§24. The so-called gods of one place are used as victims in another.

This, then, is no slight proof of their real godlessness. For, the gods for every city and country being many and various, and the one destroying the god of the other, the whole of them are destroyed by all. For those who are considered gods by some are offered as sacrifices and drink-offerings to the so-called gods of others, and the victims of some are conversely the gods of others. So the Egyptians serve the ox, and Apis, a calf, and others sacrifice these animals to Zeus. For even if they do not sacrifice the very animals the others have consecrated, yet by sacrificing their fellows they seem to offer the same. The Libyans have for god a sheep which they call Ammon, and in other nations this animal is slain as a victim to many gods. 2. The Indians worship Dionysus, using the name as a symbol for wine, and others pour out wine as an offering to the other gods. Others honour rivers and springs, and above all the Egyptians pay especial honour to water, calling them gods. And yet others, and even the Egyptians who worship the waters, use them to wash off the dirt from others and from themselves, and ignominiously throw away what is used. While nearly the whole of the Egyptian system of idols consists of what are victims to the gods of other nations, so that they are scorned even by those others for deifying what are not gods, but, both with others and even among themselves, propitiatory offerings and victims.

24 Ταῦτα δὲ οὐ μικρὸς ἔλεγχός ἐστι τῆς ἀληθῶς ἀθεότητος αὐτῶν. διαφόρων γὰρ ὄντων καὶ πολλῶν κατὰ πόλιν καὶ χώραν θεῶν, καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου τὸν τοῦ ἑτέρου ἀναιροῦντος θεόν, οἱ πάντες παρὰ πάντων ἀναιροῦνται. καὶ γὰρ οἱ παρ' ἄλλοις νομιζόμενοι θεοὶ τῶν παρ' ἄλ λοις λεγομένων θεῶν γίγνονται θυσίαι καὶ σπονδαί· καὶ ἄλλων αἱ θυσίαι, ἄλλων ἔμπαλίν εἰσι θεοί. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ τὸν βοῦν καὶ τὸν Ἄπιν μόσχον ὄντα σέβουσι· καὶ τούτους ἄλλοι τῷ ∆ιὶ θύουσι. κἂν γὰρ μὴ αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους οὓς ἀνατεθείκασι θύσωσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ὅμοια θύοντες, τὰ αὐτὰ προσάγειν δοκοῦσι. Λίβυες πρόβατον, ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἄμμωνα, θεὸν ἔχουσι· καὶ τοῦτο πολλοῖς παρ' ἑτέρων εἰς θυσίαν σφάζεται. Ἰνδοὶ τὸν ∆ιόνυσον θρησκεύουσι, συμβολικῶς οἶνον αὐτὸν ὀνομάζοντες· καὶ τοῦτον τοῖς ἄλλοις σπένδουσιν ἕτεροι. ἄλλοι ποταμοὺς καὶ κρήνας, καὶ πάντων μάλιστα Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ ὕδωρ προτετιμήκασι, καὶ θεοὺς ἀναγορεύουσι· καὶ ὅμως ἄλλοι, καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ οἱ ταῦτα θρησκεύοντες Αἰγύπτιοι, τοὺς τῶν ἄλλων ῥύπους, καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἀπονίπτονται τοῖς ὕδασι, καὶ τὸ λείψανον μετὰ ἀτιμίας ἐκρίπτουσι. σχεδὸν δὲ πᾶσα ἡ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων εἰδωλοποιία τῶν παρ' ἄλλοις θεῶν ἐστι θυσία· ὥστ' ἂν αὐτοὺς καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν ἐκείνων χλευάζεσθαι, ὅτι μὴ θεούς, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἔτι τε καὶ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀποτροπιάσματα καὶ θυσίας ὄντα θεοποιοῦσιν.