HORTATORY ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS BY SAINT JUSTIN, PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR.

 Alas, with my own eyes I see a dear man pursued around the wall and my heart grieves for him. And what he says about the other gods conspiring agains

 Artemis the archer, sister of the far-shooter. And against Leto stood the strong, helpful Hermes. These and such things Homer taught you about the god

 ...s of you you say have become of piety, some declaring water to be the beginning of all things, others air, others fire, others some other of the af

 Of all of them who had spoken, Thales, the eldest of them all, says that the principle of existing things is water for he says that all things are fr

 having denied it, later says in his conceptions that it is this very thing. Moreover, having formerly declared that everything that has come into bein

 having established for I do not attempt to prove these things from the divine histories among us alone, which you are not yet willing to believe beca

 to organize affairs in Egypt, but also to establish the warrior class with laws. And fourth, they say that Bocchoris the king became a lawgiver, a wis

 it happened that there were once God-fearing men, as you say the oracle declared: Only the Chaldeans obtained wisdom, and also the Hebrews, purely rev

 of wise men or orators, should one wish to make mention, he will find that they have written their own compositions in the letters of the Greeks. But

 it is fitting that it should appear clearly and manifestly. It is necessary, therefore, for you, O men of Greece, foreseeing the things to come and lo

 And in the Oracles it is thus: I adjure you, Heaven, the wise work of the great God, I adjure you, Voice of the Father, which He first uttered, When H

 the poem to fall from its meter, lest he should seem not to have first mentioned the name of the gods. But a little later he sets forth clearly and pl

 he should cause Meletus to be against himself, accusing him before the Athenians and saying: Plato does wrong and is a busybody, not believing in the

 that only disobedience was cast out, but not knowing that they were also persuaded that non-existent gods existed, they passed on the name of the gods

 light, constructs that which comes to be. But perhaps some, not wishing to abandon the doctrines of polytheism, will say that the demiurge himself sai

 having. For it does not seem to me that what was said by Phoenix was said simply: Not even if the god himself should promise me, scraping off old age,

 wishing to confirm what has been said of participation, Plato has written thus in these very words: God, then, as the old saying has it, holding the b

 having heard from one who had come back to life and was relating the things there, has written thus in his very words: For he said that he was present

 poetry, Diodorus, the most renowned of the historians, sufficiently teaches us. For he said that he, having been in Egypt, had learned that Nepenthes,

 to set up the battle-cry of much-lamented war They were eager to place Ossa upon Olympus, but upon Ossa Pelion with its shaking leaves, that heaven m

 and concerning the heaven that came into being that the created heaven, which he also named the firmament, this is the perceptible one that came into

 proclaimed by the name. For, fearing to call the gift of God Holy Spirit, lest he should seem to be an enemy of the Greeks by following the teaching

 supposed them to have the forms of men, you will find that they learned this also from the divine history. For since the history of Moses says, from t

 to you Socrates, the wisest of the wise, to whom even your oracle, as you yourselves say, testifies, saying: Of all men Socrates is the wisest, confes

 It will be easy for you to learn in part the true worship of God from the ancient Sibyl, who teaches you by oracles from some powerful inspiration, th

 it is clear that he said this about the oracle-givers, looking to the oracles of the Sibyl. For he spoke thus: When they succeed in saying many and gr

 Tatian's Address to the Greeks. Do not be so very hostile towards the barbarians, O men of Greece, nor be envious of their doctrines. For what pursuit

 very savagely, having imprisoned his own friend for not wanting to worship him, carried him around like a bear or a leopard. Indeed, he completely fol

 selecting places for their covetousness *** the prominent. But one ought not flatter the leaders with the prospect of kingship, but to wait until the

 I have chosen to order the unordered matter in you, and just as the Word, having been begotten in the beginning, in turn begot our creation for himsel

 not according to fate, but by the free will of those who choose, he foretold the outcomes of future events and he became a hinderer of wickedness thro

 with baubles of the earth he deceived the motherless and orphaned girl. Poseidon sails, Ares delights in wars, Apollo is a cithara player, Dionysus is

 of a kingdom, *** were turned into constellations by the shaping of letters? And how is Kronos, who was fettered and cast out of his kingdom, appointe

 of faith with glory become but the poor man and the most moderate, desiring the things that are his own, more easily gets by. Why, I ask, according to

 were zealous to be but the Lord of all allowed them to luxuriate until the world, having reached its end, should be dissolved, and the judge should a

 refusing a suffering god, they were shown to be fighters against God rather than God-fearing. You too are such men, O Greeks, talkative in words, but

 of the spirit But when the tabernacle is not of such a kind, man excels the beasts only in articulate speech, but in other respects his way of life i

 causes, when they happen, they ascribe to themselves, attacking whenever weariness overtakes them. But there are times when they themselves by a tempe

