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They call her Deo and Demeter, and though she was a mother, he madly had intercourse with her, and having begotten Pherephatta from her, he had her as a bedfellow and became the husband of his child. The 3.98 things mythologized about Ganymede and Leda and Danae and Semele and 3.98 Alcmene and the very many others, I am ashamed even to speak of, and I think I do a superfluous thing, going through these myths for those who know them and stirring up the poetic stench; a mythology which you, being ashamed, call false, but then again embrace as true theology. 3.99 Compare, therefore, the things mythologized by you concerning incorporeal, but created, natures, with the things said by us concerning the heavenly powers, and observe the difference; and with sound reasoning discern which of these two is more fitting for the invisible beings. For you will find, if you are willing to judge with a right vote, that the things worshipped by you are suitable not for holy angels, but for utterly wicked demons. 3.100 But since I have mentioned demons, I think it is of service to set forth also what we believe concerning them. For we say that these and their ruler, whom the divine oracles call Satan—and the name signifies the apostate according to the Hebrew tongue; and they also call him devil, as one who slanders God among men and who casts 3.101 strife and conflict among men themselves—we say that these were not created wicked from the beginning by the God of all, nor did they receive such a nature, but that by the perversion of their judgment they fell from better things to worse, and not being content with the things provided by the creator, but having longed for greater things, they received the passion of pride, and fell away and were stripped of the honor given from the beginning, then raged against men, as those honored with the divine image, and undertook the war against them; but that the creator guarded the race of men by the oversight of angels, so that the one attacking invisibly, using force and tyranny, might not without fear destroy those whom he hated through envy, but he did not prevent the competitive struggle, so that the contest might show who are the best, and they might become archetypes 3.102 of valor. For this reason, having prevented his violent assault by the guard of angels, he permitted the contest of thoughts, so that he might show the worthy victors to be worthy of the crowns, not having himself assigned him to the rank of an adversary, but having used his wickedness for a good purpose, just as physicians use vipers for the relief of diseases. 3.103 These things, therefore, we have been taught to believe concerning the opposing power; but what Plato thought about these things, one might most easily know by encountering what he wrote in the tenth book of the Laws; and he speaks thus: "Saying that a soul administers and dwells in all things that are moved in every way, is it not necessary to say that it also administers heaven? Of course. One or more? I will answer on your behalf. Let us then posit not fewer than two. The one that is a benefactor, and the one that is able to work the opposite." 3.104 Such things, then, he has written; and with how much absurdity these things are filled is immediately easy to perceive. For he has called the power that directs all visible and also invisible things 'soul'; and this, he said, governs not only the earth, but also the heaven. Then, having asked whether one should speak of one or more, he answered that one must not speak of fewer than two; and the one he called benefactor, the other the worker of opposites, and he assigned equal power to both the good and the wicked; and he said, moreover, that the creator of evil also governs the heaven. 3.105 But we say that the all-holy Spirit, whom the divine words also call Paraclete, directs and governs and sanctifies not only angels and archangels and the other companies of the heavenly beings, but also those of mankind who choose to be pious and who hold divine things in high esteem; but that the demons and their leader have been driven out not only from the vaults of heaven, but also the men of virtue

