίαις· μίαν ὑπάρχειν τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Παγχαίαν, ἐν ᾗ θεᾶσθαι τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας Παγχαίους εὐσεβείᾳ διαφέροντας, καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τιμῶντας μεγαλοπρεπεστάταις θυσίαις καὶ ἀναθήμασιν ἀξιολόγοις, ἀργυροῖς τε καὶ χρυσοῖς. | 2.55 "Euhemerus, being a friend of King Cassander and constrained by him to perform certain royal duties and undertake long foreign journeys, says he traveled far to the south into the Ocean. Sailing out from Arabia Felix, he made his voyage through the Ocean for several days and was brought to certain oceanic islands, one of which was called Panchaea. There he observed the inhabitants, the Panchaeans, excelling in piety and honoring the gods with magnificent sacrifices and remarkable offerings of silver and gold. |
| 2.56 εἶναι δὲ καὶ τὴν νῆσον ἱερὰν θεῶν, καὶ ἕτερα πλείω θαυμαζόμενα κατά τε τὴν ἀρχαιότητα καὶ τὴν τῆς κατασκευῆς πολυτεχνίαν, περὶ ὧν τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἐν ταῖς πρὸ ταύτης βίβλοις ἀναγεγράφαμεν. | 2.56 The island was also sacred to the gods, containing many other things admired for their antiquity and the elaborate skill of their construction, concerning which we have recorded details in the books prior to this one. |
| 2.57 εἶναι δ’ ἐν αὐτῇ κατά τινα λόφον ὑψηλὸν καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν ἱερὸν Διὸς Τριφυλίου, καθιδρυμένον ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ καθ’ ὃν καιρὸν ἐβασίλευσε τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης ἔτι κατ’ ἀνθρώπους ὤν. ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἱερῷ στήλην εἶναι χρυσῆν, ἐν ᾗ τοῖς Παγχαίοις γράμμασιν ὑπάρχειν γεγραμμένας τάς τε Οὐρανοῦ καὶ Κρόνου καὶ Διὸς πράξεις κεφαλαιωδῶς. | 2.57 There is on the island, upon a exceedingly high hill, a temple of Zeus Triphylios, established by him at the time when he ruled the entire inhabited world while still living among men. In this temple stands a golden pillar, upon which, in Panchaean characters, the deeds of Uranus, Cronus, and Zeus are written in summary. |
| 2.58 μετὰ ταῦτά φησι πρῶτον Οὐρανὸν βασιλέα γεγονέναι, ἐπιεικῆ τινα ἄνδρα καὶ εὐεργετικόν, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἄστρων κινήσεως ἐπιστήμονα· ὃν καὶ πρῶτον θυσίαις τιμῆσαι τοὺς οὐρανίους θεούς, διὸ καὶ Οὐρανὸν προσαγορευθῆναι. | 2.58 After these things, he says that Uranus was the first king, a reasonable and beneficent man skilled in the movement of the stars; he was also the first to honor the heavenly gods with sacrifices, wherefore he was named Uranus (Heaven). |
| 2.59 υἱοὺς δὲ αὐτῷ γενέσθαι ἀπὸ γυναικὸς Ἑστίας Τιτᾶνα καὶ Κρόνον, θυγατέρας δὲ Ῥέαν καὶ Δήμητρα. Κρόνον δὲ βασιλεῦσαι μετὰ Οὐρανόν, καὶ γήμαντα Ῥέαν γεννῆσαι Δία καὶ Ἥραν καὶ Ποσειδῶνα. | 2.59 He had sons by his wife Hestia, namely Titan and Cronus, and daughters, Rhea and Demeter. Cronus reigned after Uranus, and marrying Rhea, fathered Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon. |
| 2.60 τὸν δὲ Δία διαδεξάμενον τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Κρόνου γῆμαι Ἥραν καὶ Δήμητρα καὶ Θέμιν· ἐξ ὧν παῖδας ποιήσασθαι Κουρῆτας μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης, Περσεφόνην δὲ ἐκ τῆς δευτέρας, Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς τρίτης. | 2.60 Zeus, succeeding to the kingdom of Cronus, married Hera, Demeter, and Themis; by them he had children: the Curetes from the first, Persephone from the second, and Athena from the third. |
| 2.61 ἐλθόντα δὲ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα ἐπιξενωθῆναι Βήλῳ, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰς τὴν Παγχαίαν νῆσον πρὸς τῷ ὠκεανῷ κειμένην παραγενόμενον Οὐρανοῦ τοῦ ἰδίου προπάτορος βωμὸν ἱδρύσασθαι, κἀκεῖθεν διὰ Συρίας ἐλθεῖν πρὸς τὸν τότε δυνάστην Κάσιον, ἐξ οὗ τὸ Κάσιον ὄρος· ἐλθόντα δὲ εἰς Κιλικίαν πολέμῳ νικῆσαι Κίλικα τοπάρχην. καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πλεῖστα ἔθνη ἐπελθόντα παρ’ ἅπασι τιμηθῆναι, καὶ θεὸν ἀναγορευθῆναι.» | 2.61 Coming to Babylon, he was entertained by Belus; after this, traveling to the island of Panchaea lying near the Ocean, he established an altar to Uranus, his own ancestor. Thence he came through Syria to the ruler of that time, Casius, after whom Mount Casius was named. Coming to Cilicia, he defeated Cilix, the local governor, in war. He traversed many other nations, was honored by all, and was proclaimed a god." |
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2.62
Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια ὡς περὶ θνητῶν ἀνδρῶν περὶ τῶν θεῶν διελθὼν ἐπιφέρει λέγων·
«Καὶ περὶ μὲν Εὐημέρου τοῦ συνταξαμένου τὴν ἱερὰν ἀναγραφὴν ἀρκεσθησόμεθα τοῖς ῥηθεῖσι· τὰ δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι μυθολογούμενα περὶ θεῶν ἀκολούθως Ἡσιόδῳ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ὀρφεῖ πειρασόμεθα συντόμως ἐπιδραμεῖν.» Εἶθ’ ἑξῆς ἐπισυνάπτει τὰς τῶν ποιητῶν μυθολογίας. |
2.62
Having related these and similar things concerning the gods as being mortal men, he adds, saying:
"Regarding Euhemerus, who composed the Sacred Register, we shall be content with what has been said; we shall attempt to run through the mythologies handed down among the Greeks concerning the gods briefly, following Hesiod, Homer, and Orpheus." Next he appends the mythologies of the poets. |
| 2.63 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοσαῦτα καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑλλήνων θεολογίας ἀποχρῶντας ἡμῖν ἀποτετμήσθω, οἷς εὔλογον ἐπισυνάψαι τῶν αὐτῶν θεῶν τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἀδύτοις τελετὰς καὶ τὰ ἀπόρρητα μυστήρια, σκέψασθαί τε πότερον θείας ὡς ἀληθῶς θεολογίας ἐχούσης τι θεοπρεπὲς δεῖγμα φέρουσιν, ἢ κάτωθέν ποθεν ἀπὸ μακρᾶς καὶ δαιμονικῆς πλάνης ὁρμῶνται, γέλωτος ἢ καὶ μᾶλλον αἰσχύνης, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἔτι τυφλώττουσιν οἴκτου ὄντα ἄξια. | 2.63 Now then, let so much, sufficient for our purposes, be cut short from the theology of the Greeks. It is fitting to append to these matters the secret rites and forbidden mysteries of these same gods in their inner sanctuaries, to examine whether they bear any truly divine mark worthy of God, or whether they originate from some deep and demonic error below, worthy of laughter or rather shame—or rather, worthy of pity for those who are still blind. |
| 2.64 ταῦτα δὲ Κλήμης ὁ θαυμάσιος ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ἕλληνας Προτρεπτικῷ διαρρήδην ἐκκαλύπτει, πάντων μὲν διὰ πείρας ἐλθὼν ἀνήρ, θᾶττόν γε μὴν τῆς πλάνης ἀνανεύσας, ὡς ἂν πρὸς τοῦ σωτηρίου λόγου καὶ διὰ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας τῶν κακῶν λελυτρωμένος. βραχέα δ’ οὖν καὶ τούτων ἐπάκουσον. | 2.64 These things the admirable Clement explicitly reveals in his Protrepticus to the Greeks—a man who tested all things by experience, yet quickly emerged from error, as one redeemed from evils by the saving Word and through the gospel teaching. Listen briefly, then, to these matters as well. |
Chapter 3
In this famous chapter, Eusebius is actually quoting directly from Clement of Alexandria’s Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Greeks) to expose and critique pagan mystery cults, their origins, and their secret symbols (symbola).
| 3.1 Ἄδυτα τοίνυν ἄθεα μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖτε, μηδὲ βαράθρων στόματα τερατείας ἔμπλεα, ἢ λέβητα Θεσπρώτειον, ἢ τρίποδα Κιρραῖον, ἢ Δωδωναῖον χαλκεῖον· γεράνδρυον δὲ ψάμμοις ἐρήμαις τετιμημένον καὶ τὸ αὐτόθι μαντεῖον αὐτῇ δρυῒ μεμαρασμένον μύθοις γεγηρακόσι καταλείψατε. | 3.1 Do not, then, pry into godless shrines, nor into the mouths of chasms full of monstrous marvels, nor the Thesprotian cauldron, nor the Cirrhaean tripod, nor the Dodonaean bronze. As for the ancient oak revered among desert sands, leave it behind along with the oracle there, withered right on the oak itself by aged myths. |
| 3.2 Σεσίγηται γοῦν ἡ Κασταλίας πηγὴ καὶ Κολοφῶνος ἄλλη πηγὴ, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁμοίως τέθνηκε νάματα μαντικά· καὶ δὴ τοῦ τύφου κενὰ ὀψὲ μὲν ὅμως δ’ οὖν διελήλεγκται, τοῖς ἰδίοις συνεκρεύσαντα μύθοις. | 3.2 The spring of Castalia has fallen silent, as has another spring at Colophon; and likewise the other prophetic streams are dead. Indeed, stripped bare of their vanity, though late, they have nevertheless been exposed, having flowed away along with their own myths. |
| 3.3 Διήγησαι ἡμῖν καὶ τῆς ἄλλης μαντικῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ μανικῆς, τὰ ἄχρηστα χρηστήρια, τὸν Κλάριον, τὸν Πύθιον, τὸν Διδυμέα, τὸν Ἀμφιάρεω, τὸν Ἀπόλλω, τὸν Ἀμφίλοχον· | 3.3 Recount to us also the useless shrines of other forms of divination—or rather madness—the Clarian, the Pythian, the Didymaean, that of Amphiaraus, of Apollo, and of Amphilochus. |
| 3.4 εἰ δὲ βούλει, καὶ τερατοσκόπους καὶ οἰωνοσκόπους καὶ τοὺς ὀνείρων κριτὰς ἀνιέρου σὺν αὐτοῖς· στῆσον δὲ ὁμοῦ παρὰ τὸν Πύθιον ἄγων τοὺς ἀλευρομάντεις καὶ κριθομάντεις καὶ τοὺς εἰσέτι παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τετιμημένους ἐγγαστριμύθους· ναὶ μὴν ἄδυτα Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Τυρρηνῶν νεκυομαντεῖαι σκότῳ παραδεδόσθων, μανικὰ ταῦτα ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀνθρώπων ἀπίστων σοφιστήρια καὶ πλάνης ἀκράτου κυβευτήρια. | 3.4 And if you will, render unholy along with them the portenders, the bird-diviners, and the interpreters of dreams. Bring forth and set alongside the Pythian priestess the flour-diviners, the barley-diviners, and those belly-talkers [gastro-mancers] who are still honored among the masses. Yes, let the shrines of the Egyptians and the necromancies of the Etruscans be handed over to darkness—these are truly manic delusions of faithless men, fraudulent contrivances and loaded dice of unmixed deceit. |
| 3.5 Συνέμποροι τῆσδε τῆς γοητείας αἶγες αἱ ἐπὶ μαντικὴν ἠσκημέναι καὶ κόρακες ἀνθρώποις χρᾶν ὑπ’ ἀνθρώπων διδασκόμενοι. | 3.5 Companions in this sorcery are goats trained for divination, and crows taught by human beings to deliver responses to humans. |
| 3.6 Τί δ’ εἴ σοι καταλέγοιμι τὰ μυστήρια; Οὐκ ἐξορχήσομαι μὲν ὥσπερ Ἀλκιβιάδην λέγουσιν, ἀπογυμνώσω δὲ εὖ μάλα ἀνὰ τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας λόγον τὴν γοητείαν τὴν ἐγκεκρυμμένην αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτούς γε τοὺς καλουμένους ὑμῶν θεοὺς, ὧν αἱ τελεταὶ μυστικαὶ, οἷον ἐπὶ σκηνῆς τοῦ βίου τοῖς ἀληθείας ἐγκυκλήσω θεαταῖς. | 3.6 What if I should also enumerate the mystery cults to you? I will not perform the dance of revealing them as they say Alcibiades did, but by the word of truth I will lay thoroughly bare the sorcery hidden within them. And as for your so-called gods themselves, to whom these secret rites belong, I shall roll them out onto the stage of life, as it were, before the viewers of truth. |
| 3.7 Διόνυσον μαινόλην ὀργιάζουσι Βάκχοι, ὠμοφαγίᾳ τὴν ἱερομηνίαν ἄγοντες, καὶ τελίσκουσι τὰς κρεανομίας τῶν φόνων, ἀνεστεμμένοι τοῖς ὄφεσιν, ἐπολολύζοντες, «Εὐάν, Εὐάν,» ἐκείνην δι’ ἣν ἡ πλάνη παρηκολούθησε καὶ ὁ θάνατος ἐπηκολούθησε· καὶ σημεῖον ὀργίων Βακχικῶν ὄφις ἐστὶ τετελεσμένος. | 3.7 The Bacchanals celebrate the mad Dionysus, observing their holy season with the eating of raw flesh, and they accomplish the butchery of slaughter crowned with snakes, howling out: "Euan! Euan!"—that woman on whose account error followed and death resulted. And the sacred symbol of the Bacchic rites is a consecrated serpent. |
