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chastity, and the maddening entwining of the plant, and the seizure of Kore by Pluto, and the wandering of Deo? For poets tell all these things as myths, theologians confirm them, and philosophers treat them solemnly, and are eager to invest them with a certain solemnity, but they offer a more ridiculous allegory of the myths. For these the avenger of men ordained the celebration of feasts and festivals 7.10 and public banquets; the Pandia and Diasia for Zeus, the Heraia for Hera, the Panathenaia for Athena, the Dionysia for Dionysus, the Eleusinia and Thesmophoria for Deo, and the Delia and Pythia for Apollo. and to all the others—for their crowd is large—he allotted festivals, naming the feast for each of the demons from its appellation, the Hermaia and Kronia and Poseidonia and Herakleia and Asklepia and Anakia. For not only to the so-called gods, but also to men did they assign this worship. 7.11 And in these gatherings every form of licentiousness was dared without fear. For their rites and orgies had their riddles, the comb at Eleusis, and the Phallagogia, the phallus. But indeed, even apart from the riddles, the things done by the revellers 7.12 incited the onlookers to every kind of debauchery. For who of the most lecherous has dared such things inside in the bedroom, as the chorus of Satyrs committed wantonly parading in public, having in their midst Silenus and Pan, the one raging at the Bacchantes, the other undone by drunkenness, called the tutor of the effeminate 7.13 boy? to these they sacrificed hecatombs and chiliombs and slaughtered flocks and herds of cattle, and offered frankincense and poured out as much wine as possible, and certain other 7.14 things which their hierophants commanded. For the poets say that they greatly rejoice in the libation and the savour of burnt fat, and they say that they have said that this is their prerogative; for this reason indeed they travel to the sacrifices of the Aethiopians and deem Hector worthy of all care, because he never left their altar lacking in sacrifice. And Chryses reminds Apollo not of justice and temperance, but of the fat thighs of goats and bulls and of the garlands with which he somewhere adorned his temple. 7.15 Thus the smoke was most pleasing to them and the stench of the burnt fat, and they were simply like cooks. But we have not rightly compared them to chefs. For these both smell and taste the best prepared dishes, but those received the stench of bones being burned. And each of us, if a small bit of these things falls onto the hearth, is disgusted and plugs his nostrils and sends away the foul smell; but they, while enjoying ambrosia and nectar, were dependent on the stench of burning bones. 