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of Zeus. What therefore the divine Gregory says is this, that Julian concealed his own wickedness through a feigned character, being unjust under a righteous pretext. 4.45 The forty-fifth story is the one concerning Melampus and Proteus. It is as follows. This Proteus is the one from Thrace, whose sons Heracles killed. He was therefore also a seer, and became a sea spirit, and dwelled in Pharos; for which reason Pharos was also called the island of Proteus. He would change his form to those who approached so that he might not be asked to speak prophecies and foretellings. Likewise Melampus also was a seer and a hierophant. This man revealed the sacred rites in Egypt to the Greeks, which the Greeks imitated. And he too was one of those who changed form, as a seer. For these seers had, it is said, so great a power as to be able to change form into whatever they wished so as not to be recognized by those conversing with them. 4.46 The forty-sixth story is the one concerning the Aetnaean fire. It is as follows. Sicily is a very large island situated near Italy. On it is a city called Catana. And above Catana is a mountain from which a great and perpetual fire is sent forth. The mountain is called Aetna, and they are also called the craters of Hephaestus. And sometimes this fire gushes forth so much that it is borne along like a river, and flows like water with the fiery matter being sent forth. And this fire is something divine. For it is said that once a certain father with his son was found on this mountain, and suddenly the fire flowed like a river, and it became impossible for them to pass. But the boy took his father and carried him. And the fire, blushing at the deed of the son, was checked from its flow. And the boy and the father passed by unharmed. 4.47 The forty-seventh story is the punishment in the rites of Mithras. It is as follows. The Persians believe Mithras to be the sun, and to him they offer many sacrifices, and they perform certain rites from him. But no one is able to be initiated into the rites of Mithras unless he should pass through all the punishments, and show himself to be impassive and pious. And there are said to be eighty punishments which the one to be initiated must pass through by degree, for example, first to swim through much water for many days, then to cast himself into a fire, then to live in a desert and fast, and certain other things until, as we said, he should pass through the eighty punishments. 4.48 The forty-eighth story is the inhumanity of Echetus and Phalaris. It is as follows. Echetus was a tyrant of Epirus. This man, being most cruel, devised all sorts of punishments and instruments of torture. To this man those wishing to punish without mercy would send people, as also the poet says concerning him: "To king Echetus, the bane of all mortals." And Phalaris is someone of this sort, and he became an inventor of newer instruments of torture. And he was a Sicilian by birth. This man, to please Dionysius the tyrant, who was most cruel and punitive, devised a bronze bull in which it was necessary to throw those being punished and to light a fire under it, so that, being inside and being burned and crying out, as the voice ran through the mouth of the bull, the burning bull might seem to be producing a bellow. But Dionysius, seeing the inhumanity of this, threw this very man into the bull, and burning him, killed him. 4.49 The forty-ninth story is the one concerning the Hydra. It is as follows. A beast is fabled around Lerna with fifty heads, or according to others, nine heads; and the heads were of snakes. which beast Heracles, coming with Hyllus his attendant, killed. And this too is fabled, that, when one of its heads was cut, two grew in its place, so that there came to be a hundred heads. But Hyllus, learning this, brought fire, and would burn the head being cut. And thus they were able to kill them all. 4.50 The fiftieth story is the one concerning the Pataric Chimaera. It is as follows. Patara is a city of Lycia. And it is said that in this place there is a mountain, on which mountain is a beast, which in front is a lion, and behind a dragon, and in the middle was a goat; from which goat fire was sent forth, and it would ravage those passing by. But later Bellerophon, coming

