Protrepticus

 Raging for corruptions, celebrating insolence, deifying sorrows, the first to lead men by the hand to idols, yes, indeed, to stones and wood, that is,

 May inspire, and which may receive the 1.5.4 lord. yes, indeed, david the king, the harpist, whom we mentioned a little before, was exhorting towards

 And to statues and to certain such images having bound them fast with the wretched bond of superstition, that which is indeed said, bringing living me

 Let her who does not give birth hear let her who does not travail break forth with a cry, for the children of the desolate are more than of her who

 Breathing roughly is interpreted as the female serpent but deo and kore have already become a mystic drama, and eleusis holds torches for their wande

 A herdsman, the goad, calling the narthex a herdsman's goad, i suppose, which the bacchants indeed wreathe. 2.17.1 do you wish that i should narrate t

 And the swineherd eubouleus from whom sprang the hierophantic family of the eumolpidae and kerykes, 2.20.3 this very one at athens. and indeed (for i

 A teacher of the woman's 2.24.2 disease to the other scythians. for which reason (for it must by no means be concealed), it comes over me to wonder in

 They have fabricated certain saviors, the dioscuri and heracles, averter of evil, and asclepius the physician. 2.27.1 these are the slippery and harmf

 Apollodorus says, and callimachus, phoebus is appointed over the sacrifices of asses among the hyperboreans. and the same poet elsewhere says, fat sac

 And of gods. he was so poured out in matters of love, as to desire all, and to fulfill his desire upon all. at any rate, he was filled with women no

 Is fashioned in the manner of a member and sits upon the branch, fulfilling the promise to the dead man. a mystical memorial of this passion, phalli a

 Is taught to be prudent. the myth is laid bare for you leda died, the swan died, the eagle died. you seek your zeus? do not meddle with the sky, but

 2.39.8 they acclaimed. but heraclides in *foundations of temples* says that in acarnania, where the actium promontory is and the temple of actian apol

 He records 3.42.7 to have offered a whole burnt-offering. and erechtheus the attic and marius the roman sacrificed their own daughters of whom the on

 In athens, on the acropolis, is that of cecrops, as antiochus says in the ninth book of his histories. and what of erichthonius? was he not buried in

 The so-called palladium, fallen from heaven, which diomedes and odysseus are said to have stolen from ilium, and to have entrusted to demophon, was ma

 Nor insult the blooming youth keep it pure, that it may be beautiful. become a king of beauty, not a tyrant let it remain free then i will recogniz

 Worshippers of stones, having learned by deed not to worship senseless matter, being overcome by the need itself, are destroyed by superstition but t

 And private individuals dignified themselves with divine titles, as menecrates the physician, who was surnamed zeus. why must i list alexarchus (he wa

 4.56.4 offspring of the earth, all these things that you see? why then, o foolish and empty-minded ones (for i will say it again), having blasphemed t

 They boast, having enrolled them as their own household slaves, having made them compelled slaves by their incantations. therefore, the remembered mar

 You shall make, says the prophet, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above and that is in the 4.62.3 earth beneath. would we, then, still s

 Those who worship it have suffered for others named this fire hephaestus. 5.65.1 but the magi of the persians have honored fire, as have many of the

 Of truth, do you show that those who have trusted in you are subjected to a flow and current and disorderly eddies? and why do you fill my life with i

 By counsel but indeed they raise pure arms to heaven, rising early from bed, always cleansing their skin with water, and they honor only the one who

 A comfort of the gods, images of stone, or bronze or gold-wrought or ivory figures and allotting sacrifices to them and empty festivals, thus we thin

 You will empty injustice. 8.77.1 now that the other things have been duly completed by us in order, it is time to turn to the prophetic writings for

 I swear by myself. but he is vexed with the idolaters, saying to whom have you likened the lord? or to what likeness have you likened him? did a car

 For how is it permitted for the foreigner to enter? but when, i suppose, he is enrolled and made a citizen and receives the father, then he will be i

 The wanderers of the hebrews for they are said not to have entered into the rest because of unbelief, until, having followed the successor of moses,

 10.89.1 but to overturn a custom handed down to us from our fathers, you say, is not reasonable. and why, then, do we not use our first food, milk, to

 Demands repentance. but i want to ask you, if it does not seem absurd to you that you, men, having been born a creation of god and having received you

 Punishment? why do we not accept the gift? why do we not choose the better things, god instead of the wicked one, and prefer wisdom to idolatry, and e