| 3.8 Αὐτίκα γοῦν κατὰ τὴν ἀκριβῆ τῶν Ἑβραίων φωνὴν τὸ ὄνομα τὸ Εὔα δασυνόμενον ἑρμηνεύεται ὄφις ἡ θήλεια. Δηὼ δὲ καὶ Κόρη δρᾶμα ἤδη ἐγενέσθην μυστικὸν, καὶ τὴν πλάνην καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν καὶ τὸ πένθος αὐταῖν Ἐλευσὶς δᾳδουχεῖ. | 3.8 Indeed, according to the accurate language of the Hebrews, the name Eva when pronounced with a rough breathing translates as "a female serpent." Demeter [Deo] and Persephone [Kore] have now become the subjects of a mystic drama, and Eleusis holds up torches to commemorate their wandering, the abduction, and their grief. |
| 3.9 Καί μοι δοκεῖ τὰ ὄργια καὶ τὰ μυστήρια δεῖν ἐτυμολογεῖν, τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς Δηοῦς τῆς πρὸς Δία γεγενημένης, τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μύσους τοῦ συμβεβηκότος περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ Μυοῦντός τινος Ἀττικοῦ, ὃν ἐν κυνηγίᾳ διαφθαρῆναι Ἀπολλόδωρος λέγει, οὐ φθόνος ὑμῶν δεδοξάσθαι τὰ μυστήρια ἐπιτυμβίῳ τιμῇ. | 3.9 It seems to me that we ought to derive the etymology of orgia and mysteria: the former from the wrath (orgē) of Deo against Zeus, and the latter from the defilement (mysos) that occurred regarding Dionysus. Or, if it comes from a certain Attic Myus who Apollodorus says was killed in a hunt, there is no reason to grudge your mysteries having been honored with an epitaph-like tribute. 3.10 You may also consider the mysteries in another way as mere fables, by transposing the letters. For such myths—if any others do—hunt down the most barbarous of the Thracians, the most foolish of the Phrygians, and the most superstitious of the Greeks. |
| 3.10 Πάρεστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλως μυθάριά σοι νοεῖν, ἀντιστοιχούντων τῶν γραμμάτων, τὰ μυστήρια. Θηρεύουσι γὰρ, εἰ καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς, ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ οἱ μῦθοι οἱ τοιοίδε Θρᾳκῶν τοὺς βαρβαρικωτάτους, Φρυγῶν τοὺς ἀνοητοτάτους, Ἑλλήνων τοὺς δεισιδαίμονας. | 3.10 You may also consider the mysteries in another way as mere fables, by transposing the letters. For such myths—if any others do—hunt down the most barbarous of the Thracians, the most foolish of the Phrygians, and the most superstitious of the Greeks. |
| 3.11 Ὄλοιτο οὖν ὁ τῆσδε ἄρξας τῆς ἀπάτης ἀνθρώποις, εἴτε ὁ Δάρδανος ὁ μύθους θεῶν καταδείξας τὰ μυστήρια, εἴτε Ἠετίων ὁ τὰ Σαμοθρᾳκῶν ὄργια καὶ τελετὰς ὑποστησάμενος, εἴτε ὁ Φρὺξ ἐκεῖνος ὁ Μίδας, ὁ παρὰ τοῦ Ὀδρύσου μαθὼν, ἔπειτα διαδοὺς τοῖς ὑποτεταγμένοις ἔντεχνον ἀπάτην. | 3.11 Ruin take him, then, who initiated this deceit among men! Whether it was Dardanus who established the mysteries of the gods, or Eetion who set up the rites and initiations of the Samothracians, or that Phrygian Midas who learned from Odrysus and then passed on this artful deception to his subjects. |
| 3.12 Οὐ γάρ με ὁ Κύπριος ὁ νησιώτης Κινύρας παραπείσαι ποτ’ ἂν, τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην μαχλῶντα ὄργια ἐκ νυκτὸς ἡμέρᾳ παραδοῦναι τολμήσας, φιλοτιμούμενος θειάσαι πόρνην πολίτιδα. | 3.12 For Cinyras, the islander from Cyprus, would never convince me—daring as he was to bring the lewd rites of Aphrodite from the night into the light of day, eager to deify a local harlot. |
| 3.13 Μελάμποδα δὲ τὸν Ἀμυθάονος ἄλλοι φασὶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετακομίσαι τῇ Ἑλλάδι τὰς Δηοῦς ἑορτὰς, πένθος ὑμνούμενον. Τούτους ἔγωγ’ ἂν ἀρχεκάκους φήσαιμι μύθων ἀθέων καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας ὀλεθρίου πατέρας, σπέρμα κακίας καὶ φθορᾶς ἐγκαταφυτεύσαντας τῷ βίῳ τὰ μυστήρια. | 3.13 Others say that Melampus, son of Amythaon, brought the feasts of Deo—a grief set to song—from Egypt into Greece. I would call these men the originators of evil, fathers of godless myths and ruinous superstition, who planted the seed of malice and corruption into human life through the mystery cults. |
| 3.14 Ἤδη δὲ, καὶ γὰρ καιρὸς, αὐτὰ ὑμῶν τὰ ὄργια ἐξελέγξω ἀπάτης καὶ τερατείας ἔμπλεα. Καὶ εἰ μεμύησθε, μᾶλλον ἐπιγελάσεσθε τοῖς μύθοις ὑμῶν τούτοις τοῖς τιμωμένοις. Ἀγορεύσω δὲ ἀναφανδὸν τὰ κεκρυμμένα, οὐκ αἰδούμενος λέγειν ἃ προσκυνεῖν οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε. | 3.14 And now—for it is high time—I will expose your rites themselves as full of deceit and monstrous trickery. And if you have been initiated, you will laugh all the more at these myths of yours that are held in honor. I will proclaim openly what is kept hidden, feeling no shame to speak of things that you are not ashamed to worship. |
| 3.15 Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀφρογενὴς καὶ κυπρογενὴς καὶ Κινύρᾳ φίλη, τὴν Ἀφροδίτην λέγω, τὴν φιλομήδεα, ὅτι μηδέων ἐξεφαάνθη, μηδέων ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποκεκομμένων Οὐρανοῦ, τῶν λάγνων, τῶν μετὰ τὴν τομὴν τὸ κῦμα βεβιασμένων, ὡς ἀσελγῶν ὑμῖν μορίων ἄξιος Ἀφροδίτη γίνεται καρπὸς, ἐν ταῖς τελεταῖς ταύτης τῆς πελαγίας ἡδονῆς, τεκμήριον τῆς γονῆς, ἁλῶν χόνδρος καὶ φαλλὸς τοῖς μυουμένοις τὴν τέχνην τὴν μοιχικὴν ἐπιδέδοται· νόμισμα δὲ εἰσφέρουσιν αὐτῇ οἱ μυούμενοι ὡς ἑταίρᾳ ἐρασταί. | 3.15 Aphrodite, then—foam-born, Cyprus-born, the beloved of Cinyras, the lover of genitals because she sprang from genitals (those severed, lustful genitals of Uranus that violated the wave after their cutting)—becomes a crop worthy of unbridled parts during the rites of this sea-born pleasure. As a token of her birth, a lump of salt and a phallus are handed to those being initiated into the adulterous art, and the initiates pay money to her as lovers do to a harlot. |
| 3.16 Δῃοῦς δὲ μυστήρια καὶ Διὸς πρὸς μητέρα Δήμητρα ἀφροδίσιοι συμπλοκαὶ καὶ μῆνις, οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι φῶ λοιπὸν, μητρὸς ἢ γυναικὸς, τῆς Δῃοῦς· ἧς δὴ χάριν Βριμὼ προσαγορευθῆναι λέγεται· ἱκετηρίαι Διὸς καὶ πόμα χολῆς καὶ καρδιουλκίαι καὶ ἀρρητουργίαι· | 3.16 Then there are the mysteries of Deo: the sexual couplings of Zeus with his mother Demeter, and the rage—I know not what to call her henceforth, mother or wife—of Deo, on whose account she is said to be called Brimo; the supplications of Zeus, a drink of gall, the tearing out of hearts, and unmentionable deeds. |
| 3.17 ταῦτα οἱ Φρύγες τελίσκουσι Ἄττιδι καὶ Κυβέλῃ καὶ Κορύβασιν. Τεθρυλήκασι δὲ ὡς ἄρα ἀποσπάσας ὁ Ζεὺς τοῦ κριοῦ τοὺς διδύμους φέρων ἐν μέσοις ἔρριψε τοῖς κόλποις τῆς Δῃοῦς, τιμωρίαν ψευδῆ τῆς βιαίας συμπλοκῆς ἐκτιννύων, ὡς ἑαυτὸν δῆθεν ἐκτεμών. | 3.17 These things the Phrygians perform for Attis, Cybele, and the Corybantes. They have spread the tale that Zeus severed the testicles of a ram and threw them into the lap of Deo, offering a false retribution for his violent embrace as though he had castrated himself. |
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3.18
Τὰ σύμβολα τῆς μυήσεως ταύτης ἐκ περιουσίας παρατεθέντα οἶδ’ ὅτι κινήσει γέλωτα καὶ μὴ γελασείουσιν ὑμῖν διὰ τοὺς ἐλέγχους:
«Ἐκ τυμπάνου ἔφαγον, ἐκ κυμβάλου ἔπιον, ἐκερνοφόρησα, ὑπὸ τὸν παστὸν ὑπέδυν.» Ταῦτα οὐχ ὕβρις τὰ σύμβολα; Οὐ χλεύη τὰ μυστήρια; | 3.18 The secret passwords [symbols] of this initiation, laid out in excess, will, I know, excite laughter among you—even if you are not inclined to laugh because of the exposure: "I ate from the drum; I drank from the cymbal; I carried the sacred vessel; I slipped under the bridal curtain." Are not these symbols an insult? Are not the mysteries a mockery? |
| 3.19 Τί δ’ εἰ καὶ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα προσθείην; Κύει μὲν ἡ Δημήτηρ, ἀνατρέφεται δὲ ἡ κόρη, μίγνυται δ’ αὖθις ὁ γεννήσας οὑτοσὶ Ζεὺς τῇ Φερρεφάττῃ τῇ ἰδίᾳ θυγατρὶ μετὰ τὴν μητέρα τὴν Δῃῶ, ἐκλαθόμενος τοῦ προτέρου μύσους, καὶ μίγνυται δράκων γενόμενος, ὃς ἦν ἐλεγχθείς. | 3.19 What if I should add the rest? Demeter becomes pregnant, the maiden [Persephone] is reared, and in turn this father Zeus couples with Persephone, his own daughter, after her mother Deo, forgetting his former defilement. He couples with her having become a serpent—the very thing he was exposed as being. |
| 3.20 Σαβαζίων γοῦν μυστηρίων σύμβολον τοῖς μυουμένοις ὁ «διὰ κόλπου θεός»· δράκων δέ ἐστιν οὗτος διολκούμενος τοῦ κόλπου τῶν τελουμένων, ἔλεγχος ἀκρασίας Διός. Κύει καὶ ἡ Φερρέφαττα παῖδα ταυρόμορφον. | 3.20 Thus, the symbol of the Sabazian mysteries for the initiates is "the god through the lap." This is a serpent drawn through the lap of the initiates, a proof of the unbridled lust of Zeus. Persephone also bears a child in the form of a bull. |
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3.21
Ἀμέλει φησί τις ποιητὴς εἰδωλικός:
«Ταῦρος δράκοντος καὶ πατὴρ ταύρου δράκων, ἐν ὄρει τὸ κρύφιον βουκόλος τὸ κέντρον·» βουκολικὸν, οἶμαι, κέντρον τὸν νάρθηκα ἐπικαλῶν, ὃν δὴ κάλων ἀναστρέφουσιν οἱ Βάκχοι. |
3.21
Indeed, a certain idolatrous poet says:
"The bull is father of the serpent, and the serpent father of the bull; On the mountain, the hidden goad of the ox-herd—" calling the thyrsus an ox-goad, I suppose, which the Bacchants bind with ivy. |
| 3.22 Βούλει καὶ τὰ Φερρεφάττης ἀνθολόγια διηγήσωμαί σοι, καὶ τὸν κάλαθον, καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τὴν ὑπὸ Ἀϊδωνέως, καὶ τὸ χάσμα τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰς ὗς τὰς Εὐβουλέως τὰς συγκαταποθείσας ταῖν θεαῖν, δι’ ἣν αἰτίαν ἐν τοῖς Θεσμοφορίοις μεγαρίξοντες χοίρους ἐκβάλλουσι; | 3.22 Would you have me also relate to you the flower-gathering of Persephone, the basket, the abduction by Aidoneus [Hades], the chasm of the earth, and the swine of Eubouleus swallowed up along with the two goddesses—for which reason they cast live pigs into the pits during the Thesmophoria? |
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3.23
Ταύτην τὴν μυθολογίαν ποικίλως κατὰ πόλεις ἑορτάζουσιν αἱ γυναῖκες, Θεσμοφόρια, Σκιροφόρια, Ἀρρητοφόρια, πολυτρόπως τὴν Φερρεφάττης ἐκτραγῳδοῦσαι ἁρπαγήν. Τὰ γὰρ Διονύσου μυστήρια τέλεον ἀπάνθρωπα, ὃν εἰσέτι παῖδα ὄντα ἐνόπλῳ κινήσει περιχορευόντων Κουρήτων, δόλῳ δὲ ὑποδύντων Τιτάνων, ἀπατήσαντες παιδαριώδεσιν ἀθύρμασιν, οὗτοι δὴ οἱ Τιτᾶνες διέσπασαν ἔτι νηπίαχον ὄντα, ὡς ὁ τῆς τελετῆς ποιητὴς Ὀρφεὺς φησιν ὁ Θρᾴκιος:
«Κῶνος καὶ ῥόμβος καὶ παίγνια καμπεσίγυια, μῆλά τε χρύσεα καλὰ παρ’ Ἑσπερίδων λιγυφώνων.» |
3.23
This mythology women celebrate in various ways from city to city: the Thesmophoria, the Scirophoria, the Arretophoria, theatrically depicting the abduction of Persephone in many forms. For the mysteries of Dionysus are utterly inhumane: while he was still a child and the Curetes were dancing around him in armor, the Titans slipped in deceitfully, fooled him with childish playthings, and tore the young child to pieces—as the poet of the rite, Orpheus of Thrace, says:
"A top, a bull-roarer, and jointed puppets, and fine golden apples from the clear-voiced Hesperides." |
| 3.24 Καὶ τῆσδε ἡμῖν τῆς τελετῆς τὰ ἀχρεῖα σύμβολα οὐκ ἀχρεῖον εἰς κατάγνωσιν παραθέσθαι: ἀστράγαλος, σφαῖρα, στρόβιλος, μῆλα, ῥόμβος, ἔσοπτρον, πόκος. | 3.24 It is not useless for us to set forth the useless symbols of this rite for condemnation: a knuckle-bone, a ball, a spinning top, apples, a bull-roarer, a mirror, a tuft of wool. |
| 3.25 Ἀθηνᾶ μὲν οὖν τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ Διονύσου ὑφελομένη Πάλλας ἐκ τοῦ πάλλειν τὴν καρδίαν προσηγορεύθη· οἱ δὲ Τιτᾶνες, οἳ καὶ διασπάσαντες αὐτὸν, λέβητά τινα τρίποδι ἐπιθέντες, καὶ τοῦ Διονύσου ἐμβαλόντες τὰ μέλη, καθήψουν πρότερον, ἔπειτα ὀβελίσκοις ἀμπείραντες ὑπείρεχον Ἡφαίστοιο. | 3.25 Athena, having snatched away the heart of Dionysus, was called Pallas from the brandishing (pallō) of the heart. The Titans who tore him apart placed a cauldron on a tripod, threw in the limbs of Dionysus, and boiled them first; then, piercing them with spits, they held them over the fire of Hephaestus. |
| 3.26 Ζεὺς δ’ ὕστερον ἐπιφανεὶς — εἰ θεὸς ἦν, τάχα που τῆς κνίσης τῶν ὀπτωμένων κρεῶν μεταλαβὼν, ἧς δὴ τὸ γέρας λαχεῖν ὁμολογοῦσιν ὑμῶν οἱ θεοὶ — κεραυνῷ τοὺς Τιτάνας αἰκίζεται καὶ τὰ μέλη τοῦ Διονύσου Ἀπόλλωνι τῷ παιδὶ παρακατατίθεται καταθάψαι. Ὁ δὲ, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἠπείθησε Διὶ, εἰς τὸν Παρνασὸν φέρων κατατίθεται διεσπασμένον τὸν νεκρόν. | 3.26 Zeus, appearing later—if he was a god, perhaps enjoying the savory smell of the roasting meat, which your gods admit is their assigned portion—strikes down the Titans with a thunderbolt and commits the limbs of Dionysus to his son Apollo to bury. And Apollo, not disobeying Zeus, carries the torn corpse to Parnassus and buries it. |
| 3.27 Εἰ θέλεις δ’ ἐποπτεῦσαι καὶ τὰ Κορυβάντων ὄργια, τὸν τρίτον ἀδελφὸν ἀποκτείναντες οὗτοι τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ νεκροῦ φοινικίδι ἐπεκαλυψάτην, καὶ καταστέψαντες ἐθαψάτην, φέροντες ἐπὶ χαλκῆς ἀσπίδος ὑπὸ τὰς ὑπωρείας τοῦ Ὀλύμπου. | 3.27 If you wish to inspect the rites of the Corybantes as well: having slain the third brother, the two covered the head of the corpse with a crimson cloth, crowned it, and buried it, carrying it on a bronze shield to the foothills of Mount Olympus. |
| 3.28 Καὶ ταῦτ’ ἔστι τὰ μυστήρια, συνελόντι φάναι, φόνοι καὶ τάφοι· οἱ δ’ ἱερεῖς οἱ τῶνδε, οὓς ἀνακτοτελεστὰς οἷς μέλον καλοῦσι, προσεπιτερατεύονται τῇ συμφορᾷ, ὁλόριξον ἀπαγορεύοντες σέλινον ἐπὶ τραπέζης τιθέναι· οἴονται γὰρ δὴ ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἀπορρυέντος τοῦ Κορυβαντικοῦ τὸ σέλινον ἐκπεφυκέναι· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ αἱ θεσμοφοριάζουσαι τοὺς τῆς ῥοιᾶς κόκκους παραφυλάττουσιν ἐσθίειν· τοὺς γὰρ ἀποπεπτωκότας χαμαὶ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ Διονύσου αἵματος σταγόνων βεβλαστηκέναι νομίζουσι τὰς ῥοιάς. | 3.28 And these are the mysteries, to put it briefly: murders and tombs! The priests of these rites—whom those concerned call anaktotelestai [initiators of kings]—add further marvels to the tragedy, forbidding celery with its roots on to be placed on the table, for they believe that celery grew from the spilled blood of the Corybas; just as those celebrating the Thesmophoria carefully avoid eating pomegranate seeds, believing that pomegranates sprouted from the fallen drops of Dionysus’s blood. |
| 3.29 Καβείρους δὲ τοὺς Κορύβαντας καλοῦντες καὶ τελετὴν Καβειρικὴν καταγγέλλουσιν. Αὐτὼ γὰρ δὴ τούτω τὼ ἀδελφοκτόνω τὴν κίστην ἀνελομένω, ἐν ᾗ τὸ τοῦ Διονύσου αἰδοῖον ἀπέκειτο, εἰς Τυρρηνίαν κατήγαγον, εὐκλεοῦς ἔμποροι φορτίου· κἀνταῦθα διετριβέτην φυγάδε ὄντε, τὴν πολυτίμητον εὐσεβείας διδασκαλίαν, αἰδοῖα καὶ κίστην θρησκεύειν, παραθεμένω Τυρρηνοῖς· δι’ ἣν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἀπεικότως τὸν Διόνυσον προσαγορεύεσθαί τινες Ἄττιν θέλουσιν, αἰδοίων ἐστερημένον. | 3.29 Calling the Corybantes Cabiri, they proclaim the Cabiric initiation. For those same two fratricides, taking up the chest in which the male organ of Dionysus was stored, brought it to Etruria, traders of a glorious cargo! There they lived as exiles, handing over this highly prized lesson in piety—to worship the male organ and the chest—to the Etruscans. For this reason, not unnaturally, some wish to call Dionysus Attis, because he was deprived of his male organs. |
| 3.30 Καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ Τυρρηνοὶ οἱ βάρβαροι αἰσχροῖς οὕτω τελίσκονται παθήμασιν, ὅπου γε Ἀθηναίοις καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ Ἑλλάδι, αἰδοῦμαι καὶ λέγειν, αἰσχύνης ἔμπλεως ἡ περὶ τὴν Δῃῶ μυθολογία; | 3.30 And what wonder if the Etruscans, being barbarians, are initiated into such shameful passions, when among the Athenians and the rest of Greece—I am ashamed even to speak of it—the mythology surrounding Deo is full of disgrace? |
| 3.31 Ἀλωμένη γὰρ ἡ Δῃῶ κατὰ ζήτησιν τῆς θυγατρὸς τῆς Κόρης περὶ τὴν Ἐλευσῖνα — τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐστι τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον — ἀποκάμνει, καὶ φρέατι ἐπικαθίζει λυπουμένη. Τοῦτο τοῖς μυουμένοις ἀπαγορεύεται εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν, ἵνα μὴ δοκοῖεν οἱ τετελεσμένοι μιμεῖσθαι τὴν ὀδυρομένην. | 3.31 For Deo, wandering in search of her daughter Kore around Eleusis (this is a district of Attica), grows exhausted and sits down by a well in sorrow. This is forbidden to the initiates even now, lest the initiated appear to imitate the grieving woman. |
| 3.32 ᾤκουν δὲ τηνικάδε τὴν Ἐλευσῖνα οἱ γηγενεῖς· ὀνόματα αὐτοῖς Βαυβὼ καὶ Δυσαύλης καὶ Τριπτόλεμος, ἔτι δὲ Εὔμολπός τε καὶ Εὐβουλεύς· βουκόλος ὁ Τριπτόλεμος ἦν, ποιμὴν δὲ ὁ Εὔμολπος, συβώτης δὲ ὁ Εὐβουλεύς· ἀφ’ ὧν τὸ Εὐμολπιδῶν καὶ τὸ Κηρύκων, τὸ ἱεροφαντικὸν δὴ τοῦτο Ἀθήνησι, γένος ἤνθησε. | 3.32 At that time, earth-born men inhabited Eleusis; their names were Baubo, Dysaules, Triptolemus, and also Eumolpus and Eubouleus. Triptolemus was a cowherd, Eumolpus a shepherd, and Eubouleus a swineherd—from whom blossomed the family of the Eumolpidae and the Heralds, this priestly clan at Athens. |
| 3.33 Καὶ δὴ — οὐ γὰρ ἀνήσω μὴ οὐχὶ εἰπεῖν — ξενίσασα ἡ Βαυβὼ τὴν Δῃῶ ὀρέγει κυκεῶνα αὐτῇ. Τῆς δὲ ἀναινομένης λαβεῖν καὶ πιεῖν οὐκ ἐθελούσης — πενθήρης γὰρ ἦν — περιαλγὴς ἡ Βαυβὼ γενομένη, ὡς ὑπεροραθεῖσα δῆθεν, ἀναστέλλεται τὰ αἰδοῖα καὶ ἐπιδεικνύει τῇ θεῷ· ἡ δὲ τέρπεται τῇ ὄψει ἡ Δῃῶ, καὶ μόλις ποτὲ δέχεται τὸ ποτὸν, ἡσθεῖσα τῷ θεάματι. | 3.33 And indeed—for I will not refrain from speaking—Baubo, having entertained Deo, offers her a brewed drink [the kykeon]. When Deo refuses to take and drink it—for she was in mourning—Baubo, deeply distressed as if she had been snubbed, pulls up her garments, exposes her private parts, and shows them to the goddess. Deo is delighted by the sight, and only then barely accepts the drink, pleased by the spectacle. |
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3.34
Ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ κρύφια τῶν Ἀθηναίων μυστήρια· ταῦτά τοι καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ἀναγράφει. Παραθήσομαι δέ σοι αὐτὰ τοῦ Ὀρφέως τὰ ἔπη, ἵν’ ἔχῃς μάρτυρα τῆς ἀναισχυντίας τὸν μυσταγωγόν: «Ὧς εἰποῦσα πέπλους ἀνεσύρατο, δεῖξε δὲ πάντα σώματος οὐδὲ πρέποντα τύπον· παῖς δ’ ἦεν Ἴακχος, χειρί τέ μιν ῥίπτασκε γελῶν Βαυβοῦς ὑπὸ κόλποις· ἡ δ’ ἐπεὶ οὖν μείδησε θεὰ, μείδησ’ ἐνὶ θυμῷ, δέξατο δ’ αἰόλον ἄγγος, ἐν ᾧ κυκεὼν ἐνέκειτο.» |
3.34
These are the secret mysteries of the Athenians; these, indeed, Orpheus records. I will quote the very verses of Orpheus to you, so that you may have the mystery-master himself as a witness to their shamelessness:
"So speaking, she drew up her robes and showed all the unseemly shape of her body; child Iacchus was there, and laughing, he slapped her with his hand under Baubo’s breasts. Then the goddess smiled, smiled in her heart, and accepted the dappled vessel in which the drink was mixed." |
| 3.35 Κἄστι τὸ σύνθημα Ἐλευσινίων μυστηρίων: «Ἐνήστευσα, ἔπιον τὸν κυκεῶνα, ἔλαβον ἐκ κίστης, ἐργασάμενος ἀπεθέμην εἰς κάλαθον, καὶ ἐκ καλάθου εἰς κίστην.» Καλά γε τὰ θεάματα καὶ θεᾷ πρέποντα. |
3.35
And the secret password of the Eleusinian mysteries is:
"I fasted, I drank the kykeon, I took from the chest, I worked it, I placed it into the basket, and from the basket into the chest." Fine sights indeed, and worthy of a goddess! |
| 3.36 Ἄξια μὲν οὖν νυκτὸς τὰ τελέσματα καὶ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ μεγαλήτορος, μᾶλλον δὲ ματαιόφρονος, Ἐρεχθειδῶν δήμου, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων, οὕστινας μένει τελευτήσαντας ἅσσα οὐδὲ ἔλπονται. | 3.36 Worthy of night and fire are these rites, and of the great-hearted—or rather foolish-minded—people of the Erechtheidae, and indeed of the rest of the Greeks, whom after death there await things they do not even expect. |
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3.37
Τίσι δὲ μαντεύεται Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἐφέσιος; «Νυκτιπόλοις, μάγοις, βάκχοις, Λήναις, μύσταις·» τούτοις ἀπειλεῖ τὰ μετὰ θάνατον, τούτοις μαντεύεται τὸ πῦρ:
«Τὰ γὰρ νομιζόμενα κατ’ ἀνθρώπους μυστήρια ἀνιερωστὶ μυεῦνται.» | 3.37 To whom does Heraclitus of Ephesus prophesy? "To night-walkers, magi, bacchants, priestesses of the wine-press, initiates!" To these he threatens what comes after death; to these he prophesies fire. "For the mysteries practiced among human beings are initiated unholily." |
| 3.38 Νόμος οὖν καὶ ὑπόληψις κενὴ καὶ τοῦ δράκοντος τὰ μυστήρια ἀπάτη τίς ἐστι θρησκευομένη, τὰς ἀμυήτους ὄντως μυήσεις καὶ τὰς ἀνοργιάστους τελετὰς εὐσεβείᾳ νόθῳ προτρεπομένων. | 3.38 Custom, therefore, and empty opinion, and the mysteries of the serpent are a kind of deception worshipped by those who encourage uninitiated "initiations" and unholy "rites" under the guise of false piety. |
| 3.39 Οἷαι δὲ καὶ αἱ κίσται αἱ μυστικαί; — Δεῖ γὰρ ἀπογυμνῶσαι τὰ ἅγια αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἄρρητα ἐξειπεῖν — οὐ σησαμαῖ ταῦτα καὶ πυραμίδες καὶ τολύπαι καὶ πόπανα πολυόμφαλα, χόνδροι τε ἁλῶν, καὶ δράκων ὄργιον Διονύσου Βασσάρου; Οὐχὶ δὲ ῥοιαὶ, πρὸς τοῖσδε καὶ καρδίαι, νάρθηκές τε καὶ κιττοὶ, πρὸς δὲ καὶ φθόις καὶ μήκωνες; Ταῦτ’ ἔστιν αὐτῶν τὰ ἅγια. | 3.39 What are the mystical chests like? For I must strip bare their holy things and speak out the unutterable! Are these not sesame cakes, pyramids, wool balls, cakes with many bosses, lumps of salt, and a serpent, the sacred symbol of Dionysus Bassareus? And are there not pomegranates, and besides these, hearts, stalks of fennel, ivy, and also flat cakes and poppies? These are their holy things! |
| 3.40 Καὶ προσέτι τῆς Θέμιδος τὰ ἄρρητα σύμβολα, ὀρίγανον, λύχνος, ξίφος, κτεὶς γυναικεῖος, ὅς ἐστιν εὐφήμως καὶ μυστικῶς μόριον γυναικεῖον. Ὦ τῆς ἐμφανοῦς ἀναισχυντίας! Πάλαι μὲν ἀνθρώποις σωφρονοῦσιν ἐπικάλυμμα ἡδονῆς νὺξ ἦν σιωπωμένη, νυνὶ δὲ τοῖς μυουμένοις ἡ ἱερὰ τῆς ἀκρασίας νύξ ἐστι λαλουμένη, καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐλέγχει τὰ πάθη δᾳδουχούμενον. | 3.40 And in addition, the secret symbols of Themis: oregano, a lamp, a sword, and the female comb [i.e., ptekis / pubic area], which is euphemistically and mystically called the female organ. Oh, the manifest shamelessness! In olden times, silent night was a cloak of pleasure for sensible people; but now, for the initiates, the sacred night of self-indulgence is talked about, and the torchlit fire exposes the passions. |
| 3.41 Ἀπόσβεσον, ὦ ἱεροφάντα, τὸ πῦρ· αἰδέσθητι, δᾳδοῦχε, τὰς λαμπάδας· ἐλέγχει σου τὸν Ἴακχον τὸ φῶς· ἐπίτρεψον ἀποκρύψαι τῇ νυκτὶ τὰ μυστήρια· σκότει τετιμήσθω τὰ ὄργια. Τὸ πῦρ οὐχ ὑποκρίνεται· ἐλέγχειν καὶ κολάζειν κελεύεται. | 3.41 Quench the fire, O Hierophant! Be ashamed before the torches, O Torch-bearer! The light exposes your Iacchus! Allow the night to hide the mysteries; let the rites be honored in darkness. The fire does not act a part; it is commanded to expose and to punish. |
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3.42
«Ταῦτα τῶν ἀθέων τὰ μυστήρια. Ἀθέους δὲ εἰκότως ἀποκαλῶ τούτους, οἳ τὸν μὲν ὄντως ὄντα θεὸν ἠγνοήκασι, παιδίον δὲ ὑπὸ Τιτάνων διασπώμενον καὶ γύναιον πενθοῦν καὶ μόρια ἄρρητα ὡς ἀληθῶς ὑπὸ αἰσχύνης ἀναισχύντως σέβουσι, διττῇ ἐνισχημένοι τῇ ἀθεότητι: προτέρᾳ μὲν, καθ’ ἣν ἀγνοοῦσι τὸν θεὸν, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα μὴ γνωρίζοντες θεὸν, ἑτέρᾳ δὲ καὶ δευτέρᾳ ταύτῃ δὴ τῇ πλάνῃ τοὺς οὐκ ὄντας ὡς ὄντας νομίζοντες, καὶ θεοὺς τούτους ὀνομάζοντες τοὺς οὐκ ὄντως ὄντας, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ὄντας, μόνου δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τετυχηκότας.»
