Chapter XXXVIII.

In the next place, as it is his object to slander our Scriptures, he ridicules the following statement:  “And God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:  and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.  And the rib, which He had taken from the man, made He a woman,”780    Cf. Gen. ii. 21, 22. and so on; without quoting the words, which would give the hearer the impression that they are spoken with a figurative meaning.  He would not even have it appear that the words were used allegorically, although he says afterwards, that “the more modest among Jews and Christians are ashamed of these things, and endeavour to give them somehow an allegorical signification.”  Now we might say to him, Are the statements of your “inspired” Hesiod, which he makes regarding the woman in the form of a myth, to be explained allegorically, in the sense that she was given by Jove to men as an evil thing, and as a retribution for the theft of “the fire;”781    ἀντὶ τοῦ πυρός. while that regarding the woman who was taken from the side of the man (after he had been buried in deep slumber), and was formed by God, appears to you to be related without any rational meaning and secret signification?782    χωρὶς παντὸς λόγου καί τινος ἐπικρύψεως.  But is it not uncandid, not to ridicule the former as myths, but to admire them as philosophical ideas in a mythical dress, and to treat with contempt783    μοχθίζειν. the latter, as offending the understanding, and to declare that they are of no account?  For if, because of the mere phraseology, we are to find fault with what is intended to have a secret meaning, see whether the following lines of Hesiod, a man, as you say,” inspired,” are not better fitted to excite laughter:—

“‘Son of Iapetus!’ with wrathful heart

Spake the cloud-gatherer:  ‘Oh, unmatched in art!

Exultest thou in this the flame retrieved,

And dost thou triumph in the god deceived?

But thou, with the posterity of man,

Shalt rue the fraud whence mightier ills began;

I will send evil for thy stealthy fire,

While all embrace it, and their bane desire.’

The sire, who rules the earth, and sways the pole,

Had said, and laughter fill’d his secret soul.

He bade the artist-god his hest obey,

And mould with tempering waters ductile clay:

Infuse, as breathing life and form began,

The supple vigour, and the voice of man:

Her aspect fair as goddesses above,

A virgin’s likeness, with the brows of love.

He bade Minerva teach the skill that dyes

The web with colours, as the shuttle flies;

He called the magic of Love’s Queen to shed

A nameless grace around her courteous head;

Instil the wish that longs with restless aim,

And cares of dress that feed upon the frame:

Bade Hermes last implant the craft refined

Of artful manners, and a shameless mind.

He said; their king th’ inferior powers obeyed:

The fictile likeness of a bashful maid

Rose from the temper’d earth, by Jove’s behest,

Under the forming god; the zone and vest

Were clasp’d and folded by Minerva’s hand:

The heaven-born graces, and persuasion bland

Deck’d her round limbs with chains of gold:  the hours

Of loose locks twined her temples with spring flowers.

The whole attire Minerva’s curious care

Form’d to her shape, and fitted to her air.

But in her breast the herald from above,

Full of the counsels of deep thundering Jove,

Wrought artful manners, wrought perfidious lies,

And speech that thrills the blood, and lulls the wise.

Her did th’ interpreter of gods proclaim,

And named the woman with Pandora’s name;

Since all the gods conferr’d their gifts, to charm,

For man’s inventive race, this beauteous harm.”784    Hesiod, Works and Days, i. 73–114 (Elton’s translation [in substance.  S.]).

Moreover, what is said also about the casket is fitted of itself to excite laughter; for example:—

“Whilome on earth the sons of men abode

From ills apart, and labour’s irksome load,

And sore diseases, bringing age to man;

Now the sad life of mortals is a span.

The woman’s hands a mighty casket bear;

She lifts the lid; she scatters griefs in air:

Alone, beneath the vessel’s rims detained,

Hope still within th’ unbroken cell remained,

Nor fled abroad; so will’d cloud-gatherer Jove:

The woman’s hand had dropp’d the lid above.”785    Hesiod, Works and Days, i.125–134 (Elton’s translation [in substance.  S.]).

Now, to him who would give to these lines a grave allegorical meaning (whether any such meaning be contained in them or not), we would say:  Are the Greeks alone at liberty to convey a philosophic meaning in a secret covering? or perhaps also the Egyptians, and those of the Barbarians who pride themselves upon their mysteries and the truth (which is concealed within them); while the Jews alone, with their lawgiver and historians, appear to you the most unintelligent of men?  And is this the only nation which has not received a share of divine power, and which yet was so grandly instructed how to rise upwards to the uncreated nature of God, and to gaze on Him alone, and to expect from Him alone (the fulfilment of) their hopes?

Εἶτ' ἐπεὶ προκείμενον ἦν αὐτῷ κακηγορεῖν τὰ γεγραμμένα, διεχλεύασε καὶ τὸ "Ἐπέβαλεν ὁ θεὸς ἔκστασιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδάμ, καὶ ὕπνωσε. Καὶ ἔλαβε μίαν τῶν πλευρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνεπλήρωσε σάρκα ἀντ' αὐτῆς· καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν πλευράν, ἣν ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀδάμ, εἰς γυναῖκα" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, οὐδὲ τὴν λέξιν ἐκθέμενος, δυναμένην ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν ἀκούοντα ὅτι μετὰ τροπολογίας εἴρηται. Καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησέ γε προσποιήσασθαι ἀλληγορεῖσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα, καίτοι γε ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς λέγων ὅτι οἱ ἐπιεικέστεροι Ἰουδαίων τε καὶ Χριστιανῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις αἰσχυνόμενοι πειρῶνταί πως ἀλληγορεῖν αὐτά. Ἔστι δ' εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτόν· ἆρα τὰ μὲν τῷ ἐνθέῳ σου Ἡσιόδῳ εἰρημένα ἐν μύθου σχήματι περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀλληγορεῖται, ὡς ἄρα δέδοται αὕτη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆ιὸς "κακὸν" "ἀντὶ τοῦ πυρός"· ἡ δ' ἀπὸ τῆς πλευρᾶς τοῦ μετ' "ἔκστασιν" κοιμηθέντος ληφθεῖσα γυνὴ καὶ οἰκοδομηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ χωρὶς παντὸς λόγου καί τινος ἐπικρύψεως λελέχθαι σοι φαίνεται; Ἀλλ' οὐκ εὔγνωμον ἐκεῖνα μὲν μὴ γελᾶν ὡς μῦθον ἀλλά, θαυμάζειν ὡς ἐν μύθῳ φιλοσοφούμενα, ταῦτα δὲ μόνῃ τῇ λέξει τὴν διάνοιαν ἐναπερείσαντα μυχθίζειν καὶ μηδενὸς λόγου νομίζειν ἔχεσθαι. Εἰ γὰρ ψιλῆς ἕνεκεν λέξεως χρὴ κατηγορεῖν τῶν ἐν ὑπονοίαις λελεγμένων, ὅρα εἰ μὴ τὰ Ἡσιόδου μᾶλλον γέλωτα μέλλει ὀφλεῖν, ἀνδρός, ὡς φής, ἐνθέου τοιαῦτα γράψαντος· Τὸν δὲ χολωσάμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς· Ἰαπετιονίδη, πάντων πέρι μήδεα εἰδώς, χαίροις πῦρ κλέψας καὶ ἐμὰς φρένας ἠπεροπεύσας, σοί τ' αὐτῷ μέγα πῆμα καὶ ἀνδράσιν ἐσσομένοισι. Τοῖς δ' ἐγὼ ἀντὶ πυρὸς δώσω κακόν, ᾧ κεν ἅπαντες τέρπωνται κατὰ θυμὸν ἑὸν κακὸν ἀμφαγαπῶντες. Ὣς ἔφατ'· ἐκ δ' ἐτέλεσσε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Ἥφαιστον δ' ἐκέλευσε περικλυτὸν ὅττι τάχιστα γαῖαν ὕδει φύρειν, ἐν δ' ἀνθρώπου θέμεν αὐδὴν καὶ σθένος, ἀθανάτοις δὲ θεοῖς εἰς ὦπα ἐΐσκειν παρθενικῆς καλὸν εἶδος ἐπήρατον· αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνην ἔργα διδασκέμεναι, πολυδαίδαλον ἱστὸν ὑφαίνειν· καὶ χάριν ἀμφιχέαι κεφαλῇ χρυσῆν Ἀφροδίτην καὶ πόθον ἀργαλέον καὶ γυιοκόρους μελεδῶνας· ἐν δὲ θέμεν κύνεόν τε νόον καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος [Ἑρμείην ἤνωγε, διάκτορον ἀργεϊφόντην.] Ὣς ἔφαθ'· οἱ δ' ἐπίθοντο ∆ιῒ Κρονίωνι ἄνακτι. [Αὐτίκα δ' ἐκ γαίης πλάσσεν κλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις παρθένῳ αἰδοίῃ ἴκελον Κρονίδεω διὰ βουλάς· ζῶσε δὲ καὶ κόσμησε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·] ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ Χάριτές τε θεαὶ καὶ πότνια Πειθὼ ὅρμους χρυσείους ἔθεσαν [χροΐ·] ἀμφὶ δὲ τήνδε Ὧραι καλλίκομοι στέφον ἄνθεσιν εἰαρινοῖσιν· πάντα δέ [οἱ] χροῒ κόσμον ἐφήρμοσε Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη· ἐν δ' ἄρα οἱ στήθεσσι διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης ψεύδεά θ' αἱμυλίους τε λόγους καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος τεῦξε ∆ιὸς βουλῇσι βαρυκτύπου· ἐν δ' ἄρα φωνὴν θῆκε θεῶν κῆρυξ, ὀνόμηνε δὲ τήνδε γυναῖκα Πανδώρην, ὅτι πάντες Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχοντες δῶρον ἐδώρησαν, πῆμ' ἀνδράσιν ἀλφηστῇσι. Γελοῖον δ' αὐτόθεν καὶ τὸ περὶ τοῦ πίθου λεγόμενον, ὅτι Πρὶν μὲν γὰρ ζώεσκον ἐπὶ χθονὶ φῦλ' ἀνθρώπων νόσφιν ἄτερ τε κακῶν καὶ ἄτερ χαλεποῖο πόνοιο νούσων τ' ἀργαλέων, αἵ τ' ἀνδράσι κῆρας ἔδωκαν. Ἀλλὰ γυνὴ χείρεσσι πίθου μέγα πῶμ' ἀφελοῦσα ἐσκέδασ'· ἀνθρώποισι δ' ἐμήσατο κήδεα λυγρά. Μούνη δ' αὐτόθι Ἐλπὶς ἐν ἀρρήκτοισι δόμοισιν ἔνδον ἔμιμνε πίθου ὑπὸ χείλεσιν, οὐδὲ θύραζε ἐξέπτη· πρόσθεν γὰρ ἐπέμβαλε πῶμα πίθοιο. Πρὸς δὲ τὸν ταῦτα σεμνῶς ἀλληγοροῦντα, εἴτ' ἐπιτυγ χάνοντα ἐν τῇ ἀλληγορίᾳ εἴτε καὶ μή, ἐροῦμεν· ἆρα μόνοις Ἕλλησιν ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ ἔξεστι φιλοσοφεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις, καὶ ὅσοι τῶν βαρβάρων σεμνύνονται ἐπὶ μυστηρίοις καὶ ἀληθείᾳ· μόνοι δὲ Ἰουδαῖοι ἔδοξάν σοι καὶ ὁ τούτων νομοθέτης καὶ οἱ συγγραφεῖς πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἶναι ἀνοητότατοι, καὶ μόνον τοῦτο τὸ ἔθνος οὐδεμιᾶς δυνάμεως θεοῦ μετειληφέναι, τὸ οὕτως μεγαλοφυέστατα δεδιδαγμένον ἀναβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγένητον τοῦ θεοῦ φύσιν κἀκείνῳ μόνῳ ἐνορᾶν καὶ τὰς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ μόνου ἐλπίδας προσδοκᾶν;