1. Πάντα μέν, ὦ Κλέα, δεῖ τἀγαθὰ τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας αἰτεῖσθαι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς περὶ αὐτῶν ἐπιστήμης ὅσον ἐφικτόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις μετιόντες εὐχόμεθα τυγχάνειν παρ’ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων· ὡς οὐθὲν ἀνθρώπῳ λαβεῖν μεῖζον, οὐ χαρίσασθαι θεῷ σεμνότερον ἀληθείας. Τἄλλα μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώποις ὁ θεὸς ὧν δέονται δίδωσιν, νοῦ δὲ καὶ φρονήσεως μεταδίδωσιν, οἰκεῖα κεκτημένος ταῦτα καὶ χρώμενος.

     Οὐ γὰρ ἀργύρῳ καὶ χρυσῷ μακάριον τὸ θεῖον οὐδὲ βρονταῖς καὶ κεραυνοῖς ἰσχυρόν, ἀλλ’ ἐπιστήμῃ καὶ φρονήσει, καὶ τοῦτο κάλλιστα πάντων Ὅμηρος ὧν εἴρηκε περὶ θεῶν ἀναφθεγξάμενος

ἦ μὰν ἀμφοτέροισιν ὁμὸν γένος ἠδ’ ἴα πάτρη,
ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς πρότερος γεγόνει καὶ πλείονα ᾔδει

σεμνοτέραν ἀπέφηνε τὴν τοῦ Διὸς ἡγεμονίαν ἐπιστήμῃ καὶ σοφίᾳ πρεσβυτέραν οὖσαν.

     Οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ἣν ὁ θεὸς εἴληχεν, εὔδαιμον εἶναι τὸ τῇ γνώσει μὴ προαπολείπειν τὰ γινόμενα· τοῦ δὲ γινώσκειν τὰ ὄντα καὶ φρονεῖν ἀφαιρεθέντος οὐ βίον ἀλλὰ χρόνον εἶναι τὴν ἀθανασίαν.

     1. All good things, my dear Clea ¹, sensible men must ask from the gods; and especially do we pray that from those mighty gods we may, in our quest, gain a knowledge of themselves, so far as such a thing is attainable by men ². For we believe that there is nothing more important for man to receive, or more ennobling for god of his grace to grant, than the truth. God gives to men the other things for which they express a desire, but of sense and intelligence he grants them only a share, inasmuch as these are his especial possessions and his sphere of activity.

     For the Deity is not blessed by reason of his possession of gold and silver ³, nor strong because of thunder and lightning, but through knowledge and intelligence. Of all the things that Homer said about the gods, he has expressed most beautifully this thought ⁴ :

Both, indeed, were in lineage one, and of the same country,
Yet was Zeus the earlier born and his knowledge was greater.

thereby the poet plainly declares that the primacy of Zeus is nobler since it is elder in knowledge and in wisdom.

     I think also that a source of happiness in the eternal life, which is the lot of god, is that events which come to pass do not escape his prescience. But if wisdom and the knowledge of true beings ^‡ are set aside, then, immortality itself is not living, but a mere lapse of time ⁵.

     2. Διὸ θειότητος ὄρεξίς ἐστιν ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας μάλιστα δὲ τῆς περὶ θεῶν ἔφεσις, ὥσπερ ἀνάληψιν ἱερῶν τὴν μάθησιν ἔχουσα καὶ τὴν ζήτησιν, ἁγνείας τε πάσης καὶ νεωκορίας ἔργον ὁσιώτερον, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ τῇ θεῷ ταύτῃ κεχαρισμένον, ἣν σὺ θεραπεύεις ἐξαιρέτως σοφὴν καὶ φιλόσοφον οὖσαν, ὡς τοὔνομά γε φράζειν ἔοικε παντὸς μᾶλλον αὐτῇ τὸ εἰδέναι καὶ τὴν ἐπιστήμην προσήκουσαν.

     Ἑλληνικὸν γὰρ ἡ Ἶσίς ἐστι καὶ ὁ Τυφὼν πολέμιος ὢν τῇ θεῷ καὶ δι’ ἄγνοιαν καὶ ἀπάτην τετυφωμένος καὶ διασπῶν καὶ ἀφανίζων τὸν ἱερὸν λόγον, ὃν ἡ θεὸς συνάγει καὶ συντίθησι καὶ παραδίδωσι τοῖς τελουμένοις διὰ θειώσεως σώφρονι μὲν ἐνδελεχῶς διαίτῃ καὶ βρωμάτων πολλῶν καὶ ἀφροδισίων ἀποχαῖς κολουούσης, τὸ ἀκόλαστον καὶ φιλήδονον, ἀθρύπτους δὲ καὶ στερρὰς ἐν ἱεροῖς λατρείας ἐθιζούσης ὑπομένειν, ὧν τέλος ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ πρώτου καὶ κυρίου καὶ νοητοῦ γνῶσις, ὃν ἡ θεὸς παρακαλεῖ ζητεῖν παρ’ αὐτῇ καὶ μετ’ αὐτῆς ὄντα καὶ συνόντα. Τοῦ δ’ ἱεροῦ τοὔνομα καὶ σαφῶς ἐπαγγέλλεται καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ εἴδησιν τοῦ ὄντος· ὀνομάζεται γὰρ Ἰσεῖον ὡς εἰσομένων τὸ ὄν, ἂν μετὰ λόγου καὶ ὁσίως εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ τῆς θεοῦ παρέλθωμεν.

     2. Therefore the effort to arrive at the Truth, and especially the truth about the gods, is a longing for the divine. For the search for truth requires for its study and investigation the consideration of sacred subjects, and it is a work more hallowed than any form of holy living or temple service; and, not least of all, it is well-pleasing to that goddess whom you worship, a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of wisdom, to whom, as her name at least seems to indicate, knowledge and understanding are in the highest degree appropriate to her.

     For “Isis” is a Greek word ⁶, and so also is “Typhon”, her enemy, who is conceited, as his name implies ⁶, because of his ignorance and self-deception. He tears to pieces and scatters to the winds the sacred word, which the goddess collects and puts together and gives into the keeping of those that are initiated into the holy rites, since this consecration, by a strict regimen and by abstinence from many kinds of food and from the lusts of the flesh, curtails licentiousness and the love of pleasure, and induces a habit of patient submission to the stern and rigorous services in shrines, the end and aim of which is the knowledge of the First, the Supreme, and the Intelligible ⁷; which the goddess urges them to seek, as near to herself and as dwelling with her. The very name of her Temple clearly promises both the communication and the understanding of That which is ^‡, for it is named “Iseion” ⁸, inasmuch as That which is shall be known if we enter with intelligence and piously into the sacred temples of the goddess.

     3. Ἔτι πολλοὶ μὲν Ἑρμοῦ, πολλοὶ δὲ Προμηθέως ἱστορήκασιν αὐτὴν θυγατέρα, ὧν τὸν μὲν ἕτερον σοφίας καὶ προνοίας, Ἑρμῆν δὲ γραμματικῆς καὶ μουσικῆς εὑρετὴν νομίζοντες. Διὸ καὶ τῶν ἐν Ἑρμοῦ πόλει Μουσῶν τὴν προτέραν Ἶσιν ἅμα καὶ Δικαιοσύνην καλοῦσι, σοφὴν οὖσαν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, καὶ δεικνύουσαν τὰ θεῖα τοῖς ἀληθῶς καὶ δικαίως ἱεραφόροις καὶ ἱεροστόλοις προσαγορευομένοις· οὗτοι δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ τὸν ἱερὸν λόγον περὶ θεῶν πάσης καθαρεύοντα δεισιδαιμονίας καὶ περιεργίας ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ φέροντες ὥσπερ ἐν κίστῃ καὶ περιστέλλοντες, τὰ μὲν μέλανα καὶ σκιώδη τὰ δὲ φανερὰ καὶ λαμπρὰ τῆς περὶ θεῶν ὑποδηλοῦντες οἰήσεως, οἷα καὶ περὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τὴν ἱερὰν ἀποφαίνεται. Διὸ καὶ τὸ κοσμεῖσθαι τούτοις τοὺς ἀποθανόντας Ἰσιακοὺς σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦτον τὸν λόγον εἶναι μετ’ αὐτῶν, καὶ τοῦτον ἔχοντας ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν ἐκεῖ βαδίζειν. Οὔτε γὰρ φιλοσόφους πωγωνοτροφίαι, ὦ Κλέα, καὶ τριβωνοφορίαι ποιοῦσιν οὔτ’ Ἰσιακοὺς αἱ λινοστολίαι καὶ ξυρήσεις· ἀλλ’ Ἰσιακός ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς ὁ τὰ δεικνύμενα καὶ δρώμενα περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους, ὅταν νόμῳ παραλάβῃ, λόγῳ ζητῶν καὶ φιλοσοφῶν περὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀληθείας.

     3. Moreover, many writers have held her to be the daughter of Hermes ⁹, and many others the daughter of Prometheus ¹⁰, because of the belief that Prometheus is the discoverer of wisdom and forethought, and Hermes the inventor of grammar and music. For this reason they call the first of the Muses at Hermopolis Isis as well as Justice; for she is wise, as I have said ¹¹, and discloses the divine mysteries to those who truly and justly have the name of “bearers of the sacred vessels” and “wearers of sacred robes”. These are they who within their own soul, as though within a casket, bear the sacred word about the gods clear of all superstition and pedantry; and they cloak them with secrecy, thus giving intimation, some dark and shadowy, some clear and bright, of their concepts about the gods, intimations of the same sort as are clearly evidenced in the wearing of the sacred garb ¹². For this reason, too, the fact that the deceased votaries of Isis are decked with these garments is a sign that this sacred word accompanies them, and that they pass to the other world possessed of this and of naught else. For it is not, Clea, the wearing of beards and the dressing in coarse cloaks that make philosophers; nor does dressing in linen and shaving the hair make votaries of Isis; but the true votary of Isis is he who, when he has legitimately received what is set forth in the ceremonies connected with these gods, uses reason in investigating and in studying the truth contained therein.

     4. Ἐπεὶ τούς γε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸ κοινότατον τοῦτο καὶ σμικρότατον λέληθεν, ἐφ’ ὅτῳ τὰς τρίχας οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀποτίθενται καὶ λινᾶς ἐσθῆτας φοροῦσιν· οἱ μὲν οὐδ’ ὅλως φροντίζουσιν εἰδέναι περὶ τούτων, οἱ δὲ τῶν μὲν ἐρίων ὥσπερ τῶν κρεῶν σεβομένους τὸ πρόβατον ἀπέχεσθαι λέγουσι, ξύρεσθαι δὲ τὰς κεφαλὰς διὰ τὸ πένθος, φορεῖν δὲ τὰ λινᾶ διὰ τὴν χρόαν, ἣν τὸ λίνον ἀνθοῦν ἀνίησι τῇ περιεχούσῃ τὸν κόσμον αἰθερίῳ χαροπότητι προσεοικυῖαν.

     Ἡ δ’ ἀληθὴς αἰτία μία πάντων ἐστί· “καθαροῦ γάρ” ᾗ φησιν ὁ Πλάτων ^α “οὐ θεμιτὸν ἅπτεσθαι μὴ καθαρῷ”· περίσσωμα δὲ τροφῆς καὶ σκύβαλον οὐδὲν ἁγνὸν οὐδὲ καθαρόν ἐστιν· ἐκ δὲ περιττωμάτων ἔρια καὶ λάχναι καὶ τρίχες καὶ ὄνυχες ἀναφύονται καὶ βλαστάνουσι. Γελοῖον οὖν ἦν τὰς μὲν αὑτῶν τρίχας ἐν ταῖς ἁγνείαις ἀποτίθεσθαι ξυρωμένους καὶ λειαινομένους πᾶν ὁμαλῶς τὸ σῶμα, τὰς δὲ τῶν θρεμμάτων ἀμπέχεσθαι καὶ φορεῖν· καὶ γὰρ τὸν Ἡσίοδον οἴεσθαι δεῖ λέγοντα

μηδ’ ἀπὸ πεντόζοιο θεῶν ἐν δαιτὶ θαλείῃ
αὖον ἀπὸ χλωροῦ τάμνειν αἴθωνι σιδήρῳ

     διδάσκειν ὅτι δεῖ καθαροὺς τῶν τοιούτων γενομένους ἑορτάζειν, οὐκ ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς ἱερουργίαις χρῆσθαι καθάρσει καὶ ἀφαιρέσει τῶν περιττωμάτων. Τὸ δὲ λίνον φύεται μὲν ἐξ ἀθανάτου τῆς γῆς καὶ καρπὸν ἐδώδιμον ἀναδίδωσι, λιτὴν δὲ παρέχει καὶ καθαρὰν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τῷ σκέποντι μὴ βαρύνουσαν, εὐάρμοστον δὲ πρὸς πᾶσαν ὥραν, ἥκιστα δὲ φθειροποιόν, ὡς λέγουσι· περὶ ὧν ἕτερος λόγος.

     4. It is true that most people are unaware of this very ordinary and minor matter: the reason why the priests remove their hair and wear linen garments ¹³. Some persons do not care at all to have any knowledge about such things, while others say that the priests, because they revere the sheep ¹⁴, abstain from using its wool, as well as its flesh; and that they shave their heads as a sign of mourning, and that they wear their linen garments because of the colour which the flax displays when in bloom, and which is like to the heavenly azure which enfolds the universe..

     But for all this there is only one true reason, which is to be found in the words of Plato ¹⁵ “for the Impure to touch the Pure is contrary to divine ordinance”. No surplus left over from food and no excrementitious matter is pure and clean; and it is from forms of surplus that wool, fur, hair, and nails originate and grow ¹⁶. So it would be ridiculous that these persons in their holy living should remove their own hair by shaving and making their bodies smooth all over ¹⁷, and then should put on and wear the hair of domestic animals. We should believe that when Hesiod ¹⁸ said,

Not at a feast of Gods from five-branched tree
With sharp-edged steel to part the green from dry,

     he was teaching that men should be clean of such things when they keep high festival, and they should not amid the actual ceremonies engage in clearing away and removing any sort of surplus matter. Again, the flax springs from the earth which is immortal; it yields edible seeds, and supplies a plain and cleanly clothing, which does not oppress by the weight required for warmth. It is suitable for every season and, as they say, is least apt to breed lice; but this topic is treated elsewhere ¹⁹.

     5. Οἱ δ’ ἱερεῖς οὕτω δυσχεραίνουσι τὴν τῶν περιττωμάτων φύσιν, ὥστε μὴ μόνον παραιτεῖσθαι τῶν ὀσπρίων τὰ πολλὰ καὶ τῶν κρεῶν τὰ μήλεια καὶ ὕεια πολλὴν ποιοῦντα περίττωσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἅλας τῶν σιτίων ἐν ταῖς ἁγνείαις ἀφαιρεῖν, ἄλλας τε πλείονας αἰτίας ἔχοντας καὶ τὸ ποτικωτέρους καὶ βρωτικωτέρους ποιεῖν ἐπιθήγοντας τὴν ὄρεξιν. Τὸ γάρ, ὡς Ἀρισταγόρας ἔλεγε, διὰ τὸ πηγνυμένοις πολλὰ τῶν μικρῶν ζῴων ἐναποθνήσκειν ἁλισκόμενα μὴ καθαροὺς λογίζεσθαι τοὺς ἅλας εὔηθές ἐστι. Λέγονται δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἆπιν ἐκ φρέατος ἰδίου ποτίζειν, τοῦ δὲ Νείλου παντάπασιν ἀπείργειν, οὐ μιαρὸν ἡγούμενοι τὸ ὕδωρ διὰ τὸν κροκόδειλον, ὡς ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν (οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως τίμιον Αἰγυπτίοις ὡς ὁ Νεῖλος)· ἀλλὰ πιαίνειν δοκεῖ καὶ μάλιστα πολυσαρκίαν ποιεῖν τὸ Νειλῷον ὕδωρ πινόμενον· οὐ βούλονται δὲ τὸν Ἆπιν οὕτως ἔχειν οὐδ’ ἑαυτούς, ἀλλ’ εὐσταλῆ καὶ κοῦφα ταῖς ψυχαῖς περικεῖσθαι τὰ σώματα καὶ μὴ πιέζειν μηδὲ καταθλίβειν ἰσχύοντι τῷ θνητῷ καὶ βαρύνοντι τὸ θεῖον.

     5. The priests so greatly dislike the nature of excrementitious things, that they not only reject most kinds of pulse, and the flesh of sheep and swine ²⁰, as producing much superfluity of nutriment, but also during their purgations they exclude salt ²¹ from their meals, assigning many other reasons for so doing, and particularly that salt makes people more inclined to drinking and eating, by sharpening the appetite. To consider salt impure, because, as Aristagoras has said, when it is crystallizing many minute creatures are caught in it and die, is certainly silly. They are also said to water the Apis from a well of his own, and keep him away from the Nile altogether; not that they hold the Nile water to be polluted by reason of the crocodiles, as some believe –for nothing is so venerated by Egyptians as the Nile– but because drinking the water of the Nile is supposed to be fattening, and to produce corpulence ²²; for they do not wish to have the Apis in such condition, nor themselves either, but to render their bodies active and lightly moved by their souls, and not to weigh down and crush the divine part by the mortal ones growing strong and preponderating.

     6. Οἶνον δ’ οἱ μὲν ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει θεραπεύοντες τὸν θεὸν οὐκ εἰσφέρουσι τὸ παράπαν εἰς τὸ ἱερόν, ὡς οὐ προσῆκον ὑπηρέτας πίνειν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ βασιλέως ἐφορῶντος· οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι χρῶνται μὲν ὀλίγῳ δέ. Πολλὰς δ’ ἀοίνους ἁγνείας ἔχουσιν, ἐν αἷς φιλοσοφοῦντες καὶ μανθάνοντες καὶ διδάσκοντες τὰ θεῖα διατελοῦσιν. Οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς καὶ μετρητὸν ἔπινον ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων, ὡς Ἑκαταῖος ἱστόρηκεν, ἱερεῖς ὄντες· ἤρξαντο δὲ πίνειν ἀπὸ Ψαμμητίχου, πρότερον δ’ οὐκ ἔπινον οἶνον οὐδ’ ἔσπενδον ὡς φίλιον θεοῖς ἀλλ’ ὡς αἷμα τῶν πολεμησάντων ποτὲ τοῖς θεοῖς, ἐξ ὧν οἴονται πεσόντων καὶ τῇ γῇ συμμιγέντων ἀμπέλους γενέσθαι· διὸ καὶ τὸ μεθύειν ἔκφρονας ποιεῖν καὶ παραπλῆγας, ἅτε δὴ τῶν προγόνων τοῦ αἵματος ἐμπιπλαμένους. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Εὔδοξος ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ τῆς Περιόδου λέγεσθαί φησιν οὕτως ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων.

     6. As for wine, those who serve the god in Heliopolis bring none at all into the shrine, since they feel that it is not seemly to drink in the day-time while their Lord and King is looking upon them ²³. The others use wine, but in great moderation. They have many periods of purgations when wine is prohibited, in which they discuss philosophically, and pass their time in learning and teaching things divine. Their kings also were wont to drink it by a certain measure ²⁴ prescribed in the sacred books, as Hecataeus ²⁵ has recorded; being priests also themselves. And they began first to drink in the reign of Psammetichus; before that they did not drink wine nor use it in libation as something dear to the gods, thinking it to be the blood of those who had once battled against the gods, and from whom, when they had fallen and had become commingled with the earth, they believed vines to have sprung. This is the reason (say they) why drunkenness drives men out of their senses and crazes them, inasmuch as they are then filled with the blood of their ancestors. These things, as Eudoxus tells us in the second book of his Travels, are thus related by the priests.

     7. Ἰχθύων δὲ θαλαττίων πάντες μὲν οὐ πάντων ἀλλ’ ἐνίων ἀπέχονται, καθάπερ Ὀξυρυγχῖται τῶν ἀπ’ ἀγκίστρου· σεβόμενοι γὰρ τὸν ὀξύρυγχον ἰχθὺν δεδίασι μή ποτε τὸ ἄγκιστρον οὐ καθαρόν ἐστιν ὀξυρύγχου περιπεσόντος αὐτῷ· Συηνῖται δὲ φάγρου· δοκεῖ γὰρ ἐπιόντι τῷ Νείλῳ συνεπιφαίνεσθαι καὶ τὴν αὔξησιν ἀσμένοις φράζειν αὐτάγγελος ὁρώμενος. 

     Οἱ δ’ ἱερεῖς ἀπέχονται πάντων· πρώτου δὲ μηνὸς ἐνάτῃ τῶν ἄλλων Αἰγυπτίων ἑκάστου πρὸ τῆς αὐλείου θύρας ὀπτὸν ἰχθὺν κατεσθίοντος οἱ ἱερεῖς οὐ γεύονται μὲν κατακαίουσι δὲ πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν τοὺς ἰχθῦς δύο λόγους ἔχοντες, ὧν τὸν μὲν ἱερὸν καὶ περιττὸν αὖθις ἀναλήψομαι συνᾴδοντα τοῖς περὶ Ὀσίριδος καὶ Τυφῶνος ὁσίως φιλοσοφουμένοις, ὁ δ’ ἐμφανὴς καὶ πρόχειρος οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον οὐδ’ ἀπερίεργον ὄψον ἀποφαίνων τὸν ἰχθὺν Ὁμήρῳ μαρτυρεῖ μήτε Φαίακας τοὺς ἁβροβίους μήτε τοὺς Ἰθακησίους ἀνθρώπους νησιώτας ἰχθύσι χρωμένους ποιοῦντι μήτε τοὺς Ὀδυσσέως ἑταίρους ἐν πλῷ τοσούτῳ καὶ ἐν θαλάττῃ πρὶν εἰς ἐσχάτην ἐλθεῖν ἀπορίαν. Ὅλως δὲ καὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἔκφυλον ἡγοῦνται καὶ παρωρισμένην οὐδὲ μέρος οὐδὲ στοιχεῖον ἀλλ’ οἷον περίττωμα διεφθορὸς καὶ νοσῶδες.

     7. As for sea-fish, all Egyptians do not abstain from all of them ²⁶, but from some kinds only; as, for example, the inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus abstain from those that are caught with a hook ²⁷; for, inasmuch as they revere the fish called oxyrhynchus (the pike), they are afraid that the hook may be unclean, since an oxyrhynchus may have been caught with it. The people of Syenê abstain from the phagrus ²⁸ (the sea-bream); for this fish is reputed to appear with the oncoming of the Nile, and to be a self-sent messenger, which, when it is seen, declares to a glad people the rise of the river.

     The priests, however, abstain from all fish; and on the ninth day of the first month, when every one of the other Egyptians eats a broiled fish in front of the outer door of his house, the priests do not even taste the fish, but burn them up in front of their doors ²⁹. For this practice they have two reasons, one of which is religious and curious, and I shall discuss it at another time ³⁰, since it harmonizes with the sacred studies touching Osiris and Typhon; the other is obvious and commonplace, in that it declares that fish is an unnecessary and superfluous food, and confirms the words of Homer, who, in his poetry, represents neither the Phaeacians, who lived amid a refined luxury, nor the Ithacans, who dwelt on an island, as making any use of fish, nor did even the companions of Odysseus, while on such a long voyage and in the midst of the sea, until they had come to the extremity of want ³¹. In fine, these people hold the sea to be of an alien nature and distinct from all else, neither a part nor an element but something of a different sort, both destructive and the occasion of disease ³².

     8. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλογον οὐδὲ μυθῶδες οὐδ’ ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν, ἐγκατεστοιχειοῦτο ταῖς ἱερουργίαις, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἠθικὰς ἔχοντα καὶ χρειώδεις αἰτίας, τὰ δ’ οὐκ ἄμοιρα κομψότητος ἱστορικῆς ἢ φυσικῆς ἐστιν, οἷον τὸ περὶ κρομμύου. Τὸ γὰρ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ ἀπολέσθαι τὸν τῆς Ἴσιδος τρόφιμον Δίκτυν ***ου κρομμύων ἐπιδρασσόμενον ἐσχάτως ἀπίθανον· οἱ δ’ ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιοῦνται καὶ δυσχεραίνουσι καὶ τὸ κρόμμυον παραφυλάττοντες, ὅτι τῆς σελήνης φθινούσης μόνον εὐτροφεῖν τοῦτο καὶ τεθηλέναι πέφυκεν. Ἔστι δὲ πρόσφορον οὔθ’ ἁγνεύουσιν οὔθ’ ἑορτάζουσι, τοῖς μὲν ὅτι διψῆν τοῖς δ’ ὅτι δακρύειν ποιεῖ τοὺς προσφερομένους. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ὗν ἀνίερον ζῷον ἡγοῦνται· ὡς μάλιστα γὰρ ὀχεύεσθαι δοκεῖ τῆς σελήνης φθινούσης, καὶ τῶν τὸ γάλα πινόντων ἐξανθεῖ τὰ σώματα λέπραν καὶ ψωρικὰς τραχύτητας. Tὸν δὲ λόγον, ὃν θύοντες ἅπαξ ὗν ἐν πανσελήνῳ καὶ κατεσθίοντες ἐπιλέγουσιν, ὡς ὁ Τυφὼν ὗν διώκων πρὸς τὴν πανσέληνον εὗρε τὴν ξυλίνην σορόν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἔκειτο, καὶ διέρριψεν, οὐ πάντες ἀποδέχονται, παράκουσμα τῶν νεωτέρων ὥσπερ ἄλλα πολλὰ νομίζοντες.

     Ἀλλὰ τρυφήν γε καὶ πολυτέλειαν καὶ ἡδυπάθειαν οὕτω προβάλλεσθαι τοὺς παλαιοὺς λέγουσιν, ὥστε καὶ στήλην ἔστησαν ἐν Θήβαις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ κεῖσθαι κατάρας ἐγγεγραμμένας ἔχουσαν κατὰ Μείνιος τοῦ βασιλέως, ὃς πρῶτος Αἰγυπτίους τῆς ἀπλούτου καὶ ἀχρημάτου καὶ λιτῆς ἀπήλλαξε διαίτης. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ Τέχνακτις ὁ Βοκχόρεως πατὴρ στρατεύων ἐπ’ Ἄραβας τῆς ἀποσκευῆς βραδυνούσης ἡδέως τῷ προστυχόντι σιτίῳ χρησάμενος εἶτα κοιμηθεὶς βαθὺν ὕπνον ἐπὶ στιβάδος ἀσπάσασθαι τὴν εὐτέλειαν, ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταράσασθαι τῷ Μείνι καὶ τῶν ἱερέων ἐπαινεσάντων στηλιτεῦσαι τὴν κατάραν.

     8. Nothing that is irrational or fabulous or prompted by superstition, as some believe, has ever been given a place in their rites, but in them are some things that have moral and practical values, and others that are not without their share in the refinements of history or natural science, as, for example, that which has to do with the onion. For the tale that Dictys, the nurseling of Isis, in reaching for a clump of onions, fell into the river and was drowned is extremely incredible. But the priests keep themselves clear of the onion ³³ and detest it and are careful to avoid it, because it is the only plant that naturally thrives and flourishes in the waning of the moon. It is suitable for neither fasting nor festival, because in the one case it causes thirst and in the other tears for those who partake of it. In like manner they hold the pig to be an unclean animal ³⁴, because it is reputed to be most inclined to mate in the waning of the moon, and because the bodies of those who drink its milk break out with leprosy and scabrous itching ³⁵. The story which they relate at their only sacrifice and eating of a pig at the time of the full moon, how Typhon, while he was pursuing a boar by the light of the full moon, found the wooden coffin in which lay the body of Osiris, which he rent to pieces and scattered ³⁶, they do not all accept, believing it to be a mis­representation, even as many other things are.

     Moreover, they relate that the ancient Egyptians put from them luxury, and self-indulgence, to such a degree that they used to say that there was a pillar standing in the temple at Thebes which had inscribed upon it curses against Meinis ³⁷, their king, who was the first to lead the Egyptians to quit their frugal, thrifty, and simple manner of living. It is said also that Technactis ³⁸, the father of Bocchoris ³⁹, when he was leading his army against the Arabians, because his baggage was slow in arriving, found pleasure in eating such common food as was available, and afterwards slept soundly on a bedding of straw, and thus became fond of frugal living; as the result, he invoked a curse on Meinis, and, with the approval of the priests, had a pillar set up with the curse inscribed upon it.

     9. Οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς ἀπεδείκνυντο μὲν ἐκ τῶν ἱερέων ἢ τῶν μαχίμων, τοῦ μὲν δι’ ἀνδρείαν τοῦ δὲ διὰ σοφίαν γένους ἀξίωμα καὶ τιμὴν ἔχοντος. Ὁ δ’ ἐκ μαχίμων ἀποδεδειγμένος εὐθὺς ἐγίνετο τῶν ἱερέων καὶ μετεῖχε τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἐπικεκρυμμένης τὰ πολλὰ μύθοις καὶ λόγοις ἀμυδρὰς ἐμφάσεις τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ διαφάσεις ἔχουσιν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ παραδηλοῦσιν αὐτοὶ πρὸ τῶν ἱερῶν τὰς σφίγγας ἐπιεικῶς ἱστάντες, ὡς αἰνιγματώδη σοφίαν τῆς θεολογίας αὐτῶν ἐχούσης. Τὸ δ’ ἐν Σάι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ὃ ἣν καὶ Ἶσιν νομίζουσιν, ἕδος ἐπιγραφὴν εἶχε τοιαύτην

ἐγώ εἰμι πᾶν τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ὂν καὶ ἐσόμενον καὶ τὸν
ἐμὸν πέπλον οὐδείς πω θνητὸς ἀπεκάλυψεν.

     Ἔτι δὲ τῶν πολλῶν νομιζόντων ἴδιον παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις ὄνομα τοῦ Διὸς εἶναι τὸν Ἀμοῦν (ὃ παράγοντες ἡμεῖς Ἄμμωνα λέγομεν) Μανεθὼς μὲν ὁ Σεβεννύτης τὸ κεκρυμμένον οἴεται καὶ τὴν κρύψιν ὑπὸ ταύτης δηλοῦσθαι τῆς φωνῆς, Ἑκαταῖος δ’ ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης φησὶ τούτῳ καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους τῷ ῥήματι χρῆσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, ὅταν τινὰ προσκαλῶνται· προσκλητικὴν γὰρ εἶναι τὴν φωνήν. Διὸ τὸν πρῶτον θεόν, ὃν τῷ παντὶ τὸν αὐτὸν νομίζουσιν, ὡς ἀφανῆ καὶ κεκρυμμένον ὄντα προσκαλούμενοι καὶ παρακαλοῦντες ἐμφανῆ γενέσθαι καὶ δῆλον αὐτοῖς Ἀμοῦν λέγουσιν.

     9. The kings were appointed from the priests or from the military class, since the military class had eminence and honour because of valour, and the priests because of wisdom. But he who was appointed from the military class was at once made one of the priests and a participant in their philosophy, which, for the most part, is veiled in myths and in words containing dim reflexions and adumbrations of the truth, as they themselves intimate beyond question by appropriately placing sphinxes ⁴⁰ before their temples to indicate that their theology has in it an enigmatical sort of wisdom. In Saïs the statue of Athena, whom they believe to be Isis, bore the inscription,

I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be;
and my veil no mortal ever uncovered.

     Furthermore, as most people believe, the name of Zeus amongst the Egyptians ⁴¹ is Amun (which we, with a slight alteration, pronounce Ammon). Manetho of Sebennytus is of the opinion that the “hidden” and “hiding” is expressed by this word. Hecataeus ⁴² of Abdera says that the Egyptians use this expression one to another whenever they call to anyone, for the word is a form of address. Therefore when they address the first god (whom they consider to be in All), who is invisible and hidden and implore him to make himself visible and manifest to them, they use the word “Amun”.

     10. Ἡ μὲν οὖν εὐλάβεια τῆς περὶ τὰ θεῖα σοφίας Αἰγυπτίων τοσαύτη ἦν, μαρτυροῦσι δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ σοφώτατοι, Σόλων Θαλῆς Πλάτων Εὔδοξος Πυθαγόρας, ὡς δ’ ἔνιοί φασι, καὶ Λυκοῦργος εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀφικόμενοι καὶ συγγενόμενοι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν. Εὔδοξον μὲν οὖν Χονούφεώς φασι Μεμφίτου διακοῦσαι, Σόλωνα δὲ Σόγχιτος Σαΐτου, Πυθαγόραν δ’ Οἰνούφεως Ἡλιοπολίτου. Μάλιστα δ’ οὗτος, ὡς ἔοικε, θαυμασθεὶς καὶ θαυμάσας τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀπεμιμήσατο τὸ συμβολικὸν αὐτῶν καὶ μυστηριῶδες ἀναμίξας αἰνίγμασι τὰ δόγματα· τῶν γὰρ καλουμένων ἱερογλυφικῶν γραμμάτων οὐθὲν ἀπολείπει τὰ πολλὰ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν παραγγελμάτων, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ μὴ ‘ἐσθίειν ἐπὶ δίφρου’ μηδ’ ‘ἐπὶ χοίνικος καθῆσθαι’ μηδὲ ‘φοίνικα φυτεύειν’ μηδὲ ‘πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ σκαλεύειν ἐν οἰκίᾳ’.

     Δοκῶ δ’ ἔγωγε καὶ τὸ τὴν μονάδα τοὺς ἄνδρας ὀνομάζειν Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ τὴν δυάδα Ἄρτεμιν, Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ τὴν ἑβδομάδα, Ποσειδῶνα δὲ τὸν πρῶτον κύβον ἐοικέναι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἱδρυμένοις καὶ δρωμένοις νὴ Δία καὶ γραφομένοις. Tὸν γὰρ βασιλέα καὶ κύριον Ὄσιριν ὀφθαλμῷ καὶ σκήπτρῳ γράφουσιν· ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τοὔνομα διερμηνεύουσι πολυόφθαλμον, ὡς τοῦ μὲν ος τὸ πολύ, τοῦ δ’ ιρι τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν Αἰγυπτίᾳ γλώττῃ φράζοντος· τὸν δ’ οὐρανὸν ὡς ἀγήρω δι’ ἀιδιότητα καρδίᾳ † θυμὸν ἐσχάρας ὑποκειμένης. Ἐν δὲ Θήβαις εἰκόνες ἦσαν ἀνακείμεναι δικαστῶν ἄχειρες, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἀρχιδικαστοῦ καταμύουσα τοῖς ὄμμασιν, ὡς ἄδωρον ἅμα τὴν δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀνέντευκτον οὖσαν. Τοῖς δὲ μαχίμοις κάνθαρος ἦν γλυφὴ σφραγῖδος· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι κάνθαρος θῆλυς, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἄρσενες. Τίκτουσι δὲ τὸν γόνον ἀφιέντες εἰς ὄνθον, ὃν σφαιροποιοῦσιν, οὐ τροφῆς μᾶλλον ὕλην ἢ γενέσεως χώραν παρασκευάζοντες.

     10. So great, then, was the piety of the Egyptians’ wisdom in all that had to do with the gods. The wisest of the Greeks bear testimony to this, such as Solon, Thales, Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras (some say Lycurgus also), by their travelling to Egypt and conversing with the priests ⁴³. Eudoxus, they say, received lessons from Chonupheus of Memphis; Solon, from Sonchis of Sais; Pythagoras from Oenuphis of Heliopolis. and he being probably the most admired of these visitors, and himself admiring the people, imitated their symbolical and mysterious style, and incorporated his doctrines in enigmas. For the greatest part of the Pythagorean precepts ⁴⁴ fall nothing short of those sacred writings they call hieroglyphical; such, for instance, as, “not to eat upon a stool”; “not to sit down upon a corn-measure”; “not to plant a palm-tree” ⁴⁵; “not to stir fire with a knife within the house”.

     And I myself think that the fact that the men (of his circle) call the monad Apollon, the dyad Diana, the heptad Minerva; and Poseidon the first cube ⁴⁶; bears a resemblance to the statues and even to the sculptures and paintings with which their temples are embellished. For their King and Lord Osiris they portray by means of an eye and a sceptre ⁴⁷; there are even some who explain the meaning of the name as “many-eyed” ⁴⁸, the “os” meaning many and the “iri” eye in the Egyptian language; and Heaven, as being ageless because of its eternity, they portray by a heart with a censer beneath ⁴⁹. And in Thebes there were dedicated statues of judges without hands, whilst that of the chief-judge had also his eyes closed up, to indicate that justice is not influenced by gifts or by intercession ⁵⁰. The military class had their seals engraved with the form of a beetle ⁵¹; for there is no such thing as a female beetle, but all beetles are male ⁵², and they breed by depositing their seed into a round mass which they construct, since they are no less occupied in arranging for a supply of food ⁵³ than in preparing a place to rear their young.

     11. Ὅταν οὖν ἃ μυθολογοῦσιν Αἰγύπτιοι περὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀκούσῃς, πλάνας καὶ διαμελισμοὺς καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα παθήματα, δεῖ τῶν προειρημένων μνημονεύειν καὶ μηδὲν οἴεσθαι τούτων λέγεσθαι γεγονὸς οὕτω καὶ πεπραγμένον· οὐ γὰρ τὸν κύνα κυρίως Ἑρμῆν λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ζῴου τὸ φυλακτικὸν καὶ τὸ ἄγρυπνον καὶ τὸ φιλόσοφον, γνώσει καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ τὸ φίλον καὶ τὸ ἐχθρὸν ὁρίζοντος, ᾗ φησιν ὁ Πλάτων ^β, τῷ λογιωτάτῳ τῶν θεῶν συνοικειοῦσιν· οὐδὲ τὸν Ἥλιον ἐκ λωτοῦ νομίζουσι βρέφος ἀνίσχειν νεογιλόν, ἀλλ’ οὕτως ἀνατολὴν ἡλίου γράφουσι, τὴν ἐξ ὑγρῶν ἡλίου γινομένην ἄναψιν αἰνιττόμενοι.

     Καὶ γὰρ τὸν ὠμότατον Περσῶν βασιλέα καὶ φοβερώτατον Ὦχον ἀποκτείναντα πολλούς, τέλος δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἆπιν ἀποσφάξαντα καὶ καταδειπνήσαντα μετὰ τῶν φίλων ἐκάλεσαν “μάχαιραν” καὶ καλοῦσι μέχρι νῦν οὕτως ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ τῶν βασιλέων, οὐ κυρίως δήπου τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ σημαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ τοῦ τρόπου τὴν σκληρότητα καὶ κακίαν ὀργάνῳ φονικῷ παρεικάζοντες. Οὕτω δὴ τὰ περὶ θεῶν ἀκούσασα καὶ δεχομένη παρὰ τῶν ἐξηγουμένων τὸν μῦθον ὁσίως καὶ φιλοσόφως καὶ δρῶσα μὲν ἀεὶ καὶ διαφυλάττουσα τῶν ἱερῶν τὰ νενομισμένα, τοῦ δ’ ἀληθῆ δόξαν ἔχειν περὶ θεῶν μηδὲν οἰομένη μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς μήτε θύσειν μήτε ποιήσειν αὐτοῖς κεχαρισμένον, οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἀποφεύξῃ κακὸν ἀθεότητος δεισιδαιμονίαν.

     11. Therefore, Clea, whenever you hear the traditional tales which the Egyptians tell about the gods, their wanderings, dismemberments, and many experiences of this sort, you must remember what has been already said, and you must not think that any of these tales actually happened in the manner in which they are related. The facts are that they do not call the dog by the name Hermes as his proper name, but only relate to the most knowing and ingenious of the Gods the warding, vigilancy, and philosophic acuteness of that animal, which distinguishes between friend and foe by his knowledge of the one and his ignorance of the other, as Plato ⁵⁴ remarks. Nor, again, do they believe that the sun rises as a new-born babe from the lotus, but they portray the rising of the sun in this manner to indicate allegorically the enkindling of the sun from the waters ⁵⁵.

     So also Ochus, the most cruel and terrible of the Persian kings, who put many to death and finally slaughtered the Apis ⁵⁶ and ate him for dinner in the company of his friends, the Egyptians called the “Sword”; and they call him by that name even to this day in their list of kings ⁵⁷. But manifestly they do not mean to apply this name to his actual being; they but liken the stubbornness and wickedness in his character to an instrument of murder. If, then, you listen to the stories about the gods in this way, accepting them from those who interpret the story reverently and philosophically, and if you always perform and observe the established rites of worship, and believe that no sacrifice that you can offer, no deed that you may do will be more likely to find favour with the gods than your belief in their true nature, you may avoid superstition which is no less an evil than atheism ⁵⁸.

