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was accomplished by demonic ministry. For the case of the revived girl, if indeed she was breathing, possessing a spark of soul according to the writer and bearing moisture on her face, must be removed from the list of wonders, for, as I have said before, so great a thing would not have been passed over in silence, having happened in Rome itself with the emperor 400 present. Indeed, it is possible to select countless other things from the same writings to correct what in them is easily refuted and inconsistent, mythical and monstrous. However, since the matters concerning the man do not require much serious discussion, not only in divine and paradoxical and wonderful things, but not even among some philosophers of the present day is there any memory of him, let us be content with what has been said and proceed to the seventh book about him. The man is indeed accused of sorcery. Then, not obeying Demetrius the philosopher who was trying to dissuade him from his journey to Rome, he says something odious and burdensome about himself thus: “I know more than most men, since I know all things, and of the things I know, some are for the serious, some for the wise, some for myself, and some for the gods.” And indeed, he who in these words boasts of knowing everything is, as the account proceeds, accused of ignorance of certain things. Then Damis is transformed by him, concealing the philosopher through fear of death. Listen then to what the author says in his defense: “This was the reason for Damis changing his Pythagorean habit,” for he says he did not abandon it out of wickedness, “nor having changed his mind, but having praised the device he adopted for the expediency of the moment.” In addition to this, Philostratus sets out four charges, which were indeed considered easy for him to defend, admitting that they were selected from many others, of which one was, why having learned this did he not have the same dress as everyone, another, for what reason men considered him a god, a third, from what source he foretold the plague 401 to the Ephesians, and in addition to these, for what reason, going into a field, he would dissect the Arcadian boy. And he says that he wrote his defense against these charges. But first he relates that he was handed over in chains and performed a wonderful deed there; for to Damis, who was very distressed, as would be expected at his teacher’s misfortune, he showed his leg spontaneously freed from the fetter, then again, taking him from his grief, he put his foot back into its former state. After this, he writes that he was judged before the emperor Domitian and then acquitted of the charges and after the acquittal of the charges, I do not know how, unseasonably it seems to me, in the court he cried out these very words: “Give me a place, if you wish, but if not, send someone to take my body, for my soul is impossible to take. Rather, you could not even take my body; for you will not kill me, since I am not fated to die,” and he says that upon this famous utterance he vanished from the court, and with this he concludes the drama about him. The writer, then, concerning the miracle in the prison, which was seen by Damis as a phantasm, as it seems, from the attendant demon, adds, saying, “Then for the first time Damis says he precisely understood the nature of Apollonius, that it was both divine and superior to man, for without having sacrificed anything—for how could he in a prison?—nor having prayed, nor having said anything, he mocked the fetter and, fitting his leg back into it, acted as one who was bound.” But I would never condemn the student’s slowness, if, having been with him his whole life and seeing him perform paradoxes through certain curious arts, 402 he thought him no different from a mortal nature, but even now after so much wonder-working he is ignorant of things concerning him, and reasonably he is distressed and fears for him as for a man, lest he suffer something against his will. But if indeed for the first time now, after so long a time, he understands that he was divine and of a nature superior to man, it is worthwhile to consider the cause of this, which the writer himself reveals, saying, “for without having sacrificed anything, nor having prayed, nor any of the
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δαιμονικῆς ἀπετελεῖτο ὑπουργίας. τὸ γὰρ τῆς ἀναβιωσάσης κόρης, εἴγ' ἔμπνους ὑπῆρχε σπινθῆρα ψυχῆς κατὰ τὸν συγγραφέα καὶ ἰκμάδα ἐπὶ τοῦ προσώπου φέρουσα, περιαιρετέον τῆς θαυματοποιίας, οὐ γὰρ ἄν, ὡς καὶ πρόσθεν ἔφην, σιωπῇ τὸ τηλικοῦτο παρεδόθη ἐπ' αὐτῆς Ῥώμης βασιλέως 400 ἐπιπαρόντος γεγενημένον. μυρία μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα πάρεστιν ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀναλέξασθαι συγγραμμάτων τό τε ἐν αὐτοῖς εὐέλεγκτον καὶ ἀσύστατον μυθῶδές τε καὶ τερατῶδες ἀπευθύνειν. ὅμως, ἐπεί γε οὐδὲ πολλῆς τὰ κατὰ τὸν ἄνδρα δεῖται σπουδαιολογίας, οὐχ ὅτι γε ἐν θείοις καὶ παραδόξοις καὶ θαυμασίοις, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐν φιλοσόφοις παρά τισι τῶν νῦν μνήμης ὑπαρχούσης αὐτοῦ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἀρκεσθέντες μετίωμεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἕβδομον περὶ αὐτοῦ σύγγραμμα. Κατηγορεῖται δῆτα γοητείαν ὁ ἀνήρ. εἶτα ∆ημητρίῳ φιλοσόφῳ ἀποτρέποντι αὐτὸν τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην παρόδου μὴ πειθόμενος ἐπαχθῆ τινα καὶ φορτικὰ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὧδέ πως λέγει· «ἐγὼ δὲ γιγνώσκω μὲν πλεῖστα ἀνθρώπων, ἅτε εἰδὼς πάντα, οἶδα δὲ ὧν οἶδα τὰ μὲν σπουδαίοις, τὰ δὲ σοφοῖς, τὰ δὲ ἐμαυτῷ, τὰ δὲ θεοῖς.» καὶ δὴ ὁ ἐν τούτοις πάντ' εἰδέναι μεγαλαυχούμενος προϊὼν ἄγνοιάν τινων πρὸς τοῦ λόγου κατηγορεῖται. εἶτα ∆άμις αὐτῷ μεταπλάττεται διὰ θανάτου φόβον τὸν φιλόσοφον ἐπικρυπτόμενος. ἄκουε δ' οὖν τοῦ συγγραφέως, ἃ περὶ αὐτοῦ φησιν ἀπολογούμενος· «αἰτία μὲν ἥδε τοῦ μεταβαλεῖν τὸν ∆άμιν τὸ τῶν Πυθαγορείων σχῆμα,» οὐ γὰρ κακίᾳ γε αὐτὸ μεθεῖναί φησιν, «οὐδὲ μεταγνούς, τέχνην δὲ ἐπαινέσας, ἣν ὑπῆλθεν ἐς τὸ συμφέρον τοῦ καιροῦ.» ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁ Φιλόστρατος τέσσαρας αἰτίας τὰς δὴ εὐχερεῖς αὐτῷ πρὸς ἀπολογίαν νομισθείσας ἐκτίθησιν ἀπὸ πλείστων καὶ ἄλλων αὐτὰς ὁμολογῶν ἀνειλέχθαι, ὧν ἡ μέν τις ἦν, τί δῆτα μαθὼν οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἅπασιν ἔχοι στολήν, ἡ δέ, τοῦ χάριν οἱ ἄνθρωποι θεὸν αὐτὸν νενομίκασι, τρίτην, πόθεν προείποι Ἐφεσίοις τὸν λοι 401 μόν, ἐπὶ ταύταις, τίνι βαδίσας εἰς ἀγρὸν ἀνατέμοι τὸν παῖδα τὸν Ἀρκάδα. πρὸς ταύτας δέ φησι καὶ τὴν ἀπολογίαν αὐτὸν γεγραφέναι. πρότερον δ' ἱστορεῖ δεσμοῖς αὐτὸν παραδοθῆναι καί τι θαυμαστὸν ἐνταῦθα κατεργάσασθαι· τῷ γάρ τοι ∆άμιδι μάλα λυπηρῶς, ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ συμφορᾷ τοῦ διδασκάλου, διακειμένῳ αὐτόματον ἐπιδεῖξαι λελυμένον τοῦ δεσμοῦ τὸ σκέλος, εἶτα πάλιν ἀναλαβόντ' αὐτὸν τῆς λύπης ἐνθεῖναι εἰς τὸ πρότερον σχῆμα τὸν πόδα. μετὰ τοῦτο κρινόμενον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ βασιλέως ∆ομετιανοῦ γράφει εἶτα δὴ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἀπολυθῆναι καὶ μετὰ τὴν τῶν ἐγκλημάτων λύσιν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἀκαίρως, μοι δοκεῖν, ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα ἀναφωνῆσαι «δός, εἰ βούλει, κἀμοὶ τόπον, εἰ δὲ μή, πέμπε τὸν ληψόμενόν μου τὸ σῶμα, τὴν γὰρ ψυχὴν ἀδύνατον. μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδ' ἂν τὸ σῶμα τοὐμὸν λάβοις· οὐ γάρ με κτενέεις, ἐπεὶ οὔτοι μόρσιμός εἰμι,» καὶ δὴ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ περιβοήτῳ ῥήματι ἀφανισθῆναι τοῦ δικαστηρίου φησὶν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐν τούτοις τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ καταστρέφει δρᾶμα. Ὁ μὲν οὖν συγγραφεὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ δεσμωτήριον θαύματος κατὰ φαντασίαν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὑπὸ τοῦ παρέδρου δαίμονος τῷ ∆άμιδι ἑωραμένου ἐπιφέρει λέγων «τότε πρῶτον ὁ ∆άμις φησὶν ἀκριβῶς ξυνεῖναι τῆς Ἀπολλωνίου φύσεως, ὅτι θεία τε εἴη καὶ κρείττων ἀνθρώπου, μὴ γὰρ θύσαντά τι, πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ; μηδὲ εὐξάμενον, μηδὲ εἰπόντα τι καταγελάσαι τοῦ δεσμοῦ καὶ ἐναρμόσαντα αὐτῷ τὸ σκέλος τὰ τοῦ δεδεμένου πράττειν.» ἐγὼ δὲ οὔποτ' ἂν καταγνοίην βραδυτῆτα τοῦ φοιτητοῦ, εἰ τὸν πάντα βίον συνὼν αὐτῷ καὶ διά τινων περιέργων 402 ὁρῶν αὐτὸν ἀποτελοῦντα τὰ παράδοξα οὐδέν τι διαφέρειν αὐτὸν ἡγεῖτο τῆς θνητῆς φύσεως, ἀλλ' ἔτι καὶ νῦν μετὰ τοσαύτην θαυματουργίαν τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν ἀγνοεῖ, εἰκότως δ' ἀγωνιᾷ καὶ δέδιε ὡς ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου, μή τι πάθοι παρὰ προαίρεσιν. εἰ δὲ δὴ πρῶτον ἄρτι μετὰ τὴν τοσαύτην διατριβήν, ὅτι δὴ θεῖος εἴη καὶ κρείττονος ἀνθρώπου φύσεως, συνίησι, τὴν τούτου συνιδεῖν ἄξιον αἰτίαν, ἣν αὐτὸς ὁ συγγραφεὺς δηλοῖ λέγων «μὴ γὰρ θύσαντά τι, μηδὲ ἐπευξάμενον, μηδέ τι τῶν