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and reptiles». But since they metaphorically traced back all the secret and more mystical doctrine concerning these things to incorporeal powers, so that their deification seemed no longer to apply to the visible parts of the world, but to certain invisible and incorporeal powers, let us consider whether even so it is not right to marvel at the one divine 3.13.6 power, and not to believe in many. For neither because many forms and parts and members have been fashioned in one body should we think we have so many souls, nor should we consider that there are so many makers and creators of the body, but that one soul moves the whole body, and one 3.13.7 creative power fashioned the whole living creature. So then, in the case of the entire universe as well, though it is one and composed of one corporeal matter, yet divided into very many parts and displaying one natural sympathy of the whole, a blending and mixture of the elements within it, and their alterations and changes into one another, and showing the whole and its entirety as one world and one harmony, one should not postulate many creative powers, but 3.13.8 theologize only the one that is truly «the power of God and the wisdom of God». But he again refers the Egyptian mythologies to incorporeal powers, this wisest man having eluded himself. For you have heard in what preceded how he acknowledged that Chaeremon and several others held that the Egyptians considered nothing else prior to the visible worlds and placed them in the account of the beginning; for these interpret everything in reference to physical things and nothing to incorporeal and living 3.13.9 beings. If, then, according to their own admission, it was a characteristic of the Egyptians to refer nothing to incorporeal and living beings, but to refer all their myths about the gods to the physical parts of the world, why then do they, contriving arguments from the outset, ascribe to the Egyptians things that are in no way their own, asserting that they made the reference of their theology to incorporeal powers? In general, then, these things are to be criticized. 3.13.10 And in particular, I think that the refutation of their forced interpretation does not require a lengthy rebuttal. For if one were to pass over the Egyptian nonsense and their great and idle chatter and turn to the physical doctrines of the wise Greeks, who of the right-minded would not immediately condemn those who attempt to misinterpret such things? 3.13.11 For let Zeus no longer be the fiery and ethereal substance, as he was held to be by the ancients according to Plutarch, but the highest mind itself, the creator of all things, the one who gives life to all things; how then will his father be Cronus, whom they say is time, and his mother Rhea, whom the interpreter said was the rocky and mountain power? For as for Hera, I know not how, having called her the air and also the ether, he says she is both sister and wife 3.13.12 of the world-making and life-giving mind of all things. But let Leto again be called some 'letho' (forgetfulness), because of the insensibility during sleep, as they say, and because forgetfulness accompanies the souls that come to be under the moon. How then could forgetfulness be the mother of the sun and moon, since Apollo and Artemis, the children of Leto, have been 3.13.13 transferred to the sun and moon? And why should one worship Rhea or Demeter as a god, if the one was said to bear the symbols of the rocky and mountainous earth, and the other of the plain? And allegorizing Kore as satiety, 3.13.14 for what reason do they think it necessary to honor her also with the venerable title? And why should one rather worship as gods the symbols of the seed-bearing power and the generation of fruits, or of the flowers that appear in spring and fall away before bearing fruit, or of the cutting of the ripe fruits, naming them Dionysus and Attis and Adonis, and not rather prefer to all of these the human race, for whose use and nourishment the creator God of all things provided them? 3.13.15 But passing from these things and refuting the rest of the noble physical doctrine in a similar manner, having reasonably censured the shamelessness of those who say, come now, that the sun itself is Apollo and

