5

having slaughtered and flayed this one according to the myths, he made for himself a garment. But his other deeds, concerning incest with his sister and adultery and corruption of boys, Homer and the other poets narrate better concerning him. Why should I go on to recount about his sons, Heracles who burned himself, and Dionysus who was drunk and raging, and Apollo who feared Achilles and fled and lusted for Daphne and was ignorant of the fate of Hyacinthus, or Aphrodite who was wounded, and Ares the bane of mortals, and further, the ichor flowing from these so-called gods? And it is a moderate thing to say these things, when a god is found dismembered, the one called Osiris, for whom rites are held yearly as for one who was lost and is found and is sought limb by limb; for neither is it understood if he is lost, nor is it shown if he is found. And why should I mention Attis who was mutilated or Adonis wandering in the forest and hunting and being wounded by a boar, or Asclepius struck by lightning, and Sarapis who was a fugitive from Sinope to Alexandria, or the Scythian Artemis who was herself a fugitive and a murderer of men and a huntress and who lusted for Endymion? For we do not say these things, but your own prose writers and poets proclaim them. Why should I go on to recount the multitude of animals the Egyptians worship, both reptiles and cattle and wild beasts and birds and swimming creatures of the water, and furthermore even foot-basins and shameful noises? And if you should speak of the Greeks and the other nations, they worship stones and pieces of wood and the rest of matter, as we have already said, images of dead men. For Phidias is found in Pisa making the Olympian Zeus for the Eleans, and in Athens on the acropolis, Athena. But I will ask you also, O man, how many Zeuses are found? For in the first place Zeus is called Olympian, and Zeus Latiaris, and Zeus Cassius, and Zeus Ceraunius, and Zeus Propator, and Zeus Pannychius, and Zeus Poliuchus, and Zeus Capitolinus. And the one Zeus, son of Cronus, having become king of the Cretans, has a tomb in Crete; but the others perhaps were not even deemed worthy of a burial. And if you should speak of the mother of the so-called gods, may it not be for my mouth to declare her deeds (for it is unlawful for us even to name such things), or the deeds of her ministers by whom she is served, and how many taxes and contributions she herself and her sons furnish to the king. For they are not gods, but idols, as we have said before, the works of men's hands and unclean demons. And may those who make them and those who hope in them become like them. Therefore, I will rather honor the king, not by worshipping him, but by praying for him. But I worship the God who is really God and true, knowing that the king has been made by Him. You will say to me then: "Why do you not worship the king?" Because he was not made to be worshipped, but to be honored with the honor that is his due. For he is not a god, but a man, appointed by God, not to be worshipped,