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∆ηὼ καὶ ∆ήμητρα ὀνομάζουσι, μητρί γε οὔσῃ, μανικῶς ἐπεμίγη, καὶ τὴν Φερέφατταν ἐξ αὐτῆς παιδο ποιησάμενος ξύνευνον ἔσχε καὶ γαμέτης ἐγένετο τῆς παιδός. Τὰ 3.98 δὲ Γανυμήδους πέρι καὶ Λήδας καὶ ∆ανάης καὶ Σεμέλης καὶ 3.98 Ἀλκμήνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν παμπόλλων μυθολογούμενα καὶ λέγειν αἰσχύνομαι, καὶ περιττὸν οἶμαι ποιεῖν πρὸς εἰδότας τούσδε τοὺς μύθους διεξιὼν καὶ τὴν ποιητικὴν δυσοσμίαν ἀνακινῶν, ὧν τὴν μυθολογίαν αἰσχυνόμενοι μὲν ἀποκαλεῖτε ψευδῆ, πάλιν δ' αὖ ὡς ἀληθῆ θεολογίαν ἀσπάζεσθε. 3.99 Παράθετε τοιγαροῦν τὰ παρ' ὑμῶν περὶ τῶν ἀσωμάτων μέν, γενητῶν δὲ φύσεων μυθολογούμενα τοῖς παρ' ἡμῶν περὶ τῶν ἐπου ρανίων δυνάμεων λεγομένοις, καὶ ἀθρήσατε τὸ διάφορον· καὶ λογισμῷ γε σώφρονι διακρίνατε, πότερα τούτοιν ταῖς ἀοράτοις οὐσίαις ἁρμοδιώτερα. Εὑρήσετε γάρ, ὀρθῇ γε ψήφῳ διαγινώσκειν ἐθέλοντες, οὐχ ἁγίοις ἀγγέλοις, ἀλλὰ δαίμοσι πρόσφορα παμπο νήροις τὰ παρ' ὑμῶν θρησκευόμενα. 3.100 Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ δαιμόνων ἐμνήσθην, προὔργου οἶμαι καὶ περὶ τούτων ἅ γε δοξάζομεν ἐπιδεῖξαι. Ἡμεῖς γὰρ τούτους καὶ τὸν τούτων γε ἄρχοντα, ὃν Σατανᾶν τὰ θεῖα προσαγορεύει λόγια-δηλοῖ δὲ τοὔνομα τὸν ἀποστάτην κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραίων φωνήν· καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ διάβολον, ὡς τὸν Θεὸν παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συκοφαντοῦντα καὶ αὐτοῖς γε τοῖς 3.101 ἀνθρώποις ἔριν πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ διαμάχην ἐμβάλλοντα-τού τους ἡμεῖς οὐ πονηροὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργηθῆναί φαμεν οὐδὲ τοιάνδε φύσιν λαχεῖν, ἀλλὰ τῇ παρα τροπῇ τῆς γνώμης ἀπὸ τῶν ἀμεινόνων εἰς τὰ χείρω μεταπεσεῖν καὶ τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ πεποιηκότος παρασχεθεῖσιν οὐκ ἀρκεσθέντας, ἀλλ' ὀρεχθέντας μειζόνων εἰσδέξασθαι μὲν τοῦ τύφου τὸ πάθος, ἐκπεσεῖν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆθεν δοθείσης γυμνωθῆναι τιμῆς, εἶτα κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὡς εἰκόνι θείᾳ τετιμημένων, λυττῆσαι καὶ τὸν κατ' αὐτῶν ἀναδέξασθαι πόλεμον· τὸν δὲ ποιητήν, τῇ μὲν τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐπιστασίᾳ φρουρῆσαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος, ὅπως μὴ βίᾳ καὶ τυραννίδι χρώμενος ὁ ἀοράτως ἐπιών, οὓς διὰ φθόνον ἐμίσησεν, ἀδεῶς διαφθείρῃ, τὴν δὲ ἀγωνιστικὴν οὐκέτι κωλῦσαι διαμάχην, ἵνα δείξῃ τοὺς ἀρίστους ἡ πάλη, καὶ γένωνται ἀνδρα 3.102 γαθίας ἀρχέτυπα. Οὗ δὴ εἵνεκα τὴν βιαίαν ἐκείνου προσβολὴν διακωλύσας, τῇ τῶν ἀγγέλων φρουρᾷ τὴν τῶν λογισμῶν ξυνεχώ ρησεν ἀγωνίαν, ὅπως τοὺς ἀξιονίκους ἀποφήνῃ τῶν στεφάνων ἀξίους, οὐκ αὐτὸς μὲν ἐκεῖνον εἰς ἀντιπάλου τάξιν ἀποκληρώσας, εἰς δέον δέ γε τῇ ἐκείνου πονηρίᾳ χρησάμενος, καθάπερ οἱ ἰατροὶ ταῖς ἐχίδναις εἰς νοσημάτων ἀπαλλαγήν. 3.103 Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμεῖς τῆς ἐναντίας πέρι δοξάζειν δυνάμεως ἐδιδάχθημεν· ὁ δέ γε Πλάτων ὁποῖα καὶ περὶ τῶνδε πεφρόνηκε, ῥᾷστα γνοίη τις ἂν ἐντυχών, οἷς ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψεν ἐν τῷ δεκάτῳ τῶν Νόμων· λέγει δὲ οὕτως· "Ψυχὴν δὲ διοικοῦσαν καὶ ἐνοι κοῦσαν πᾶσι τοῖς πανταχῇ κινουμένοις λέγοντας, οὐ καὶ τὸν οὐρα νὸν ἀνάγκη διοικεῖν φάναι; Τί μήν; Μίαν ἢ πλείους; Ἐγὼ ὑπὲρ σφῷν ἀποκρινοῦμαι. ∆υοῖν μὲν οὖν γέ που ἐλάττω μὴ τιθῶμεν. Τῆς τε εὐεργέτιδος καὶ τῆς τἀναντία δυναμένης ἐξεργάσασθαι." 3.104 Τοιαῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐκεῖνος γέγραφεν· ὅσης δὲ ταῦτα ἀτοπίας μεστά, αὐτίκα δὴ καταμαθεῖν εὐπετές. Ψυχὴν γὰρ δὴ κέκληκε τὴν τὰ ὁρώμενα πάντα καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα ἰθύνουσαν δύναμιν· ταύ την δὲ οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν οἰκονομεῖν ἔφησεν. Εἶτα ἐρόμενος, εἰ μίαν ἢ πλείους χρὴ λέγειν, ἀπεκρίνατο, ὡς οὐ δεῖ λέγειν τῶν δύο ἐλάττους· καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐκάλεσεν εὐεργέτιν, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐργάτιν, καὶ τὴν ἴσην καὶ τῇ ἀγαθῇ καὶ τῇ πονηρᾷ προσεκλήρωσε δύναμιν· καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν οἰκονομεῖν ἔφησε τὴν τῆς κακίας δημιουργόν. 3.105 Ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ μὲν πανάγιον Πνεῦμα, ὃν καὶ Παράκλητον οἱ θεῖοι προσαγορεύουσι λόγοι, ἰθύνειν καὶ κυβερνᾶν καὶ ἁγιάζειν οὐ μόνον ἀγγέλους καὶ ἀρχαγγέλους καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τῶν ἐπουρανίων ξυμμορίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς εὐσεβεῖν προαιρουμέ νους καὶ τὰ θεῖα περὶ πολλοῦ ποιουμένους φαμέν· τοὺς δέ γε δαίμονας καὶ τὸν τούτων ἡγούμενον οὐ μόνον τῶν οὐρανίων ἁψί δων ἐξεληλάσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς