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

And private individuals dignified themselves with divine titles, as Menecrates the physician, who was surnamed Zeus. Why must I list Alexarchus (he was a grammarian by profession, as Aristus of Salamis relates, who fashioned himself 4.54.4 as Helios)?; Why must I also mention Nicagoras (he was a Zeleite by birth who lived in the time of Alexander; Nicagoras was addressed as Hermes and used 4.54.5 the costume of Hermes, as he himself testifies), when even whole nations and cities with all their men, stooping to flattery, debase the myths about the gods, men styling themselves equal to the gods, puffed up by glory, voting themselves excessive honors? At one time they legislate to worship in Cynosarges Philip of Macedon from Pella, son of Amyntas, him "with the broken collar-bone and the maimed leg," who was put out 4.54.6 in the eye; and again Demetrius they also proclaim a god; and where he dismounted from his horse on entering Athens, there is a temple of Demetrius Cataebates, and altars everywhere; and a marriage with Athena was arranged for him by the Athenians; but he scorned the goddess, being unable to marry the statue; and having Lamia the courtesan he went up to the acropolis and sported in the bridal chamber of Athena, showing to the ancient maiden the postures of the young courtesan. 4.55.1 There is no cause for indignation, then, not even with Hippon immortalizing his own death; this Hippon ordered to be inscribed on his own tomb this elegy: This is the tomb of Hippon, whom Fate, when he had perished, made equal to the immortal gods. Well done, Hippon, you show us human error. For even if they did not believe you when you were speaking, let them become disciples of a dead man. This is an oracle of Hippon; let us understand it. 4.55.2 Those worshipped among you, having once been men, have then certainly died; and myth and time have honored them. For somehow present things tend to be despised through familiarity, while past things, separated from immediate refutation, are honored by fabrication through the uncertainty of time, and some things 4.55.3 are disbelieved, while others are even admired. For instance, the dead of old, being dignified by the long duration of the error, are considered gods by posterity. A proof of these things for you are your mysteries themselves, the festivals, bonds and wounds and weeping gods; Ah, woe is me, that Sarpedon, dearest of men to me, is fated to be slain by Patroclus, son of Menoetius. 4.55.4 The will of Zeus has been overcome and your Zeus wails for Sarpedon, having been conquered. With good reason, then, you yourselves have called them idols and demons, since Homer, honoring Athena herself and the other gods with wickedness, called them demons: But she had gone to Olympus, to the halls of aegis-bearing Zeus with the other demons. 4.55.5 How then are idols and demons still gods, being truly abominable and unclean spirits, confessed by all to be earthly and dreadful, sinking downwards, "grovelling about tombs and monuments," around which indeed they appear dimly, "shadowy phantoms"? 4.56.1 These are your gods, these idols, these shadows, and besides these, those "lame" and "wrinkled, with eyes askance," the Prayers, daughters of Thersites rather than of Zeus, so that Bion seems to me to have said wittily, how could men justly ask from Zeus for fair children, which 4.56.2 he was not even able to provide for himself? Alas for the impiety! The pure essence, as far as in you lies, you bury in the earth, and that unstained and holy thing you have covered over with tombs, 4.56.3 having robbed the truly existing essence of its divinity. Why then have you assigned the prerogatives of God to non-gods? And why, having forsaken heaven, have you honored the earth? For what else is gold or silver or adamant or iron or bronze or ivory or precious stones? Are they not earth and from the earth? And not of one mother