Τοσαῦτα καὶ οὗτος. |
3.42
"These are the mysteries of the atheists. And I rightly call these men 'atheists,' who have ignored the truly existing God, but shamelessly worship a child torn apart by Titans, a grieving woman, and unmentionable parts that are truly disgraceful—bound as they are by a double atheism: the former by which they do not know God, failing to recognize the truly existing God; and the second by this delusion of regarding things that do not exist as though they exist, calling those things 'gods' which are not truly gods—or rather, do not exist at all, having obtained nothing more than the name."
So far writes this author [Clement]. |
Chapter 4
Having just concluded his extensive quotation of Clement of Alexandria (which detailed and ridiculed the pagan mystery cults in Chapter 3), Eusebius now shifts back to his own voice to synthesize the argument. He explains why Christians have turned away from these ancient errors and introduces how pagan philosophers themselves tried to defend these myths through "physical interpretations" (allegories).
| 4.1 Εἰκότως δῆτα ἡμεῖς τούτων ἁπάντων ἐλευθέρους ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι ὁμολογοῦμεν, τῆς μακρᾶς καὶ πεπαλαιωμένης πλάνης ὥσπερ τινὸς δεινῆς καὶ χαλεπωτάτης νόσου λελυτρωμένοι· καὶ πρῶτα μὲν τῇ τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ χάριτι καὶ εὐεργεσίᾳ, δεύτερον δὲ ἀπορρήτῳ δυνάμει τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας, καὶ τρίτον σώφρονι λογισμῷ κρίναντες ἀνόσιον εἶναι καὶ δυσσεβὲς τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ σεβασμίᾳ προσηγορίᾳ τιμᾶν τοὺς πάλαι ἐν νεκροῖς κειμένους θνητοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ οὐδὲ σωφρόνων ἀνδρῶν μνήμην ἀπολελοιπότας, ἐσχάτης δὲ ἀκρασίας καὶ ἀκολασίας ὠμότητός τε καὶ φρενοβλαβείας δείγματα τοῖς μετ’ αὐτοὺς φυλάττειν παραδεδωκότας· | 4.1 Reasonably then do we confess that we have been set free from all these things, having been redeemed from that long-standing and ancient delusion as if from some terrible and most severe disease—first, by the grace and beneficence of Almighty God; second, by the ineffable power of our Savior’s evangelical teaching; and third, by judging with sound reasoning that it is unholy and impious to honor with the venerable name of God mortal men who have long lain among the dead, men who did not even leave behind the memory of prudent lives, but handed down to posterity examples of the utmost licentiousness, debauchery, cruelty, and madness to be preserved. |
| 4.2 πῶς γὰρ οὐ πάντων ἠλιθιώτατον τοὺς σωφροσύνης ἐραστὰς τοῖς αἰσχροῖς καὶ ἀκολάστοις τῶν πρωτείων παραχωρεῖν, καὶ τοὺς συνετοὺς καὶ ἔμφρονας τοῖς τὰς φρένας ἀπολωλεκόσι τὴν σεβασμίαν παρέχειν τιμὴν, τούς τε δικαιοσύνης καὶ φιλανθρωπίας ἀσκητὰς τοῖς δι’ ὑπερβολὴν ὠμότητος καὶ ἀπανθρωπίας τεκνοκτονίας καὶ πατροκτονίας μιάσμασιν ἐνισχημένοις; | 4.2 For how could it not be the most foolish thing of all for lovers of self-restraint to yield the highest honors to the shameful and licentious, and for the wise and sensible to offer venerable worship to those who have lost their minds, and for practitioners of justice and human kindness to give honor to those who, through an excess of cruelty and savagery, are defiled with the pollution of child-killing and father-killing? |
| 4.3 ποίαν δὲ οὐχ ὑπερηκόντισεν ὑπερβολὴν ἀσεβείας τὸ καταβάλλειν εἰς ἄρρητα ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν μόρια καὶ εἰς τὴν ἄλογον καὶ θηριώδη φύσιν τὴν σεμνὴν καὶ παναγίαν τοῦ θεοῦ πρόσρησιν, τοιαῦτά τε αἰσχρὰ καὶ ἀπάνθρωπα θεολογεῖν, οἷα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις κακουργῶν, εἰ κατελεγχθείη, ταῖς ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων ἀπαραιτήτοις ὑποπέσοιεν ἂν τιμωρίαις; | 4.3 What excess of impiety did it not surpass to cast down the august and all-holy title of God upon the unmentionable private parts of men and women, and upon irrational and brute nature, and to speak of things so shameful and inhumane as divine—things which, if proved against human criminals, would subject them to the unyielding penalties of the law? |
| 4.4 καὶ τί χρὴ μηκύνειν εὐαγγελιζομένους πάντα βάρβαρον ὁμοῦ καὶ Ἕλληνα τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰρημένων κακῶν ἐλευθερίαν, τῆς τε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδωνύμων θεῶν ἀποστασίας τὸ εὔλογον εἰς φῶς ἀγαγόντας, ὁπότε καὶ αὐτῶν ἤδη τῶν σφόδρα δεισιδαιμόνων οἱ πλείους, ὥσπερ ἐκ βαθέος κάρου διανήψαντες, καὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς ἀχλύος τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμα διοίξαντες, τὸν βαθὺν λῆρον συνεῖδον τῆς πατρικῆς πλάνης, καὶ στάντες ἐπὶ λογισμοῦ τὴν ἑτέραν ὁδὸν εἵλοντο, τῆς παλαιᾶς ἀναχωρήσαντες; | 4.4 And why need we speak at length in proclaiming to every barbarian and Greek alike freedom from the aforementioned evils, bringing to light the reasonableness of our departure from these falsely-named gods, when even the majority of those who were once exceedingly superstitious, as if sobered from a deep stupor and opening the eye of the soul from its ancient mist, perceived the profound nonsense of their ancestral error, and taking their stand upon reason, chose the other path, departing from the old? |
| 4.5 ὧν οἱ μὲν ὁμόσε χωρήσαντες τῆς ὅλης κατέπτυσαν μυθολογίας τῶν σφετέρων προγόνων πλατὺ καταγελάσαντες, οἱ δ’ ἀθεότητος δόξαν ἐκκλίναντες οὔτε ἐπὶ τοῖς πρότερον ἔστησαν οὔτε ἐξ ἅπαντος αὐτῶν ἀνεχώρησαν, κολακεῦσαι δὲ καὶ θεραπεῦσαι τὴν οἰκείαν προθέμενοι δόξαν τὰς περὶ τῶν τεθρυλημένων παρ’ αὐτοῖς θεῶν ἱστορίας ἀληθεῖς μῦθους εἶναι πεπλασμένους ὑπὸ ποιητῶν ἐπεφήμισαν, φυσικὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀποκρύπτοντες θεωρίας. | 4.5 Of these men, some, coming to close quarters with the matter, spat upon the entire mythology of their ancestors with hearty laughter; while others, seeking to avoid the reputation of atheism, neither stood by their former beliefs nor entirely departed from them. Instead, setting out to flatter and pamper their own reputation, they declared that the stories told about their celebrated gods were true myths concocted by poets, hiding physical theories [allegories] within them. |
| 4.6 ὧν, εἰ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα μηδὲν φέρουσιν ἀληθείας δεῖγμα, ὅμως δ’ οὖν ἀναγκαία γένοιτ’ ἂν ἡμῖν ἡ ἔκθεσις εἰς θεωρίαν τῶν καὶ παρὰ τούτοις σεμνῶν, ὡς ἂν καὶ τῆς τούτων ἀναχωρήσεως οὐκ ἄλλως ἡμῖν προξενηθείσης ἢ εἰ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας τὸ εὔλογον παρασταίη. φέρε οὖν καὶ τούτων τὸν λόγον ἄνωθεν ἀναλαβόντες ἐπισκεψώμεθα. | 4.6 And although these interpretations carry not the slightest proof of truth, nevertheless an exposition of them becomes necessary for us, so that we may examine what is held in reverence even among them—showing that our departure from these things was brought about for no other reason than that the reasonableness of our choice is established through the gospel teaching of our Savior. Come then, let us pick up the thread of this argument from the beginning and examine these things as well. |
Chapter 5
In this chapter, Eusebius reflects on the conclusions drawn from the preceding chapters. He summarizes the nature of pagan Greek theology (which he has shown to be based on the worship of dead human beings, natural elements, and ancient myth) and highlights the transformation brought about by the Christian Gospel, before transitioning into another quote from Clement of Alexandria on how pagan temples were originally the tombs of dead men.
