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to find the father and maker of this universe is a task, and having found him to declare him to all is impossible; for he is in no way expressible like other subjects of learning." But he who theologized so accurately in these matters, in other places, either fearing the many or being in reality ignorant, made mention of many gods and works great injury upon his readers. 2.43 Why then, O friends, do we draw the muddy and earthy stream, and not seek that clear and transparent spring, from which this man, taking the first principles of theology, mixed in the muddy and earthy element with them? Or are you ignorant, that Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews, is more ancient than all of your poets and writers and philosophers? But if you still doubt now and suppose that we are inventing this argument, at least let Porphyry be a credible witness for you, who, having become a champion of impiety, moved his licentious tongue against the God of all. Hear then what he says in the works he wrote against us: 2.44 "Sanchuniathon of Berytus relates the history of the Jews with the greatest truth, because it is most consonant with their places and names, having received the records from Hierombalus the priest of the god Iao, who dedicated his history to Abembalus the king of Berytus, and was accepted by him and by the examiners of the truth under him. 2.45 And the times of these men fall even before the Trojan times and almost approach those of Moses, as the successions of the kings of Phoenicia indicate. And Sanchuniathon, who in the Phoenician dialect is 'a lover of truth', having collected and written all the ancient history from the records in the cities and from the writings in the temples, lived in the time of Semiramis 2.46 the queen of the Assyrians." From this it is possible to learn clearly, by how many years Moses is more ancient than the Trojan times. For if Sanchuniathon who wrote the Jewish history lived in the time of Semiramis the queen of the Assyrians—and Sanchuniathon clearly related things much more ancient in time—and Moses became the lawgiver of the Jews, then Moses is more ancient than Sanchuniathon by many years. 2.47 And that Semiramis is more ancient than the Trojan times by more than a thousand years, those who have composed the chronologies clearly show. But to refute Porphyry as being ignorant of the chronologies is not for the present occasion; but it is enough for me to show by how many years Moses is more ancient than the Trojan times. And Homer and Hesiod were born a long time after the Trojan times; and Orpheus, the first of the poets, was one generation more ancient than the Trojan times; for with Jason and Peleus and Telamon and Heracles and the Dioscuri he sailed to Colchis; and Euneos 2.48 is the son of Jason, the one who sent wine to Troy for the Achaeans, and Tlepolemus the son of Heracles, whom Sarpedon struck down with a spear in the Trojan war, and Ajax the son of Telamon, and Achilles of Peleus. And Castor and Polydeuces, surnamed the Dioscuri, Helen, desiring to see them from the wall, as they were her brothers, then, failing in her desire, lamented bitterly, 2.49 supposing them to be dead. I have not related these things idly, but wishing to show clearly that Orpheus was one generation more ancient than the Trojan times. And Linus and Musaeus lived around the time of the Trojan war, and Thamyris with them, and Philammon 2.50 likewise. If, then, according to Porphyry, Moses is more ancient than these men by more than a thousand years, and these were the most ancient of the poets—for after them came both Homer and Hesiod, and they in turn are many years more ancient than Thales and the other philosophers, and Thales and his school than those who philosophized after them—why ever do we not, leaving all these behind, turn to Moses, the ocean of theology, "from which," to speak poetically, "are all rivers and every 2.51 sea"? For both Anaxagoras and Pythagoras and Plato later drew from there some small sparks of the truth; and Socrates, with Anaxagoras and Archelaus

