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For even when this happens, and when worms spring forth, many have contended that they are gods; what would not have happened, if this had remained? Secondly, it would not have been believed to be from the earth; for if some still dispute it when the end bears witness, what would they not have suspected, if they did not see this? Thirdly, bodies would have been loved exceedingly, and the majority would have become more carnal and gross; but if even now some embrace tombs and coffins, when those have vanished, what would they not have done if they had the image preserved? Fourthly, they would not have greatly desired the things to come. Fifthly, those who say the world is immortal would have been more confirmed, and would not have said that God is the Creator. Sixthly, they would not have known the virtue of the soul, and how great the soul is when present in the body. Seventhly, many of those who lose their relatives, leaving their cities, would have inhabited the tombs, and become crazed, conversing continually with their own dead. For if even now men, fashioning images, because they cannot keep the body (for it is not possible, but even against their will it flows away and departs), are nailed to their wooden planks, what absurdity would they not then have devised? It seems to me that many would have even built temples for such bodies, and those skilled in such sorcery would have persuaded demons to speak through them, since even now those who dare to practice necromancy attempt many things more absurd than these. And how many idolatries would not have arisen from this? seeing that they still strive to do these things after the dust and ashes. Therefore God, doing away with all absurdities, and teaching us to stand aloof from all earthly things, causes the bodies to vanish before our eyes. For the lover of the body, and he who is smitten by a fair maiden, if he be unwilling to learn by reason the foulness of its substance, will know it by sight itself. For many of the same age as his beloved, and often even more splendid, having died, after one or two days gave off a stench, and ichor, and the putrefaction of worms. Consider, then, what sort of beauty you love, and for what kind of comeliness you are smitten. But if bodies did not decay, this would not be well known; but just as the demons run to the tombs, so also many lovers, sitting continually by the graves, would have received demons into their souls, and would have quickly perished in this grievous madness. But now, along with all other things, this also consoles the soul, that the image does not appear, and casts the passion into oblivion. εʹ. But if this were not so, there would be no tombs, but you would see the cities having corpses instead of statues, each one desiring to look upon his own. And great confusion would have arisen from this, and no one of the multitude would have cared for the soul, nor would have made way for the doctrine of immortality to enter; and many other things more absurd than these would have happened, which it is not good even to mention. For this reason it rots immediately, that you may see the beauty of the soul naked. For if she is the cause of so much beauty and so much life, much more would she herself be better; if she holds together what is so foul and deformed, much more herself. For the body is not what is beautiful, but its shaping, and the bloom which is painted upon its substance by the soul. Love, therefore, that which makes it appear to be such. And why do I speak of death? For even in life itself I show you how all its beauties belong to her. For if she rejoices, she has sprinkled roses on the cheeks; if she is grieved, taking away that beauty, she has covered the whole with a black robe. And if she rejoices continually, the body has become healthy; but if she is grieved, she has made it thinner and weaker than a spider's web; if she is angered, again she has made it repulsive and ugly; if she shows a calm eye, she has bestowed much beauty; if she is envious, she has poured out much pallor and wasting away; if she loves, she has gifted much comeliness. Thus, at least, many who were not comely in appearance received much grace from their soul; others again, radiant in their bloom, because they had a graceless soul,

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γὰρ καὶ τούτου γινομένου, καὶ σκωλήκων πηγαζόντων, πολλοὶ θεοὶ εἶναι ἐφιλονείκησαν· τί οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο, τούτου μένοντος; ∆εύτερον, οὐκ ἂν ἐπιστεύθη ἀπὸ γῆς εἶναι· εἰ γὰρ τοῦ τέλους μαρτυροῦντος ἀμφισβητοῦσιν ἔτι τινὲς, τί οὐκ ἂν ὑπώπτευσαν, εἰ μὴ τοῦτο ἑώρων; Τρίτον, σφόδρα ἂν ἐφιλήθη τὰ σώματα, καὶ οἱ πλείους σαρκικώτεροι καὶ παχύτεροι ἐγένοντο ἄν· εἰ δὲ καὶ νῦν τινες τοῖς τάφοις συμπλέκονται καὶ ταῖς σοροῖς, ἀφανισθέντων ἐκείνων, τί οὐκ ἂν ἐποίησαν, εἰ καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα εἶχον διατηρουμένην; Τέταρτον, οὐκ ἂν σφόδρα ἐπόθησαν τὰ μέλλοντα. Πέμπτον, οἱ τὸν κόσμον ἀθάνατον εἶναι λέγοντες, μᾶλλον ἂν ἐβεβαιώθησαν, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἔφησαν Θεὸν εἶναι ∆ημιουργόν. Ἔκτον, οὐκ ἂν ἔγνωσαν τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἀρετὴν, καὶ πόσον ἐστὶ παροῦσα σώματι ψυχή. Ἕβδομον, πολλοὶ τῶν ἀποβαλλόντων τοὺς οἰκείους, τὰς πόλεις ἀφέντες, τὰ μνήματα ἔμελλον οἰκεῖν, καὶ παραπλῆγες γίνεσθαι, τοῖς νεκροῖς τοῖς αὐτῶν διηνεκῶς διαλεγόμενοι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ νῦν εἰκόνας διαπλάττοντες ἄνθρωποι, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σῶμα κατασχεῖν οὐκ ἔχουσιν (οὐδὲ γὰρ δυνατὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκόντων αὐτῶν ῥεῖ καὶ ἀποπηδᾷ), προσηλωμένοι ταῖς σανίσιν εἰσὶ, τί οὐκ ἂν τότε ἐπενόησαν ἄτοπον; Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν καὶ ναοὺς ἂν τοῖς τοιούτοις σώμασιν οἰκοδομῆσαι οἱ πολλοὶ, καὶ πεῖσαι δαίμονας φθέγγεσθαι δι' αὐτῶν οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα μαγγανεύειν δεινοὶ, ὅπου γε καὶ νῦν οἱ τὰς νεκρομαντείας τολμῶντες πολλὰ τούτων ἀτοπώτερα ἐπιχειροῦσι. Πόσαι δὲ οὐκ ἂν εἰδωλολατρεῖαι ἐντεῦθεν ἐγένοντο; οἵ γε μετὰ τὴν κόνιν καὶ τὴν τέφραν ταῦτα ποιεῖν ἔτι φιλονεικοῦσι. Πάντα τοίνυν ἀναιρῶν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ἄτοπα, καὶ παιδεύων ἡμᾶς ἀφίστασθαι τῶν γηΐνων ἁπάντων, ἀφανίζει τὰ σώματα πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ φιλοσώματος, καὶ πρὸς κόρην ἐπτοημένος εὔμορφον, εἰ μὴ βούλοιτο μαθεῖν τῷ λόγῳ τὸ εἰδεχθὲς τῆς οὐσίας, δι' αὐτῆς αὐτὸ τῆς ὄψεως εἴσεται. Καὶ γὰρ πολλαὶ τῆς ἐρωμένης ὁμήλικες, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ λαμπρότεραι, ἀποθανοῦσαι μετὰ μίαν καὶ δευτέραν ἡμέραν δυσωδίαν παρέσχον, καὶ ἰχῶρα, καὶ σηπεδόνα σκωλήκων. Ἐννόησον τοίνυν οἶον κάλλος φιλεῖς, καὶ πρὸς ποίαν ἐπτόησαι εὐμορφίαν. Εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐφθείρετο τὰ σώματα, οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ἐγνώσθη καλῶς· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἱ δαί 57.404 μονες παρὰ τοὺς τάφους τρέχουσιν, οὕτω καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐρώντων τοῖς μνήμασι παρακαθήμενοι διηνεκῶς, δαίμονας ἂν ἐδέξαντο τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ τῇ χαλεπῇ ταύτῃ ταχέως ἂν ἐναπέθανον μανίᾳ. Νῦν δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων καὶ τοῦτο παραμυθεῖται τὴν ψυχὴν, τὸ μὴ φαίνεσθαι τὴν εἰκόνα, καὶ εἰς λήθην ἐμβάλλει τοῦ πάθους. εʹ. Εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, οὐδὲ μνήματα ἦν, ἀλλὰ τὰς πόλεις εἶδες ἂν ἀντὶ ἀνδριάντων νεκροὺς ἐχούσας, ἑκάστου τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βλέπειν ἐπιθυμοῦντος. Καὶ πολλὴ ἂν ἐντεῦθεν ἐγένετο σύγχυσις, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν τῶν πολλῶν ψυχῆς ἐπεμελήσατο, οὐκ ἂν παρεχώρησε τῷ περὶ ἀθανασίας ἐπεισελθεῖν λόγῳ· καὶ ἕτερα δὲ πολλὰ ἂν ἀτοπώτερα τούτων ἐγένετο, ἃ μηδὲ εἰπεῖν καλόν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο σήπεται εὐθέως, ἵνα ἴδῃς γυμνὸν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ κάλλος. Εἰ γὰρ ἐκείνη τοσούτου κάλλους καὶ τοσαύτης ζωῆς πρόξενος, πολλῷ μᾶλλον αὐτὴ βελτίων ἂν εἴη· εἰ τὸ οὕτως εἰδεχθὲς καὶ δυσειδὲς διακρατεῖ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἑαυτήν. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ σῶμά ἐστι τὸ καλὸν, ἀλλ' ἡ διάπλασις, καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ὅπερ παρὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιχρώννυται τῇ οὐσίᾳ. Φίλει τοίνυν ἐκείνην τὴν κἀκεῖνο τοιοῦτον ποιοῦσαν φαίνεσθαι. Καὶ τί λέγω τὸν θάνατον; Καὶ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ζωῇ δείκνυμί σοι, πῶς πάντα αὐτῆς ἐστι τὰ καλά. Ἄν τε γὰρ ἡσθῇ, ῥόδα κατέπασε τῶν παρειῶν· ἄν τε ἀλγήσῃ, τὸ κάλλος λαβοῦσα ἐκεῖνο, μελαίνῃ στολῇ τὸ πᾶν περιέβαλε. Κἂν εὐφραίνηται διηνεκῶς, γέγονεν εὐπαθὲς τὸ σῶμα· ἂν δ' ἀλγήσῃ, ἀράχνης ἰσχνότερόν τε καὶ ἀσθενέστερον ἐποίησεν· ἂν θυμωθῇ, πάλιν πεποίηκεν ἀποτρόπαιον καὶ αἰσχρόν· ἂν γαληνὸν ὀφθαλμὸν δείξῃ, πολὺ τὸ κάλλος ἐχαρίσατο· ἂν βασκήνῃ, πολλὴν τὴν ὠχρίαν καὶ τὴν τηκεδόνα ἐξέχεεν· ἂν ἀγαπήσῃ, πολλὴν τὴν εὐμορφίαν ἐδωρήσατο. Οὕτω γοῦν πολλαὶ οὐκ οὖσαι εὔμορφοι τὴν ὄψιν, χάριν πολλὴν ἀπὸ ψυχῆς ἔλαβον· ἕτεραι πάλιν λάμπουσαι τῇ ὥρᾳ, ἐπειδὴ ψυχὴν ἄχαριν ἔσχον,