Tatian, Speech to the Greeks

an encomiast of the good things that remain. And since men and angels followed one who was wiser than the rest because he was first-born, and they dec

so that they might be thought themselves to live in heaven and might show the irrational way of life on earth to be reasonable through the placement o

of pleasure and of inferiority. The rich man sows, and the poor man partakes of the same seed the richest die and the beggars have the same end of li

Babylonians by prognostication listen to us speaking, even as to an oracle-giving oak. And the things previously mentioned are the counter-sophistrie

a rational animal, receptive of mind and knowledge for according to them, even irrational creatures will be shown to be receptive of mind and knowled

Of the sympathies and antipathies according to Democritus, what can we say but this, that according to common speech, an Abderologue is a man from Abd

to robbers. For just as it is their custom to take some captive, then to restore the same ones to their families for a ransom, so also the so-called g

a light unapproachable by the men from here. Those, therefore, who have elaborated geographies, have made a description of the regions as far as was p

You revile those who share in your practices. I do not wish to gape when many are singing, and I do not want to be in accord with one who nods and mov

as you have hated the most defiled? Among us there is no cannibalism you who have been educated have become false witnesses but among you Pelops bec

her lion that was killed by Heracles? What profit would there be in Attic diction and heaps of philosophers and plausible syllogisms and measures of t

Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Dionysius of Olynthus, and after them Ephorus of Cyme and Philochorus the Athenian and Megacleides and Chamaeleon the P

the pursuits and through the women's quarters behaves unseemly. For Lysippus wrought in bronze Praxilla, who said nothing useful through her poems, an

eyes? for she was a courtesan. Lais committed fornication, and the fornicator made her a monument of her fornication. Why do you not respect the forni

is of the age of Moses. 38.1 But there are accurate records of the Egyptians' chronologies, and the interpreter of their writings is Ptolemy, not the

of the Cretan, who came to Sparta, and of Aristaeus of Proconnesus who wrote the *Arimaspeia* and of Asbolus the Centaur and of Bacis and of Drymon an

Babylonians by prognostication; listen to us speaking, even as to an oracle-giving oak. And the things previously mentioned are the counter-sophistries of frantic demons, but the things of our instruction are above worldly comprehension. 13.1 The soul is not immortal, men of Greece, in itself, but mortal; but this same soul is able also not to die. For it dies and is dissolved with the body if it does not know the truth, but it rises again later at the consummation of the world with the body, receiving death through punishment in immortality; and again it does not die, even if for a time it is dissolved, if it has acquired the knowledge of God. For in itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it, and this is what has been said: _t_h_e_ _d_a_r_k_n_e_s_s_ _d_o_e_s_ _n_o_t_ _c_o_m_p_r_e_h_e_n_d_ _t_h_e_ _l_i_g_h_t_. For the soul did not save the spirit, but was saved by it; and the light apprehended the darkness, 13.2 for the Word is the light of God, and the ignorant soul is the darkness. For this reason, when it dwells alone, it inclines downwards towards matter, dying with the flesh, but when it has the union of the divine Spirit, it is not without help, but it ascends to the regions to which the Spirit guides it; for the dwelling place of the one is above, but the origin of the other is from below. Now, the Spirit was a companion to the soul from the beginning; but the Spirit left it behind, as it did not wish to follow him. And the soul, possessing as it were a spark of his power and through the separation being unable to perceive the perfect things, seeking God, in error fashioned many gods, 13.3 following the counter-sophist demons. But the Spirit of God is not with all, but dwelling with some who live justly and being intertwined with the soul, it announced through prophecies to the other souls what was hidden; and those who were persuaded by wisdom drew to themselves the kindred spirit, but those who were not persuaded and rejected the servant of the suffering God appeared as fighters against God rather than pious. 14.1 Such are you also, O Greeks, verbose in words, but holding a strange opinion, and you have practiced _r_u_l_e_ _b_y_ _m_a_n_y_ rather than monarchy, as if believing you follow powerful demons. For just as a robber, being inhuman, is accustomed to prevail over his fellows through boldness, so also the demons, having run aground on much wickedness, have deceived the isolated souls among you through ignorance and phantoms. They do not die easily, for they are without flesh; but while living they practice the deeds of death, themselves dying as many times as they teach their followers sins, so that what is an advantage for them now, not dying in the same way as humans, this, whenever they are about to be punished 14.2 will be bitter for them *** they will not partake of eternal life, receiving in an immortal state instead of death. And just as for us, for whom dying is now easy, we will hereafter receive either immortality with enjoyment or pain with immortality, so also the demons, who abuse their present life for sinning, continually dying even while living, will hereafter have the same immortality, in its constitution like the life they had when they lived, similar to that of men who have by choice done the things they [the demons] legislated for them during the time they lived. And indeed, for their followers the forms of sin that blossom are lesser because they do not live a long time, but for the aforesaid demons 14.3 sinning has become greater on account of the infinity of their life. 15.1 And it is necessary for us now to seek that which we had and have lost, and to join the soul to the Holy Spirit and to work out the union which is according to God. The soul of men, therefore, is composite and not simple. For it is composite, so as to be manifest through a body; for neither could it ever appear without a body, nor does the flesh rise without a soul. For man is not, as the crow-voiced dogmatists teach,