     12. Λεγέσθω δ’ ὁ μῦθος οὗτος ἐν βραχυτάτοις ὡς ἔνεστι μάλιστα τῶν ἀχρήστων σφόδρα καὶ περιττῶν ἀφαιρεθέντων. Τῆς Ῥέας φασὶ κρύφα τῷ Κρόνῳ συγγενομένης αἰσθόμενον ἐπαράσασθαι τὸν Ἥλιον αὐτῇ μήτε μηνὶ μήτ’ ἐνιαυτῷ τεκεῖν· ἐρῶντα δὲ τῆς θεοῦ τὸν Ἑρμῆν συνελθεῖν, εἶτα παίξαντα πέττια πρὸς τὴν Σελήνην καὶ ἀφελόντα τῶν φώτων ἑκάστου τὸ ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἐκ πάντων ἡμέρας πέντε συνελεῖν καὶ ταῖς ἑξήκοντα καὶ τριακοσίαις ἐπαγαγεῖν, ἃς νῦν ἐπαγομένας Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσι καὶ τῶν θεῶν γενεθλίους ἄγουσι. Τῇ μὲν πρώτῃ τὸν Ὄσιριν γενέσθαι καὶ φωνὴν αὐτῷ τεχθέντι συνεκπεσεῖν, ὡς ὁ πάντων κύριος εἰς φῶς πρόεισιν. Ἔνιοι δὲ Παμύλην τινὰ λέγουσιν ἐν Θήβαις ὑδρευόμενον ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ Διὸς φωνὴν ἀκοῦσαι διακελευομένην ἀνειπεῖν μετὰ βοῆς, ὅτι μέγας βασιλεὺς εὐεργέτης Ὄσιρις γέγονε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θρέψαι τὸν Ὄσιριν ἐγχειρίσαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Κρόνου καὶ τὴν τῶν Παμυλίων ἑορτὴν αὐτῷ τελεῖσθαι Φαλληφορίοις ἐοικυῖαν.

     Τῇ δὲ δευτέρᾳ τὸν Ἀρούηριν, ὃν Ἀπόλλωνα, ὃν καὶ πρεσβύτερον Ὧρον ἔνιοι καλοῦσι, τῇ τρίτῃ δὲ Τυφῶνα μὴ καιρῷ μηδὲ κατὰ χώραν, ἀλλ’ ἀναρρήξαντα πληγῇ διὰ τῆς πλευρᾶς ἐξαλέσθαι. Τετάρτῃ δὲ τὴν Ἶσιν ἐν πανύγροις γενέσθαι, τῇ δὲ πέμπτῃ Νέφθυν, ἣν καὶ Τελευτὴν καὶ Ἀφροδίτην, ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ Νίκην ὀνομάζουσιν. Εἶναι δὲ τὸν μὲν Ὄσιριν ἐξ Ἡλίου καὶ τὸν Ἀρούηριν, ἐκ δ’ Ἑρμοῦ τὴν Ἶσιν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Κρόνου τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ τὴν Νέφθυν. Διὸ καὶ τὴν τρίτην τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἀποφράδα νομίζοντες οἱ βασιλεῖς οὐκ ἐχρημάτιζον οὐδ’ ἐθεράπευον αὑτοὺς μέχρι νυκτός. Γήμασθαι δὲ τῷ Τυφῶνι τὴν Νέφθυν, Ἶσιν δὲ καὶ Ὄσιριν ἐρῶντας ἀλλήλων καὶ πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι κατὰ γαστρὸς ὑπὸ σκότῳ συνεῖναι. Ἔνιοι δέ φασι καὶ τὸν Ἀρούηριν οὕτω γεγονέναι καὶ καλεῖσθαι πρεσβύτερον Ὧρον ὑπ’ Αἰγυπτίων, Ἀπόλλωνα δ’ ὑφ’ Ἑλλήνων.

     12. The following myth is related in the briefest terms possible, divested of everything unnecessary and superfluous. They say that the Sun, when he became aware of Rhea's secret intercourse with Cronus ⁵⁹, invoked a curse upon her that she should not give birth to a child in any month or year; that Hermes, being enamoured of the goddess, consorted with her. Afterwards playing at draughts with the moon, he won from her the seventieth part of each of her periods of illumination ⁶⁰, and from all the winnings he composed five days, and intercalated them as an addition to the three hundred and sixty days. The Egyptians even now call these five days “intercalated” ⁶¹, and celebrate them as the birthdays of the gods. They relate that on the first of these days Osiris was born, and at the hour of his birth a voice issued forth saying, “The Lord of All is entering into light”. And some relate that a certain Pamyles ⁶², while he was drawing water in Thebes, heard a voice issuing from the temple of Zeus, which bade him proclaim with a loud voice that a mighty and beneficent king, Osiris, had been born; and for this Cronus entrusted to him the child Osiris, which he brought up. It is in his honour that the festival of Pamylia is celebrated, a festival which resembles the phallic processions.

     On the second of these days Arueris was born whom they call Apollo, and some call him also the elder Horus. On the third day Typhon was born, but not in due time or manner, but with a blow he broke through his mother’s side and leapt forth. On the fourth day Isis was born in the regions that are ever moist ⁶³; and on the fifth Nephthys, whom they call Finality ⁶⁴ and Aphrodite, and some also call Victory. There is also a tradition that Osiris and Arueris were sprung from the Sun, Isis from Hermes ⁶⁵, and Typhon and Nephthys from Cronus. For this reason the kings considered the third of the intercalated days as inauspicious, and transacted no business on that day, nor did they give any attention to their bodies until nightfall. They relate, moreover, that Nephthys became the wife of Typhon ⁶⁶; but Isis and Osiris were enamoured of each other ⁶⁷ and consorted together in the darkness of the womb before their birth. Some say that Arueris came from this union and was called the elder Horus by the Egyptians, and Apollo by the Greeks.

     13. Βασιλεύοντα δ’ Ὄσιριν Αἰγυπτίους μὲν εὐθὺς ἀπόρου βίου καὶ θηριώδους ἀπαλλάξαι καρπούς τε δείξαντα καὶ νόμους θέμενον αὐτοῖς καὶ θεοὺς διδάξαντα τιμᾶν· ὕστερον δὲ γῆν πᾶσαν ἡμερούμενον ἐπελθεῖν ἐλάχιστα μὲν ὅπλων δεηθέντα, πειθοῖ δὲ τοὺς πλείστους καὶ λόγῳ μετ’ ᾠδῆς πάσης καὶ μουσικῆς θελγομένους προσαγόμενον· ὅθεν Ἕλλησι δόξαι Διονύσῳ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι. Τυφῶνα δ’ ἀπόντος μὲν οὐθὲν νεωτερίζειν διὰ τὸ τὴν Ἶσιν εὖ μάλα φυλάττεσθαι καὶ προσέχειν ἐγκρατῶς ἔχουσαν, ἐπανελθόντι δὲ δόλον μηχανᾶσθαι συνωμότας ἄνδρας ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ δύο πεποιημένον καὶ συνεργὸν ἔχοντα βασίλισσαν ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας παροῦσαν, ἣν ὀνομάζουσιν Ἀσώ· τοῦ δ’ Ὀσίριδος ἐκμετρησάμενον λάθρα τὸ σῶμα καὶ κατασκευάσαντα πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος λάρνακα καλὴν καὶ κεκοσμημένην περιττῶς εἰσενεγκεῖν εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον.

     Ἡσθέντων δὲ τῇ ὄψει καὶ θαυμασάντων ὑποσχέσθαι τὸν Τυφῶνα μετὰ παιδιᾶς, ὃς ἂν ἐγκατακλιθεὶς ἐξισωθῇ, διδόναι δῶρον αὐτῷ τὴν λάρνακα. Πειρωμένων δὲ πάντων καθ’ ἕκαστον, ὡς οὐδεὶς ἐνήρμοττεν, ἐμβάντα τὸν Ὄσιριν κατακλιθῆναι· τοὺς δὲ συνωμότας ἐπιδραμόντας ἐπιρράξαι τὸ πῶμα καὶ τὰ μὲν γόμφοις καταλαβόντας ἔξωθεν, τῶν δὲ θερμὸν μόλιβδον καταχεαμένους ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐξενεγκεῖν καὶ μεθεῖναι διὰ τοῦ Τανιτικοῦ στόματος εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ὃ διὰ τοῦτο μισητὸν ἔτι νῦν καὶ κατάπτυστον νομίζειν Αἰγυπτίους. Ταῦτα δὲ πραχθῆναι λέγουσιν ἑβδόμῃ ἐπὶ δέκα μηνὸς Ἀθύρ, ἐν ᾧ τὸν σκορπίον ὁ ἥλιος διέξεισιν, ὄγδοον ἔτος καὶ εἰκοστὸν ἐκεῖνο βασιλεύοντος Ὀσίριδος. ἔνιοι δὲ βεβιωκέναι φασὶν αὐτόν, οὐ βεβασιλευκέναι χρόνον τοσοῦτον.

     13. One of the first acts related of Osiris in his reign was to deliver the Egyptians from their destitute and brutish manner of living ⁶⁸. This he did by showing them the fruits of cultivation, by giving them laws, and by teaching them to honour the gods. Later he travelled over the whole earth civilizing it ⁶⁹ without the slightest need of arms, but most of the peoples he won over to his way by the charm of his persuasive discourse combined with song and all manner of music. Hence the Greeks came to identify him with Dionysus ⁷⁰. During his absence the tradition is that Typhon attempted nothing revolutionary because Isis, who was in control, was vigilant and alert; but when he returned home Typhon contrived a treacherous plot against him and formed a group of conspirators seventy-two in number. He had also the co-operation of a queen from Ethiopia ⁷¹ who was there at the time and whose name they report as Aso. Typhon, having secretly measured Osiris’s body and having made ready a beautiful chest of corresponding size artistically ornamented, caused it to be brought into the room where the festivity was in progress.

     The company was much pleased at the sight of it and admired it greatly, whereupon Typhon jestingly promised to present it to the man who should find the chest to be exactly his length when he lay down in it. They all tried it in turn, but no one fitted it; then Osiris got into it and lay down, and those who were in the plot ran to it and slammed down the lid, which they fastened by nails from the outside and also by using molten lead. Then they carried the chest to the river and sent it on its way to the sea through the Tanitic Mouth. Wherefore the Egyptians even to this day name this mouth the hateful and execrable. Such is the tradition. They say also that the date on which this deed was done was the seventeenth day of Athyr ⁷², when the sun passes through Scorpion, and in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Osiris; but some say that these are the years of his life and not of his reign ⁷³.

     14. Πρώτων δὲ τῶν τὸν περὶ Χέμμιν οἰκούντων τόπον Πανῶν καὶ Σατύρων τὸ πάθος αἰσθομένων καὶ λόγον ἐμβαλόντων περὶ τοῦ γεγονότος τὰς μὲν αἰφνιδίους τῶν ὄχλων ταραχὰς καὶ πτοήσεις ἔτι νῦν διὰ τοῦτο πανικὰς προσαγορεύεσθαι· τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν αἰσθομένην κείρασθαι μὲν ἐνταῦθα τῶν πλοκάμων ἕνα καὶ πένθιμον στολὴν ἀναλαβεῖν, ὅπου τῇ πόλει μέχρι νῦν ὄνομα Κοπτώ. Ἕτεροι δὲ τοὔνομα σημαίνειν οἴονται στέρησιν· τὸ γὰρ ἀποστερεῖν “κόπτειν” λέγουσι. πλανωμένην δὲ πάντῃ καὶ ἀποροῦσαν οὐδένα παρελθεῖν ἀπροσαύδητον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδαρίοις συντυχοῦσαν ἐρωτᾶν περὶ τῆς λάρνακος· τὰ δὲ τυχεῖν ἑωρακότα καὶ φράσαι τὸ στόμα, δι’ οὗ τὸ ἀγγεῖον οἱ φίλοι τοῦ Τυφῶνος εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἔωσαν. Ἐκ τούτου τὰ παιδάρια μαντικὴν δύναμιν ἔχειν οἴεσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους καὶ μάλιστα ταῖς τούτων ὀττεύεσθαι κληδόσι παιζόντων ἐν ἱεροῖς καὶ φθεγγομένων ὅ τι ἂν τύχωσιν.

     Αἰσθομένην δὲ τῇ ἀδελφῇ ἐρῶντα συγγεγονέναι δι’ ἄγνοιαν ὡς ἑαυτῇ τὸν Ὄσιριν καὶ τεκμήριον ἰδοῦσαν τὸν μελιλώτινον στέφανον, ὃν ἐκεῖνος παρὰ τῇ Νέφθυι κατέλιπε, τὸ παιδίον ζητεῖν (ἐκθεῖναι γὰρ εὐθὺς τεκοῦσαν διὰ φόβον τοῦ Τυφῶνος)· εὑρεθὲν δὲ χαλεπῶς καὶ μόγις κυνῶν ἐπαγόντων τὴν Ἶσιν ἐκτραφῆναι καὶ γενέσθαι φύλακα καὶ ὀπαδὸν αὐτῆς Ἄνουβιν προσαγορευθέντα καὶ λεγόμενον τοὺς θεοὺς φρουρεῖν, ὥσπερ οἱ κύνες τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.

     14. The first to learn of the deed and to bring to men's knowledge an account of what had been done were the Pans and Satyrs who lived in the region around Chemmis ⁷⁴, and so, even to this day, the sudden confusion and consternation of a crowd is called a panic ⁷⁵. Isis, when the tidings reached her, at once cut off one of her tresses and put on a garment of mourning in a place where the city still bears the name of Kopto ⁷⁶. Others think that the name means deprivation, for they also express “deprive” by means of koptein ⁷⁷. But Isis wandered everywhere at her wits’ end; no one whom she approached did she fail to address, and even when she met some little children she asked them about the chest. As it happened, they had seen it, and they told her the mouth of the river through which the friends of Typhon had launched the coffin into the sea. Wherefore the Egyptians think that little children possess the power of prophecy ⁷⁸, and they try to divine the future from the portents which they find in children’s words, especially when children are playing about in holy places and crying out whatever chances to come into their minds.

     They relate also that Isis, learning that Osiris in his love had consorted with her sister ⁷⁹ through ignorance, in the belief that she was Isis, and seeing the proof of this in the garland of melilote flower which he had left with Nephthys, sought to find the child; for the mother, immediately after its birth, had exposed it because of her fear of Typhon. And when the child had been found, after great toil and trouble, with the help of dogs which led Isis to it, it was brought up and became her guardian and attendant, receiving the name of Anubis, and it is said to protect the gods just as dogs protect men ⁸⁰.

     15. Ἐκ δὲ τούτου πυθέσθαι περὶ τῆς λάρνακος, ὡς πρὸς τὴν Βύβλου χώραν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκκυμανθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ἐρείκῃ τινὶ μαλθακῶς ὁ κλύδων προσέμιξεν· ἡ δ’ ἐρείκη κάλλιστον ἔρνος ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ καὶ μέγιστον ἀναδραμοῦσα περιέπτυξε καὶ περιέφυ καὶ ἀπέκρυψεν ἐντὸς ἑαυτῆς. Θαυμάσας δ’ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ φυτοῦ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ περιτεμὼν τὸν περιέχοντα τὴν σορὸν οὐχ ὁρωμένην κορμὸν ἔρεισμα τῇ στέγῃ ὑπέστησε. Ταῦτά τε πνεύματί φασι δαιμονίῳ φήμης πυθομένην τὴν Ἶσιν εἰς Βύβλον ἀφικέσθαι καὶ καθίσασαν ἐπὶ κρήνης ταπεινὴν καὶ δεδακρυμένην ἄλλῳ μὲν μηδενὶ προσδιαλέγεσθαι, τῆς δὲ βασιλίδος τὰς θεραπαινίδας ἀσπάζεσθαι καὶ φιλοφρονεῖσθαι τήν τε κόμην παραπλέκουσαν αὐτῶν καὶ τῷ χρωτὶ θαυμαστὴν εὐωδίαν ἐπιπνέουσαν ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς. Ἰδούσης δὲ τῆς βασιλίδος τὰς θεραπαινίδας ἵμερον ἐμπεσεῖν τῆς ξένης τῶν τε τριχῶν *** τοῦ τε χρωτὸς ἀμβροσίαν πνέοντος· οὕτω δὲ μεταπεμφθεῖσαν καὶ γενομένην συνήθη ποιήσασθαι τοῦ παιδίου τὴν τίτθην. Ὄνομα δὲ τῷ μὲν βασιλεῖ Μάλκανδρον εἶναί φασιν· αὐτῇ δ’ οἱ μὲν Ἀστάρτην οἱ δὲ Σάωσιν οἱ δὲ Νεμανοῦν, ὅπερ ἂν Ἕλληνες Ἀθηναΐδα προσείποιεν.

     15. Thereafter Isis, as they relate, learned that the chest had been cast up by the sea near the land of Byblus ⁸¹ and that the waves had gently set it down in the midst of a clump of heather ^‡. The heather in a short time ran up into a very beautiful and massive stock, and enfolded and embraced the chest with its growth and concealed it within its trunk. The king of the country admired the great size of the plant, and cut off the portion that enfolded the chest (which was now hidden from sight), and used it as a pillar to support the roof of his house. These facts, they say, Isis ascertained by the divine inspiration of Reputation, and came to Byblus and sat down by a spring, all dejection and tears ⁸²; she exchanged no word with anybody, save only that she welcomed the queen’s maidservants and treated them with great amiability, plaiting their hair for them and imparting to their persons a wondrous fragrance from her own body. But when the queen observed her maidservants, a longing came upon her for the unknown woman and for such hairdressing and for a body fragrant with ambrosia. Thus it happened that Isis was sent for and became so intimate with the queen that the queen made her the nurse of her baby. They say that the king’s name was Malcander; the queen’s name some say was Astartê, others Saosis, and still others Nemanûs, which the Greeks would call Athenaïs.

     16. Τρέφειν δὲ τὴν Ἶσιν ἀντὶ μαστοῦ τὸν δάκτυλον εἰς τὸ στόμα τοῦ παιδίου διδοῦσαν, νύκτωρ δὲ περικαίειν τὰ θνητὰ τοῦ σώματος· αὐτὴν δὲ γενομένην χελιδόνα τῇ κίονι περιπέτεσθαι καὶ θρηνεῖν, ἄχρι οὗ τὴν βασίλισσαν παραφυλάξασαν καὶ ἐγκραγοῦσαν, ὡς εἶδε περικαιόμενον τὸ βρέφος, ἀφελέσθαι τὴν ἀθανασίαν αὐτοῦ. Τὴν δὲ θεὰν φανερὰν γενομένην αἰτήσασθαι τὴν κίονα τῆς στέγης· ὑφελοῦσαν δὲ ῥᾷστα περικόψαι τὴν ἐρείκην, εἶτα ταύτην μὲν ὀθόνῃ περικαλύψασαν καὶ μύρον καταχεαμένην ἐγχειρίσαι τοῖς βασιλεῦσι καὶ νῦν ἔτι σέβεσθαι Βυβλίους τὸ ξύλον ἐν ἱερῷ κείμενον Ἴσιδος. Τῇ δὲ σορῷ περιπεσεῖν καὶ κωκῦσαι τηλικοῦτον, ὥστε τῶν παίδων τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν νεώτερον ἐκθανεῖν· τὸν δὲ πρεσβύτερον μεθ’ ἑαυτῆς ἔχουσαν καὶ τὴν σορὸν εἰς πλοῖον ἐνθεμένην ἀναχθῆναι. Τοῦ δὲ Φαίδρου ποταμοῦ πνεῦμα τραχύτερον ἐκθρέψαντος ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω θυμωθεῖσαν ἀναξηρᾶναι τὸ ῥεῖθρον.

     16. They relate that Isis nursed the child by giving it her finger to suck instead of her breast, and in the night she would burn away the mortal portions of its body. She herself would turn into a swallow and flit about the pillar with a wailing lament, until the queen who had been watching, when she saw her babe on fire, gave forth a loud cry and thus deprived it of immortality. Then the goddess disclosed herself and asked for the pillar which served to support the roof. She removed it with the greatest ease and cut away the wood of the heather which surrounded the chest; then, when she had wrapped up the wood in a linen cloth and had poured perfume upon it, she entrusted it to the care of the kings; and even to this day the people of Byblus venerate this wood which is preserved in the temple of Isis. Then the goddess threw herself down upon the coffin with such a dreadful wailing that the younger of the king’s sons expired on the spot. The elder son she kept with her, and, having placed the coffin on board a boat, she put out from land. Since the Phaedrus river toward the early morning fostered a rather boisterous wind, the goddess grew angry and dried up its stream..

     17. Ὅπου δὲ πρῶτον ἐρημίας ἔτυχεν, αὐτὴν καθ’ ἑαυτὴν γενομένην ἀνοῖξαι τὴν λάρνακα καὶ τῷ προσώπῳ τὸ πρόσωπον ἐπιθεῖσαν ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ δακρύειν. Τοῦ δὲ παιδίου σιωπῇ προσελθόντος ἐκ τῶν ὄπισθεν καὶ καταμανθάνοντος αἰσθομένην μεταστραφῆναι καὶ δεινὸν ὑπ’ ὀργῆς ἐμβλέψαι· τὸ δὲ παιδίον οὐκ ἀνασχέσθαι τὸ τάρβος, ἀλλ’ ἀποθανεῖν. Oἱ δέ φασιν οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ’ ὡς εἴρηται *** τρόπον ἐκπεσεῖν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ἔχειν δὲ τιμὰς διὰ τὴν θεόν· ὃν γὰρ ᾄδουσιν Αἰγύπτιοι παρὰ τὰ συμπόσια Μανερῶτα, τοῦτον εἶναι.

     Τινὲς δὲ τὸν μὲν παῖδα καλεῖσθαι Παλαιστίνον ἢ Πηλούσιον καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐπώνυμον ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι κτισθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῆς θεοῦ· τὸν δ’ ᾀδόμενον Μανέρωτα πρῶτον εὑρεῖν μουσικὴν ἱστοροῦσιν. Ἔνιοι δέ φασιν ὄνομα μὲν οὐδενὸς εἶναι, διάλεκτον δὲ πίνουσιν ἀνθρώποις καὶ θαλειάζουσι πρέπουσαν “αἴσιμα τὰ τοιαῦτα παρείη”· τοῦτο γὰρ τῷ Μανερῶτι φραζόμενον ἀναφωνεῖν ἑκάστοτε τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους. Ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὸ δεικνύμενον αὐτοῖς εἴδωλον ἀνθρώπου τεθνηκότος ἐν κιβωτίῳ περιφερόμενον οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόμνημα τοῦ περὶ Ὀσίριδος πάθους, ᾗ τινες ὑπολαμβάνουσιν, ἀλλ’ οἰνωμένους παρακαλοῦντες αὑτοὺς χρῆσθαι τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ ἀπολαύειν, ὡς πάντας αὐτίκα μάλα τοιούτους ἐσομένους, ἄχαριν ἐπίκωμον ἐπεισάγουσι.

     17. In the first place where she found seclusion, when she was quite by herself, they relate that she opened the chest and laid her face upon the face within and caressed it and wept. The child came quietly up behind her and saw what was there, and when the goddess became aware of his presence, she turned about and gave him one awful look of anger. The child could not endure the fright, and died. Others will not have it so, but assert that he fell overboard into the sea from the boat that was mentioned above ⁸³. He also is the recipient of honours because of the goddess; for they say that the Maneros of whom the Egyptians sing at their convivial gatherings is this very child ⁸⁴.

     Some say, however, that his name was Palaestinus or Pelusius, and that the city founded by the goddess was named in his honour. They also recount that this Maneros who is the theme of their songs was the first to invent music. But some say that the word is not the name of any person, but an expression belonging to the vocabulary of drinking and feasting: “Good luck be ours in things like this!”, and that this is really the idea expressed by the exclamation maneros whenever the Egyptians use it. In the same way we may be sure that the likeness of a corpse which, as it is exhibited to them, is carried around in a chest, is not a reminder of what happened to Osiris, as some assume; but it is to urge them, as they contemplate it, to use and to enjoy the present, since all very soon must be what it is now and this is their purpose in introducing it into the midst of merry-making ⁸⁵.

     18. Τῆς δ’ Ἴσιδος πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν Ὧρον ἐν Βούτῳ τρεφόμενον πορευθείσης τὸ δ’ ἀγγεῖον ἐκποδὼν ἀποθεμένης Τυφῶνα κυνηγετοῦντα νύκτωρ πρὸς τὴν σελήνην ἐντυχεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ σῶμα γνωρίσαντα διελεῖν εἰς τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα μέρη καὶ διαρρῖψαι, τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν πυθομένην ἀναζητεῖν ἐν βάριδι παπυρίνῃ τὰ δ’ ἕλη διεκπλέουσαν· ὅθεν οὐκ ἀδικεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐν παπυρίνοις σκάφεσι πλέοντας ὑπὸ τῶν κροκοδείλων ἢ φοβουμένων ἢ σεβομένων διὰ τὴν θεόν. ἐκ τούτου δὲ καὶ πολλοὺς τάφους Ὀσίριδος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ προστυγχάνουσαν ἑκάστῳ μέρει ταφὰς ποιεῖν.

     Οἱ δ’ οὔ φασιν, ἀλλ’ εἴδωλα ποιουμένην διδόναι καθ’ ἑκάστην πόλιν ὡς τὸ σῶμα διδοῦσαν ὅπως παρὰ πλείοσιν ἔχῃ τιμὰς καί, ἂν ὁ Τυφὼν ἐπικρατήσῃ τοῦ Ὥρου, τὸν ἀληθινὸν τάφον ζητῶν πολλῶν λεγομένων καὶ δεικνυμένων ἀπαγορεύσῃ. Μόνον δὲ τῶν μερῶν τοῦ Ὀσίριδος τὴν Ἶσιν οὐχ εὑρεῖν τὸ αἰδοῖον· εὐθὺς γὰρ εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ῥιφῆναι καὶ γεύσασθαι τόν τε λεπιδωτὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν φάγρον καὶ τὸν ὀξύρυγχον, ὡς οὓς μάλιστα τῶν ἰχθύων ἀφοσιοῦσθαι· τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν ἀντ’ ἐκείνου μίμημα ποιησαμένην καθιερῶσαι τὸν φαλλόν, ᾧ καὶ νῦν ἑορτάζειν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους.

     18. As they relate, Isis proceeded to her son Horus, who was being reared in Buto ⁸⁶, and bestowed the chest in a place well out of the way; but Typhon, who was hunting by night in the light of the moon, happened upon it. Recognizing the body he divided it into fourteen parts ⁸⁷ and scattered them, each in a different place. Isis learned of this and sought for them again, sailing through the swamps in a boat of papyrus ⁸⁸. This is the reason why people sailing in such boats are not harmed by the crocodiles, since these creatures in their own way show either their fear or their reverence for the goddess. The traditional result of Osiris’s dismemberment is that there are many so-called tombs of Osiris in Egypt ⁸⁹; for Isis held a funeral for each part when she had found it.

     Others deny this and assert that she caused effigies of him to be made and these she distributed among the several cities, pretending that she was giving them his body, in order that he might receive divine honours in a greater number of cities, and also that, if Typhon should succeed in overpowering Horus, he might despair of ever finding the true tomb when so many were pointed out to him, all of them called the tomb of Osiris ⁹⁰. Of the parts of Osiris’s body the only one which Isis did not find was the genital member ⁹¹, for the reason that this had been at once tossed into the river, and the lepidotus, the sea-bream, and the pike had fed upon it ⁹²; and it is from these very fishes the Egyptians are most scrupulous in abstaining. But Isis made a replica of the member to take its place, and consecrated the phallus ⁹³, in honour of which the Egyptians even at the present day celebrate a festival.

     19. Ἔπειτα τῷ Ὥρῳ τὸν Ὄσιριν ἐξ Ἅιδου παραγενόμενον διαπονεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην καὶ ἀσκεῖν, εἶτα διερωτῆσαι, τί κάλλιστον ἡγεῖται· τοῦ δὲ φήσαντος “τὸ πατρὶ καὶ μητρὶ τιμωρεῖν κακῶς παθοῦσι” δεύτερον ἐρέσθαι, τί χρησιμώτατον οἴεται ζῷον εἰς μάχην ἐξιοῦσι· τοῦ δ’ Ὥρου “ἵππον” εἰπόντος ἐπιθαυμάσαι καὶ διαπορῆσαι, πῶς οὐ λέοντα μᾶλλον ἀλλ’ ἵππον· εἰπεῖν οὖν τὸν Ὧρον, ὡς λέων μὲν ὠφέλιμον ἐπιδεομένῳ βοηθείας, ἵππος δὲ φεύγοντα διασπάσαι καὶ καταναλῶσαι τὸν πολέμιον. Ἀκούσαντ’ οὖν ἡσθῆναι τὸν Ὄσιριν, ὡς ἱκανῶς παρασκευασαμένου τοῦ Ὥρου. Λέγεται δ’ ὅτι πολλῶν μετατιθεμένων ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸν Ὧρον καὶ ἡ παλλακὴ τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἀφίκετο Θούηρις· ὄφις δέ τις ἐπιδιώκων αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ὧρον κατεκόπη, καὶ νῦν διὰ τοῦτο σχοινίον τι προβάλλοντες εἰς μέσον κατακόπτουσι.

     Τὴν μὲν οὖν μάχην ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας γενέσθαι καὶ κρατῆσαι τὸν Ὧρον· τὸν Τυφῶνα δὲ τὴν Ἶσιν δεδεμένον παραλαβοῦσαν οὐκ ἀνελεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ λῦσαι καὶ μεθεῖναι· τὸν δ’ Ὧρον οὐ μετρίως ἐνεγκεῖν, ἀλλ’ ἐπιβαλόντα τῇ μητρὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀποσπάσαι τῆς κεφαλῆς τὸ βασίλειον· Ἑρμῆν δὲ περιθεῖναι βούκρανον αὐτῇ κράνος. Τοῦ δὲ Τυφῶνος δίκην τῷ Ὥρῳ νοθείας λαχόντος βοηθήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ τὸν Ὧρον ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν γνήσιον κριθῆναι· τὸν δὲ Τυφῶνα δυσὶν ἄλλαις μάχαις καταπολεμηθῆναι. Τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν ἐξ Ὀσίριδος μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν συγγενομένου τεκεῖν ἠλιτόμηνον καὶ ἀσθενῆ τοῖς κάτωθεν γυίοις τὸν Ἁρποκράτην.

     19. Later, as they relate, Osiris came to Horus from the other world, Hades, and exercised and trained him for the battle. After a time Osiris asked Horus what he held to be the most noble of all things. When Horus replied, “To avenge one’s father and mother for evil done to them”, Osiris then asked him what animal he considered the most useful for them who go forth to battle; and when Horus said, “A horse”, Osiris was surprised and raised the question why it was that he had not rather said a lion than a horse. Horus answered that a lion was a useful thing for a man in need of assistance, but that a horse served best for cutting off the flight of an enemy and annihilating him. When Osiris heard this he was much pleased, since he felt that Horus had now an adequate preparation. It is said that, as many were continually transferring their allegiance to Horus, Typhon’s concubine, Thueris, also came over to him; and a serpent which pursued her was cut to pieces by Horus’s men, and now, in memory of this, the people throw down a rope in their midst and chop it up.

     Now the battle, as they relate, lasted many days and Horus prevailed. Isis, however, to whom Typhon was delivered in chains, did not cause him to be put to death, but released him and let him go. Horus could not endure this with equanimity, be laid hands upon his mother and wrested the royal diadem from her head; but Hermes put upon her a helmet like unto the head of a cow. Typhon formally accused Horus of being an illegitimate child, but with the help of Hermes to plead his cause it was decided by the gods that he also was legitimate. Typhon was then overcome in two other battles. Osiris consorted with Isis after his death, and she became the mother of Harpocrates, untimely born and weak in his lower limbs ⁹⁴.

     20. Ταῦτα σχεδόν ἐστι τοῦ μύθου τὰ κεφάλαια τῶν δυσφημοτάτων ἐξαιρεθέντων, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ περὶ τὸν Ὥρου διαμελισμὸν καὶ τὸν Ἴσιδος ἀποκεφαλισμόν. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν, εἰ ταῦτα περὶ τῆς μακαρίας καὶ ἀφθάρτου φύσεως, καθ’ ἣν μάλιστα νοεῖται τὸ θεῖον, ὡς ἀληθῶς πραχθέντα καὶ συμπεσόντα δοξάζουσι καὶ λέγουσιν,

ἀποπτύσαι δεῖ καὶ καθήρασθαι τὸ στόμα

κατ’ Αἰσχύλον, οὐδὲν δεῖ λέγειν πρὸς σέ· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴ δυσκολαίνεις τοῖς οὕτω παρανόμους καὶ βαρβάρους δόξας περὶ θεῶν ἔχουσιν· ὅτι δ’ οὐκ ἔοικε ταῦτα κομιδῇ μυθεύμασιν ἀραιοῖς καὶ διακένοις πλάσμασιν, οἷα ποιηταὶ καὶ λογογράφοι καθάπερ οἱ ἀράχναι γεννῶντες ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν ἀπαρχὰς ἀνυποθέτους ὑφαίνουσι καὶ ἀποτείνουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἔχει τινὰς ἀπορίας καὶ παθῶν διηγήσεις, γινώσκεις αὐτή.

     Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ μαθηματικοὶ τὴν ἶριν ἔμφασιν εἶναι τοῦ ἡλίου λέγουσι ποικιλλομένην τῇ πρὸς τὸ νέφος ἀναχωρήσει τῆς ὄψεως, οὕτως ὁ μῦθος ἐνταῦθα λόγου τινὸς ἔμφασίς ἐστιν ἀνακλῶντος ἐπ’ ἄλλα τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς ὑποδηλοῦσιν αἵ τε θυσίαι τὸ πένθιμον ἔχουσαι καὶ σκυθρωπὸν ἐμφαινόμενον αἵ τε τῶν ναῶν διαθέσεις πῆ μὲν ἀνειμένων εἰς πτερὰ καὶ δρόμους ὑπαιθρίους καὶ καθαρούς, πῆ δὲ κρυπτὰ καὶ σκότια κατὰ γῆς ἐχόντων στολιστήρια θηκαίοις ἐοικότα καὶ σηκοῖς, οὐχ ἥκιστα δ’ ἡ τῶν Ὀσιρείων δόξα, πολλαχοῦ κεῖσθαι λεγομένου τοῦ σώματος· τήν τε γὰρ Διοχίτην ὀνομάζεσθαι πολίχνην λέγουσιν, ὡς μόνην τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἔχουσαν, ἔν τ’ Ἀβύδῳ τοὺς εὐδαίμονας τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ δυνατοὺς μάλιστα θάπτεσθαι φιλοτιμουμένους ὁμοτάφους εἶναι τοῦ σώματος Ὀσίριδος. Ἐν δὲ Μέμφει τρέφεσθαι τὸν Ἆπιν εἴδωλον ὄντα τῆς ἐκείνου ψυχῆς, ὅπου καὶ τὸ σῶμα κεῖσθαι· Καὶ τὴν μὲν πόλιν οἱ μὲν ὅρμον ἀγαθῶν ἑρμηνεύουσιν, οἱ δ’ ἰδίως τάφον Ὀσίριδος. Τὴν δὲ πρὸς Φιλαῖς † νιστιτάνην ἄλλως μὲν ἄβατον ἅπασι καὶ ἀπροσπέλαστον εἶναι καὶ μηδ’ ὄρνιθας ἐπ’ αὐτὴν καταίρειν μηδ’ ἰχθῦς προσπελάζειν, ἑνὶ δὲ καιρῷ τοὺς ἱερεῖς διαβαίνοντας ἐναγίζειν καὶ καταστέφειν τὸ σῆμα μηδίθης φυτῷ περισκιαζόμενον ὑπεραίροντι πάσης ἐλαίας μέγεθος. 

     20. These are nearly all the important points of the legend, with the omission of the most infamous of the tales, such as that about the dismemberment of Horus ⁹⁵ and the decapitation of Isis. There is one thing that I have no need to mention to you: if they hold such opinions and relate such tales about the nature of the blessed and imperishable (in accordance with which our concept of the divine must be framed) as if such deeds and occurrences actually took place, then

much there is to spit and cleanse the mouth,

as Aeschylus ⁹⁶ has it. But the fact is that you yourself detest those persons who hold such abnormal and outlandish opinions about the gods. That these accounts do not, in least, resemble the sort of loose fictions and frivolous fabrications which poets and writers of prose evolve from themselves, after the manner of spiders, interweaving and extending their unestablished first thoughts, but that these contain narrations of certain puzzling events and experiences, you will of yourself understand.

     Just as the rainbow, according to the account of the mathematicians, is a reflection of the sun, and owes its many hues to the withdrawal of our gaze from the sun and our fixing it on the cloud, so the somewhat fanciful accounts here set down are but reflections of some true tale which turns back our thoughts to other matters; their sacrifices plainly suggest this, in that they have mourning and melancholy reflected in them; and so also does the structure of their temples ⁹⁷, which in one portion are expanded into wings and into uncovered and unobstructed corridors, and in another portion have secret vesting-rooms in the darkness under ground, like cells or chapels; and not the least important suggestion is the opinion held regarding the shrines of Osiris, whose body is said to have been laid in many different places ⁹⁸. For they say that Diochites ⁹⁹ is the name given to a small town, on the ground that it alone contains the true tomb; and that the prosperous and influential men among the Egyptians are mostly buried in Abydos, since it is the object of their ambition to be buried in the same ground with the body of Osiris. In Memphis, however, they say, the Apis is kept, being the image of the soul of Osiris ¹⁰⁰, whose body also lies there. The name of this city some interpret as “the haven of the good” and others as meaning properly the “tomb of Osiris”. They also say that the sacred island by Philae ¹⁰¹ at all other times is untrodden by man and quite unapproachable, and even birds do not alight on it nor fishes approach it; yet, at one special time, the priests cross over to it, and perform the sacrificial rites for the dead, and lay wreaths upon the tomb, which lies in the encompassing shade of a persea-tree ¹⁰², which surpasses in height any olive.

     21. Εὔδοξος δὲ πολλῶν τάφων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λεγομένων ἐν Βουσίριδι τὸ σῶμα κεῖσθαι· καὶ γὰρ πατρίδα ταύτην γεγονέναι τοῦ Ὀσίριδος· οὐκέτι μέντοι λόγου δεῖσθαι τὴν Ταφόσιριν· αὐτὸ γὰρ φράζειν τοὔνομα ταφὴν Ὀσίριδος. Ἐῶ δὲ τομὴν ξύλου καὶ σχίσιν λίνου καὶ χοὰς χεομένας διὰ τὸ πολλὰ τῶν μυστικῶν ἀναμεμῖχθαι τούτοις. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τούτων οἱ ἱερεῖς λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν, ὅσοι μὴ ἀγέννητοι μηδ’ ἄφθαρτοι, τὰ μὲν σώματα παρ’ αὐτοῖς κεῖσθαι καμόντα καὶ θεραπεύεσθαι, τὰς δὲ ψυχὰς ἐν οὐρανῷ λάμπειν ἄστρα καὶ καλεῖσθαι κύνα μὲν τὴν Ἴσιδος ὑφ’ Ἑλλήνων, ὑπ’ Αἰγυπτίων δὲ Σῶθιν, Ὠρίωνα δὲ τὴν Ὥρου, τὴν δὲ Τυφῶνος ἄρκτον. Εἰς δὲ τὰς ταφὰς τῶν τιμωμένων ζῴων τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους συντεταγμένα τελεῖν, μόνους δὲ μὴ διδόναι τοὺς Θηβαΐδα κατοικοῦντας, ὡς θνητὸν θεὸν οὐδένα νομίζοντας, ἀλλ’ ὃν καλοῦσιν αὐτοὶ Κνήφ, ἀγέννητον ὄντα καὶ ἀθάνατον.

     21. Eudoxus says that, while many tombs of Osiris are spoken of in Egypt, his body lies in Busiris; for this was the place of his birth; moreover, Taphosiris ¹⁰³ requires no comment, for the name itself means “the tomb of Osiris”. I pass over the cutting of wood ¹⁰⁴, the rending of linen, and the libations that are offered, for the reason that many of their secret rites are involved therein. In regard not only to these gods, but in regard to the other gods, save only those whose existence had no beginning and shall have no end, the priests say that their bodies, after they have done with their labours, have been placed in the keeping of the priests and are cherished there, but that their souls shine as the stars in the firmament, and the soul of Isis is called by the Greeks the Dog-star, but by the Egyptians Sothis ¹⁰⁵, and the soul of Horus is called Orion, and the soul of Typhon the Bear. Also they say that all the other Egyptians pay the agreed assessment for the entombment of the animals held in honour ¹⁰⁶, but that the inhabitants of the Theban territory only do not contribute because they believe in no mortal god, but only in the god whom they call Kneph, whose existence had no beginning and shall have no end.

     22. Πολλῶν δὲ τοιούτων λεγομένων καὶ δεικνυμένων οἱ μὲν οἰόμενοι βασιλέων ταῦτα καὶ τυράννων δι’ ἀρετὴν ὑπερφέρουσαν ἢ δύναμιν ἢ ἀξίωμα δόξαν θεότητος ἐπιγραψαμένων εἶτα χρησαμένων τύχαις ἔργα καὶ πάθη δεινὰ καὶ μεγάλα διαμνημονεύεσθαι ῥᾴστῃ μὲν ἀποδράσει τοῦ λόγου χρῶνται καὶ τὸ δύσφημον οὐ φαύλως ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν ἐπ’ ἀνθρώπους μεταφέρουσι καὶ ταύτας ἔχουσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἱστορουμένων βοηθείας. Οἱ γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι τὸν μὲν Ἑρμῆν τῷ σώματι γενέσθαι γαλιάγκωνα, τὸν δὲ Τυφῶνα τῇ χρόᾳ πυρρόν, λευκὸν δὲ τὸν Ὧρον καὶ μελάγχρουν τὸν Ὄσιριν, ὡς τῇ φύσει γεγονότας ἀνθρώπους. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ στρατηγὸν ὀνομάζουσιν Ὄσιριν καὶ κυβερνήτην Κάνωβον, οὗ φασιν ἐπώνυμον γεγονέναι τὸν ἀστέρα, καὶ τὸ πλοῖον, ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἕλληνες Ἀργώ, τῆς Ὀσίριδος νεὼς εἴδωλον ἐπὶ τιμῇ κατηστερισμένον οὐ μακρὰν φέρεσθαι τοῦ Ὠρίωνος καὶ τοῦ Κυνός, ὧν τὸν μὲν Ὥρου τὸν δ’ Ἴσιδος ἱερὸν Αἰγύπτιοι νομίζουσιν.