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πατέρα καὶ ποιητὴν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεῖν τε ἔργον καὶ εὑρόντα εἰς πάντας ἐξειπεῖν ἀδύ νατον· ῥητὸν γὰρ οὐδαμῶς ἐστιν ὡς ἄλλα μαθήματα." Ἀλλ' ὅ γε ἐν τούτοις ἀκριβῶς οὕτω θεολογήσας, ἐν ἄλλοις, ἢ τοὺς πολ λοὺς ὀρρωδήσας ἢ τῷ ὄντι γε ἀγνοήσας, πολλῶν ἐποιήσατο μνήμην θεῶν καὶ πολλὴν ἐνεργάζεται τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι λώβην. 2.43 Ἀνθ' ὅτου δὴ οὖν, ὦ φίλοι, τὸ θολερὸν καὶ γεῶδες ἀρυόμεθα νᾶμα, καὶ μὴ τὴν πηγὴν ἐκείνην ζητοῦμεν τὴν διαυγῆ καὶ δια φανῆ, ἐξ ἧς οὗτος λαβὼν τῆς θεολογίας τὰς ἀφορμάς, τὸ ἰλυῶδες αὐτοῖς καὶ γεῶδες ἀνέμιξεν; ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε, ὅτι Μωϋσῆς τῶν Ἰου δαίων ὁ νομοθέτης πάντων ἐστὶ τῶν ὑμετέρων ποιητῶν καὶ ξυγ γραφέων καὶ φιλοσόφων πρεσβύτατος; Εἰ δ' ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐνδοιάζετε καὶ πλάττειν ἡμᾶς τόνδε τὸν λόγον ὑπολαμβάνετε, Πορφύριος γοῦν ὑμῖν μάρτυς ἀξιόχρεως ἔστω, ὃς τῆς ἀσεβείας γενόμενος πρόμαχος κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων τὴν ἀκόλαστον ἐκίνησε γλῶτ ταν. Ἀκούσατε οὖν αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λέγοντος, ἐν οἷς καθ' ἡμῶν 2.44 ξυγγέγραφεν· "Ἱστορεῖ δὲ τὰ περὶ Ἰουδαίων ἀληθέστατα, ὅτι καὶ τοῖς τόποις καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν αὐτῶν τὰ ξυμφωνότατα, Σαγχωνιάθων ὁ Βηρύτιος, εἰληφὼς τὰ ὑπομνήματα παρὰ Ἱερομβάλου τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰαώ, ὃς Ἀβεμβάλῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ Βηρυτίων τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀναθείς, ὑπ' ἐκείνου καὶ τῶν κατ' ἐκεῖνον 2.45 ἐξεταστῶν τῆς ἀληθείας παρεδέχθη. Οἱ δὲ τούτων χρόνοι καὶ πρὸ τῶν Τρωϊκῶν πίπτουσι χρόνων καὶ σχεδὸν καὶ τοῖς Μωϋσέως πελάζουσιν, ὡς αἱ τῶν Φοινίκης βασιλέων μηνύουσι διαδοχαί. Σαγχωνιάθων δέ, ὁ κατὰ τὴν Φοινίκων διάλεκτον φιλαλήθης, πᾶσαν τὴν παλαιὰν ἱστορίαν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν ὑπομνημάτων καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γραφῶν ξυναγαγὼν καὶ ξυγγράψας, ἐπὶ Σεμι 2.46 ράμεως γέγονε τῆς Ἀσσυρίων βασιλίδος." Ἐντεῦθεν ἔστι σαφῶς μαθεῖν, ὁπόσοις τῶν Τρωϊκῶν ὁ Μωϋσῆς πρεσβύτερος ἔτεσιν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν ἱστορίαν ξυγγράψας Σαγχωνιάθων ἐπὶ Σεμι ράμεως τῆς Ἀσσυρίων γέγονε βασιλίδος-ἱστόρησε δὲ δηλονότι Σαγχωνιάθων τὰ πολλῷ χρόνῳ πρεσβύτερα-, Μωϋσῆς δὲ Ἰουδαίων νομοθέτης ἐγένετο, πολλοῖς ἄρα ἔτεσι Σαγχωνιάθωνος 2.47 πρεσβύτερος Μωϋσῆς. Ὅτι δὲ πλείοσιν ἢ χιλίοις ἔτεσιν ἡ Σεμί ραμις τῶν Τρωϊκῶν πρεσβυτέρα, δηλοῦσι σαφῶς οἱ τοὺς χρόνους ξυντεθεικότες. Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἐξελέγχειν τὸν Πορφύριον ὡς ἠγνοηκότα τοὺς χρόνους οὐ τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ· ἀπόχρη δέ μοι δηλῶσαι, πόσοις πρεσβύτερος ἔτεσι τῶν Τρωϊκῶν Μωϋσῆς· Ὅμη ρος δὲ καὶ Ἡσίοδος μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον τῶν Τρωϊκῶν ἐγενέσθην· Ὀρφεὺς δέ, τῶν ποιητῶν ὁ πρῶτος, μιᾷ γενεᾷ πρεσβύτερος τῶν Τρωϊκῶν· Ἰάσονι γὰρ καὶ Πηλεῖ καὶ Τελαμῶνι καὶ Ἡρακλεῖκαὶ ∆ιοσκούροις εἰς τὴν Κολχίδα ξυνέπλευσεν· Ἰάσονος δὲ 2.48 Εὔνηός ἐστιν υἱός, ὁ τὸν οἶνον εἰς Τροίαν πέμπων τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς, καὶ Τληπόλεμος Ἡρακλέους υἱός, ὃν ὁ Σαρπηδὼν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τῷ Τρωϊκῷ κατηκόντισε, καὶ ὁ Αἴας δὲ Τελαμῶνος υἱός, καὶ Ἀχιλλεὺς Πηλέως· Κάστορα δὲ καὶ Πολυδεύκην, τοὺς ἐπίκλην ∆ιοσκούρους, ἰδεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους ἡ Ἑλένη ποθήσασα, οἷα δὴ ἀδελφούς, εἶτα τοῦ ποθουμένου διαμαρτοῦσα πικρῶς ἀπωδύρατο, 2.49 τεθνάναι τούτους ὑπολαβοῦσα. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἀδολεσχῶν διεξῆλθον, ἀλλὰ σαφῶς ἐπιδεῖξαι βουλόμενος, ὡς Ὀρφεὺς γενεᾷ μιᾷ πρε σβύτερος ἐγεγόνει τῶν Τρωϊκῶν. Λῖνος δὲ καὶ Μουσαῖος ἀμφὶ τὰ Τρωϊκὰ ἐγενέσθην, καὶ Θάμυρις μετὰ τούτων, καὶ Φιλάμμων 2.50 ὡσαύτως. εἰ τοίνυν τούτων μὲν κατὰ τὸν Πορφύριον ὁ Μωϋσῆς πλείοσιν ἢ χιλίοις πρεσβύτερος ἔτεσιν, οὗτοι δὲ παλαιότατοι τῶν ποιητῶν ἐγένοντο-μετὰ γὰρ τούτους καὶ Ὅμηρος καὶ Ἡσίο δος ἐγενέσθην, καὶ οὗτοι δ' αὖ πάλιν Θαλοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φιλο σόφων πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ἀρχαιότεροι, καὶ οἱ ἀμφὶ Θαλῆν τῶν μετ' αὐτοὺς πεφιλοσοφηκότων-, τί δήποτε μὴ τούτους πάντας κατα λιπόντες πρὸς Μωϋσέα τὸν τῆς θεολογίας ὠκεανὸν μεταβαίνομεν, "ἐξ οὗπερ", ποιητικῶς εἰπεῖν, "πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θά 2.51 λασσα"; Καὶ γὰρ Ἀναξαγόρας καὶ Πυθαγόρας καὶ Πλάτων ὕστερον ἐκεῖθεν εἵλκυσαν σμικρὰ ἄττα τῆς ἀληθείας ἐναύσματα· καὶ ὁ Σωκράτης, Ἀναξαγόρᾳ καὶ Ἀρχελάῳ