| 5.1 Τῆς μὲν οὖν Ἑλληνικῆς θεολογίας, λέγω δὲ τῆς πανδήμου καὶ μυθικωτέρας καὶ πολὺ πρότερον τῆς παρὰ Φοίνιξι καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις τοῖς τε ἄλλοις, ὧν τὴν μνήμην οἱ πρὸ τούτου περιέσχον λόγοι, τοιόσδε τις ὁ τρόπος ἀποδέδεικται, οἷος διὰ τῶν προεκτεθεισῶν φωνῶν αὐτῶν δὴ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν συγγραφέων προδεδήλωται· ὃν καὶ εἰκότως ἐν ἀρχαῖς τῆς προκειμένης Εὐαγγελικῆς Προπαρασκευῆς εἰς διάγνωσίν τε καὶ ἐπίκρισιν τοῖς ἐντευξομένοις προτεθείκαμεν, ὡς ἂν αὐτοὶ μάθοιμεν ἡμεῖς τε αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ τῶνδε εἰσέτι νῦν ἄπειροι τίνες ὄντες πάλαι πρότερον, καὶ οἵων ἐκ πατέρων φύντες, πηλίκοις τε τὸ πρὶν κακοῖς πεπεδημένοι, δυσσεβείας τε ὁπόσῃ καὶ ἀγνωσίας θεοῦ μέθῃ τὰς ψυχὰς κατορωρυγμένοι τῆς τούτων ἁπάντων ἀνανεύσεως καὶ ἐλευθερίας ἠξιώθημεν διὰ μιᾶς μόνης τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας, οὐκ ἄλλως ἡμῖν πρυτανευθείσης ἢ δι’ ἐπιφανείας τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ· | 5.1 Such, then, has been shown to be the character of Greek theology—I mean that which is popular and more mythical, as well as that which long preceded it among the Phoenicians, Egyptians, and others mentioned in the preceding accounts—just as it has been made clear through the words previously set forth from the Greek writers themselves. And reasonably have we placed this at the beginning of the present Evangelical Preparation for the judgment and evaluation of those who read it, so that we ourselves, as well as those who are even now inexperienced in these matters, might learn what manner of men we were long ago, from what kind of fathers we sprang, with what great evils we were formerly bound, and how—buried in the soul by so much impiety and by the drunkenness of ignorance of God—we were deemed worthy of deliverance and freedom from all these things through the evangelical teaching alone, brought to us by no other means than through the manifestation of our Savior, Jesus Christ, God. |
| 5.2 ὃς οὐ μέρει γῆς, οὐδ’ ἐν γωνίᾳ χώρας ἔθνους ἑνὸς, καθ’ ὅλης δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῆς μάλιστα δεισιδαίμονος πλάνης ὑπερίσχυσεν, οἷά τις νοερῶν καὶ λογικῶν ψυχῶν ἥλιος, τὰς τοῦ οἰκείου φωτὸς ἐφαπλώσας ἀκτῖνας, ὁμοῦ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων, βαρβάρων τε καὶ Ἑλλήνων, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀχλύος δεινῆς καὶ ζοφερωτάτης τε καὶ ἀειδοῦς νυκτὸς τῆς δεισιδαίμονος πλάνης ἐπὶ λαμπρὰν καὶ διαυγεστάτην ἡμέραν τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας τοῦ παμβασιλέως θεοῦ πάντας ἡμᾶς μετέστησεν. | 5.2 Who, not in a mere portion of the earth, nor in a corner of the land of a single nation, but throughout the whole inhabited world—in which the delusion of extreme superstition held sway—spred the rays of His own light like a sun of intellectual and rational souls. Together He transferred us all, the entire race of men, both barbarians and Greeks, as if out of a terrible, most murky, and invisible night of superstitious delusion into the bright and most radiant day of true piety toward God, the King of all. |
| 5.3 διαρρήδην γοῦν αἱ προπαρατεθεῖσαι φωναὶ νεκρῶν εἴδωλα καὶ ἀνδρῶν πάλαι κατοιχομένων εἰκόνας πάντας πανδημὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὴν πολύθεον πλάνην κατά τε πόλεις καὶ κώμας ἐπτοημένους θεραπεύειν τε καὶ περιέπειν ἐδίδαξαν· τῶν πάλαι ἀνδρῶν δι’ ὑπερβάλλουσαν τοῦ τότε βίου θηριωδίαν θεοῦ μὲν τοῦ πάντων δημιουργοῦ μηδένα λόγον ποιουμένων, μηδὲ τῆς θείας καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς πλημμελουμένοις τιμωροῦ δίκης ἐμπαζομένων, εἰς πάσας δὲ ἀνοσιουργίας καταβαλλόντων. | 5.3 Clearly, then, the passages previously cited taught that all those throughout the cities and villages who were fluttered with excitement around polytheistic delusion worshipped and tended the idols of dead men and images of those who had long since passed away—men of old who, through the surpassing savagery of their life at that time, made no account of God, the Creator of all things, nor paid any heed to divine justice which punishes transgressions, but plunged themselves into every kind of unholy deed. |
| 5.4 οὔπω γὰρ εἰσέτι τότε νόμων καθ’ οὓς χρὴ βιοῦν συνεστώτων, οὐδέ γε τῆς ἡμέρου πολιτείας ἐν ἀνθρώποις κατατεταγμένης, ἀνειμένου δὲ καὶ νομαδικοῦ τοῦ βίου θηριώδους τε καθεστῶτος, τοῖς μὲν θρεμμάτων ἀλόγων δίκην τῶν τῆς γαστρὸς ἀποπληρώσεων πλέον οὐδὲν ἔμελεν, οἷς καὶ πρῶτος ἀθεότητος ὑποικουρεῖ τρόπος· οἱ δ’ εἰς βραχύ τι φυσικαῖς ἐννοίαις ἀνακινούμενοι θεὸν καὶ θεοῦ δύναμιν σωτήριόν τι καὶ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι χρῆμα διενοήθησαν, εὑρεῖν δὲ τοῦτον ἐθελήσαντες ἄνω μὲν τὰς ψυχὰς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἔτειναν, αὐτόθι δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ στάντες, καὶ τῶν κατ’ οὐρανὸν φαινόντων τε καὶ φαινομένων φωστήρων καταπλαγέντες τὰ κάλλη, ταῦτ’ εἶναι θεοὺς ἀπεφήναντο. | 5.4 For laws according to which men ought to live were not yet established, nor was a civilized way of life organized among men; but life being loose, nomadic, and beast-like, some—like brute beasts—cared for nothing more than the gratification of the belly, among whom the first form of atheism lay lurking. Others, aroused to a small degree by natural instincts, conceived that God and the power of God was something saving and good; and desiring to find Him, they stretched their souls upward to heaven, but halting there in their understanding and struck with awe by the beauty of the heavenly bodies that shine and appear above, declared these to be gods. |
| 5.5 τρίτοι δὲ ἄλλοι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς ῥίψαντες τοὺς ἐπὶ συνέσει τῶν κατ’ αὐτοὺς προφέρειν νενομισμένους, ἢ καὶ ῥώμῃ σώματος καὶ δυναστείας ἰσχύι τῶν πλειόνων ἐπικρατήσαντας, γίγαντάς τινας, ἢ τυράννους, ἢ καὶ γόητας καὶ φαρμακέας ἄνδρας, ἔκ τινος τῶν θειοτέρων ἀποπτώσεως τὰς κακοτέχνους γοητείας συνεσκευασμένους, ἢ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους κοινῆς τινὸς καὶ βιωφελοῦς εὐεργεσίας προάρξαντας, ζῶντάς τε ἔτι καὶ μετὰ τελευτὴν θεοὺς ἐπεφήμισαν. | 5.5 A third group, casting themselves down upon the earth, declared to be gods—both while still living and after their death—those who were thought to excel among their contemporaries in wisdom, or who prevailed over the majority by strength of body and power of rule (such as certain giants or tyrants), or even men who were sorcerers and enchanters, who had devised fraudulent sorceries through a falling away from higher things, or others who had initiated some common and useful benefit for life. |
| 5.6 ἔνθεν αὐτοῖς καὶ οἱ τῶν θεῶν οἶκοι νεκρῶν εἶναι τάφοι μνημονεύονται, ὡς ὁ Κλήμης ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ἕλληνας Προτρεπτικῷ ἱστορεῖ, τοῦ λόγου μάρτυρας αὐτοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐπαγόμενος. εἰ δέ σοι φίλον, αὖθις καὶ τούτου τόνδε γράφοντος ἄκουε τὸν τρόπον· | 5.6 Hence among them even the temples of the gods are recorded as being the tombs of dead men, as Clement records in his Exhortation to the Greeks, bringing forward the Greeks themselves as witnesses of his argument. If it pleases you, listen once more to him writing in this manner: |
Chapter 6
This chapter continues Clement of Alexandria's biting critique of pagan myth (as quoted by Eusebius) in verses 6.1–6.10, followed by Eusebius’s own analytical reflection (6.11–6.24) on the origins of pagan worship and philosophical attempts to justify it.
| 6.1 «Εἰκότως ἄρα ἀρχήν ποθεν ἡ δεισιδαιμονία λαβοῦσα κακίας ἀνοήτου γέγονε πηγή· ἔπειτα μὴ ἀνακοπεῖσα, ἀλλ’ εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ἐλθοῦσα καὶ πολλὴ δὴ ῥυεῖσα δημιουργὸς πολλῶν καθίσταται δαιμόνων, ἑκατόμβας ποιοῦσα καὶ πανηγύρεις ἐπιτελοῦσα καὶ ἀγάλματα ἀνιστᾶσα καὶ νεὼς ἀνοικοδομοῦσα· οὓς δὴ — οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο σιωπήσομαι, πρὸς δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ ἐλέγξω — νεὼς μὲν εὐφήμως ὀνομαζομένους, τάφους δὲ γενομένους, τουτέστι τοὺς τάφους νεὼς ἐπικεκλημένους. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀλλὰ κἂν νῦν δεισιδαιμονίας ἐκλάθεσθε, τοὺς τάφους τιμᾶν αἰσχυνόμενοι.» | 6.1 "Reasonably, then, superstition, having taken its origin from somewhere, became a fountainhead of senseless evil. Then, not being checked, but growing and flowing abundantly, it established itself as the creator of many demons—offering hecatombs, celebrating festival assemblies, setting up statues, and building temples; which temples—for I will not keep silent on this, but will expose it too—are euphemistically named temples, but are actually tombs; that is to say, tombs renamed as temples! But do you now at last forget your superstition, feeling ashamed to honor tombs!" |
| 6.2 «Ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐν Λαρίσῃ ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει τάφος ἐστὶν Ἀκρισίου, Ἀθήνησι δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει Κέκροπος, ὥς φησιν Ἀντίοχος ἐν τῷ ἐνάτῳ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν. | 6.2 "In the temple of Athena in Larissa on the acropolis is the tomb of Acrisius; and at Athens on the acropolis is that of Cecrops, as Antiochus says in the ninth book of his Histories. |
| 6.3 τί δὲ Ἐριχθόνιος; οὐχὶ ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῆς Πολιάδος κεκήδευται; Ἴμμαρος δὲ ὁ Εὐμόλπου καὶ Δαείρας οὐχὶ ἐν τῷ περιβόλῳ κεκήδευται τοῦ Ἐλευσινίου τοῦ ὑπὸ τῇ ἀκροπόλει; αἱ δὲ Κελεοῦ θυγατέρες ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι τετάφαται; | 6.3 What of Erichthonius? Is he not buried in the temple of Athena Polias? And Immaradus, the son of Eumolpus and Daeira, is he not buried in the enclosure of the Eleusinium under the acropolis? And are not the daughters of Celeus buried at Eleusis? |
| 6.4 τί σοι καταλέγω τὰς ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων γυναῖκας; Ὑπερόχη καὶ Λαοδίκη κέκλησθον, ἐν τῷ Ἀρτεμισίῳ ἐν Δήλῳ κεκήδευσθον, τὸ δὲ ἐν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ Δηλίου ἐστὶν ἱερῷ. | 6.4 Why should I list for you the Hyperborean women? Hyperoche and Laodice were their names, and they are buried in the Artemisium at Delos, which is within the sacred precinct of Delian Apollo. |
| 6.5 Λέανδριος δὲ Κλεόμαχον ἐν Μιλήτῳ τετάφθαι ἐν τῷ Διδυμαίῳ φησίν. ἐνταῦθα τῆς Λευκοφρύνης τὸ μνῆμα οὐκ ἄξιον παρελθεῖν, ἑπομένους Ζήνωνι τῷ Μυνδίῳ, ἣ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἐν Μαγνησίᾳ κεκήδευται· οὐδὲ μὴν τὸν ἐν Τελμησσῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος βωμόν· μνῆμα εἶναι καὶ τοῦτον Τελμησσέως τοῦ μάντεως ἱστοροῦσι. | 6.5 Leandrios says that Cleomachus is buried in Miletus in the Didymaeum. Here too the monument of Leucophryne is not worthy to be passed over—following Zeno of Myndus—who is buried in the temple of Artemis in Magnesia; nor indeed the altar of Apollo at Telmessus, which historians report to be the tomb of Telmesseus the prophet. |
| 6.6 Πτολεμαῖος δὲ ὁ τοῦ Ἀγησάρχου ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν περὶ τὸν Φιλοπάτορα ἐν Πάφῳ λέγει ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερῷ Κινύραν τε καὶ τοὺς Κινύρου ἀπογόνους κεκηδεῦσθαι. | 6.6 Ptolemy, the son of Agesarchus, in the first book of his work on Philopator, says that in Paphos, in the temple of Aphrodite, Cinyras and the descendants of Cinyras are buried. |
| 6.7 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπιόντι μοι τοὺς προσκυνουμένους ὑμῖν τάφους ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδὲ ὁ πᾶς ἂν ἀρκέσαι χρόνος· ὑμᾶς δὲ εἰ μὴ ὑπεισέρχεταί τις αἰσχύνη τῶν τολμωμένων, νεκροὶ ἄρα τέλεον νεκροῖς πεπιστευκότες περιέρχεσθε· ἇ δειλοί, τί κακὸν τόδε πάσχετε;» | 6.7 Indeed, if I were to go through all the tombs worshipped by you, even all time would not suffice for me; and as for you, if no shame for your bold deeds steals over you, then you wander about completely as dead men trusting in dead men. 'Ah, wretched ones! What evil is this that you suffer?'" |
| 6.8 Καὶ μετ’ ὀλίγα φησί· «Καινὸν δὲ ἄλλον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ὀλίγου δεῖν καὶ παρ’ Ἕλλησι, σεβασμίως τεθείακε θεὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ Ῥωμαίων, τὸν ἐρώμενον ὡραιότατον σφόδρα γενόμενον Ἀντίνοον ἀνιέρωσεν οὗτος, ὡς Γανυμήδην ὁ Ζεύς· | 6.8 And after a few words he [Clement] says: "And another new god in Egypt—and almost among the Greeks as well—the Roman emperor has reverently deified: Antinous, his most exceedingly beautiful favorite, he consecrated as Zeus did Ganymede. |
| 6.9 οὐ γὰρ κωλύεται ῥᾳδίως ἐπιθυμία φόβον οὐκ ἔχουσα· καὶ νύκτας ἱερὰς τὰς Ἀντινόου προσκυνοῦσιν ἄνθρωποι νῦν, ἃς αἰσχρὰς ἠπίστατο ὁ συναγρυπνήσας ἐραστής.» Καὶ ἐπάγει· «Ἤδη δὲ ὁ τάφος τοῦ ἐρωμένου νεώς ἐστιν Ἀντινόου καὶ πόλις· καθάπερ γάρ, οἶμαι, οἱ ναοί, οὕτω καὶ οἱ τάφοι θαυμάζονται, πυραμίδες καὶ μαυσώλια καὶ λαβύρινθοι· ἄλλοι ναοὶ τῶν νεκρῶν, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι τάφοι τῶν θεῶν.» | 6.9 For desire that has no fear is not easily restrained; and men now worship the sacred nights of Antinous, which the lover who kept watch through them knew to be disgraceful." And he adds: "And now the tomb of the beloved is a temple of Antinous, and a city; for just as temples, I suppose, so also tombs are marveled at—pyramids, mausoleums, and labyrinths; the latter are temples of the dead, just as the former are tombs of the gods." |
| 6.10 Καὶ πάλιν μετ’ ὀλίγα· «Ἴθι δὴ καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐν βραχεῖ περιοδεύσωμεν καὶ τὰς ἐπιτυμβίους ταυτασὶ πανηγύρεις καταλύσωμεν, Ἴσθμιά τε καὶ Νέμεα καὶ Πύθια καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις Ὀλύμπια. Πυθοῖ μὲν οὖν ὁ δράκων ὁ Πύθιος θρησκεύεται καὶ τοῦ ὄφεως ἡ πανήγυρις καταγγέλλεται Πύθια, Ἰσθμοῖ δὲ σκύβαλον προσέπτυσεν ἐλεεινὸν ἡ θάλασσα, καὶ Μελικέρτην ὀδύρεται τὰ Ἴσθμια, Νεμέᾳ δὲ ἄλλο παιδίον Ἀρχέμορος κεκήδευται, καὶ τοῦ παιδίου ὁ ἐπιτάφιος προσαγορεύεται Νέμεα. Πῖσα δ’ ἐστὶν ἐν ὑμῖν τάφος, ὦ Πανέλληνες, ἡνιόχου Φρυγός, καὶ τοῦ Πέλοπος τὰς χοὰς τὰ Ὀλύμπια ὁ Φειδίου σφετερίζεται Ζεύς.» | 6.10 And again after a little: "Come then, let us also briefly survey the games, and let us bring to an end these funereal festivals—the Isthmian, Nemean, Pythian, and the Olympic besides. At Pytho, then, the Pythian dragon is worshipped, and the assembly for the serpent is proclaimed as the Pythian games; at the Isthmus, the sea spewed up a pitiful corpse, and the Isthmian games mourn Melicertes; at Nemea another child, Archemorus, is buried, and the funeral games for the child are named the Nemean games. And Pisa among you, O Panhellenes, is the tomb of a Phrygian charioteer, and Phidias' Zeus usurps the libations of Pelops for the Olympic games." |
