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having transferred the mysteries from the Egyptians, gave them to the Greeks, just as Cadmus brought the Phoenician ones to the same people, along with the learning of letters; for the Greeks did not yet at that time know the use of letters. First, therefore, let us consider the matters of the first cosmogony, how the aforementioned have understood them; then the matters concerning the first and most ancient superstition of human life; and third, the Phoenician, fourth, the Egyptian, after which, fifth, dividing the Greek, let us first survey their ancient and more mythical error, and then the more august and more physical philosophy concerning the gods, and after these let us proceed to the account of the wondrous oracles; in addition to which we shall also examine the revered doctrines of the noble philosophy of the Greeks. When these matters have been clarified for us, we will proceed to the Hebrews, those who were indeed the first and true Hebrews and those who after them obtained the name of Jews. And upon all these things, as a seal on the whole, we will bring forward our own. And we will necessarily make mention of the history of all these, so that through the comparison of the things admired in each place, the proof of the truth may be shown, and it may become clear to our readers from what sort of things we have departed and what sort of thing we have chosen. But let us go to the first point. From where, then, shall we credit our proofs? Not, indeed, from our own writings, lest we might seem to be doing favors for our argument; but let the witnesses for us be the Greeks themselves, both those who boast of philosophy and those who have investigated the rest of the history of the nations. Diodorus the Sicilian, therefore, a man most renowned among the most learned of the Greeks, writes from early times, expounding the ancient theology of the Egyptians, having brought together under one treatise the entire historical library. From whom I will first set forth what he, beginning his account, has held concerning the cosmogony of the universe, the opinions of the ancient histories, in this manner: 2.

WHAT THE COSMOGONY ACCORDING TO THE GREEKS IS SAID TO BE "Concerning the gods, then, what conceptions the first men had who showed how to honor the divine, and concerning the myths told of each of the immortals, we shall try for the most part to set them out separately, because this subject requires a long account; but whatever things we may think to be suitable to the histories before us, we shall set forth in summary, so that nothing worthy of hearing may be sought in vain. But concerning the race of all men and the things that were done in the known parts of the inhabited world, as far as is possible concerning things so ancient, we will write accurately, beginning from the most ancient times. Concerning the first origin of men, therefore, two different declarations have been made by the most reputable of both the natural philosophers and the historians. For some of them, holding that the cosmos is uncreated and indestructible, have declared that the race of men also exists from eternity, its generation never having had a beginning; while others, believing it to be created and destructible, have said that, like it, men came into their first being at appointed times. For in the original constitution of all things, heaven and earth had one form, their nature being mixed; but after this, when their bodies separated from one another, the cosmos took on the whole arrangement seen in it, and the air attained continuous motion, and its fiery part ran together to the highest regions, such a nature being borne upwards on account of its lightness; for which reason the sun and the rest of the host of stars were caught up in the whole vortex, while the slimy and muddy part, with the combination of moisture, settled in the same place on account of its weight; and being compacted in itself and

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μεταστησάμενον τὰ παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις Ἕλλησιν μεταδοῦναι μυστήρια, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ Κάδμον τὰ Φοινικικὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀγαγεῖν μετὰ καὶ τῆς τῶν γραμμάτων μαθήσεως· οὔπω γὰρ εἰσέτι τοὺς 1.6.5 Ἕλληνας τότε τὴν τῶν γραμμάτων χρῆσιν εἰδέναι. πρῶτα τοίνυν σκεψώμεθα τὰ τῆς κοσμογονίας τῆς πρώτης, ὅπως οἱ δηλούμενοι διειλήφασιν· ἔπειτα τὰ περὶ τῆς πρώτης καὶ παλαιοτάτης τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίου δεισιδαιμονίας· καὶ τρίτον τὰ Φοινίκων, τέταρτον τὰ Αἰγυπτίων, μεθ' ἃ πέμπτον τὰ Ἑλλήνων διελόντες πρότερον μὲν τὴν καὶ τούτων παλαιὰν καὶ μυθικωτέραν πλάνην ἐποπτεύσωμεν, εἶτα δὲ τὴν σεμνοτέραν καὶ φυσικωτέραν δὴ περὶ θεῶν φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τὸν περὶ τῶν θαυμαστῶν χρηστηρίων ἐφοδεύσωμεν λόγον· ἐφ' οἷς καὶ τὰ σεμνὰ τῆς 1.6.6 γενναίας Ἑλλήνων φιλοσοφίας ἐπισκεψώμεθα. τούτων δ' ἡμῖν διευκρινηθέντων ἐπὶ τὰ Ἑβραίων μεταβησόμεθα, τῶν δὴ πρώτων καὶ ἀληθῶς Ἑβραίων καὶ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν Ἰουδαίων λαχόντων προσηγορίαν. ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις ὥσπερ ἐπισφράγισμα τῶν ὅλων ἐποίσομεν 1.6.7 τὰ ἡμέτερα. ἀναγκαίως δὲ τῆς τούτων ἁπάντων μνημονεύσομεν ἱστορίας, ὡς ἂν διὰ τῆς τῶν ἑκασταχοῦ τεθαυμασμένων παραθέσεως ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας ἔλεγχος ἀποδειχθείη ὁποίων τε ἡμεῖς ἀποστάντες τὴν 1.6.8 ὁποίαν εἱλόμεθα φανερὸν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι γένοιτο. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀπίωμεν ἐπὶ τὸ πρῶτον. πόθεν δῆτα πιστωσόμεθα τὰς ἀποδείξεις; οὐ μὲν δὴ ἐκ τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν γραμμάτων, ὡς ἂν μὴ δοκοίημεν κεχαρισμένα πράττειν τῷ λόγῳ· μάρτυρες δὲ παρέστωσαν ἡμῖν Ἑλλήνων αὐτῶν οἵ τε τὴν φιλοσοφίαν αὐχοῦντες καὶ τὴν ἄλλην τῶν ἐθνῶν ἱστορίαν διηρευνη1.6.9 κότες. γράφει τοίνυν ἄνωθεν τὴν παλαιὰν Αἰγυπτίων ὑφηγούμενος θεολογίαν ὁ Σικελιώτης ∆ιόδωρος, γνωριμώτατος ἀνὴρ τοῖς Ἑλλήνων λογιωτάτοις, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ μίαν συναγηοχὼς πραγματείαν ἅπασαν τὴν ἱστορικὴν βιβλιοθήκην. ἐξ οὗ πρῶτα παραθήσομαι ἃ περὶ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς κοσμογονίας ἀρχόμενος τοῦ λόγου διείληφεν, τὰς τῶν παλαιῶν ἱστορῶν δόξας τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· 1.7.1 ʹ.

