23

it is not lawful for them to sacrifice female animals, but they are sacred to Isis; <for that of Isis> statue, being female, is horned like a cow, just as the Greeks depict Io". And who would be more believed when saying these things than those who, by succession of family, son from father, inherit both the priesthood and the history? For it is not likely that the temple-keepers who dignify the idols would themselves lie. If, then, Herodotus said that the Egyptians give accounts of the gods as if they were men, and when Herodotus says, "Now, as for the divine part of my accounts, such as I heard, I am not eager to relate them, except for their names alone," we should have very little reason to disbelieve him as a myth-maker; but since Alexander and Hermes, called Trismegistus, connecting their own lineage to them, and countless others, so that I do not list them one by one, there is no argument left that they, being kings, were not considered gods. And that they were men, is made clear by even the most learned of the Egyptians, who, while calling the ether, earth, sun, and moon gods, consider the others to be mortal men and their tombs to be temples; it is also made clear by Apollodorus in his work On the Gods. And Herodotus says that their sufferings are mysteries: "In the city of Busiris, how they celebrate the festival for Isis has been told by me before. For after the sacrifice they all, men and women, beat themselves, a very great many thousands of people. But in what manner they beat themselves, it is not pious for me to say." If they are gods, they are also immortal; but if they are beaten and their sufferings are mysteries, they are men. The same Herodotus: "And the tomb of him whose name I do not consider it pious to utter in such a matter is in Sais in the temple of Athena, behind the shrine, adjoining the whole of Athena's wall. And there is an adjoining lake, adorned with a circular stone-lined brink, of a size, as it seems to me, as great as that in Delos called the Trochoides. And in this lake at night <they perform the> representations of his sufferings which the Egyptians call mysteries". And not only is the tomb of Osiris shown, but also his embalmed body: "Whenever a corpse is brought to them, they show the bearers wooden models of corpses, imitated by painting; and the most elaborate of them they say is of him whose name I do not consider it pious to name in such a matter." But also the wise among the Greeks in poetry and history, concerning Heracles, a cruel man, he did not respect the voice of the gods nor the table which he set before him; then he killed him too, Iphitus. Being such a man, he reasonably went mad, and reasonably lit a pyre and burned himself.

23

θηλείας οὔ σφιν ἔξεστι θύειν, ἀλλὰ ἱραί εἰσι τῆς Ἴσιδος· <τὸ γὰρ τῆς Ἴσιδος> ἄγαλμα ἐὸν γυναικήιον βούκερών ἐστι, καθάπερ οἱ Ἕλληνες τὴν Ἰοῦν γράφουσιν". τίνες δ' ἂν μᾶλλον ταῦτα πιστευθεῖεν λέγοντες ἢ οἱ κατὰ διαδοχὴν γένους παῖς παρὰ πατρός, ὡς τὴν ἱερωσύνην καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν διαδεχόμενοι; οὐ γὰρ τοὺς σεμνοποιοῦντας ζακόρους τὰ εἴδωλα εἰκὸς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοὺς γενέσθαι ψεύδεσθαι. εἰ τοίνυν Ἡρόδοτος ἔλεγεν περὶ τῶν θεῶν ὡς περὶ ἀνθρώπων ἱστορεῖν Aἰγυπτίους, καὶ λέγοντι τῷ Ἡροδότῳ "τὰ μέν νυν θεῖα τῶν ἀφηγημάτων, οἷα ἤκουον, οὐκ εἰμὶ πρόθυμος διηγεῖσθαι, ἔξω ἢ τὰ ὀνόματα αὐτέων μοῦνα" ἐλάχιστα μὴ πιστεύειν ὡς μυθοποιῷ ἔδει· ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος καὶ Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος ἐπικαλούμενος συνάπτων τὸ ἴδιον αὐτοῖς γένος καὶ ἄλλοι μυρίοι, ἵνα μὴ καθ' ἕκαστον καταλέγοιμι, οὐδὲ λόγος ἔτι καταλείπεται βασιλεῖς ὄντας αὐτοὺς μὴ νενομίσθαι θεούς. καὶ ὅτι μὲν ἄνθρωποι, δηλοῦσιν μὲν καὶ Aἰγυπτίων οἱ λογιώτατοι, οἳ θεοὺς λέγοντες αἰθέρα, γῆν, ἥλιον, σελήνην, τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους θνητοὺς νομίζουσιν καὶ ἱερὰ τοὺς τάφους αὐτῶν· δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν τῷ περὶ θεῶν. Ἡρόδοτος δὲ καὶ τὰ παθήματα αὐτῶν φησι μυστήρια· "ἐν δὲ Βουσίρι πόλει ὡς ἀνάγουσι τῇ Ἴσι τὴν ἑορτήν, εἴρηται πρότερόν μοι. τύπτονται γὰρ δὴ μετὰ τὴν θυσίην πάντες καὶ πᾶσαι, μυριάδες κάρτα πολλαὶ ἀνθρώπων. τὸν δὲ τύπτονται τρόπον, οὔ μοι ὅσιόν ἐστιν λέγειν." εἰ θεοί, καὶ ἀθάνατοι, εἰ δὲ τύπτονται καὶ τὰ πάθη ἐστὶν αὐτῶν μυστήρια, ἄνθρωποι. ὁ αὐτὸς Ἡρόδοτος· "εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ αἱ ταφαὶ τοῦ οὐχ ὅσιον ποιοῦμαι ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ πράγματι ἐξαγορεύειν τὸ ὄνομα, ἐν Σάι ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Ἀθηναίης, ὄπισθεν τοῦ νηοῦ, παντὸς τῆς Ἀθηναίης ἐχόμενον τοίχου. λίμνη δ' ἐστὶν ἐχομένη λιθίνῃ κρηπῖδι κεκοσμημένη ἐν κύκλῳ, μέγεθος, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει, ὅση περ ἐν ∆ήλῳ ἡ τροχοειδὴς καλεομένη. ἐν δὲ τῇ λίμνῃ ταύτῃ τὰ δείκηλα τῶν παθέων αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς <ποιοῦσι τὰ> καλέουσι μυστήρια Aἰγύπτιοι". καὶ οὐ μόνον ὁ τάφος τοῦ Ὀσίριδος δείκνυται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταριχεία· "ἐπεάν σφισιν κομισθῇ νεκρός, δεικνύασι τοῖσι κομίσασι παραδείγματα νεκρῶν ξύλινα τῇ γραφῇ μεμιμημένα· καὶ τὴν μὲν σπουδαιοτάτην αὐτέων φασὶν εἶναι τοῦ οὐχ ὅσιον ποιοῦμαι οὔνομα ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ πράγματι ὀνομάζειν." Ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἑλλήνων οἱ περὶ ποίησιν καὶ ἱστορίαν σοφοὶ περὶ μὲν Ἡρακλέους σχέτλιος, οὐδὲ θεῶν ὄπιν ᾐδέσατ' οὐδὲ τράπεζαν τὴν ἥν οἱ παρέθηκεν· ἔπειτα δὲ πέφνε καὶ αὐτόν, Ἴφιτον. τοιοῦτος ὢν εἰκότως μὲν ἐμαίνετο, εἰκότως δὲ ἀνάψας πυρὰν κατέκαυσεν αὑτόν.