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by God—they remained in the state in which God made and ordained them, but others acted insolently both in respect to the substance of their being and to their rule—both this ruler of matter and of the forms within it, and others of those around this first firmament (know that we say nothing without witness, but report what has been declared by the prophets)—those fell into a lust for virgins and were found to be weaker than the flesh, while this one became neglectful and wicked in the administration of the things entrusted to him. From those, then, who had to do with the virgins were born those who are called giants. And if some account of the giants has been given in part by the poets also, do not be surprised, the worldly ... wisdom differing as much as truth from plausibility, the one being heavenly, the other earthly and according to the ruler of matter; "We know how to speak many falsehoods that resemble truths." These, then, are the angels who fell from heaven, who haunt the air and the earth, no longer able to rise to the super-celestial regions, and the souls of the giants are the demons who wander about the world, producing similar movements, the demons according to the constitutions they received, and the angels according to the lusts they had. But the ruler of matter, as can be seen from the very things that happen, governs and administers in opposition to the goodness of God. "Often has the thought passed through my mind, whether it is chance or a demon that governs mortal affairs, leading some, contrary to hope and justice, to fall from their homes without God, and others to prosper." <If> faring well or ill contrary to hope and justice rendered Euripides speechless, whose is such an administration of earthly things, in which one might say: "How then, seeing these things, can we say that there is a race of gods or use laws?" This also made Aristotle say that the things below heaven are without providence, although the eternal providence of God remains for us equally, "but the earth by necessity, whether it will or not, bringing forth grass, fattens my cattle," while particular providence, in truth and not in appearance, extends to the worthy, and the rest are provided for according to the common law of the constitution of reason. But since the demonic movements and energies from the contrary spirit produce these disorderly impulses, now also moving men in different ways, both individually and by nations, partially and commonly, according to the principle of matter and their sympathy with divine things, from within and from without, for this reason some, whose opinions are not insignificant, thought that this universe is not by any order

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ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ-ἔμειναν ἐφ' οἷς αὐτοὺς ἐποίησεν καὶ διέταξεν ὁ θεός, οἱ δὲ ἐνύβρισαν καὶ τῇ τῆς οὐσίας ὑποστάσει καὶ τῇ ἀρχῇ οὗτός τε ὁ τῆς ὕλης καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ εἰδῶν ἄρχων καὶ ἕτεροι τῶν περὶ τὸ πρῶτον τοῦτο στερέωμα (ἴστε δὲ μηδὲν ἡμᾶς ἀμάρτυρον λέγειν, ἃ δὲ τοῖς προφήταις ἐκπεφώνηται μηνύειν), ἐκεῖνοι μὲν εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν πεσόντες παρθένων καὶ ἥττους σαρκὸς εὑρεθέντες, οὗτος δὲ ἀμελήσας καὶ πονηρὸς περὶ τὴν τῶν πεπιστευμένων γενόμενος διοίκησιν. ἐκ μὲν οὖν τῶν περὶ τὰς παρθένους ἐχόντων οἱ καλούμενοι ἐγεννήθησαν γίγαντες· εἰ δέ τις ἐκ μέρους εἴρηται περὶ τῶν γιγάντων καὶ ποιηταῖς λόγος, μὴ θαυμάσητε, τῆς κοσμικῆς ... σοφίας ὅσον ἀλήθεια πιθανοῦ διαφέρει διαλλαττουσῶν καὶ τῆς μὲν οὔσης ἐπουρανίου, τῆς δὲ ἐπιγείου καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ὕλης· ἴσμεν ψεύδεα πολλὰ λέγειν ἐτύμοισιν ὁμοῖα. οὗτοι τοίνυν οἱ ἄγγελοι οἱ ἐκπεσόντες τῶν οὐρανῶν, περὶ τὸν ἀέρα ἔχοντες καὶ τὴν γῆν, οὐκέτι εἰς τὰ ὑπερουράνια ὑπερκύψαι δυνάμενοι, καὶ αἱ τῶν γιγάντων ψυχαὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν κόσμον εἰσὶ πλανώμενοι δαίμονες, ὁμοίας κινήσεις, οἱ μὲν αἷς ἔλαβον συστάσεσιν, οἱ δαίμονες, οἱ δέ, αἷς ἔσχον ἐπιθυμίαις, οἱ ἄγγελοι, ποιούμενοι. ὁ δὲ τῆς ὕλης ἄρχων, ὡς ἔστιν ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν γινομένων ἰδεῖν, ἐναντία τῷ ἀγαθῷ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιτροπεύει καὶ διοικεῖ. πολλάκι μοι πραπίδων διῆλθε φροντίς, εἴτε τύχα εἴτε δαίμων τὰ βρότεια κραίνει, παρά τ' ἐλπίδα καὶ παρὰ δίκαν τοὺς μὲν ἀπ' οἴκων δ' ἐναπίπτοντας ἀτὰρ θεοῦ, τοὺς δ' εὐτυχοῦντας ἄγει . <εἰ> τὸ παρ' ἐλπίδα καὶ δίκην εὖ πράττειν ἢ κακῶς ἐν ἀφασίᾳ τὸν Eὐριπίδην ἐποίησεν, τίνος ἡ τοιαύτη τῶν περιγείων διοίκησις, ἐν ᾗ εἴποι τις ἄν· πῶς οὖν τάδ' εἰσορῶντες ἢ θεῶν γένος εἶναι λέγωμεν ἢ νόμοισι χρώμεθα; τοῦτο καὶ τὸν Ἀριστοτέλη ἀπρονόητα εἰπεῖν τὰ κατωτέρω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐποίησεν, καίτοι τῆς ἀϊδίου ἐπ' ἴσης ἡμῖν μενούσης προ νοίας τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡ γῆ δ' ἀνάγκῃ, κἂν θέλῃ κἂν μὴ θέλῃ, φύουσα ποίαν τἀμὰ πιαίνει βοτά, τῆς δ' ἐπὶ μέρους πρὸς ἀλήθειαν, οὐ πρὸς δόξαν, χωρούσης ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀξίους καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν κατὰ τὸ κοινὸν συστάσεως νόμῳ λόγου προνοουμένων. ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ αἱ ἀπὸ τοὐναντίου πνεύματος δαι μονικαὶ κινήσεις καὶ ἐνέργειαι τὰς ἀτάκτους ταύτας ἐπιφορὰς παρέχουσιν, ἤδη καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἄλλον ἄλλως, καὶ καθ' ἕνα καὶ κατὰ ἔθνη, μερικῶς καὶ κοινῶς, κατὰ τὸν τῆς ὕλης λόγον καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὰ θεῖα συμπαθείας, ἔνδοθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν κινοῦσαι, διὰ τοῦτό τινες, ὧν δόξαι οὐ μικραί, ἐνόμισαν οὐ τάξει τινὶ τὸ πᾶν τοῦτο