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

the nonsense of affairs for the Greeks. For the pursuits of your customs are rather foolish through great glory and behave disgracefully through the women's quarters. For Lysippus made a bronze statue of Praxilla, who said nothing useful in her poems, and Menestratus of Learehis, and Silanion of Sappho the courtesan, Naucydes of Erinna the Lesbian, Boiscus of Myrtis, Cephisodotus of Myro the Byzantine, Gomphus of Praxagoris and Amphistratus of Cleito. For what should I say about Anyte and Telesilla and Nossis? For of the first, Euthycrates and Cephisodotus are the artists; of the second, Niceratus; of the third, Aristodotus. Euthycrates of Mnesarchis the Ephesian, Silanion of Corinna, Euthycrates of Thaliarchis the Argive. I was eager to speak of these women, so that you might not think that anything strange is done among us, and so that, by comparing the practices before your eyes, you might not mock the women who philosophize among us. And Sappho was a whorish, love-mad little woman, and she sings of her own wantonness; but all the women among us are chaste, and at their distaffs the virgins speak forth utterances concerning God more earnestly than your girl. For this reason, be ashamed, you who are found to be pupils of little women, while you mock those who are members of our community, together with their assembly. For what noble thing did Glaucippe introduce to you, she who gave birth to a monstrous child, as her statue shows, which Niceratus, the son of Eutemon, an Athenian by birth, wrought in bronze? For if she gave birth to an elephant, what is the reason for Glaucippe to enjoy public honor? Praxiteles and Herodotus have made for you Phryne the courtesan, and Euthycrates wrought in bronze Panteuchis conceiving from a seducer. Besantis, the queen of the Paeonians, because she bore a black child, Deinomenes caused to be commemorated through his own art. I also condemn Pythagoras for setting up Europa on the bull, and you, who have honored the accuser of Zeus on account of his art. I also laugh at the skill of Mycon who made a calf, and upon it a Victory, because having snatched away the daughter of Agenor, he carried off the prize for adultery and licentiousness. Why did Herodotus the Olynthian make Glycera the courtesan and Argeia the harpist? Bryaxis set up Pasiphae, whose licentiousness you recall and all but choose that the women of today be such as she. A certain Melanippe was wise; for this reason Lysistratus made her statue; but you have not believed that wise women exist among us. Truly august also is the tyrant Phalaris, who, feasting on suckling children, is displayed even now through the work of Polystratus the Ambraciot as some admirable man. And while the Acragantines feared to look upon his aforesaid face because of his cannibalism, those who care for culture boast that they behold him through a statue. For how is it not grievous that fratricide is honored among you, who Poly-

