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to meddle. What sort of Apollonius, then, do you introduce to us in these matters, O biographer? If indeed you introduce him as divine and greater than a philosopher, and, to speak simply, of a nature beyond human, then maintain for me this hypothesis throughout the whole history, and show even now the work of his divinity. For is it not most absurd that the work of carpenters and builders lasts for a very long time even after the death of its craftsmen, recording as if on a pillar an almost immortal memory of those who constructed it, but that a divine nature, after shining upon men, should accomplish something obscure and short-lived, and not display its virtue for ever, not being impoverished for the sake of some one Damis or a few other men, but making its passage for the benefit of countless multitudes, not only of those in whose time he was known, but also of those who were to be born thereafter? In this way, indeed, the wise men of old made for themselves emulators and successors of their virtue, having provided for men a truly immortal achievement. But if you describe the man's nature as mortal, see to it that by gratifying this view more than is proper, you do not pay the penalty for irrationality. And yet, he is introduced by him as a divine man, assuming the form and mask of a sea-demon from birth. "For," as he says, "when his mother was pregnant, a phantom of a sea-demon came to her, Proteus, the shape-shifter from Homer." And she, not at all frightened, 377 asked him what she would bear, and he said, "Me." When she said, "And who are you?" he replied, "Proteus the Egyptian." Then he writes of a certain meadow, and that swans attended the woman in her labor, without saying from where this very detail was taken; for surely for this too he will not designate Damis the Assyrian as his guide. But not far on in the same history, he introduces Apollonius to Damis himself as being of a divine nature, saying these very words: "'I, my companion, understand all languages without having learned a single one;'" and, "'do not be surprised, for I know even what men keep silent.'" And again, he describes him being honored in the temple of Asclepius by the god, and having a certain natural and untaught foreknowledge from childhood, and that he was born simply superior to a human being from his very birth, and throughout the whole history for us. At any rate, when he once freed himself from his bonds, he adds, saying: "'Then for the first time,' says Damis, 'I understood precisely the nature of Apollonius, that it was both divine and superior to man. For without having made any sacrifice—how could he in prison?—nor having prayed, nor having said anything, he laughed at his bonds.'" And at his death, he says that his tomb was nowhere to be found on earth, but that he went to heaven in his very body with hymns and choral dances. It is with good reason, therefore, that he says that the man, being so great, "approached philosophy in a more divine manner than Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Plato." Therefore let this man be enrolled for us among the gods because of these things, and let envy be absent from his innate and self-taught understanding of all languages. Why, then, does he lead him to a teacher and slander him who had learned no language, as if he became Attic in his speech from practice and study, and not from nature? 378 For he says, to be sure, that "as he advanced in age, he showed a command of letters and a strength of memory and a mastery of study, and his tongue was Attic in its manner." And "when he was fourteen years old, his father took him to Tarsus to Euthydemus of Phoenicia, who was a good rhetorician and educated him, and he attached himself to his teacher." Then "Platonists and followers of Chrysippus and those from the Peripatos philosophized with him. He also listened to the doctrines of Epicurus, for he did not reject these either, but he comprehended the Pythagorean doctrines with a certain ineffable wisdom." Thus was he educated, who had learned no language and by divine power had grasped beforehand "even what men keep silent." And he, after a pause, again marvels at him, to what a degree of understanding of the language of animals he came, and adds, saying, "and he came to an understanding of the language of animals, and he learned this while traveling through Arabia from those who know and practice it best. For there is

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πολυπραγμονεῖν. Τίνα δῆτα ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸνἈπολλώνιον εἰσάγεις, ὦ συγγραφεῦ; εἰ μὲν δὴ θεῖον καὶ φιλοσόφου κρείττονα τήν τε φύσιν ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον, τήρει μοι δι' ολης τῆς ἱστορίας τὴν ὑπόθεσιν καὶ τουργον εἰσέτι νῦν ἐπιδείκνυθι τῆς θειότητος. ἦ γὰρ οὐκ ἀτοπώτατον τεκτόνων μὲν καὶ οἰκοδόμων καὶ μετὰ τὴν τῶν δημιουργῶν τελευτὴν ἐπὶ μήκιστον τουργον διαρκεῖν ἀθάνατόν που σχεδὸν τῶν συστησαμένων τὴν μνήμην στηλιτεῦον, θείαν δὲ αρα φύσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιλάμψασαν σκότιόν που καὶ μινυνθάδιον ἀποτελεῖν, οὐχὶ δὲ εἰς αἰῶνα τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, μὴ εἰς ενα τινὰ ∆άμιν ἢ καὶ αλλους βραχεῖς πτωχεύουσαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ' εἰς μυρίων ὅσων ὠφελείας οὐ τῶν καθ' ὃν χρόνον ἐγνωρίζετο μόνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα γενησομένων τὴν πάροδον ποιουμένην; ταύτῃ τοι καὶ τοὺς πάλαι σοφοὺς ζηλωτάς τε καὶ διαδόχους ποιήσασθαι τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀθάνατον ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀνθρώποις παρεσχημένους τὸ κατόρθωμα. εἰ δὲ θνητὴν ὑπογράφεις τἀνδρὸς τὴν φύσιν, ορα μὴ πλέον, ἢ προσῆκε, ταύτῃ χαριζόμενος δίκην ἀποίσεις παραλογίας. ἀλλὰ μὴν εἰσῆκται αὐτῷ θεῖος ἄνθρωπος καὶ θαλαττίου δαίμονος σχῆμά τε καὶ προσωπεῖον ἀπὸ γενέσεως ἀναλαμβάνων. «κυούσῃ γάρ,» ως φησι, τῇ αὐτοῦ μητρὶ φάσμα ηλθε θαλαττίου δαίμονος, Πρωτεὺς ὁ παρὰ τῷὉμήρῳ ἐξαλλάττων. ἡ δὲ οὐδὲν δείσασα 377 ηρετο αὐτόν, τί ἀποκυήσοι, ὁ δὲ «ἐμὲ» εἶπε· «σὺ δὲ τίς» εἰπούσης «Πρωτεὺς» ἔφη «ὁ Αἰγύπτιος.» εἶτα δὲ λειμῶνά τινα, καὶ κύκνους τὴν γυναῖκα μαιεύεσθαι γράφει, ὁπόθεν αὐτὸ τοῦτ' εἴη ληφθέν, μὴ εἰπών· οὐ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τούτου ὑγηγητήν. ∆άμιν τὸνἈσσύριον ὑπογράψεται. ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ἐς μακρὸν τῆς αὐτῆς ἱστορίας αὐτῷ ∆άμιδι οἷαδὴ θείας ὄντα φύσεως τὸνἈπολλώνιον εἰσάγει αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα λέγοντα· «ἐγώ, ὦ ἑταῖρε, πασῶν τῶν φωνῶν ξυνίημι μαθὼν οὐδεμίαν·» καὶ «μὴ θαυμάσῃς, οἶδα γὰρ καὶ ἃ σιωπῶσιν οἱ ανθρωποι.» καὶ πάλιν ἐνἈσκληπιοῦ τιμώμενον πρὸς τοῦ δαίμονος καὶ πρόγνωσιν φυσικήν τινα καὶ ἀδίδακτον ἔχειν ἐκ παιδὸς κρείττονά τε ἀτεχνῶς ἀνθρώπου φῦναι αὐτὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς γενέσεως καὶ δι' ολης ἡμῖν τῆς ἱστορίας ὑπογράφει. λύσαντος γοῦν ἑαυτόν ποτε ἀπὸ δεσμῶν ἐπιφέρει λέγων· «τότε πρῶτον ὁ ∆άμις φησὶν ἀκριβῶς ξυνεῖναι τῆςἈπολλωνίου φύσεως, οτι θεία τε εἴη καὶ κρείττων ἀνθρώπου. μὴ γὰρ θύσαντά τι, πῶς γὰρ ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ; μηδὲ εὐξάμενον, μηδὲ εἰπόντα τι καταγελάσαι τοῦ δεσμοῦ.» ἐπὶ τελευτῇ δὲ τάφον μὲν αὐτοῦ μηδόλως ποι γῆς εὑρίσκεσθαι, χωρῆσαι δὲ εἰς οὐρανὸν αὐτῷ σώματι μεθ' ὕμνων καὶ χορείας λέγει. εἰκότως δὴ οὖν οἷαοντα τοσοῦτον «θειότερον ἢ ΠυθαγόραςἘμπεδοκλῆς τε καὶ Πλάτων φιλοσοφίᾳ τὸν ανδρα προσεληλυθέναι φησίν. οὐκοῦν ἐν θεοῖς ἡμῖν διὰ τούτων ἀναγεγράφθω ὁ ανθρωπος καὶ ὁ φθόνος ἀπέστω τῆς τῶν φωνῶν ἁπασῶν αὐτοφυοῦς καὶ αὐτοδιδάκτου συνέσεως. τί δῆτα οὖν ἐς διδασκάλου αγει αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν μηδεμίαν φωνὴν μεμαθηκότα διαβάλλει ὡς αν ἐξ ἀσκήσεως καὶ μελέτης, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκ φύσεωςἈττικὸν γενόμενον τὴν γλῶτταν; 378 φησὶ γάρ τοι, ὡς προϊὼν ἐς ἡλικίαν γράμματά τε καὶ μνήμης ἰσχὺν ἐδήλου καὶ μελέτης κράτος καὶ ἡ γλῶττα αὐτῷ ἀττικῶς ειχε.» καὶ «γεγονότα δὲ αὐτὸν ἔτη τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα ἄγει ἐς Ταρσοὺς ὁ πατὴρ παρ' Εὐθύδημον τὸν ἐκ Φοινίκης, ος ῥήτωρ τε ἀγαθὸς ην καὶ ἐπαίδευε τοῦτον, ὁ δὲ τοῦ διδασκάλου ειχετο.» εἶτα «ξυνεφιλοσόφουν αὐτῷ Πλατώνειοί τε καὶ Χρυσίππειοι καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ περιπάτου. διήκουε δὲ καὶ τῶνἘπικούρου λόγων, οὐδὲ γὰρ τούτους ἀπεσπούδαζε, τοὺς δὲ Πυθαγορείους ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ σοφίᾳ ξυνελάμβανε.» τοσαῦτα ὁ μηδεμίαν μαθὼν φωνὴν θείᾳ τε δυνάμει «ἃ καὶ σιωπῶσιν ανθρωποι» προλαβὼν ἐξεπαιδεύετο. ὁ δὲ διαλιπὼν αυθις αὐτὸν θαυμάζει, ἐς οσον συνέσεως τῆς τῶν ζῴων φωνῆς ηλθε καὶ ἐπιφέρει λέγων «καὶ ἐς ξύνεσιν δὲ τῆς τῶν ζῴων φωνῆς ηλθε, καὶ εμαθε δὲ τοῦτο διὰ τῶνἈραβίων πορευόμενος αριστα γιγνωσκόντων τε καὶ πραττόντων αὐτό. εστι γὰρ