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τοῦ ∆ιός. ὃ οὖν λέγει ὁ θεῖος Γρηγόριος τοῦτο ἔστιν, ὅτι ὁ Ἰουλιανὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πονηρίαν δι' ἐπιπλάστου ἤθους ἐπέκρυπτεν, ἄδικος ὢν ἐν δικαίῳ προσχήματι. 4.45 Τεσσαρακοστὴ πέμπτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ Μελάμποδος καὶ τοῦ Πρωτέως. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ὁ Πρωτεὺς οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τῆς Θρᾴκης, οὗ τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀπέκτεινεν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς. οὗτος οὖν καὶ μάντις ἦν, καὶ γενόμενος ἐνάλιος δαίμων, καὶ οἰκῶν τὴν Φάρον· διὸ καὶ Πρωτέως νῆσος ἡ Φάρος ἐκέκλητο. μετεμορφοῦτο πρὸς τοὺς πλησιάζοντας ἵνα μὴ αἰτῆται λέγειν μαντείας καὶ προγνώσεις. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ Μελάμπους μάντις ἦν καὶ ἱεροφάντης. οὗτος ἐξέφηνε τὰ ἱερὰ τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ἅπερ ἐμιμήσαντο Ἕλληνες. καὶ οὗτος δὲ τῶν μεταμορφουμένων ἦν, ὡς μάντις. οἱ γὰρ μάντεις οὗτοι εἶχον τηλικαύτην, φησί, δύναμιν, ὥστε μεταμορφοῦσθαι εἰς ὃ ἃν ἐθέλωσιν ὥστε μὴ γινώσκεσθαι παρὰ τῶν προσδιαλεγομένων. 4.46 Τεσσαρακοστὴ ἕκτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸ Αἰτναῖον πῦρ. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Σικελία νῆσός ἐστι μεγίστη διακειμένη περὶ Ἰταλίαν. ἐν ταύτῃ ἐστὶ πόλις Κατάνη οὕτω καλουμένη. ὑπεράνω δὲ τῆς Κατάνης ἐστὶν ὄρος ἐξ οὗ ἀναδίδοται πῦρ πολύ τε καὶ διηνεκές. καλεῖται δὲ τὸ ὄρος Αἴτνη, καλοῦνται δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου κρατῆρες. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ πῦρ ἐστιν ὅτε τοσοῦτον ὑπερβλύζει ὥστε καὶ ποταμηδὸν φέρεσθαι, καὶ ῥεῖν ὡς ὕδωρ μετὰ τῆς ἀναδιδομένης πυρώδους ὕλης. ἔστι δὲ καὶ θεῖόν τι τὸ πῦρ τοῦτο. λέγεται γάρ ποτε ὅτι πατήρ τις μεθ' υἱοῦ εὑρέθη ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ, καὶ ἄφνω ἐρρύη ποταμηδὸν τὸ πῦρ, καὶ ἄπορον αὐτοῖς γέγονε τὸ παρελθεῖν. ὁ δὲ παῖς ἔλαβε τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἐβάσταξεν. καὶ ἐρυθριάσαν τὸ πῦρ τὴν πρᾶξιν τοῦ υἱοῦ ἀνεκόπη τῆς ἐπιρροῆς. καὶ παρῆλθον ὁ παῖς καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἀβλαβεῖς. 4.47 Τεσσαρακοστὴ ἑβδόμη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ ἐν Μίθρου κόλασις. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Τὸν Μίθραν νομίζουσι Πέρσαι τὸν ἥλιον εἶναι, καὶ τούτῳ θύουσι πολλὰς θυσίας, καὶ τελοῦνταί τινας ἐξ αὐτοῦ τελετάς. οὐδεὶς δὲ δύναται τελεῖσθαι τὰς τοῦ Μίθρου τελετὰς εἰ μὴ διὰ πασῶν τῶν κολάσεων παρέλθοι, καὶ δείξοι ἑαυτόν τινα ἀπαθῆ καὶ ὅσιον. λέγονται δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα εἶναι κολάσεις ἃς κατὰ βαθμὸν δεῖ τὸν τελεσθησόμενον παρελθεῖν, οἷον, πρῶτον διανήξασθαι ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ὕδωρ πολύ, εἶτα εἰς πῦρ ἐμβάλαι ἑαυτόν, εἶτα ἐν ἐρήμῳ διαιτηθῆναι καὶ ἀσιτῆσαι, καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ἄχρις οὗ, ὡς εἴπομεν, τὰς ὀγδοήκοντα κολάσεις παρέλθοι. 4.48 Τεσσαρακοστὴ ὀγδόη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ Ἐχέτου καὶ Φαλάριδος ἀπανθρωπία. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ἔχετος τῆς Ἠπείρου ὑπῆρχε τύραννος. οὗτος ὠμότατος ὢν ἐπενόει παντοίας τιμωρίας καὶ κολαστήρια. πρὸς τοῦτον οἱ θέλοντες ἀφειδῶς κολάσαι διέπεμπον, ὡς καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· Εἰς Ἔχετον βασιλῆα, βροτῶν δηλήμονα πάντων. Ὁ δὲ Φάλαρις τοιοῦτός τίς ἐστι, καὶ οὗτος καινοτέρων κολαστηρίων γέγονεν εὑρετής. ἦν δὲ τὸ γένος Σικελιώτης. οὗτος ∆ιονυσίῳ τῷ τυράννῳ χαριζόμενος, ὄντι ὠμοτάτῳ καὶ τιμωρητικῷ, ἐπενόησε βοῦν χαλκοῦν ἐν ᾧ ἔδει βάλλειν τοὺς κολαζομένους καὶ πῦρ ἀνακαίεσθαι, ἵνα, ἔνδον ὄντες καὶ καιόμενοι καὶ βοῶντες, διατρεχούσης τῆς φωνῆς διὰ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ ταύρου, δόξῃ ὁ ταῦρος καιόμενος μυκηθμὸν ἀποτελεῖν. τούτου δὲ τὸ ἀπάνθρωπον θεασάμενος ὁ ∆ιονύσιος, αὐτὸν τοῦτον ἐνέβαλεν εἰς τὸν βοῦν, καὶ καύσας ἀπέκτεινεν. 4.49 Τεσσαρακοστὴ ἐνάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὴν Ὕδραν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Θηρίον μυθεύεται περὶ τὴν Λέρνην πεντηκοντακέφαλον, οἱ δὲ ἐννεακέφαλον· τὰς δὲ κεφαλὰς εἶναι ὀφέων. ὃ θηρίον ἐλθὼν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς μετὰ Ὕλλου τοῦ θεράποντος αὐτοῦ ἀπέκτεινε. μυθεύεται δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι, τεμνομένης μιᾶς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, δύο παρεφύοντο, ὥστε γίνεσθαι ἑκατὸν κεφαλάς. ὁ δὲ Ὕλλος μαθὼν τοῦτο, πῦρ ἔφερε, καὶ τὴν τεμνομένην κεφαλὴν ἐνεπίμπρα. καὶ οὕτως ἴσχυσαν πάσας ἀποκτεῖναι. 4.50 Πεντεκοστή ἐστιν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὴν Παταρικὴν Χίμαιραν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Πάταρα πόλις τῆς Λυκίας. λέγεται δὲ ὅτι ἐν ταύτῃ ἐστὶν ὄρος, ἐν ᾧ ὄρει ἐστὶ θηρίον, ὃ πρόσθεν μέν ἐστι λέων, ὄπισθεν δὲ δράκων, μέση δὲ ἦν χίμαιρα· ἐξ ἧς χιμαίρας πῦρ ἀνεδίδοτο, καὶ ἐλυμαίνετο τοὺς παριόντας. ὕστερον δὲ ἐλθὼν ὁ Βελλεροφόντης