 For if it were so, much more would he ward off his own enemy from himself for being able to help others also, he will much more become his own avenge

 you? Therefore if you say that one ought not to fear death, sharing our doctrines, die not because of human vainglory, as Anaxarchus did, but for the

 Unable to explain those things, because of the impossibility of their theory, they have blamed the tides, and of the seas, one being weedy and the oth

 For what sort are your teachings? Who would not mock your public festivals, which, being celebrated under the pretext of wicked demons, turn men to di

 providing it, feeding it with the most ungodly bloodshed. For the robber kills for the sake of taking, but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake o

 dedications, and those who read are as with the jar of the Danaids. Why do you divide time for me, saying that one part of it is past, another present

 the conception which I have concerning all things, this I do not hide. Why do you advise me to deceive the state? Why, while saying to despise death,

 but again it will be dissolved, if we obey the word of God and do not scatter ourselves. For he has gained control of our possessions through a certai

 Archilochus flourished around the twenty-third Olympiad, in the time of Gyges the Lydian, five hundred years after the Trojan War. And concerning the

 the nonsense of affairs for the Greeks. For the pursuits of your customs are rather foolish through great glory and behave disgracefully through the w

 seeing the figures of the strife and of Eteocles, and not having thrown them into a pit with Pythagoras who made them, do you destroy along with them

 For what is difficult about men who have been shown to be ignorant being now refuted by a man of like passions? And what is strange, according to your

 maios. The time from Inachus until the capture of Ilium completes twenty generations and the proof is in this manner. The kings of the Argives were th

 our laws, and what the learned men among the Greeks have said, and how many and who they are who have mentioned them, will be shown in the treatise A

 God and what is the creation according to him, I present myself ready to you for the examination of the doctrines, while my way of life according to G

of a kingdom, *** were turned into constellations by the shaping of letters? And how is Kronos, who was fettered and cast out of his kingdom, appointed steward of fate? And how does he who no longer reigns grant kingdoms? Cast down, therefore, this nonsense and do not, through hating us unjustly, transgress the law. Metamorphosis has been made a myth for men; but among you, the gods also are transformed. Rhea becomes a tree, and Zeus a serpent on account of Persephone, and the sisters of Phaethon become poplars, and Leto an insignificant animal, on account of which Ortigia is now called Delos. A god, tell me, becomes a swan and assumes the form of an eagle and, for the sake of pouring wine for Ganymede, glorifies pederasty? Why should I worship gods who take bribes and are angry if they do not receive them? Let these have their fate; I do not wish to worship the planets. What is the Lock of Berenice? And where were its stars before the aforementioned died? And how is the dead Antinous, a beautiful youth, established in the moon? Who raised him up, unless perhaps, as with the kings, someone, mocking the god, was believed for saying for a reward through perjury that he had ascended to heaven, and¶having deified him in a similar way, was deemed worthy of honor and a gift? Why have you plundered my God? And why do you dishonor His creation? You sacrifice a sheep, and you also worship the same; A bull is in heaven, and you slay its image. The Man on his Knees crushes a wicked animal; and the eagle that devoured the man-maker Prometheus is honored. The swan is beautiful, because he was an adulterer; and the Dioscuri who live on alternate days are also beautiful, the abductors of the Leucippides. Helen is superior, leaving fair-haired Menelaus and following the turban-wearing and much-gilded Paris. Just and prudent is he who translated the prostituted woman to the Elysian fields. But the daughter of Tyndareus has not been made immortal, and Euripides wisely introduced the slaying of the aforementioned woman by Orestes. How then shall I accept a genesis according to fate, seeing such stewards of it? I do not wish to be a king, I do not want to be rich, I have declined military command, I have hated fornication, I do not practice sailing on account of greed, I do not compete for crowns, I am free from vainglory, I despise death, I am superior to every kind of disease, grief does not consume my soul. If I am a slave, I endure slavery; and if I am free, I do not pride myself on my noble birth. I see the same sun for all, and one death for all through pleasure and loss. The rich man sows, and the poor man partakes of the same crop; The wealthiest die and the beggars have the same end of life. The rich need more and on account of repute

