Tatian, Speech to the Greeks

an encomiast of the good things that remain. And since men and angels followed one who was wiser than the rest because he was first-born, and they dec

so that they might be thought themselves to live in heaven and might show the irrational way of life on earth to be reasonable through the placement o

of pleasure and of inferiority. The rich man sows, and the poor man partakes of the same seed the richest die and the beggars have the same end of li

Babylonians by prognostication listen to us speaking, even as to an oracle-giving oak. And the things previously mentioned are the counter-sophistrie

a rational animal, receptive of mind and knowledge for according to them, even irrational creatures will be shown to be receptive of mind and knowled

Of the sympathies and antipathies according to Democritus, what can we say but this, that according to common speech, an Abderologue is a man from Abd

to robbers. For just as it is their custom to take some captive, then to restore the same ones to their families for a ransom, so also the so-called g

a light unapproachable by the men from here. Those, therefore, who have elaborated geographies, have made a description of the regions as far as was p

You revile those who share in your practices. I do not wish to gape when many are singing, and I do not want to be in accord with one who nods and mov

as you have hated the most defiled? Among us there is no cannibalism you who have been educated have become false witnesses but among you Pelops bec

her lion that was killed by Heracles? What profit would there be in Attic diction and heaps of philosophers and plausible syllogisms and measures of t

Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Dionysius of Olynthus, and after them Ephorus of Cyme and Philochorus the Athenian and Megacleides and Chamaeleon the P

the pursuits and through the women's quarters behaves unseemly. For Lysippus wrought in bronze Praxilla, who said nothing useful through her poems, an

eyes? for she was a courtesan. Lais committed fornication, and the fornicator made her a monument of her fornication. Why do you not respect the forni

is of the age of Moses. 38.1 But there are accurate records of the Egyptians' chronologies, and the interpreter of their writings is Ptolemy, not the

of the Cretan, who came to Sparta, and of Aristaeus of Proconnesus who wrote the *Arimaspeia* and of Asbolus the Centaur and of Bacis and of Drymon an

Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Dionysius of Olynthus, and after them Ephorus of Cyme and Philochorus the Athenian and Megacleides and Chamaeleon the Peripatetics; then grammarians Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callistratus, Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus, Apollodorus. Of these, Crates and his school say that he flourished before the return of the Heracleidae, within eighty years after the Trojan War; but Eratosthenes and his school, a hundred years after the capture of Troy; but 31.3 Aristarchus and his school, at the time of the Ionian migration, which is one hundred and forty years after the Trojan War; and Philochorus after the Ionian migration, when Archippus was archon in Athens, one hundred and eighty years after the Trojan War; and Apollodorus and his school one hundred years after the Ionian migration, which would be two hundred and forty years after the Trojan War. Some said that he lived before the Olympiads, that is, four hundred years after the capture of Troy. Others brought the date down, saying that Homer was contemporary with Archilochus; but Archilochus flourished around the twenty-third Olympiad, in the time of Gyges of Lydia, five hundred years after the Trojan War. And concerning the times of the 31.4 aforementioned poet, I mean Homer, let what we have said in summary suffice for those who are able to examine carefully the dissension and disagreement of those who have spoken about him. For it is possible for anyone to show the opinions concerning the accounts to be false; for with whom the record of the times is incoherent, with them it is not possible for the historical accounts to be true either. For what is the cause of error in writing, if not the composition of things that are not true? 32.1 But among us there is no desire for vainglory, nor do we misuse varieties of doctrines. For, separated from common and earthly speech, and obeying the commands of God, and following the law of the Father of incorruption, we reject everything that rests on human opinion, and not only the rich philosophize, but the poor also enjoy instruction for free; for the things from God surpass the reward of a worldly gift. And so we receive all who wish to listen, whether they be old women or youths, and absolutely every age is held in honor among us; but things of licentiousness are far removed. And in speaking, we do not lie; but it would be a fine thing if your persistence in 32.2 unbelief should receive a refutation. But if not, let our affairs be confirmed by the will of God, while you laugh, you who will also weep. For how is it not absurd that, according to you, Nestor is admired for trying to fight on equal terms with the young, while slowly _cutting_ _the_ _traces_ of the _horses_ because of the weakness and sluggishness of his age, while those among us who wrestle with old age and concern themselves with divine matters are laughed at? And who would not laugh when you say that Amazons and Semiramis and certain other warlike women existed, yet you revile the virgins among us? Achilles was a youth and is believed to have been very noble; and Neoptolemus was younger, but 32.3 he was strong; Philoctetes was weak, but the divine will had need of him against Troy. What sort of man was Thersites? Yet he was a general; and if _unbridled speech_ had not been his attribute because of his ignorance, he would not have been slandered as _pointy-headed_ and _thin-haired_. All who wish to philosophize *** among us, who do not test what is seen nor judge those who approach us by their appearance; for we have reckoned that soundness of mind can exist in all, even if they are weak in body. But your ways are full of envy and much stupidity. 33.1 For this reason I have been eager to show from the things held in honor among you that our ways are sober, but your customs partake of much madness. For you who say that we talk nonsense among women and youths and virgins and old men, and who mock us because we are not with you, hear the nonsense of the affairs among the Greeks. For he talks nonsense the more because of the great renown of the customs among you