Ἕλλησι πραγμάτων τὸν λῆρον. ληραίνει γὰρ μᾶλλον διὰ δόξης πολλῆς τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν ἐθῶν τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα καὶ διὰ τῆς γυ ναικωνίτιδος ἀσχημονεῖ. Πράξιλλαν μὲν γὰρ Λύσιππος ἐχαλ κούργησεν μηδὲν εἰποῦσαν διὰ τῶν ποιημάτων χρήσιμον, Λεαρχίδα δὲ Μενέστρατος, Σιλανίων δὲ Σαπφὼ τὴν ἑταίραν, Ἤρινναν τὴν Λεσβίαν Ναυκύδης, Βοΐσκος Μυρτίδα, Μυρὼ τὴν Βυζαν τίαν Κηφισόδοτος, Γόμφος Πραξαγορίδα καὶ Ἀμφίστρατος Κλειτώ. τί γάρ μοι περὶ Ἀνύτης λέγειν Τελεσίλλης τε καὶ Νοσσίδος; τῆς μὲν γὰρ Eὐθυκράτης τε καὶ Κηφισόδοτος, τῆς δὲ Νικήρατος, τῆς δὲ Ἀριστόδοτός εἰσιν οἱ δημιουργοί· Μνη σαρχίδος τῆς Ἐφεσίας Eὐθυκράτης, Κορίννης Σιλανίων, Θα λιαρχίδος τῆς Ἀργείας Eὐθυκράτης. ταύτας δὲ εἰπεῖν προὐθυ μήθην, ἵνα μηδὲ παρ' ἡμῖν ξένον τι πράττεσθαι νομίζητε καὶ συγκρίναντες τὰ ὑπ' ὄψιν ἐπιτηδεύματα μὴ χλευάζητε τὰς πάρ' ἡμῖν φιλοσοφούσας. καὶ ἡ μὲν Σαπφὼ γύναιον πορνικὸν ἐρω τομανές, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἀσέλγειαν ᾄδει· πᾶσαι δὲ αἱ παρ' ἡμῖν σωφρονοῦσιν, καὶ περὶ τὰς ἠλακάτας αἱ παρθένοι τὰ κατὰ θεὸν λαλοῦσιν ἐκφωνήματα σπουδαιότερον τῆς παρ' ὑμῖν παιδός. τούτου χάριν αἰδέσθητε, μαθηταὶ μὲν ὑμεῖς τῶν γυναίων εὑρισκόμενοι, τὰς δὲ σὺν ἡμῖν πολιτευομένας σὺν τῇ μετ' αὐτῶν ὁμηγύρει χλευάζοντες. τί γὰρ ὑμῖν ἡ Γλαυκίππη σεμνὸν εἰση γήσατο, παιδίον ἥτις τεράστιον ἐγέννησεν καθὼς δείκνυσιν αὐ τῆς ἡ εἰκών, Νικηράτου τοῦ Eὐκτήμονος Ἀθηναίου τὸ γένος χαλκεύσαντος; εἰ γὰρ ἐκύησεν ἐλέφαντα, τί τὸ αἴτιον τοῦ δημο σίας ἀπολαῦσαι τιμῆς τὴν Γλαυκίππην; Φρύνην τὴν ἑταίραν ὑμῖν Πραξιτέλης καὶ Ἡρόδοτος πεποιήκασιν, καὶ Παντευχίδα συλλαμβάνουσαν ἐκ φθορέως Eὐθυκράτης ἐχαλκούργησεν. Βη σαντίδα τὴν Παιόνων βασίλισσαν, ὅτι παιδίον μέλαν ἐκύησεν, ∆εινομένης διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τέχνης μνημονεύεσθαι παρεσκεύασεν. ἐγὼ καὶ Πυθαγόρου κατέγνωκα τὴν Eὐρώπην ἐπὶ τοῦ ταύρου καθιδρύσαντος καὶ ὑμῶν, οἵτινες τοῦ ∆ιὸς τὸν κατήγορον διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τέχνην τετιμήκατε. γελῶ καὶ τὴν Μίκωνος ἐπιστήμην μόσχον ποιήσαντος, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ Νίκην, ὅτι τὴν Ἀγή νορος ἁρπάσας θυγατέρα μοιχείας καὶ ἀκρασίας βραβεῖον ἀπηνέγ κατο. διὰ τί Γλυκέραν τὴν ἑταίραν καὶ Ἀργείαν τὴν ψάλτριαν ὁ Ὀλύνθιος Ἡρόδοτος κατεσκεύασεν; Βρύαξις Πασιφάην ἔστη σεν, ἧς τὴν ἀσέλγειαν μνημονεύσαντες μονονουχὶ καὶ τὰς γυ ναῖκας τὰς νῦν τοιαύτας εἶναι προῄρησθε. Μελανίππη τις ἦν σοφή· διὰ τοῦτο ταύτην ὁ Λυσίστρατος ἐδημιούργησεν· ὑμεῖς δὲ εἶναι παρ' ἡμῖν σοφὰς οὐ πεπιστεύκατε. Πάνυ γοῦν σεμνὸς καὶ ὁ τύραννος Φάλαρις, ὃς τοὺς ἐπιμαστιδίους θοινώμενος παῖδας διὰ τῆς Πολυστράτου τοῦ Ἀμπρακιώτου κατασκευῆς μέχρι νῦν ὥς τις ἀνὴρ θαυμαστὸς δείκνυται· καὶ οἱ μὲν Ἀκραγαντῖνοι βλέπειν αὐτοῦ τὸ πρόσωπον τὸ προειρημένον διὰ τὴν ἀνθρωποφαγίαν ἐδεδίεσαν, οἷς δὲ μέλον ἐστὶ παιδείας αὐχοῦσιν ὅτι δι' εἰκόνος αὐτὸν θεωροῦσι. πῶς γὰρ οὐ χαλεπὸν ἀδελφοκτονίαν παρ' ὑμῖν τετιμῆσθαι, οἳ Πολυ