     22. Many things like these are narrated and pointed out, and if there be some who think that in these are commemorated the dire and momentous acts and experiences of kings and despots who, by reason of their pre-eminent virtue or might, laid claim to the glory of being styled gods, and later had to submit to the vagaries of fortune ¹⁰⁷, then these persons employ the easiest means of escape from the narrative, and not ineptly do they transfer the disrepute from the gods to men; and in this they have the support of the common traditions. The Egyptians, in fact, have a tradition that Hermes had thin arms and big elbows, that Typhon was red in complexion, Horus white, and Osiris dark ¹⁰⁸, as if they had been in their nature but mortal men. Moreover, they give to Osiris the title of general, and the title of pilot to Canopus, from whom they say that the star derives its name; also that the vessel which the Greeks call Argo, in form like the ship of Osiris, has been set among the constellations in his honour, and its course lies not far from that of Orion and the Dog-star; of these the Egyptians believe that one is sacred to Horus and the other to Isis..

     23. Ὀκνῶ δέ, μὴ τοῦτ’ ᾖ τὰ ἀκίνητα κινεῖν καὶ “πολεμεῖν οὐ τῷ πολλῷ χρόνῳ” (κατὰ Σιμωνίδην) μόνον, “πολλοῖς δ’ ἀνθρώπων ἔθνεσι” καὶ γένεσι κατόχοις ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους ὁσιότητος, οὐδὲν ἀπολείποντας ἐξ οὐρανοῦ μεταφέρειν ἐπὶ γῆν ὀνόματα τηλικαῦτα καὶ τιμὴν καὶ πίστιν ὀλίγου δεῖν ἅπασιν ἐκ πρώτης γενέσεως ἐνδεδυκυῖαν ἐξιστάναι καὶ ἀναλύειν, μεγάλας μὲν τῷ ἀθέῳ Λέοντι κλισιάδας ἀνοίγοντας καὶ ἐξανθρωπίζοντι τὰ θεῖα, λαμπρὰν δὲ τοῖς Εὐημέρου τοῦ Μεσσηνίου φενακισμοῖς παρρησίαν διδόντας, ὃς αὐτὸς ἀντίγραφα συνθεὶς ἀπίστου καὶ ἀνυπάρκτου μυθολογίας πᾶσαν ἀθεότητα κατασκεδάννυσι τῆς οἰκουμένης, τοὺς νομιζομένους θεοὺς πάντας ὁμαλῶς διαγράφων εἰς ὀνόματα στρατηγῶν καὶ ναυάρχων καὶ βασιλέων ὡς δὴ πάλαι γεγονότων ἐν δὲ Πάγχοντι γράμμασι χρυσοῖς ἀναγεγραμμένων, οἷς οὔτε βάρβαρος οὐδεὶς οὔθ’ Ἕλλην, ἀλλὰ μόνος Εὐήμερος, ὡς ἔοικε, πλεύσας εἰς τοὺς μηδαμόθι γῆς γεγονότας μηδ’ ὄντας Παγχώους καὶ Τριφύλλους ἐντετύχηκε.

     23. I hesitate, lest this be the moving of things immovable ¹⁰⁹ and not only “warring against the long years of time”, as Simonides ¹¹⁰ has it, but warring, too, against “many a nation and race of men” who are possessed by a feeling of piety towards these gods, and thus we should not stop short of transplanting such names from the heavens to the earth, and eliminating and dissipating the reverence and faith implanted in nearly all mankind at birth, opening wide the great doors to the godless throng, degrading things divine to the human level, and giving a splendid licence to the deceitful utterances of Euhemerus of Messenê, who of himself drew up copies of an incredible and non-existent mythology ¹¹¹, and spread atheism over the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods of our belief and converting them all alike into names of generals, admirals, and kings, who, forsooth, lived in very ancient times and are recorded in inscriptions written in golden letters at Panchon, which no foreigner and no Greek had ever happened to meet with, save only Euhemerus. He, it seems, made a voyage to the Panchoans and Triphyllians, who never existed anywhere on earth and do not exist!.

     24. Καίτοι μεγάλαι μὲν ὑμνοῦνται πράξεις ἐν Ἀσσυρίοις Σεμιράμιος, μεγάλαι δὲ Σεσώστριος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ· Φρύγες δὲ μέχρι νῦν τὰ λαμπρὰ καὶ θαυμαστὰ τῶν ἔργων Μανικὰ καλοῦσι διὰ τὸ Μάνην τινὰ τῶν πάλαι βασιλέων ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα καὶ δυνατὸν γενέσθαι παρ’ αὐτοῖς, ὃν ἔνιοι Μάσνην καλοῦσι· Κῦρος δὲ Πέρσας Μακεδόνας δ’ Ἀλέξανδρος ὀλίγου δεῖν ἐπὶ πέρας τῆς γῆς κρατοῦντας προήγαγον· ἀλλ’ ὄνομα καὶ μνήμην βασιλέων ἀγαθῶν ἔχουσιν. “Εἰ δέ τινες ἐξαρθέντες ὑπὸ μεγαλαυχίας” ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων ^γ “ἅμα νεότητι καὶ ἀνοίᾳ φλεγόμενοι τὴν ψυχὴν μεθ’ ὕβρεως” ἐδέξαντο θεῶν ἐπωνυμίας καὶ ναῶν ἱδρύσεις, βραχὺν ἤνθησεν ἡ δόξα χρόνον, εἶτα κενότητα καὶ ἀλαζονείαν μετ’ ἀσεβείας καὶ παρανομίας προσοφλόντες “ὠκύμοροι καπνοῖο δίκην ἀρθέντες ἀπέπταν” καὶ νῦν ὥσπερ ἀγώγιμοι δραπέται τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ τῶν βωμῶν ἀποσπασθέντες οὐδὲν ἀλλ’ ἢ τὰ μνήματα καὶ τοὺς τάφους ἔχουσιν.

     Ὅθεν Ἀντίγονος ὁ γέρων Ἑρμοδότου τινὸς ἐν ποιήμασιν αὐτὸν Ἡλίου παῖδα καὶ θεὸν ἀναγορεύοντος “οὐ τοιαῦτά μοι” εἶπεν “ὁ λασανοφόρος σύνοιδεν”. Εὖ δὲ καὶ Λύσιππος ὁ πλάστης Ἀπελλῆν ἐμέμψατο τὸν ζωγράφον, ὅτι τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου γράφων εἰκόνα κεραυνὸν ἐνεχείρισεν· αὐτὸς δὲ λόγχην, ἧς τὴν δόξαν οὐδὲ εἷς ἀφαιρήσεται χρόνος ἀληθινὴν καὶ ἰδίαν οὖσαν.

     24. However, mighty deeds of Semiramis are celebrated among the Assyrians, and mighty deeds of Sesostris in Egypt, and the Phrygians, even to this day, call brilliant and marvellous exploits “manic” because Manes ¹¹², one of their very early kings, proved himself a good man and exercised a vast influence among them. Some give his name as Masdes. Cyrus led the Persians, and Alexander the Macedonians, in victory after victory, almost to the ends of the earth; yet these have only the name and fame of noble kings. “But if some, elated by a great self-conceit”, as Plato ¹¹³ says, “with souls enkindled with the fire of youth and folly accompanied by arrogance”, have assumed to be called gods and to have temples dedicated in their honour, yet has their repute flourished by a brief time, and then, convicted of vain-glory and imposture, “swift in their fate, like to smoke in the air, rising upward they flitted” ¹¹⁴, and now, like fugitive slaves without claim to protection, they have been dragged from their shrines and altars, and have nothing left to them save only their monuments and their tombs.

     Hence the elder Antigonus, when a certain Hermodotus in a poem proclaimed him to be “the Offspring of the Sun and a god”, said, “the slave who attends to my chamber-pot is not conscious of any such thing!” ¹¹⁵ Moreover, Lysippus the sculptor was quite right in his disapproval of the painter Apelles, because Apelles in his portrait of Alexander had represented him with a thunderbolt in his hand, whereas he himself had represented Alexander holding a spear, the glory of which no length of years could ever dim, since it was truthful and was his by right.

     25. Βέλτιον οὖν οἱ τὰ περὶ τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ Ὄσιριν καὶ Ἶσιν ἱστορούμενα μήτε θεῶν παθήματα μήτ’ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ δαιμόνων μεγάλων εἶναι νομίζοντες, οὓς καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Πυθαγόρας καὶ Ξενοκράτης καὶ Χρύσιππος ἑπόμενοι τοῖς πάλαι θεολόγοις ἐρρωμενεστέρους μὲν ἀνθρώπων γεγονέναι λέγουσι καὶ πολὺ τῇ δυνάμει τὴν φύσιν ὑπερφέροντας ἡμῶν, τὸ δὲ θεῖον οὐκ ἀμιγὲς οὐδ’ ἄκρατον ἔχοντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχῆς φύσει καὶ σώματος αἰσθήσει ἐν συνειληχὸς ἡδονὴν δεχομένῃ καὶ πόνον καὶ ὅσα ταύταις ἐπιγενόμενα ταῖς μεταβολαῖς πάθη τοὺς μὲν μᾶλλον τοὺς δ’ ἧττον ἐπιταράττει· γίνονται γὰρ ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις καὶ δαίμοσιν ἀρετῆς διαφοραὶ καὶ κακίας. τὰ γὰρ Γιγαντικὰ καὶ Τιτανικὰ παρ’ Ἕλλησιν ᾀδόμενα καὶ Κρόνου τινὲς ἄθεσμοι πράξεις καὶ Πύθωνος ἀντιτάξεις πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα φυγαί τε Διονύσου καὶ πλάναι Δήμητρος οὐδὲν ἀπολείπουσι τῶν Ὀσιριακῶν καὶ Τυφωνικῶν ἄλλων θ’ ὧν πᾶσιν ἔξεστιν ἀνέδην μυθολογουμένων ἀκούειν· ὅσα τε μυστικοῖς ἱεροῖς περικαλυπτόμενα καὶ τελεταῖς ἄρρητα διασῴζεται καὶ ἀθέατα πρὸς τοὺς πολλούς, ὅμοιον ἔχει λόγον.

     25. Better ¹¹⁶, therefore, is the judgment of those who hold that the stories about Typhon, Osiris, and Isis, are records of experiences of neither gods nor men, but of demigods, whom Plato ¹¹⁷ and Pythagoras ¹¹⁸ and Xenocrates ¹¹⁹ and Chrysippus ¹²⁰, following the lead of early writers on sacred subjects, allege to have been stronger than men and, in their might, greatly surpassing our nature, yet not possessing the divine quality unmixed and uncontaminated, but with a share also in the nature of the soul and in the perceptive faculties of the body, and with a susceptibility to pleasure and pain and to whatsoever other experience is incident to these mutations, and is the source of much disquiet in some and of less in others. For in demigods, as in men, there are divers degrees of virtue and vice. The exploits of the Giants and Titans celebrated among the Greeks, the lawless deeds of a Cronus ¹²¹, the stubborn resistance of Python against Apollo, the flights of Dionysus ¹²², and the wanderings of Demeter, do not fall at all short of the exploits of Osiris and Typhon and other exploits which anyone may hear freely repeated in traditional story. So, too, all the things which are kept always away from the ears and eyes of the multitude by being concealed behind mystic rites and ceremonies have a similar explanation..

     26. Ἀκούομεν δὲ καὶ Ὁμήρου τοὺς μὲν ἀγαθοὺς διαφόρως “θεοειδέας” ἑκάστοτε καλοῦντος καὶ “ἀντιθέους” καί “θεῶν ἄπο μήδε’ ἔχοντας”, τῷ δ’ ἀπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων προσρήματι χρωμένου κοινῶς ἐπί τε χρηστῶν καὶ φαύλων

δαιμόνιε, σχεδὸν ἐλθέ· τίη δειδίσσεαι οὕτως Ἀργείους;

καὶ πάλιν

ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ τὸ τέταρτον ἐπέσσυτο δαίμονι ἶσος,

καί

δαιμονίη, τί νύ σε Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες
τόσσα κακὰ ῥέζουσιν, ὅ τ’ ἀσπερχὲς μενεαίνεις
Ἰλίου ἐξαλαπάξαι ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον;

ὡς τῶν δαιμόνων μικτὴν καὶ ἀνώμαλον φύσιν ἐχόντων καὶ προαίρεσιν.

     Ὅθεν ὁ μὲν Πλάτων ^δ Ὀλυμπίοις θεοῖς τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ περιττά, τὰ δ’ ἀντίφωνα τούτων δαίμοσιν ἀποδίδωσιν· ὁ δὲ Ξενοκράτης καὶ τῶν ἡμερῶν τὰς ἀποφράδας καὶ τῶν ἑορτῶν, ὅσαι πληγάς τινας ἢ κοπετοὺς ἢ νηστείας ἢ δυσφημίας ἢ αἰσχρολογίαν ἔχουσιν, οὔτε θεῶν τιμαῖς οὔτε δαιμόνων οἴεται προσήκειν χρηστῶν, ἀλλ’ εἶναι φύσεις ἐν τῷ περιέχοντι μεγάλας μὲν καὶ ἰσχυράς, δυστρόπους δὲ καὶ σκυθρωπάς, αἳ χαίρουσι τοῖς τοιούτοις καὶ τυγχάνουσαι πρὸς οὐθὲν ἄλλο χεῖρον τρέπονται. τοὺς δὲ χρηστοὺς πάλιν καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ὅ θ’ Ἡσίοδος “ἁγνοὺς δαίμονας” καὶ “φύλακας ἀνθρώπων” προσαγορεύει, “πλουτοδότας καὶ τοῦτο γέρας βασιλήιον ἔχοντας”· Ὅ τε Πλάτων ^ε ἑρμηνευτικὸν τὸ τοιοῦτον ὀνομάζει γένος καὶ διακονικὸν ἐν μέσῳ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων, εὐχὰς μὲν ἐκεῖ καὶ δεήσεις ἀνθρώπων ἀναπέμποντας, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ μαντεῖα δεῦρο καὶ δόσεις ἀγαθῶν φέροντας.

     Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δὲ καὶ δίκας φησὶ διδόναι τοὺς δαίμονας ὧν ἂν ἐξαμάρτωσι καὶ πλημμελήσωσιν

αἰθέριον μὲν γάρ σφε μένος πόντονδε διώκει,
πόντος δ’ ἐς χθονὸς οὖδας ἀπέπτυσε, γαῖα δ’ ἐς αὐγὰς
ἠελίου ἀκάμαντος, ὁ δ’ αἰθέρος ἔμβαλε δίναις·
ἄλλος δ’ ἐξ ἄλλου δέχεται, στυγέουσι δὲ πάντες,

ἄχρι οὗ κολασθέντες οὕτω καὶ καθαρθέντες αὖθις τὴν κατὰ φύσιν χώραν καὶ τάξιν ἀπολάβωσι.

     26. As we read Homer, we notice that in many different places he distinctively calls the good “god-like” ¹²³ and “peers of the gods” ¹²⁴ and “having prudence gained from the gods” ¹²⁵, but that the epithet derived from the demigods (or daemons) he uses for the worthy and worthless alike ¹²⁶ 

Daemon-like sir, make haste; why do you fear the Argives thus? ¹²⁷ 

and again

When for the fourth time he rushed on, like a daemon ¹²⁸ 

and

Daemonial dame, in what do Priam and children of Priam
Work you such ill that your soul is ever relentlessly eager
Ilium, fair-built city, to bring to complete desolation? ¹²⁹ 

the assumption, then, is that the demigods (or daemons) have a complex and inconsistent nature and purpose.

     Wherefore Plato ¹³⁰ assigns to the Olympian gods right-hand qualities and odd numbers, and to the demigods the opposite of these. Xenocrates also is of the opinion that such days as are days of ill omen, and such festivals as have associated with them either beatings or lamentations or fastings or scurrilous language or ribald jests have no relation to the honours paid to the gods or to worthy demigods, but he believes that there exist in the space about us certain great and powerful natures, obdurate, however, and morose, which take pleasure in such things as these, and, if they succeed in obtaining them, resort to nothing worse. Then again, Hesiod calls the worthy and good demigods “holy daemons” and “guardians of men” ¹³¹ and “givers of wealth, and having therein a reward that is kingly” ¹³². And Plato ¹³³ calls this kind interpreting and ministering, midway between gods and men, in that they convey thither the prayers and petitions of men, and thence they bring hither the oracles and the gifts (distributions) of good things.

     Empedocles ¹³⁴ says also that the demigods must pay the penalty for the sins that they commit and the duties that they neglect:

Might of the Heavens chases them forth to the realm of the Ocean;
Ocean spews them out on the soil of the Earth, and Earth drives them
Straight to the rays of the tireless Sun, who consigns them to Heaven's
Whirlings; thus one from another receives them, but ever with loathing;

until, when they have thus been chastened and purified, they recover the place and position to which they belong according to their nature.

     27. Τούτων δὲ καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀδελφὰ λέγεσθαί φασι περὶ Τυφῶνος, ὡς δεινὰ μὲν ὑπὸ φθόνου καὶ δυσμενείας εἰργάσατο καὶ πάντα πράγματα ταράξας ἐνέπλησε κακῶν γῆν ὁμοῦ τι πᾶσαν καὶ θάλασσαν, εἶτα δίκην ἔδωκεν· ἡ δὲ τιμωρὸς Ὀσίριδος ἀδελφὴ καὶ γυνὴ τὴν Τυφῶνος σβέσασα καὶ καταπαύσασα μανίαν καὶ λύσσαν οὐ περιεῖδε τοὺς ἄθλους καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας, οὓς ἀνέτλη, καὶ πλάνας αὑτῆς καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ἔργα σοφίας πολλὰ δ’ ἀνδρείας ἀμνηστίαν ὑπολαβοῦσαν καὶ σιωπήν, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἁγιωτάταις ἀναμίξασα τελεταῖς εἰκόνας καὶ ὑπονοίας καὶ μιμήματα τῶν τότε παθημάτων εὐσεβείας ὁμοῦ δίδαγμα καὶ παραμύθιον ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶν ὑπὸ συμφορῶν ἐχομένοις ὁμοίων καθωσίωσεν.

     Αὐτὴ δὲ καὶ Ὄσιρις ἐκ δαιμόνων ἀγαθῶν δι’ ἀρετὴν εἰς θεοὺς μεταβαλόντες, ὡς ὕστερον Ἡρακλῆς καὶ Διόνυσος, ἅμα καὶ θεῶν καὶ δαιμόνων οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου μεμιγμένας τιμὰς ἔχουσι, πανταχοῦ μὲν ***, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὑπὲρ γῆν καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν δυνάμενοι μέγιστον. Οὐ γὰρ ἄλλον εἶναι Σάραπιν ἢ τὸν Πλούτωνά φασι καὶ Ἶσιν τὴν Περσέφασσαν, ὡς Ἀρχέμαχος εἴρηκεν ὁ Εὐβοεὺς καὶ ὁ Ποντικὸς Ἡρακλείδης τὸ χρηστήριον ἐν Κανώβῳ Πλούτωνος ἡγούμενος εἶναι.

     27. Stories akin to these and to others like them they say are related about Typhon; how that, prompted by jealousy and hostility, he wrought terrible deeds and, by bringing utter confusion upon all things, filled the whole Earth, and the ocean as well, with ills, and later paid the penalty therefor. But the avenger, the sister and wife of Osiris, after she had quenched and suppressed the madness and fury of Typhon, was not indifferent to the contests and struggles which she had endured, nor to her own wanderings nor to her manifold deeds of wisdom and many feats of bravery, nor would she accept oblivion and silence for them, but she intermingled in the most holy rites portrayals and suggestions and representations of her experiences at that time, and sanctified them, both as a lesson in godliness and an encouragement for men and women who find themselves in the clutch of like calamities.

     She herself and Osiris, translated for their virtues from good demigods into gods ¹³⁵, as were Heracles and Dionysus later ¹³⁶, not incongruously enjoy double honours, both those of gods and those of demigods, and their powers extend everywhere, but are greatest in the regions above the earth and beneath the earth. In fact, men assert that Pluto is none other than Serapis and that Persephonê is Isis, even as Archemachus ¹³⁷ of Euboea has said, and also Heracleides Ponticus ¹³⁸ who holds the oracle in Canopus to be an oracle of Pluto.

     28. Πτολεμαῖος δ’ ὁ Σωτὴρ ὄναρ εἶδε τὸν ἐν Σινώπῃ τοῦ Πλούτωνος κολοσσόν, οὐκ ἐπιστάμενος οὐδ’ ἑωρακὼς πρότερον οἷος ἦν τὴν μορφήν, κελεύοντα κομίσαι τὴν ταχίστην αὐτὸν εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν. Ἀγνοοῦντι δ’ αὐτῷ καὶ ἀποροῦντι, ποῦ καθίδρυται, καὶ διηγουμένῳ τοῖς φίλοις τὴν ὄψιν εὑρέθη πολυπλανὴς ἄνθρωπος ὄνομα Σωσίβιος, ἐν Σινώπῃ φάμενος ἑωρακέναι τοιοῦτον κολοσσόν, οἷον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἰδεῖν ἔδοξεν. Ἔπεμψεν οὖν Σωτέλη καὶ Διονύσιον, οἳ χρόνῳ πολλῷ καὶ μόλις, οὐκ ἄνευ μέντοι θείας προνοίας, ἤγαγον ἐκκλέψαντες. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κομισθεὶς ὤφθη, συμβαλόντες οἱ περὶ Τιμόθεον τὸν ἐξηγητὴν καὶ Μανέθωνα τὸν Σεβεννύτην Πλούτωνος ὂν ἄγαλμα τῷ Κερβέρῳ τεκμαιρόμενοι καὶ τῷ δράκοντι πείθουσι τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, ὡς ἑτέρου θεῶν οὐδενὸς ἀλλὰ Σαράπιδός ἐστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν οὕτως ὀνομαζόμενος ἧκεν, ἀλλ’ εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν κομισθεὶς τὸ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις ὄνομα τοῦ Πλούτωνος ἐκτήσατο τὸν Σάραπιν.

     Καὶ μέντοι τὰ Ἡρακλείτου τοῦ φυσικοῦ λέγοντος “ᾍδης καὶ Διόνυσος ωὑτὸς ὅτεῳ μαίνονται καὶ ληναΐζουσιν” εἰς ταύτην ὑπάγουσι τὴν δόξαν. Οἱ γὰρ ἀξιοῦντες Ἅιδην λέγεσθαι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς οἷον παραφρονούσης καὶ μεθυούσης ἐν αὐτῷ, γλίσχρως ἀλληγοροῦσι. Βέλτιον δὲ τὸν Ὄσιριν εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάγειν τῷ Διονύσῳ τῷ τ’ Ὀσίριδι τὸν Σάραπιν, ὅτε τὴν φύσιν μετέβαλε, ταύτης τυχόντι τῆς προσηγορίας. διὸ πᾶσι κοινὸς ὁ Σάραπίς ἐστιν, ὡς δὴ τὸν Ὄσιριν οἱ τῶν ἱερῶν μεταλαβόντες ἴσασιν.

     28. Ptolemy Soter saw in a dream the colossal statue of Pluto in Sinopê, not knowing nor having ever seen how it looked, and in his dream the statue bade him convey it with all speed to Alexandria. He had no information and no means of knowing where the statue was situated, but as he related the vision to his friends there was discovered for him a much travelled man by the name of Sosibius, who said tha he had seen in Sinopê just such a great statue as the king thought he saw. Ptolemy, therefore, sent Soteles and Dionysius, who, after a considerable time and with great difficulty, and not without the help of divine providence, succeeded in stealing the statue and bringing it away ¹³⁹. When it had been conveyed to Egypt and exposed to view, Timotheus, the expositor of sacred law, and Manetho of Sebennytus, and their associates, conjectured that it was the statue of Pluto, basing their conjecture on the Cerberus and the serpent with it, and they convinced Ptolemy that it was the statue of none other of the gods but Serapis. It certainly did not bear this name when it came for Sinope, but, after it had been conveyed to Alexandria, it took to itself the name which Pluto bears among the Egyptians, that of Serapis.

     Moreover, since Heracleitus ¹⁴⁰ the physical philosopher says, “The same are Hades and Dionysus, to honour whom they rage and rave”, people are inclined to come to this opinion. In fact, those who insist that the body is called Hades, since the soul is, as it were, deranged and inebriate when it is in the body, are too frivolous in their use of allegory. It is better to identify Osiris with Dionysus ¹⁴¹ and Serapis with Osiris ¹⁴², who received this appellation at the time when he changed his nature. For this reason Serapis is a god of all peoples in common, even as Osiris is; and this they who have participated in the holy rites well know.

     29. Οὐ γὰρ ἄξιον προσέχειν τοῖς Φρυγίοις γράμμασιν, ἐν οἷς λέγεται † Χάροπος μὲν τοῦ Ἡρακλέους γενέσθαι θυγάτηρ Ἶσις, † Αἰακοῦ δὲ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ὁ Τυφών, οὐδὲ Φυλάρχου μὴ καταφρονεῖν γράφοντος , ὅτι πρῶτος εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐξ Ἰνδῶν Διόνυσος ἤγαγε δύο βοῦς, ὧν ἦν τῷ μὲν Ἆπις ὄνομα τῷ δ’ Ὄσιρις· Σάραπις δ’ ὄνομα τοῦ τὸ πᾶν κοσμοῦντός ἐστι παρὰ τὸ σαίρειν, ὃ καλλύνειν τινὲς καὶ κοσμεῖν λέγουσιν. Ἄτοπα γὰρ ταῦτα τοῦ Φυλάρχου, πολλῷ δ’ ἀτοπώτερα τὰ τῶν λεγόντων οὐκ εἶναι θεὸν τὸν Σάραπιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν Ἄπιδος σορὸν οὕτως ὀνομάζεσθαι, καὶ χαλκᾶς τινας ἐν Μέμφει πύλας λήθης καὶ κωκυτοῦ προσαγορευομένας, ὅταν θάπτωσι τὸν Ἆπιν, ἀνοίγεσθαι βαρὺ καὶ σκληρὸν ψοφούσας· διὸ παντὸς ἠχοῦντος ἡμᾶς χαλκώματος ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι. Μετριώτερον δ’ οἱ παρὰ τὸ σεύεσθαι καὶ τὸ σοῦσθαι τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἅμα κίνησιν εἰρῆσθαι φάσκοντες.

     Οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἱερέων εἰς ταὐτό φασι τὸν Ὄσιριν συμπεπλέχθαι καὶ τὸν Ἆπιν, ἐξηγούμενοι καὶ διδάσκοντες ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἔμμορφον εἰκόνα χρὴ νομίζειν τῆς Ὀσίριδος ψυχῆς τὸν Ἆπιν. Ἐγὼ δ’, εἰ μὲν Αἰγύπτιόν ἐστι τοὔνομα τοῦ Σαράπιδος, εὐφροσύνην αὐτὸ δηλοῦν οἴομαι καὶ χαρμοσύνην, τεκμαιρόμενος ὅτι τὴν ἑορτὴν Αἰγύπτιοι τὰ Χαρμόσυνα “Σαίρει” καλοῦσιν. Καὶ γὰρ Πλάτων ^ϛ τὸν Ἅιδην ὡς † Αἰδοῦς υἱὸν τοῖς παρ’ αὐτῷ γενομένοις καὶ προσηνῆ θεὸν ὠνομάσθαι φησί· καὶ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις ἄλλα τε πολλὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων λόγον ἔχει καὶ τὸν ὑποχθόνιον τόπον, εἰς ὃν οἴονται τὰς ψυχὰς ἀπέρχεσθαι μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν, Ἀμένθην καλοῦσι σημαίνοντος τοῦ ὀνόματος τὸν λαμβάνοντα καὶ διδόντα. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀπελθόντων πάλαι καὶ μετακομισθέντων ὀνομάτων ἕν ἐστιν, ὕστερον ἐπισκεψόμεθα· νῦν δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς ἐν χερσὶ δόξης προσδιέλθωμεν.

     29. It is not worth while to pay any attention to the Phrygian writings ¹⁴³, in which it is said that Serapis was the son of Heracles, and Isis was his daughter, and Typhon was the son of Alcaeus, who also was a son of Heracles; nor must we fail to contemn Phylarchus, who writes that Dionysus was the first to bring from India into Egypt two bulls, and that the name of one was Apis and of the other Osiris. But Serapis is the name of him who sets the universe in order, and it is derived from “sweep” (sairein), which some say means “to beautify” and “to put in order” ¹⁴⁴. As a matter of fact, these statements of Phylarchus are absurd, but even more absurd are those put forth by those who say that Serapis is no god at all, but the name of the coffin of Apis; and that there are in Memphis certain bronze gates called the Gates of Oblivion and Lamentation ¹⁴⁵, which are opened when the burial of Apis takes place, and they give out a deep and harsh sound; and it is because of this that we lay hand upon anything of bronze that gives out a sound ¹⁴⁶. More moderate is the statement of those who say that the derivation ¹⁴⁷ is from “shoot” (seuesthai) or “scoot” (sousthai), meaning the general movement of the universe.

     Most of the priests say that Osiris and Apis are conjoined into one, thus explaining to us and informing us that we must regard Apis as the bodily image of the soul of Osiris ¹⁴⁸. But it is my opinion that, if the name Serapis is Egyptian, it denotes cheerfulness and rejoicing, and I base this opinion on the fact that Egyptians call their festival of rejoicing sairei. In fact, Plato ¹⁴⁹ says that Hades is so named because he is a beneficent and gentle god towards those who have come to abide with him. Moreover, among the Egyptians many others of the proper names are real words; for example, that place beneath the earth, to which they believe that souls depart after the end of this life, they call Amenthes, the name signifying “the one who receives and gives”. Whether this is one of those words which came from Greece in very ancient times and were brought back again ¹⁵⁰ we will consider later ¹⁵¹, but for the present let us go on to discuss the remainder of the views now before us.

     30. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ὄσιρις καὶ ἡ Ἶσις ἐκ δαιμόνων ἀγαθῶν εἰς θεοὺς μετήλλαξαν· τὴν δὲ τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἠμαυρωμένην καὶ συντετρυμμένην δύναμιν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ψυχορραγοῦσαν καὶ σφαδᾴζουσαν, ἔστιν αἷς παρηγοροῦσι θυσίαις καὶ πραΰνουσιν, ἔστι δ’ ὅτε πάλιν ἐκταπεινοῦσι καὶ καθυβρίζουσιν ἔν τισιν ἑορταῖς, τῶν μὲν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς πυρροὺς καὶ προπηλακίζοντες, ὄνον δὲ κατακρημνίζοντες, ὡς Κοπτῖται, διὰ τὸ πυρρὸν γεγονέναι τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ ὀνώδη τὴν χρόαν. Βουσιρῖται δὲ καὶ Λυκοπολῖται σάλπιγξιν οὐ χρῶνται τὸ παράπαν ὡς ὄνῳ φθεγγομέναις ἐμφερές. Καὶ ὅλως τὸν ὄνον οὐ καθαρὸν ἀλλὰ δαιμονικὸν ἡγοῦνται ζῷον εἶναι διὰ τὴν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὁμοιότητα καὶ πόπανα ποιοῦντες ἐν θυσίαις τοῦ τε Παϋνὶ καὶ τοῦ Φαωφὶ μηνὸς ἐπιπλάττουσι παράσημον ὄνον δεδεμένον.

     Ἐν δὲ τῇ τοῦ Ἡλίου θυσίᾳ τοῖς σεβομένοις τὸν θεὸν παρεγγυῶσι μὴ φορεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ σώματι χρυσία μηδ’ ὄνῳ τροφὴν διδόναι. Φαίνονται δὲ καὶ οἱ Πυθαγορικοὶ τὸν Τυφῶνα δαιμονικὴν ἡγούμενοι δύναμιν· λέγουσι γὰρ ἐν ἀρτίῳ μέτρῳ † ἕκτῳ καὶ πεντηκοστῷ γεγονέναι Τυφῶνα· καὶ πάλιν τὴν μὲν τοῦ τριγώνου φύσιν Ἅιδου καὶ Διονύσου καὶ Ἄρεος εἶναι· τὴν δὲ τοῦ τετραγώνου Ῥέας καὶ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Δήμητρος καὶ Ἑστίας καὶ Ἥρας· τὴν δὲ τοῦ δωδεκαγώνου Διός· τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἑκκαιπεντηκονταγωνίου Τυφῶνος, ὡς Εὔδοξος ἱστόρηκεν.

     30. Now Osiris and Isis changed from good minor deities into gods ¹⁵². But the power of Typhon, weakened and crushed, but still fighting and struggling against extinction, they try to console and mollify by certain sacrifices; but again there are times when, at certain festivals, they humiliate and insult him by assailing red-headed men with jeering, and by throwing an ass over the edge of a precipice, as the people of Kopto do, because Typhon had red hair and in colour resembled an ass ¹⁵³. The people of Busiris ¹⁵⁴ and Lycopolis do not use trumpets at all, because these make a sound like an ass ¹⁵⁵; and altogether they regard the ass as an unclean animal dominated by some higher power because of its resemblance to Typhon ¹⁵⁶, and when they make cakes at their sacrifices in the month of Paÿni and of Phaophi they imprint upon them the device of an ass tied by a rope ¹⁵⁷.

     Moreover, in the sacrifice to the Sun they enjoin upon their worshippers not to wear any golden ornaments nor to give fodder to an ass. It is plain that the adherents of Pythagoras hold Typhon to be a daemonic power; for they say that he was born in an even factor of fifty-six; and the dominion of the triangle belongs to Hades, Dionysus, and Ares, that of the quadrilateral to Rhea, Aphroditê, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, that of the dodecagon to Zeus ¹⁵⁸, that of a polygon of fifty-six sides to Typhon, as Eudoxus has recorded.

     31. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ πυρρόχρουν γεγονέναι τὸν Τυφῶνα νομίζοντες καὶ τῶν βοῶν τοὺς πυρροὺς καθιερεύουσιν, οὕτως ἀκριβῆ ποιούμενοι τὴν παρατήρησιν, ὥστε, κἂν μίαν ἔχῃ τρίχα μέλαιναν ἢ λευκήν, ἄθυτον ἡγεῖσθαι· θύσιμον γὰρ οὐ φίλον εἶναι θεοῖς, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον, ὅσα ψυχαῖς ἀνοσίων ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀδίκων εἰς ἕτερα μεταμορφουμένων σώματα συνείληχε.

     Διὸ τῇ μὲν κεφαλῇ τοῦ ἱερείου καταρασάμενοι καὶ ἀποκόψαντες εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐρρίπτουν πάλαι, νῦν δὲ τοῖς ξένοις ἀποδίδονται· τὸν δὲ μέλλοντα θύεσθαι βοῦν οἱ σφραγισταὶ λεγόμενοι τῶν ἱερέων κατεσημαίνοντο, τῆς σφραγῖδος, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Κάστωρ, γλυφὴν μὲν ἐχούσης ἄνθρωπον εἰς γόνυ καθεικότα ταῖς χερσὶν ὀπίσω περιηγμέναις, ἔχοντα κατὰ τῆς σφαγῆς ξίφος ἐγκείμενον. Ἀπολαύειν δὲ καὶ τὸν ὄνον, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, τῆς ὁμοιότητος διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν καὶ τὴν ὕβριν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ διὰ τὴν χρόαν οἴονται· διὸ καὶ τῶν Περσικῶν βασιλέων ἐχθραίνοντες μάλιστα τὸν Ὦχον ὡς ἐναγῆ καὶ μιαρόν, ὄνον ἐπωνόμασαν. Κἀκεῖνος εἰπών “ὁ μέντοι ὄνος οὗτος ὑμῶν κατευωχήσεται τὸν βοῦν” ἔθυσε τὸν Ἆπιν, ὡς Δείνων ἱστόρηκεν. Οἱ δὲ λέγοντες ἐκ τῆς μάχης ἐπ’ ὄνου τῷ Τυφῶνι τὴν φυγὴν ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας γενέσθαι καὶ σωθέντα γεννῆσαι παῖδας Ἱεροσόλυμον καὶ Ἰουδαῖον, αὐτόθεν εἰσὶ κατάδηλοι τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ παρέλκοντες εἰς τὸν μῦθον.

     31. The Egyptians, because of their belief that Typhon was of a red complexion ¹⁵⁹, also dedicate to sacrifice such of their neat cattle as are of a red colour ¹⁶⁰, but they conduct the examination of these so scrupulously that, if an animal has but one hair black or white, they think it wrong to sacrifice it ¹⁶¹; for they regard as suitable for sacrifice not what is dear to the gods but the reverse, namely, such animals as have incarnate in them souls of unholy and unrighteous men who have been transformed into other bodies.

     For this reason they invoke curses on the head of the victim and cut it off, and in early times they used to throw it into the river, but now they sell it to aliens ¹⁶². Upon the neat animal intended for sacrifice those of the priests who were called “Sealers” ¹⁶³ used to put a mark; and their seal, as Castor records, bore an engraving of a man with his knee on the ground and his hands tied behind his back, and with a sword at his throat ¹⁶⁴. They think, as has been said ¹⁶⁵, that the ass reaps the consequences of his resemblance because of his stupidity and his lascivious behaviour no less than because of his colour. This is also the reason why, since they hated Ochus ¹⁶⁶ most of all the Persian kings because he was a detested and abominable ruler, they nicknamed him “the Ass”; and he remarked, “But this Ass will feast upon your Bull”, and slaughtered Apis, as Deinon has recorded. But those who relate that Typhon’s flight from the battle was made on the back of an ass and lasted for seven days, and that after he had made his escape, he became the father of sons, Hierosolymus and Judaeus, are manifestly, as the very names show, attempting to drag Jewish traditions ¹⁶⁷ into the legend.

     32. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τοιαύτας ὑπονοίας δίδωσιν· ἀπ’ ἄλλης δ’ ἀρχῆς τῶν φιλοσοφώτερόν τι λέγειν δοκούντων τοὺς ἁπλουστάτους σκεψώμεθα πρῶτον. Οὗτοι δ’ εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες, ὥσπερ Ἕλληνες Κρόνον ἀλληγοροῦσι τὸν χρόνον, Ἥραν δὲ τὸν ἀέρα, γένεσιν δὲ Ἡφαίστου τὴν εἰς πῦρ ἀέρος μεταβολήν, οὕτω παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις Νεῖλον εἶναι τὸν Ὄσιριν Ἴσιδι συνόντα τῇ γῇ, Τυφῶνα δὲ τὴν θάλασσαν, εἰς ἣν ὁ Νεῖλος ἐμπίπτων ἀφανίζεται καὶ διασπᾶται, πλὴν ὅσον ἡ γῆ μέρος ἀναλαμβάνουσα καὶ δεχομένη γίγνεται γόνιμος ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ θρῆνός ἐστιν ἱερὸς ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ Κρόνου γενόμενος, θρηνεῖ δὲ τὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς γινόμενον μέρεσιν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δεξιοῖς φθειρόμενον.

     Αἰγύπτιοι γὰρ οἴονται τὰ μὲν ἑῷα τοῦ κόσμου πρόσωπον εἶναι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς βορρᾶν δεξιά, τὰ δὲ πρὸς νότον ἀριστερά· φερόμενος οὖν ἐκ τῶν νοτίων ὁ Νεῖλος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς βορείοις ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης καταναλισκόμενος εἰκότως λέγεται τὴν μὲν γένεσιν ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς ἔχειν, τὴν δὲ φθορὰν ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς. Διὸ τήν τε θάλασσαν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιοῦνται καὶ τὸν ἅλα Τυφῶνος ἀφρὸν καλοῦσι, καὶ τῶν ἀπαγορευομένων ἕν ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τραπέζης ἅλα μὴ προτίθεσθαι· καὶ κυβερνήτας οὐ προσαγορεύουσιν, ὅτι χρῶνται θαλάττῃ καὶ τὸν βίον ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης ἔχουσιν· οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ καὶ τὸν ἰχθὺν ἀπὸ ταύτης προβάλλονται τῆς αἰτίας καὶ τὸ μισεῖν ἰχθύι γράφουσιν.

     Ἐν Σάι γοῦν ἐν τῷ προπύλῳ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἦν γεγλυμμένον βρέφος, γέρων καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον ἱέραξ, ἐφεξῆς δ’ ἰχθύς, ἐπὶ πᾶσι δ’ ἵππος ποτάμιος. Ἐδήλου δὲ συμβολικῶς “ὦ γινόμενοι καὶ ἀπογινόμενοι, θεὸς ἀναίδειαν μισεῖ”. τὸ μὲν γὰρ βρέφος γενέσεως σύμβολον, φθορᾶς δ’ ὁ γέρων· ἱέρακι δὲ τὸν θεὸν φράζουσιν, ἰχθύι δὲ μῖσος, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, διὰ τὴν θάλατταν, ἵππῳ ποταμίῳ δ’ ἀναίδειαν· λέγεται γὰρ ἀποκτείνας τὸν πατέρα τῇ μητρὶ βίᾳ μίγνυσθαι. δόξειε δ’ ἂν καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν λεγόμενον, ὡς ἡ θάλαττα Κρόνου δάκρυόν ἐστιν, αἰνίττεσθαι τὸ μὴ καθαρὸν μηδὲ σύμφυλον αὐτῆς.

     32. Such, then, are the possible interpretations which these facts suggest. But now let us begin over again, and consider first the most perspicuous of those who have a reputation for expounding matters more philosophically. These men are like the Greeks who say that Cronus is but a figurative name for Chronus ¹⁶⁸ (Time), Hera for Air, and that the birth of Hephaestus symbolises the change of Air into Fire ¹⁶⁹. And thus among the Egyptians such men say that Osiris is the Nile consorting with the Earth, which is Isis, and that the sea is Typhon into which the Nile discharges its waters and is lost to view and dissipated, save for that part which the earth takes up and absorbs and thereby becomes fertilized ¹⁷⁰. There is also a religious lament sung over Cronus ¹⁷¹. The lament is for him that is born in the regions on the left, and suffers dissolution in the regions on the right.

     For the Egyptians believe that the eastern regions are the face of the world, the northern the right, and the southern the left ¹⁷². The Nile, therefore, which runs from the south and is swallowed up by the sea in the north, is naturally said to have its birth on the left and its dissolution on the right. For this reason the priests religiously keep themselves aloof from the sea, and call salt the “spume of Typhon”; and one of the things forbidden them is to set salt upon a table ¹⁷³; also they do not speak to ship captains ¹⁷⁴; because these men make use of the sea, and gain their livelihood from the sea. This is also not the least of the reasons why they eschew fish ¹⁷⁵, and they portray hatred by drawing the picture of a fish.

     At Saïs in the vestibule of the temple of Athena was carved a babe and an aged man, and after this a hawk, and next a fish, and finally an hippopotamus. The symbolic meaning of this was ¹⁷⁶: “O ye that are coming into the world and departing from it, God hateth shamelessness” . The babe is the symbol of coming into the world and the aged man the symbol of departing from it, and by a hawk they indicate God ¹⁷⁷, by the fish hatred, as has already been said ¹⁷⁸, because of the sea, and by the hippopotamus shamelessness; for it is said that he kills his sire ¹⁷⁹ and forces his mother to mate with him. That saying of the adherents of Pythagoras, that the sea is a tear of Cronus ¹⁸⁰, may seem to hint at its impure and extraneous nature.

     33. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔξωθεν εἰρήσθω κοινὴν ἔχοντα τὴν ἱστορίαν· οἱ δὲ σοφώτεροι τῶν ἱερέων οὐ μόνον τὸν Νεῖλον Ὄσιριν καλοῦσιν οὐδὲ Τυφῶνα τὴν θάλασσαν, ἀλλ’ Ὄσιριν μὲν ἁπλῆς ἅπασαν τὴν ὑγροποιὸν ἀρχὴν καὶ δύναμιν, αἰτίαν γενέσεως καὶ σπέρματος οὐσίαν νομίζοντες, Τυφῶνα δὲ πᾶν τὸ αὐχμηρὸν καὶ πυρῶδες καὶ ξηραντικὸν ὅλως καὶ πολέμιον τῇ ὑγρότητι· διὸ καὶ πυρρόχρουν γεγονέναι τῷ σώματι καὶ πάρωχρον νομίζοντες οὐ πάνυ προθύμως ἐντυγχάνουσιν οὐδ’ ἡδέως ὁμιλοῦσι τοῖς τοιούτοις τὴν ὄψιν ἀνθρώποις.

     Τὸν δ’ Ὄσιριν αὖ πάλιν μελάγχρουν γεγονέναι μυθολογοῦσιν, ὅτι πᾶν ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν καὶ ἱμάτια καὶ νέφη μελαίνει μιγνύμενον, καὶ τῶν νέων ὑγρότης ἐνοῦσα παρέχει τὰς τρίχας μελαίνας, ἡ δὲ πολίωσις οἷον ὠχρίασις ὑπὸ ξηρότητος ἐπιγίνεται τοῖς παρακμάζουσι. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ἔαρ θαλερὸν καὶ γόνιμον καὶ προσηνές, τὸ δὲ φθινόπωρον ὑγρότητος ἐνδείᾳ καὶ φυτοῖς πολέμιον καὶ ζῴοις νοσῶδες. Ὁ δ’ ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει τρεφόμενος βοῦς, ὃν Μνεῦιν καλοῦσιν (Ὀσίριδος δ’ ἱερόν, ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἄπιδος πατέρα νομίζουσι), μέλας ἐστὶ καὶ δευτέρας ἔχει τιμὰς μετὰ τὸν Ἆπιν. Ἔτι τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα μελάγγειον οὖσαν, ὥσπερ τὸ μέλαν τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ, Χημίαν καλοῦσι καὶ καρδίᾳ παρεικάζουσι· θερμὴ γάρ ἐστι καὶ ὑγρὰ καὶ τοῖς νοτίοις μέρεσι τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὥσπερ ἡ καρδία τοῖς εὐωνύμοις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, μάλιστα ἐγκέκλεισται καὶ προσκεχώρηκεν.

     33. Let this, then, be stated incidentally, as a matter of record that is common knowledge. But the wiser of the priests call not only the Nile Osiris and the sea Typhon, but they simply give the name of Osiris to the whole source and faculty creative of moisture ¹⁸¹, believing this to be the cause of generation and the substance of life-producing seed; and the name of Typhon they give to all that is dry, fiery, and arid ¹⁸², in general, and antagonistic to moisture. Therefore, because they believe that he was personally of a reddish sallow colour ¹⁸³, they are not eager to meet men of such complexion, nor do they like to associate with them..

     Osiris, on the other hand, according to their legendary tradition, was dark ¹⁸⁴, because water darkens everything, earth and clothes and clouds, when it comes into contact with them ¹⁸⁵. In young people the presence of moisture renders their hair black, while greyness, like a paleness as it were, is induced by dryness in those who are passing their prime ¹⁸⁶. Also the spring-time is vigorous, prolific, and agreeable; but the autumn, since it lacks moisture, is inimical to plants and unhealthful for living creatures. The bull kept at Heliopolis which they call Mneuis ¹⁸⁷, and which is sacred to Osiris (some hold it to be the sire of Apis), is black and has honours second only to Apis. Egypt, moreover, which has the blackest of soils ¹⁸⁸, they call by the same name as the black portion of the eye, “Chemia”, and compare it to a heart ¹⁸⁹; for it is warm and moist and is enclosed by the southern portions of the inhabited world and adjoins them, like the heart in a man‘s left side.

     34. Ἥλιον δὲ καὶ Σελήνην οὐχ ἅρμασιν ἀλλὰ πλοίοις ὀχήμασι χρωμένους περιπολεῖν φασιν αἰνιττόμενοι τὴν ἀφ’ ὑγροῦ τροφὴν αὐτῶν καὶ γένεσιν. Οἴονται δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρον ὥσπερ Θαλῆν μαθόντα παρ’ Αἰγυπτίων ὕδωρ ἀρχὴν ἁπάντων καὶ γένεσιν τίθεσθαι· τὸν γὰρ Ὠκεανὸν Ὄσιριν εἶναι, τὴν δὲ Τηθὺν Ἶσιν ὡς τιθηνουμένην πάντα καὶ συνεκτρέφουσαν. Καὶ γὰρ Ἕλληνες τὴν τοῦ σπέρματος πρόεσιν ἀπουσίαν καλοῦσι καὶ συνουσίαν τὴν μῖξιν, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ τοῦ ὗσαι, καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον “ὕην” ὡς κύριον τῆς ὑγρᾶς φύσεως οὐχ ἕτερον ὄντα τοῦ Ὀσίριδος· καὶ γὰρ τὸν Ὄσιριν Ἑλλάνικος Ὕσιριν ἔοικεν ἀκηκοέναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων λεγόμενον· οὕτω γὰρ ὀνομάζων διατελεῖ τὸν θεόν, εἰκότως ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως.

     34. They say that the sun and moon do not use chariots, but boats ¹⁹⁰ in which to sail round in their courses; and by this they intimate that the nourishment and origin of these heavenly bodies is from moisture. They think also that Homer ¹⁹¹, like Thales, had gained his knowledge from the Egyptians, when he postulated water as the source and origin of all things; for, according to them, Oceanus is Osiris, and Tethys is Isis, since she is the kindly nurse and provider for all things. In fact, the Greeks call emission apousia ¹⁹² and coition synousia, and the son (hyios) from water (hydor) and rain (hysai); Dionysus also they call Hyes ¹⁹³ since he is lord of the nature of moisture; and he is no other than Osiris ¹⁹⁴. In fact, Hellanicus seems to have heard Osiris pronounced Hysiris by the priests, for he regularly spells the name in this way, deriving it, in all probability, from the nature of Osiris and the ceremony of finding him ¹⁹⁵.

     35. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ὁ αὐτός ἐστι Διονύσῳ, τίνα μᾶλλον ἢ σὲ γινώσκειν, ὦ Κλέα, δὴ προσῆκόν ἐστιν, ἀρχηίδα μὲν οὖσαν ἐν Δελφοῖς τῶν Θυιάδων, τοῖς δ’ Ὀσιριακοῖς καθωσιωμένην ἱεροῖς ἀπὸ πατρὸς καὶ μητρός; εἰ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἕνεκα δεῖ μαρτύρια παραθέσθαι, τὰ μὲν ἀπόρρητα κατὰ χώραν ἐῶμεν, ἃ δ’ ἐμφανῶς δρῶσι θάπτοντες τὸν Ἆπιν οἱ ἱερεῖς, ὅταν παρακομίζωσιν ἐπὶ σχεδίας τὸ σῶμα, βακχείας οὐδὲν ἀποδεῖ· καὶ γὰρ νεβρίδας περικαθάπτονται καὶ θύρσους φοροῦσι καὶ βοαῖς χρῶνται καὶ κινήσεσιν ὥσπερ οἱ κάτοχοι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον ὀργιασμοῖς. Διὸ καὶ ταυρόμορφα Διονύσου ποιοῦσιν ἀγάλματα πολλοὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων· αἱ δ’ Ἠλείων γυναῖκες καὶ παρακαλοῦσιν εὐχόμεναι “ποδὶ βοείῳ τὸν θεὸν ἐλθεῖν” πρὸς αὐτάς. Ἀργείοις δὲ βουγενὴς Διόνυσος ἐπίκλην ἐστίν· ἀνακαλοῦνται δ’ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ σαλπίγγων ἐξ ὕδατος ἐμβάλλοντες εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον ἄρνα τῷ Πυλαόχῳ· τὰς δὲ σάλπιγγας ἐν θύρσοις ἀποκρύπτουσιν, ὡς Σωκράτης ἐν τοῖς περὶ ὁσίων εἴρηκεν. Ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ Τιτανικὰ καὶ Νυκτέλια τοῖς λεγομένοις Ὀσίριδος διασπασμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἀναβιώσεσι καὶ παλιγγενεσίαις· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς ταφάς.

     Αἰγύπτιοί τε γὰρ Ὀσίριδος πολλαχοῦ θήκας, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, δεικνύουσι, καὶ Δελφοὶ τὰ τοῦ Διονύσου λείψανα παρ’ αὐτοῖς παρὰ τὸ χρηστήριον ἀποκεῖσθαι νομίζουσι, καὶ θύουσιν οἱ ὅσιοι θυσίαν ἀπόρρητον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, ὅταν αἱ Θυιάδες ἐγείρωσι τὸν Λικνίτην. Ὅτι δ’ οὐ μόνον τοῦ οἴνου Διόνυσον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης ὑγρᾶς φύσεως Ἕλληνες ἡγοῦνται κύριον καὶ ἀρχηγόν, ἀρκεῖ Πίνδαρος μάρτυς εἶναι λέγων

δενδρέων δὲ νομὸν Διόνυσος πολυγαθὴς αὐξάνοι,
ἁγνὸν φέγγος ὀπώρας

διὸ καὶ τοῖς τὸν Ὄσιριν σεβομένοις ἀπαγορεύεται δένδρον ἥμερον ἀπολλύναι καὶ πηγὴν ὕδατος ἐμφράττειν.

     35. That Osiris is identical with Dionysus who could more fittingly know than yourself, Clea? For you are at the head of the inspired maidens of Delphi, and have been consecrated by your father and mother in the holy rites of Osiris. If, however, for the benefit of others it is needful to adduce proofs of this identity, let us leave undisturbed what may not be told, but the public ceremonies which the priests perform in the burial of the Apis, when they convey his body on an improvised bier, do not in any way come short of a Bacchic procession; for they fasten skins of fawns about themselves, and carry Bacchic wands and indulge in shoutings and movements exactly as do those who are under the spell of the Dionysiac ecstasies ¹⁹⁶. For the same reason many of the Greeks make statues of Dionysus in the form of a bull ¹⁹⁷; and the women of Elis invoke him, praying that the god may come with the hoof of a bull ¹⁹⁸; and the epithet applied to Dionysus among the Argives is “Son of the Bull”. They call him up out of the water by the sound of trumpets ¹⁹⁹, at the same time casting into the depths a lamb as an offering to the Keeper of the Gate. The trumpets they conceal in Bacchic wands, as Socrates ²⁰⁰ has stated in his treatise on The Holy Ones. Furthermore, the tales regarding the Titans and the rites celebrated by night agree with the accounts of the dismemberment of Osiris and his revivification and regenesis. Similar agreement is found too in the tales about their sepulchres.

     The Egyptians, as has already been stated ²⁰¹, point out tombs of Osiris in many places, and the people of Delphi believe that the remains of Dionysus rest with them close beside the oracle; and the Holy Ones offer a secret sacrifice in the shrine of Apollo whenever the devotees of Dionysus ²⁰² wake the God of the Mystic Basket ²⁰³. To show that the Greeks regard Dionysus as the lord and master not only of wine, but of the nature of every sort of moisture, it is enough that Pindar ²⁰⁴ be our witness, when he says

May gladsome Dionysus swell the fruit upon the trees,
The hallowed splendour of harvest time.

For this reason all who reverence Osiris are prohibited from destroying a cultivated tree or blocking up a spring of water.

     36. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τὸν Νεῖλον, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὑγρὸν ἁπλῶς Ὀσίριδος ἀπορροὴν καλοῦσι, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀεὶ προπομπεύει τὸ ὑδρεῖον ἐπὶ τιμῇ τοῦ θεοῦ. Καὶ θρύῳ βασιλέα καὶ τὸ νότιον κλίμα τοῦ κόσμου γράφουσι, καὶ μεθερμηνεύεται τὸ θρύον ποτισμὸς καὶ κύησις πάντων καὶ δοκεῖ γεννητικῷ μορίῳ τὴν φύσιν ἐοικέναι. Τὴν δὲ τῶν Παμυλίων ἑορτὴν ἄγοντες, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, φαλλικὴν οὖσαν ἄγαλμα προτίθενται καὶ περιφέρουσιν, οὗ τὸ αἰδοῖον τριπλάσιόν ἐστιν· ἀρχὴ γὰρ ὁ θεός, ἀρχὴ δὲ πᾶσα τῷ γονίμῳ πολλαπλασιάζει τὸ ἐξ αὑτῆς. Τὸ δὲ πολλάκις εἰώθαμεν καὶ τρὶς λέγειν, ὡς τό “τρισμάκαρες” καὶ “δεσμοὶ μὲν τρὶς τόσσοι ἀπείρονες”, εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία κυρίως ἐμφαίνεται τὸ τριπλάσιον ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν· ἡ γὰρ ὑγρὰ φύσις ἀρχὴ καὶ γένεσις οὖσα πάντων ἐξ αὑτῆς τὰ πρῶτα τρία σώματα, γῆν ἀέρα καὶ πῦρ, ἐποίησε.

     Καὶ γὰρ ὁ προστιθέμενος τῷ μύθῳ λόγος, ὡς τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ὁ Τυφὼν τὸ αἰδοῖον ἔρριψεν εἰς τὸν ποταμόν, ἡ δ’ Ἶσις οὐχ εὗρεν, ἀλλ’ ἐμφερὲς ἄγαλμα θεμένη καὶ κατασκευάσασα τιμᾶν καὶ φαλληφορεῖν ἔταξεν, ἐνταῦθα δὴ περιχωρεῖ διδάσκων, ὅτι τὸ γόνιμον καὶ τὸ σπερματικὸν τοῦ θεοῦ πρώτην ἔσχεν ὕλην τὴν ὑγρότητα καὶ δι’ ὑγρότητος ἐνεκράθη τοῖς πεφυκόσι μετέχειν γενέσεως. Ἄλλος δὲ λόγος ἐστὶν Αἰγυπτίων, ὡς Ἄποπις Ἡλίου ὢν ἀδελφὸς ἐπολέμει τῷ Διί, τὸν δ’ Ὄσιριν ὁ Ζεὺς συμμαχήσαντα καὶ συγκαταστρεψάμενον αὐτῷ τὸν πολέμιον παῖδα θέμενος Διόνυσον προσηγόρευσε. Καὶ τούτου δὲ τοῦ λόγου τὸ μυθῶδες ἔστιν ἀποδεῖξαι τῆς περὶ φύσιν ἀληθείας ἁπτόμενον. Δία μὲν γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ πνεῦμα καλοῦσιν, ᾧ πολέμιον τὸ αὐχμηρὸν καὶ πυρῶδες· τοῦτο δ’ ἥλιος μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, πρὸς δ’ ἥλιον ἔχει τινὰ συγγένειαν· ἡ δ’ ὑγρότης σβεννύουσα τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ξηρότητος αὔξει καὶ ῥώννυσι τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις, ὑφ’ ὧν τὸ πνεῦμα τρέφεται καὶ τέθηλεν.

     36. Not only the Nile, but every form of moisture ²⁰⁵ they call simply the effusion of Osiris; and in their holy rites the water jar in honour of the god heads the procession ²⁰⁶. And by the picture of a rush they represent a king and the southern region of the world ²⁰⁷, and the rush is interpreted to mean the watering and fructifying of all things, and in its nature it seems to bear some resemblance to the generative member. Moreover, when they celebrate the festival of the Pamylia which, as has been said ²⁰⁸, is of a phallic member, they expose and carry about a statue of which the male member is triple ²⁰⁹; for the god is the Source, and every source, by its fecundity, multiplies what proceeds from it; and for “many times” we have a habit of saying “thrice”, as, for example, “thrice happy” ²¹⁰, and “bonds, even thrice as many, unnumbered” ²¹¹, unless, indeed, the word “triple” is used by the early writers in its strict meaning; for the nature of moisture, being the source and origin of all things, created out of itself three primal material substances, Earth, Air and Fire.

     In fact, the tale that is annexed to the legend to the effect that Typhon cast the male member of Osiris into the river, and Isis could not find it, but constructed and shaped a replica of it, and ordained that it should be honoured and borne in processions ²¹², plainly comes round to this doctrine, that the creative and germinal power of the god, at the very first, acquired moisture as its substance, and through moisture combined with whatever was by nature capable of participating in generation. There is another tale current among the Egyptians that Apopis, brother of the Sun, made war upon Zeus, and that because Osiris espoused Zeus’s cause and helped him to overthrow his enemy, Zeus adopted Osiris as his son and gave him the name of Dionysus. It may be demonstrated that the legend contained in this tale has some approximation to truth so far as Nature is concerned; for the Egyptians apply the name “Zeus” to the wind ²¹³, and whatever is dry or fiery is antagonistic to this. This is not the Sun, but it has some kinship with the Sun; and the moisture, by doing away with the excess of dryness, increases and strengthens the exhalations by which the wind is fostered and made vigorous.

     37. Ἔτι τε τὸν κιττὸν ὃν Ἕλληνές τε καθιεροῦσι Διονύσῳ καὶ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις λέγεται “χενόσιρις” ὀνομάζεσθαι σημαίνοντος τοῦ ὀνόματος, ὥς φασι, φυτὸν Ὀσίριδος. Ἀρίστων τοίνυν ὁ γεγραφὼς Ἀθηναίων ἀποικίας ἐπιστολῇ τινι Ἀλεξάρχου περιέπεσεν, ἐν ᾗ Διὸς ἱστορεῖται δὲ καὶ Ἴσιδος υἱὸς ὢν ὁ Διόνυσος ὑπ’ Αἰγυπτίων οὐκ Ὄσιρις ἀλλ’ Ἀρσαφὴς ἐν τῷ ἄλφαγράμματι λέγεσθαι δηλοῦντος τὸ ἀνδρεῖον τοῦ ὀνόματος. Ἐμφαίνει δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Ἑρμαῖος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ περὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἑορτῶν· ὄβριμον γάρ φησι μεθερμηνευόμενον εἶναι τὸν Ὄσιριν. Ἐῶ δὲ Μνασέαν τῷ Ἐπάφῳ προστιθέντα τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τὸν Ὄσιριν καὶ τὸν Σάραπιν, ἐῶ καὶ Ἀντικλείδην λέγοντα τὴν Ἶσιν Προμηθέως οὖσαν θυγατέρα Διονύσῳ συνοικεῖν· αἱ γὰρ εἰρημέναι περὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς θυσίας οἰκειότητες ἐναργεστέραν τῶν μαρτύρων τὴν πίστιν ἔχουσι.

     37. Moreover, the Greeks are wont to consecrate the ivy ²¹⁴ to Dionysus, and it is said that among the Egyptians the name for ivy is chenosiris, the meaning of the name being, as they say, “the plant of Osiris”. Now, Ariston ²¹⁵, the author of Athenian Colonization, happened upon a letter of Alexarchus, in which it is recorded that Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Isis, and is called not Osiris, but Arsaphes, spelled with an “a”, the name denoting virility. Hermaeus ²¹⁶, too, makes this statement in the first volume of his book The Egyptians; for he says that Osiris, properly interpreted, means “sturdy”. I leave out of account Mnaseas’s ²¹⁷ annexation of Dionysus, Osiris, and Serapis to Epaphus, as well as Anticleides’ ²¹⁸ statement that Isis was the daughter of Prometheus ²¹⁹ and was wedded to Dionysus ²²⁰. The fact is that the peculiarities already mentioned regarding the festival and sacrifices carry a conviction more manifest than any testimony of authorities.

     38. Τῶν τ’ ἄστρων τὸν σείριον Ὀσίριδος νομίζουσιν ὑδραγωγὸν ὄντα καὶ τὸν λέοντα τιμῶσι καὶ χάσμασι λεοντείοις τὰ τῶν ἱερῶν θυρώματα κοσμοῦσιν, ὅτι πλημμυρεῖ Νεῖλος

ἠελίου τὰ πρῶτα συνερχομένοιο λέοντι.

ὡς δὲ Νεῖλον Ὀσίριδος ἀπορροήν, οὕτως Ἴσιδος σῶμα γῆν λέγουσι καὶ νομίζουσιν οὐ πᾶσαν, ἀλλ’ ἧς ὁ Νεῖλος ἐπιβαίνει σπερμαίνων καὶ μιγνύμενος· ἐκ δὲ τῆς συνουσίας ταύτης γεννῶσι τὸν Ὧρον. Ἔστι δ’ Ὧρος ἡ πάντα σῴζουσα καὶ τρέφουσα τοῦ περιέχοντος ὥρα καὶ κρᾶσις ἀέρος, ὃν ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι τοῖς περὶ Βοῦτον ὑπὸ Λητοῦς τραφῆναι λέγουσιν· ἡ γὰρ ὑδατώδης καὶ διάβροχος γῆ μάλιστα τὰς σβεννυούσας καὶ χαλώσας τὴν ξηρότητα καὶ τὸν αὐχμὸν ἀναθυμιάσεις τιθηνεῖται.

     Νέφθυν δὲ καλοῦσι τῆς γῆς τὰ ἔσχατα καὶ παρόρια καὶ ψαύοντα τῆς θαλάττης· διὸ καὶ Τελευτὴν ἐπονομάζουσι τὴν Νέφθυν καὶ Τυφῶνι δὲ συνοικεῖν λέγουσιν. Ὅταν δ’ ὑπερβαλὼν καὶ πλεονάσας ὁ Νεῖλος ἐπέκεινα πλησιάσῃ τοῖς ἐσχατεύουσι, τοῦτο μῖξιν Ὀσίριδος πρὸς Νέφθυν καλοῦσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀναβλαστανόντων φυτῶν ἐλεγχομένην· ὧν καὶ τὸ μελίλωτόν ἐστιν, οὗ φησι μῦθος ἀπορρυέντος καὶ ὑπολειφθέντος αἴσθησιν γενέσθαι Τυφῶνι τῆς περὶ τὸν γάμον ἀδικίας. Ὅθεν ἡ μὲν Ἶσις ἔτεκε γνησίως τὸν Ὧρον, ἡ δὲ Νέφθυς σκότιον τὸν Ἄνουβιν. Ἐν μέντοι ταῖς διαδοχαῖς τῶν βασιλέων ἀναγράφουσι τὴν Νέφθυν Τυφῶνι γημαμένην πρώτην γενέσθαι στεῖραν· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο μὴ περὶ γυναικὸς ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς θεοῦ λέγουσιν, αἰνίττονται τὸ παντελῶς τῆς γῆς ἄγονον καὶ ἄκαρπον ὑπὸ στερρότητος.

    38. Of the stars the Egyptians think that the Dog-star is the star of Isis ²²¹, because it is the bringer of water ²²². They also hold the Lion in honour, and they adorn the doorways of their shrines with gaping lions’ heads ²²³, because the Nile overflows

When for the first time the Sun comes into conjunction with Leo ²²⁴.

     As they regard the Nile as the effusion of Osiris ²²⁵, so they hold and believe the earth to be the body of Isis, not all of it, but so much of it as the Nile covers, fertilizing it and uniting with it ²²⁶. From this union they make Horus to be born. The all-conserving and fostering Hora, that is the seasonable tempering of the surrounding air, is Horus, who they say was brought up by Leto in the marshes round about Buto ²²⁷; for the watery and saturated land best nurtures those exhalations which quench and abate aridity and dryness.

     The outmost parts of the land beside the mountains and bordering on the sea the Egyptians call Nephthys. This is why they give to Nephthys the name of "Finality" ²²⁸, and say that she is the wife of Typhon. Whenever, then, the Nile overflows and with abounding waters spreads far away to those who dwell in the outermost regions, they call this the union of Osiris with Nephthys ²²⁹, which is proved by the upspringing of the plants. Among these is the melilotus ²³⁰, by the wilting and failing of which, as the story goes, Typhon gained knowledge of the wrong done to his bed. So Isis gave birth to Horus in lawful wedlock, but Nephthys bore Anubis clandestinely. However, in the chronological lists of the kings they record that Nephthys, after her marriage to Typhon, was at first barren. If they say this, not about a woman, but about the goddess, they must mean by it the utter barrenness and unproductivity of the earth resulting from a hard-baked soil.

     39. Ἡ δὲ Τυφῶνος ἐπιβουλὴ καὶ τυραννὶς αὐχμοῦ δύναμις ἦν ἐπικρατήσαντος καὶ διαφορήσαντος τήν τε γεννῶσαν ὑγρότητα τὸν Νεῖλον καὶ αὔξουσαν, ἡ δὲ συνεργὸς αὐτοῦ βασιλὶς Αἰθιόπων αἰνίττεται πνοὰς νοτίους ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας· ὅταν γὰρ αὗται τῶν ἐτησίων ἐπικρατήσωσι τὰ νέφη πρὸς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν ἐλαυνόντων καὶ κωλύσωσι τοὺς τὸν Νεῖλον αὔξοντας ὄμβρους καταρραγῆναι, κατέχων ὁ Τυφὼν ἐπιφλέγει, καὶ τότε κρατήσας παντάπασι τὸν Νεῖλον εἰς ἑαυτὸν ὑπ’ ἀσθενείας συσταλέντα καὶ ῥυέντα κοῖλον καὶ ταπεινὸν ἐξέωσεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν.

     Ἡ γὰρ λεγομένη κάθειρξις εἰς τὴν σορὸν Ὀσίριδος οὐδὲν ἔοικεν ἀλλ’ ἢ κρύψιν ὕδατος καὶ ἀφανισμὸν αἰνίττεσθαι· διὸ μηνὸς Ἀθὺρ ἀφανισθῆναι τὸν Ὄσιριν λέγουσιν, ὅτε τῶν ἐτησίων ἀπολειπόντων παντάπασιν ὁ μὲν Νεῖλος ὑπονοστεῖ, γυμνοῦται δ’ ἡ χώρα, μηκυνομένης δὲ τῆς νυκτὸς αὔξεται τὸ σκότος, ἡ δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς μαραίνεται καὶ κρατεῖται δύναμις, οἱ δ’ ἱερεῖς ἄλλα τε δρῶσι σκυθρωπὰ καὶ βοῦν διάχρυσον ἱματίῳ μέλανι βυσσίνῳ περιβάλλοντες ἐπὶ πένθει τῆς θεοῦ δεικνύουσι (βοῦν γὰρ Ἴσιδος εἰκόνα καὶ γῆς νομίζουσιν) ἐπὶ τέσσαρας ἡμέρας ἀπὸ τῆς ἑβδόμης ἐπὶ δέκα ἑξῆς· καὶ γὰρ τὰ πενθούμενα τέσσαρα, πρῶτον μὲν ὁ Νεῖλος ἀπολείπων καὶ ὑπονοστῶν, δεύτερον δὲ τὰ βόρεια πνεύματα κατασβεννύμενα κομιδῇ τῶν νοτίων ἐπικρατούντων, τρίτον δὲ τὸ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐλάττονα γίνεσθαι τῆς νυκτός, ἐπὶ πᾶσι δ’ ἡ τῆς γῆς ἀπογύμνωσις ἅμα τῇ τῶν φυτῶν ψιλότητι τηνικαῦτα φυλλορροούντων.

     Τῇ δ’ ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα νυκτὸς ἐπὶ θάλασσαν κατίασι, καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν κίστην οἱ στολισταὶ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς ἐκφέρουσι χρυσοῦν ἐντὸς ἔχουσαν κιβώτιον, εἰς ὃ ποτίμου λαβόντες ὕδατος ἐγχέουσι, καὶ γίνεται κραυγὴ τῶν παρόντων ὡς εὑρημένου τοῦ Ὀσίριδος· εἶτα γῆν κάρπιμον φυρῶσι τῷ ὕδατι καὶ συμμίξαντες ἀρώματα καὶ θυμιάματα τῶν πολυτελῶν ἀναπλάττουσι μηνοειδὲς ἀγαλμάτιον καὶ τοῦτο στολίζουσι καὶ κοσμοῦσιν ἐμφαίνοντες ὅτι γῆς οὐσίαν καὶ ὕδατος τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους νομίζουσι.

     39. The insidious scheming and usurpation of Typhon, then, is the power of drought, which gains control and dissipates the moisture which is the source of the Nile and of its rising; and his coadjutor, the Queen of the Ethiopians ²³¹, signifies allegorically the south winds from Ethiopia; for whenever these gain the upper hand over the northerly or Etesian winds ²³² which drive the clouds towards Ethiopia, and when they prevent the falling of the rains which cause the rising of the Nile, then Typhon, being in possession, blazes with scorching heat; and having gained complete mastery, he forces the Nile in retreat to draw back its waters for weakness, and, flowing at the bottom of its almost empty channel, to proceed to the sea.

     The story told of the shutting up of Osiris in the chest seems to mean nothing else than the vanishing and disappearance of water. Consequently they say that the disappearance of Osiris occurred in the month of Athyr ²³³, at the time when, owing to the complete cessation of the Etesian winds, the Nile recedes to its low level and the land becomes denuded. As the nights grow longer, the darkness increases, and the potency of the light is abated and subdued. Then among the gloomy rites which the priests perform, they shroud the gilded image of a cow with a black linen vestment, and display her as a sign of mourning for the goddess, inasmuch as they regard both the cow and the earth ²³⁴ as the image of Isis; and this is kept up for four days consecutively, beginning with the seventeenth of the month. The things mourned for are four in number: first, the departure and recession of the Nile; second, the complete extinction of the north winds, as the south winds gain the upper hand; third, the day’s growing shorter than the night; and, to crown all, the denudation of the earth together with the defoliation of the trees and shrubs at this time.

     On the nineteenth day they go down to the sea at night-time; and the keepers of the robes and the priests bring forth the sacred chest containing a small golden coffer, into which they pour some potable water which they have taken up, and a great shout arises from the company for joy that Osiris is found. Then they knead some fertile soil with the water and mix in spices and incense of a very costly sort, and fashion therefrom a crescent-shaped figure, which they clothe and adorn, thus indicating that they regard these gods as the substance of Earth and Water.

     40. Τῆς δ' Ἴσιδος πάλιν ἀναλαμβανούσης τὸν Ὄσιριν καὶ αὐξανούσης τὸν Ὧρον ἀναθυμιάσεσι καὶ ὁμίχλαις καὶ νέφεσι ῥωννύμενον ἐκρατήθη μέν, οὐκ ἀνῃρέθη δ' ὁ Τυφών· οὐ γὰρ εἴασεν ἡ κυρία τῆς γῆς θεὸς ἀναιρεθῆναι παντάπασι τὴν ἀντικειμένην τῇ ὑγρότητι φύσιν, ἀλλ' ἐχάλασε καὶ ἀνῆκε βουλομένη διαμένειν τὴν κρᾶσιν· οὐ γὰρ ἦν κόσμον εἶναι τέλειον ἐκλιπόντος καὶ ἀφανισθέντος τοῦ πυρώδους. Εἰ δὲ ταῦτα μὴ λέγεται παρὰ τὸ εἰκός, οὐδ' ἐκεῖνον ἄν τις ἀπορρίψειε τὸν λόγον, ὡς Τυφὼν μὲν ἐκράτει πάλαι τῆς Ὀσίριδος μοίρας· θάλασσα γὰρ ἦν ἡ Αἴγυπτος. Διὸ πολλὰ μὲν ἐν τοῖς μετάλλοις καὶ τοῖς ὄρεσιν εὑρίσκεται μέχρι νῦν κογχύλια ἔχειν· πᾶσαι δὲ πηγαὶ καὶ φρέατα πάντα πολλῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ καὶ πικρὸν ἔχουσιν, ὡς ἂν ὑπόλειμμα τῆς πάλαι θαλάσσης ἕωλον ἐνταυθοῖ συνερρυηκός.

     Ὁ δ' Ὧρος χρόνῳ τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἐπεκράτησε, τουτέστιν εὐκαιρίας ὀμβρίων γενομένης ὁ Νεῖλος ἐξώσας τὴν θάλασσαν ἀνέφηνε τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἀνεπλήρωσε ταῖς προσχώσεσιν. Ὃ δὴ μαρτυροῦσαν ἔχει τὴν αἴσθησιν· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ ἔτι νῦν ἐπιφέροντι τῷ ποταμῷ νέαν ἰλὺν καὶ προάγοντι τὴν γῆν κατὰ μικρὸν ὑποχωροῦν ὀπίσω τὸ πέλαγος καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν τὸ ὕψος τῶν ἐν βάθει λαμβανόντων διὰ τὰς προσχώσεις ἀπορρέουσαν· τὴν δὲ Φάρον, ἣν Ὅμηρος ^ζ ᾔδει δρόμον ἡμέρας ἀπέχουσαν Αἰγύπτου, νῦν μέρος οὖσαν αὐτῆς, οὐκ αὐτὴν ἀναδραμοῦσαν οὐδὲ προσαναβᾶσαν, ἀλλὰ τῆς μεταξὺ θαλάττης ἀναπλάττοντι τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ τρέφοντι τὴν ἤπειρον ἀνασταλείσης. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὅμοια τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν Στωικῶν θεολογουμένοις ἐστί· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι τὸ μὲν γόνιμον πνεῦμα καὶ τρόφιμον Διόνυσον εἶναι λέγουσι, τὸ πληκτικὸν δὲ καὶ διαιρετικὸν Ἡρακλέα, τὸ δὲ δεκτικὸν Ἄμμωνα, Δήμητρα δὲ καὶ Κόρην τὸ διὰ τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν καρπῶν διῆκον, Ποσειδῶνα δὲ τὸ διὰ τῆς θαλάττης.

     40. When Isis recovered Osiris and was watching Horus grow up ²³⁵ as he was being made strong by the exhalations and mists and clouds, Typhon was vanquished but not annihilated ²³⁶; for the goddess who holds sway over the Earth would not permit the complete annihilation of the nature opposed to moisture, but relaxed and moderated it, being desirous that its tempering potency should persist, because it was not possible for a complete world to exist, if the fiery element left it and disappeared. Even if this story were not current among them, one would hardly be justified in rejecting that other account, to the effect that Typhon, many ages ago, held sway over Osiris’s domain; for Egypt used to be all a sea ²³⁷, and, for that reason, even to‑day it is found to have shells in its mines and mountains ²³⁸. Moreover, all the springs and wells, of which there are many, have a saline and brackish water, as if some stale dregs of the ancient sea had collected there.

     But, in time, Horus overpowered Typhon; that is to say, there came on a timely abundance of rain, and the Nile forced out the sea and revealed the fertile land, which it filled out with its alluvial deposits. This has support in the testimony of our own observation; for we see, even to‑day, as the river brings down new silt and advances the land, that the deep waters gradually recede and, as the bottom gains in height by reason of the alluvial deposits, the water of the sea runs off from these. We also note that Pharos, which Homer ²³⁹ knew as distant a day’s sail from Egypt, is now a part of it; not that the island has extended its area by rising, or has come nearer to the land, but the sea that separated them was obliged to retire before the river, as the river reshaped the land and made it to increase. The fact is that all this is somewhat like the doctrines promulgated by the Stoics ²⁴⁰ about the gods; for they say that the creative and fostering spirit is Dionysus, the truculent and destructive is Heracles, the receptive is Ammon, that which pervades the Earth and its products is Demeter and the Daughter, and that which pervades the Sea is Poseidon ²⁴¹.

     41. Οἱ δὲ τοῖσδε τοῖς φυσικοῖς καὶ τῶν ἀπ’ ἀστρολογίας μαθηματικῶν ἔνια μιγνύντες Τυφῶνα μὲν οἴονται τὸν ἡλιακὸν κόσμον, Ὄσιριν δὲ τὸν σεληνιακὸν λέγεσθαι· τὴν μὲν γὰρ σελήνην γόνιμον τὸ φῶς καὶ ὑγροποιὸν ἔχουσαν εὐμενῆ καὶ γοναῖς ζῴων καὶ φυτῶν εἶναι βλαστήσεσι· τὸν δ’ ἥλιον ἀκράτῳ πυρὶ καὶ σκληρῷ καταθάλπειν τε καὶ καταυαίνειν τὰ φυόμενα καὶ τεθηλότα καὶ τὸ πολὺ μέρος τῆς γῆς παντάπασιν ὑπὸ φλογμοῦ ποιεῖν ἀοίκητον καὶ κατακρατεῖν πολλαχοῦ καὶ τῆς σελήνης.

     Διὸ τὸν Τυφῶνα Σὴθ ἀεὶ Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ καταδυναστεῦον ἢ καταβιαζόμενον, καὶ τῷ μὲν ἡλίῳ τὸν Ἡρακλέα μυθολογοῦσιν ἐνιδρυμένον συμπεριπολεῖν, τῇ δὲ σελήνῃ τὸν Ἑρμῆν· λόγου γὰρ ἔργοις ἔοικε καὶ περὶ σοφίας τὰ τῆς σελήνης, τὰ δ’ ἡλίου πληγαῖς ὑπὸ βίας καὶ ῥώμης περαινομέναις. Οἱ δὲ Στωικοὶ τὸν μὲν ἥλιον ἐκ θαλάττης ἀνάπτεσθαι καὶ τρέφεσθαί φασι, τῇ δὲ σελήνῃ τὰ κρηναῖα καὶ λιμναῖα νάματα γλυκεῖαν ἀναπέμπειν καὶ μαλακὴν ἀναθυμίασιν.

     41. But the Egyptians, by combining with these physical explanations some of the scientific results derived from astronomy, think that by Typhon is meant the solar world, and by Osiris the lunar world; they reason that the moon, because it has a light that is generative and productive of moisture ²⁴², is kindly towards the young of animals and the burgeoning plants, whereas the sun, by its untempered and pitiless heat, makes all growing and flourishing vegetation hot and parched, and, through its blazing light, renders a large part of the earth uninhabitable, and in many a region overpowers the moon.

     For this reason the Egyptians regularly call Typhon “Seth” ²⁴³, which, being interpreted, means “overmastering and compelling”. They have a legend that Heracles, making his dwelling in the sun, is a companion for it in its revolutions, as is the case also with Hermes and the moon. In fact, the actions of the moon are like actions of reason and perfect wisdom, whereas those of the sun are like beatings administered through violence and brute strength. The Stoics ²⁴⁴ assert that the sun is kindled and fed from the sea, but that for the moon the moving waters from the springs and lakes send up a sweet and mild exhalation.

