of bounty. The same in Adelphoi: For the mind is always God to the good, as it seems, O wisest ones. And in Auletris: All things are sacred to good reason; for the mind is the god that will speak. In Phrixus the tragedian: But if I, being pious, acted in the same way as the most impious, how could this be right? Or does Zeus the best think nothing just? In Philoctetes: But see how even among the gods it is good to gain, and he is admired who has the most gold in the temples; what then prevents you from taking profit, when it is possible even to be made like the gods? In Hecuba: Zeus, whoever Zeus may be; for I know not, except by report. And: Zeus, whether you are the necessity of nature or the mind of mortals, I have prayed to you! Here, therefore, is a test of virtue and of a judgment that loves understanding, to run back to the fellowship of the partnership and to attach oneself with understanding for salvation and to choose the selection of the better things according to the free will that lies in man's power, not considering the anthropopathic beings as lords of all, since indeed they will appear not even to have equality with men. For in Homer, Demodocus says he is self-taught; and a god has implanted songs in me, though I am mortal. Asclepius and Apollo are taught to heal by Chiron the Centaur, most strange of all, gods by a man. For why should I go through the stories about Dionysus, whom the poet says is mad, or Heracles, whom he also calls wretched? And why should I proclaim Ares and Aphrodite, the originators of adultery, and from all these things bring judgment upon those who are pointed out? For if anyone, not having learned, should imitate the so-called divine acts, even in counterfeit matters he would be considered alien to life and humanity; but one who knows will have a reasonable means of avoiding punishments, not by showing the imitation of divine audacities to be a transgression. But if someone should find fault with their deeds, he will also do away with the names known from them and not cover them with foul and talkative phrases. But one must embrace the true and immutable name, that which is proclaimed not only by my voice but also by those who introduced us to the beginning of our education, so that we may not, having idly completed our time of life here, render account to the judge not only as ignorant of the heavenly glory but also as ungrateful.

χορηγίας. Ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν Ἀδελφοῖς· Θεός ἐστι τοῖς χρηστοῖς ἀεὶ Ὁ νοῦς γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὦ σοφώτατοι. Καὶ ἐν Aὐλητρίσι· Πάντ' ἐστὶ τῷ καλῷ λόγῳ Ἱερόν· ὁ νοῦς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ λαλήσων θεός. Ἐν Φρίξῳ ὁ τραγικός· Eἰ δ' εὐσεβὴς ὢν τοῖσι δυσσεβεστάτοις Eἰς ταὔτ' ἔπραττον, πῶς τόδ' ἂν καλῶς ἔχοι; Ἢ Ζεὺς ὁ λῷστος μηδὲν ἔνδικον φρονεῖ; Ἐν Φιλοκτήτῃ· Ὁρᾶτε δ' ὡς κἀν θεοῖσι κερδαίνειν καλόν, Θαυμάζεται δ' ὁ πλεῖστον ἐν ναοῖς ἔχων Χρυσόν· τί δῆτα καὶ σὲ κωλύει λαβεῖν Κέρδος, παρόν γε κἀξομοιοῦσθαι θεοῖς; Ἐν Ἑκάβῃ· Ζεύς, ὅστις εἶ Ζεύς· οὐ γὰρ οἶδα πλὴν λόγῳ. Καί· Ζεύς, εἴτ' ἀνάγκη φύσεος εἴτε νοῦς βροτῶν, Προσηυξάμην σε! Ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἔλεγχος ἀρετῆς καὶ γνώμης σύνε σιν ἀγαπώσης, ἐπαναδραμεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς συζυγίας κοινωνίαν καὶ προσάψαι ἑαυτὸν συνέσει εἰς σωτηρίαν αἱρεῖσθαί τε τὴν τῶν κρεισσόνων ἐκλογὴν κατὰ τὸ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπῳ κείμενον αὐτ εξούσιον, μὴ τοὺς ἀνθρωποπαθεῖς ἡγουμένους τῶν ὅλων δεσπότας, ὅπου γε οὐδὲ ἀνθρώποις ἴσην ἔχοντες φανήσον ται. Παρ' Ὁμήρῳ γὰρ ὁ μὲν ∆ημόδοκος αὐτοδίδακτός φησιν εἶναι· Θεὸς δέ μοι ἔμβαλεν οἴμους, θνητὸς ὤν. Ἀσκληπιὸς καὶ Ἀπόλλων παρὰ Χείρωνι τῷ Κενταύρῳ ἰᾶσθαι διδάσκονται, τὸ καινότατον παρὰ ἀνθρώπῳ θεοί. Τί γὰρ δίειμι περὶ ∆ιονύσου, ὃν μαινόμενόν φησιν ὁ ποιητής, ἢ Ἡρακλέους, ὃν καὶ αὐτὸν σχέτλιον λέγει; Τί δέ μοι ἀναγορεύειν Ἄρη καὶ Ἀφροδίτην, τοὺς τῆς μοιχείας ἀρ χηγούς, καὶ ἐξ ἁπάντων τούτων κρίσιν ἐπάγειν τοῖς δεικνυ μένοις; Eἰ γάρ τις μὴ μαθὼν τὰς περὶ τὰ λεγόμενα θείας πράξεις μιμήσαιτο, κἂν ἐπὶ τῶν κιβδήλων ἀλλότριος βίου καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος λογισθείη· γνοὺς δέ τις εὔλογον ἕξει τὴν τῶν τιμωριῶν ἀποφυγήν, οὐ παρανομίαν δεικνύων τὴν τῶν θεϊκῶν τολμημάτων μίμησιν. Eἰ δ' ἄρα τις τοῖς ἔργοις ἐπι μέμψαιτο, ἀνελεῖ καὶ τὰ ἐκ τούτων γνωσθέντα ὀνόματα καὶ μὴ πεπινωμέναις καὶ στωμύλοις ·ήσεσιν ἐπισκεπάσει αὐτούς. Ἀσπάζεσθαι δὲ χρὴ τὸ ἀληθινὸν καὶ ἄτρεπτον ὄνομα, τὸ οὐχὶ διὰ τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν εἰσαγαγόντων ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς παιδείας κηρυσσόμενον, ἵνα μή, ἀργῶς τελειώσαντες τὸν ἐνταῦθα τοῦ ζῆν χρόνον, οὐ μόνον ὡς ἀγνῶτες τῆς οὐρανίου δόξης ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἀχάριστοι τῷ κριτῇ τὰς εὐθύνας παρέξομεν.