ΟΠΟΙΑ ΤΙΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΛΕΓΕΤΑΙ Η ΚΑΘ' ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΓΟΝΙΑ «Περὶ μὲν οὖν θεῶν τίνας ἐννοίας ἔσχον οἱ πρῶτοι καταδείξαντες τιμᾶν τὸ θεῖον καὶ περὶ τῶν μυθολογουμένων ἑκάστου τῶν ἀθανάτων τὰ μὲν πολλὰ συντάξασθαι πειρασόμεθα κατ' ἰδίαν, διὰ τὸ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ταύτην πολλοῦ λόγου προσδεῖσθαι, ὅσα δ' ἂν ταῖς προκειμέναις ἱστορίαις ἐοικότα δόξωμεν ὑπάρχειν, παραθήσομεν ἐν κεφαλαίοις, ἵνα μηδὲν τῶν ἀκοῆς ἀξίων ἐπιζητῆ1.7.2 ται. περὶ δὲ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν πραχθέντων ἐν τοῖς γνωριζομένοις μέρεσι τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὡς ἂν ἐνδέχηται περὶ τῶν οὕτω παλαιῶν, ἀκριβῶς ἀναγράψομεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχαιοτάτων χρόνων ἀρξάμενοι. 1.7.3 Περὶ τῆς πρώτης τοίνυν γενέσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων διτταὶ γεγόνασιν ἀποφάσεις παρὰ τοῖς νομιμωτάτοις τῶν τε φυσιολόγων καὶ τῶν ἱστορικῶν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἀγένητον καὶ ἄφθαρτον ὑποστησάμενοι τὸν κόσμον ἀπεφήναντο καὶ τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐξ αἰῶνος ὑπάρχειν, μηδέποτε τῆς αὐτῶν τεκνώσεως ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκυίας, οἱ δὲ γενητὸν καὶ φθαρτὸν εἶναι νομίσαντες ἔφησαν ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τυχεῖν τῆς πρώτης γενέσεως ὡρισμέ1.7.4 νοις χρόνοις. κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῶν ὅλων σύστασιν μίαν ἔχειν ἰδέαν οὐρανόν τε καὶ γῆν, μεμιγμένης αὐτῶν τῆς φύσεως· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διαστάντων τῶν σωμάτων ἀπ' ἀλλήλων τὸν μὲν κόσμον περιλαβεῖν ἅπασαν τὴν ὁρωμένην ἐν αὐτῷ σύνταξιν, τὸν δ' ἀέρα κινήσεως τυχεῖν συνεχοῦς καὶ τὸ μὲν πυρῶδες αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς μετεωροτάτους τόπους συνδραμεῖν, ἀνωφεροῦς οὔσης τῆς τοιαύτης φύσεως διὰ τὴν κουφότητα· ἀφ' ἧς αἰτίας τὸν μὲν ἥλιον καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος τῶν ἄστρων ἐναποληφθῆναι τῇ πάσῃ δίνῃ, τὸ δὲ ἰλυῶδες καὶ θολερὸν μετὰ τῆς τῶν ὑγρῶν συγκρίσεως ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν καταστῆναι διὰ τὸ βάρος· εἱλού μενον δ' ἐν ἑαυτῷ καὶ