βασιλείας, *** γραμμάτων σχηματουργίᾳ κατηστερίσθησαν; πῶς τε ὁ πεδηθεὶς Κρόνος καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἔκβλητος γενό μενος τῆς εἱμαρμένης οἰκονόμος καθίσταται; πῶς τε βασιλείας ὁ μηκέτι βασιλεύων δίδωσιν; καταβάλετε τοιγαροῦν τὸν λῆρον καὶ μὴ διὰ τὸ μισεῖν ἡμᾶς ἀδίκως παρανομήσητε. Μεταμόρφωσις ἀνθρώποις μεμυθολόγηται· μετα μορφοῦνται δὲ παρ' ὑμῖν καὶ οἱ θεοί. δένδρον ἡ Ῥέα γίνεται, δράκων δὲ ὁ Ζεὺς διὰ τὴν Φερσέφασσαν, αἴγειροί τε αἱ τοῦ Φαέθοντος ἀδελφαὶ καὶ ἡ Λητὼ ζῶον εὐτελές, δι' ἣν Ὀρτυγία ∆ῆλος ἡ νῦν κέκληται. θεός, εἰπέ μοι, κύκνος γίνεται καὶ τὴν ἀετοῦ μορφὴν ἀναλαμβάνει καὶ δι' οἰνοχοΐαν τοῦ Γανυμήδους τὴν παιδεραστίαν σεμνύνεται; τί μοι σέβειν θεοὺς δωρολήπτας καὶ ὀργιζομένους ἂν μὴ λάβωσιν; ἐχέτωσαν οὗτοι τὴν εἱμαρ μένην· τοὺς πλανήτας προσκυνεῖν οὐ βούλομαι. τίς ἐστιν ὁ Βερενίκης πλόκαμος; ποῦ δὲ οἱ ἀστέρες αὐτῆς πρὶν τὴν προ ειρημένην ἀποθανεῖν; πῶς δὲ ὁ τεθνεὼς Ἀντίνοος μειράκιον ὡραῖον ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ καθίδρυται; τίς ὁ ἀναβιβάσας αὐτόν, εἰ μήτι καὶ τοῦτον ὡς τοὺς βασιλέας μισθοῦ δι' ἐπιορκίας τις τοῦ θεοῦ καταγελῶν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεληλυθέναι φήσας πεπίστευται κ¶τα τὸν ὅμοιον θεολογήσας τιμῆς καὶ δωρεᾶς ἠξίωται; τί μου τὸν θεὸν σεσυλήκατε; τί δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν ποίη σιν ἀτιμάζετε; θύεις πρόβατον, τὸ δ' αὐτὸ καὶ προσκυνεῖς· ταῦρός ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα σφάττεις αὐτοῦ. ζῶον πονηρὸν ὁ Ἐν γόνασιν ἐκθλίβει· καὶ ὁ τὸν ἀνθρωποποιὸν Προμηθέα καταφαγὼν ἀετὸς τετίμηται. καλὸς ὁ κύκνος, ὅτι μοι χὸς ἦν· καλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἑτεροήμεροι ∆ιόσκοροι τῶν Λευκιππίδων οἱ ἁρπασταί. κρείττων ἡ Ἑλένη τὸν μὲν κάρη ξανθὸν Μενέ λαον καταλιποῦσα, τῷ δὲ μιτρηφόρῳ καὶ πολυχρύσῳ Πάριδι κατακολουθοῦσα. δίκαιος καὶ σώφρων ὁ τὴν ἐκπορνεύσασαν εἰς Ἠλύσια πεδία μετατεθεικώς. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἡ Τυνδαρὶς ἀπη θανάτισται, καὶ σοφῶς ὁ Eὐριπίδης ὑπὸ Ὀρέστου τῆς προειρη μένης γυναικὸς τὴν ἀναίρεσιν παρεισήγαγε. Πῶς οὖν γένεσιν τὴν καθ' εἱμαρμένην ἀποδέξομαι τοιούτους αὐτῆς τοὺς οἰκονόμους θεωρῶν; βασιλεύειν οὐ θέλω, πλουτεῖν οὐ βούλομαι, τὴν στρατηγίαν παρῄτημαι, πορνείαν μεμίσηκα, ναυτίλλεσθαι διὰ τὴν ἀπληστίαν οὐκ ἐπιτηδεύω, στε φάνους ἔχειν οὐκ ἀγωνίζομαι, δοξομανίας ἀπήλλαγμαι, θανά του καταφρονῶ, νόσου παντοδαπῆς ἀνώτερος γίνομαι, λύπη μου τὴν ψυχὴν οὐκ ἀναλίσκει. δοῦλος ἐὰν ὦ, τὴν δουλείαν ὑπομένω· κἂν ἐλεύθερος ὑπάρχω, τὴν εὐγένειαν οὐ σεμνύνομαι. τὸν ἥλιον ὁρῶ πάντων τὸν αὐτόν, ἕνα δὲ κατὰ πάντων τὸν θάνατον δι' ἡδονῆς καὶ ἐλαττώματος. ὁ πλούσιος σπείρει, καὶ ὁ πένης τῆς αὐτῆς σπορᾶς μεταλαμβάνει· τελευτῶσιν οἱ πλου σιώτατοι καὶ οἱ μεταιτοῦντες τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχουσι τοῦ βίου περι γραφήν. πλειόνων χρῄζουσιν οἱ πλουτοῦντες καὶ δι' ἀξιο