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καὶ ἑρπετῶν». ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ πάντα τὸν περὶ τούτων ἀπόρρητον δὴ καὶ μυστικώτερον λόγον εἰς ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις μεταφορικῶς ἀνῆγον, ὥστε δοκεῖν μηκέτ' ἐπὶ τὰ ὁρώμενα μέρη τοῦ κόσμου τὴν θεοποιίαν αὐτῶν συντείνειν, ἀλλ' ἐπί τινας ἀοράτους καὶ ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις, σκεψώμεθα εἰ μὴ καὶ οὕτως μίαν χρὴ τὴν θείαν 3.13.6 δύναμιν ἀποθαυμάζειν, ἀλλ' οὐ πολλὰς ἡγεῖσθαι. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπεὶ πολλὰ σχήματα καὶ μέρη καὶ μέλη ὑφ' ἑνὶ σώματι δεδημιούργηται, τοσαύτας χρῆν ἡμᾶς τὰς ψυχὰς ἔχειν ἡγεῖσθαι οὐδὲ τοσούτους ποιητὰς καὶ δημιουργοὺς τοῦ σώματος νομίζειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχὴν μίαν τὸ πᾶν σῶμα κινεῖν καὶ μίαν 3.13.7 δημιουργὸν δύναμιν τὸ πᾶν ζῷον τεκτήνασθαι. οὕτω δῆτα καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, ἑνὸς μὲν ὄντος καὶ ἐκ μιᾶς τῆς σωματικῆς ὕλης συνεστῶτος, εἰς μέρη δὲ πλεῖστα διῃρημένου καὶ μίαν τῶν ὅλων φυσικὴν συμπάθειαν ὑποφαίνοντος κρᾶσίν τε καὶ μῖξιν τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ στοιχείων ἀλλοιώσεις τε καὶ μεταβολὰς αὐτῶν εἰς ἑαυτά, ὅλον δὲ καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἕνα κόσμον καὶ μίαν ἁρμονίαν ἐπιδεικνυμένου, οὐ πολλὰς χρῆν ὑποτίθεσθαι δημιουργοὺς δυνάμεις, μόνην 3.13.8 δὲ θεολογεῖν τὴν ὡς ἀληθῶς «θεοῦ δυνάμιν καὶ θεοῦ σοφίαν». ὁ δὲ καὶ τὰς Αἰγυπτιακὰς μυθολογίας πάλιν ἐπὶ ἀσωμάτους μεταφέρει δυνάμεις, λαθὼν ὁ σοφώτατος αὐτὸς ἑαυτόν. ἀκήκοας γὰρ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ὅπως τὸν Χαιρήμονα καὶ πλείους ἄλλους ὡμολόγει μηδ' ἄλλο τι πρὸ τῶν ὁρωμένων κόσμων ἡγεῖσθαι ἐν ἀρχῆς τε λόγῳ τίθεσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους· τούτους γὰρ πάντα εἰς τὰ φυσικὰ καὶ οὐδὲν εἰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ζώσας οὐσίας ἑρμη3.13.9 νεύειν. εἰ δὴ οὖν κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ὁμολογίαν Αἰγυπτίων ἦν τὸ μηδὲν ἀνάγειν εἰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ζώσας οὐσίας, πάντα δὲ τὰ περὶ θεῶν αὐτοῖς μυθολογούμενα ἐπὶ τὰ φυσικὰ τοῦ κόσμου μέρη μεταφέρειν, τί δὴ ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς εὑρησιλογοῦντες Αἰγυπτίοις τὰ μηδαμῶς αὐτῶν οἰκεῖα προσγράφουσιν, ἐπὶ δυνάμεις ἀσωμάτους φάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τὴν ἀναφορὰν τῆς θεολογίας αὐτῶν ποιεῖσθαι; καθόλου μὲν οὖν ταῦτα αἰτιατέον. 3.13.10 Καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ μέρος δὲ ἡγοῦμαι τὸν ἔλεγχον τῆς κατηναγκασμένης ἀποδόσεως αὐτῶν οὐ μακρᾶς ἀνασκευῆς δεῖσθαι. ἵνα γὰρ τὸν Αἰγυπτιακὸν παρελθών τις λῆρον καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀδόλεσχον φλυαρίαν ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν σοφῶν Ἑλλήνων μετέλθοι φυσιολογίας, τίς οὐκ ἂν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων αὐτόθεν καταμέμψαιτο τοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα παρεξηγεῖσθαι πειρωμένοις; 3.13.11 ἔστω γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς μηκέθ' ἡ πυρώδης καὶ αἰθέριος οὐσία, ὥσπερ οὖν τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἐνομίζετο κατὰ τὸν Πλούταρχον, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνωτάτω νοῦς, ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργικός, ὁ τὰ πάντα ζῳογονῶν· πῶς οὖν ἔσται τούτου πατὴρ μὲν ὁ Κρόνος, ὅν φασιν εἶναι τὸν χρόνον, Ῥέα δὲ μήτηρ, ἣν ὁ ἑρμηνεὺς ἔφησεν εἶναι τὴν πετρώδη καὶ ὄρειον δύναμιν; τὴν γὰρ Ἥραν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως τὸν ἀέρα τὸν καὶ αἰθέρα προσειπὼν ἀδελφὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ γυναῖκά φησιν εἶναι 3.13.12 τοῦ κοσμοποιοῦ καὶ ζῳοποιοῦ πάντων νοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ Λητὼ πάλιν ληθώ τις καλείσθω, διὰ τὴν κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον, ὥς φασιν, ἀναισθησίαν καὶ ὅτι λήθη ξυνομαρτεῖ ταῖς ὑπὸ σελήνην γενομέναις ψυχαῖς. πῶς ἂν οὖν ἡ λήθη γένοιτ' ἂν ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης μήτηρ, Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος τῶν Λητοῦς παί3.13.13 δων εἰς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην μετενηνεγμένων; τί δὲ χρὴ σέβειν ὡς θεὸν τὴν Ῥέαν ἢ τὴν ∆ήμητραν, εἰ ἡ μὲν τῆς πετρώδους καὶ ὀρείου γῆς, ἡ δὲ τῆς πεδιάδος τὰ σύμβολα φέρειν ἐλέγετο; τὴν δὲ Κόρην τὸν κόρον ἀλληγοροῦντες 3.13.14 τίνι λόγῳ καὶ ταύτην οἴονται δεῖν τῇ σεβασμίῳ προσηγορίᾳ τιμᾶν; τί δὲ μᾶλλον τὴν σπερματοῦχον δύναμιν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀκροδρύων γένεσιν ἢ τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἔαρ προφαινομένων ἀνθῶν καὶ πρὶν τελεσιογονῆσαι διαρρεόντων ἢ τῆς τῶν τελείων καρπῶν ἐκτομῆς τὰ σύμβολα, ∆ιόνυσον καὶ Ἄττιν καὶ Ἄδωνιν ἐπονομάζοντας, ὡς θεοὺς χρῆναι σέβειν, οὐχὶ δὲ τούτων ἁπάντων τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος προτιμᾶν, ᾧ ταῦτα πρὸς χρῆσιν καὶ τροφὴν ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς θεὸς ὑπεστήσατο; 3.13.15 Μεταβὰς δὲ ἐκ τούτων καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ κατὰ τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον τῆς γενναίας ἀπελέγξεις φυσιολογίας, εὐλόγως τῆς ἀναισχυντίας ἐπιμεμψάμενος τοῖς, φέρε, τὸν ἥλιον αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἀπόλλω καὶ