 10.98.3 promised? who has promised immortality? only the creator of all things, the father, the master-craftsman, fashioned us, man, such a living s

 To wipe away the hindrances to salvation, both pride and wealth and fear, uttering this very poetic saying: where, indeed, do i carry these many posse

 They inhumanly attempt to slaughter him who teaches humanely, who calls them to righteousness, neither awaiting the grace from above nor shunning the

 A portion to those who have turned to any part of life, and to consider wisdom the same waveless harbor of salvation 10.107.3 through which those who

 He who also was, through what he taught and showed, having presented himself, our truce-bearer and reconciler and savior, the word, a life-giving, pea

 Since you were not ashamed of your brother. 11.114.1 let us then take away, let us take away the forgetfulness of the truth having cast down the igno

 The trumpet with its great blast sounded, gathered soldiers, and announced war but christ, having breathed a peaceful melody to the ends of the earth

 Bound, you shall be loosed from all corruption, the word of god will steer you, and the holy spirit will bring you to anchor in the harbors of the hea

 12.121.1 let us hasten, let us run, o god-loving and god-like images of the word [men] let us hasten, let us run, let us take up his yoke, let us mou

is taught to be prudent. The myth is laid bare for you; Leda died, the swan died, the eagle died. You seek your Zeus? do not meddle with the sky, but with the earth. 2.37.4 The Cretan will tell you, among whom he is also buried; Callimachus in his Hymns: "for the Cretans even fashioned a tomb for you, O lord." For Zeus is dead (do not be vexed) as Leda, as the swan, as the eagle, as an amorous man, as a serpent. 2.38.1 Now indeed the superstitious themselves appear, unwillingly it is true, yet nevertheless understanding the error concerning the gods; for they are not from an anciently-famed oak nor from a rock, but "they are the race of men," and a little later they will be found to be oaks 2.38.2 and rocks. Staphylus, at any rate, records that a certain Zeus Agamemnon is honored in Sparta; and Phanocles in *Loves* or *The Beautiful* [says that] Agamemnon, the king of the Hellenes, set up a temple of Aphrodite Argynnis for Argynnus his 2.38.3 beloved. The Arcadians worship an Artemis called "the Hanged One," as Callimachus says in his *Aetia*. And another Artemis, Condylitis, has been honored in Methymna. And there is a shrine of another Artemis, of the Gout, in Laconia, 2.38.4 as Sosibius says. Polemon knows of a statue of the Gaping Apollo, and again, another of the Glutton Apollo honored in Elis. There the Eleans sacrifice to Zeus Apomyius (Averter of Flies); and the Romans sacrifice to Hercules Apomyius, and also to Fever and to Fear, whom they themselves enroll among the companions of Hercules. 2.38.5 But I pass over the Argives and Laconians; the Argives [and Laconians] worship Aphrodite the Tomb-digger, and the Spartans revere Artemis Chelytis (the Cougher); since they call coughing "chelyttein." 2.39.1 Do you think these things cited by us are brought to you from some spurious source? You do not even seem to recognize your own writers, whom I call as witnesses against your unbelief, having filled your whole truly unlivable life with atheistic mockery, O miserable ones. 2.39.2 Are not Zeus the Bald in Argos, and another, the Avenger, honored in Cyprus? Do not the Argives sacrifice to Aphrodite Peribasos (the Straddler), the Athenians to the Courtesan, and the Syracusans to her of the Beautiful Buttocks, whom Nicander the poet somewhere called "beautiful-rumped"? 2.39.3 But I now pass over in silence Dionysus Choiropsalas (the Swine-plucker); the Sicyonians worship him, having placed this Dionysus over the female genitals, revering the overseer of shame as the originator of insolence. Such are their gods, and such also are they themselves, playing with their gods, or rather mocking and insulting 2.39.4 themselves. And how much better are the Egyptians who have extravagantly honored irrational animals in villages and cities than the Greeks who worship such gods? For though they are beasts, yet they are not adulterous, nor lecherous, and not one of them hunts for pleasure against nature. But as for what sort of gods these are, what more need be said, 2.39.5 since they have been sufficiently exposed? At any rate, the Egyptians, whom I just mentioned, are divided according to their religions; the people of Syene among them worship the phagrus fish, and the inhabitants of Elephantine the maeoetes (this is another fish), the people of Oxyrhynchus likewise the fish that gives its name to their country, further, the people of Heracleopolis worship the ichneumon, the people of Sais and Thebes a sheep, the people of Lycopolis a wolf, the people of Cynopolis 2.39.6 a dog, the people of Memphis the Apis, the people of Mendes the goat. But you who are in all things better than the Egyptians (I hesitate to say worse), who never cease laughing at the Egyptians day by day, what are you like concerning irrational animals? The Thessalians among you have honored storks on account of their habit, and the Thebans weasels on account of the birth of Hercules. And what of the Thessalians again? They are reported to worship ants, since they learned that Zeus, having been made like an ant, united with Eurymedousa, the daughter of Cletor, 2.39.7 and begat Myrmidon; and Polemon records that the inhabitants of the Troad worship the local mice, which they call sminthoi, because they gnawed through the bowstrings of the enemy; and Sminthean Apollo from the mice

