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

worshippers of stones, having learned by deed not to worship senseless matter, being overcome by the need itself, are destroyed by superstition; But though they despise the statues, yet not wishing to seem to despise them utterly, they are confuted by the very gods to whom 4.52.2 the statues are consecrated. For Dionysius the younger tyrant, having stripped the golden cloak from the statue of Zeus in Sicily, commanded a woolen one to be put on him, wittily saying that this was better than the golden one, both lighter in summer 4.52.3 and warmer in winter. And Antiochus of Cyzicus, being in want of money, commanded the golden statue of Zeus, which was fifteen cubits in size, to be melted down, and a statue of other, less valuable material, similar to that one, 4.52.4 gilded with plates, to be set up again. And the swallows and most birds, flying in, defecate upon the very statues, paying no heed to either Olympian Zeus or Epidaurian Asclepius, nor indeed to Athena Polias or Egyptian Sarapis; from which you do not even learn of the insensibility 4.52.5 of the statues. But there are some criminals or attacking enemies, who for the sake of shameful gain have plundered the temples and pillaged the votive offerings or even melted down the statues themselves. 4.52.6 And if some Cambyses or Darius or some other madman attempted such things, and if someone killed the Egyptian Apis, I laugh, on the one hand, that he killed their god, but I am indignant, on the other hand, if he did wrong for the sake of gain. 4.53.1 Willingly, therefore, I will pass over this piece of villainy, considering it a work of avarice, and not a proof of the powerlessness of the idols. But fire and earthquakes are certainly not avaricious, nor indeed do they fear or feel shame before the daemons or the statues, no more than the waves do the pebbles piled up on the shores. 4.53.2 I know a fire that confutes and cures superstition; if you wish to cease from folly, the fire will give you light. This fire both burned down the temple in Argos along with the priestess Chrysis, and the one of Artemis in Ephesus, for the second time after the Amazons, and has often swept over the Capitol in Rome; nor did it abstain 4.53.3 from the temple of Sarapis in the city of the Alexandrians. For in Athens it destroyed the temple of Dionysus Eleuthereus, and the one of Apollo in Delphi first a storm seized, then a chastening fire destroyed. This shows you a prelude of what the fire promises. 4.53.4 And do not the makers of the statues shame those of you who are sensible into despising matter? The Athenian Pheidias inscribed on the finger of the Olympian Zeus, "Pantarkes is beautiful"; for not Zeus was beautiful to him, but his beloved was. 4.53.5 And Praxiteles, as Posidippus clarifies in his work On Cnidus, when making the statue of the Cnidian Aphrodite, made it similar to the form of his beloved Cratina, so that the wretched might have the beloved of Praxiteles to worship. 4.53.6 And when Phryne the Thespian courtesan was in her prime, all the painters imitated the beauty of Phryne for their images of Aphrodite, just as, in turn, the stone-carvers in Athens modelled the Hermae after Alcibiades. It remains for your judgment to bring the matter to a conclusion, if you also wish to worship courtesans. 4.54.1 From this, I think, the ancient kings were moved, despising these myths, freely proclaimed themselves gods, since there was no danger from men, thereby teaching that those others also were deified on account of their reputation. Ceyx, the son of Aeolus, was called Zeus by his wife Alcyone, and Alcyone 4.54.2 in turn was addressed as Hera by her husband. Ptolemy the Fourth was called Dionysus; and Mithridates of Pontus was also Dionysus; and Alexander also wished to be thought the son of Ammon and to be represented by the sculptors as horned, hastening to outrage the beautiful face of a man 4.54.3 with a horn. And not only kings, but