| 6.11 Ταῦτα μὲν οὗτος· σὺ δὲ τὸν λόγον ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀναλαβὼν τῆς δεισιδαίμονος πλάνης ἐπίσκεψαι τὴν διάπτωσιν. φύσει μὲν οὖν καὶ αὐτοδιδάκτοις ἐννοίαις, μᾶλλον δὲ θεοδιδάκτοις, καλόν τι καὶ ὠφέλιμον τυγχάνειν, τὸ σημαῖνον τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ προσηγορίαν τε καὶ οὐσίαν· πάντες γὰρ ἄνθρωποι κοινοῖς λογισμοῖς προειλήφεσαν, τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ τοῦτο πάσῃ λογικῇ καὶ νοερᾷ ψυχῇ φυσικαῖς ἐννοίαις ὑποσπείραντος. | 6.11 Thus far Clement. But pick up the argument from the beginning and consider the collapse of superstitious delusion. By nature and through self-taught—or rather God-taught—notions, it is a good and useful thing to possess that which signifies the name and essence of God; for all men had already received this through common reasoning, since the Creator of all things planted this in every rational and intellectual soul by natural notions. |
| 6.12 οὐ μὴν καὶ τῇ προαιρέσει τῇ κατὰ λόγον ἐκέχρηντο· εἷς μὲν γάρ που τάχα τις καὶ δεύτερος, ἢ καί τινες ἄλλοι κομιδῆ βραχεῖς, ὧν τὴν μνήμην τὰ Ἑβραίων περιέχει λόγια, εἰς οὐδὲν τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐφαρμόσαντες τὴν περὶ θεοῦ ἔννοιαν, ἀδιαστρόφοις δὲ τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου δημιουργὸν καὶ τὸν μέγαν τῶν ὅλων ποιητὴν ἐκ τῶν ὁρωμένων ἀναγαγόντες, διανοίας ὄμμασι κεκαθαρμένοις μόνον αὐτὸν εἶναι θεόν, τὸν πάντων σωτῆρα, καὶ μόνον ἀγαθῶν δοτῆρα συνενόησαν· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ παντοίᾳ ψυχῆς ἀμαυρώσει περιτραπέντες κατὰ βυθὸν ἀσεβείας ἠνέχθησαν, ὥστε θηρίων ἀγρίων τρόπον τὸ καλὸν καὶ συμφέρον καὶ ἀγαθὸν μέχρι σωμάτων καὶ σαρκὸς ἡδονῆς στῆσαι. | 6.12 They did not, however, employ their choice according to reason. For perhaps one or two, or a very few others whose memory the Hebrew oracles preserve, applied the notion of God to none of the things that are seen. Instead, with unperverted reasonings, they were led up from visible things to the Creator of the universe and the great Maker of all, apprehending with purified eyes of the mind that He alone is God, the Savior of all and sole Giver of good things. But the rest, turned aside by every kind of darkening of the soul, were carried down into the depth of impiety, so as to limit—like wild beasts—what is noble, advantageous, and good to bodies and physical pleasure. |
| 6.13 ταύτῃ δὲ κατὰ τὰ προειρημένα τοὺς τῶν νενομισμένων τοῦ σώματος καλῶν καὶ χρησίμων εὑρετάς, ἢ καὶ δυνάστας τινὰς καὶ τυράννους, ἢ καὶ γόητας καὶ φαρμακέας ἄνδρας, τὴν φύσιν θνητοὺς καὶ ἀνθρωπίναις κεχρημένους συμφοραῖς, ὡς ἀγαθῶν χορηγούς, σωτῆρας καὶ θεοὺς ἀναγορεύειν, τὴν σεβάσμιον ἔννοιαν φυσικῶς αὐτοῖς ἐνυπάρχουσαν ἐφ’ οὓς ἐνόμιζον εὐεργέτας μετατεθεικότες. | 6.13 In this way, according to what was said before, they declared the discoverers of what were considered physical goods and useful things, or certain rulers and tyrants, or even sorcerers and enchanters—mortal by nature and subject to human calamities—to be providers of good, saviors, and gods, transferring to those whom they considered benefactors the reverent notion that existed in them naturally. |
| 6.14 τοσαύτη δ’ ἄρα συνεῖχεν αὐτοὺς φρενῶν ἀποπληξία, ὡς μηδὲν τῶν πλημμελουμένων τοῖς θεολογουμένοις ὑπολογίζεσθαι, μηδ’ ἐρυθριᾶν ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσχρῶς περὶ αὐτῶν φημιζομένοις, τὰ πάντα δὲ τοὺς ἄνδρας διὰ τὰς παρ’ αὐτῶν παρεχομένας ὠφελείας, ἢ καὶ διὰ τὰς τότε πρῶτον συνισταμένας δυναστείας τε καὶ τυράννιδας ἀποθαυμάζειν. | 6.14 So great a stupor of mind possessed them that they took no account of any of the sins committed by those who were made gods, nor did they blush at the disgraceful stories told about them; but they admired the men in all respects because of the benefits provided by them, or because of the dynasties and tyrannies then for the first time established. |
| 6.15 νόμων γοῦν, ὥσπερ ἔφην ἤδη πρότερον, μηδέπω τότε ἐν ἀνθρώποις πολιτευομένων, μηδ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις τιμωρίας ἐπῃωρημένης, μοιχείας καὶ ἀρρένων φθορᾶς, ἐκθέσμους τε καὶ παρανόμους γάμους, μιαιφονίας τε καὶ πατροκτονίας, τέκνων τε καὶ ἀδελφῶν σφαγάς, ναὶ μὴν καὶ πολέμους καὶ στάσεις πεπραγμένας ὄντως τοῖς οἰκείοις προστάταις, οὓς θεοὺς ἡγοῦντό τε καὶ ἀπεκάλουν, ὥσπερ ἐν μέρει κατορθωμάτων καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας ἀπεμνημόνευον, τὴν τούτων μνήμην ὡς σεμνῶν καὶ ἀνδρείων τοῖς ὀψιγόνοις ἀπολιπόντες. | 6.15 For instance, as I said earlier, laws not yet being established among men, nor punishment hanging over wrongdoers, they actually recorded adulteries, corruption of males, unlawful and unnatural marriages, slaughters and matricides, killings of children and brothers, and even wars and seditions committed by their own protectors—whom they thought and called gods—as though they were acts of merit and bravery, leaving the memory of these deeds to posterity as noble and courageous. |
| 6.16 Τοιαῦτα ἦν τὰ τῆς παλαιᾶς θεολογίας, ἣν μεταβαλόντες νέοι τινές, χθὲς καὶ πρώην ἐπιφυέντες, λογικώτερόν τε φιλοσοφεῖν αὐχοῦντες, τὴν δὴ φυσικωτέραν τῆς περὶ θεῶν ἱστορίας δόξαν εἰσηγήσαντο, σεμνοτέρας εὑρεσιλογίας τοῖς μύθοις προσεπινοήσαντες, καὶ μήτε πάντῃ τῶν προπατόρων τὸ πλημμελὲς τῆς δυσσεβείας ἐκφυγόντες μήτ’ αὖ πάλιν τὴν αὐτόθεν προφαινομένην τῶν θεολογουμένων μοχθηρίαν ὑπομείναντες. | 6.16 Such was the character of the old theology. But certain recent thinkers, arising yesterday and the day before, and boasting that they philosophized more logically, introduced a more physical interpretation of the stories about the gods, devising more dignified inventions for the myths. Yet they neither escaped entirely the flaw of their forefathers' impiety, nor could they endure the obvious wickedness of those who were deified. |
| 6.17 θεραπεῦσαι δ’ οὖν ὅμως οἵδε τὸ πατρικὸν ἁμάρτημα προθυμηθέντες ἐπὶ φυσικὰς διηγήσεις καὶ θεωρίας τοὺς μύθους μετεσκευάσαντο, τὰ θρεπτικὰ καὶ αὐξητικὰ τῆς τῶν σωμάτων φύσεως ταῦτ’ εἶναι τὰ διὰ τῶν μύθων δηλούμενα ὡς δὴ μυστικώτερον κομπάσαντες. | 6.17 Desiring nevertheless to heal the error of their fathers, they transformed the myths into physical explanations and theories, boasting rather mystically that the things indicated by the myths were the nourishing and growth-producing elements of physical nature. |
| 6.18 ἔνθεν ἀνιόντες καὶ οἵδε τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου θεοὺς ἐπεφήμισαν, οὐκ αὐτὸ μόνον ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἄστρα, προσέτι δὲ γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ, ἀέρα τε καὶ πῦρ, τά τε ἐκ τούτων συγκρίματά τε καὶ ἀποτελέσματα, ναὶ μὴν καὶ τοὺς ὡραίους ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καρπούς, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς ξηρᾶς καὶ ὑγρᾶς τροφῆς βλαστήματα, ἃ καὶ αὐτά, ὡς ἂν τῆς τῶν σωμάτων ζωῆς αἴτια, Δήμητρα καὶ Κόρην καὶ Διόνυσον καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τούτοις ἐμφερῆ προσειπόντες τεθειάκασι, βεβιασμένον καὶ οὐκ ἀληθῆ τῶν μύθων τὸν καλλωπισμὸν εἰσηγησάμενοι. | 6.18 Ascending from there, these thinkers too called the elements of the world gods—not only the sun, moon, and stars, but also earth, water, air, and fire, as well as the compounds and results formed from them, and indeed the seasonal fruits of the earth and the remaining sprouts of dry and moist food. Calling these Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus, and whatever else resembles them as causes of physical life, they deified them, introducing a forced and untrue embellishment of the myths. |
| 6.19 ἀλλ’ οὗτοι μὲν ὀψέ ποτε, ὡς ἂν ἐπαισχυνόμενοι τὰς τῶν προγόνων θεολογίας, οἴκοθεν ἃς ἕκαστος ἐφεῦρε σεμνολογίας τοῖς περὶ θεῶν μύθοις προσεπενόησαν, κινεῖν τὰ πάτρια τολμῶντος οὐδενός, περὶ πολλοῦ δὲ τὴν ἀρχαιότητα καὶ τὴν συνήθη καὶ σύντροφον ἐκ παίδων ἀγωγὴν τιμώμενοι. | 6.19 But these men, coming late, as though ashamed of their ancestors' theology, devised from their own minds whatever dignified explanations each could invent for the myths about the gods—no one daring to alter ancestral customs, but holding in high honor antiquity and the upbringing accustomed and ingrained from childhood. |
| 6.20 οἵ γε μὴν τούτων πρεσβύτεροι ἐν ἴσῳ τῇ τῶν ἀνδρῶν θεοποιίᾳ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἐκθεώσεις διετάξαντο διὰ τὸ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν χρήσιμον κατὰ τὰς πρόσθεν ἀποδοθείσας αἰτίας, καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις θηρίοις τὰς ἴσας ἀφιέρωσαν θρησκείας, σπονδαῖς καὶ θυσίαις καὶ μυστικαῖς τελεταῖς, ὕμνοις τε καὶ ᾠδαῖς, ὁμοίως τοῖς τεθεοποιημένοις ἀνδράσι καὶ τὰς τούτων τιμὰς ἐπάραντες· εἰς τοσοῦτον δὲ ἄρα κακῶν ἤλαυνον ὡς δι’ ὑπερβολὴν ἡδυπαθείας ἀκρατοῦς τὰ ὁλκὰ πρὸς αἰσχρουργίαν μέρη τοῦ σώματος τά τε ἀκόλαστα ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάθη ταῖς ἰσοθέοις ἐκθειάσαι τιμαῖς, μηδὲν τὸ παράπαν ἐν τούτοις χρῆναι σεμνολογεῖν τῶν δὴ θεολόγων αὐτῶν ἀποφηναμένων. | 6.20 Those, however, who were older than these, alongside the deification of men, also ordained the deification of irrational animals because of their usefulness (according to the reasons given before), and dedicated equal rites to brute beasts—raising their honors through libations, sacrifices, mystical rites, hymns, and songs equally with deified men. And to such an extent of evil did they drive, that through an excess of unrestrained self-indulgence, they deified with godlike honors the body parts that attract to shame and the licentious passions among men, the theologians themselves declaring that there was no need to speak reverently about these things at all. |
| 6.21 Τηρητέον γοῦν ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα οἱ παλαίτατοι οὐδέν τι πλέον τῆς ἱστορίας εἰδότες, μόνοις δὲ τοῖς μύθοις προσανέχοντες ἐμαρτυρήθησαν. πλὴν ἀλλ’ ἐπείπερ ἅπαξ ὡρμήθημεν καὶ τὰ σεμνὰ καὶ ἀπόρρητα τῶν γενναίων φιλοσόφων κατασκοπῆσαι, φέρε καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιθεωρήσωμεν, ὡς ἂν μὴ δοκοῖμεν ἀγνοεῖν καὶ τὰς θαυμαστὰς αὐτῶν φυσιολογίας. | 6.21 We must observe, therefore, as far as possible, that the ancient people were witnessed to know nothing more than the historical story, adhering to the myths alone. Nevertheless, since we have once set out to examine the solemn and secret doctrines of the noble philosophers, come let us examine these as well, lest we seem ignorant of their wondrous natural theories. |
| 6.22 πρὶν δὲ τὴν ἔκθεσιν ποιήσασθαι τούτων, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ προεπισημήνασθαι καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν τῶν θαυμαστῶν φιλοσόφων κἀν τούτοις πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἐναντιολογίαν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ τηνάλλως διηγοῦνται καὶ κατὰ τὸ παραστὰν ἑκάστοις ἰδίως ἀποφαίνονται· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀλλήλοις σύμφωνα φυσιολογοῦσιν· οἱ δὲ εὐγνωμονέστερον τὸ σύμπαν ἀναιροῦσιν, καὶ τῆς οἰκείας πολιτείας οὐ μόνον τὰς ἀπρεπεῖς περὶ θεῶν διηγήσεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς τούτων ἑρμηνείας ἀπελαύνουσιν· ἔστι δ’ ὅτε φόβῳ τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων τιμωρίας τοὺς μύθους ὑποκορίζονται. | 6.22 But before making an exposition of these, it seems good to me to note beforehand the contradiction of these wondrous philosophers among themselves in these matters. For some recount them in vain and express their own private opinions as it strikes each one; nor do they agree with one another in their natural theories. Others, more reasonably, do away with the whole thing entirely, driving out from their own state not only the unseemly stories about the gods, but also their interpretations; though sometimes, for fear of punishment from the laws, they flatter and gloss over the myths. |
| 6.23 ἄκουε δ’ οὖν αὐτῶν τῶν Ἑλλήνων δι’ ἑνὸς τοῦ πάντων ἀρίστου τοτὲ μὲν ἐξωθοῦντος, τοτὲ δ’ αὖ πάλιν εἰσποιουμένου τοὺς μύθους. ὁ δ’ οὖν θαυμάσιος αὐτῶν Πλάτων, ὅτε μὲν τὴν οἰκείαν ἀπογυμνοῖ προαίρεσιν, τολμηρότερον ἀπαγορεύει καθόλου περὶ θεῶν τοιαῦτα φρονεῖν τε καὶ λέγειν οἷα τοῖς παλαιοῖς εἴρηται, εἴτε περιέχοιέν τι λεληθὸς ἐν ὑπονοίαις δηλούμενον, εἴτε ἐκτὸς πάσης ὑπονοίας λέγοιτο· ὅτε δὲ τοὺς νόμους ὑποκορίζεται, καὶ δεῖν φησι τοῖς περὶ θεῶν μύθοις πιστεύειν, ὡς μηδὲν ἔχουσιν ἐν ὑπονοίαις ἐξ αὐτῶν δηλούμενον. | 6.23 Listen then to the Greeks themselves through the one who is best of all [Plato], who at one time rejects and at another time adopts the myths. Their wondrous Plato, when he reveals his own deliberate choice, quite boldly forbids thinking or saying such things about gods in general as were said by the ancients—whether they contain something hidden expressed in allegories, or are spoken without any allegory. But when he flatters the laws, he says one must believe the myths about the gods, as having nothing revealed in allegories from them. |
| 6.24 ἤδη δέ ποτε τῶν παλαιῶν μύθων τὴν οἰκείαν θεολογίαν ἀφορίσας, περί τε οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων, καὶ ἔτι περὶ τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, καὶ τῶν τούτου μερῶν κεχωρισμένως φυσιολογήσας, ἰδίως πάλιν καὶ ἀφωρισμένως περὶ τῶν πάλαι γενεαλογηθέντων θεῶν ὧδέ πως αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ διέξεισιν· | 6.24 And having once defined his own theology apart from the ancient myths—having philosophized about nature separately concerning heaven, sun, moon, stars, and further concerning the whole universe and its parts—he again sets out in the Timaeus, in his own exact words, separately and distinctly concerning the gods whose genealogies were told long ago, as follows: |
Chapter 7
This chapter contains Plato’s famous statements from the Timaeus (40d–e) and the Republic (Book 2, 377e–378e). Eusebius uses these texts to demonstrate that even Plato rejected traditional Greek myths and allegories, justifying why Christians turned away from pagan mythology.
