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these things, and a thigh, the imperfect offspring of birth-pangs, just as a head was something else before; and a hermaphrodite God, and a chorus of drunkards, and a dissolute army, and the folly of the Thebans honoring him, and the thunderbolt of Semele being worshipped. Nor the whorish mysteries of Aphrodite, who, as they themselves say, was both born and honored shamefully. Nor certain Phalli and Ithyphalli, shameful both in their forms and in their actions; nor the slaughter of strangers by the Tauroi, and the blood upon the altar of Laconian youths, 36.340 torn by scourges, and in this alone showing manly courage badly for those by whom a goddess is honored, and a virgin one at that. For the same people both honored effeminacy and revered audacity.

5. But where will you place the butchery of Pelops, which feasted hungry gods, and a hospitality both bitter and inhuman? And where the fearful and dark phantoms of Hecate, and the underground games and oracles of Trophonius, or the babblings of the Dodonian oak, or the sophistries of the Delphic tripod, or the mantic drink of Castalia? These alone did not prophesy their own silence. Nor the sacrificial art of the Magi, and their divination by entrails; and the astronomy and genethlialogy of the Chaldeans, which brings our affairs into sympathy with the movement of the heavenly bodies, of men who cannot even know what they themselves are, or will be; nor these Thracian orgies, from which, as the story goes, even the word for worship comes; nor the rites and mysteries of Orpheus, whom the Greeks so admired for his wisdom that they even fashion a lyre for him that draws all things with its strains; nor the just punishment of Mithras against those who endure to be initiated into such things; nor the dismemberments of Osiris, another misfortune honored among the Egyptians; nor the misfortunes of Isis, and the more venerable goats of the Mendesians, and the manger of Apis, a calf reveling in the simplicity of the Memphites; nor all the things with which they insult the Nile with honors, the fruit-giver, as they themselves hymn him, and rich in grain, and measuring their prosperity by the cubit.

6. For I pass over the honors of reptiles and beasts and the ambitious pursuit of shamelessness; for each of which there is a special rite and festival, and a common 36.341 wretchedness in all; so that if they had to be impious in any case, and to fall away from the glory of God, brought down to idols and works of art, and things molded by hands, those who have sense could pray for nothing else against them than that they should revere such things, and honor them thus, so that they might receive the due recompense of their error, as Paul says, in the very things they worship; not so much honoring as being dishonored by them. Abominable for their error, more abominable for the worthlessness of the things they worship and revere, so that they might be even more senseless than the things they honor, surpassing in folly as much as the objects of worship do in worthlessness.

7. Let the children of the Greeks, then, and the demons from whom they get their folly, make sport of these things, drawing the honor of God to themselves, and variously tearing others apart into shameful opinions and fancies, from the time when, having cast us out from the tree of life, through the tree of knowledge partaken of not in due season nor fittingly, they ran down upon us as being now weaker, snatching away the sovereign mind, and opening a door to the passions. For they could not bear it, being by nature envious and man-hating, or rather having become so through their own wickedness, that those below should attain to the things above, they themselves having fallen to the earth from above, nor that so great a change of glory and of the first natures should take place. This is the persecution of the creature; for this the image of God was insulted; and as we did not see fit to keep the commandment, we were given over to the self-rule of error; and as we went astray, we were dishonored in the things we revered. For not only is this terrible, that we, having been made for good works, for the glory and praise of the one who made us, and for the imitation of God, as far as possible, have become a starting point for all sorts of passions, which feed wickedly and consume the inner man; but also to have set up gods as advocates for the passions, so that not only

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ταῦτα, καὶ μηρὸς, ὠδίνων ἀτελὲς κύημα, ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι κεφαλὴ πρότερον· καὶ Θεὸς ἀνδρόγυνος, καὶ χορὸς μεθυόν των, καὶ στρατὸς ἔκλυτος, καὶ Θηβαίων ἄνοια τοῦ τον τιμῶσα, καὶ Σεμέλης κεραυνὸς προσκυνούμενος. Οὐδὲ Ἀφροδίτης πορνικὰ μυστήρια, τῆς αἰσχρῶς, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι, καὶ γεννωμένης καὶ τιμωμένης. Οὐδὲ Φαλλοί τινες καὶ Ἰθύφαλλοι, αἰσχροὶ καὶ τοῖς σχήμασι καὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν· οὐδὲ Ταύρων ξενο κτονίαι, καὶ Λακωνικῶν ἐφήβων ἐπιβώμιον αἷμα, 36.340 ξαινομένων ταῖς μάστιξι, καὶ τοῦτο μόνον κακῶς ἀνδριζομένων οἷς τιμᾶται θεὰ, καὶ ταῦτα παρθένος. Οἱ γὰρ αὐτοὶ, καὶ μαλακίαν ἐτίμησαν, καὶ θρασύτητα ἐσεβάσθησαν.