7.16 And perhaps they themselves will dare to say these things concerning the God who is and who ever is, since they understand the laws concerning sacrifices which are laid down in the divine scripture, but they are completely ignorant of the lawgiver's purpose. For indeed, wishing to set free Israel, who had spent a very long time in Egypt and adopted the wicked customs of the natives, and learned from them to sacrifice to idols and demons and to play and dance and delight in musical instruments, having come into the habit of these things, he permitted them to sacrifice, but not to sacrifice everything, nor indeed to the falsely named gods of the Egyptians, but to offer to him alone the gods of the Egyptians; for in times past the Egyptians deified both the ox and the sheep and the goat and the dove and the turtledove and certain other things not for eating, but called unclean. 7.17 Therefore, so that they might not be displeased, as being completely forbidden from those customs, he forbade sacrificing to the gods that are not, but he legislated sacrificing to himself the things formerly worshipped by them, from the land animals, the goat and the ox and the sheep, and from the birds, the turtledove and the dove. And indeed tame and gentle were both these and those animals. 7.18 This remedy the all-wise physician

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σωφροσύνην καὶ τὴν τοῦ φυτοῦ λυσσώδη περιπλοκὴν καὶ τὴν τῆς Κόρης ὑπὸ τοῦ Πλούτωνος ἁρπαγὴν καὶ τῆς ∆ηοῦς τὸν πλάνον; ταῦτα γὰρ ἅπαντα καὶ ποιηταὶ μυθολογοῦσι καὶ θεολόγοι κρατύνουσι καὶ φιλόσοφοι σεμνολογοῦσι καὶ σεμνότητα μὲν αὐτοῖς τινα περιτιθέναι φιλονεικοῦσι, καταγελαστοτέραν δὲ τῶν μύθων ἀλληγορίαν προσφέρουσιν. Τούτοις καὶ ἑορτὰς καὶ πανηγύρεις 7.10 καὶ δημοθοινίας ἐπιτελεῖν ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλάστωρ ἐνομοθέτησε· Πάνδια μὲν τῷ ∆ιῒ καὶ ∆ιάσια, καὶ Ἥραια τῇ Ἥρᾳ, καὶ τῇἈθηνᾷ Παναθήναια, καὶ ∆ιονύσῳ ∆ιονύσια, καὶ Ἐλευσίνια καὶ Θεσμοφόρια τῇ ∆ηοῖ, καὶ ∆ήλια καὶ Πύθια τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι· καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις δὲ ἅπασι- πολὺς γὰρ ὁ τούτων ὅμιλος-ἀπε κλήρωσε πανηγύρεις, ἑκάστῳ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐκ τῆς προσηγορίας ὀνομάσας τὴν ἑορτήν, Ἕρμαια καὶ Κρόνια καὶ Ποσειδώνια καὶ Ἡράκλεια καὶ Ἀσκλήπια καὶ Ἀνάκια. Οὐ γάρ τοι μόνον τοῖςκαλουμένοις θεοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνθρώποις τόδε τὸ σέβας ἀπένειμαν. 7.11 Ἐν δὲ ταύταις ταῖς ὁμηγύρεσι πᾶν εἶδος ἀκολασίας ἀδεῶς ἐτολμᾶτο. Καὶ γὰρ αἱ τελεταὶ καὶ τὰ ὄργια τὰ τούτων εἶχεν αἰνίγ ματα, τὸν κτένα μὲν ἡ Ἐλευσίς, ἡ Φαλλαγωγία δὲ τὸν φαλλόν. Ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ δίχα τῶν αἰνιγμάτων τὰ παρὰ τῶν ὀργιαστῶν δρώ 7.12 μενα εἰς πᾶν εἶδος ἀσελγείας τοὺς ὁρῶντας ἠρέθιζεν. Τίς γὰρ τῶν ἄγαν λαγνιστάτων ἔνδον ἐν τῷ θαλάμῳ τετόλμηκε τοιαῦτα, ὁποῖα τῶν Σατύρων ὁ χορὸς ἠσέλγησε δημοσίᾳ πομπεύων, ἔχων ἐν μέσῳ τὸν Σιληνὸν καὶ τὸν Πάνα, τὸν μὲν ἐπιλυττῶντα ταῖς Βάκχαις, τὸν δὲ λελυμένον ὑπὸ τῆς μέθης, τὸν τοῦ θηλυδρίου 7.13 παιδὸς παιδαγωγὸν καλούμενον; τούτοις ἑκατόμβας καὶ χιλιόμβας κατέθυον καὶ ποίμνια κατέσφαζον καὶ βουκόλια καὶ λιβανωτὸν προσέφερον καὶ οἶνον ἔσπενδον ὅτι μάλιστα πλεῖστον καὶ ἕτερα 7.14 ἄττα, ἅπερ οἱ τούτων ἱεροφάνται προσέταττον. Σφόδρα γὰρ αὐτοὺς χαίρειν οἱ ποιηταί φασι τῇ λοιβῇ καὶ τῇ κνίσῃ καὶ τοῦτο ἔχειν γέρας αὐτοὺς εἰρηκέναι λέγουσι· διά τοι τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς τὰς τῶν Αἰθιόπων θυσίας ἀποδημεῖν καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα πάσης ἀξιοῦν τημελείας, ὅτι δὴ οὔποτε αὐτῶν τὸν βωμὸν ἐνδεᾶ θυσίας κατέλιπεν. Καὶ ὁ Χρύσης δὲ τὸν Ἀπόλλω οὐ δικαιοσύνης καὶ σωφροσύνης, ἀλλὰ τῶν πιόνων ἀναμιμνήσκει μηρῶν καὶ τῶν αἰγῶν καὶ τῶν ταύρων καὶ τῶν στεμμάτων, οἷς που τὸν νεὼν κα 7.15 τεκόσμησεν. Οὕτως αὐτοῖς ἥδιστος ἦν ὁ καπνὸς καὶ τῆς κνίσης ἡ δυσοσμία, καὶ ἀτεχνῶς τοῖς μαγείροις ἐῴκεσαν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ ὀρθῶς αὐτοὺς τοῖς ὀψοποιοῖς ἀπεικάσαμεν. Οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄριστα ἐσκευασμένων καὶ ὀσφραίνονται καὶ ἀπογεύονται ὄψων, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ὀστῶν ἐμπιπραμένων τὴν δυσοσμίαν ἐδέχοντο. Καὶ ἡμῶν μὲν ἕκαστος, εἰ βραχύ τι τούτων εἰς ἐσχάραν ἐμπέσοι, δυσχεραίνει καὶ τὰς ῥῖνας ἐμφράττει καὶ τὴν δυσώδη ὀδμὴν ἀπο πέμπεται· οἱ δέ, τῆς ἀμβροσίας καὶ τοῦ νέκταρος ἀπολαύοντες, τῆς τῶν καιομένων ὀστῶν δυσοσμίας ἐξήρτηντο. 7.16 Ταῦτα δὲ τυχὸν καὶ αὐτοὶ περὶ τοῦ ὄντος Θεοῦ καὶ ἀεί γε ὄντος φάναι τολμήσουσιν, ἐπειδὴ τῶν μὲν περὶ θυσιῶν ἐν τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ κειμένων ἐπαΐουσι νόμων, τὸν δὲ τοῦ νομοθέτου παντε λῶς ἀγνοοῦσι σκοπόν. Ἐν γὰρ δὴ τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ πλεῖστον ὅσον τὸν Ἰσραὴλ διατρίψαντα χρόνον καὶ τὰ πονηρὰ τῶν ἐγχωρίων εἰσδεξάμενον ἔθη καὶ θύειν εἰδώλοις καὶ δαίμοσι παρ' ἐκείνων μεμαθηκότα καὶ παίζειν καὶ χορεύειν καὶ ὀργάνοις μουσικοῖς ἐπιτέρπεσθαι, τούτων ἐν ἕξει γενόμενον ἐλευθερῶσαι θελήσας, θύειν μὲν ξυνεχώρησεν, ἀλλ' οὐ πάντα θύειν, οὐδέ γε τοῖς ψευ δωνύμοις Αἰγυπτίων θεοῖς, ἀλλ' αὐτῷ μόνῳ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίων προσφέρειν θεούς· ἐθεοποίουν γάρ τοι πάλαι ποτὲ καὶ τὸν βοῦν Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ τὸ πρόβατον καὶ τὴν αἶγα καὶ τὴν περιστερὰν καὶ τὴν τρυγόνα καὶ ἄλλα ἄττα τῶν οὐκ ἐδωδίμων, ἀλλ' ἀκαθάρτων 7.17 καλουμένων. Ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ δυσχεραίνωσιν, ὡς τῶν ἐθῶν ἐκεί νων πάμπαν κεκωλυμένοι, τὸ μὲν τοῖς οὐκ οὖσι θεοῖς ἀπηγό ρευσε θύειν, αὐτῷ δὲ θύειν ἐνομοθέτησε τὰ πρώην παρ' αὐτῶν προσκυνούμενα, ἐκ μὲν τῶν χερσαίων τὴν αἶγα καὶ τὸν βοῦν καὶ τὸ πρόβατον, ἐκ δὲ τῶν πτηνῶν τὴν τρυγόνα καὶ τὴν περισ τεράν· ἥμερα δὲ δήπου καὶ φιλάνθρωπα καὶ ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα τὰ 7.18 ζῷα. Τόδε τὸ φάρμακον ὁ πάνσοφος ἰατρὸς