Ἡρόδοτός τε ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεὺς καὶ ∆ιονύσιος ὁ Ὀλύνθιος, μετὰδὲ ἐκείνους Ἔφορος ὁ Κυμαῖος καὶ Φιλόχορος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος Μεγακλείδης τε καὶ Χαμαιλέων οἱ Περιπατητικοί· ἔπειτα γραμματικοὶ Ζηνόδοτος Ἀριστοφάνης Καλλίστρατος Κράτης Ἐρατοσθένης Ἀρίσταρχος Ἀπολλόδωρος. τούτων δὲ οἱ μὲν περὶ Κράτητα πρὸ τῆς Ἡρακλειδῶν καθόδου φασὶν αὐτὸν ἠκμακέναι, μετὰ τὰ Τρωϊκὰ ἐνδοτέρω τῶν ὀγδοήκοντα ἐτῶν· οἱ δὲ περὶ Ἐρατοσθένη μετὰ ἑκατοστὸν ἔτος τῆς Ἰλίου ἁλώσεως· οἱ δὲ 31.3 περὶ Ἀρίσταρχον κατὰ τὴν Ἰωνικὴν ἀποικίαν, ἥ ἐστι μετὰ ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη τῶν Ἰλιακῶν· Φιλόχορος δὲ μετὰ τὴν Ἰωνικὴν ἀποικίαν, ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Ἀρχίππου, τῶν Ἰλιακῶνὕστερον ἔτεσιν ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα· οἱ δὲ περὶ Ἀπολλόδωρον μετὰ τὴν Ἰωνικὴν ἀποικίαν ἔτεσιν ἑκατόν, ὃ γένοιτ' ἂν ὕστερον τῶν Ἰλιακῶν ἔτεσι διακοσίοις τεσσαράκοντα. τινὲς δὲ πρὸ τῶν Ὀλυμπιάδων ἔφασαν αὐτὸν γεγονέναι, τοῦτ' ἔστι μετὰ τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν ἔτεσι τετρακοσίοις. ἕτεροι δὲ κάτω τὸν χρόνον ὑπήγαγον, σὺν Ἀρχιλόχῳ γεγονέναι τὸν Ὅμηρον εἰπόντες· ὁ δὲ Ἀρχίλοχος ἤκμασε περὶ Ὀλυμπιάδα τρίτην καὶ εἰκοστήν, κατὰ Γύγην τὸν Λυδόν, ὕστερον τῶν Ἰλιακῶν ἔτεσι πεντακοσίοις. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν χρόνων τοῦ 31.4 προειρημένου ποιητοῦ, λέγω δὲ Ὁμήρου, στάσεώς τε τῶν εἰπόντων τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ ἀσυμφωνίας τοῖς ἐπ' ἀκριβὲς ἐξετάζειν δυναμένοις αὐτάρκως ἡμῖν ὡς ἐπὶ κεφαλαίων εἰρήσθω. δυνατὸν γὰρ παντὶ ψευδεῖς ἀποφήνασθαι καὶ τὰς περὶ τοὺς λόγους δόξας· παρ' οἷς γὰρ ἀσυνάρτητός ἐστιν ἡ τῶν χρόνων ἀναγραφή, παρὰ τούτοις οὐδὲ τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀληθεύειν δυνατόν. τί γὰρ τὸ αἴτιον τῆς ἐν τῷ γράφειν πλάνης, εἰ μὴ τὸ συντάττειν τὰ μὴ ἀληθῆ; 32.1 Παρ' ἡμῖν δὲ τῆς μὲν κενοδοξίας ὁ ἵμερος οὐκ ἔστιν, δογμάτων δὲ ποικιλίαις οὐ καταχρώμεθα. λόγου γὰρ τοῦ δημοσίου καὶ ἐπιγείου κεχωρισμένοι καὶ πειθόμενοι θεοῦ παραγγέλμασι καὶ νόμῳ πατρὸς ἀφθαρσίας ἑπόμενοι, πᾶν τὸ ἐν δόξῃ κείμενον ἀνθρωπίνῃ παραιτούμεθα, φιλοσοφοῦσί τε οὐ μόνον οἱ πλουτοῦντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πένητες προῖκα τῆς διδασκαλίας ἀπολαύουσιν· τὰ γὰρ παρὰ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν κόσμῳ δωρεᾶς ὑπερπαίει τὴν ἀμοιβήν. τοὺς δὲ ἀκροᾶσθαι βουλομένους πάντας οὕτως προσιέμεθα κἂν πρεσβύτιδες ὦσι κἂν μειράκια, πᾶσά τε ἁπαξαπλῶς ἡλικία παρ' ἡμῖν τυγχάνει τιμῆς· τὰ δὲ τῆς ἀσελγείας πόρρω κεχώρισται. καὶ ἡμεῖς μὲν λέγοντες οὐ ψευδόμεθα· τὰ δὲ τῆς ὑμετέρας περὶ 32.2 τὴν ἀπιστίαν ἐπιμονῆς καλὸν μὲν εἰ λαμβάνοι περιγραφήν· εἰ δ' οὖν, τὰ ἡμέτερα μὲν ἔστω θεοῦ γνώμῃ βεβαιούμενα, γελᾶτε δὲ ὑμεῖς, ὡς καὶ κλαύσοντες. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄτοπον Νέστορα μὲν καθ' ὑμᾶς τῶν _ἵ_π_π_ω_ν_ _τ_ὰ_ς_ _π_α_ρηορίας βραδέως _ἀ_π_ο_τ_έ_μ_ν_ο_ν_τ_α διὰ τὸ ἄτονον καὶ νωθὲς τῆς ἡλικίας θαυμάζεσθαι πειρώμενον ἐπ' ἴσης τοῖς νέοις πολεμεῖν, τοὺς δὲ παρ' ἡμῖν τῷ γήρᾳ παλαίοντας καὶ τὰ περὶ θεοῦ πραγματευομένους γελᾶσθαι; τίς δὲ οὐκ ἂν γελάσειεν Ἀμαζόνας μὲν καὶ Σεμίραμιν καί τινας ἄλλας πολεμικὰς φασκόντων ὑμῶν γεγονέναι, τὰς δὲ παρ' ἡμῖν παρθένους λοιδορούντων; μειράκιον ἦν ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς καὶ γενναῖος εἶναι πεπίστευται σφόδρα· καὶ ὁ Νεοπτόλεμος νεώτερος, ἀλλὰ 32.3 ἰσχυρὸς ἦν· Φιλοκτήτης ἀσθενής, ἀλλ' ἔχρῃζεν αὐτοῦ κατὰ Τροίας τὸ δαιμόνιον. ὁ Θερσίτης ὁποῖος ἦν; ἀλλ' ἐστρατήγει· τὸ δὲ _ἀ_μ_ε_τ_ρ_ο_ε_π_ὲ_ς εἰ μὴ προσῆν αὐτῷ διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν, οὐκ ἂν ὡς _φ_ο_ξ_ὸ_ς καὶ _ψ_ε_δ_ν_ὸ_ς διεβάλλετο. πάντες οἱ βουλόμενοι φιλοσοφεῖν *** παρ' ἡμῖν οἳ οὐ τὸ ὁρώμενον δοκιμάζομεν οὐδὲ τοὺς προσιόντας ἡμῖν ἀπὸ σχήματος κρίνομεν· τὸ γὰρ τῆς γνώμης ἐρρωμένον παρὰ πᾶσιν εἶναι δύνασθαι λελογίσμεθα κἂν ἀσθενεῖς ὦσι τοῖς σώμασι. τὰ δὲ ὑμέτερα φθόνου μεστὰ καὶ βλακείας πολλῆς. 33.1 ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προὐθυμήθην ἀπὸ τῶν νομιζομένων παρ' ὑμῖν τιμίων παριστᾶν ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἡμέτερα σωφρονεῖ, τὰ δὲ ὑμέτερα ἔθη μανίας ἔχεται πολλῆς. οἱ γὰρ ἐν γυναιξὶ καὶ μειρακίοις παρθένοις τε καὶ πρεσβύταις φλυαρεῖν ἡμᾶς λέγοντες καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ σὺν ὑμῖν εἶναι χλευάζοντες ἀκούσατε τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι πραγμάτων τὸν λῆρον. ληραίνει γὰρ μᾶλλον διὰ δόξης πολλῆς τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν ἐθῶν