| 7.1 «Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων δαιμόνων εἰπεῖν καὶ γνῶναι τὴν γένεσιν μεῖζον ἢ καθ’ ἡμᾶς, πιστευτέον δὲ τοῖς εἰρηκόσιν ἔμπροσθεν, ἐκγόνοις μὲν θεῶν οὖσιν, ὡς ἔφασαν, σαφῶς δέ πως τοὺς ἑαυτῶν προγόνους εἰδόσιν. ἀδύνατον οὖν θεῶν παισὶν ἀπιστεῖν, καίπερ ἄνευ εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων ἀποδείξεων λέγουσιν, ἀλλ’ ὡς οἰκεῖα φασκόντων ἀπαγγέλλειν ἑπομένους τῷ νόμῳ πιστευτέον. | 7.1 "To speak concerning the other divinities and to know their origin is a task too great for us; but we must believe those who have spoken before, who—being descendants of the gods, as they said—surely knew their own ancestors in some clear way. It is impossible, therefore, to disbelieve the children of the gods, even though they speak without probable and necessary proofs; but, since they claim to report matters concerning their own family, we must obey the law and believe them. |
| 7.2 οὕτως οὖν κατ’ ἐκείνους ἡμῖν ἡ γένεσις περὶ τούτων τῶν θεῶν ἐχέτω καὶ λεγέσθω. Γῆς τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ παῖδες Ὠκεανὸς καὶ Τηθὺς ἐγενέσθην, τούτων δὲ Φόρκυς Κρόνος τε καὶ Ῥέα καὶ ὅσοι μετὰ τούτων, ἐκ δὲ Κρόνου τε καὶ Ῥέας Ζεὺς Ἥρα τε καὶ πάντες ὅσους ἴσμεν πάντας ἀδελφοὺς λεγομένους αὐτῶν, ἔτι δὲ τούτων ἐκγόνους ἄλλους.» | 7.2 In this way, then, according to them, let the origin of these gods be understood and described: Oceanus and Tethys were born as children of Earth and Heaven; and from these came Phorcys, Cronus, and Rhea, and as many as were with them; and from Cronus and Rhea came Zeus, Hera, and all those whom we know to be called their brothers, and still other offspring of these." [Plato, Timaeus 40d–e] |
| 7.3 Ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Πλάτων ἑπομένους τῷ νόμῳ πιστευτέα εἶναι, καίπερ ἄνευ εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων ἀποδείξεων εἰρῆσθαι αὐτὰ ὁμολογήσας· προσεκτέον δὲ ὡς οὐδὲν ἔχειν ἀπόρρητον τὰς τῶν θεῶν δὴ προσηγορίας τε καὶ γενεαλογίας ἐν φυσιολογίαις δηλούμενον ἐμφαίνει. | 7.3 Plato says that these things must be believed in obedience to the law, even though he admits they were spoken without probable and necessary proofs; and it is worth noting how he shows that the names and genealogies of the gods contain no secret meaning expressed through physical explanations. |
| 7.4 αὖθις δ’ ἐν ἑτέροις ὁ αὐτὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀπογυμνῶν προαίρεσιν πάλιν τούτοις κέχρηται τοῖς ῥήμασιν· «Πρῶτον μὲν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, τὸ μέγιστον καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ψεῦδος ὁ εἰπὼν οὐ καλῶς ἐψεύσατο, ὡς Οὐρανός τε εἰργάσατο ἅ φησι δρᾶσαι αὐτὸν Ἡσίοδος, ὅ τε αὖ Κρόνος ὡς ἐτιμωρήσατο αὐτόν. τί δὲ δὴ τὰ τοῦ Κρόνου ἔργα καὶ πάθη ὑπὸ τοῦ υἱέος, οὐδ’ ἂν, εἰ ἦν ἀληθῆ, ᾤμην δεῖν ῥᾳδίως οὕτω λέγεσθαι πρὸς ἄφρονάς τε καὶ νέους, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα μὲν σιγᾶσθαι, εἰ δ’ ἀνάγκη τις ἦν λέγειν, δι’ ἀπορρήτων ἀκούειν ὡς ὀλιγίστους, θυσαμένους οὐ χοῖρον, ἀλλά τι μέγα καὶ ἄπορον θῦμα, ὅπως ἂν ἐλαχίστοις συνέβη ἀκοῦσαι. | 7.4 And again in other passages, the same writer, laying bare his own true preference, uses these words: "First of all," said I, "he who spoke that greatest lie about the greatest matters lied dishonorably—namely, that Heaven did what Hesiod says he did, and how Cronus in turn took vengeance on him. And as for the deeds of Cronus and his suffering at the hands of his son, even if they were true, I should not think they ought to be told so lightly to the foolish and young; rather, they should be kept secret above all. But if there were some necessity to speak of them, they should be heard in secret by as few as possible, after sacrificing not a mere pig, but some great and costly victim, so that as few as possible might happen to hear them. |
| 7.5 καὶ γάρ, ἦ δ’ ὅς, οὗτοί γε οἱ λόγοι χαλεποί. καὶ οὐ λεκτέοι γε, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πόλει· οὐδὲ δοτέον νέῳ ἀκούοντι, ὡς ἀδικῶν τὰ ἔσχατα οὐδὲν ἂν θαυμαστὸν ποιοῖ, οὐδ’ αὖ ἀδικοῦντα πατέρα κολάζων παντὶ τρόπῳ, ἀλλὰ δρῴη ἂν ὅπερ θεῶν οἱ πρῶτοί τε καὶ μέγιστοι. οὐδὲ αὐτός μοι δοκῶ ἐπιτήδεια εἶναι λέγειν. | 7.5 For indeed," said he, "these stories are troublesome, and they must not be told, Adeimantus, in our city; nor should it be said to a young listener that in doing the ultimate wrongs he would be doing nothing surprising, nor again if he punished his wrongdoing father in every way, but would merely be doing what the first and greatest of the gods did. Nor do I myself think these stories are suitable to be told. |
| 7.6 οὐδέ γε, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, τὸ παράπαν, ὡς θεοὶ θεοῖς πολεμοῦσι καὶ ἐπιβουλεύουσι καὶ μάχονται, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀληθῆ, εἴ γε δεῖ ἡμῖν τοὺς μέλλοντας τὴν πόλιν φυλάξειν αἴσχιστον νομίζειν τὸ ῥᾳδίως ἀλλήλοις ἀπεχθάνεσθαι. πολλοῦ δεῖ γιγαντομαχίας τε μυθολογητέον αὐτοῖς καὶ ποικιλτέον, καὶ ἄλλας ἔχθρας καὶ παντοδαπὰς θεῶν τε καὶ ἡρώων πρὸς συγγενεῖς τε καὶ οἰκείους αὐτῶν· ἀλλ’ εἴ πως μέλλοιμεν πείσειν ὡς οὐδεὶς πώποτε πολίτης ἕτερος ἑτέρῳ ἀπήχθετο, οὐδ’ ἔστι τοῦτο ὅσιον, τοιαῦτα μᾶλλον λεκτέα πρὸς τὰ παιδία εὐθὺς καὶ γέρουσι καὶ γραυσὶ καὶ πρεσβυτέροις γενομένοις, καὶ τοὺς ποιητὰς ἐγγὺς τούτων ἀναγκαστέον λογοποιεῖν. | 7.6 Nor indeed," said I, "at all should it be said that gods make war on gods, plot against them, and fight; for it is not even true—if, that is, those who are going to guard our city ought to consider it most disgraceful to be easily at enmity with one another. Far less should we tell them stories of giant-battles, or embroider them, or other enmities of all kinds of both gods and heroes against their kinsmen and relatives; but if we are somehow to persuade them that no citizen ever was at enmity with another, and that this is not holy, such things rather must be said to children straightway, and by old men and old women as they grow older; and the poets must be compelled to compose stories along these lines. |
| 7.7 Ἥρας δὲ δεσμοὺς ὑπὸ υἱέος καὶ Ἡφαίστου ῥίψεις ὑπὸ πατρός, μέλλοντος τῇ μητρὶ τυπτομένῃ ἀμύνειν, καὶ θεομαχίας ὅσας Ὅμηρος πεποίηκεν, οὐ παραδεκτέον εἰς τὴν πόλιν, οὔτ’ ἐν ὑπονοίαις πεποιημένας οὔτ’ ἄνευ ὑπονοιῶν.» | 7.7 And the bindings of Hera by her son, and the hurlings of Hephaestus by his father when he was about to defend his mother who was being beaten, and all the battles of the gods that Homer composed, must not be admitted into the city—whether they are composed with hidden allegorical meanings or without hidden allegorical meanings." [Plato, Republic II, 377e–378e] |
| 7.8 Σαφῶς δὴ διὰ τούτων ὁ φιλόσοφος καὶ τοὺς τῶν παλαιῶν μύθους τοὺς περὶ θεῶν καὶ τὰς τῶν μύθων ἐν ὑπονοίαις εἰρῆσθαι νομιζομένας φυσιολογίας παραιτητέας εἶναι διδάσκει, ὡς μηκέτ’ ἀλόγως ἡμῖν καὶ τὴν ἐκ τούτων ἀναχώρησιν τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εὐαγγελίζεσθαι διδασκαλίαν, ὁπότε καὶ πρὸς τῶν οἰκείων ἀποβέβληται. | 7.8 Clearly, then, through these words the philosopher teaches that both the ancient myths concerning the gods and the physical theories thought to be expressed in the hidden meanings of those myths are to be rejected. Thus we do not act unreasonably in departing from them to receive the gospel teaching of our Savior, since these myths have been cast out even by their own people. |
| 7.9 ὅθεν ἔπεισί μοι καὶ τοὺς παλαιοὺς τῶν Ῥωμαίων θαυμάζειν, τίνα τρόπον ἁπάσας τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς περὶ θεῶν φυσιολογίας ἀτόπους οὔσας καὶ ἀνωφελεῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ βεβιασμένας καὶ ἀσυστάτους κατανοήσαντες, αὐτοῖς μύθοις τῆς οἰκείου περιέγραψαν θεολογίας. καὶ τοῦτο δέ σοι γνῶναι πάρεστιν ἀπὸ τῆς Διονυσίου τοῦ Ἁλικαρνασέως Ῥωμαϊκῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας· οὗτος γὰρ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ τὰ κατὰ Ῥωμύλον τὸν πρῶτον κτίστην τῆς Ῥώμης ἱστορῶν τά τε ἄλλα διέξεισιν αὐτοῦ κατορθώματα, ἀτὰρ καὶ περὶ τῶνδε τοῦτον γράφων τὸν τρόπον· | 7.9 Whence it occurs to me also to admire the ancient Romans: in what manner, perceiving that all the Greek physical theories about the gods were absurd and useless—or rather forced and inconsistent—they excluded them along with the myths themselves from their own theology. And this you may learn from the Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus; for in his second book, when recording the events under Romulus, the first founder of Rome, he sets forth his other achievements, and writes concerning these matters in this manner: |
Chapter 8
This chapter presents the famous quotation from Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Roman Antiquities, Book II, Chapters 18–20) followed by Eusebius’s concluding transition. Dionysius praises Romulus and early Roman religion for stripping away the scandalous, immoral Greek myths (such as the castration of Uranus, Cronus devouring his children, and the battles of the gods) and replacing them with a restrained, orderly civic piety. Eusebius uses this pagan Roman historian to prove that even enlightened Romans found Greek mythology morally bankrupt and unsustainable.
