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to hold together, but are led and carried by irrational chance, not knowing that in the constitution of the whole universe there is nothing disordered or neglected, but each of its parts has come into being with reason, for which cause they do not transgress the order appointed for them, but man, on the one hand, according to his Maker, is himself also well-ordered, both by the nature of his generation, which holds one common principle, and by the constitution of his frame, which does not transgress the law laid upon it, and by the end of his life, which remains equal and common to all, yet on the other hand, according to his own individual reason and the activity of the ruling prince and of the demons who attend him, is carried and moved in different ways, though all have a common reasoning faculty in themselves. And those who draw them to the idols are the aforementioned demons, who have melted upon the blood from the victims and lick it up; but the gods who are pleasing to the multitude and are named after the images, as one can know from their respective histories, were men. And that it is the demons who take possession of the names, the activity of each of them is a proof. For some, those around Rhea, cut off their genitals, while others, those around Artemis, gash or slash themselves. (And the one in Tauris murders strangers.) For I omit to mention those who mutilate themselves with knives and knucklebones ... and all the kinds of demons. For it is not of God to move toward what is contrary to nature; "whenever a demon plots evils for a man, he first injures his mind," but God, being perfectly good, is eternally a doer of good. Therefore, that there are some who are active, while the images are set up in honor of others, Troas and Parium are the greatest proof of this; the one has images of Neryllinus—a man of our own times—while Parium has those of Alexander and of Proteus; of Alexander, both the tomb and the image are still in the marketplace. The other statues of Neryllinus, then, are a public ornament, if indeed a city is adorned by these things, but one of them is believed both to give oracles and to heal the sick, and on account of these things the people of Troas both sacrifice and cover the statue with gold and crown it. And that of Alexander and that of Proteus (and you are not ignorant of this man, who cast himself into the fire at Olympia), the one is also said to give oracles, but to that of Alexander—"Ill-fated Paris, best in form, mad for women"—public sacrifices and festivals are conducted as to a god who hears. Is it, then, Neryllinus and Proteus and Alexander who perform these things at the statues, or is it the composition of the material? But the material is bronze, and what can bronze do by itself, which it is possible to remake again into another form, like the foot-basin of Amasis in Herodotus? But what more can Neryllinus and Proteus and Alexander for those who

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συνεστάναι, ἀλλ' ἀλόγῳ τύχῃ ἄγεσθαι καὶ φέρεσθαι, οὐκ εἰδότες ὅτι τῶν μὲν περὶ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου σύστασιν οὐδὲν ἄτακτον οὐδὲ ἀπημελημένον, ἀλλ' ἕκαστον αὐτῶν γεγονὸς λόγῳ, διὸ οὐδὲ τὴν ὡρισμένην ἐπ' αὐτοῖς παραβαίνουσι τάξιν, ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος κατὰ μὲν τὸν πεποιηκότα καὶ αὐτὸς εὐτάκτως ἔχει καὶ τῇ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν φύσει ἕνα καὶ κοινὸν [ἐπ]ἐχούσῃ λόγον καὶ τῇ κατὰ τὴν πλάσιν διαθέσει οὐ παραβαινούσῃ τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῇ νόμον καὶ τῷ τοῦ βίου τέλει ἴσῳ καὶ κοινῷ μένοντι, κατὰ δὲ τὸν ἴδιον ἑαυτῷ λόγον καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἐπέχοντος ἄρχοντος καὶ τῶν παρακολουθούντων δαιμόνων ἐνέργειαν ἄλλος ἄλλως φέρεται καὶ κινεῖται, κοινὸν πάντες τὸν ἐν αὑτοῖς ἔχοντες λογισμόν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα αὐτοὺς ἕλκοντες οἱ δαίμονές εἰσιν οἱ προειρημένοι, οἱ προστετηκότες τῷ ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερείων αἵματι καὶ ταῦτα περιλιχμώμενοι· οἱ δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀρέσκοντες θεοὶ καὶ ταῖς εἰκόσιν ἐπονομαζόμενοι, ὡς ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς κατ' αὐτοὺς ἱστορίας εἰδέναι, ἄνθρωποι γεγόνασιν. καὶ τοὺς μὲν δαίμονας εἶναι τοὺς ἐπιβατεύοντας τοῖς ὀνόμασιν πίστις ἡ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ἐνέργεια. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀποτέμνουσι τὰ αἰδοῖα, οἱ περὶ τὴν Ῥέαν, οἱ δὲ ἐγ κόπτουσιν ἢ ἐντέμνουσιν, οἱ περὶ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν. (καὶ ἡ μὲν ἐν Ταύροις φονεύει τοὺς ξένους.) ἐῶ γὰρ τοὺς ταῖς μαχαίραις καὶ τοῖς ἀστρα γάλοις αἰκιζομένους αὑτοὺς λέγειν ... καὶ ὅσα εἴδη δαιμόνων. οὐ γὰρ θεοῦ κινεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ παρὰ φύσιν· "ὅταν ὁ δαίμων ἀνδρὶ πορσύνῃ κακά, τὸν νοῦν ἔβλαψε πρῶτον", ὁ δὲ θεὸς τελείως ἀγαθὸς ὢν ἀϊδίως ἀγαθοποιός ἐστιν. τοῦ τοίνυν ἄλλους μὲν εἶναι τοὺς ἐνεργοῦντας, ἐφ' ἑτέρων δὲ ἀνίστασθαι τὰς εἰκόνας, ἐκεῖνο μέγιστον τεκμήριον, Τρωὰς καὶ Πάριον· ἡ μὲν Νερυλλίνου εἰκόνας ἔχει-ὁ ἀνὴρ τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς-τὸ δὲ Πάριον Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Πρωτέως· τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἔτι ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ ὁ τάφος καὶ ἡ εἰκών. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι ἀνδριάντες τοῦ Νερυλλίνου κόσμημά εἰσι δημόσιον, εἴπερ καὶ τούτοις κοσμεῖται πόλις, εἷς δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ χρηματίζειν καὶ ἰᾶσθαι νοσοῦντας νομίζεται, καὶ θύουσί τε δι' αὐτὰ καὶ χρυσῷ περιαλείφουσιν καὶ στεφανοῦσιν τὸν ἀνδριάντα οἱ Τρωαδεῖς. ὁ δὲ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ ὁ τοῦ Πρωτέως (τοῦτον δ' οὐκ ἀγνοεῖτε ·ίψαντα ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ πῦρ περὶ τὴν Ὀλυμπίαν), ὁ μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς λέγεται χρηματίζειν, τῷ δὲ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου-"∆ύσπαρι, εἶδος ἄριστε, γυναιμανές"-δημοτελεῖς ἄγονται θυσίαι καὶ ἑορταὶ ὡς ἐπηκόῳ θεῷ. πότερον οὖν ὁ Νερυλλῖνος καὶ ὁ Πρωτεὺς καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρός εἰσιν οἱ ταῦτα ἐνεργοῦντες περὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα ἢ τῆς ὕλης ἡ σύστασις; ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν ὕλη χαλκός ἐστιν, τί δὲ χαλκὸς δύναται καθ' αὑτόν, ὃν μεταποιῆσαι πάλιν εἰς ἕτερον σχῆμα ἔξεστιν, ὡς τὸν ποδονιπτῆρα ὁ παρὰ τῷ Ἡροδότῳ Ἄμασις; ὁ δὲ Νερυλλῖνος καὶ ὁ Πρωτεὺς καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος τί πλέον τοῖς