λίθων προσκυνηταί, ἔργῳ μαθόντες ἀναίσθητον ὕλην μὴ σέβειν, αὐτῆς ἡττώμενοι τῆς χρείας ἀπόλλυνται ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας· καταφρονοῦντες δ' ὅμως τῶν ἀγαλμάτων, φαίνεσθαι δὲ μὴ βουλόμενοι αὐτῶν ὅλως περιφρονοῦντες, ἐλέγχονται ὑπ' αὐτῶν τῶν θεῶν, οἷς δὴ 4.52.2 τὰ ἀγάλματα ἐπιπεφήμισται. ∆ιονύσιος μὲν γὰρ ὁ τύραννος ὁ νεώτερος θοἰμάτιον τὸ χρύσεον περιελόμενος τοῦ ∆ιὸς ἐν Σικελίᾳ προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ἐρεοῦν περιτεθῆναι, χαριέντως φήσας τοῦτο ἄμεινον εἶναι τοῦ χρυσίου, καὶ θέρους κουφό 4.52.3 τερον καὶ κρύους ἀλεεινότερον. Ἀντίοχος δὲ ὁ Κυζικηνὸς ἀπορούμενος χρημάτων τοῦ ∆ιὸς τὸ ἄγαλμα τὸ χρυσοῦν, πεντεκαίδεκα πηχῶν τὸ μέγεθος ὄν, προσέταξε χωνεῦσαι καὶ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς ἀτιμοτέρας ὕλης ἄγαλμα παραπλήσιον ἐκείνῳ 4.52.4 πετάλοις κεχρυσωμένον ἀναθεῖναι πάλιν. Αἱ δὲ χελιδόνες καὶ τῶν ὀρνέων τὰ πλεῖστα κατεξερῶσιν αὐτῶν τῶν ἀγαλμάτων εἰσπετόμενα, οὐδὲν φροντίσαντα οὔτε Ὀλυμπίου ∆ιὸς οὔτε Ἐπιδαυρίου Ἀσκληπιοῦ οὐδὲ μὴν Ἀθηνᾶς Πολιάδος ἢ Σαράπιδος Αἰγυπτίου· παρ' ὧν οὐδὲ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀναισθησίαν 4.52.5 τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἐκμανθάνετε. Ἀλλ' εἰσὶ μὲν κακοῦργοί τινες ἢ πολέμιοι ἐπιθέμενοι, οἳ δι' αἰσχροκέρδειαν ἐδῄωσαν τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ τὰ ἀναθήματα ἐσύλησαν ἢ καὶ αὐτὰ ἐχώνευσαν 4.52.6 τὰ ἀγάλματα. Καὶ εἰ Καμβύσης τις ἢ ∆αρεῖος ἢ ἄλλος μαινόμενος τοιαῦτα ἄττα ἐπεχείρησεν καὶ εἰ τὸν Αἰγύπτιόν τις ἀπέκτεινεν Ἆπιν, γελῶ μὲν ὅτι τὸν θεὸν ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτῶν, ἀγανακτῶ δὲ εἰ κέρδους χάριν ἐπλημμέλει. 4.53.1 Ἑκὼν οὖν ἐκλήσομαί τι τῆσδε τῆς κακουργίας, πλεονεξίας ἔργα, οὐχὶ δὲ ἀδρανείας τῶν εἰδώλων ἔλεγχον νομίζων. Ἀλλ' οὔτι γε τὸ πῦρ καὶ οἱ σεισμοὶ κερδαλέοι, οὐδὲ μὴν φοβοῦνται ἢ δυσωποῦνται οὐ τοὺς δαίμονας, οὐ τὰ ἀγάλματα, οὐ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς ψηφῖδας τὰς παρὰ τοῖς αἰγιαλοῖς 4.53.2 σεσωρευμένας τὰ κύματα. Οἶδα ἐγὼ πῦρ ἐλεγκτικὸν καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας ἰατικόν· εἰ βούλει παύσασθαι τῆς ἀνοίας, φωταγωγήσει σε τὸ πῦρ. Τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἄργει νεὼν σὺν καὶ τῇ ἱερείᾳ κατέφλεξεν Χρυσίδι, καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος δεύτερον μετὰ Ἀμαζόνας καὶ τὸἐν Ῥώμῃ Καπιτώλιον ἐπινενέμηται πολλάκις· οὐκ ἀπέσχετο 4.53.3 δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρέων πόλει Σαράπιδος ἱεροῦ. Ἀθήνησι γὰρ τοῦ ∆ιονύσου τοῦ Ἐλευθερέως κατήρειψε τὸν νεών, καὶ τὸν ἐν ∆ελφοῖς τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος πρότερον ἥρπασεν θύελλα, ἔπειτα ἠφάνισε πῦρ σωφρονοῦν. Τοῦτό σοι προοίμιον ἐπιδείκνυται ὧν ὑπισχνεῖται τὸ πῦρ. 4.53.4 Οἱ δὲ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων δημιουργοὶ οὐ δυσωποῦσιν ὑμῶν τοὺς ἔμφρονας τῆς ὕλης καταφρονεῖν; Ὁ μὲν Ἀθηναῖος Φειδίας ἐπὶ τῷ δακτύλῳ τοῦ ∆ιὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου ἐπιγράψας "Παντάρκης καλός"· οὐ γὰρ καλὸς αὐτῷ ὁ Ζεύς, ἀλλ' ὁ 4.53.5 ἐρώμενος ἦν· ὁ Πραξιτέλης δέ, ὡς Ποσίδιππος ἐν τῷ περὶ Κνίδου διασαφεῖ, τὸ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἄγαλμα τῆς Κνιδίας κατασκευάζων τῷ Κρατίνης τῆς ἐρωμένης εἴδει παραπλήσιον πεποίηκεν αὐτήν, ἵν' ἔχοιεν οἱ δείλαιοι τὴν Πραξιτέλους 4.53.6 ἐρωμένην προσκυνεῖν. Φρύνη δὲ ὁπηνίκα ἤνθει ἡ ἑταίρα ἡ Θεσπιακή, οἱ ζωγράφοι πάντες τῆς Ἀφροδίτης εἰκόνας πρὸς τὸ κάλλος ἀπεμιμοῦντο Φρύνης, ὥσπερ αὖ καὶ οἱ λιθοξόοι τοὺς Ἑρμᾶς Ἀθήνησι πρὸς Ἀλκιβιάδην ἀπείκαζον. Ὑπλείπεται τῆς σῆς κρίσεως τὸ ἔργον ἐπάξαι, εἰ βούλει καὶ τὰς ἑταίρας προσκυνεῖν. 4.54.1 Ἐντεῦθεν, οἶμαι, κινηθέντες οἱ βασιλεῖς οἱ παλαιοί, καταφρονοῦντες τῶν μύθων τούτων, ἀνέδην διὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀκίνδυνον σφᾶς αὐτοὺς θεοὺς ἀνηγόρευον, ταύτῃ κἀκείνους διὰ τὴν δόξαν ἀπηθανατίσθαι διδάσκοντες· Κῆυξ μὲν ὁ Αἰόλου Ζεὺς ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀλκυόνης τῆς γυναικός, Ἀλκυόνη 4.54.2 δὲ αὖθις ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς Ἥρα προσαγορευομένη. Πτολεμαῖος δὲ ὁ τέταρτος ∆ιόνυσος ἐκαλεῖτο· καὶ Μιθριδάτης ὁ Ποντι κὸς ∆ιόνυσος καὶ αὐτός· ἐβούλετο δὲ καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος Ἄμμωνος υἱὸς εἶναι δοκεῖν καὶ κερασφόρος ἀναπλάττεσθαι πρὸς τῶν ἀγαλματοποιῶν, τὸ καλὸν ἀνθρώπου πρόσωπον 4.54.3 ὑβρίσαι σπεύδων κέρατι. Καὶ οὔτι γε βασιλεῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