καὶ ἰδιῶται θείαις προσηγορίαις σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐσέμνυνον, ὡς Μενεκράτης ὁ ἰατρός, Ζεὺς οὗτος ἐπικεκλημένος. Τί με δεῖ καταλέγειν Ἀλέξαρχον (γραμματικὸς οὗτος τὴν ἐπιστήμην γεγονώς, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Ἄριστος ὁ Σαλαμίνιος, αὑτὸν κατεσχη 4.54.4 μάτιζεν εἰς Ἥλιον); Τί δεῖ καὶ Νικαγόρου μεμνῆσθαι (Ζελείτης τὸ γένος ἦν κατὰ τοὺς Ἀλεξάνδρου γεγονὼς χρόνους· Ἑρμῆς προσηγορεύετο ὁ Νικαγόρας καὶ τῇ 4.54.5 στολῇ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ ἐκέχρητο, ὡς αὐτὸς μαρτυρεῖ), ὅπου γε καὶ ὅλα ἔθνη καὶ πόλεις αὔτανδροι, κολακείαν ὑποδυόμεναι, ἐξευτελίζουσιν τοὺς μύθους τοὺς περὶ τῶν θεῶν, ἰσοθέους ἄνθρωποι κατασχηματίζοντες ἑαυτούς, ὑπὸ δόξης πεφυση μένοι, ἐπιψηφιζόμενοι τιμὰς ἑαυτοῖς ὑπερόγκους; Νῦν μὲν τὸν Μακεδόνα τὸν ἐκ Πέλλης τὸν Ἀμύντου Φίλιππον ἐν Κυνοσάργει νομοθετοῦντες προσκυνεῖν, τὸν "τὴν κλεῖν κατεαγότα καὶ τὸ σκέλος πεπηρωμένον", ὃς ἐξεκόπη τὸν 4.54.6 ὀφθαλμόν· αὖθις δὲ τὸν ∆ημήτριον θεὸν καὶ αὐτὸν ἀναγο ρεύοντες· καὶ ἔνθα μὲν ἀπέβη τοῦ ἵππου Ἀθήναζε εἰσιών, Καταιβάτου ἱερόν ἐστι ∆ημητρίου, βωμοὶ δὲ πανταχοῦ· καὶ γάμος ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων αὐτῷ ὁ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ηὐτρεπίζετο· ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν θεὸν ὑπερηφάνει, τὸ ἄγαλμα γῆμαι μὴ δυνά μενος· Λάμιαν δὲ τὴν ἑταίραν ἔχων εἰς ἀκρόπολιν ἀνῄει καὶ τῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐνεφυρᾶτο παστῷ, τῇ παλαιᾷ παρθένῳ τὰ τῆς νέας ἐπιδεικνὺς ἑταίρας σχήματα. 4.55.1 Οὐ νέμεσις τοίνυν οὐδὲ Ἵππωνι ἀπαθανατίζοντι τὸν θάνατον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ· ὁ Ἵππων οὗτος ἐπιγραφῆναι ἐκέλευσεν τῷ μνήματι τῷ ἑαυτοῦ τόδε τὸ ἐλεγεῖον· Ἵππωνος τόδε σῆμα, τὸν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν ἶσον ἐποίησεν Μοῖρα καταφθίμενον. Εὖ γε, Ἵππων, ἐπιδεικνύεις ἡμῖν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην πλάνην. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ λαλοῦντί σοι μὴ πεπιστεύκασι, νεκροῦ γενέσθωσαν μαθηταί. Χρησμὸς οὗτός ἐστιν Ἵππωνος· νοήσωμεν αὐτόν. 4.55.2 Οἱ προσκυνούμενοι παρ' ὑμῖν, ἄνθρωποι γενόμενοί ποτε, εἶτα μέντοι τεθνᾶσιν· τετίμηκεν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁ μῦθος καὶ ὁ χρόνος. Φιλεῖ γάρ πως τὰ μὲν παρόντα συνηθείᾳ καταφρο νεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ παρῳχηκότα τοῦ παραυτίκα ἐλέγχου κεχω ρισμένα χρόνων ἀδηλίᾳ τετιμῆσθαι τῷ πλάσματι, καὶ τὰ 4.55.3 μὲν ἀπιστεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι. Αὐτίκα γοῦν οἱ παλαιοὶ νεκροὶ τῷ πολλῷ τῆς πλάνης χρόνῳ σεμνυνόμενοι τοῖς ἔπειτα νομίζονται θεοί. Πίστις ὑμῖν τῶνδε αὐτὰ ὑμῶν τὰ μυστήρια, αἱ πανηγύρεις, δεσμὰ καὶ τραύματα καὶ δακρύοντες θεοί· ὤ μοι ἐγώ, ὅτε μοι Σαρπηδόνα φίλτατον ἀνδρῶν μοῖρ' ὑπὸ Πατρόκλοιο Μενοιτιάδαο δαμῆναι. 4.55.4 Κεκράτηται τὸ θέλημα τοῦ ∆ιὸς καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς ὑμῖν διὰ Σαρπηδόνα οἰμῴζει νενικημένος. Εἴδωλα γοῦν εἰκότως αὐτοὺς καὶ δαίμονας ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ κεκλήκατε, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν αὐτὴν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς κακίᾳ τιμήσας Ὅμηρος δαίμονας προσηγόρευσεν· ἡ δ' Οὐλυμπόνδε βεβήκει δώματ' ἐς αἰγιόχοιο ∆ιὸς μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους. 4.55.5 Πῶς οὖν ἔτι θεοὶ τὰ εἴδωλα καὶ οἱ δαίμονες, βδελυρὰ ὄντως καὶ πνεύματα ἀκάθαρτα, πρὸς πάντων ὁμολογούμενα γήινα καὶ δεισαλέα, κάτω βρίθοντα, "περὶ τοὺς τάφους καὶ τὰ μνημεῖα καλινδούμενα", περὶ ἃ δὴ καὶ ὑποφαίνονται ἀμυ δρῶς "σκιοειδῆ φαντάσματα"; 4.56.1 Ταῦθ' ὑμῶν οἱ θεοὶ τὰ εἴδωλα, αἱ σκιαὶ καὶ πρὸς τούτοις "χωλαὶ" ἐκεῖναι καὶ "ῥυσαί, παραβλῶπες ὀφθαλμῶν", αἱ Λιταὶ αἱ Θερσίτου μᾶλλον ἢ ∆ιὸς θυγατέρες, ὥστε μοι δοκεῖν χαριέντως φάναι τὸν Βίωνα, πῶς ἂν ἐνδίκως οἱ ἄνθρωποι παρὰ τοῦ ∆ιὸς αἰτήσονται τὴν εὐτεκνίαν, ἣν 4.56.2 οὐδ' αὑτῷ παρασχεῖν ἴσχυσεν; Οἴμοι τῆς ἀθεότητος· τὴν ἀκήρατον οὐσίαν, τὸ ὅσον ἐφ' ὑμῖν, κατορύττετε καὶ τὸ ἄχραντον ἐκεῖνο καὶ τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς τάφοις ἐπικεχώκατε, 4.56.3 τῆς ἀληθῶς ὄντως οὐσίας συλήσαντες τὸ θεῖον. Τί δὴ οὖν τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς οὐ θεοῖς προσενείματε γέρα; Τί δὲ κατα λιπόντες τὸν οὐρανὸν τὴν γῆν τετιμήκατε; Τί δ' ἄλλο χρυσὸς ἢ ἄργυρος ἢ ἀδάμας ἢ σίδηρος ἢ χαλκὸς ἢ ἐλέφας ἢ λίθοι τίμιοι; Οὐχὶ γῆ τε καὶ ἐκ γῆς; οὐχὶ δὲ μιᾶς μητρὸς