παιδεύεται σωφρονεῖν. Γυμνοῦται δὲ ὑμῖν ὁ μῦθος· ἀπέθανεν ἡ Λήδα, ἀπέθανεν ὁ κύκνος, ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀετός. Ζητεῖς σου τὸν ∆ία; μὴ τὸν οὐρανόν, ἀλλὰ τὴν γῆν πολυπραγ 2.37.4 μόνει. Ὁ Κρής σοι διηγήσεται, παρ' ᾧ καὶ τέθαπται· Καλλίμαχος ἐν ὕμνοις· καὶ γὰρ τάφον, ὦ ἄνα, σεῖο Κρῆτες ἐτεκτήναντο. Τέθνηκε γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς (μὴ δυσφόρει) ὡς Λήδα, ὡς κύκνος, ὡς ἀετός, ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐρωτικός, ὡς δράκων. 2.38.1 Ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ φαίνονται οἱ δεισιδαίμονες ἄκοντες μέν, ὅμως δ' οὖν συνιέντες τὴν πλάνην τὴν περὶ τοὺς θεούς· οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ δρυός εἰσι παλαιφάτου οὐδ' ἀπὸ πέτρης, ἀλλ' "ἀνδρῶν γένος εἰσί", μικρὸν δὲ ὕστερον καὶ δρύες 2.38.2 ὄντες εὑρεθήσονται καὶ πέτραι. Ἀγαμέμνονα γοῦν τινα ∆ία ἐν Σπάρτῃ τιμᾶσθαι Στάφυλος ἱστορεῖ· Φανοκλῆς δὲ ἐν Ἔρωσιν ἢ Καλοῖς Ἀγαμέμνονα τὸν Ἑλλήνων βασιλέαἈργύννου νεὼν Ἀφροδίτης ἵστασθαι ἐπ' Ἀργύννῳ τῷ2.38.3 ἐρωμένῳ. Ἄρτεμιν δὲ Ἀρκάδες Ἀπαγχομένην καλουμένηνπροστρέπονται, ὥς φησι Καλλίμαχος ἐν Αἰτίοις. Καὶ Κονδυλῖτις ἐν Μηθύμνῃ ἑτέρα τετίμηται Ἄρτεμις. Ἔστιδὲ καὶ Ποδάγρας ἄλλης Ἀρτέμιδος ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ ἱερόν, 2.38.4 ὥς φησι Σωσίβιος. Πολέμων δὲ Κεχηνότος Ἀπόλλωνος 2.38.4 οἶδεν ἄγαλμα, καὶ Ὀψοφάγου πάλιν Ἀπόλλωνος ἄλλο ἐν Ἤλιδι τιμώμενον. Ἐνταῦθα Ἀπομυίῳ ∆ιὶ θύουσιν ἨλεῖοιῬωμαῖοι δὲ Ἀπομυίῳ Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ Πυρετῷ δὲ καὶ Φόβῳθύουσιν, οὓς καὶ αὐτοὺς μετὰ τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐγγρά 2.38.5 φουσι. Ἐῶ δὲ Ἀργείους <καὶ Λάκωνας>· Ἀφροδίτην Τυμβωρύχον θρῃσκεύουσιν Ἀργεῖοι [καὶ Λάκωνες], καὶ Χελύτιδα δὲ Ἄρτεμιν Σπαρτιᾶται σέβουσιν· ἐπεὶ τὸ βήττειν χελύττειν καλοῦσιν. 2.39.1 Οἴει ποθὲν παρέγγραπτα ταῦτά σοι κομίζεσθαι τὰ ὑφ' ἡμῶν παρατιθέμενα; Οὐδὲ τοὺς σοὺς γνωρίζειν ἔοικας συγγραφεῖς, οὓς ἐγὼ μάρτυρας ἐπὶ τὴν σὴν ἀπιστίαν καλῶ, ἀθέου χλεύης, ὦ δείλαιοι, τὸν πάντα ὑμῶν ἀβίωτον ὄντως 2.39.2 βίον ἐμπεπληκότες. Οὐχὶ μέντοι Ζεὺς φαλακρὸς ἐν Ἄργει, τιμωρὸς δὲ ἄλλος ἐν Κύπρῳ τετίμησθον; Οὐχὶ δὲ Ἀφροδίτῃ περιβασοῖ μὲν Ἀργεῖοι, ἑταίρᾳ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ καλλιπύγῳ θύουσιν Συρακούσσιοι, ἣν Νίκανδρος ὁ ποιητὴς "καλλίγλου 2.39.3 τόν" που κέκληκεν; ∆ιόνυσον δὲ ἤδη σιωπῶ τὸν χοιροψάλαν· Σικυώνιοι τοῦτον προσκυνοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν γυναικείων τάξαντες τὸν ∆ιόνυσον μορίων, ἔφορον αἴσχους τὸν ὕβρεως σεβάζοντες ἀρχηγόν. Τοιοίδε μὲν αὐτοῖς οἱ θεοί, τοιοίδε <δὲ> καὶ αὐτοί, παίζοντες ἐν θεοῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐμπαίζοντες καὶ ἐνυβρίζοντες 2.39.4 σφίσιν αὐτοῖς. Καὶ πόσῳ βελτίους Αἰγύπτιοι κωμηδὸν καὶ κατὰ πόλεις τὰ ἄλογα τῶν ζῴων ἐκτετιμηκότες ἤπερ Ἕλληνες τοιούτους προσκυνοῦντες θεούς; Τὰ μὲν γὰρ εἰ καὶ θηρία, ἀλλ' οὐ μοιχικά, ἀλλ' οὐ μάχλα, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ θηρεύει ἡδονὴν οὐδὲ ἕν. Οἳ δὲ ὁποῖοι, τί καὶ χρὴ λέγειν ἔτι, 2.39.5 ἀποχρώντως αὐτῶν διεληλεγμένων; Ἀλλ' οὖν γε Αἰγύπτιοι, ὧν νῦν δὴ ἐμνήσθην, κατὰ τὰς θρῃσκείας τὰς σφῶν ἐσκέ δανται· σέβουσι δὲ αὐτῶν Συηνῖται φάγρον τὸν ἰχθύν, μαιώτην δὲ (ἄλλος οὗτος ἰχθύς) οἱ τὴν Ἐλεφαντίνην οἰκοῦν τες, Ὀξυρυγχῖται τὸν φερώνυμον τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν ὁμοίως ἰχθύν, ἔτι γε μὴν Ἡρακλεοπολῖται ἰχνεύμονα, Σαῗται δὲ καὶ Θηβαῖοι πρόβατον, Λυκοπολῖται δὲ λύκον, Κυνοπολῖται 2.39.6 δὲ κύνα, τὸν Ἆπιν Μεμφῖται, Μενδήσιοι τὸν τράγον. Ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ πάντ' ἀμείνους Αἰγυπτίων (ὀκνῶ δὲ εἰπεῖν χείρους), οἳ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὁσημέραι γελῶντες οὐ παύεσθε, ὁποῖοί τινες καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα; Θεσσαλοὶ μὲν ὑμῶν τοὺς πελαργοὺς τετιμήκασι διὰ τὴν συνήθειαν, Θηβαῖοι δὲ τὰς γαλᾶς διὰ τὴν Ἡρακλέους γένεσιν. Τί δὲ πάλιν Θετταλοί; Μύρμηκας ἱστοροῦνται σέβειν, ἐπεὶ τὸν ∆ία μεμαθήκασιν ὁμοιωθέντα μύρμηκι τῇ Κλήτορος θυγατρὶ Εὐρυμεδούσῃ 2.39.7 μιγῆναι καὶ Μυρμιδόνα γεννῆσαι· Πολέμων δὲ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὴν Τρωάδα κατοικοῦντας ἱστορεῖ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους μῦς οὓς σμίνθους καλοῦσιν, ὅτι τὰς νευρὰς τῶν πολεμίων διέ τρωγον τῶν τόξων· καὶ Σμίνθιον Ἀπόλλωνα ἀπὸ τῶν μυῶν