Βαβυλωνίους προγνωστικῇ· κατακούσατε λεγόντων ἡμῶν κἂν ὡς δρυὸς μαντευομένης. καὶ τὰ μὲν προειρημένα παραφόρων δαιμόνων ἐστὶν ἀντισοφιστεύματα, τὰ δὲ τῆς ἡμετέρας παιδείας ἐστὶν ἀνωτέρω τῆς κοσμικῆς καταλήψεως. 13.1 Οὐκ ἔστιν ἀθάνατος, ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ἡ ψυχὴ καθ' ἑαυτήν, θνητὴ δέ· ἀλλὰ δυνατὸς ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ μὴ ἀποθνήσκειν. θνήσκει μὲν γὰρ καὶ λύεται μετὰ τοῦ σώματος μὴ γινώσκουσα τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀνίσταται δὲ εἰς ὕστερον ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ κόσμου σὺν τῷ σώματι θάνατον διὰ τιμωρίας ἐν ἀθανασίᾳ λαμβάνουσα· πάλιν τε οὐ θνήσκει, κἂν πρὸς καιρὸν λυθῇ, τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θεοῦ πεποιημένη. καθ' ἑαυτὴν γὰρ σκότος ἐστίν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτῇ φωτεινόν, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἄρα τὸ εἰρημένον· _ἡ_ _σ_κ_ο_τ_ί_α_ _τ_ὸ_ _φ_ῶ_ς_ _ο_ὐ_ _κ_α_τ_α_λ_α_μ_β_ά_ν_ε_ι. ψυχὴ γὰρ οὐκ αὐτὴ τὸ πνεῦμα ἔσωσεν, ἐσώθη δὲ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· καὶ τὸ φῶς τὴν σκοτίαν κατέλαβεν ᾗ 13.2 λόγος μέν ἐστι τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ φῶς, σκότος δὲ ἡ ἀνεπιστήμων ψυχή. διὰ τοῦτο μόνη μὲν διαιτωμένη πρὸς τὴν ὕλην νεύει κάτω συναποθνήσκουσα τῇ σαρκί, συζυγίαν δὲ κεκτημένη τὴν τοῦ θείου πνεύματος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀβοήθητος, ἀνέρχεται δὲ πρὸς ἅπερ αὐτὴν ὁδηγεῖ χωρία τὸ πνεῦμα· τοῦ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἄνω τὸ οἰκητήριον, τῆς δὲ κάτωθέν ἐστιν ἡ γένεσις. γέγονεν μὲν οὖν συνδίαιτον ἀρχῆθεν τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ πνεῦμα· τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ταύτην ἕπεσθαι μὴ βουλομένην αὐτῷ καταλέλοιπεν. ἡ δὲ ὥσπερ ἔναυσμα τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ κεκτημένη καὶ διὰ τὸν χωρισμὸν τὰ τέλεια καθορᾶν μὴ δυναμένη, ζητοῦσα τὸν θεὸν κατὰ πλάνην πολλοὺς θεοὺς ἀνετύπωσε 13.3 τοῖς ἀντισοφιστεύουσι δαίμοσι κατακολουθοῦσα. πνεῦμα δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ πᾶσιν μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, παρὰ δέ τισι τοῖς δικαίως πολιτευομένοις καταγινόμενον καὶ συμπεριπλεκόμενον τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ προαγορεύσεων ταῖς λοιπαῖς ψυχαῖς τὸ κεκρυμμένον ἀνήγγειλε· καὶ αἱ μὲν πειθόμεναι τῇ σοφίᾳ σφίσιν αὐταῖς ἐφεῖλκον τὸ πνεῦμα συγγενές, αἱ δὲ μὴ πειθόμεναι καὶ τὸν διάκονον τοῦ πεπονθότος θεοῦ παραιτούμεναι θεομάχοι μᾶλλον ἤπερ θεοσεβεῖς ἀνεφαίνοντο. 14.1 Τοιοῦτοί τινές ἐστε καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὦ Ἕλληνες, ῥήμασι μὲν στωμύλοι, γνώμην δὲ ἔχοντες ἀλλόκοτον, καὶ τὴν _π_ο_λ_υ_κ_ο_ι_ρανίην μᾶλλον ἤπερ τὴν μοναρχίαν ἐξησκήσατε καθάπερ ἰσχυροῖς νομίζοντες τοῖς δαίμοσι κατακολουθεῖν. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ λῃστεύων ἀπάνθρωπος ὢν διὰ τόλμης τῶν ὁμοίων ἐπικρατεῖν εἴωθεν, οὕτω καὶ οἱ δαίμονες εἰς πολλὴν κακίαν ἐξοκείλαντες τὰς μεμονωμένας παρ' ὑμῖν ψυχὰς δι' ἀγνοιῶν καὶ φαντασιῶν ἐξηπατήκασιν. οἳ θνήσκουσι μὲν οὐ ῥᾳδίως, σαρκὸς γὰρ ἀμοιροῦσι· ζῶντες δὲ θανάτου πράττουσιν ἐπιτηδεύματα τοσαυτάκις καὶ αὐτοὶ θνήσκοντες ὁσάκις ἂν τοὺς ἑπομένους αὐτοῖς τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἐκπαιδεύσωσιν, ὥσθ' ὅπερ ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς περιττὸν ἐν τῷ νῦν, μὴ ὁμοίως τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀποθνήσκειν, τοῦθ' ὁπόταν μέλλωσι κολάζεσθαι 14.2 πικρὸν αὐτοῖς *** οὐ μεθέξουσιν ἀιδίου ζωῆς ἀντὶ θανάτου ἐν ἀθανάτῳ μεταλαμβάνοντες. ὥσπερ δὲ ἡμεῖς, οἷς τὸ θνήσκειν ῥᾴδιον ἀποβαίνει νῦν, εἰσαῦθις ἢ μετὰ ἀπολαύσεως τὸ ἀθάνατον ἢ τὸ λυπηρὸν μετὰ ἀθανασίας προσλαμβάνομεν, οὕτω καὶ οἱ δαίμονες τῇ νῦν ζωῇ πρὸς τὸ πλημμελεῖν καταχρώμενοι διὰ παντὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦ ζῆν ἀποθνήσκοντες εἰσαῦθις ἕξουσιν τὴν αὐτὴν ἀθανασίαν ὁμοίαν τῆς παρ' ὃν ἔζων χρόνον κατὰ μὲν τὴν σύστασιν ὁμοίαν ἀνθρώποις τοῖς κατὰ γνώμην διαπραξαμένοις ἅπερ αὐτοῖς παρ' ὃν ἔζων χρόνον νενομοθετήκασι. καὶ μήτι γε τοῖς μὲν ἑπομένοις αὐτοῖς ἐλάττονα τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐξανθοῦσι τὰ εἴδη διὰ τὸ μὴ πολυχρονίως βιοῦν, τοῖς δὲ προειρημένοις δαίμοσιν 14.3 τὸ πλημμελεῖν μεῖζον ἀποβέβηκεν διὰ τὸ ἄπειρον τῆς βιότητος. 15.1 Καὶ χρὴ λοιπὸν ἡμᾶς ὅπερ ἔχοντες ἀπολωλέκαμεν τοῦτο νῦν ἀναζητεῖν ζευγνύναι τε τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ τὴν κατὰ θεὸν συζυγίαν πραγματεύεσθαι. ψυχὴ μὲν οὖν ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πολυμερής ἐστι καὶ οὐ μονομερής. συνθετὴ γάρ ἐστιν ὡς εἶναι φανερὰν αὐτὴν διὰ σώματος· οὔτε γὰρ ἂν αὐτὴ φανείη ποτὲ χωρὶς σώματος οὔτε ἀνίσταται ἡ σὰρξ χωρὶς ψυχῆς. ἔστι γὰρ ἄνθρωπος οὐχ, ὥσπερ οἱ κορακόφωνοι δογματίζουσι,