5

ταύτην σφάξας κατὰ τοὺς μύθους καὶ ἐκδείρας ἐποίησεν ἑαυτῷ ἔνδυμα. τὰς δὲ λοιπὰς πράξεις αὐτοῦ, περί τε ἀδελφοκοιτίας καὶ μοιχείας καὶ παιδοφθορίας, ἄμεινον Ὅμηρος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ποιηταὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐξηγοῦνται. τί μοι τὸ λοιπὸν καταλέγειν περὶ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ, Ἡρακλέα μὲν ἑαυτὸν καύσαντα, ∆ιόνυσον δὲ μεθύοντα καὶ μαινόμενον, καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα δεδιότα καὶ φεύγοντα καὶ τῆς ∆άφνης ἐρῶντα καὶ τὸν Ὑακίνθου μόρον ἀγνοοῦντα, ἢ Ἀφρο- δίτην τὴν τιτρωσκομένην, καὶ Ἄρεα τὸν βροτολοιγόν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἰχῶρα ·έοντα τούτων τῶν λεγομένων θεῶν; Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν μέτριον εἰπεῖν, ὅπου γε θεὸς εὑρίσκεται μεμελισ- μένος ὁ καλούμενος Ὄσιρις, οὗ καὶ κατ' ἔτος γίνονται τελεταὶ ὡς ἀπολλυμένου καὶ εὑρισκομένου καὶ κατὰ μέλος ζητουμένου· οὔτε γὰρ εἰ ἀπόλλυται νοεῖται, οὔτε εἰ εὑρίσκεται δείκνυται. τί δέ μοι λέγειν Ἄττιν ἀποκοπτόμενον ἢ Ἄδωνιν ἐν ὕλῃ ·εμβόμενον καὶ κυνηγετοῦντα καὶ τιτρωσκόμενον ὑπὸ συός, ἢ Ἀσκληπιὸν κεραυνού- μενον, καὶ Σάραπιν τὸν ἀπὸ Σινώπης φυγάδα εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν γεγονότα, ἢ τὴν Σκυθίαν Ἄρτεμιν καὶ αὐτὴν φυγάδα γεγονυῖαν καὶ ἀνδροφόνον καὶ κυνηγέτιν καὶ τοῦ Ἐνδυμίωνος ἐρασθεῖσαν; Ταῦτα γὰρ οὐχ ἡμεῖς φαμεν, ἀλλὰ οἱ καθ' ὑμᾶς συγγραφεῖς καὶ ποιηταὶ κηρύσσουσιν. Τί μοι λοιπὸν καταλέγειν τὸ πλῆθος ὧν σέβονται ζώων Aἰγύπ- τιοι, ἑρπετῶν τε καὶ κτηνῶν καὶ θηρίων καὶ πετεινῶν καὶ ἐνύδρων νηκτῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ποδόνιπτρα καὶ ἤχους αἰσχύνης; εἰ δὲ καὶ Ἕλληνας εἴποις καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἔθνη, σέβονται λίθους καὶ ξύλα καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν ὕλην, ὡς ἔφθημεν εἰρηκέναι, ἀπεικονίσματα νεκρῶν ἀνθρώ- πων. Φειδίας μὲν γὰρ εὑρίσκεται ἐν Πείσῃ ποιῶν Ἠλείοις τὸν Ὀλύμπιον ∆ία, καὶ Ἀθηναίοις ἐν ἀκροπόλει τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν. Πεύσομαι δέ σου κἀγώ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, πόσοι Ζῆνες εὑρίσκονται· Ζεὺς μὲν γὰρ ἐν πρώτοις προσαγορεύεται Ὀλύμπιος καὶ Ζεὺς Λατεάριος καὶ Ζεὺς Κάσσιος καὶ Ζεὺς Κεραύνιος καὶ Ζεὺς Προπά- τωρ καὶ Ζεὺς Παννύχιος καὶ Ζεὺς Πολιοῦχος καὶ Ζεὺς Καπετώλιος. καὶ ὁ μὲν Ζεὺς παῖς Κρόνου, βασιλεὺς Κρητῶν γενόμενος, ἔχει τάφον ἐν Κρήτῃ· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ἴσως οὐδὲ ταφῆς κατηξιώθησαν. εἰ δὲ καὶ εἴποις τὴν μητέρα τῶν λεγομένων θεῶν, μή μοι γένοιτο διὰ στόματος τὰς πράξεις αὐτῆς ἐξειπεῖν (ἀθέμιτον γὰρ ἡμῖν τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ ὀνομάζειν), ἢ τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτῆς τὰς πράξεις ὑφ' ὧν θεραπεύεται, ὁπόσα τε τέλη καὶ εἰσφορὰς παρέχει τῷ βασιλεῖ αὐτή τε καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῆς. Oὐ γάρ εἰσιν θεοί, ἀλλὰ εἴδωλα, καθὼς προειρήκαμεν, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ δαιμόνια ἀκάθαρτα. γένοιντο δὲ τοιοῦτοι οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ καὶ οἱ ἐλπίζοντες ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Τοιγαροῦν μᾶλλον τιμήσω τὸν βασιλέα, οὐ προσκυνῶν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ εὐχόμενος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. θεῷ δὲ τῷ ὄντως θεῷ καὶ ἀληθεῖ προσκυνῶ, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γέγονεν. ἐρεῖς οὖν μοι· "∆ιὰ τί οὐ προσκυνεῖς τὸν βασιλέα;" ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸ τιμᾶσθαι τῇ νομίμῳ τιμῇ. θεὸς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπος, ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμένος, οὐκ εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι,