Theophilus of Antioch, Theophilus to Autolycus

And that evil-doers must necessarily be punished in proportion to their deeds, has already been, as it were, oracularly uttered by some of the poets, as a witness both against themselves and against the wicked, declaring that they shall be punished. Æschylus said:—

“He who has done must also suffer.”

And Pindar himself said:—

“It is fit that suffering follow doing.”

So, too, Euripides:—

“The deed rejoiced you—suffering endure;

The taken enemy must needs be pain’d.”

And again:—

“The foe’s pain is the hero’s meed.”

And, similarly, Archilochus:—

“One thing I know, I hold it ever true,

The evil-doer evil shall endure.”

And that God sees all, and that nothing escapes His notice, but that, being long-suffering, He refrains until the time when He is to judge—concerning this, too, Dionysius said:—

“The eye of Justice seeing all,

Yet seemeth not to see.”

And that God’s judgment is to be, and that evils will suddenly overtake the wicked,—this, too, Æschylus declared, saying:—

“Swift-footed is the approach of fate,

And none can justice violate,

But feels its stern hand soon or late.

“’Tis with you, though unheard, unseen;

You draw night’s curtain in between,

But even sleep affords no screen.

“’Tis with you if you sleep or wake;

And if abroad your way you take,

Its still, stern watch you cannot break.

“’Twill follow you, or cross your path;

And even night no virtue hath

To hide you from th’ Avenger’s wrath.

“To show the ill the darkness flees;

Then, if sin offers joy or ease,

Oh stop, and think that some one sees!”

And may we not cite Simonides also?—

“To men no evil comes unheralded;

But God with sudden hand transforms all things.”

Euripides again:—

“The wicked and proud man’s prosperity

Is based on sand: his race abideth not;

And time proclaims the wickedness of men.”

Once more Euripides:—

“Not without judgment is the Deity,

But sees when oaths are struck unrighteously,

And when from men unwilling they are wrung.”

And Sophocles:—

“If ills you do, ills also you must bear.”

That God will make inquiry both concerning false swearing and concerning every other wickedness, they themselves have well-nigh predicted. And concerning the conflagration of the world, they have, willingly or unwillingly, spoken in conformity with the prophets, though they were much more recent, and stole these things from the law and the prophets. The poets corroborate the testimony of the prophets.

Ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τινες ὡσπερεὶ λόγια ἑαυτοῖς ἐξεῖπον ταῦτα καὶ εἰς μαρτύριον τοῖς τὰ ἄδικα πράσσουσι λέγοντες ὅτι μέλλουσιν κολάζεσθαι. Aἰσχύλος ἔφη· ∆ράσαντι γάρ τοι καὶ παθεῖν ὀφείλεται. Πίνδαρος δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἔφη· Ἐπεὶ ·έζοντά τι καὶ παθεῖν ἔοικεν. ὡσαύτως καὶ Eὐριπίδης· Ἀνάσχου πάσχων· δρῶν γὰρ ἔχαιρες. νόμου τὸν ἐχθρὸν δρᾶν, ὅπου λάβῃς, κακῶς. καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτός· Ἐχθροὺς κακῶς δρᾶν ἀνδρὸς ἡγοῦμαι μέρος. ὁμοίως καὶ Ἀρχίλοχος· Ἓν δ' ἐπίσταμαι μέγα, τὸν κακῶς δρῶντα δεινοῖς ἀνταμείβεσθαι κακοῖς. Καὶ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐφορᾷ καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὸν λανθάνει, μακρόθυμος δὲ ὢν ἀνέχεται ἕως οὗ μέλλει κρίνειν, καὶ περὶ τούτου ∆ιονύσιος εἴρηκεν· Ὁ τῆς ∆ίκης ὀφθαλμὸς ὡς δι' ἡσύχου λεύσσων προσώπου πάνθ' ὁμῶς ἀεὶ βλέπει. Καὶ ὅτι μέλλει ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ κρίσις γίνεσθαι καὶ τὰ κακὰ τοὺς πονηροὺς αἰφνιδίως καταλαμβάνειν, καὶ τοῦτο Aἰσχύλος ἐσήμανεν λέγων· τό τοι κακὸν ποδῶκες ἔρχεται βροτοῖς, κατ' ἀμπλάκημα τῷ περῶντι τὴν θέμιν. ὁρᾷς ∆ίκην ἄναυδον, οὐχ ὁρωμένην εὕδοντι καὶ στείχοντι καὶ καθημένῳ· ἑξῆς ὀπάζει δόχμιον, ἄλλοθ' ὕστερον. οὐκ ἐγκαλύπτει νὺξ κακῶς εἰργασμένον· ὅ τι δ' ἂν ποιῇς δεινὸν νόμιζ' ὁρᾶν τινά. τί δ' οὐχὶ καὶ ὁ Σιμωνίδης; Oὐκ ἔστιν κακὸν ἀνεπιδόκητον ἀνθρώποις· ὀλίγῳ δὲ χρόνῳ πάντα μεταρρίπτει θεός. πάλιν Eὐριπίδης· Oὐδέποτ' εὐτυχίαν κακοῦ ἀνδρὸς ὑπέρφρονά τ' ὄλβον βέβαιον εἰκάσαι χρεών, οὐδ' ἀδίκων γενεάν· ὁ γὰρ οὐδένος ἐκφὺς χρόνος δείκνυσιν ἀνθρώπων κακότητας. ἔτι ὁ Eὐριπίδης· Oὐ γὰρ ἀσύνετον τὸ θεῖον, ἀλλ' ἔχει συνιέναι τοὺς κακῶς παγέντας ὅρκους καὶ κατηναγκασμένους. καὶ ὁ Σοφοκλῆς· Eἰ δείν' ὄρεξας, δεινὰ καὶ παθεῖν σε δεῖ. Ἤτοι οὖν περὶ ἀδίκου ὅρκου ἢ καὶ περὶ ἄλλου τινὸς πταίσματος ὅτι μέλλει ὁ θεὸς ἐξετάζειν, καὶ αὐτοὶ σχεδὸν προειρήκασιν, ἢ καὶ περὶ ἐκπυρώσεως κόσμου θέλοντες καὶ μὴ θέλοντες ἀκόλουθα ἐξεῖπαν τοῖς προφήταις, καίπερ πολὺ μεταγενέστεροι γενόμενοι καὶ κλέψαντες ταῦτα ἐκ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν.