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from Staphylus the son of Dionysus, Euainis from Eunoos the son of Dionysus, Maronis from Maron the son of Ariadne and Dionysus. For all these are sons of Dionysus." But many other names have come to be and exist until now, from Heracles being called Heraclidae, and from Apollo Apollonidae and Apollonii, and from Poseidon Poseidonii, and from Zeus Dioi and Diogenae. And why should I now recount the multitude of such names and genealogies? So that in every way all the writers and so-called poets and philosophers are mocked, and moreover also those who pay attention to them. For they compiled myths and follies rather about their so-called gods; for they did not prove them to be gods but men, some drunkards, others fornicators and murderers. But also concerning cosmogony they uttered things inconsistent with each other and worthless. First, that some declared the world to be uncreated, as we have also shown before, and those who say it is of an uncreated and eternal nature did not speak consistently with those who dogmatized that it was created. For they uttered these things by conjecture and human thought, and not according to truth. But others again said that there is a providence, and they refuted the doctrines of these. Aratus, then, says: From Zeus let us begin; him do we men never leave unnamed. Full of Zeus are all the streets, all the market-places of men; full is the sea and the havens thereof; always we all have need of Zeus. For we are also his offspring; and he, being gracious to men, shows them favouring signs and rouses the people to work, reminding them of livelihood; he tells when the soil is best for the labour of the ox and the mattock, and when the seasons are favourable for planting trees and casting all manner of seeds. Whom then shall we believe, Aratus or Sophocles who says: There is no providence of anything; it is best to live at random as one may? But Homer again does not agree with this. For he says: Zeus increases and diminishes valour in men. And Simonides: No one without the gods obtained virtue, not a city, not a mortal; God is the all-counsellor, and nothing is without harm among them. Similarly also Euripides: There is nothing for men without God. And Menander: No one then cares for us but God alone. And again Euripides: For whenever it seems good to God to save, He gives many pretexts for salvation.

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ἀπὸ Σταφύλου υἱοῦ ∆ιονύσου, Eὐαινὶς ἀπὸ Eὐνόος υἱοῦ ∆ιονύσου, Μαρωνὶς ἀπὸ Μάρωνος υἱοῦ Ἀριάδνης καὶ ∆ιονύσου. οὗτοι γὰρ πάντες υἱοὶ ∆ιονύσου." Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέραι πολλαὶ ὀνομασίαι γεγόνασιν καί εἰσιν ἕως τοῦ δεῦρο, ἀπὸ Ἡρακλέους Ἡρακλεῖδαι καλούμενοι, καὶ ἀπὸ Ἀπόλλωνος Ἀπολλωνίδαι καὶ Ἀπολλώνιοι, καὶ ἀπὸ Ποσειδῶνος Ποσειδώνιοι, καὶ ἀπὸ ∆ιὸς ∆ῖοι καὶ ∆ιογέναι. Καὶ τί μοι τὸ λοιπὸν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν τοιούτων ὀνομασιῶν καὶ γενεαλογιῶν καταλέγειν; ὥστε κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ἐμπαίζονται οἱ συγγραφεῖς πάντες καὶ ποιηταὶ καὶ φιλόσοφοι λεγόμενοι, ἔτι μὴν καὶ οἱ προσέχοντες αὐτοῖς. μύθους γὰρ μᾶλλον καὶ μωρίας συνέταξαν περὶ τῶν κατ' αὐτοὺς θεῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἀπέδειξαν αὐτοὺς θεοὺς ἀλλὰ ἀνθρώπους, οὓς μὲν μεθύσους, ἑτέρους δὲ πόρνους καὶ φονεῖς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς κοσμογονίας ἀσύμφωνα ἀλλήλοις καὶ φαῦλα ἐξεῖπον. πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τινὲς ἀγένητον τὸν κόσμον ἀπεφήναντο, καθὼς καὶ ἔμπροσθεν ἐδηλώσαμεν, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀγένητον αὐτὸν καὶ ἀΐδιον φύσιν φάσκοντες οὐκ ἀκόλουθα εἶπον τοῖς γενητὸν αὐτὸν δογματίσασιν. εἰκασμῷ γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ ἀνθρωπίνῃ ἐννοίᾳ ἐφθέγ- ξαντο, καὶ οὐ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν. Ἕτεροι δ' αὖ εἶπον πρόνοιαν εἶναι, καὶ τὰ τούτων δόγματα ἀνέλυσαν. Ἄρατος μὲν οὖν φησιν· Ἐκ ∆ιὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, τὸν οὐδέποτ' ἄνδρες ἐῶμεν ἄρρητον. μεσταὶ δὲ ∆ιὸς πᾶσαι μὲν ἀγυιαί, πᾶσαι δ' ἀνθρώπων ἀγοραί, μεστὴ δὲ θάλασσα καὶ λιμένες· πάντη δὲ ∆ιὸς κεχρήμεθα πάντες. τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν· ὁ δ' ἤπιος ἀνθρώποισιν δεξιὰ σημαίνει, λαοὺς δ' ἐπὶ ἔργον ἐγείρει μιμνήσκων βιότοιο· λέγει δ' ὅτε βῶλος ἀρίστη βουσί τε καὶ μακέλῃσι, λέγει δ' ὅτε δεξιαὶ ὧραι καὶ φυτὰ γυρῶσαι καὶ σπέρματα πάντα βαλέσθαι. τίνι οὖν πιστεύσωμεν, πότερον Ἀράτῳ ἢ Σοφοκλεῖ λέγοντι· Πρόνοια δ' ἐστὶν οὐδενός, εἰκῇ κράτιστον ζῆν ὅπως δύναιτό τις; Ὅμηρος δὲ πάλιν τούτῳ οὐ συνᾴδει. λέγει γάρ· Ζεὺς δ' ἀρετὴν ἄνδρεσσιν ὀφέλλει τε μινύθει τε. καὶ Σιμωνίδης· Oὔτις ἄνευ θεῶν ἀρετὰν λάβεν, οὐ πόλις, οὐ βρότος· θεὸς ὁ παμμῆτις, ἀπήμαντον δ' οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς. ὁμοίως καὶ Eὐριπίδης· Oὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν χωρὶς ἀνθρώποις θεοῦ. καὶ Μένανδρος· Oὐκ ἄρα φροντίζει τις ἡμῶν ἢ μόνος θεός. καὶ πάλιν Eὐριπίδης· Σῶσαι γὰρ ὁπόταν τῷ θεῷ δοκῇ, πολλὰς προφάσεις δίδωσιν εἰς σωτηρίαν.