     42. Ἑβδόμῃ ἐπὶ δέκα τὴν Ὀσίριδος γενέσθαι τελευτὴν Αἰγύπτιοι μυθολογοῦσιν, ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα γίνεται μειουμένη κατάδηλος ἡ πανσέληνος. Διὸ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην ἀντίφραξιν οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι καλοῦσι, καὶ ὅλως τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦτον ἀφοσιοῦνται· τοῦ γὰρ ἑξκαίδεκα τετραγώνου καὶ τοῦ ὀκτωκαίδεκα ἑτερομήκους, οἷς μόνοις ἀριθμῶν ἐπιπέδων συμβέβηκε τὰς περιμέτρους ἴσας ἔχειν τοῖς περιεχομένοις ὑπ’ αὐτῶν χωρίοις, μέσος ὁ τῶν ἑπτακαίδεκα παρεμπίπτων ἀντιφράττει καὶ διαζεύγνυσιν ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων καὶ διαιρεῖ, κατὰ τὸν ἐπόγδοον λόγον εἰς ἄνισα διαστήματα τεμνόμενος. Ἐτῶν δ’ ἀριθμὸν οἱ μὲν βιῶσαι τὸν Ὄσιριν οἱ δὲ βασιλεῦσαι λέγουσιν ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι· τοσαῦτα γὰρ ἔστι φῶτα τῆς σελήνης καὶ τοσαύταις ἡμέραις τὸν αὑτῆς κύκλον ἐξελίσσει.

     Τὸ δὲ ξύλον ἐν ταῖς λεγομέναις Ὀσίριδος ταφαῖς τέμνοντες κατασκευάζουσι λάρνακα μηνοειδῆ διὰ τὸ τὴν σελήνην, ὅταν τῷ ἡλίῳ πλησιάζῃ, μηνοειδῆ γινομένην ἀποκρύπτεσθαι. Τὸν δ’ εἰς δεκατέσσαρα μέρη τοῦ Ὀσίριδος διασπασμὸν αἰνίττονται πρὸς τὰς ἡμέρας, ἐν αἷς φθίνει μετὰ πανσέληνον ἄχρι νουμηνίας τὸ ἄστρον. Ἡμέραν δέ, ἐν ᾗ φαίνεται πρῶτον ἐκφυγοῦσα τὰς αὐγὰς καὶ παρελθοῦσα τὸν ἥλιον, ‘ἀτελὲς ἀγαθόν’ προσαγορεύουσιν· ὁ γὰρ Ὄσιρις ἀγαθοποιός, καὶ τοὔνομα πολλὰ φράζειν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ κράτος ἐνεργοῦν καὶ ἀγαθοποιὸν ὃ λέγουσι. Τὸ δ’ ἕτερον ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν Ὄμφιν εὐεργέτην ὁ Ἑρμαῖός φησι δηλοῦν ἑρμηνευόμενον.

     42. The Egyptians have a legend that the end of Osiris’s life came on the seventeenth of the month, on which day it is quite evident to the eye that the period of the full moon is over ²⁴⁵. Because of this the Pythagoreans call this day “the Barrier”, and utterly abominate this number. For the number seventeen, coming in between the square sixteen and the oblong rectangle eighteen ^246a, which, as it happens, are the only plane figures that have their perimeters equal their areas ^246b, bars them off from each other and disjoins them, and breaks up the ratio of eight to eight and an eighth ²⁴⁷ by its division into unequal intervals. Some say that the years of Osiris’s life, others that the years of his reign, were twenty-eight ²⁴⁸; for that is the number of the moon’s illuminations, and in that number of days does she complete her cycle.

     The wood which they cut on the occasions called the “burials of Osiris” they fashion into a crescent-shaped coffer because of the fact that the moon, when it comes near the sun, becomes crescent-shaped and disappears from our sight. The dismemberment of Osiris into fourteen parts they refer allegorically to the days of the waning of that satellite from the time of the full moon to the new moon. And the day on which she becomes visible after escaping the solar rays and passing by the sun they style “Incomplete Good”; for Osiris is beneficent, and his name means many things, but, not least of all, an active and beneficent power, as they put it. The other name of the god, Omphis, Hermaeus says means “benefactor” when interpreted.

     43. Οἴονται δὲ πρὸς τὰ φῶτα τῆς σελήνης ἔχειν τινὰ λόγον τοῦ Νείλου τὰς ἀναβάσεις. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ μεγίστη περὶ τὴν Ἐλεφαντίνην ὀκτὼ γίνεται καὶ εἴκοσι πήχεων, ὅσα φῶτα καὶ μέτρα τῶν ἐμμήνων περιόδων ἑκάστης ἔστιν· ἡ δὲ περὶ Μένδητα καὶ Ξόιν βραχυτάτη πήχεων ἓξ πρὸς τὴν διχότομον· ἡ δὲ μέση περὶ Μέμφιν, ὅταν ᾖ δικαία, δεκατεσσάρων πήχεων πρὸς τὴν πανσέληνον. Τὸν δ’ Ἆπιν εἰκόνα μὲν Ὀσίριδος ἔμψυχον εἶναι, γίνεσθαι δέ, ὅταν φῶς ἐρείσῃ γόνιμον ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης καὶ καθάψηται βοὸς ὀργώσης. Διὸ καὶ τοῖς τῆς σελήνης σχήμασιν ἔοικε πολλὰ τοῦ Ἄπιδος περιμελαινομένου τὰ λαμπρὰ τοῖς σκιεροῖς. Ἔτι δὲ τῇ νουμηνίᾳ τοῦ Φαμενὼθ μηνὸς ἑορτὴν ἄγουσιν ἔμβασιν Ὀσίριδος εἰς τὴν σελήνην ὀνομάζοντες, ἔαρος ἀρχὴν οὖσαν.

     Οὕτω τὴν Ὀσίριδος δύναμιν ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ τιθέντες τὴν Ἶσιν αὐτῷ γένεσιν οὖσαν συνεῖναι λέγουσι. Διὸ καὶ μητέρα τὴν σελήνην τοῦ κόσμου καλοῦσι καὶ φύσιν ἔχειν ἀρσενόθηλυν οἴονται πληρουμένην ὑφ’ ἡλίου καὶ κυισκομένην, αὐτὴν δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὸν ἀέρα προϊεμένην γεννητικὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ κατασπείρουσαν· οὐ γὰρ ἀεὶ τὴν φθορὰν ἐπικρατεῖν τὴν Τυφώνειον, πολλάκις δὲ κρατουμένην ὑπὸ τῆς γενέσεως καὶ συνδεομένην αὖθις ἀναλύεσθαι καὶ διαμάχεσθαι πρὸς τὸν Ὧρον. Ἔστι δ’ οὗτος ὁ περίγειος κόσμος οὔτε φθορᾶς ἀπαλλαττόμενος παντάπασιν οὔτε γενέσεως.

     43. They think that the risings of the Nile have some relation to the illuminations of the moon; for the greatest rising ²⁴⁹, in the neighbourhood of Elephantinê, is twenty-eight cubits, which is the number of its illuminations that form the measure of each of its monthly cycles; the rising in the neighbourhood of Mendes and Xoïs, which is the least, is six cubits, corresponding to the first quarter. The mean rising, in the neighbourhood of Memphis, when it is normal, is fourteen cubits, corresponding to the full moon. The Apis, they say, is the animate image of Osiris ²⁵⁰, and he comes into being when a fructifying light thrusts forth from the moon and falls upon a cow in her breeding-season ²⁵¹. Wherefore there are many things in the Apis that resemble features of the moon, his bright parts being darkened by the shadowy. Moreover, at the time of the new moon in the month of Phamenoth they celebrate a festival to which they give the name of “Osiris’s coming to the Moon”, and this marks the beginning of the spring.

     Thus they make the power of Osiris to be fixed in the Moon, and say that Isis, since she is generation, is associated with him. For this reason they also call the Moon the mother of the world, and they think that she has a nature both male and female, as she is receptive and made pregnant by the Sun, but she herself in turn emits and disseminates into the air generative principles. For, as they believe, the destructive activity of Typhon does not always prevail, but oftentimes is overpowered by such generation and put in bonds, and then at a later time is again released and contends against Horus ²⁵², who is the terrestrial universe; and this is never completely exempt either from dissolution or from generation.

     44. Ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐκλειπτικῶν αἴνιγμα ποιοῦνται τὸν μῦθον· ἐκλείπει μὲν γὰρ ἡ σελήνη πανσέληνος ἐναντίαν τοῦ ἡλίου στάσιν ἔχοντος πρὸς αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν σκιὰν ἐμπίπτουσα τῆς γῆς, ὥσπερ φασὶ τὸν Ὄσιριν εἰς τὴν σορόν. Αὐτὴ δὲ πάλιν ἀποκρύπτει καὶ ἀφανίζει ταῖς τριακάσιν, οὐ μὴν ἀναιρεῖται παντάπασι τὸν ἥλιον, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸν Τυφῶνα ἡ Ἶσις. *** γεννώσης τῆς Νέφθυος τὸν Ἄνουβιν Ἶσις ὑποβάλλεται· Νέφθυς γάρ ἐστι τὸ ὑπὸ γῆν καὶ ἀφανές, Ἶσις δὲ τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν γῆν καὶ φανερόν, ὁ δὲ τούτων ὑποψαύων καὶ καλούμενος ὁρίζων κύκλος ἐπίκοινος ὢν ἀμφοῖν Ἄνουβις κέκληται καὶ κυνὶ τὸ εἶδος ἀπεικάζεται· καὶ γὰρ ὁ κύων χρῆται τῇ ὄψει νυκτός τε καὶ ἡμέρας ὁμοίως.

     Kαὶ τοιαύτην ἔχειν δοκεῖ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις τὴν δύναμιν ὁ Ἄνουβις, οἵαν ἡ Ἑκάτη παρ’ Ἕλλησι, χθόνιος ὢν ὁμοῦ καὶ Ὀλύμπιος. Ἐνίοις δὲ δοκεῖ Κρόνος ὁ Ἄνουβις εἶναι· διὸ πάντα τίκτων ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ κύων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν τοῦ κυνὸς ἐπίκλησιν ἔσχεν. Ἔστι δ’ οὖν τοῖς σεβομένοις τὸν Ἄνουβιν ἀπόρρητόν τι, καὶ πάλαι μὲν τὰς μεγίστας ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τιμὰς ὁ κύων ἔσχεν· ἐπεὶ δὲ Καμβύσου τὸν Ἆπιν ἀνελόντος καὶ ῥίψαντος οὐδὲν προσῆλθεν οὐδ’ ἐγεύσατο τοῦ σώματος ἀλλ’ ἢ μόνος ὁ κύων, ἀπώλεσε τὸ πρῶτος εἶναι καὶ μάλιστα τιμᾶσθαι τῶν ἑτέρων ζῴων. Εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἱ τὸ σκίασμα τῆς γῆς, εἰς ὃ τὴν σελήνην ὀλισθάνουσαν ἐκλείπειν νομίζουσι, Τυφῶνα καλοῦντες·

     44. There are some who would make the legend an allegorical reference to matters touching eclipses; for the Moon suffers eclipse only when she is full, with the Sun directly opposite to her, and she falls into the shadow of the Earth, as they say Osiris fell into his coffin. Then again, the Moon herself obscures the Sun and causes solar eclipses, always on the thirtieth of the month; however, she does not completely annihilate the Sun, and likewise Isis did not annihilate Typhon. When Nephthys gave birth to Anubis, Isis treated the child as if it were her own ²⁵³; for Nephthys is that which is beneath the earth and invisible, Isis that which is above the earth and visible; and the circle which touches these, called the horizon, being common to both ²⁵⁴, has received the name Anubis, and is represented in form like a dog; for the dog can see with his eyes both by night and by day alike.

     And among Egyptians Anubis is thought to possess this faculty, which is similar to that which Hecatê is thought to possess among the Greeks, for Anubis is a deity of the lower world as well as a god of Olympus. Some are of the opinion that Anubis is Cronus. For this reason, inasmuch as he generates all things out of himself and conceives all things within himself, he has gained the appellation of “Dog” ²⁵⁵. There is, therefore, a certain mystery observed by those who revere Anubis; in ancient times the dog obtained the highest honours in Egypt; but, when Cambyses ²⁵⁶ had slain the Apis and cast him forth, nothing came near the body or ate of it save only the dog; and thereby the dog lost his primacy and his place of honour above that of all the other animals. There are some who give the name of Typhon to the Earth’s shadow, into which they believe the moon slips when it suffers eclipse ²⁵⁷.

     45. Ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπέοικεν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἰδίᾳ μὲν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἕκαστος, ὁμοῦ δὲ πάντες ὀρθῶς λέγουσιν· οὐ γὰρ αὐχμὸν μόνον οὐδ’ ἄνεμον οὐδὲ θάλατταν οὐδὲ σκότος, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὅσον ἡ φύσις βλαβερὸν καὶ φθαρτικὸν ἔχει, μόριον τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. Οὔτε γὰρ ἐν ἀψύχοις σώμασι τὰς τοῦ παντὸς ἀρχὰς θετέον, ὡς Δημόκριτος καὶ Ἐπίκουρος, οὔτ’ ἀποίου δημιουργὸν ὕλης ἕνα λόγον καὶ μίαν πρόνοιαν, ὡς οἱ Στωικοί, περιγινομένην ἁπάντων καὶ κρατοῦσαν· ἀδύνατον γὰρ ἢ φλαῦρον ὁτιοῦν, ὅπου πάντων, ἢ χρηστόν, ὅπου μηδενὸς ὁ θεὸς αἴτιος, ἐγγενέσθαι. “Παλίντονος” γάρ “ἁρμονίη κόσμου, ὅκωσπερ λύρης καὶ τόξου” καθ’ Ἡράκλειτον· καὶ κατ’ Εὐριπίδην

οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο χωρὶς ἐσθλὰ καὶ κακά,
ἀλλ’ ἔστι τις σύγκρασις ὥστ’ ἔχειν καλῶς.

     Διὸ καὶ παμπάλαιος αὕτη κάτεισιν ἐκ θεολόγων καὶ νομοθετῶν εἴς τε ποιητὰς καὶ φιλοσόφους δόξα, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀδέσποτον ἔχουσα, τὴν δὲ πίστιν ἰσχυρὰν καὶ δυσεξάλειπτον, οὐκ ἐν λόγοις μόνον οὐδ’ ἐν φήμαις, ἀλλ’ ἔν τε τελεταῖς ἔν τε θυσίαις καὶ βαρβάροις καὶ Ἕλλησι πολλαχοῦ περιφερομένη, ὡς οὔτ’ ἄνουν καὶ ἄλογον καὶ ἀκυβέρνητον αἰωρεῖται τῷ αὐτομάτῳ τὸ πᾶν, οὔθ’ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ κρατῶν καὶ κατευθύνων ὥσπερ οἴαξιν ἤ τισι πειθηνίοις χαλινοῖς λόγος, ἀλλὰ πολλὰ καὶ μεμιγμένα κακοῖς καὶ ἀγαθοῖς μᾶλλον δὲ μηδὲν ὡς ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ἄκρατον ἐνταῦθα τῆς φύσεως φερούσης οὐ δυεῖν πίθων εἷς ταμίας ὥσπερ νάματα τὰ πράγματα καπηλικῶς διανέμων ἀνακεράννυσιν ἡμῖν, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ δυεῖν ἐναντίων ἀρχῶν καὶ δυεῖν ἀντιπάλων δυνάμεων, τῆς μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ κατ’ εὐθεῖαν ὑφηγουμένης, τῆς δ’ ἔμπαλιν ἀναστρεφούσης καὶ ἀνακλώσης ὅ τε βίος μικτὸς ὅ τε κόσμος, εἰ καὶ μὴ πᾶς, ἀλλ’ ὁ περίγειος οὗτος καὶ μετὰ σελήνην ἀνώμαλος καὶ ποικίλος γέγονε καὶ μεταβολὰς πάσας δεχόμενος. Εἰ γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀναιτίως πέφυκε γίνεσθαι, αἰτίαν δὲ κακοῦ τἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἂν παράσχοι, δεῖ γένεσιν ἰδίαν καὶ ἀρχὴν ὥσπερ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ τὴν φύσιν ἔχειν.

     45. Hence it is not unreasonable to say that the statement of each person individually is not right, but that the statement of all collectively is right; for it is not drought nor wind nor sea nor darkness ²⁵⁸, but everything harmful and destructive that Nature contains, which is to be set down as a part of Typhon. The origins of the universe are not to be placed in inanimate bodies, according to the doctrine of Democritus and Epicurus, nor yet is the Artificer of undifferentiated matter, according to the Stoic doctrine ²⁵⁹, one Reason, and one Providence which gains the upper hand and prevails over all things. The fact is that it is impossible for anything bad whatsoever to be engendered where God is the Author of all, or anything good where God is the Author of nothing; for the concord of the universe, like that of a lyre or bow, according to Heracleitus ²⁶⁰, is resilient if disturbed; and according to Euripides ²⁶¹,

The good and bad cannot be kept apart,
But there is some commingling, which is well.

     Wherefore this very ancient opinion comes down from writers on religion and from lawgivers to poets and philosophers; it can be traced to no source, but it carried a strong and almost indelible conviction, and is in circulation in many places among barbarians and Greeks alike, not only in story and tradition but also in rites and sacrifices, to the effect that the Universe is not of itself suspended aloft without sense or reason or guidance, nor is there one Reason which rules and guides it by rudders, as it were, or by controlling reins ²⁶², but, inasmuch as Nature brings, in this life of ours, many experiences in which both evil and good are commingled, or better, to put it very simply, Nature brings nothing which is not combined with something else, we may assert that it is not one keeper of two great vases ²⁶³ who, after the manner of a barmaid, deals out to us our failures and successes in mixture, but it has come about, as the result of two opposed principles and two antagonistic forces, one of which guides us along a straight course to the right, while the other turns us aside and backward, that our life is complex, and so also is the universe; and if this is not true of the whole of it, yet it is true that this terrestrial universe, including its moon as well, is irregular and variable and subject to all manner of changes. For if it is the law of nature that nothing comes into being without a cause, and if the good cannot provide a cause for evil, then it follows that Nature must have in herself the source and origin of evil, just as she contains the source and origin of good.

     46. Καὶ δοκεῖ τοῦτο τοῖς πλείστοις καὶ σοφωτάτοις· νομίζουσι γὰρ οἱ μὲν θεοὺς εἶναι δύο καθάπερ ἀντιτέχνους, τὸν μὲν ἀγαθῶν, τὸν δὲ φαύλων δημιουργόν· οἱ δὲ τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀμείνονα θεόν, τὸν δ’ ἕτερον δαίμονα καλοῦσιν, ὥσπερ Ζωροάστρης ὁ μάγος, ὃν πεντακισχιλίοις ἔτεσι τῶν Τρωικῶν γεγονέναι πρεσβύτερον ἱστοροῦσιν. Οὗτος οὖν ἐκάλει τὸν μὲν Ὡρομάζην, τὸν δ’ Ἀρειμάνιον· καὶ προσαπεφαίνετο τὸν μὲν ἐοικέναι φωτὶ μάλιστα τῶν αἰσθητῶν, τὸν δ’ ἔμπαλιν σκότῳ καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ, μέσον δ’ ἀμφοῖν τὸν Μίθρην εἶναι· διὸ καὶ Μίθρην Πέρσαι τὸν μεσίτην ὀνομάζουσιν· ἐδίδαξε δὲ τῷ μὲν εὐκταῖα θύειν καὶ χαριστήρια, τῷ δ’ ἀποτρόπαια καὶ σκυθρωπά. Πόαν γάρ τινα κόπτοντες ὄμωμι καλουμένην ἐν ὅλμῳ τὸν Ἅιδην ἀνακαλοῦνται καὶ τὸν σκότον, εἶτα μίξαντες αἵματι λύκου σφαγέντος εἰς τόπον ἀνήλιον ἐκφέρουσι καὶ ῥίπτουσι. Καὶ γὰρ τῶν φυτῶν νομίζουσι τὰ μὲν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ δὲ τοῦ κακοῦ δαίμονος εἶναι, καὶ τῶν ζῴων ὥσπερ κύνας καὶ ὄρνιθας καὶ χερσαίους ἐχίνους τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, τοῦ δὲ φαύλου μῦς ἐνύδρους εἶναι· διὸ καὶ τὸν κτείναντα πλείστους εὐδαιμονίζουσιν.

     46. The great majority and the wisest of men hold this opinion: they believe that there are two gods, rivals as it were, the one the Artificer of good and the other of evil. There are also those who call the better one a god and the other a daemon, as, for example, Zoroaster ²⁶⁴ the sage ²⁶⁵, who, they record, lived five thousand years before the time of the Trojan War. He called the one Oromazes and the other Areimanius ²⁶⁶; and he further declared that among all the things perceptible to the senses, Oromazes may best be compared to light, and Areimanius, conversely, to darkness and ignorance, and midway between the two is Mithras: for this reason the Persians give to Mithras the name of “Mediator”. Zoroaster has also taught that men should make votive offerings and thank-offerings to Oromazes, and averting and mourning offerings to Areimanius. They pound up in a mortar a certain plant called omomi at the same time invoking Hades ²⁶⁷ and Darkness; then they mix it with the blood of a wolf that has been sacrificed, and carry it out and cast it into a place where the sun never shines. In fact, they believe that some of the plants belong to the good god and others to the evil daemon; so also of the animals they think that dogs, fowls, and hedgehogs, for example, belong to the good god, but that water-rats ²⁶⁸ belong to the evil one; therefore the man who has killed the most of these they hold to be fortunate.

     47. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνοι πολλὰ μυθώδη περὶ τῶν θεῶν λέγουσιν, οἷα καὶ ταῦτ’ ἐστίν. Ὁ μὲν Ὡρομάζης ἐκ τοῦ καθαρωτάτου φάους ὁ δ’ Ἀρειμάνιος ἐκ τοῦ ζόφου γεγονὼς πολεμοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἓξ θεοὺς ἐποίησε, τὸν μὲν πρῶτον εὐνοίας, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον ἀληθείας, τὸν δὲ τρίτον εὐνομίας, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τὸν μὲν σοφίας, τὸν δὲ πλούτου, τὸν δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς καλοῖς ἡδέων δημιουργόν· ὁ δὲ τούτοις ὥσπερ ἀντιτέχνους ἴσους τὸν ἀριθμόν. Εἶθ’ ὁ μὲν Ὡρομάζης τρὶς ἑαυτὸν αὐξήσας ἀπέστη τοῦ ἡλίου τοσοῦτον, ὅσον ὁ ἥλιος τῆς γῆς ἀφέστηκε, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄστροις ἐκόσμησεν· ἕνα δ’ ἀστέρα πρὸ πάντων οἷον φύλακα καὶ προόπτην ἐγκατέστησε τὸν σείριον. Ἄλλους δὲ ποιήσας τέσσαρας καὶ εἴκοσι θεοὺς εἰς ᾠὸν ἔθηκεν. Οἱ δ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀρειμανίου γενόμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ τοσοῦτοι διατρήσαντες τὸ ᾠὸν γαν***, ὅθεν ἀναμέμικται τὰ κακὰ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς.

     Ἔπεισι δὲ χρόνος εἱμαρμένος, ἐν ᾧ τὸν Ἀρειμάνιον λοιμὸν ἐπάγοντα καὶ λιμὸν ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνάγκη φθαρῆναι παντάπασι καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι, τῆς δὲ γῆς ἐπιπέδου καὶ ὁμαλῆς γενομένης ἕνα βίον καὶ μίαν πολιτείαν ἀνθρώπων μακαρίων καὶ ὁμογλώσσων ἁπάντων γενέσθαι. Θεόπομπος δέ φησι κατὰ τοὺς μάγους ἀνὰ μέρος τρισχίλια ἔτη τὸν μὲν κρατεῖν τὸν δὲ κρατεῖσθαι τῶν θεῶν, ἄλλα δὲ τρισχίλια μάχεσθαι καὶ πολεμεῖν καὶ ἀναλύειν τὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου τὸν ἕτερον, τέλος δ’ ἀπολείπεσθαι τὸν Ἅιδην· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀνθρώπους εὐδαίμονας ἔσεσθαι μήτε τροφῆς δεομένους μήτε σκιὰν ποιοῦντας, τὸν δὲ ταῦτα μηχανησάμενον θεὸν ἠρεμεῖν καὶ ἀναπαύεσθαι χρόνον καλῶς μὲν οὐ πολύν τῷ θεῷ, ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπῳ κοιμωμένῳ μέτριον.

     47. However, they also tell many fabulous stories about their gods, such, for example, as the following: Oromazes, born from the purest light, and Areimanius, born from the darkness, are constantly at war with each other; and Oromazes created six gods, the first of Good Thought, the second of Truth, the third of Order, and, of the rest, one of Wisdom, one of Wealth, and one the Artificer of Pleasure in what is Honourable. But Areimanius created rivals, as it were, equal to these in number. Then Oromazes enlarged himself to thrice his former size, and removed himself as far distant from the Sun as the Sun is distant from the Earth, and adorned the heavens with stars. One star he set there before all others as a guardian and watchman, the Dog-star. Twenty-four other gods he created and placed in an egg.

     But those created by Areimanius, who were equal in number to the others, pierced through the egg and made their way inside ²⁶⁹; hence evils are now combined with good. But a destined time shall come when it is decreed that Areimanius, engaged in bringing on pestilence and famine, shall by these be utterly annihilated and shall disappear; and then shall the earth become a level plain, and there shall be one manner of life and one form of government for a blessed people who shall all speak one tongue. Theopompus ²⁷⁰ says that, according to the sages, one god is to overpower, and the other to be overpowered, each in turn for the space of three thousand years, and afterward for another three thousand years they shall fight and war, and the one shall undo the works of the other, and finally Hades shall pass away; then shall the people be happy, and neither shall they need to have food nor shall they cast any shadow. And the god, who has contrived to bring about all these things, shall then have quiet and shall repose for a time ²⁷¹, no long time indeed, but for the god as much as would be a moderate time for a man to sleep.

     48. Ἡ μὲν οὖν μάγων μυθολογία τοιοῦτον ἔχει τρόπον· Χαλδαῖοι δὲ τῶν πλανήτων, οὓς θεοὺς γενεθλίους καλοῦσι, δύο μὲν ἀγαθουργούς, δύο δὲ κακοποιούς, μέσους δὲ τοὺς τρεῖς ἀποφαίνουσι καὶ κοινούς. Τὰ δ’ Ἑλλήνων πᾶσί που δῆλα, τὴν μὲν ἀγαθὴν Διὸς Ὀλυμπίου μερίδα, τὴν δ’ ἀποτρόπαιον Ἅιδου ποιουμένων, ἐκ δ’ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἄρεος Ἁρμονίαν γεγονέναι μυθολογούντων, ὧν ὁ μὲν ἀπηνὴς καὶ φιλόνεικος, ἡ δὲ μειλίχιος καὶ γενέθλιος. Σκόπει δὲ τοὺς φιλοσόφους τούτοις συμφερομένους. Ἡράκλειτος μὲν γὰρ ἄντικρυς “πόλεμον” ὀνομάζει “πατέρα καὶ βασιλέα καὶ κύριον πάντων”, καὶ τὸν μὲν Ὅμηρον εὐχόμενον “ἔκ τε θεῶν ἔριν ἔκ τ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀπολέσθαι” ‘λανθάνειν’ φησί “τῇ πάντων γενέσει καταρώμενον ἐκ μάχης καὶ ἀντιπαθείας τὴν γένεσιν ἐχόντων, ἥλιον δὲ μὴ ὑπερβήσεσθαι τοὺς προσήκοντας ὅρους· εἰ δὲ μή, Κλῶθάς μιν Δίκης ἐπικούρους ἐξευρήσειν”.

     Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀγαθουργὸν ἀρχήν “Φιλότητα” καὶ “Φιλίαν” πολλάκις, ἔτι δ’ “Ἁρμονίαν” καλεῖ “θεμερῶπιν”, τὴν δὲ χείρονα “Νεῖκος οὐλόμενον’ καὶ ‘Δῆριν αἱματόεσσαν”. Kαὶ οἱ μὲν Πυθαγορικοὶ διὰ πλειόνων ὀνομάτων κατηγοροῦσι τοῦ μὲν ἀγαθοῦ τὸ ἓν τὸ πεπερασμένον τὸ μένον τὸ εὐθὺ τὸ περισσὸν τὸ τετράγωνον τὸ ἴσον τὸ δεξιὸν τὸ λαμπρόν, τοῦ δὲ κακοῦ τὴν δυάδα τὸ ἄπειρον τὸ φερόμενον τὸ καμπύλον τὸ ἄρτιον τὸ ἑτερόμηκες τὸ ἄνισον τὸ ἀριστερὸν τὸ σκοτεινόν, ὡς ταύτας ἀρχὰς γενέσεως ὑποκειμένας· Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ νοῦν καὶ ἄπειρον, Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ τὸ μὲν εἶδος τὸ δὲ στέρησιν, Πλάτων δὲ πολλαχοῦ μὲν οἷον ἐπηλυγαζόμενος καὶ παρακαλυπτόμενος τῶν ἐναντίων ἀρχῶν τὴν μὲν ταὐτὸν ὀνομάζει, τὴν δὲ θάτερον ^η· ἐν δὲ τοῖς Νόμοις ^θ ἤδη πρεσβύτερος ὢν οὐ δι’ αἰνιγμῶν οὐδὲ συμβολικῶς, ἀλλὰ κυρίοις ὀνόμασιν οὐ μιᾷ ψυχῇ φησι κινεῖσθαι τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλὰ πλείοσιν ἴσως δυεῖν δὲ πάντως οὐκ ἐλάττοσιν· ὧν τὴν μὲν ἀγαθουργὸν εἶναι, τὴν δ’ ἐναντίαν ταύτῃ καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων δημιουργόν· ἀπολείπει δὲ καὶ τρίτην τινὰ μεταξὺ φύσιν οὐκ ἄψυχον οὐδ’ ἄλογον οὐδ’ ἀκίνητον ἐξ αὑτῆς, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἀνακειμένην ἀμφοῖν ἐκείναις, ἐφιεμένην δὲ τῆς ἀμείνονος ἀεὶ καὶ ποθοῦσαν καὶ διώκουσαν, ὡς τὰ ἐπιόντα δηλώσει τοῦ λόγου τὴν Αἰγυπτίων θεολογίαν μάλιστα ταύτῃ τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ συνοικειοῦντος.

     48. Such, then, is the character of the mythology of the sages. The Chaldeans declare that of the planets, which they call tutelary gods ²⁷², two are beneficent, two maleficent, and the other three are median and partake of both qualities. The beliefs of the Greeks are well known to all; they make the good part to belong the Olympian Zeus and the abominated part to Hades, and they rehearse a legend that Concord is sprung from Aphroditê and Ares ²⁷³, the one of whom is harsh and contentious, and the other mild and tutelary. Observe also that the philosophers are in agreement with these; for Heracleitus ²⁷⁴ without reservation styles War “the Father and King and Lord of all”, and he says that when Homer ²⁷⁵ prays that Strife may vanish from the ranks of the gods and of mortals, he fails to note that he is invoking a curse on the origin of all things, since all things originate from strife and antagonism; also Heracleitus says that the Sun will not transgress his appropriate bounds, otherwise the stern-eyed maidens, ministers of Justice, will find him out ²⁷⁶.

     Empedocles ²⁷⁷ calls the beneficent principle “friendship” or “friendliness”, and oftentimes he calls Concord “sedate of countenance”; the worse principle he calls “accursed quarreling” and “blood-stained strife”. The adherents of Pythagoras ²⁷⁸ include a variety of terms under these categories: under the good they set Unity, the Determinate, the Permanent, the Straight, the Odd, the Square, the Equal, the Right-handed, the Bright; under the bad they set Duality, the Indeterminate, the Moving, the Curved, the Even, the Oblong, the Unequal, the Left-handed, the Dark, on the supposition that these are the underlying principles of creation. For these, however, Anaxagoras postulates Mind and Infinitude, Aristotle ²⁷⁹ Form and Privation, and Plato ²⁸⁰, in many passages, as though obscuring and veiling his opinion, names the one of the opposite principles “Identity” and the other “Difference”; but in his Laws ²⁸¹, when he had grown considerably older, he asserts, not in circumlocution or symbolically, but in specific words, that the movement of the Universe is actuated not by one soul, but perhaps by several, and certainly by not less than two, and of these the one is beneficent, and the other is opposed to it and the artificer of things opposed. Between these he leaves a certain third nature, not inanimate nor irrational nor without the power to move of itself ²⁸², as some think, but with dependence on both those others, and desiring the better always and yearning after it and pursuing it, as the succeeding portion of the treatise will make clear, in the endeavour to reconcile the religious beliefs of the Egyptians with this philosophy ²⁸³.

     49. Μεμιγμένη γὰρ ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου γένεσις καὶ σύστασις ἐξ ἐναντίων, οὐ μὴν ἰσοσθενῶν, δυνάμεων, ἀλλὰ τῆς βελτίονος τὸ κράτος ἐστίν· ἀπολέσθαι δὲ τὴν φαύλην παντάπασιν ἀδύνατον, πολλὴν μὲν ἐμπεφυκυῖα τῷ σώματι, πολλὴν δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ παντὸς καὶ πρὸς τὴν βελτίονα ἀεὶ δυσμαχοῦσαν. Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ ψυχῇ νοῦς καὶ λόγος ὁ τῶν ἀρίστων πάντων ἡγεμὼν καὶ κύριος Ὄσιρίς ἐστιν, ἐν δὲ γῇ καὶ πνεύμασι καὶ ὕδασι καὶ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἄστροις τὸ τεταγμένον καὶ καθεστηκὸς καὶ ὑγιαῖνον ὥραις καὶ κράσεσι καὶ περιόδοις Ὀσίριδος ἀπορροὴ καὶ εἰκὼν ἐμφαινομένη· Τυφὼν δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ παθητικὸν καὶ τιτανικὸν καὶ ἄλογον καὶ ἔμπληκτον, τοῦ δὲ σωματικοῦ τὸ ἐπίκηρον καὶ νοσῶδες καὶ ταρακτικὸν ἀωρίαις καὶ δυσκρασίαις καὶ κρύψεσιν ἡλίου καὶ ἀφανισμοῖς σελήνης οἷον ἐκδρομαὶ καὶ ἀφηνιασμοὶ καὶ Τυφῶνος· καὶ τοὔνομα κατηγορεῖ τὸ Σήθ, ᾧ τὸν Τυφῶνα καλοῦσι· φράζει μὲν τὸ καταδυναστεῦον καὶ καταβιαζόμενον, φράζει δὲ τὴν πολλάκις ἀναστροφὴν καὶ πάλιν ὑπεκπήδησιν. Βέβωνα δὲ τινὲς μὲν ἕνα τῶν τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἑταίρων γεγονέναι λέγουσιν, Μανεθὼς δ’ αὐτὸν τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ Βέβωνα καλεῖσθαι· σημαίνει δὲ τοὔνομα κάθεξιν ἢ κώλυσιν, ὡς τοῖς πράγμασιν ὁδῷ βαδίζουσι καὶ πρὸς ὃ χρὴ φερομένοις ἐνισταμένης τῆς τοῦ Τυφῶνος δυνάμεως.

     49. The fact is that the creation and constitution of this world is complex, resulting, as it does, from opposing influences, which, however, are not of equal strength, but the predominance rests with the better. Yet it is impossible for the bad to be completely eradicated, since it is innate, in large amount, in the body and likewise in the soul of the Universe, and is always fighting a hard fight against the better. So in the soul Intelligence and reason, the Ruler and Lord of all that is good, is Osiris, and in earth and wind and water and the heavens and stars that which is ordered, established, and healthy, as evidenced by season, temperatures, and cycles of revolution, is the efflux of Osiris ²⁸⁴ and his reflected image. But Typhon is that part of the soul which is impressionable, impulsive, irrational and truculent, and of the bodily part the destructible, diseased and disorderly as evidenced by abnormal seasons and temperatures, and by obscurations of the sun and disappearances of the moon ²⁸⁵,  outbursts, as it were, and unruly actions on the part of Typhon. And the name “Seth” ²⁸⁶, by which they call Typhon, denotes this; it means “the overmastering” and “overpowering” ²⁸⁷, and it means in very many instances “turning back” ²⁸⁸, and again “overpassing”. Some say that one of the companions of Typhon was Bebon ²⁸⁹, but Manetho says that Bebon was still another name by which Typhon was called. The name signifies “restraint” or “hindrance”, as much as to say that, when things are going along in a proper way and making rapid progress towards the right end, the power of Typhon obstructs them.

     50. Διὸ καὶ τῶν μὲν ἡμέρων ζῴων ἀπονέμουσιν αὐτῷ τὸ ἀμαθέστατον, ὄνον· τῶν δ’ ἀγρίων τὰ θηριωδέστατα, κροκόδειλον καὶ τὸν ποτάμιον ἵππον· περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ ὄνου προδεδηλώκαμεν· ἐν Ἑρμοῦ πόλει δὲ Τυφῶνος ἄγαλμα δεικνύουσιν ἵππον ποτάμιον, ἐφ’ οὗ βέβηκεν ἱέραξ ὄφει μαχόμενος, τῷ μὲν ἵππῳ τὸν Τυφῶνα δεικνύντες, τῷ δ’ ἱέρακι δύναμιν καὶ ἀρχήν, ἣν βίᾳ κτώμενος ὁ Τυφὼν πολλάκις οὐκ ἀνίεται ταραττόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας καὶ ταράττων. Διὸ καὶ θύοντες ἑβδόμῃ τοῦ Τυβὶ μηνός, ἣν καλοῦσιν ἄφιξιν Ἴσιδος ἐκ Φοινίκης, ἐπιπλάττουσι τοῖς ποπάνοις ἵππον ποτάμιον δεδεμένον. Ἐν δ’ Ἀπόλλωνος πόλει νενομισμένον ἐστὶ κροκοδείλου φαγεῖν πάντως ἕκαστον· ἡμέρᾳ δὲ μιᾷ θηρεύσαντες ὅσους ἂν δύνωνται καὶ κτείναντες ἀπαντικρὺ τοῦ ἱεροῦ προβάλλουσι καὶ λέγουσιν ὡς ὁ Τυφὼν τὸν Ὧρον ἀπέδρα κροκόδειλος γενόμενος, πάντα καὶ ζῷα καὶ φυτὰ καὶ πάθη τὰ φαῦλα καὶ βλαβερὰ Τυφῶνος ἔργα καὶ μέρη καὶ κινήματα ποιούμενοι.

     50. For this reason they assign to him the most stupid of the domesticated animals, the ass, and of the wild animals, the most savage, the crocodile and the hippopotamus. In regard to the ass we have already ²⁹⁰ offered some explanation. At Hermopolis they point out a statue of Typhon in the form of an hippopotamus, on whose back is poised a hawk fighting with a serpent. By the hippopotamus they mean to indicate Typhon, and by the hawk a power and rule, which Typhon strives to win by force, oftentimes without success, being confused by his wickedness and creating confusion ²⁹¹. For this reason, when they offer sacrifice on the seventh day of the month Tybi, which they call the “Coming of Isis from Phoenicia”, they imprint on their sacred cakes the image of an hippopotamus tied fast. In the town of Apollonopolis it is an established custom for every person without exception to eat of a crocodile ²⁹²; and on one day they hunt as many as they can and, after killing them, cast them down directly opposite the temple. And they relate that Typhon escaped Horus by turning into a crocodile, and they would make out that all animals and plants and incidents that are bad and harmful are the deeds and parts and movements of Typhon.

     51. Τὸν δ’ Ὄσιριν αὖ πάλιν ὀφθαλμῷ καὶ σκήπτρῳ γράφουσιν, ὧν τὸ μὲν τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐμφαίνειν, τὸ δὲ τὴν δύναμιν, ὡς Ὅμηρος ^ι τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ βασιλεύοντα πάντων “Ζῆν ὕπατον καὶ μήστωρα” καλῶν καὶ ἔοικε τῷ μὲν ὑπάτῳ τὸ κράτος αὐτοῦ, τῷ δὲ μήστωρι τὴν εὐβουλίαν καὶ τὴν φρόνησιν σημαίνειν. Γράφουσι δὲ καὶ ἱέρακι τὸν θεὸν τοῦτον πολλάκις· εὐτονίᾳ γὰρ ὄψεως ὑπερβάλλει καὶ πτήσεως ὀξύτητι καὶ διοικεῖν αὑτὸν ἐλαχίστῃ τροφῇ πέφυκε. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ νεκρῶν ἀτάφων ὄμμασι γῆν ὑπερπετόμενος ἐπιβάλλειν· ὅταν δὲ πιόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν καταίρῃ, τὸ πτερὸν ἵστησιν ὀρθόν· πιὼν δὲ κλίνει τοῦτο πάλιν· ᾧ δῆλός ἐστι σεσωσμένος καὶ διαπεφευγὼς τὸν κροκόδειλον· ἂν γὰρ ἁρπασθῇ, μένει τὸ πτερὸν ὥσπερ ἔστη πεπηγός. Πανταχοῦ δὲ καὶ ἀνθρωπόμορφον Ὀσίριδος ἄγαλμα δεικνύουσιν ἐξορθιάζον τῷ αἰδοίῳ διὰ τὸ γόνιμον καὶ τὸ τρόφιμον.

     Ἀμπεχόνῃ δὲ φλογοειδεῖ στέλλουσιν αὐτοῦ τὰς εἰκόνας, ἥλιον σῶμα τῆς τἀγαθοῦ δυνάμεως ὡς ὁρατὸν οὐσίας νοητῆς ἡγούμενοι. Διὸ καὶ καταφρονεῖν ἄξιόν ἐστι τῶν τὴν ἡλίου σφαῖραν Τυφῶνι προσνεμόντων, ᾧ λαμπρὸν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ σωτήριον οὐδὲ τάξις οὐδὲ γένεσις οὐδὲ κίνησις μέτρον ἔχουσα καὶ λόγον, ἀλλὰ τἀναντία προσήκει· καὶ ξηρότητα καὶ αὐχμόν, οἷς φθείρει πολλὰ τῶν ζῴων καὶ βλαστανόντων, οὐχ ἡλίου θετέον ἔργον, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐν γῇ καὶ ἀέρι μὴ καθ’ ὥραν κεραννυμένων πνευμάτων καὶ ὑδάτων, ὅταν ἡ τῆς ἀτάκτου καὶ ἀορίστου δυνάμεως ἀρχὴ πλημμελήσασα κατασβέσῃ τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις.