Εʹ. Ποῦ δὲ θήσεις τὴν Πέλοπος κρεουργίαν, πεινῶντας θεοὺς ἑστιῶσαν, καὶ φιλοξενίαν πικρὰν καὶ ἀπάνθρωπον; ποῦ δὲ Ἑκάτης τὰ φοβερὰ καὶ σκοτεινὰ φάσματα, καὶ Τροφωνίου κατὰ γῆς παί γνια καὶ μαντεύματα, ἢ ∆ωδωναίας δρυὸς ληρή ματα, ἢ τρίποδος ∆ελφικοῦ σοφίσματα, ἢ Κασταλίας μαντικὸν πόμα; Τοῦτο μόνον οὐ μαντευσά μενα, τὴν ἑαυτῶν σιωπήν. Οὐδὲ Μάγων θυτικὴ, καὶ πρόγνωσις ἔντομος· καὶ Χαλδαίων ἀστρονο μία καὶ γενεθλιαλογία, τῇ τῶν οὐρανίων κινήσει συμ φέρουσα τὰ ἡμέτερα, τῶν μηδὲ ἑαυτοὺς ὅ τί πο τε εἰσὶν, ἢ ἔσονται, γνῶναι δυναμένων· οὐδὲ Θρᾳκῶν ὄργια ταῦτα, παρ' ὧν καὶ τὸ θρησκεύειν, ὡς λόγος· οὐδὲ Ὀρφέως τελεταὶ καὶ μυστήρια, ὃν τοσοῦτον Ἕλληνες ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ ἐθαύμασαν, ὥστε καὶ λύραν αὐ τῷ ποιοῦσι, πάντα τοῖς κρούμασιν ἔλκουσαν· οὐδὲ Μίθρου κόλασις ἔνδικος. κατὰ τῶν μυεῖσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνεχομένων· οὐδὲ Ὀσίριδος σπαραγμοὶ, ἄλλη συμφορὰ τιμωμένη παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις· οὐδὲ Ἴσιδος ἀτυχήματα, καὶ τράγοι Μενδησίων αἰδεσιμώτε ροι, καὶ Ἄπιδος φάτνη, μόσχου κατατρυφῶντος τῆς Μεμφιτῶν εὐηθείας· οὐδ' ὅσα τὸν Νεῖλον ταῖς τι μαῖς καθυβρίζουσι, τὸν καρποδότην, ὡς ἀνυμνοῦσιν αὐτοὶ, καὶ εὔσταχυν, καὶ μετροῦντα τὴν εὐδαιμο νίαν τοῖς πήχεσιν.

ςʹ. Ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν ἑρπετῶν καὶ κνωδάλων τιμὰς καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀσχημοσύνης φιλότιμον· ὧν καθ' ἕκαστον ἰδία τις τελετὴ καὶ πανήγυρις, καὶ κοινὸν τὸ τῆς 36.341 κακοδαιμονίας ἐφ' ἅπασιν· ὡς εἴπερ ἀσεβεῖν αὐτοὺς ἔδει πάντως, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης ἀποπεσεῖν, εἰς εἴδωλα κατενεχθέντας καὶ τέχνης ἔργα, καὶ χειρῶν πλάσματα, μὴ ἂν ἄλλο τι κατ' αὐτῶν εὔξασθαι τούς γε νοῦν ἔχοντας, ἢ τοιαῦτα σεβασθῆναι, καὶ οὕτω τι μῆσαι, ἵνα τὴν ἀντιμισθίαν, ἣν ἔδει τῆς πλάνης, ὥς φησι Παῦλος, ἀπολαμβάνωσιν, ἐν οἷς σέβονται· οὐ μᾶλλον τιμῶντες, ἢ δι' ἐκείνων ἀτιμαζόμενοι. Βδελυκτοὶ τῆς πλάνης, βδελυκτότεροι τῆς εὐτελείας τῶν προσκυνουμένων καὶ σεβομένων, ἵνα καὶ αὐ τῶν τῶν τιμωμένων ὦσιν ἀναισθητότεροι, τοσοῦτον ὑπερβάλλοντες ἀνοίᾳ, ὅσον εὐτελείᾳ τὰ προσκυνούμενα.

Ζʹ. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν παιζέτωσαν Ἑλλήνων παῖδες, καὶ δαίμονες, παρ' ὧν ἐκείνοις ἡ ἄνοια, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμὴν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς μεθελκόντων, καὶ ἄλλους ἄλλως κατατεμνόντων εἰς αἰσχρὰς δόξας καὶ φαντασίας, ἀφ' οὗ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς ἐκβαλόντες ἡμᾶς, τῷ ξύλῳ τῆς γνώσεως οὐ κατὰ καιρὸν, οὐδ' ἐπιτηδείως μετα ληφθείσης, ὡς ἀσθενεστέρους ἤδη κατέδραμον, τὸν ἡγεμόνα νοῦν συναρπάσαντες, καὶ τοῖς πάθεσι θύραν ἀνοίξαντες. Οὐ γὰρ ἔφερον, φύσις ὄντες φθονερὰ καὶ μισάνθρωπος, μᾶλλον δὲ διὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν κακίαν γενόμενοι, τοὺς κάτω τῶν ἄνω τυχεῖν, αὐτοὶ πεσόντες ἐπὶ γῆς ἄνωθεν, οὐδὲ τοσαύτην μετάστασιν γενέσθαι τῆς δόξης, καὶ τῶν πρώτων φύσεων. Τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ διωγμὸς τοῦ πλάσματος· διὰ τοῦτο ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ καθυβρίσθη· καὶ καθὼς οὐκ ἐδοκιμάσαμεν φυλάξαι τὴν ἐντολὴν, παρεδόθημεν τῇ αὐτονομίᾳ τῆς πλάνης· καὶ καθὼς ἐπλανήθημεν, ἠτιμάσθημεν ἐν οἷς ἐσεβάσθημεν. Οὐ γὰρ τοῦτο μόνον δεινὸν, τὸ πεποιημένους ἐπ' ἀγαθοῖς ἔργοις, εἰς δόξαν καὶ ἔπαινον τοῦ πεποιηκότος, καὶ Θεοῦ μίμησιν, ὅσον ἐφικτὸν, ὁρμητήριον γενέσθαι παντοίων παθῶν, βο σκομένων κακῶς καὶ δαπανώντων τὸν ἐντὸς ἄνθρω πον· ἀλλὰ τὸ καὶ θεοὺς στήσασθαι συν ηγόρους τοῖς πάθεσιν, ἵνα μὴ μόνον