Theophilus of Antioch, Theophilus to Autolycus

So that the opinion of your philosophers and authors is discordant; for while the former have propounded the foregoing opinions, the poet Homer is found explaining the origin not only of the world, but also of the gods, on quite another hypothesis. For he says somewhere:29 [Kaye’s Justin, p. 173.] Il., xiv. 201.—

“Father of Gods, Oceanus, and she

Who bare the gods, their mother Tethys, too,

From whom all rivers spring, and every sea.”

In saying which, however, he does not present God to us. For who does not know that the ocean is water? But if water, then not God. God indeed, if He is the creator of all things, as He certainly is, is the creator both of the water and of the seas. And Hesiod himself also declared the origin, not only of the gods, but also of the world itself. And though he said that the world was created, he showed no inclination to tell us by whom it was created. Besides, he said that Saturn, and his sons Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, were gods, though we find that they are later born than the world. And he also relates how Saturn was assailed in war by his own son Jupiter; for he says:30 Hesiod, Theog., 74.—

“His father Saturn he by might o’ercame,

And ’mong th’ immortals ruled with justice wise,

And honours fit distributed to each.”

Then he introduces in his poem the daughters of Jupiter, whom he names Muses, and as whose suppliant he appears, desiring to ascertain from them how all things were made; for he says:31 Theog., 104.—

“Daughters of Jove, all hail! Grant me your aid

That I in numbers sweet and well-arrayed,

Of the immortal gods may sing the birth;

Who of the starry heav’ns were born, and earth;

Who, springing from the murky night at first,

Were by the briny ocean reared and nursed.

Tell, too, who form unto the earth first gave,

And rivers, and the boundless sea whose wave

Unwearied sinks, then rears its crest on high;

And how was spread yon glittering canopy

Of glistening stars that stud the wide-spread heaven.

Whence sprang the gods by whom all good is given?

Tell from their hands what varied gifts there came,

Riches to some, to others wealth, or fame;

How they have dwelt from the remotest time

In many-nooked Olympus’ sunny clime.

These things, ye Muses, say, who ever dwell

Among Olympian shades—since ye can tell:

From the beginning there thy feet have strayed;

Then tell us which of all things first was made.”

But how could the Muses, who are younger than the world, know these things? Or how could they relate to Hesiod [what was happening], when their father was not yet born?

Ὥστε ἀσύμφωνός ἐστιν ἡ γνώμη κατὰ τοὺς φιλοσόφους καὶ συγγράφεις. τούτων γὰρ ταῦτα ἀποφηναμένων, εὑρίσκεται ὁ ποιητὴς Ὅμηρος ἑτέρᾳ ὑποθέσει εἰσάγων γένεσιν οὐ μόνον κόσμου ἀλλὰ καὶ θεῶν. φησὶν γάρ που· Ὠκεανόν τε, θεῶν γένεσιν, καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν, ἐξ οὗ δὴ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσα. ἃ δὴ λέγων οὐκ ἔτι θεὸν συνιστᾷ. τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἐπίσταται τὸν Ὠκεανὸν ὕδωρ εἶναι; εἰ δὲ ὕδωρ, οὐκ ἄρα θεός. ὁ δὲ θεός, εἰ τῶν ὅλων ποιητής ἐστιν, καθὼς καὶ ἔστιν, ἄρα καὶ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ τῶν θαλασσῶν κτίστης ἐστίν. Ἡσίοδος δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ μόνον θεῶν γένεσιν ἐξεῖπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κόσμου. καὶ τὸν μὲν κόσμον γενητὸν εἰπὼν ἠτόνησεν εἰπεῖν ὑφ' οὗ γέγονεν. ἔτι μὴν καὶ θεοὺς ἔφησεν Κρόνον καὶ τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ ∆ία, Ποσειδῶνά τε καὶ Πλούτωνα, καὶ τούτους μεταγενεστέρους εὑρίσκομεν τοῦ κόσμου. ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸν Κρόνον πολεμεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆ιὸς τοῦ ἰδίου παιδὸς ἱστορεῖ. οὕτως γάρ φησιν· Κάρτεϊ νικήσας πατέρα Κρόνον· εὖ δὲ ἕκαστα ἀθανάτοις διέταξεν ὅμως καὶ ἐπέφραδε τιμάς. εἶτα ἐπιφέρει λέγων τὰς τοῦ ∆ιὸς θυγατέρας, ἃς καὶ Μούσας προσαγορεύει, ὧν ἱκέτης εὑρίσκεται βουλόμενος μαθεῖν παρ' αὐτῶν τίνι τρόπῳ τὰ πάντα γεγένηται. λέγει γάρ· Χαίρετε, τέκνα ∆ιός, δότε δ' ἱμερόεσσαν ἀοιδήν. κλείετε δ' ἀθανάτων μακάρων γένος αἰὲν ἐόντων, οἳ γῆς ἐξεγένοντο καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος, νυκτός τε δνοφερῆς, οὓς ἁλμυρὸς ἔτρεφε πόντος. εἴπατε δ' ὡς τὰ πρῶτα θεοὶ καὶ γαῖα γένοντο, καὶ ποταμοὶ καὶ πόντος ἀπείριτος, οἴδματι θύων, ἄστρα τε λαμπετόωντα καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθεν, ὥς τ' ἄφενος δάσσαντο καὶ ὡς τιμὰς διέλοντο, ἠδὲ καὶ ὡς τὰ πρῶτα πολύπτυχον ἔσχον Ὄλυμπον. ταῦτά μοι ἔσπετε Μοῦσαι Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαι ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καὶ εἴπαθ' ὅ τι πρῶτον γένετ' αὐτῶν. πῶς δὲ ταῦτα ἠπίσταντο αἱ Μοῦσαι, μεταγενέστεραι οὖσαι τοῦ κόσμου; ἢ πῶς ἠδύναντο διηγήσασθαι τῷ Ἡσιόδῳ, ὅπου δὴ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῶν οὔπω γεγένηται;