     51. Then again, they depict Osiris by means of an eye and a sceptre ²⁹³, the one of which indicates forethought and the other power, much as Homer ²⁹⁴ in calling the Lord and King of all “Zeus supreme and counsellor” appears by “supreme” to signify his prowess and by “counsellor” his careful planning and thoughtfulness. They also often depict this god by means of a hawk; for this bird is surpassing in the keenness of his vision and the swiftness of its flight, and is wont to support itself with the minimum amount of food. It is said also in flying over the earth to cast dust upon the eyes of unburied dead ²⁹⁵; and whenever it settles down beside the river to drink it raises its feather upright, and after it has drunk it lets this sink down again, by which it is plain that the bird is safe and has escaped the crocodile ²⁹⁶, for if it be seized, the feather remains fixed upright as it was at the beginning. Everywhere they point out statues of Osiris in human form of the ithyphallic type, on account of his creative and fostering power ²⁹⁷.

     And they clothe his statues in a flame-coloured garment, since they regard the body of the Sun as a visible manifestation of the perceptible substance of the power for good ²⁹⁸. Therefore it is only right and fair to condemn those who assign the orb of the Sun to Typhon ²⁹⁹, to whom there attaches nothing bright or of a conserving nature, no order nor generation nor movement possessed of moderation or reason, but everything the reverse; moreover, the drought ³⁰⁰, by which he destroys many of the living creatures and growing plants, is not to be set down as the work of the Sun, but rather as due to the fact that the winds and waters in the earth and the air are not seasonably tempered when the principle of the disorderly and unlimited power gets out of hand and quenches the exhalations ³⁰¹.

     52. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ὕμνοις τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἀνακαλοῦνται τὸν ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις κρυπτόμενον τοῦ Ἡλίου καὶ τῇ τριακάδι τοῦ Ἐπιφὶ μηνὸς ἑορτάζουσιν ὀφθαλμῶν Ὥρου γενέθλιον, ὅτε σελήνη καὶ ἥλιος ἐπὶ μιᾶς εὐθείας γεγόνασιν, ὡς οὐ μόνον τὴν σελήνην ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ὄμμα τοῦ Ὥρου καὶ φῶς ἡγούμενοι. Τῇ δὲ ὀγδόῃ φθίνοντος τοῦ Φαωφὶ βακτηρίας ἡλίου γενέθλιον ἄγουσι μετὰ φθινοπωρινὴν ἰσημερίαν, ἐμφαίνοντες οἷον ὑπερείσματος δεῖσθαι καὶ ῥώσεως τῷ τε θερμῷ γιγνόμενον ἐνδεᾶ καὶ τῷ φωτί ἐνδεᾶ, κλινόμενον καὶ πλάγιον ἀφ’ ἡμῶν φερόμενον. Ἔτι δὲ τὴν βοῦν ὑπὸ τροπὰς χειμερινὰς ἑπτάκις περὶ τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Ἡλίου περιφέρουσι, καὶ καλεῖται ζήτησις Ὀσίριδος ἡ περιδρομή, τὸ ὕδωρ χειμῶνος τῆς θεοῦ ποθούσης· τοσαυτάκις δὲ περιίασιν, ὅτι τὴν ἀπὸ τροπῶν χειμερινῶν ἐπὶ τροπὰς θερινὰς πάροδον ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ συμπεραίνει. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ θῦσαι τῷ ἡλίῳ τετράδι μηνὸς ἱσταμένου πάντων πρῶτος Ὧρος ὁ Ἴσιδος, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἐπιγραφομένοις Γενεθλίοις Ὥρου γέγραπται. Καὶ μὴν ἡμέρας ἑκάστης τριχῶς ἐπιθυμιῶσι τῷ ἡλίῳ, ῥητίνην μὲν ὑπὸ τὰς ἀνατολάς, σμύρναν δὲ μεσουρανοῦντι, τὸ δὲ καλούμενον κῦφι περὶ δυσμάς· ὧν ἕκαστον ὃν ἔχει λόγον, ὕστερον ἀφηγήσομαι.

     Τὸν δ’ ἥλιον πᾶσι τούτοις προστρέπεσθαι καὶ θεραπεύειν οἴονται. Καὶ τί δεῖ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα συνάγειν; εἰσὶ γὰρ οἱ τὸν Ὄσιριν ἄντικρυς ἥλιον εἶναι καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι Σείριον ὑφ’ Ἑλλήνων λέγοντες, εἰ καὶ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις ἡ πρόθεσις τοῦ ἄρθρου τοὔνομα πεποίηκεν ἀμφιγνοεῖσθαι, τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν οὐχ ἑτέραν τῆς σελήνης ἀποφαίνοντες· ὅθεν καὶ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων αὐτῆς τὰ μὲν κερασφόρα τοῦ μηνοειδοῦς γεγονέναι μιμήματα, τοῖς δὲ μελανοστόλοις ἐμφαίνεσθαι τὰς κρύψεις καὶ τοὺς περισκιασμοὺς ἐν οἷς διώκει ποθοῦσα τὸν ἥλιον. Διὸ καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἐρωτικὰ τὴν σελήνην ἐπικαλοῦνται, καὶ τὴν Ἶσιν Εὔδοξός φησι βραβεύειν τὰ ἐρωτικά. Καὶ τούτοις μὲν ἁμωσγέπως τοῦ πιθανοῦ μέτεστι, τῶν δὲ Τυφῶνα ποιούντων τὸν ἥλιον οὐδ’ ἀκούειν ἄξιον. Ἀλλ’ ἡμεῖς αὖθις τὸν οἰκεῖον λόγον ἀναλάβωμεν.

     52. In the sacred hymns of Osiris they call upon him who is hidden in the arms of the Sun; and on the thirtieth of the month Epiphi they celebrate the birthday of the Eyes of Horus, at the time when the Moon and the Sun are in a perfectly straight line, since they regard not only the Moon but also the Sun as the eye and light of Horus. On the waning of the month Phaophi they conduct the birthday of the Staff of the Sun following upon the autumnal equinox, and by this they declare, as it were, that he is in need of support and strength, since he becomes lacking in warmth and light, and undergoes decline, and is carried away from us to one side. Moreover, at the time of the winter solstice they lead the cow seven times around the temple of the Sun and this circumambulation is called the Seeking for Osiris, since the Goddess in the winter-time yearns for water; so many times do they go around, because in the seventh month the Sun completes the transition from the winter solstice to the summer solstice. It is said also that Horus, the son of Isis, offered sacrifice to the Sun first of all on the fourth day of the month, as is written in the records entitled the Birthdays of Horus. Every day they make a triple offering of incense to the Sun, an offering of resin at sunrise, of myrrh at midday, and of the so‑called cyphi at sunset; the reason which underlies each one of these offerings I will describe later ³⁰².

     They think that by means of all these they supplicate and serve the Sun. Yet, what need is there to collect many such things? There are some who without reservation assert that Osiris is the Sun and is called the Dog-star (Sirius) by the Greeks ³⁰³ even if among the Egyptians the addition of the article has created some ambiguity in regard to the name; and there are those who declare that Isis is none other than the Moon; for this reason it is said that the statues of Isis that bear horns are imitations of the crescent moon, and in her dark garments are shown the concealments and the obscurations in which she in her yearning pursues the Sun. For this reason also they call upon the Moon in love affairs, and Eudoxus asserts that Isis is a deity who presides over love affairs. These people may lay claim to a certain plausibility, but no one should listen for a moment to those who make Typhon to be the Sun. But now let us take up again the proper subject of our discussion.

     53. Ἡ γὰρ Ἶσίς ἐστι μὲν τὸ τῆς φύσεως θῆλυ καὶ δεκτικὸν ἁπάσης γενέσεως, καθὸ τιθήνη καὶ πανδεχὴς ὑπὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ^ια, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν πολλῶν μυριώνυμος κέκληται διὰ τὸ πάσας ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου τρεπομένη μορφὰς δέχεσθαι καὶ ἰδέας. Ἔχει δὲ σύμφυτον ἔρωτα τοῦ πρώτου καὶ κυριωτάτου πάντων, ὃ τἀγαθῷ ταὐτόν ἐστι, κἀκεῖνο ποθεῖ καὶ διώκει· τὴν δ’ ἐκ τοῦ κακοῦ φεύγει καὶ διωθεῖται μοῖραν, ἀμφοῖν μὲν οὖσα χώρα καὶ ὕλη, ῥέπουσα δ’ ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον καὶ παρέχουσα γεννᾶν ἐξ ἑαυτῆς ἐκείνῳ καὶ κατασπείρειν εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀπορροὰς καὶ ὁμοιότητας, αἷς χαίρει καὶ γέγηθε κυισκομένη καὶ ὑποπιμπλαμένη τῶν γενέσεων. Εἰκὼν γάρ ἐστιν οὐσίας ἡ ἐν ὕλῃ γένεσις καὶ μίμημα τοῦ ὄντος τὸ γινόμενον.

     53. Isis is, in fact, the female principle of Nature, and is receptive of every form of generation, in accord with which she is called by Plato ³⁰⁴ the gentle nurse and the all-receptive, and by most people has been called by countless names, since, because of the force of Reason, she turns herself to this thing or that and is receptive of all manner of shapes and forms. She has an innate love for the first and most dominant of all things, which is identical with the good, and this she yearns for and pursues; but the portion which comes from evil she tries to avoid and to reject, for she serves them both as a place and means of growth, but inclines always towards the better and offers to it opportunity to create from her and to impregnate her with effluxes and likenesses in which she rejoices and is glad that she is made pregnant and teeming with these creations. For creation is the image of being in matter, and the thing created is a picture of reality.

     54. Ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου μυθολογοῦσι τὴν Ὀσίριδος ψυχὴν ἀίδιον εἶναι καὶ ἄφθαρτον, τὸ δὲ σῶμα πολλάκις διασπᾶν καὶ ἀφανίζειν τὸν Τυφῶνα, τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν πλανωμένην καὶ ζητεῖν καὶ συναρμόττειν πάλιν. Τὸ γὰρ ὂν καὶ νοητὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν φθορᾶς καὶ μεταβολῆς κρεῖττόν ἐστιν· ἃς δ’ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὸ αἰσθητὸν καὶ σωματικὸν εἰκόνας ἐκμάττεται καὶ λόγους καὶ εἴδη καὶ ὁμοιότητας ἀναλαμβάνει, καθάπερ ἐν κηρῷ σφραγῖδες οὐκ ἀεὶ διαμένουσιν ἀλλὰ καταλαμβάνει τὸ ἄτακτον αὐτὰς καὶ ταραχῶδες ἐνταῦθα τῆς ἄνω χώρας ἀπεληλαμένον καὶ μαχόμενον πρὸς τὸν Ὧρον, ὃν ἡ Ἶσις εἰκόνα τοῦ νοητοῦ κόσμον αἰσθητὸν ὄντα γεννᾷ· διὸ καὶ δίκην φεύγειν λέγεται νοθείας ὑπὸ Τυφῶνος, ὡς οὐκ ὢν καθαρὸς οὐδ’ εἰλικρινὴς οἷος ὁ πατήρ, λόγος αὐτὸς καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ἀμιγὴς καὶ ἀπαθής, ἀλλὰ νενοθευμένος τῇ ὕλῃ διὰ τὸ σωματικόν.

     Περιγίνεται δὲ καὶ νικᾷ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ, τουτέστι τοῦ λόγου, μαρτυροῦντος καὶ δεικνύοντος, ὅτι πρὸς τὸ νοητὸν ἡ φύσις μετασχηματιζομένη τὸν κόσμον ἀποδίδωσιν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἔτι τῶν θεῶν ἐν γαστρὶ τῆς Ῥέας ὄντων ἐξ Ἴσιδος καὶ Ὀσίριδος λεγομένη γένεσις Ἀπόλλωνος αἰνίττεται τὸ πρὶν ἐκφανῆ γενέσθαι τόνδε τὸν κόσμον καὶ συντελεσθῆναι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν ὕλην † φύσει ἐλεγχομένην ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἀτελῆ τὴν πρώτην γένεσιν ἐξενεγκεῖν· διὸ καί φασι τὸν θεὸν ἐκεῖνον ἀνάπηρον ὑπὸ σκότῳ γενέσθαι καὶ πρεσβύτερον Ὧρον καλοῦσιν· οὐ γὰρ ἦν κόσμος, ἀλλ’ εἴδωλόν τι καὶ κόσμου φάντασμα μέλλοντος·

     54. It is not, therefore, out of keeping that they have a legend that the soul of Osiris is everlasting and imperishable, but that his body Typhon oftentimes dismembers and causes to disappear, and that Isis wanders hither and yon in her search for it, and fits it together again ³⁰⁵; for that which really is and is perceptible and good is superior to destruction and change. The images from it with which the sensible and corporeal is impressed, and the relations, forms, and likenesses which this take upon itself, like impressions of seals in wax, are not permanently lasting, but disorder and disturbance overtakes them, being driven hither from the upper reaches, and fighting against Horus ³⁰⁶, whom Isis brings forth, beholden of all, as the image of the perceptible world. Therefore it is said that he is brought to trial by Typhon on the charge of illegitimacy, as not being pure nor uncontaminated like his father, reason unalloyed and unaffected of itself, but contaminated in his substance because of the corporeal element.

     He prevails, however, and wins the case when Hermes ³⁰⁶ , that is to say Reason, testifies and points out that Nature, by undergoing changes of form with reference to the perceptible, duly brings about the creation of the world. The birth of Apollo from Isis and Osiris, while these gods were still in the womb of Rhea, has the allegorical meaning that before this world was made visible and its rough material was completely formed by reason, it was put to the test by Nature and brought forth of itself the first creation imperfect. This is the reason why they say that this god was born in the darkness a cripple, and they call him the elder Horus ³⁰⁷; for there was then no world, but only an image and outline of a world to be.

     55. Ὁ δ’ Ὧρος οὗτος αὐτός ἐστιν ὡρισμένος καὶ τέλειος, οὐκ ἀνῃρηκὼς τὸν Τυφῶνα παντάπασιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ δραστήριον καὶ ἰσχυρὸν αὐτοῦ παρῃρημένος. Ὅθεν ἐν Κοπτῷ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Ὥρου λέγουσιν ἐν τῇ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ Τυφῶνος αἰδοῖα κατέχειν καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν μυθολογοῦσιν ἐξελόντα τοῦ Τυφῶνος τὰ νεῦρα χορδαῖς χρήσασθαι, διδάσκοντες ὡς τὸ πᾶν ὁ λόγος διαρμοσά-μενος σύμφωνον ἐξ ἀσυμφώνων μερῶν ἐποίησε καὶ τὴν φθαρτικὴν οὐκ ἀπώλεσεν ἀλλ’ ἀνεπήρωσε δύναμιν. Ὅθεν ἐκείνη μὲν ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἀδρανὴς ἐνταῦθα, φυρομένη καὶ προσπλεκομένη τοῖς παθητικοῖς καὶ μεταβολικοῖς μέρεσι, σεισμῶν μὲν ἐν γῇ καὶ τρόμων, αὐχμῶν δ’ ἐν ἀέρι καὶ πνευμάτων ἀτόπων, αὖθις δὲ πρηστήρων καὶ κεραυνῶν δημιουργός ἐστι· φαρμάττει δὲ καὶ λοιμοῖς ὕδατα καὶ πνεύματα καὶ μέχρι σελήνης ἀνατρέχει καὶ ἀναχαιτίζει συγχέουσα καὶ μελαίνουσα πολλάκις τὸ λαμπρόν, ὡς Αἰγύπτιοι νομίζουσι καὶ λέγουσιν, ὅτι τοῦ Ὥρου νῦν μὲν ἐπάταξε νῦν δ’ ἐξελὼν κατέπιεν ὁ Τυφὼν τὸν ὀφθαλμόν, εἶτα τῷ Ἡλίῳ πάλιν ἀπέδωκε· πληγὴν μὲν αἰνιττόμενοι τὴν κατὰ μῆνα μείωσιν τῆς σελήνης, πήρωσιν δὲ τὴν ἔκλειψιν, ἣν ὁ ἥλιος ἰᾶται διαφυγούσῃ τὴν σκιὰν τῆς γῆς εὐθὺς ἀντιλάμπων.

     55. But this Horus is himself perfected and complete; but he has not done away completely with Typhon, but has taken away his activity and strength. Hence they say that at Kopto the statue of Horus holds in one hand the privy members of Typhon, and they relate a legend that Hermes cut out the sinews of Typhon, and used them as strings for his lyre, thereby instructing us that Reason adjusts the Universe and creates concord out of discordant elements, and that it does not destroy but only cripples the destructive force. Hence this is weak and inactive here, and combines with the susceptible and changeable elements and attaches itself to them, becoming the artificer of quakes and tremblings in the earth, and of droughts and tempestuous winds in the air, and of lightning-flashes and thunderbolts. Moreover, it taints waters and winds with pestilence, and it runs forth wanton even as far as the moon, oftentimes confounding and darkening the moon's brightness; according to the belief and account of the Egyptians, Typhon at one time smites the eye of Horus, and at another time snatches it out and swallows it, and then later gives it back again to the Sun. By the smiting, they refer allegorically to the monthly waning of the moon, and by the crippling, to its eclipse ³⁰⁸, which the Sun heals by shining straight upon it as soon as it has escaped the shadow of the earth.

     56. Ἡ δὲ κρείττων καὶ θειοτέρα φύσις ἐκ τριῶν ἐστι, τοῦ νοητοῦ καὶ τῆς ὕλης καὶ τοῦ ἐκ τούτων, ὃν κόσμον Ἕλληνες ὀνομάζουσιν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Πλάτων ^ιβ τὸ μὲν νοητὸν καὶ ἰδέαν καὶ παράδειγμα καὶ πατέρα, τὴν δ’ ὕλην καὶ μητέρα καὶ τιθήνην ἕδραν τε καὶ χώραν γενέσεως, τὸ δ’ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ἔγγονον καὶ γένεσιν ὀνομάζειν εἴωθεν. Αἰγυπτίους δ’ ἄν τις εἰκάσειε τῶν τριγώνων τὸ κάλλιστον τιμᾶν μάλιστα τούτῳ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς φύσιν ὁμοιοῦντας, ὡς καὶ Πλάτων ἐν τῇ Πολιτείᾳ ^ιγ δοκεῖ τούτῳ προσκεχρῆσθαι τὸ γαμήλιον διάγραμμα συντάττων.

     Ἔχει δ’ ἐκεῖνο τὸ τρίγωνον τριῶν τὴν πρὸς ὀρθίαν καὶ τεττάρων τὴν βάσιν καὶ πέντε τὴν ὑποτείνουσαν ἴσον ταῖς περιεχούσαις δυναμένην. Εἰκαστέον οὖν τὴν μὲν πρὸς ὀρθίαν ἄρρενι, τὴν δὲ βάσιν θηλείᾳ, τὴν δ’ ὑποτείνουσαν ἀμφοῖν ἐγγόνῳ· καὶ τὸν μὲν Ὄσιριν ὡς ἀρχήν, τὴν δ’ Ἶσιν ὡς ὑποδοχήν, τὸν δ’ Ὧρον ὡς ἀποτέλεσμα. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ τρία πρῶτος περισσός ἐστι καὶ τέλειος· τὰ δὲ τέτταρα τετράγωνος ἀπὸ πλευρᾶς ἀρτίου τῆς δυάδος· τὰ δὲ πέντε πῆ μὲν τῷ πατρὶ πῆ δὲ τῇ μητρὶ προσέοικεν ἐκ τριάδος συγκείμενα καὶ δυάδος. Καὶ τὰ πάντα τῶν πέντε γέγονε παρώνυμα, καὶ τὸ ἀριθμήσασθαι πεμπάσασθαι λέγουσι. Ποιεῖ δὲ τετράγωνον ἡ πεντὰς ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς, ὅσον τῶν γραμμάτων παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις τὸ πλῆθός ἐστι, καὶ ὅσων ἐνιαυτῶν ἔζη χρόνον ὁ Ἆπις.

     Τὸν μὲν οὖν Ὧρον εἰώθασι καὶ Μὶν προσαγορεύειν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁρώμενον· αἰσθητὸν γὰρ καὶ ὁρατὸν ὁ κόσμος. Ἡ δ’ Ἶσις ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ Μοὺθ καὶ πάλιν Ἄθυρι καὶ Μεθύερ προσαγορεύεται· σημαίνουσι δὲ τῷ μὲν πρώτῳ τῶν ὀνομάτων μητέρα, τῷ δὲ δευτέρῳ οἶκον Ὥρου κόσμιον, ὡς καὶ Πλάτων ^ιδ χώραν γενέσεως καὶ δεξαμενήν, τὸ δὲ τρίτον σύνθετόν ἐστιν ἔκ τε τοῦ πλήρους καὶ τοῦ αἰτίου· πλήρης γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ὕλη τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ καθαρῷ καὶ κεκοσμημένῳ σύνεστιν.

     56. The better and more divine nature consists of three parts: the conceptual, the material, and that which is formed from these, which the Greeks call the world. Plato ³⁰⁹ is wont to give to the conceptual the name of idea, example, or father, and to the material the name of mother or nurse, or seat and place of generation, and to that which results from both the name of offspring or generation. One might conjecture that the Egyptians hold in high honour the most beautiful of the triangles ³¹⁰, since they liken the nature of the Universe most closely to it, as Plato in the Republic ³¹¹ seems to have made use of it in formulating his figure of marriage.

     This triangle has its upright of three units, its base of four, and its hypotenuse of five, whose power is equal to that of the other two sides ³¹². The upright, therefore, may be likened to the male, the base to the female, and the hypotenuse to the child of both, and so Osiris may be regarded as the origin, Isis as the recipient, and Horus as perfected result. Three is the first perfect odd number; four is a square whose side is the even number two; but five is in some ways like to its father, and in some ways like to its mother, being made up of three and two ³¹³. And panta (all) is a derivative of pente (five), and they speak of counting as “numbering by fives” ³¹⁴. Five makes a square of itself, as many as the letters of the Egyptian alphabet, and as many as the years of the life of the Apis.

     Horus they are wont to call also Min, which means “seen”; for the world is something perceptible and visible, and Isis is sometimes called Muth, and again Athyri or Methyer. By the first of these names they signify “mother”, by the second the mundane house of Horus, the place and receptacle of generation, as Plato ³¹⁵ has it, and the third is compounded of “full” and “cause”; for the material of the world is full, and is associated with the good and pure and orderly.

     57. Δόξειε δ’ ἂν ἴσως καὶ ὁ Ἡσίοδος ^ιε τὰ πρῶτα πάντων Χάος καὶ Γῆν καὶ Τάρταρον καὶ Ἔρωτα ποιῶν οὐχ ἑτέρας λαμβάνειν ἀρχάς, ἀλλὰ ταύτας· εἴ γε δὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων τῇ μὲν Ἴσιδι τὸ τῆς Γῆς, τῷ δ’ Ὀσίριδι τὸ τοῦ Ἔρωτος, τῷ δὲ Τυφῶνι τὸ τοῦ Ταρτάρου μεταλαμβάνοντές πως ἀποδίδομεν· τὸ γὰρ Χάος δοκεῖ χώραν τινὰ καὶ τόπον τοῦ παντὸς ὑποτίθεσθαι. Προσκαλεῖται δὲ καὶ τὸν Πλάτωνος ἁμωσγέπως τὰ πράγματα μῦθον, ὃν Σωκράτης ἐν Συμποσίῳ ^ιϛ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἔρωτος γενέσεως διῆλθε, τὴν Πενίαν λέγων τέκνων δεομένην τῷ Πόρῳ καθεύδοντι παρακλιθῆναι καὶ κυήσασαν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τεκεῖν τὸν Ἔρωτα φύσει μικτὸν ὄντα καὶ παντοδαπόν, ἅτε δὴ πατρὸς μὲν ἀγαθοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ καὶ πᾶσιν αὐτάρκους, μητρὸς δ’ ἀμηχάνου καὶ ἀπόρου καὶ δι’ ἔνδειαν ἀεὶ γλιχομένης ἑτέρου καὶ περὶ ἕτερον λιπαρούσης γεγενημένον.

     Ὁ γὰρ Πόρος οὐχ ἕτερός ἐστι τοῦ πρώτως ἐρατοῦ καὶ ἐφετοῦ καὶ τελείου καὶ αὐτάρκους· Πενίαν δὲ τὴν ὕλην προσεῖπεν ἐνδεᾶ μὲν οὖσαν αὐτὴν καθ’ ἑαυτὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, πληρουμένην δ’ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ ποθοῦσαν ἀεὶ καὶ μεταλαμβάνουσαν. Ὁ δὲ γενόμενος ἐκ τούτων κόσμος καὶ Ὧρος οὐκ ἀίδιος οὐδ’ ἀπαθὴς οὐδ’ ἄφθαρτος, ἀλλ’ ἀειγενὴς ὢν μηχανᾶται ταῖς τῶν παθῶν μεταβολαῖς καὶ περιόδοις ἀεὶ νέος καὶ μηδέποτε φθαρησόμενος διαμένειν.

     57. It might appear that Hesiod ³¹⁶, in making the very first things of all to be Chaos and Earth and Tartarus and Love, did not accept any other origins but only these, if we transfer the names somewhat and assign to Isis the name of Earth and to Osiris the name of Love and to Typhon the name of Tartarus; for the poet seems to place Chaos at the bottom as a sort of region that serves as a resting-place for the Universe. This subject seems in some wise to call up the myth of Plato, which Socrates in the Symposium ³¹⁷ gives at some length in regard to the birth of Love, saying that Poverty, wishing for children, insinuated herself beside Plenty while he was asleep, and having become pregnant by him, gave birth to Love, who is of a mixed and utterly variable nature, inasmuch as he is the son of a father who is good and wise and self-sufficient in all things, but of a mother who is helpless and without means and because of want always clinging close to another and always importunate over another.

     For Plenty is none other than the first beloved and desired, the perfect and self-sufficient; and Plato calls raw material Poverty, utterly lacking of herself in the Good, but being filled from him and always yearning for him and sharing with him. The World, or Horus ³¹⁸, which is born of these, is not eternal nor unaffected nor imperishable, but, being ever reborn, contrives to remain always young and never subject to destruction in the changes and cycles of events.

     58. Χρηστέον δὲ τοῖς μύθοις οὐχ ὡς λόγοις πάμπαν οὖσιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσφορον ἑκάστου τὸ κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα λαμβάνοντας. Ὅταν οὖν ὕλην λέγωμεν, οὐ δεῖ πρὸς ἐνίων φιλοσόφων δόξας ἀποφερομένους ἄψυχόν τι σῶμα καὶ ἄποιον ἀργόν τε καὶ ἄπρακτον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ διανοεῖσθαι· καὶ γὰρ ἔλαιον ὕλην μύρου καλοῦμεν καὶ χρυσὸν ἀγάλματος, οὐκ ὄντα πάσης ἔρημα ποιότητος· αὐτήν τε τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὡς ὕλην ἐπιστήμης καὶ ἀρετῆς τῷ λόγῳ κοσμεῖν καὶ ῥυθμίζειν παρέχομεν, τόν τε νοῦν ἔνιοι τόπον εἰδῶν ἀπεφήναντο καὶ τῶν νοητῶν οἷον ἐκμαγεῖον.

     Ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τῆς γυναικὸς οὐ δύναμιν οὐδ’ ἀρχήν, ὕλην δὲ καὶ τροφὴν γενέσεως εἶναι δοξάζουσιν· ὧν ἐχομένους χρὴ καὶ τὴν θεὸν ταύτην οὕτω διανοεῖσθαι τοῦ πρώτου θεοῦ μεταλαγχάνουσαν ἀεὶ καὶ συνοῦσαν ἔρωτι τῶν περὶ ἐκεῖνον ἀγαθῶν καὶ καλῶν οὐχ ὑπεναντίαν, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἄνδρα νόμιμον καὶ δίκαιον ἐρᾶν, ἂν δικαίως συνῇ, καὶ γυναῖκα χρηστὴν ἔχουσαν ἄνδρα καὶ συνοῦσαν ὅμως ποθεῖν λέγομεν, οὕτως ἀεὶ γλιχομένην ἐκείνου καὶ περὶ ἐκεῖνον λιπαροῦσαν καὶ ἀναπιμπλαμένην τοῖς κυριωτάτοις μέρεσι καὶ καθαρωτάτοις·

     58. We must not treat legend as it were history at all, but we should adopt that which is appropriate in each legend in accordance with its verisimilitude. Whenever, therefore, we speak of material we must not be swept away to the opinions of some philosophers ³¹⁹, and conceive of an inanimate and indifferentiated body, which is of itself inert and inactive. The fact is that we call oil the material of perfume and gold the material of a statue, and these are not destitute of all differentiation. We provide the very soul and thought of Man as the basic material of understanding and virtue for Reason to adorn and to harmonize, and some have declared the Mind to be a place for the assembling of forms and for the impression of concepts, as it were ³²⁰.

     Some think the seed of Woman is not a power or origin, but only material and nurture of generation ³²¹. To this thought we should cling fast and conceive that this Goddess also who participates always with the first God and is associated with him in the love ³²² of the fair and lovely things about him is not opposed to him, but, just as we say that an honourable and just man is in love if his relations are just, and a good woman who has a husband and consorts with him we say yearns for him; thus we may conceive of her as always clinging close to him and being importunate over him and constantly filled with the most dominant and purest principles.

     59. Ὅπου δ’ ὁ Τυφὼν παρεμπίπτει τῶν ἐσχάτων ἁπτόμενος, ἐνταῦθα δοκοῦσαν ἐπισκυθρωπάζειν καὶ πενθεῖν λεγομένην καὶ λείψαν’ ἄττα καὶ σπαράγματα τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἀναζητεῖν καὶ στολίζειν ὑποδεχομένην τὰ φθειρόμενα καὶ ἀποκρύπτουσαν, οἷσπερ ἀναφαίνει πάλιν τὰ γινόμενα καὶ ἀνίησιν ἐξ ἑαυτῆς. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἄστροις λόγοι καὶ εἴδη καὶ ἀπορροαὶ τοῦ θεοῦ μένουσι, τὰ δ’ ἐν τοῖς παθητικοῖς διεσπαρμένα, γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ φυτοῖς καὶ ζῴοις, διαλυόμενα καὶ φθειρόμενα καὶ θαπτόμενα [καὶ] πολλάκις αὖθις ἐκλάμπει καὶ ἀναφαίνεται ταῖς γενέσεσι. Διὸ τὸν Τυφῶνα τῇ Νέφθυι συνοικεῖν φησιν ὁ μῦθος, τὸν δ’ Ὄσιριν κρύφα συγγενέσθαι· τὰ γὰρ ἔσχατα μέρη τῆς ὕλης, ἃ Νέφθυν καὶ Τελευτὴν καλοῦσιν, ἡ φθαρτικὴ μάλιστα κατέχει δύναμις· ἡ δὲ γόνιμος καὶ σωτήριος ἀσθενὲς σπέρμα καὶ ἀμαυρὸν εἰς ταῦτα διαδίδωσιν ἀπολλύμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Τυφῶνος, πλὴν ὅσον ἡ Ἶσις ὑπολαμβάνουσα σῴζει καὶ τρέφει καὶ συνίστησι· καθόλου δ’ ἀμείνων οὗτός ἐστιν, ὥσπερ καὶ Πλάτων ὑπονοεῖ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης.

     59. But where Typhon forces his way in and seizes upon the outermost areas, there we may conceive of her as seeming sad, and spoken of as mourning, and that she seeks for the remains and scattered members of Osiris and arrays them, receiving and hiding away the things perishable, from which she brings to light again the things that are created and sends them forth from herself. The relations and forms and effluxes of the god abide in the heavens and in the stars; but those things that are distributed in susceptible elements, earth and sea and plants and animals, suffer dissolution and destruction and burial, and oftentimes again shine forth and appear again in their generations. For this reason the fable has it that Typhon cohabits with Nephthys ³²³ and that Osiris has secret relations with her ³²⁴; for the destructive power exercises special dominion over the outermost part of matter which they call Nephthys or Finality ³²⁵. But the creating and conserving power distributes to this only a weak and feeble seed, which is destroyed by Typhon, except so much as Isis takes up and preserves and fosters and makes firm and strong ³²⁶.

     60. Κινεῖται δὲ τῆς φύσεως τὸ μὲν γόνιμον καὶ σωτήριον ἐπ’ αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸ εἶναι, τὸ δ’ ἀναιρετικὸν καὶ φθαρτικὸν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μὴ εἶναι. Διὸ τὸ μὲν Ἶσιν καλοῦσι παρὰ τὸ ἵεσθαι μετ’ ἐπιστήμης καὶ φέρεσθαι, κίνησιν οὖσαν ἔμψυχον καὶ φρόνιμον· οὐ γάρ ἐστι τοὔνομα βαρβαρικόν, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ τοῖς θεοῖς πᾶσιν ἀπὸ δυεῖν ῥημάτων τοῦ θεατοῦ καὶ τοῦ θέοντος ἔστιν ὄνομα κοινόν, οὕτω τὴν θεὸν ταύτην ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιστήμης ἅμα καὶ τῆς κινήσεως Ἶσιν μὲν ἡμεῖς, Ἶσιν δ’ Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσιν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ Πλάτων ^ιζ φησὶ τὴν οὐσίαν δηλοῦντος τοὺς παλαιούς “ἰσίαν” καλοῦντας· οὕτω καὶ τὴν νόησιν καὶ τὴν φρόνησιν, ὡς νοῦ φορὰν καὶ κίνησιν οὖσαν ἱεμένου καὶ φερομένου, καὶ τὸ συνιέναι καὶ τἀγαθὸν ὅλως καὶ ἀρετὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς εὐροοῦσι καὶ θέουσι θέσθαι· καθάπερ αὖ πάλιν τοῖς ἀντιφωνοῦσιν ὀνόμασι λοιδορεῖσθαι τὸ κακόν, τὸ τὴν φύσιν ἐμποδίζον καὶ συνδέον καὶ ἴσχον καὶ κωλῦον ἵεσθαι καὶ ἰέναι κακίαν ἀπορίαν δειλίαν ἀνίαν προσαγορεύοντας.

     60. In general this god is the better, as both Plato and Aristotle conceive. The creative and conserving element of Nature moves toward him and toward existence while the annihilating and destructive moves away from him towards non-existence. For this reason they call Isis by a name derived from “hastening” (hiemai) with understanding ³²⁷, or being borne onward (pheromai), since she is an animate and intelligent movement; for the name is not a foreign name, but, just as all the gods have a name in common ³²⁸ derived from two words, “visible” (theaton) and “rushing” (theon), in the same way this goddess, from her understanding ³²⁷ and her movement, we call her Isis and the Egyptians call her Isis. So also Plato ³²⁹ says that the men of ancient times made clear the meaning of “essence” (ousia) by calling it “sense” (isia). So also he speaks of the intelligence and understanding as being a carrying and movement of mind hasting and being carried onward; and also comprehension and good and virtue they attribute to those things which are ever flowing and in rapid motion, just as again, on the other hand, by means of antithetical names they vilified evil; for example, that which hinders and binds fast and holds and checks Nature from hasting and going they called baseness, or “ill-going” (kak-ia), and helplessness or “difficulty of going” (apor-ia), and cowardice or “fear of going” (deil-ia), and distress or “not going” (an-ia) ³³⁰.

     61. Ὁ δ’ Ὄσιρις ἐκ τοῦ ὁσίου καὶ ἱεροῦ τοὔνομα μεμιγμένον ἔσχηκε· κοινὸς γάρ ἐστι τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου λόγους, ὧν τὰ μὲν ἱερὰ τὰ δ’ ὅσια τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἔθος ἦν προσαγορεύειν. Ὁ δ’ ἀναφαίνων τὰ οὐράνια καὶ τῶν ἄνω φερομένων λόγος Ἄνουβις ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ Ἑρμάνουβις ὀνομάζεται, τὸ μὲν ὡς τοῖς ἄνω τὸ δ’ ὡς τοῖς κάτω προσήκων. Διὸ καὶ θύουσιν αὐτῷ τὸ μὲν λευκὸν ἀλεκτρυόνα, τὸ δὲ κροκίαν, τὰ μὲν εἰλικρινῆ καὶ φανά, τὰ δὲ μικτὰ καὶ ποικίλα νομίζοντες. Οὐ δεῖ δὲ θαυμάζειν τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν εἰς τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν ἀνάπλασιν· καὶ γὰρ ἄλλα μυρία τοῖς μεθισταμένοις ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος συνεκπεσόντα μέχρι νῦν παραμένει καὶ ξενιτεύει παρ’ ἑτέροις, ὧν ἔνια τὴν ποιητικὴν ἀνακαλουμένην διαβάλλουσιν ὡς βαρβαρίζουσαν οἱ γλώττας τὰ τοιαῦτα προσαγορεύοντες.

     Ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἑρμοῦ λεγομέναις βίβλοις ἱστοροῦσι γεγράφθαι περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ὀνομάτων, ὅτι τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου περιφορᾶς τεταγμένην δύναμιν Ὧρον, Ἕλληνες δ’ Ἀπόλλωνα καλοῦσι· τὴν δ’ ἐπὶ τοῦ πνεύματος οἱ μὲν Ὄσιριν, οἱ δὲ Σάραπιν, *** οἱ δὲ Σῶθιν Αἰγυπτιστί· σημαίνει δὲ κύησιν ἢ τὸ κύειν. Διὸ καὶ παρατροπῆς γενομένης τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἑλληνιστὶ κύων κέκληται τὸ ἄστρον, ὅπερ ἴδιον τῆς Ἴσιδος νομίζουσιν. Ἥκιστα μὲν οὖν δεῖ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὑφείμην ἂν τοῦ Σαράπιδος Αἰγυπτίοις ἢ τοῦ Ὀσίριδος, ἐκεῖνο μὲν οὖν ξενικόν, τοῦτο δ’ Ἑλληνικόν, ἄμφω δ’ ἑνὸς θεοῦ καὶ μιᾶς δυνάμεως ἡγούμενος.

     61. Osiris has a name made up from “holy” (hosion) and “sacred” (hieron) ³³¹; for he is the combined relation of the things in the heavens and in the lower world, the former of which it was customary for people of olden time to call sacred and the latter to call holy. But the relation which discloses the things in the heavens and belongs to the things which tend upward is sometimes named Anubis and sometimes Hermanubis ³³² as belonging in part to the things above and in part to the things below ³³³. For this reason they sacrifice to him on the one hand a white cock and on the other hand one of saffron colour, regarding the former things as simple and clear, and the others as combined and variable. There is no occasion to be surprised at the revamping of these words into Greek ³³⁴. The fact is that countless other words went forth in company with those who migrated from Greece, and persist even to this day as strangers in strange lands; and, when the poetic art would recall some of these into use, those who speak of such words as strange or unusual falsely accuse it of using barbarisms.

     Moreover, they record that in the so‑called books of Hermes it is written in regard to the sacred names that they call the power which is assigned to direct the revolution of the Sun Horus, but the Greeks call it Apollo; and the power assigned to the wind some call Osiris and others Serapis; and Sothis in Egyptian signifies “pregnancy” (cyesis) or “to be pregnant” (cyein): therefore in Greek, with a change of accent ³³⁵, the star is called the Dog-star (Cyon), which they regard as the special star of Isis ³³⁶. Least of all is there any need of being very eager in learning about these names. However, I would rather make a concession to the Egyptians in regard to Serapis than in regard to Osiris; for I regard Serapis as foreign, but Osiris as Greek, and both as belonging to one god and one power.

     62. Ἔοικε δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ Αἰγύπτια. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ἶσιν πολλάκις τῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ὀνόματι καλοῦσι φράζοντι τοιοῦτον λόγον “ἦλθον ἀπ’ ἐμαυτῆς”, ὅπερ ἐστὶν αὐτοκινήτου φορᾶς δηλωτικόν· ὁ δὲ Τυφών, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, Σὴθ καὶ Βέβων καὶ Σμὺ ὀνομάζεται, βίαιόν τινα καὶ κωλυτικὴν ἐπίσχεσιν ἤ τιν’ ὑπεναντίωσιν ἢ ἀναστροφὴν ἐμφαίνειν βουλομένων τῶν ὀνομάτων.

