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

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, and another future? For how can the future pass by, if the present exists? And just as those sailing, as the ship is carried along, think through ignorance that the mountains are running, so also you do not know that you are running past, but that eternity stands still, until he who made it wills it to be. For why am I accused for saying what is mine, while you hasten to destroy all that is mine? For have you not been born in the same manner as we, having partaken of the same administration of the world? Why do you assert that wisdom exists with you alone, having no other sun nor courses of the stars, and a different birth and a death exceptional beyond other men? The grammarians have become for you the beginning of nonsense, and you who divide wisdom have been cut off from wisdom according to truth, and you have assigned the names of the parts to men; and you are ignorant of God, and warring with yourselves you overthrow one another. And for this reason you are all nothing, appropriating words for yourselves, but conversing like a blind man with a deaf man. Why do you hold carpenter's tools, not knowing how to build? Why do you take up arguments, while standing far off from the deeds? Puffed up by reputation, but humbled in misfortunes, you unreasonably misuse the figures of speech; for in public you parade, but you hide your doctrines in the corners. Having recognized you to be such, we have left you and no longer touch what is yours, but we follow the word of God. For why, O man, do you prepare the war of letters? And why do you clash their pronunciations together as in a fist-fight because of the lisping of the Athenians, when you ought to speak more naturally? For if you affect the Attic dialect though not being an Athenian, tell me the reason for not using the Doric dialect. How does the one seem to you more barbaric, and the other more pleasing for conversation? But if you hold to their culture, why do you contend with me, who choose the opinions of whatever doctrines I wish? For how is it not absurd not to punish a robber because of the name he is accused by, before learning the truth with accuracy, but to have hated us unexamined, with a prejudice of reviling? Diagoras was an Athenian, but you punished him for having divulged the Athenian mysteries, and while you read his Phrygian discourses, you have hated us. Possessing the commentaries of Leo, you are annoyed at the refutations from us; and having among yourselves the opinions of Apion concerning the gods in Egypt, you proclaim us as most godless. The tomb of Olympian Zeus is pointed out among you, even if one says the Cretans are liars. The assembly of the many gods is nothing; even if Epicurus, who despises them, acts as a torchbearer, I do not revere the rulers any more than God; according to

ἀναθέσεις, οἱ δὲ ἀναγινώσκοντες τῷ πίθῳ τῶν ∆αναΐδων. τί μοι μερίζετε τὸν χρόνον, λέγοντες τὸ μέν τι εἶναι παρῳχηκὸς αὐτοῦ, τὸ δὲ ἐνεστός, τὸ δὲ μέλλον; πῶς γὰρ δύναται παρελ θεῖν ὁ μέλλων, εἰ ἔστιν ὁ ἐνεστώς; ὥσπερ δὲ οἱ ἐμπλέοντες τῆς νεὼς φερομένης οἴονται διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν ὅτι τὰ ὄρη τρέ χουσιν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐ γινώσκετε παρατρέχοντας μὲν ὑμᾶς, ἑστῶτα δὲ τὸν αἰῶνα, μέχρις ἂν αὐτὸν ὁ ποιήσας εἶναι θελήσῃ. διὰ τί γὰρ ἐγκαλοῦμαι λέγων τὰ ἐμά, τὰ δέ μου πάντα καταλύειν σπεύδετε; μὴ γὰρ οὐχ ὑμεῖς κατὰ τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον ἡμῖν γεγένησθε, τῆς αὐτῆς τοῦ κόσμου διοικήσεως μετειληφότες; τί φάσκετε σοφίαν εἶναι παρ' ὑμῖν μόνοις, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἄλλον ἥλιον οὐδὲ ἀστέρων ἐπιφοιτήσεις καὶ γένεσιν διαφορωτέραν θάνατόν τε παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους ἐξαί ρετον; ἀρχὴ τῆς φλυαρίας ὑμῖν γεγόνασιν οἱ γραμματικοί, καὶ οἱ μερίζοντες τὴν σοφίαν τῆς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν σοφίας ἀπετμήθητε, τὰ δὲ ὀνόματα τῶν μερῶν ἀνθρώποις προσενείματε· καὶ τὸν μὲν θεὸν ἀγνοεῖτε, πολεμοῦντες δὲ ἑαυτοῖς ἀλλήλους καθαι ρεῖτε. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντες οὐδέν ἐστε, σφετερίζοντες μὲν τοὺς λόγους, διαλεγόμενοι δὲ καθάπερ τυφλὸς κωφῷ. τί κατέχετε σκεύη τεκτονικὰ τεκταίνειν μὴ γινώσκοντες; τί λόγους ἐπαναι ρεῖσθε τῶν ἔργων μακρὰν ἀφεστῶτες; φυσώμενοι μὲν διὰ δόξης, ἐν δὲ ταῖς συμφοραῖς ταπεινούμενοι παρὰ λόγον καταχρᾶσθε τοῖς σχήμασι· δημοσίᾳ μὲν γὰρ πομπεύετε, τοὺς δὲ λόγους ἐπὶ τὰς γωνίας ἀποκρύπτετε. τοιούτους ὑμᾶς ἐπιγνόντες καταλελοί παμεν καὶ τῶν ὑμετέρων οὐκέτι ψαύομεν, θεοῦ δὲ λόγῳ κατα κολουθοῦμεν. τί γάρ, ἄνθρωπε, τῶν γραμμάτων ἐξαρτύεις τὸν πόλεμον; τί δὲ ὡς ἐν πυγμῇ συγκρούεις τὰς ἐκφωνήσεις αὐτῶν διὰ τὸν Ἀθηναίων ψελλισμόν, δέον σε λαλεῖν φυσικώτερον; εἰ γὰρ Ἀττικίζεις οὐκ ὢν Ἀθηναῖος, λέγε μοι τοῦ μὴ ∆ωρί ζειν τὴν αἰτίαν· πῶς τὸ μὲν εἶναί σοι δοκεῖ βαρβαρικώτερον, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ὁμιλίαν ἱλαρώτερον; Eἰ δὲ σὺ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀντέχῃ παιδείας, τί μοι δόξας αἱρουμένῳ δογμάτων ὧν θέλω διαμάχῃ; πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄτοπον τὸν μὲν λῃστὴν διὰ τὸ ἐπικατηγορούμενον ὄνομα μὴ κολάζειν πρὶν ἢ τἀληθὲς ἐπ' ἀκριβείᾳ καταμανθάνειν, ἡμᾶς δὲ προλήμματι λοιδορίας ἀνεξετάστως μεμισηκέναι; ∆ιαγόρας Ἀθηναῖος ἦν, ἀλλὰ τοῦτον ἐξορχησάμενον τὰ παρ' Ἀθηναίοις μυστήρια τετι μωρήκατε καὶ τοῖς Φρυγίοις αὐτοῦ λόγοις ἐντυγχάνοντες ἡμᾶς μεμισήκατε. Λέοντος κεκτημένοι τὰ ὑπομνήματα πρὸς τοὺς ἀφ' ἡμῶν ἐλέγχους δυσχεραίνετε· καὶ τὰς περὶ τῶν κατ' Aἴγυπτον θεῶν δόξας Ἀπίωνος ἔχοντες παρ' ἑαυτοῖς ὡς ἀθεωτάτους ἡμᾶς ἐκκηρύσσετε. τάφος τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου ∆ιὸς καθ' ὑμᾶς δείκνυται κἂν ψεύδεσθαί τις τοὺς Κρῆτας λέγῃ. τῶν πολλῶν θεῶν ἡ ὁμήγυρις οὐδέν ἐστιν· κἂν ὁ καταφρονῶν αὐτῶν Ἐπίκουρος δᾳδουχῇ, τοὺς ἄρχοντας οὐδὲν πλέον σέβω τοῦ θεοῦ· κατά