HORTATORY ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS BY SAINT JUSTIN, PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR.

 Alas, with my own eyes I see a dear man pursued around the wall and my heart grieves for him. And what he says about the other gods conspiring agains

 Artemis the archer, sister of the far-shooter. And against Leto stood the strong, helpful Hermes. These and such things Homer taught you about the god

 ...s of you you say have become of piety, some declaring water to be the beginning of all things, others air, others fire, others some other of the af

 Of all of them who had spoken, Thales, the eldest of them all, says that the principle of existing things is water for he says that all things are fr

 having denied it, later says in his conceptions that it is this very thing. Moreover, having formerly declared that everything that has come into bein

 having established for I do not attempt to prove these things from the divine histories among us alone, which you are not yet willing to believe beca

 to organize affairs in Egypt, but also to establish the warrior class with laws. And fourth, they say that Bocchoris the king became a lawgiver, a wis

 it happened that there were once God-fearing men, as you say the oracle declared: Only the Chaldeans obtained wisdom, and also the Hebrews, purely rev

 of wise men or orators, should one wish to make mention, he will find that they have written their own compositions in the letters of the Greeks. But

 it is fitting that it should appear clearly and manifestly. It is necessary, therefore, for you, O men of Greece, foreseeing the things to come and lo

 And in the Oracles it is thus: I adjure you, Heaven, the wise work of the great God, I adjure you, Voice of the Father, which He first uttered, When H

 the poem to fall from its meter, lest he should seem not to have first mentioned the name of the gods. But a little later he sets forth clearly and pl

 he should cause Meletus to be against himself, accusing him before the Athenians and saying: Plato does wrong and is a busybody, not believing in the

 that only disobedience was cast out, but not knowing that they were also persuaded that non-existent gods existed, they passed on the name of the gods

 light, constructs that which comes to be. But perhaps some, not wishing to abandon the doctrines of polytheism, will say that the demiurge himself sai

 having. For it does not seem to me that what was said by Phoenix was said simply: Not even if the god himself should promise me, scraping off old age,

 wishing to confirm what has been said of participation, Plato has written thus in these very words: God, then, as the old saying has it, holding the b

 having heard from one who had come back to life and was relating the things there, has written thus in his very words: For he said that he was present

 poetry, Diodorus, the most renowned of the historians, sufficiently teaches us. For he said that he, having been in Egypt, had learned that Nepenthes,

 to set up the battle-cry of much-lamented war They were eager to place Ossa upon Olympus, but upon Ossa Pelion with its shaking leaves, that heaven m

 and concerning the heaven that came into being that the created heaven, which he also named the firmament, this is the perceptible one that came into

 proclaimed by the name. For, fearing to call the gift of God Holy Spirit, lest he should seem to be an enemy of the Greeks by following the teaching

 supposed them to have the forms of men, you will find that they learned this also from the divine history. For since the history of Moses says, from t

 to you Socrates, the wisest of the wise, to whom even your oracle, as you yourselves say, testifies, saying: Of all men Socrates is the wisest, confes

 It will be easy for you to learn in part the true worship of God from the ancient Sibyl, who teaches you by oracles from some powerful inspiration, th

 it is clear that he said this about the oracle-givers, looking to the oracles of the Sibyl. For he spoke thus: When they succeed in saying many and gr

 Tatian's Address to the Greeks. Do not be so very hostile towards the barbarians, O men of Greece, nor be envious of their doctrines. For what pursuit

 very savagely, having imprisoned his own friend for not wanting to worship him, carried him around like a bear or a leopard. Indeed, he completely fol

 selecting places for their covetousness *** the prominent. But one ought not flatter the leaders with the prospect of kingship, but to wait until the

 I have chosen to order the unordered matter in you, and just as the Word, having been begotten in the beginning, in turn begot our creation for himsel

 not according to fate, but by the free will of those who choose, he foretold the outcomes of future events and he became a hinderer of wickedness thro

 with baubles of the earth he deceived the motherless and orphaned girl. Poseidon sails, Ares delights in wars, Apollo is a cithara player, Dionysus is

 of a kingdom, *** were turned into constellations by the shaping of letters? And how is Kronos, who was fettered and cast out of his kingdom, appointe

 of faith with glory become but the poor man and the most moderate, desiring the things that are his own, more easily gets by. Why, I ask, according to

 were zealous to be but the Lord of all allowed them to luxuriate until the world, having reached its end, should be dissolved, and the judge should a

 refusing a suffering god, they were shown to be fighters against God rather than God-fearing. You too are such men, O Greeks, talkative in words, but

 of the spirit But when the tabernacle is not of such a kind, man excels the beasts only in articulate speech, but in other respects his way of life i

 causes, when they happen, they ascribe to themselves, attacking whenever weariness overtakes them. But there are times when they themselves by a tempe

 For if it were so, much more would he ward off his own enemy from himself for being able to help others also, he will much more become his own avenge

 you? Therefore if you say that one ought not to fear death, sharing our doctrines, die not because of human vainglory, as Anaxarchus did, but for the

 Unable to explain those things, because of the impossibility of their theory, they have blamed the tides, and of the seas, one being weedy and the oth

 For what sort are your teachings? Who would not mock your public festivals, which, being celebrated under the pretext of wicked demons, turn men to di

 providing it, feeding it with the most ungodly bloodshed. For the robber kills for the sake of taking, but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake o

 dedications, and those who read are as with the jar of the Danaids. Why do you divide time for me, saying that one part of it is past, another present

 the conception which I have concerning all things, this I do not hide. Why do you advise me to deceive the state? Why, while saying to despise death,

 but again it will be dissolved, if we obey the word of God and do not scatter ourselves. For he has gained control of our possessions through a certai

 Archilochus flourished around the twenty-third Olympiad, in the time of Gyges the Lydian, five hundred years after the Trojan War. And concerning the

 the nonsense of affairs for the Greeks. For the pursuits of your customs are rather foolish through great glory and behave disgracefully through the w

 seeing the figures of the strife and of Eteocles, and not having thrown them into a pit with Pythagoras who made them, do you destroy along with them

 For what is difficult about men who have been shown to be ignorant being now refuted by a man of like passions? And what is strange, according to your

 maios. The time from Inachus until the capture of Ilium completes twenty generations and the proof is in this manner. The kings of the Argives were th

 our laws, and what the learned men among the Greeks have said, and how many and who they are who have mentioned them, will be shown in the treatise A

 God and what is the creation according to him, I present myself ready to you for the examination of the doctrines, while my way of life according to G

Alas, with my own eyes I see a dear man pursued around the wall; and my heart grieves for him. And what he says about the other gods conspiring against Zeus, those who encounter these verses know: When the other Olympians wished to bind him, both Hera and Poseidon and Pallas Athene. And if the blessed gods had not dreaded him whom they call Briareus, Zeus would have been bound by them. And as for the things Homer says about the erotic licentiousness of Zeus, it is necessary to remind you of them through the very words he has spoken. For he said that he spoke thus to Hera: For never yet has love for goddess or woman so shed itself about my heart and overcome me, not when I loved the wife of Ixion, nor when I loved Danae of the fair ankles, daughter of Acrisius, nor when I loved the daughter of far-famed Phoenix, nor when I loved Semele, nor Alcmene in Thebes, nor when I loved Demeter, queen of the lovely tresses, nor when I loved glorious Leto, nor your own self. And what things it is possible to learn about the other gods from the poetry of Homer, and what things they have suffered at the hands of men, it is fitting to recall now. For he says that Ares and Aphrodite were wounded by Diomedes, and he recounts the sufferings of many other gods as well. For thus we may learn from Dione as she comforts her daughter. For she spoke to her: Endure, my child, and bear up, though you are grieving. For many of us who have dwellings on Olympus have suffered at the hands of men, laying grievous pains upon one another. Ares endured, when Otus and mighty Ephialtes, sons of Aloeus, bound him in a strong bond; and for thirteen months he was bound in a brazen jar. And Hera endured, when the mighty son of Amphitryon struck her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow; then incurable pain seized her too. And monstrous Hades among them endured a swift arrow, when the same man, son of aegis-bearing Zeus, struck him at the gate among the dead, and gave him over to pains. But he went to the house of Zeus and to high Olympus, grieving at heart, and pierced through with pains; and the arrow was driven into his stout shoulder, and it distressed his spirit. And if it is fitting to remind you also of the battle of the remaining gods on opposite sides, your own poet himself will remind you, saying: So great a crash arose of the gods coming together in strife. For indeed against lord Poseidon stood Phoebus Apollo with his winged arrows, and against Enyalius the bright-eyed goddess Athene. And against Hera stood the loud-crying goddess of the golden shafts

Ὢ πόποι, ἦ φίλον ἄνδρα διωκόμενον περὶ τεῖχος Ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ὁρῶμαι· ἐμὸν δ' ὀλοφύρεται ἦτορ. Τίνα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν κατὰ τῆς τοῦ ∆ιὸς ἐπι βουλῆς λέγει, ἴσασιν οἱ ἐντυγχάνοντες τοῖς ἔπεσι τούτοις· Ὁππότε μιν ξυνδῆσαι Ὀλύμπιοι ἤθελον ἄλλοι, Ἥρη τ' ἠδὲ Ποσειδάων καὶ Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη. Καὶ εἰ μὴ τὸν ὃν Βριάρεων καλέουσι ὑπέδεισαν οἱ μάκαρες θεοί, ἐδέδετο ἂν ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὁ Ζεύς. Ὅσα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐρωτικῆς τοῦ ∆ιὸς ἀκολασίας Ὅμηρος λέγει, ἀναγκαῖον δι' αὐτῶν ὑμᾶς ὑπομνῆσαι ὧν εἴρηκε ·ητῶν. Ἔφη γὰρ αὐτὸν οὕτω πρὸς τὴν Ἥραν λέγειν· Oὐ γὰρ πώποτέ μ' ὧδε θεᾶς ἔρος οὐδὲ γυναικὸς Θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσι περιπροχυθεὶς ἐδάμασσεν, Oὐδ' ὁπότ' ἠρασάμην Ἰξιονίης ἀλόχοιο, Oὐδ' ὅτε περ ∆ανάης καλλισφύρου Ἀκρισιώνης, Oὐδ' ὅτε Φοίνικος κούρης τηλεκλειτοῖο, Oὐδ' ὅτε περ Σεμέλης, οὐδ' Ἀλκμήνης ἐνὶ Θήβῃ, Oὐδ' ὅτε ∆ήμητρος καλλιπλοκάμοιο ἀνάσσης, Oὐδ' ὁπότε Λητοῦς ἐρικυδέος, οὐδὲ σεῦ αὐτῆς. Τίνα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν ἐκ τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως ἔξεστι μανθάνειν, καὶ ὅσα ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων πεπόνθασιν, ἀκό λουθόν ἐστιν ὑπομνῆσαι νυνί. Ἄρεα μὲν γὰρ καὶ Ἀφροδί την ὑπὸ ∆ιομήδους τετρῶσθαι λέγει, πολλῶν δὲ καὶ ἄλλων θεῶν διηγεῖται πάθη. Oὕτω γὰρ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῆς παρα μυθουμένης τὴν θυγατέρα ∆ιώνης μανθάνειν. Ἔφη γὰρ πρὸς αὐτήν· Τέτλαθι, τέκνον ἐμόν, καὶ ἀνάσχεο, κηδομένη περ. Πολλοὶ γὰρ δὴ τλῆμεν Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχοντες Ἐξ ἀνδρῶν, χαλέπ' ἄλγε' ἐπ' ἀλλήλοισι τιθέντες. Τλῆ μὲν Ἄρης, ὅτε μιν Ὠτος κρατερός τ' Ἐπιάλτης, Παῖδες Ἀλωῆος, δῆσαν κρατερῷ ἐνὶ δεσμῷ· Χαλκέῳ δ' ἐν κεράμῳ δέδετο τρισκαίδεκα μῆνας. Τλῆ δ' Ἥρη, ὅτε μιν κρατερὸς παῖς Ἀμφιτρύωνος ∆εξιτερὸν κατὰ μαζὸν ὀϊστῷ τριγλώχινι Βεβλήκει· τότε κέν μιν ἀνήκεστον λάβεν ἄλγος. Τλῆ δ' Ἀΐδης ἐν τοῖσι πελώριος ὠκὺν ὀϊστόν, Eὖτέ μιν ωὐτὸς ἀνήρ, υἱὸς ∆ιὸς αἰγιόχοιο, Ἐν πύλῳ ἐν νεκύεσσι βαλὼν ὀδύνῃσιν ἔδωκεν. Aὐτὰρ ἔβη πρὸς δῶμα ∆ιὸς καὶ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον Κῆρ ἀχέων, ὀδύνῃσι πεπαρμένος· αὐτὰρ ὀϊστὸς Ὤμῳ ἔνι στιβαρῷ ἠλήλατο, κῆδε δὲ θυμόν. Eἰ δὲ καὶ τῆς τῶν λοιπῶν θεῶν ἐξ ἐναντίας μάχης ὑπομνη σθῆναι ὑμᾶς προσήκει, αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς ὁ ὑμέτερος ποιητὴς ὑπο μνήσει λέγων· Τόσσος ἄρα κτύπος ὦρτο θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνιόντων. Ἤτοι μὲν γὰρ ἔναντα Ποσειδάωνος ἄνακτος Ἵστατ' Ἀπόλλων Φοῖβος, ἔχων ἰὰ πτερόεντα, Ἄντα δ' Ἐνυαλίοιο θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη. Ἥρῃ δ' ἀντέστη χρυσηλάκατος κελαδεινὴ