| 8.1 «Ἀλλ’ ἔγνω ὅτι νόμοι σπουδαῖοι καὶ καλῶν ζῆλος ἐπιτηδευμάτων εὐσεβῆ καὶ σώφρονα καὶ τὰ δίκαια ἀσκοῦσαν καὶ τὰ πολέμια ἀγαθὴν ἐξεργάζονται πόλιν· ὧν πολλὴν ἔσχε πρόνοιαν, τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ τὰ θεῖα καὶ δαιμόνια σεβασμῶν. | 8.1 "But [Romulus] recognized that noble laws and a zeal for worthy pursuits produce a city that is pious, temperate, practicing justice, and formidable in war. He took great thought for these matters, making his beginning with the reverence due to divine and sacred powers. |
| 8.2 ἱερὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ τεμένη καὶ βωμοὺς καὶ ξοάνων ἱδρύσεις, μορφάς τε αὐτῶν καὶ σύμβολα καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ δωρεάς, αἷς τὸ γένος ἡμῶν εὐηργέτησαν, ἑορτάς τε ὁποίας τινὰς ἑκάστῳ θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων ἄγεσθαι προσήκει καὶ θυσίας, αἷς χαίρουσι γεραιρόμενοι πρὸς ἀνθρώπων, ἐκεχειρίας τε αὖ καὶ πανηγύρεις καὶ πόνων ἀναπαύλας καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ὁμοίως κατεστήσατο τῶν κρατίστων παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι νομίμων. | 8.2 Accordingly, he established temples, sacred precincts, altars, the erection of wooden images, their forms, symbols, powers, and the gifts by which they benefited our race, as well as what sort of festivals it was fitting to celebrate for each of the gods or daemons, and the sacrifices in which they delight when honored by men, truces, public assemblies, rests from labor, and all such matters, in a manner similar to the best of the customs among the Greeks. |
| 8.3 τοὺς δὲ παραδεδομένους περὶ αὐτῶν μύθους, ἐν οἷς βλασφημίαι τινές εἰσι περὶ αὐτῶν ἢ κατηγορίαι, πονηροὺς καὶ ἀνωφελεῖς καὶ ἀσχήμονας ὑπολαβὼν εἶναι καὶ οὐχ ὅτι θεῶν, ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀγαθῶν ἀξίους, ἅπαντας ἐξέβαλε, καὶ παρεσκεύασε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ κάλλιστα περὶ θεῶν λέγειν τε καὶ φρονεῖν, μηδὲν αὐτοῖς προσάπτων ἀνάξιον ἐπιτήδευμα τῆς μακαρίας φύσεως. | 8.3 However, the traditional myths concerning them, in which there are certain blasphemies or accusations against them—considering these to be evil, useless, indecent, and unworthy not merely of gods but even of good men—he cast them all out. He prepared the people to speak and think the noblest things about the gods, attributing to them no practice unworthy of the blessed nature. |
| 8.4 οὔτε γὰρ Οὐρανὸς ἐκτεμνόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ παίδων παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις λέγεται οὔτε Κρόνος ἀφανίζων τὰς ἑαυτοῦ γονὰς φόβῳ τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπιθέσεως, οὔτε Ζεὺς καταλύων τὴν Κρόνου δυναστείαν καὶ κατακλείων ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τοῦ Ταρτάρου τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα, οὐδέ γε πόλεμοι καὶ τραύματα καὶ δεσμὰ καὶ θητεῖαι θεῶν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις. | 8.4 For among the Romans, Uranus is not said to have been castrated by his own children, nor Cronus destroying his own offspring through fear of their attack, nor Zeus overthrowing the rule of Cronus and shutting up his own father in the prison-house of Tartarus, nor are there wars, wounds, bonds, or bond-service of gods among men. |
| 8.5 ἑορτή τε οὐδεμία παρ’ αὐτοῖς μελανείμων ἢ πένθιμος ἄγεται, κοπετοὺς ἔχουσα καὶ θρήνους γυναικῶν ἐπὶ θεοῖς ἀφανιζομένοις, ἃ παρ’ Ἕλλησιν ἐπιτελοῦνται περί τε Περσεφόνης ἁρπαγὴν καὶ Διονύσου πάθη, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα. | 8.5 Nor is any festival celebrated among them with black garments or mourning, involving beatings of the breast and women's wailing over vanishing gods—such as are performed among the Greeks regarding the rape of Persephone and the sufferings of Dionysus, and all other such things. |
| 8.6 οὐδ’ ἂν ἴδοι τις παρ’ αὐτοῖς, καίτοι διεφθαρμένων τῶν ἐθῶν ἤδη, οὐ θεοφορήσεις, οὐ κορυβαντιασμούς, οὐ βακχείας καὶ τελετὰς ἀπορρήτους, οὐ διαπαννυχισμοὺς ἐν ἱεροῖς θεῶν ἀνδρῶν σὺν γυναιξίν, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν παραπλησίων τούτοις τερατευμάτων οὐδέν, ἀλλ’ εὐλαβῶς ἅπαντα πραττόμενα καὶ λεγόμενα τὰ περὶ τοὺς θεούς, ὡς οὔτε παρ’ Ἕλλησιν οὔτε παρὰ βαρβάροις. | 8.6 Nor would anyone see among them—even though their customs have by now become corrupted—possession by gods, corybantic frenzies, bacchic revels, secret mysteries, all-night vigils of men together with women in the temples of the gods, nor any other such miraculous nonsense; but all things concerning the gods are performed and spoken with reverence, as is done neither among the Greeks nor among the barbarians. |
| 8.7 καὶ ὃ πάντων μάλιστα ἔγωγε τεθαύμακα, καίπερ μυρίων ὅσων εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐπεληλυθότων ἐθνῶν, οἷς πολλὴ ἀνάγκη σέβειν τοὺς πατρίους θεοὺς τοῖς οἴκοθεν νομίμοις, οὐδενὸς εἰς ζῆλον ἐλήλυθε τῶν ξενικῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἡ πόλις δημοσίᾳ, ὃ πολλοῖς ἤδη συνέβη παθεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴ τινα κατὰ χρησμοὺς ἐπεισῆκται ἱερά, τοῖς αὐτόθι αὐτὰ νομίμοις μεθήρμοσεν, ἅπασαν ἐκβαλοῦσα τερθρείαν μυθικήν, ὥσπερ τὰ τῆς Ἱερᾶς Θεᾶς ἱερά. | 8.7 And what I myself have marveled at above all: although vast numbers of nations have entered the city, who are under great necessity to worship their ancestral gods according to their home customs, the city has never publicly adopted a zeal for any of these foreign practices—a fate that has already befallen many nations. On the contrary, even if certain rites were introduced in accordance with oracles, the city adapted them to its own native customs, casting out all mythical nonsense, just as in the case of the rites of the Idaean Mother [Cybele]. |
| 8.8 θυσίας μὲν γὰρ αὐτῇ καὶ ἀγῶνας ἄγουσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος οἱ στρατηγοὶ κατὰ τοὺς Ῥωμαίων νόμους, ἱερᾶται δ’ αὐτῆς ἀνὴρ Φρὺξ καὶ γυνὴ Φρυγία, καὶ περιάγουσιν ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν οὗτοι μηναγυρτοῦντες, ὥσπερ αὐτοῖς ἔθος, τύπους τε περικείμενοι τοῖς στήθεσι καὶ καταυλούμενοι πρὸς τῶν ἑπομένων τὰ μητρῷα μέλη καὶ τύμπανα κροτοῦντες. | 8.8 For the praetors perform sacrifices and games for her every year according to Roman laws, but a Phrygian man and Phrygian woman act as her priests. These carry her image around the city begging alms, as is their custom, wearing images upon their breasts and played to on the flute by their followers with Mother-tunes while beating drums. |
| 8.9 Ῥωμαίων δὲ τῶν αὐθιγενῶν οὔτε μηναγυρτῶν τις οὔτε καταυλούμενος πορεύεται διὰ τῆς πόλεως, ποικίλην ἐνδεδυμένος στολήν, οὔτε ὀργιάζει τὴν θεὸν τοῖς Φρυγίοις ὀργιασμοῖς κατὰ νόμον ἢ ψήφισμα βουλῆς. οὕτως εὐλαβῶς ἡ πόλις ἔχει πρὸς τὰ οὐκ ἐπιχώρια ἔθη περὶ θεῶν καὶ πάντα ὀττεύεται τῦφον, ᾧ μηδέν ἐστι τὸ εὐπρεπές. | 8.9 Yet no native-born Roman goes through the city begging alms or accompanied by flute-playing, clothed in a embroidered robe, nor does any engage in the bacchic rites of the goddess with Phrygian orgies according to law or decree of the senate. So cautiously does the city hold itself toward foreign customs concerning the gods, and it suspects all pretension in which there is nothing proper. |
| 8.10 καὶ μηδεὶς ὑπολάβῃ με ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μύθων εἰσί τινες ἀνθρώποις χρήσιμοι, οἱ μὲν ἐπιδεικνύμενοι τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἔργα δι’ ἀλληγορίας, οἱ δὲ παραμυθίας ἕνεκα συγκείμενοι τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων συμφορῶν, οἱ δὲ ταραχὰς ἐξαιρούμενοι ψυχῆς καὶ δείματα καὶ δόξας καθαιροῦντες οὐχ ὑγιεῖς, οἱ δὲ ἄλλης τινὸς ἕνεκα συμπλασθέντες ὠφελείας. | 8.10 And let no one suppose me ignorant that some of the Greek myths are useful to men—some displaying the works of nature through allegory, others composed for the consolation of human misfortunes, others removing disturbances of the soul, taking away fears and unsound opinions, and others constructed for the sake of some other benefit. |
| 8.11 ἀλλὰ καίπερ ἐπιστάμενος ταῦτα οὐδενὸς χεῖρον, ὅμως εὐλαβῶς διάκειμαι πρὸς αὐτούς, καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων μᾶλλον ἀποδέχομαι θεολογίαν, ἐνθυμούμενος ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μύθων ἀγαθὰ μικρά τέ ἐστι καὶ οὐ πολλοὺς δυνάμενα ὠφελεῖν, ἀλλὰ μόνον τοὺς ἐξητακότας ὧν ἕνεκα γίνεται. | 8.11 Yet although I know these things no worse than anyone, nevertheless I am cautiously disposed toward them, and I accept the theology of the Romans instead, reflecting that the benefits from the Greek myths are small and able to profit not many, but only those who have examined the reasons why they were made. |
| 8.12 σπάνιοι δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ μετειληφότες ταύτης τῆς φιλοσοφίας· ὁ δὲ πολὺς καὶ ἀφιλοσόφητος ὄχλος ἐπὶ τὰ χείρω λαμβάνειν φιλεῖ τοὺς περὶ αὐτῶν λόγους, καὶ πάσχει θάτερον, ἢ καταφρονεῖ τῶν θεῶν, ὡς ἐν πολλῇ κακοδαιμονίᾳ κυλινδουμένων, ἢ τῶν αἰσχίστων τε καὶ παρανομωτάτων οὐδενὸς ἀπέχεται, θεοῖς ὁρῶν αὐτὰ προσκείμενα. | 8.12 And those who share in this philosophy are rare; whereas the great and unphilosophical crowd is accustomed to take the stories about them in a worse sense, and suffers one of two things: either it despises the gods as rolling about in great misery, or it refrains from none of the most shameful and unlawful deeds, seeing that these are attached to the gods. |
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8.13
ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων τοῖς αὐτὸ μόνον τὸ θεωρητικὸν τῆς φιλοσοφίας μέρος ἀσκοῦσιν ἀφείσθω σκοπεῖν, τῆς δὲ ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου κατασταθείσης πολιτείας καὶ τάδε ἡγησάμην ἱστορίας ἄξια.»
[Eusebius's commentary]: Τὰ μὲν δὴ παραστάντα τοῖς κρατίστοις τῶν φιλοσόφων καὶ τοῖς παλαιοῖς καὶ πρώτοις τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας περὶ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς θεολογίας τοιαῦτα ἦν, οὐδαμῶς φυσιολογίας ἐν τοῖς περὶ θεῶν μύθοις παραδεχόμενα, οὐδέ γε τὰς σεμνοφανεῖς καὶ σοφιστικὰς τερθρείας. ἡμεῖς γε μὴν ἐπείπερ ἅπαξ ὡρμήθημεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν τούτων ἔλεγχον, φέρε τὰς ἑρμηνείας αὐτῶν καὶ θεωρίας, τί ποτε ἄρα σεμνὸν καὶ θεοπρεπὲς ἐπικομίζονται, κατίδωμεν, μηδὲν μὲν ἐξ ἡμῶν, πάντα δὲ ταῖς αὐτῶν φωναῖς συγχρώμενοι, ὡς ἂν παρ’ αὐτῶν αὖθις τὰ αὐτῶν οἰκεῖα καταμάθωμεν. |
8.13
However, as for these matters, let the consideration of them be left to those who practice only the theoretical branch of philosophy; but regarding the constitution established by Romulus, I considered these things also worthy of history." [Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities II, 18–20]
[Eusebius's Concluding Remarks]: Such were the opinions concerning Greek theology held by the most excellent of the philosophers and by the ancient and primary rulers of the Roman empire—in no way admitting physical explanations in the myths concerning the gods, nor their impressive-sounding and sophistical nonsense. Since, however, we have set out to refute these myths, come now, let us examine their interpretations and theories—to see what solemn and god-befitting meaning they claim to bring along with them. We shall introduce nothing of our own, but shall make full use of their own words, so that from their own mouths we may learn their true inner position. |