     Ἔτι τὴν σιδηρῖτιν λίθον ὀστέον Ὥρου, Τυφῶνος δὲ τὸν σίδηρον, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Μανεθώς, καλοῦσιν· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ σίδηρος πολλάκις μὲν ἑλκομένῳ καὶ ἑπομένῳ πρὸς τὴν λίθον ὅμοιός ἐστι, πολλάκις δ’ ἀποστρέφεται καὶ ἀποκρούεται πρὸς τοὐναντίον, οὕτως ἡ σωτήριος καὶ ἀγαθὴ καὶ λόγον ἔχουσα τοῦ κόσμου κίνησις ἐπιστρέφει † τότε καὶ προσάγεται καὶ μαλακωτέραν ποιεῖ πείθουσα τὴν σκληρὰν ἐκείνην καὶ τυφώνειον, εἶτ’ αὖθις ἀνασχεθεῖσα εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀνέστρεψε καὶ κατέδυσεν εἰς τὴν ἀπορίαν. Ἔτι φησὶ περὶ τοῦ Διὸς ὁ Εὔδοξος μυθολογεῖν Αἰγυπτίους, ὡς τῶν σκελῶν συμπεφυκότων αὐτῷ μὴ δυνάμενος βαδίζειν ὑπ’ αἰσχύνης ἐν ἐρημίᾳ διέτριβεν· ἡ δ’ Ἶσις διατεμοῦσα καὶ διαστήσασα τὰ μέρη ταῦτα τοῦ σώματος ἀρτίποδα τὴν πορείαν παρέσχεν. αἰνίττεται δὲ καὶ διὰ τούτων ὁ μῦθος, ὅτι καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ νοῦς καὶ λόγος ἐν τῷ ἀοράτῳ καὶ ἀφανεῖ βεβηκὼς εἰς γένεσιν ὑπὸ κινήσεως προῆλθεν.

     62. Like these also are the Egyptian beliefs; for they oftentimes call Isis by the name of Athena, expressive of some such idea as this, "I came of myself", which is indicative of self-impelled motion. Typhon, as has been said ³³⁷, is named Seth and Bebon and Smu, and these names would indicate some forcible and preventive check or opposition or reversal ³³⁸.

     Moreover, they call the loadstone the bone of Horus, and iron the bone of Typhon, as Manetho ³³⁹ records. For, as the iron oftentimes acts as if it were being attracted and drawn toward the stone, and oftentimes is rejected and repelled in the opposite direction, in the same way the salutary and good and rational movement of the world at one time, by persuasion, attracts and draws toward itself and renders more gentle that harsh and Typhonian movement, and then again it gathers itself together and reverses it and plunges it into difficulties. Moreover, Eudoxus says that the Egyptians have a mythical tradition in regard to Zeus that, because his legs were grown together, he was not able to walk, and so, for shame, tarried in the wilderness; but Isis, by severing and separating those parts of his body, provided him with means of rapid progress. This fable teaches by its legend that the mind and reason of the god, fixed amid the unseen and invisible, advanced to generation by means of motion.

     63. Ἐμφαίνει καὶ τὸ σεῖστρον, ὅτι σείεσθαι δεῖ τὰ ὄντα καὶ μηδέποτε παύεσθαι φορᾶς, ἀλλ’ οἷον ἐξεγείρεσθαι καὶ κλονεῖσθαι καταδαρθάνοντα καὶ μαραινόμενα. Τὸν γὰρ Τυφῶνά φασι τοῖς σείστροις ἀποτρέπειν καὶ ἀποκρούεσθαι δηλοῦντες, ὅτι τῆς φθορᾶς συνδεούσης καὶ ἱστάσης αὖθις ἀναλύει τὴν φύσιν καὶ ἀνίστησι διὰ τῆς κινήσεως ἡ γένεσις. Τοῦ δὲ σείστρου περιφεροῦς ἄνωθεν ὄντος ἡ ἁψὶς περιέχει τὰ σειόμενα τέτταρα. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ γεννωμένη καὶ φθειρομένη μοῖρα τοῦ κόσμου περιέχεται μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς σεληνιακῆς σφαίρας, κινεῖται δ’ ἐν αὐτῇ πάντα καὶ μεταβάλλεται διὰ τῶν τεττάρων στοιχείων, πυρὸς καὶ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος καὶ ἀέρος. Τῇ δ’ ἁψῖδι τοῦ σείστρου κατὰ κορυφὴν ἐντορεύουσιν αἴλουρον ἀνθρώπου πρόσωπον ἔχοντα, κάτω δ’ ὑπὸ τὰ σειόμενα πῆ μὲν Ἴσιδος πῆ δὲ Νέφθυος πρόσωπον, αἰνιττόμενοι τοῖς μὲν προσώποις γένεσιν καὶ τελευτήν (αὗται γάρ εἰσι τῶν στοιχείων μεταβολαὶ καὶ κινήσεις), τῷ δ’ αἰλούρῳ τὴν σελήνην διὰ τὸ ποικίλον καὶ νυκτουργὸν καὶ γόνιμον τοῦ θηρίου.

     Λέγεται γὰρ ἓν τίκτειν, εἶτα δύο καὶ τρία καὶ τέσσαρα καὶ πέντε, καὶ καθ’ ἓν οὕτως ἄχρι τῶν ἑπτὰ προστίθησιν, ὥστ’ ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι τὰ πάντα τίκτειν, ὅσα καὶ τῆς σελήνης φῶτ’ ἔστιν. Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἴσως μυθωδέστερον· αἱ δ’ ἐν τοῖς ὄμμασιν αὐτοῦ κόραι πληροῦσθαι μὲν καὶ πλατύνεσθαι δοκοῦσιν ἐν πανσελήνῳ, λεπτύνεσθαι δὲ καὶ μαραυγεῖν ἐν ταῖς μειώσεσι τοῦ ἄστρου. Τῷ δ’ ἀνθρωπομόρφῳ τοῦ αἰλούρου τὸ νοερὸν καὶ λογικὸν ἐμφαίνεται τῶν περὶ τὴν σελήνην μεταβολῶν.

     63. The sistrum (rattle) also makes it clear that all things in existence need to be shaken, or rattled about, and never to cease from motion but, as it were, to be waked up and agitated when they grow drowsy and torpid. They say that they avert and repel Typhon by means of the sistrums, indicating thereby that when destruction constricts and checks Nature, generation releases and arouses it by means of motion ³⁴⁰. The upper part of the sistrum is circular and its circumference contains the four things that are shaken; for that part of the world which undergoes reproduction and destruction is contained underneath the orb of the moon, and all things in it are subjected to motion and to change through the four elements: fire, earth, water, and air. At the top of the circumference of the sistrum they construct the figure of a cat with a human face, and at the bottom, below the things that are shaken, the face of Isis on one side, and on the other the face of Nephthys. By these faces they symbolize birth and death, for these are the changes and movements of the elements; and by the cat they symbolize the moon because of the varied colouring, nocturnal activity, and fecundity of the animal.

     For the cat is said to bring forth first one, then two and three and four and five, thus increasing the number by one until she reaches seven ³⁴¹, so that she brings forth in all twenty-eight, the number also of the moon’s illuminations. Perhaps, however, this may seem somewhat mythical. But the pupils in the eye of the cat appear to grow large and round at the time of the full moon, and to become thin and narrow at the time of the wanings of that heavenly body. By the human features of the cat is indicated the intelligence and the reason that guides the changes of the moon ³⁴².

     64. Συνελόντι δ’ εἰπεῖν οὔθ’ ὕδωρ οὔθ’ ἥλιον οὔτε γῆν οὔτ’ οὐρανὸν Ὄσιριν ἢ Ἶσιν ὀρθῶς ἔχει νομίζειν οὐδὲ πῦρ Τυφῶνα πάλιν οὐδ’ αὐχμὸν οὐδὲ θάλατταν, ἀλλ’ ἁπλῶς ὅσον ἐστὶν ἐν τούτοις ἄμετρον καὶ ἄτακτον ὑπερβολαῖς ἢ ἐνδείαις Τυφῶνι προσνέμοντες, τὸ δὲ κεκοσμημένον καὶ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὠφέλιμον ὡς Ἴσιδος μὲν ἔργον εἰκόνα δὲ καὶ μίμημα καὶ λόγον Ὀσίριδος σεβόμενοι καὶ τιμῶντες οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτάνοιμεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Εὔδοξον ἀπιστοῦντα παύσομεν καὶ διαποροῦντα, πῶς οὔτε Δήμητρι τῆς τῶν ἐρωτικῶν ἐπιμελείας μέτεστιν ἀλλ’ Ἴσιδι τόν τε Διόνυσον Ὀσίριδι προσομοιοῦσι τὸν οὐ τὸν Νεῖλον αὔξειν οὔτε τῶν τεθνηκότων ἄρχειν δυνάμενον. Ἑνὶ γὰρ λόγῳ κοινῷ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους περὶ πᾶσαν ἀγαθοῦ μοῖραν ἡγούμεθα τετάχθαι καὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἔνεστι τῇ φύσει καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν διὰ τούτους ὑπάρχειν, τὸν μὲν διδόντα τὰς ἀρχάς, τὴν δ’ ὑποδεχομένην καὶ διανέμουσαν.

     64. To put the matter briefly, it is not right to believe that water or the sun or the earth or the sky is Osiris or Isis ³⁴³; or again that fire or drought or the sea is Typhon, but simply if we attribute to Typhon ³⁴⁴ whatever there is in these that is immoderate and disordered by reason of excesses or defects; and if we revere and honour what is orderly and good and beneficial as the work of Isis and as the image and reflection and reason of Osiris, we shall not be wrong. Moreover, we shall put a stop to the incredulity of Eudoxus ³⁴⁵ and his questionings how it is that Demeter has no share in the supervision of love affairs, but Isis has; and the fact that Dionysus cannot cause the Nile to rise, nor rule over the dead. For by one general process of reasoning do we come to the conclusion that these gods have been assigned to preside over every portion of what is good; and whatever there is in nature that is fair and good exists entirely because of them, inasmuch as Osiris contributes the origins, and Isis receives them and distributes them.

     65. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ φορτικοῖς ἐπιχειρήσομεν, εἴτε ταῖς καθ’ ὥραν μεταβολαῖς τοῦ περιέχοντος εἴτε ταῖς καρπῶν γενέσεσι καὶ σποραῖς καὶ ἀρότοις χαίρουσι τὰ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτοις συνοικειοῦντες καὶ λέγοντες θάπτεσθαι μὲν τὸν Ὄσιριν, ὅτε κρύπτεται τῇ γῇ σπειρόμενος ὁ καρπός, αὖθις δ’ ἀναβιοῦσθαι καὶ ἀναφαίνεσθαι, ὅτε βλαστήσεως ἀρχή· διὸ καὶ λέγεσθαι τὴν Ἶσιν αἰσθομένην ὅτι κύει περιάψασθαι φυλακτήριον ἕκτῃ μηνὸς ἱσταμένου Φαωφί, τίκτεσθαι δὲ τὸν Ἁρποκράτην περὶ τροπὰς χειμερινὰς ἀτελῆ καὶ νεαρὸν ἐν τοῖς προανθοῦσι καὶ προβλαστάνουσι (διὸ καὶ φακῶν αὐτῷ φυομένων ἀπαρχὰς ἐπιφέρουσι), τὰς δὲ λοχείους ἡμέρας ἑορτάζειν μετὰ τὴν ἐαρινὴν ἰσημερίαν. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἀκούοντες ἀγαπῶσι καὶ πιστεύουσιν, αὐτόθεν ἐκ τῶν προχείρων καὶ συνήθων τὸ πιθανὸν ἕλκοντες.

     65. In this way we shall undertake to deal with the numerous and tiresome people, whether they be such as take pleasure in associating theological problems with the seasonal changes in the surrounding atmosphere, or with the growth of the crops and seed-times and ploughing; and also those who say that Osiris is being buried at the time when the grain is sown and covered in the earth and that he comes to life and reappears when plants begin to sprout. For this reason also it is said that Isis, when she perceived that she was pregnant, put upon herself an amulet ³⁴⁶ on the sixth day of the month Phaophi; and about the time of the winter solstice she gave birth to Harpocrates, imperfect and premature ³⁴⁷, amid the early flowers and shoots. For this reason they bring to him as an offering the first-fruits of growing lentils, and the days of his birth they celebrate after the spring equinox. When the people hear these things, they are satisfied with them and believe them, deducing the plausible explanation directly from what is obvious and familiar.

     66. Καὶ δεινὸν οὐδέν, ἂν πρῶτον μὲν ἡμῖν τοὺς θεοὺς φυλάττωσι κοινοὺς καὶ μὴ ποιῶσιν Αἰγυπτίων ἰδίους μηδὲ Νεῖλον ἥν τε Νεῖλος ἄρδει μόνην χώραν τοῖς ὀνόμασι τούτοις καταλαμβάνοντες μηδ’ ἕλη μηδὲ λωτοὺς † μὴ θεοποιίαν λέγοντες ἀποστερῶσι μεγάλων θεῶν τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους, οἷς Νεῖλος μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲ Βοῦτος οὐδὲ Μέμφις, Ἶσιν δὲ καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὴν θεοὺς ἔχουσι καὶ γιγνώσκουσιν ἅπαντες, ἐνίους μὲν οὐ πάλαι τοῖς παρ’ Αἰγυπτίων ὀνόμασι καλεῖν μεμαθηκότες, ἑκάστου δὲ τὴν δύναμιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπιστάμενοι καὶ τιμῶντες· δεύτερον, ὃ μεῖζόν ἐστιν, ὅπως σφόδρα προσέξουσι καὶ φοβήσονται, μὴ λάθωσιν εἰς πνεύματα καὶ ῥεύματα καὶ σπόρους καὶ ἀρότους καὶ πάθη γῆς καὶ μεταβολὰς ὡρῶν διαγράφοντες τὰ θεῖα καὶ διαλύοντες, ὥσπερ οἱ Διόνυσον τὸν οἶνον, Ἥφαιστον δὲ τὴν φλόγα· Φερσεφόνην δέ φησί που Κλεάνθης τὸ διὰ τῶν καρπῶν φερόμενον καὶ φονευόμενον πνεῦμα, ποιητὴς δέ τις ἐπὶ τῶν θεριζόντων

τῆμος ὅτ’ αἰζηοὶ Δημήτερα κωλοτομεῦσιν·

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὗτοι διαφέρουσι τῶν ἱστία καὶ κάλους καὶ ἄγκυραν ἡγουμένων κυβερνήτην καὶ νήματα καὶ κρόκας ὑφάντην καὶ σπονδεῖον ἢ μελίκρατον ἢ πτισάνην ἰατρόν·

     66. And there is nothing to fear if, in the first place, they preserve for us our gods that are common to both peoples and do not make them to belong to the Egyptians only, and do not include under these names the Nile alone and the land which the Nile waters, and do not assert that the marshes and the lotus are the only work of God’s hand, and if they do not deny the great gods to the rest of mankind that possess no Nile nor Buto nor Memphis. But as for Isis, and the gods associated with her, all peoples own them and are familiar with them, although they have learned not so very long ago to call some of them by the names which come from the Egyptians; yet they have from the beginning understood and honoured the power which belongs to each one of them. In the second place, and this is a matter of greater importance, they should exercise especial heed and caution lest they unwittingly erase and dissipate things divine ³⁴⁸ into winds and streams and sowings and ploughings, developments of the earth and changes of the seasons, as do those who regard wine as Dionysus and flame as Hephaestus. And Cleanthes ³⁴⁹ says somewhere that the breath of air which is carried (pheromenon) through the crops and then suffers dissolution (phoneuomenon) is Phersephone; and a certain poet has written with reference to the reapers ³⁵⁰:—

     Then when the sturdy youth come to sever the limbs of Demeter.

The fact is that these persons do not differ at all from those who regard sails and ropes and anchor as a pilot, warp and woof as a weaver, a cup or an honey mixture or barley gruel as a physician.

     67. Ἀλλὰ δεινὰς καὶ ἀθέους ἐμποιοῦσι δόξας, ἀναισθήτοις καὶ ἀψύχοις καὶ φθειρομέναις ἀναγκαίως ὑπ’ ἀνθρώπων δεομένων καὶ χρωμένων φύσεσι καὶ πράγμασιν ὀνόματα θεῶν ἐπιφέροντες. Ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ αὐτὰ νοῆσαι θεοὺς οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐ γὰρ ἄνουν οὐδ’ ἄψυχον οὐδ’ ἀνθρώποις ὁ θεὸς ὑποχείριον· ἀπὸ τούτων δὲ τοὺς χρωμένους αὐτοῖς καὶ δωρουμένους ἡμῖν καὶ παρέχοντας ἀέναα καὶ διαρκῆ θεοὺς ἐνομίσαμεν, οὐχ ἑτέρους παρ’ ἑτέροις οὐδὲ βαρβάρους καὶ Ἕλληνας οὐδὲ νοτίους καὶ βορείους· ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ καὶ θάλασσα κοινὰ πᾶσιν, ὀνομάζεται δ’ ἄλλως ὑπ’ ἄλλων, οὕτως ἑνὸς λόγου τοῦ ταῦτα κοσμοῦντος καὶ μιᾶς προνοίας ἐπιτροπευούσης καὶ δυνάμεων ὑπουργῶν ἐπὶ πάντα τεταγμένων ἕτεραι παρ’ ἑτέροις κατὰ νόμους γεγόνασι τιμαὶ καὶ προσηγορίαι, καὶ συμβόλοις χρῶνται καθιερωμένοις οἱ μὲν ἀμυδροῖς οἱ δὲ τρανοτέροις, ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα τὴν νόησιν ὁδηγοῦντες οὐκ ἀκινδύνως· ἔνιοι γὰρ ἀποσφαλέντες παντάπασιν εἰς δεισιδαιμονίαν ὤλισθον, οἱ δὲ φεύγοντες ὥσπερ ἕλος τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν ἔλαθον αὖθις ὥσπερ εἰς κρημνὸν ἐμπεσόντες τὴν ἀθεότητα.

     67. But they create in men fearful atheistic opinions by conferring the names of gods upon natural objects which are senseless and inanimate, and are of necessity destroyed by men when they need to use them. It is impossible to conceive of these things as being gods in themselves; for God is not senseless nor inanimate nor subject to human control. As a result of this we have come to regard as gods those who make use of these things and present them to us and provide us with things everlasting and constant. Nor do we think of the gods as different gods among different peoples, nor as barbarian gods and Greek gods, nor as southern and northern gods; but, just as the sun and the moon and the heavens and the earth and the sea are common to all, but are called by different names by different peoples, so for that one rationality which keeps all these things in order and the one Providence which watches over them and the ancillary powers that are set over all, there have arisen among different peoples, in accordance with their customs, different honours and appellations. Thus men make use of consecrated symbols, some employing symbols that are obscure, but others those that are clearer, in guiding the intelligence toward things divine, though not without a certain hazard. For some go completely astray and become engulfed in superstition; and others, while they fly from superstition ³⁵¹ as from a quagmire, on the other hand unwittingly fall, as it were, over a precipice into atheism.

     68. Διὸ δεῖ μάλιστα πρὸς ταῦτα λόγον ἐκ φιλοσοφίας μυσταγωγὸν ἀναλαβόντας ὁσίως διανοεῖσθαι τῶν λεγομένων καὶ δρωμένων ἕκαστον, ἵνα μή, καθάπερ Θεόδωρος εἶπε τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ τῇ δεξιᾷ προτείνοντος ἐνίους τῇ ἀριστερᾷ δέχεσθαι τῶν ἀκροωμένων, οὕτως ἡμεῖς ἃ καλῶς οἱ νόμοι περὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ἔταξαν ἑτέρως ὑπολαμβάνοντες ἐξαμάρτωμεν. Ὅτι γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον ἀνοιστέον ἅπαντα, καὶ παρ’ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων ἔστι λαβεῖν. Τῇ μὲν γὰρ ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς ἑορτάζοντες τῷ Ἑρμῇ μέλι καὶ σῦκον ἐσθίουσιν ἐπιλέγοντες “γλυκὺ ἡ ἀλήθεια”· τὸ δὲ τῆς Ἴσιδος φυλακτήριον, ὃ περιάπτεσθαι μυθολογοῦσιν αὐτήν, ἐξερμηνεύεται “φωνὴ ἀληθής”.

     Τὸν δ’ Ἁρποκράτην οὔτε θεὸν ἀτελῆ καὶ νήπιον οὔτε χεδρόπων τινὰ νομιστέον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ περὶ θεῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις λόγου νεαροῦ καὶ ἀτελοῦς καὶ ἀδιαρθρώτου προστάτην καὶ σωφρονιστήν· διὸ τῷ στόματι τὸν δάκτυλον ἔχει προσκείμενον ἐχεμυθίας καὶ σιωπῆς σύμβολον, ἐν δὲ τῷ Μεσορὴ μηνὶ τῶν χεδρόπων ἐπιφέροντες λέγουσιν “γλῶσσα τύχη, γλῶσσα δαίμων”. Τῶν δ’ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ φυτῶν μάλιστα τῇ θεῷ καθιερῶσθαι λέγουσι τὴν περσέαν, ὅτι καρδίᾳ μὲν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῆς, γλώττῃ δὲ τὸ φύλλον ἔοικεν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ὧν ἄνθρωπος ἔχειν πέφυκε θειότερον λόγου καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ περὶ θεῶν οὐδὲ μείζονα ῥοπὴν ἔχει πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν. Διὸ τῷ μὲν εἰς τὸ χρηστήριον ἐνταῦθα κατιόντι παρεγγυῶμεν ὅσια φρονεῖν, εὔφημα λέγειν· οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ γελοῖα δρῶσιν ἐν ταῖς πομπαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἑορταῖς εὐφημίαν προκηρύττοντες, εἶτα περὶ τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν τὰ δυσφημότατα καὶ λέγοντες καὶ διανοούμενοι.

     68. Wherefore in the study of these matters it is especially necessary that we adopt, as our guide in these mysteries, the reasoning that comes from philosophy, and consider reverently each one of the things that are said and done, so that, to quote Theodorus ³⁵², who said that while he offered the good word with his right hand some of his auditors received it in their left, we may not thus err by accepting in a different spirit the things that the laws have dictated admirably concerning the sacrifices and festivals. The fact that everything is to be referred to reason we may gather from the Egyptians themselves; for on the nineteenth day of the first month, when they are holding festival in honour of Hermes, they eat honey and a fig; and as they eat they say, “A sweet thing is Truth”. The amulet ³⁵³ of Isis, which they traditionally assert that she hung about her neck, is interpreted “a true voice”.

     And Harpocrates is not to be regarded as an imperfect and an infant god, nor some deity or other that protects legumes, but as the representative and corrector of unseasoned, imperfect, and inarticulate reasoning about the gods among mankind. For this reason he keeps his finger on his lips in token of restrained speech or silence. In the month of Mesorê they bring to him an offering of legumes and say, “The tongue is luck, the tongue is god”. Of the plants in Egypt they say that the persea is especially consecrated to the goddess because its fruit resembles a heart and its leaf a tongue. The fact is that nothing of man’s usual possessions is more divine than reasoning, especially reasoning about the gods; and nothing has a greater influence toward happiness. For this reason we give instructions to anyone who comes down to the oracle here to think holy thoughts and to speak words of good omen. But the mass of mankind act ridiculously in their processions and festivals in that they proclaim at the outset the use of words of good omen ³⁵⁴, but later they both say and think the most unhallowed thoughts about the very gods.

     69. Πῶς οὖν χρηστέον ἐστὶ ταῖς σκυθρωπαῖς καὶ ἀγελάστοις καὶ πενθίμοις θυσίαις, εἰ μήτε παραλείπειν τὰ νενομισμένα καλῶς ἔχει μήτε φύρειν τὰς περὶ θεῶν δόξας καὶ συνταράττειν ὑποψίαις ἀτόποις; καὶ παρ’ Ἕλλησιν ὅμοια πολλὰ γίνεται περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ὁμοῦ τι χρόνον, οἷς Αἰγύπτιοι δρῶσιν ἐν τοῖς Ἰσείοις. Καὶ γὰρ Ἀθήνησι νηστεύουσιν αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν Θεσμοφορίοις χαμαὶ καθήμεναι, καὶ Βοιωτοὶ τὰ τῆς Ἀχαίας μέγαρα κινοῦσιν ἐπαχθῆ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐκείνην ὀνομάζοντες, ὡς διὰ τὴν τῆς Κόρης κάθοδον ἐν ἄχει τῆς Δήμητρος οὔσης. Ἔστι δ’ ὁ μὴν οὗτος περὶ Πλειάδας σπόριμος, ὃν Ἀθὺρ Αἰγύπτιοι, Πυανεψιῶνα δ’ Ἀθηναῖοι, Βοιωτοὶ δὲ Δαμάτριον καλοῦσι. Τοὺς δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέραν οἰκοῦντας ἱστορεῖ Θεόπομπος ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ καλεῖν τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα Κρόνον, τὸ δὲ θέρος Ἀφροδίτην, τὸ δ’ ἔαρ Περσεφόνην· ἐκ δὲ Κρόνου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης γεννᾶσθαι πάντα. Φρύγες δὲ τὸν θεὸν οἰόμενοι χειμῶνος καθεύδειν θέρους δ’ ἐγρηγορέναι τοτὲ μὲν κατευνασμούς, τοτὲ δ’ ἀνεγέρσεις βακχεύοντες αὐτῷ τελοῦσι· Παφλαγόνες δὲ καταδεῖσθαι καὶ καθείργνυσθαι χειμῶνος, ἦρος δὲ κινεῖσθαι καὶ ἀναλύεσθαι φάσκουσι·

     69. How, then, are we to deal with their gloomy, solemn, and mournful sacrifices, if it be not proper either to omit the customary ceremonials or to confound and confuse our opinions about the gods by unwarranted suspicions? Among the Greeks also many things are done which are similar to the Egyptian ceremonies in the shrines of Isis, and they do them at about the same time. At Athens the women fast at the Thesmophoria sitting upon the ground; and the Boeotians move the halls of the Goddess of Sorrow and name that festival the Festival of Sorrow ³⁵⁵, since Demeter is in sorrow because of her Daughter’s descent to Pluto’s realm. This month, in the season of the Pleiades, is the month of seeding which the Egyptians call Athyr, the Athenians Pyanepsion, and the Boeotians Damatrius ³⁵⁶. Theopompus ³⁵⁷ records that the people who live toward the west believe that the winter is Cronus, the summer Aphroditê, and the spring Persephonê, and that they call them by these names and believe that from Cronus and Aphroditê all things have their origin. The Phrygians, believing that the god is asleep in the winter and awake in the summer, sing lullabies for him in the winter and in the summer chants to arouse him, after the manner of bacchic worshippers. The Paphlagonians assert that in the spring he bestirs himself and sets himself free again.

     70. Καὶ δίδωσιν ὁ καιρὸς ὑπόνοιαν ἐπὶ τῶν καρπῶν τῇ ἀποκρύψει γενέσθαι τὸν σκυθρωπασμόν, οὓς οἱ παλαιοὶ θεοὺς μὲν οὐκ ἐνόμιζον, ἀλλὰ δῶρα θεῶν ἀναγκαῖα καὶ μεγάλα πρὸς τὸ μὴ ζῆν ἀγρίως καὶ θηριωδῶς· καθ’ ἣν δ’ ὥραν τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ δένδρων ἑώρων ἀφανιζομένους παντάπασιν καὶ ἀπολείποντας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ κατέσπειρον ἔτι γλίσχρως καὶ ἀπόρως, διαμώμενοι ταῖς χερσὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ περιστέλλοντες αὖθις, ἐπ’ ἀδήλῳ τῷ πάλιν ἐκφανεῖσθαι καὶ συντέλειαν ἕξειν ἀποθέμενοι πολλὰ θάπτουσιν ὅμοια καὶ πενθοῦσιν ἔπραττον. Εἶθ’ ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς τὸν ὠνούμενον βιβλία Πλάτωνος ὠνεῖσθαί φαμεν Πλάτωνα καὶ Μένανδρον ὑποκρίνεσθαι τὸν τὰ Μενάνδρου ποιήμαθ’ διατιθέμενον, οὕτως ἐκεῖνοι τοῖς τῶν θεῶν ὀνόμασι τὰ τῶν θεῶν δῶρα καὶ ποιήματα καλεῖν οὐκ ἐφείδοντο, τιμῶντες ὑπὸ χρείας καὶ σεμνύνοντες. Οἱ δ’ ὕστερον ἀπαιδεύτως δεχόμενοι καὶ ἀμαθῶς ἀναστρέφοντες ἐπὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τὰ πάθη τῶν καρπῶν καὶ τὰς παρουσίας τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ ἀποκρύψεις θεῶν γενέσεις καὶ φθορὰς οὐ προσαγορεύοντες μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ νομίζοντες ἀτόπων καὶ παρανόμων καὶ τεταραγμένων δοξῶν αὑτοὺς ἐνέπλησαν, καίτοι τοῦ παραλόγου τὴν ἀτοπίαν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἔχοντες.

     70. The season of the year also gives us a suspicion that this gloominess is brought about because of the disappearance from our sight of the crops and fruits that people in days of old did not regard as gods, but as necessary and important contributions of the gods toward the avoidance of a savage and a bestial life. At the time of year when they saw some of the fruits vanishing and disappearing completely from the trees, while they themselves were sowing others in a mean and poverty-stricken fashion still, scraping away the earth with their hands and again replacing it, committing the seeds to the ground with uncertain expectation of their ever appearing again or coming to fruition, they did many things like persons at a funeral in mourning for their dead. Then again, even as we speak of the man who buys the books of Plato as “buying Plato”, and of the man who represents the poems of Menander as “acting Menander”, even so those men of old did not refrain from calling by the names of the gods the gifts and creations of the gods, honouring and venerating them because of the need which they had for them. The men of later times accepted this blindly, and in their ignorance referred to the gods the behaviour of the crops and the presence and disappearance of necessities, not only calling them the births and deaths of the gods, but even believing that they are so; and thus they filled the minds with absurd, unwarranted, and confused opinions although they had before their eyes the absurdity of such illogical reasoning.

     71. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἠξίωσε τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, εἰ θεοὺς νομίζουσι, μὴ θρηνεῖν, εἰ δὲ θρηνοῦσι, θεοὺς μὴ νομίζειν, *** ἀλλ’ ὅτι γελοῖον ἅμα θρηνοῦντας εὔχεσθαι τοὺς καρποὺς πάλιν ἀναφαίνειν καὶ τελειοῦν ἑαυτοῖς, ὅπως πάλιν ἀναλίσκωνται καὶ θρηνῶνται· τὸ δ’ οὐκ ἔστι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ θρηνοῦσι μὲν τοὺς καρπούς, εὔχονται δὲ τοῖς αἰτίοις καὶ δοτῆρσι θεοῖς ἑτέρους πάλιν νέους ποιεῖν καὶ ἀναφύειν ἀντὶ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων. Ὅθεν ἄριστα λέγεται παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις τὸ τοὺς μὴ μανθάνοντας ὀρθῶς ἀκούειν ὀνομάτων κακῶς χρῆσθαι καὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν· ὥσπερ Ἑλλήνων οἱ τὰ χαλκᾶ καὶ τὰ γραπτὰ καὶ λίθινα μὴ μαθόντες μηδ’ ἐθισθέντες ἀγάλματα καὶ τιμὰς θεῶν ἀλλὰ θεοὺς καλεῖν, εἶτα τολμῶντες λέγειν, ὅτι τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν Λαχάρης ἐξέδυσε, τὸν δ’ Ἀπόλλωνα χρυσοῦς βοστρύχους ἔχοντα Διονύσιος ἀπέκειρεν, ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς ὁ Καπετώλιος περὶ τὸν ἐμφύλιον πόλεμον ἐνεπρήσθη καὶ διεφθάρη, λανθάνουσι συνεφελκόμενοι καὶ παραδεχόμενοι δόξας πονηρὰς ἑπομένας τοῖς ὀνόμασιν.

     Τοῦτο δ’ οὐχ ἥκιστα πεπόνθασιν Αἰγύπτιοι περὶ τὰ τιμώμενα τῶν ζῴων. Ἕλληνες μὲν γὰρ ἔν γε τούτοις λέγουσιν ὀρθῶς καὶ νομίζουσιν ἱερὸν Ἀφροδίτης ζῷον εἶναι τὴν περιστερὰν καὶ τὸν δράκοντα τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ τὸν κόρακα τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ τὸν κύνα τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος, ὡς Εὐριπίδης·

Ἑκάτης ἄγαλμα φωσφόρου κύων ἔσῃ·

     Αἰγυπτίων δ’ οἱ πολλοὶ θεραπεύοντες αὐτὰ τὰ ζῷα καὶ περιέποντες ὡς θεοὺς οὐ γέλωτος μόνον οὐδὲ χλευασμοῦ καταπεπλήκασι τὰς ἱερουργίας, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἀβελτερίας ἐλάχιστόν ἐστι κακόν· δόξα δ’ ἐμφύεται δεινὴ τοὺς μὲν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἀκάκους εἰς ἄκρατον ὑπερείπουσα τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν, τοῖς δὲ δριμυτέροις καὶ θρασυτέροις εἰς ἀθέους ἐμπίπτουσα καὶ θηριώδεις λογισμούς. ᾗ καὶ περὶ τούτων τὰ εἰκότα διελθεῖν οὐκ ἀνάρμοστόν ἐστι·

     71. Rightly did Xenophanes ³⁵⁸ of Colophon insist that the Egyptians, if they believed them to be gods, should not lament them; but if they lamented them, they should not believe them to be gods. Is it anything but ridiculous amid their lamentations to pray that the powers may cause their crops to sprout again and bring them to perfection in order that they again be consumed and lamented? This is not quite the case: but they do lament for their crops and they do pray to the gods, who are the authors and givers, that they produce and cause to grow afresh other new crops to take the place of those that are undergoing destruction. Hence it is an excellent saying current among philosophers that they that have not learned to interpret rightly the sense of words are wont to bungle their actions ³⁵⁹. For example, there are some among the Greeks who have not learned nor habituated themselves to speak of the bronze, the painted, and the stone effigies as statues of the gods and dedications in their honour, but they call them gods; and then they have the effrontery to say that Lachares stripped Athena ³⁶⁰, that Dionysius sheared Apollo of the golden locks, and that Jupiter Capitolinus was burned and destroyed in the Civil War ³⁶¹, and thus they unwittingly take over and accept the vicious opinions that are the concomitants of these names.

     This has been to no small degree the experience of the Egyptians in regard to those animals that are held in honour. In these matters the Greeks are correct in saying and believing that the dove is the sacred bird of Aphroditê, that the serpent is sacred to Athena, the raven to Apollo, and the dog to Artemis — as Euripides ³⁶² says,

Dog you shall be, pet of bright Hecatê.

     But the great majority of the Egyptians, in doing service to the animals themselves and in treating them as gods, have not only filled their sacred offices with ridicule and derision, but this is the least of the evils connected with their silly practices. There is engendered a dangerous belief, which plunges the weak and innocent into sheer superstition, and in the case of the more cynical and bold, goes off into atheistic and brutish reasoning ³⁶³. Wherefore it is not inappropriate to rehearse in some detail what seem to be the facts in these matters.

     72. Tὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα τοὺς θεοὺς τὸν Τυφῶνα δείσαντας μεταβαλεῖν, οἷον ἀποκρύπτοντας ἑαυτοὺς σώμασιν ἴβεων καὶ κυνῶν καὶ ἱεράκων, πᾶσαν ὑπερπέπαικε τερατείαν καὶ μυθολογίαν, καὶ τὸ ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν θανόντων ὅσαι διαμένουσιν εἰς ταῦτα μόνα γίνεσθαι τὴν παλιγγενεσίαν ὁμοίως ἄπιστον. Τῶν δὲ βουλομένων πολιτικήν τινα λέγειν αἰτίαν οἱ μὲν Ὄσιριν ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ στρατιᾷ φασιν εἰς μέρη πολλὰ διανείμαντα τὴν δύναμιν (λόχους καὶ τάξεις Ἑλληνικῶς καλοῦσιν), ἐπίσημα δοῦναι καὶ ζῳόμορφα πᾶσιν, ὧν ἕκαστον τῷ γένει τῶν συννεμηθέντων ἱερὸν γενέσθαι καὶ τίμιον· οἱ δὲ τοὺς ὕστερον βασιλεῖς ἐκπλήξεως ἕνεκα τῶν πολεμίων ἐν ταῖς μάχαις ἐπιφαίνεσθαι θηρίων χρυσᾶς προτομὰς καὶ ἀργυρᾶς περιτιθεμένους· ἄλλοι δὲ τῶνδε τῶν δεινῶν τινα καὶ πανούργων βασιλέων ἱστοροῦσι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους καταμαθόντα τῇ μὲν φύσει κούφους καὶ πρὸς μεταβολὴν καὶ νεωτερισμὸν ὀξυρρόπους ὄντας, ἄμαχον δὲ καὶ δυσκάθεκτον ὑπὸ πλήθους δύναμιν ἐν τῷ συμφρονεῖν καὶ κοινοπραγεῖν ἔχοντας, ἀίδιον αὐτοῖς ἐγκατασπεῖραι δείξαντα δεισιδαιμονίαν διαφορᾶς ἀπαύστου πρόφασιν.

     Τῶν γὰρ θηρίων, ἃ προσέταξεν ἄλλοις ἄλλα τιμᾶν καὶ σέβεσθαι, δυσμενῶς καὶ πολεμικῶς ἀλλήλοις προσφερομένων καὶ τροφὴν ἑτέρων ἕτερα προσίεσθαι πεφυκότων ἀμύνοντες ἀεὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις ἕκαστοι καὶ χαλεπῶς ἀδικουμένων φέροντες ἐλάνθανον ταῖς τῶν θηρίων ἔχθραις συνεφελκόμενοι καὶ συνεκπολεμούμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους. Μόνοι γὰρ ἔτι νῦν Αἰγυπτίων Λυκοπολῖται πρόβατον ἐσθίουσιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ λύκος, ὃν θεὸν νομίζουσιν· οἱ δ’ Ὀξυρυγχῖται καθ’ ἡμᾶς τῶν Κυνοπολιτῶν τὸν ὀξύρυγχον ἰχθὺν ἐσθιόντων κύνα συλλαβόντες καὶ θύσαντες ὡς ἱερεῖον κατέφαγον, ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταστάντες εἰς πόλεμον ἀλλήλους τε διέθηκαν κακῶς καὶ ὕστερον ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων κολαζόμενοι διετέθησαν.

     72. The notion that the gods, in fear of Typhon, changed themselves into these animals ³⁶⁴, concealing themselves, as it were, in the bodies of ibises, dogs, and hawks, is a play of fancy surpassing all the wealth of monstrous fable. The further notion that as many of the souls of the dead as continue to exist are reborn into these animals only is likewise incredible. Of those who desire to assign to this some political reason some relate that Osiris, on his great expedition, divided his forces into many parts, which the Greeks call squads and companies, and to them all he gave standards in the form of animals, each of which came to be regarded as sacred and precious by the descendants of them who had shared in the assignment. Others relate that the later kings, to strike their enemies with terror, appeared in battle after putting on gold and silver masks of wild beasts’ heads. Others record that one of these crafty and unscrupulous kings ³⁶⁵, having observed that the Egyptians were by nature light-minded and readily inclined to change and novelty, but that, because of their numbers, they had a strength that was invincible and very difficult to check when they were in their sober senses and acted in concert, communicated to them and planted among them an everlasting superstition, a ground for unceasing quarrelling.

     For he enjoined on different peoples to honour and revere different animals; and inasmuch as these animals conducted themselves with enmity and hostility toward one another, one by its nature desiring one kind of food and another another, the several peoples were ever defending their own animals, and were much offended if these animals suffered injury, and thus they were drawn on unwittingly by the enmities of the animals until they were brought into open hostility with one another. Even to‑day the inhabitants of Lycopolis are the only people among the Egyptians that eat a sheep; for the wolf, whom they hold to be a god, also eats it. And in my day the people of Oxyrhynchus caught a dog and sacrificed it and ate it up as if it had been sacrificial meat ³⁶⁶, because the people of Cynopolis were eating fish known as the oxyrhynchus or pike. As a result of this they became involved in war and inflicted much harm upon each other; and later they were both brought to order through chastisement by the Romans.

     73. Πολλῶν δὲ λεγόντων εἰς ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα τὴν Τυφῶνος αὐτοῦ διῃρῆσθαι ψυχὴν αἰνίττεσθαι δόξειεν ἂν ὁ μῦθος, ὅτι πᾶσα φύσις ἄλογος καὶ θηριώδης τῆς τοῦ κακοῦ δαίμονος γέγονε μοίρας, κἀκεῖνον ἐκμειλισσόμενοι καὶ παρηγοροῦντες περιέπουσι ταῦτα καὶ θεραπεύουσιν· ἂν δὲ πολὺς ἐμπίπτῃ καὶ χαλεπὸς αὐχμὸς ἐπάγων ὑπερβαλλόντως ἢ νόσους ὀλεθρίους ἢ συμφορὰς ἄλλας παραλόγους καὶ ἀλλοκότους, ἔνια τῶν τιμωμένων οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀπάγοντες ὑπὸ σκότῳ μετὰ σιωπῆς καὶ ἡσυχίας ἀπειλοῦσι καὶ δεδίττονται τὸ πρῶτον, ἂν δ’ ἐπιμένῃ, καθιερεύουσι καὶ σφάττουσιν, ὡς δή τινα κολασμὸν ὄντα τοῦ δαίμονος τοῦτον ἢ καθαρμὸν ἄλλως μέγαν ἐπὶ μεγίστοις· καὶ γὰρ ἐν Εἰλειθυίας πόλει ζῶντας ἀνθρώπους κατεπίμπρασαν, ὡς Μανεθὼς ἱστόρηκε, Τυφωνείους καλοῦντες καὶ τὴν τέφραν αὐτῶν λικμῶντες ἠφάνιζον καὶ διέσπειρον.

     Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἐδρᾶτο φανερῶς καὶ καθ’ ἕνα καιρὸν ἐν ταῖς κυνάσιν ἡμέραις· αἱ δὲ τῶν τιμωμένων ζῴων καθιερεύσεις ἀπόρρητοι καὶ χρόνοις ἀτάκτοις πρὸς τὰ συμπίπτοντα γινόμεναι τοὺς πολλοὺς λανθάνουσι, πλὴν ὅταν Ἄπιδος ταφὰς ἔχωσι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀναδεικνύντες ἔνια πάντων παρόντων συνεμβάλλωσιν οἰόμενοι τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἀντιλυπεῖν καὶ κολούειν τὸ ἡδόμενον. Ὁ γὰρ Ἆπις δοκεῖ μετ’ ὀλίγων ἄλλων ἱερὸς εἶναι τοῦ Ὀσίριδος· ἐκείνῳ δὲ τὰ πλεῖστα προσνέμουσι. Κἂν ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος οὗτος, σημαίνειν ἡγοῦμαι τὸ ζητούμενον ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμολογουμένων καὶ κοινὰς ἐχόντων τὰς τιμάς, οἷόν ἐστιν ἶβις καὶ ἱέραξ καὶ κυνοκέφαλος, αὐτὸς ὁ Ἆπις ***· οὕτω δὴ γὰρ τὸν ἐν Μένδητι τράγον καλοῦσι.

     73. Many relate that the soul of Typhon himself was divided among these animals. The legend would seem to intimate that all irrational and brutish nature belongs to the portion of the evil deity, and in trying to soothe and appease him they lavish attention and care upon these animals. If there befall a great and severe drought that brings on in excess either fatal diseases or other unwonted and extraordinary calamities, the priests, under cover of darkness, in silence and stealth, lead away some of the animals that are held in honour; and at first they but threaten and terrify the animals ³⁶⁷, but if the drought still persists, they consecrate and sacrifice them, as if, forsooth, this were a means of punishing the deity, or at least a mighty rite of purification in matters of the highest importance! The fact is that in the city of Eileithiya they used to burn men alive ³⁶⁸, as Manetho has recorded; they called them Typhonians, and by means of winnowing fans they dissipated and scattered their ashes.

     But this was performed publicly and at a special time in the dog-days. The consecrations of the animals took place at indeterminate times with reference to the circumstances; and thus they are unknown to the multitude, except when they hold the animals’ burials ³⁶⁹, and then they display some of the other sacred animals and, in presence of all, cast them into the grave together, thinking thus to hurt and to curtail Typhon’s satisfaction. The Apis, together with a few other animals, seems to be sacred to Osiris ³⁷⁰; but to Typhon they assign the largest number of animals. If this account is true, I think it indicates that the object of our inquiry concerns those which are commonly accepted and whose honours are universal: for example, the ibis, the hawk, the cynocephalus, and the Apis himself, as well as the Mendes, for thus they call the goat in Mendes ³⁷¹.

     74. Λείπεται δὲ δὴ τὸ χρειῶδες καὶ τὸ συμβολικόν, ὧν ἔνια θατέρου, πολλὰ δ’ ἀμφοῖν μετέσχηκε. Βοῦν μὲν οὖν καὶ πρόβατον καὶ ἰχνεύμονα δῆλον ὅτι χρείας ἕνεκα καὶ ὠφελείας ἐτίμησαν, ὡς Λήμνιοι κορύδους τὰ τῶν ἀτταλάβων εὑρίσκοντας ᾠὰ καὶ κόπτοντας, Θεσσαλοὶ δὲ πελαργούς, ὅτι πολλοὺς ὄφεις τῆς γῆς ἀναδιδούσης ἐπιφανέντες ἐξώλεσαν ἅπαντας (διὸ καὶ νόμον ἔθεντο φεύγειν ὅστις ἂν ἀποκτείνῃ πελαργόν)· ἀσπίδα δὲ καὶ γαλῆν καὶ κάνθαρον, εἰκόνας τινὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀμαυρὰς ὥσπερ ἐν σταγόσιν ἡλίου τῆς τῶν θεῶν δυνάμεως κατιδόντες.

     Τὴν μὲν γὰρ γαλῆν ἔτι πολλοὶ νομίζουσι καὶ λέγουσι κατὰ τὸ οὖς ὀχευομένην τῷ δὲ στόματι τίκτουσαν εἴκασμα τῆς τοῦ λόγου γενέσεως εἶναι· τὸ δὲ κανθάρων γένος οὐκ ἔχειν θήλειαν, ἄρρενας δὲ πάντας ἀφιέναι τὸν γόνον εἰς τὴν σφαιροποιουμένην ὕλην, ἣν κυλινδοῦσιν ἀντιβάδην ὠθοῦντες, ὥσπερ δοκεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὁ ἥλιος ἐς τοὐναντίον περιστρέφειν αὐτὸς ἀπὸ δυσμῶν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολὰς φερόμενος· ἀσπίδα δ’ ὡς ἀγήρω καὶ χρωμένην κινήσεσιν ἀνοργάνοις μετ’ εὐπετείας καὶ ὑγρότητος ἀστραπῇ προσείκασαν.

     74. There remain, then, their usefulness and their symbolism; of these two, some of the animals share in the one, and many share in both. It is clear that the Egyptians have honoured the cow, the sheep, and the ichneumon because of their need for these animals and their usefulness. Even so the people of Lemnos hold larks in honour because they seek out the eggs of the locust and destroy them; and so the people of Thessaly honour storks ³⁷², because, when their land produced many snakes ³⁷³, the storks appeared and destroyed them all. For this reason they passed a law that whoever killed a stork should be banished from the country. The Egyptians also honoured the asp, the weasel, and the beetle, since they observed in them certain dim likenesses of the power of the gods, like images of the sun in drops of water.

     There are still many people who believe and declare that the weasel conceives through its ear and brings forth its young by way of the mouth, and that this is a parallel of the generation of speech. The race of beetles has no female ³⁷⁴, but all the males eject their sperm into a round pellet of material which they roll up by pushing it from the opposite side, just as the sun seems to turn the heavens in the direction opposite to its own course, which is from west to east. They compare the asp to lightning, since it does not grow old and manages to move with ease and suppleness without the use of limbs.

     75. Οὐ μὴν οὐδ’ ὁ κροκόδειλος αἰτίας πιθανῆς ἀμοιροῦσαν ἔσχηκε τιμήν, ἀλλὰ μίμημα θεοῦ λέγεται γεγονέναι μόνος μὲν ἄγλωσσος ὤν· φωνῆς γὰρ ὁ θεῖος λόγος ἀπροσδεής ἐστι καί ‘δι’ ἀψόφου βαίνων κελεύθου κατὰ δίκην τὰ θνήτ’ ἄγει’· μόνου δέ φασιν ἐν ὑγρῷ διαιτωμένου τὰς ὄψεις ὑμένα λεῖον καὶ διαφανῆ παρακαλύπτειν ἐκ τοῦ μετώπου κατερχόμενον, ὥστε βλέπειν μὴ βλεπόμενον, ὃ τῷ πρώτῳ θεῷ συμβέβηκεν. Ὅπου δ’ ἂν ἡ θήλεια τῆς χώρας ἀποτέκῃ, τοῦτο Νείλου πέρας ἐπίσταται τῆς αὐξήσεως γινόμενον. Ἐν ὑγρῷ γὰρ οὐ δυνάμεναι, πόρρω δὲ φοβούμεναι τίκτειν, οὕτως ἀκριβῶς προαισθάνονται τὸ μέλλον, ὥστε τῷ ποταμῷ προσελθόντι χρῆσθαι λοχευόμεναι, καὶ θάλπουσαι δὲ τὰ ᾠὰ ξηρὰ καὶ ἄβρεκτα φυλάσσειν. ἑξήκοντα δὲ τίκτουσι καὶ τοσαύταις ἡμέραις ἐκλέπουσι καὶ τοσούτους ζῶσιν ἐνιαυτοὺς οἱ μακρότατον ζῶντες, ὃ τῶν μέτρων πρῶτόν ἐστι τοῖς περὶ τὰ οὐράνια πραγματευομένοις.

     Ἀλλὰ μὴν τῶν δι’ ἀμφότερα τιμωμένων περὶ μὲν τοῦ κυνὸς εἴρηται πρόσθεν· ἡ δ’ ἶβις ἀποκτείνουσα μὲν τὰ θανατηφόρα τῶν ἑρπετῶν ἐδίδαξε πρώτη κενώματος ἰατρικοῦ χρείαν κατιδόντας αὐτὴν κλυζομένην καὶ καθαιρομένην ὑφ’ ἑαυτῆς, οἱ δὲ νομιμώτατοι τῶν ἱερέων καθάρσιον ὕδωρ ἁγνιζόμενοι λαμβάνουσιν ὅθεν ἶβις πέπωκεν· οὐ πίνει γὰρ ἢ νοσῶδες ἢ πεφαρμαγμένον οὐδὲ πρόσεισι. Τῇ δὲ τῶν ποδῶν διαστάσει πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ τὸ ῥύγχος ἰσόπλευρον ποιεῖ τρίγωνον, ἔτι δ’ ἡ τῶν μελάνων πτερῶν πρὸς τὰ λευκὰ ποικιλία καὶ μῖξις ἐμφαίνει σελήνην ἀμφίκυρτον.

     75. The crocodile ³⁷⁵, certainly, has acquired honour which is not devoid of a plausible reason, but he is declared to be a living representation of God, since he is the only creature without a tongue; for the Divine Word has no need of a voice, and through noiseless ways advancing, guides “By Justice all affairs of mortal men” ³⁷⁶. They say that the crocodile is the only animal living in the water which has a thin and transparent membrane extending down from his forehead to cover up his eyes, so that he can see without being seen; and this prerogative belongs also unto the First God. In whatever part of the land the female crocodile lays her eggs, well she knows that this is destined to mark the limit of the rise of the Nile ³⁷⁷; for the females, being unable to lay their eggs in the water and afraid to lay them far from it, have such an accurate perception of the future that they make use of the oncoming river as a guide in laying their eggs and in keeping them warm; and thus they preserve them dry and untouched by the water. They lay sixty eggs ³⁷⁸ and hatch them in the same number of days, and those crocodiles that live longest live that number of years: the number sixty is the first of measures for such persons as concern themselves with the heavenly bodies.

     Of the animals that are held in honour for both reasons, mention has already been made of the dog ³⁷⁹. The ibis ³⁸⁰, which kills the deadly creeping things, was the first to teach men the use of medicinal purgations when they observed her employing clysters and being purged by herself ³⁸¹. The most strict of the priests take their lustral water for purification from a place where the ibis has drunk ³⁸²: for she does not drink water if it is unwholesome or tainted, nor will she approach it. By the spreading of her feet, in their relation to each other and to her bill, she makes an equilateral triangle ³⁸³. Moreover the variety and combination of her black feathers with her white picture the moon in its first quarter.

     76. Οὐ δεῖ δὲ θαυμάζειν, εἰ γλίσχρας ὁμοιότητας οὕτως ἠγάπησαν Αἰγύπτιοι. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Ἕλληνες ἔν τε γραπτοῖς ἔν τε πλαστοῖς εἰκάσμασι θεῶν ἐχρήσαντο πολλοῖς τοιούτοις, οἷον ἐν Κρήτῃ Διὸς ἦν ἄγαλμα μὴ ἔχον ὦτα· τῷ γὰρ ἄρχοντι καὶ κυρίῳ πάντων οὐδενὸς ἀκούειν προσήκει. Τῷ δὲ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τὸν δράκοντα Φειδίας παρέθηκε, τῷ δὲ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἐν Ἤλιδι τὴν χελώνην, ὡς τὰς μὲν παρθένους φυλακῆς δεομένας, ταῖς δὲ γαμεταῖς οἰκουρίαν καὶ σιωπὴν πρέπουσαν. Ἡ δὲ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος τρίαινα σύμβολόν ἐστι τῆς τρίτης χώρας, ἣν θάλαττα κατέχει μετὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ἀέρα τεταγμένη· διὸ καὶ τὴν Ἀμφιτρίτην καὶ τοὺς Τρίτωνας οὕτως ὠνόμασαν.

     Οἱ δὲ Πυθαγόρειοι καὶ ἀριθμοὺς καὶ σχήματα θεῶν ἐκόσμησαν προσηγορίαις. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἰσόπλευρον τρίγωνον ἐκάλουν Ἀθηνᾶν κορυφαγενῆ καὶ τριτογένειαν, ὅτι τρισὶ καθέτοις ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν γωνιῶν ἀγομέναις διαιρεῖται· τὸ δ’ ἓν Ἀπόλλωνα πλήθους ἀποφάσει καὶ δι’ ἁπλότητα τῆς μονάδος· ἔριν δὲ τὴν δυάδα καὶ † τόλμαν, δίκην δὲ τὴν τριάδα· τοῦ γὰρ ἀδικεῖν καὶ ἀδικεῖσθαι κατ’ ἔλλειψιν καὶ ὑπερβολὴν ὄντος τὸ ἰσότητι δίκαιον ἐν μέσῳ γέγονεν· ἡ δὲ καλουμένη τετρακτύς, τὰ ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα, μέγιστος ἦν ὅρκος, ὡς τεθρύληται, καὶ κόσμος ὠνόμασται, τεσσάρων μὲν ἀρτίων τῶν πρώτων, τεσσάρων δὲ τῶν περισσῶν εἰς ταὐτὸ συντιθεμένων ἀποτελούμενος. Εἴπερ οὖν οἱ δοκιμώτατοι τῶν φιλοσόφων οὐδ’ ἐν ἀψύχοις καὶ ἀσωμάτοις πράγμασιν αἴνιγμα τοῦ θείου κατιδόντες ἠξίουν ἀμελεῖν οὐδὲν οὐδ’ ἀτιμάζειν, ἔτι μᾶλλον, οἶμαι, τὰς ἐν αἰσθανομέναις καὶ ψυχὴν ἐχούσαις καὶ πάθος καὶ ἦθος φύσεσιν ἰδιότητας κατὰ τὸ ἦθος.

     76. There is no occasion for surprise that the Egyptians were so taken with such slight resemblances; for the Greeks in their painted and sculptured portrayals of the gods made use of many such. For example, in Crete there was a statue of Zeus having no ears; for it is not fitting for the Ruler and Lord of all to listen to anyone. Beside the statue of Athena Pheidias placed the serpent and in Elis beside the statue of Aphroditê the tortoise ³⁸⁴, to indicate that maidens need watching, and that for married women staying at home and silence is becoming. The trident of Poseidon is a symbol of the Third Region where the sea holds sway, for it has been assigned to a demesne of less importance than the heavens and the air. For this reason they thus named Amphitritê and the Tritons ³⁸⁵.

     The Pythagoreans embellished also numbers and figures with the appellations of the gods. The equilateral triangle they called Athena, born from the head and third-born, because it is divided by three perpendiculars drawn from its three angles. The number one they called Apollo ³⁸⁶ because of its rejection of plurality ³⁸⁷ and because of the singleness of unity. The number two they called “Strife”, and “Daring”, and three they called “Justice”, for, although the doing of injustice and suffering from injustice are caused by deficiency and excess, Justice, by reason of its equality, intervenes between the two. The so‑called sacred quaternion, the number thirty-six, was, so it is famed, the mightiest of oaths, and it has been given the name of “World” since it is made up of the first four even numbers and the first four odd numbers added together. If, then, the most noted of the philosophers, observing the riddle of the Divine in inanimate and incorporeal objects, have not thought it proper to treat anything with carelessness or disrespect, even more do I think that, in all likelihood, we should welcome those peculiar properties existent in natures which possess the power of perception and have a soul and feeling and character.

     77. Ἀγαπητέον οὖν οὐ ταῦτα τιμῶντας, ἀλλὰ διὰ τούτων τὸ θεῖον ὡς ἐναργεστέρων ἐσόπτρων καὶ φύσει γεγονότων. Ἀληθὲς δὲ καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔστιν, ὡς ὄργανον τὴν ψυχὴν δεῖ τοῦ πάντα κοσμοῦντος θεοῦ νομίζειν καὶ ὅλως ἀξιοῦν γε μηδὲν ἄψυχον ἐμψύχου μηδ’ ἀναίσθητον αἰσθανομένου κρεῖττον εἶναι μηδ’ ἂν τὸν σύμπαντά τις χρυσὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ σμάραγδον εἰς ταὐτὸ συμφορήσῃ. Οὐκ ἐν χρόαις γὰρ οὐδ’ ἐν σχήμασιν οὐδ’ ἐν λειότησιν ἐγγίνεται τὸ θεῖον, ἀλλ’ ἀτιμοτέραν ἔχει νεκρῶν μοῖραν, ὅσα μὴ μετέσχε μηδὲ μετέχειν τοῦ ζῆν πέφυκεν.

     Ἡ δὲ ζῶσα καὶ βλέπουσα καὶ κινήσεως ἀρχὴν ἐξ αὑτῆς ἔχουσα καὶ γνῶσιν οἰκείων καὶ ἀλλοτρίων φύσις κάλλους τ’ ἔσπακεν ἀπορροὴν καὶ μοῖραν ἐκ τοῦ φρονοῦντος, “ὅτῳ κυβερνᾶται τὸ τε σύμπαν” καθ’ Ἡράκλειτον. Ὅθεν οὐ χεῖρον ἐν τούτοις εἰκάζεται τὸ θεῖον ἢ χαλκοῖς καὶ λιθίνοις δημιουργήμασιν, ἃ φθορὰς μὲν ὁμοίως δέχεται καὶ ἐπχρώσεις, αἰσθήσεως δὲ πάσης φύσει καὶ συνέσεως ἐστέρηται. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν τιμωμένων ζῴων ταῦτα δοκιμάζω μάλιστα τῶν λεγομένων·

     77. It is not that we should honour these, but that through these we should honour the Divine, since they are clearer mirrors of the Divine by their nature also, so that we should regard them as the instrument or device of the God who orders all things. And in general we must hold it true that nothing inanimate is superior to what is animate, and nothing without the power of perception is superior to that which has that power — no, not even if one should heap together all the gold and emeralds in the world. The Divine is not engendered in colours or in forms or in polished surfaces, but whatsoever things have no share in life, things whose nature does not allow them to share therein, have a portion of less honour than that of the dead.

     But the nature that lives and sees and has within itself the source of movement and a knowledge of what belongs to it and what belongs to others, has drawn to itself an efflux and portion of beauty from the Intelligence “by which the Universe is guided”, as Heracleitus ³⁸⁸ has it. Wherefore the Divine is no worse represented in these animals than in works of bronze and stone which are alike subject to destruction and disfiguration, and by their nature are void of all perception and comprehension. This, then, is what I most approve in the accounts that are given regarding the animals held in honour.

     78. Στολαὶ δ’ αἱ μὲν Ἴσιδος ποικίλαι ταῖς βαφαῖς (περὶ γὰρ ὕλην ἡ δύναμις αὐτῆς πάντα γινομένην καὶ δεχομένην, φῶς σκότος, ἡμέραν νύκτα, πῦρ ὕδωρ, ζωὴν θάνατον, ἀρχὴν τελευτήν)· ἡ δ’ Ὀσίριδος οὐκ ἔχει σκιὰν οὐδὲ ποικιλμόν, ἀλλ’ ἓν ἁπλοῦν τὸ φωτοειδές· ἄκρατον γὰρ ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἀμιγὲς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ νοητόν. Ὅθεν ἅπαξ ταύτην ἀναλαβόντες ἀποτίθενται καὶ φυλάττουσιν ἀόρατον καὶ ἄψαυστον, ταῖς δ’ Ἰσιακαῖς χρῶνται πολλάκις. Ἐν χρήσει γὰρ τὰ αἰσθητὰ καὶ πρόχειρα ὄντα πολλὰς ἀναπτύξεις καὶ θέας αὑτῶν ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλως ἀμειβομένων δίδωσιν· ἡ δὲ τοῦ νοητοῦ καὶ εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ ἁπλοῦ νόησις ὥσπερ ἀστραπὴ διαλάμψασα τῆς ψυχῆς ἅπαξ ποτὲ θιγεῖν καὶ προσιδεῖν παρέσχε. Διὸ καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐποπτικὸν τοῦτο τὸ μέρος τῆς φιλοσοφίας καλοῦσιν, καθ’ ὅσον οἱ τὰ δοξαστὰ καὶ μικτὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ ταῦτα παραμειψάμενοι τῷ λόγῳ πρὸς τὸ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἄυλον ἐξάλλονται καὶ θιγόντες ἀληθῶς τῆς περὶ αὐτὸ καθαρᾶς ἀληθείας οἷον ἐν τελετῇ τέλος ἔχειν φιλοσοφίας νομίζουσι.

     78. As for the robes, those of Isis ³⁸⁹ are variegated in their colours; for her power is concerned with matter which becomes everything and receives everything, light and darkness, day and night, fire and water, life and death, beginning and end. But the robe of Osiris has no shading or variety in its colour, but only one single colour like to light. For the beginning is combined with nothing else, and that which is primary and conceptual is without admixture; wherefore, when they have once taken off the robe of Osiris, they lay it away and guard it, unseen and untouched. But the robes of Isis they use many times over; for in use those things that are perceptible and ready at hand afford many disclosures of themselves and opportunities to view them as they are changed about in various ways. But the apperception of the conceptual, the pure, and the simple, shining through the soul like a flash of lightning, affords an opportunity to touch and see it but once ³⁹⁰. For this reason Plato ³⁹¹ and Aristotle call this part of philosophy the epoptic ³⁹² or mystic part, inasmuch as those who have passed beyond these conjectural and confused matters of all sorts by means of Reason proceed by leaps and bounds to that primary, simple, and immaterial principle; and when they have somehow attained contact with the pure truth abiding about it, they think that they have the whole of philosophy completely, as it were, within their grasp.

     79. Καὶ τοῦθ’ ὅπερ οἱ νῦν ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιούμενοι καὶ παρακαλυπτόμενοι μετ’ εὐλαβείας ὑποδηλοῦσιν, ὡς ὁ θεὸς οὗτος ἄρχει καὶ βασιλεύει τῶν τεθνηκότων οὐχ ἕτερος ὢν τοῦ καλουμένου παρ’ Ἕλλησιν Ἅιδου καὶ Πλούτωνος, ἀγνοούμενον ὅπως ἀληθές ἐστι, διαταράττει τοὺς πολλοὺς ὑπονοοῦντας ἐν γῇ καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν τὸν ἱερὸν καὶ ὅσιον ὡς ἀληθῶς Ὄσιριν οἰκεῖν, ὅπου τὰ σώματα κρύπτεται τῶν τέλος ἔχειν δοκούντων.

     Ὁ δ’ ἔστι μὲν αὐτὸς ἀπωτάτω τῆς γῆς ἄχραντος καὶ ἀμίαντος καὶ καθαρὸς οὐσίας ἁπάσης φθορὰν δεχομένης καὶ θάνατον, ἀνθρώπων δὲ ψυχαῖς ἐνταυθοῖ μὲν ὑπὸ σωμάτων καὶ παθῶν περιεχομέναις οὐκ ἔστι μετουσία τοῦ θεοῦ πλὴν ὅσον ὀνείρατος ἀμαυροῦ θιγεῖν νοήσει διὰ φιλοσοφίας· ὅταν δ’ ἀπολυθεῖσαι μεταστῶσιν εἰς τὸ ἀειδὲς καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ ἀπαθὲς καὶ ἁγνόν, οὗτος αὐταῖς ἡγεμών ἐστι καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ θεὸς ἐξηρτημέναις ὡς ἂν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ θεωμέναις ἀπλήστως καὶ ποθούσαις τὸ μὴ φατὸν μηδὲ ῥητὸν ἀνθρώποις κάλλος· οὗ τὴν Ἶσιν ὁ παλαιὸς ἀποφαίνει λόγος ἐρῶσαν ἀεὶ καὶ διώκουσαν καὶ συνοῦσαν ἀναπιμπλάναι τὰ ἐνταῦθα πάντων καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν, ὅσα γενέσεως μετέσχηκε. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὕτως ἔχει τὸν μάλιστα θεοῖς πρέποντα λόγον·

     79. This idea at the present time the priests intimate with great circumspection in acquitting themselves of this religious secret and in trying to conceal it: that this god Osiris is the ruler and king of the dead, nor is he any other than the god that among the Greeks is called Hades and Pluto. But since it is not understood in which manner this is true, it greatly disturbs the majority of people who suspect that the holy and sacred Osiris truly dwells in the earth and beneath the earth ³⁹³, where are hidden away the bodies of those that are believed to have reached their end.

     But he himself is far removed from the earth, uncontaminated and unpolluted and pure from all matter that is subject to destruction and death; but for the souls of men here, which are compassed about by bodies and emotions, there is no association with this god except in so far as they may attain to a dim vision of his presence by means of the apperception which philosophy affords. But when these souls are set free and migrate into the realm of the invisible and the unseen, the dispassionate and the pure, then this god becomes their leader and king, since it is on him that they are bound to be dependent in their insatiate contemplation and yearning for that beauty which is for men unutterable and indescribable. With this beauty Isis ³⁹⁴, as the ancient story declares, is for ever enamoured and pursues it and consorts with it and fills our earth here with all things fair and good that partake of generation. This which I have thus far set forth comprises that account which is most befitting the gods.

     80. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ περὶ τῶν θυμιωμένων ἡμέρας ἑκάστης εἰπεῖν, ὥσπερ ὑπεσχόμην, ἐκεῖνο διανοηθείη τις ἂν πρότερον, ὡς ἀεὶ μὲν οἱ ἄνδρες ἐν σπουδῇ μεγίστῃ τίθενται τὰ πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἐπιτηδεύματα, μάλιστα δὲ ταῖς ἱερουργίαις καὶ ταῖς ἁγνείαις καὶ διαίταις οὐχ ἧττον ἔνεστι τουτὶ τοῦ ὁσίου τὸ ὑγιεινόν. Οὐ γὰρ ᾤοντο καλῶς ἔχειν οὔτε σώμασιν οὔτε ψυχαῖς ὑπούλοις καὶ νοσώδεσι θεραπεύειν τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀβλαβὲς πάντῃ καὶ ἀμίαντον. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ ἀήρ, ᾧ πλεῖστα χρώμεθα καὶ σύνεσμεν, οὐκ ἀεὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει διάθεσιν καὶ κρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ νύκτωρ πυκνοῦται καὶ πιέζει τὸ σῶμα καὶ συνάγει τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς τὸ δύσθυμον καὶ πεφροντικὸς οἷον ἀχλυώδη γινομένην καὶ βαρεῖαν, ἀναστάντες εὐθὺς ἐπιθυμιῶσι ῥητίνην θεραπεύοντες καὶ καθαίροντες τὸν ἀέρα τῇ διακρίσει καὶ τὸ σύμφυτον τῷ σώματι πνεῦμα μεμαρασμένον ἀναρριπίζοντες ἐχούσης τι τῆς ὀσμῆς σφοδρὸν καὶ καταπληκτικόν.

     Αὖθις δὲ μεσημβρίας αἰσθανόμενοι σφόδρα πολλὴν καὶ βαρεῖαν ἀναθυμίασιν ἀπὸ γῆς ἕλκοντα βίᾳ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ καταμιγνύοντα τῷ ἀέρι τὴν σμύρναν ἐπιθυμιῶσι· διαλύει γὰρ ἡ θερμότης καὶ σκίδνησι τὸ συνιστάμενον ἐν τῷ περιέχοντι θολερὸν καὶ ἰλυῶδες. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἰατροὶ πρὸς τὰ λοιμικὰ πάθη βοηθεῖν δοκοῦσι φλόγα πολλὴν ποιοῦντες ὡς λεπτύνουσαν τὸν ἀέρα· λεπτύνει δὲ βέλτιον, ἐὰν εὐώδη ξύλα καίωσιν, οἷα κυπαρίττου καὶ ἀρκεύθου καὶ πεύκης. Ἄκρωνα γοῦν τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐν Ἀθήναις ὑπὸ τὸν μέγαν λοιμὸν εὐδοκιμῆσαι λέγουσι πῦρ κελεύοντα παρακαίειν τοῖς νοσοῦσιν· ὤνησε γὰρ οὐκ ὀλίγους. Ἀριστοτέλης δέ φησι καὶ μύρων καὶ ἀνθέων καὶ λειμώνων εὐώδεις ἀποπνοίας οὐκ ἔλαττον ἔχειν τοῦ πρὸς ἡδονὴν τὸ πρὸς ὑγίειαν, ψυχρὸν ὄντα φύσει καὶ παγετώδη τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἠρέμα τῇ θερμότητι καὶ λειότητι διαχεούσας. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν σμύρναν παρ’Αἰγυπτίοις σὰλ καλοῦσιν, ἐξερμηνευθὲν δὲ τοῦτο μάλιστα φράζει τῆς ληρήσεως ἐκσκορπισμόν, ἔστιν ἣν καὶ τοῦτο μαρτυρίαν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς αἰτίας δίδωσιν.

     80. If, as I have promised ³⁹⁵, I must now speak of the offerings of incense which are made each day, one should first consider that this people always lays the very greatest stress upon those practices which are conducive to health. Especially in their sacred services and holy living and strict regimen the element of health is no less important than that of piety. For they did not deem it proper to serve that which is pure and in all ways unblemished and unpolluted with either bodies or souls that were unhealthy and diseased ³⁹⁶. Since, then, the air, of which we make the greatest use and in which we exist, has not always the same consistency and composition, but in the night-time becomes dense and oppresses the body and brings the soul into depression and solicitude, as if it had become befogged and heavy, therefore, immediately upon arising, they burn resin on their altars, revivifying and purifying the air by its dissemination, and fanning into fresh life the languished spirit innate in the body, inasmuch as the odour of resin contains something forceful and stimulating.

     Again at midday, when they perceive that the sun is forcibly attracting a copious and heavy exhalation from the earth and is combining this with the air, they burn myrrh on the altars; for the heat dissolves and scatters the murky and turgid concretions in the surrounding atmosphere. In fact, physicians seem to bring relief to pestilential affections by making a large blazing fire, for this rarefies the air. But the rarefication is more effective if they burn fragrant woods, such as that of the cypress, the juniper, and the pine. At any rate, they say that Acron, the physician in Athens at the time of the great plague, won great repute by prescribing the lighting of a fire beside the sick, and thereby he helped not a few. Aristotle ³⁹⁷ says that fragrant exhalations from perfumes and flowers and meadows are no less conducive to health than to pleasure, inasmuch as by their warmth and lightness they gently relax the brain, which is by nature cold and frigid. If it is true that among the Egyptians they call myrrh “bal”, and that this being interpreted has the particular meaning “the dissipation of repletion”, then this adds some testimony to our account of the reason for its use.

     81. Τὸ δὲ κῦφι μῖγμα μὲν ἑκκαίδεκα μερῶν συντιθεμένων ἐστί, μέλιτος καὶ οἴνου καὶ σταφίδος καὶ κυπέρου ῥητίνης τε καὶ σμύρνης καὶ ἀσπαλάθου καὶ σεσέλεως, ἔτι δὲ σχίνου τε καὶ ἀσφάλτου καὶ θρύου καὶ λαπάθου, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀρκευθίδων ἀμφοῖν (ὧν τὴν μὲν μείζονα τὴν δ’ ἐλάττονα καλοῦσι) καὶ καρδαμώμου καὶ καλάμου. Συντίθενται δ’ οὐχ ὅπως ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ γραμμάτων ἱερῶν τοῖς μυρεψοῖς, ὅταν ταῦτα μιγνύωσιν, ἀναγιγνωσκομένων.

     Τὸν δ’ ἀριθμόν, εἰ καὶ πάνυ δοκεῖ τετράγωνος ἀπὸ τετραγώνου καὶ μόνος ἔχων τῶν ἴσων ἰσάκις ἀριθμῶν τῷ χωρίῳ τὴν περίμετρον ἴσην ἀγαπᾶσθαι προσηκόντως, ἐλάχιστα ῥητέον εἴς γε τοῦτο συνεργεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν συλλαμβανομένων ἀρωματικὰς ἔχοντα δυνάμεις γλυκὺ πνεῦμα καὶ χρηστὴν μεθίησιν ἀναθυμίασιν, ὑφ’ ἧς ὅ τ’ ἀὴρ τρεπόμενος καὶ τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῆς πνοῆς κινούμενον λείως καὶ προσηνῶς ὕπνου τε κρᾶσιν ἐπαγωγὸν ἴσχει καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ καὶ σύντονα τῶν μεθημερινῶν φροντίδων ἄνευ μέθης οἷον ἅμματα χαλᾷ καὶ διαλύει· καὶ τὸ φανταστικὸν καὶ δεκτικὸν ὀνείρων μόριον ὥσπερ κάτοπτρον ἀπολεαίνει καὶ ποιεῖ καθαρώτερον οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ τὰ κρούματα τῆς λύρας, οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρὸ τῶν ὕπνων οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι, τὸ ἐμπαθὲς καὶ ἄλογον τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξεπᾴδοντες οὕτω καὶ θεραπεύοντες.

     Τὰ γὰρ ὀσφραντὰ πολλάκις μὲν τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀπολείπουσαν ἀνακαλεῖται, πολλάκις δὲ πάλιν ἀμβλύνει καὶ κατηρεμίζει διαχεομένων ἐν τῷ σώματι τῶν ἀναλωμάτων ὑπὸ λειότητος· ὥσπερ ἔνιοι τῶν ἰατρῶν τὸν ὕπνον ἐγγίνεσθαι λέγουσιν, ὅταν ἡ τῆς τροφῆς ἀναθυμίασις οἷον ἕρπουσα λείως περὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα καὶ ψηλαφῶσα ποιῇ τινα γαργαλισμόν. Τῷ δὲ κῦφι χρῶνται καὶ πόματι καὶ χρίματι· πινόμενον γὰρ δοκεῖ τὰ ἐντὸς καθαίρειν, .... χρῖμα μαλακτικόν.

     81. Cyphi ³⁹⁸ is a compound composed of sixteen ingredients: honey, wine, raisins, cyperus, resin, myrrh, aspalathus, seselis, mastich, bitumen, rush, sorrel, and in addition to these both the junipers, of which they call one the larger and one the smaller, cardamum, and calamus. These are compounded, not at random, but while the sacred writings are being read to the perfumers as they mix the ingredients.

     As for this number, even if it appears quite clear that it is the square of a square and is the only one of the numbers forming a square that has its perimeter equal to its area ³⁹⁹, and deserves to be admired for this reason, yet it must be said that its contribution to the topic under discussion is very slight. Most of the materials that are taken into this compound, inasmuch as they have aromatic properties, give forth a sweet emanation and a beneficent exhalation, by which the air is changed, and the body, being moved gently and softly ⁴⁰⁰ by the current, acquires a temperament conducive to sleep; and the distress and strain of our daily carking cares, as if they were knots, these exhalations relax and loosen without the aid of wine. The imaginative faculty that is susceptible to dreams it brightens like a mirror, and makes it clearer no less effectively than did the notes of the lyre which the Pythagoreans ⁴⁰¹ used to employ before sleeping as a charm and a cure for the emotional and irrational in the soul.

     It is a fact that stimulating odours often recall the failing powers of sensation, and often again lull and quiet them when their emanations are diffused in the body by virtue of their ethereal qualities; even as some physicians state that sleep supervenes when the volatile portion of our food, gently permeating the digestive tract and coming into close contact with it, produces a species of titillation. They use cyphi as both a potion and a salve; for taken internally it seems to cleanse properly the internal organs, since it is an emollient.

     82. Ἄνευ δὲ τούτων ῥητίνη μέν ἐστιν ἔργον ἡλίου καὶ σμύρνα πρὸς τὴν εἵλην τῶν φυτῶν ἐκδακρυόντων, τῶν δὲ τὸ κῦφι συντιθέντων ἔστιν ἃ νυκτὶ χαίρει μᾶλλον, ὥσπερ ὅσα πνεύμασι ψυχροῖς καὶ σκιαῖς καὶ δρόσοις καὶ ὑγρότησι τρέφεσθαι πέφυκεν· ἐπεὶ τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας φῶς ἓν μέν ἐστι καὶ ἁπλοῦν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ὁ Πίνδαρος ὁρᾶσθαί φησιν ^ιη “ἐρήμης δι’ αἰθέρος”, ὁ δὲ νυκτερινὸς ἀὴρ κρᾶμα καὶ σύμμιγμα πολλῶν γέγονε φώτων καὶ δυνάμεων οἷον σπερμάτων εἰς ἓν ἀπὸ παντὸς ἄστρου καταρρεόντων. Εἰκότως οὖν ἐκεῖνα μὲν ὡς ἁπλᾶ καὶ ἀφ’ ἡλίου τὴν γένεσιν ἔχοντα δι’ ἡμέρας, ταῦτα δ’ ὡς μικτὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ ταῖς ποιότησιν ἀρχομένης νυκτὸς ἐπιθυμιῶσι.

     82. Apart from this, resin and myrrh result from the action of the sun when the trees exude them in response to the heat. Of the ingredients which compose cyphi, there are some which delight more in the night, that is, those which are wont to thrive in cold winds and shadows and dews and dampness. For the light of day is single and simple, and Pindar ⁴⁰² says that the sun is seen “through the deserted aether”. But the air at night is a composite mixture made up of many lights and forces, even as though seeds from every star were showered down into one place. Very appropriately, therefore, they burn resin and myrrh in the daytime, for these are simple substances and have their origin from the sun; but the cyphi, since it is compounded of ingredients of all sorts of qualities, they offer at nightfall ⁴⁰³.

     1. … Ὁ Σύλλας “ταῦτ’” εἶπε· “τῷ γὰρ ἐμῷ μύθῳ προσήκει κἀκεῖθέν ἐστι· ἀλλ’ εἰ δή τι πρὸς τὰς ἀνὰ χεῖρα ταύτας καὶ διὰ στόματος πᾶσι δόξας περὶ τοῦ προσώπου τῆς σελήνης προανεκρούσασθε, πρῶτον ἡδέως ἄν μοι δοκῶ πυθέσθαι”. “Τί δ’ οὐκ ἐμέλλομεν”, εἶπον, “ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν τούτοις ἀπορίας ἐπ’ ἐκεῖνα ἀπωσθέντες; ὡς γὰρ οἱ ἐν νοσήμασι χρονίοις πρὸς τὰ κοινὰ βοηθήματα καὶ τὰς συνήθεις διαίτας ἀπειπόντες ἐπὶ καθαρμοὺς καὶ περίαπτα καὶ ὀνείρους τρέπονται, οὕτως ἀναγκαῖον ἐν δυσθεωρήτοις καὶ ἀπόροις σκέψεσιν, ὅταν οἱ κοινοὶ καὶ ἔνδοξοι καὶ συνήθεις λόγοι μὴ πείθωσι, πειρᾶσθαι τῶν ἀτοπωτέρων καὶ μὴ καταφρονεῖν ἀλλ’ ἐπᾴδειν ἀτεχνῶς ἑαυτοῖς τὰ τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ διὰ πάντων τἀληθὲς ἐξελέγχειν.

     1. … These were Sulla’s words ¹. “For it concerns my story and that is its source; but I think that I should first like to learn whether there is any need to put back for a fresh start ² to those opinions concerning the face of the moon which are current and on the lips of everyone”. “What else would you expect us to have done”, I said ³, “since it was the difficulty in these opinions that drove us from our course upon those others? As people with chronic diseases when they have despaired of ordinary remedies and customary regimens turn to expiations and amulets and dreams, just so in obscure and perplexing speculations, when the ordinary and reputable and customary accounts are not persuasive, it is necessary to try those that are more out of the way and not scorn them but literally to chant over ourselves ⁴ the charms of the ancients and use every means to bring the truth to test.

     2. Ὁρᾷς γὰρ εὐθὺς ὡς ἄτοπος ὁ λέγων τὸ φαινόμενον εἶδος ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ πάθος εἶναι τῆς ὄψεως ὑπεικούσης τῇ λαμπρότητι δι’ ἀσθένειαν, ὃ μαρμαρυγὴν καλοῦμεν, οὐ συνορῶν ὅτι πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἔδει τοῦτο γίνεσθαι μᾶλλον ὀξὺν ἀπαντῶντα καὶ πλήκτην –ὥς που καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ^α τὴν ἑκατέρων ἀποδίδωσιν οὐκ ἀηδῶς διαφοράν

Ἥλιος ὀξυβελὴς ἠδ’ ἱλάειρα Σελήνη,

τὸ ἐπαγωγὸν αὐτῆς καὶ ἱλαρὸν καὶ ἄλυπον οὕτως προσαγορεύσας–, ἔπειτα λόγον ἀποδιδούς, καθ’ ὃν αἱ ἀμυδραὶ καὶ ἀσθενεῖς ὄψεις οὐδεμίαν διαφορὰν ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ μορφῆς ἐνορῶσιν, ἀλλὰ λεῖος αὐταῖς ἀντιλάμπει καὶ περίπλεως αὐτῆς ὁ κύκλος, οἱ δ’ ὀξὺ καὶ σφοδρὸν ὁρῶντες ἐξακριβοῦσι μᾶλλον καὶ διαστέλλουσιν ἐκτυπούμενα τὰ εἴδη τοῦ προσώπου καὶ τῆς διαφορᾶς ἅπτονται σαφέστερον· ἔδει γὰρ οἶμαι τοὐναντίον, εἴπερ ἡττωμένου πάθος ὄμματος ἐποίει τὴν φαντασίαν, ὅπου τὸ πάσχον ἀσθενέστερον, σαφέστερον εἶναι τὸ φαινόμενον. Ἡ δ’ ἀνωμαλία καὶ παντάπασιν ἐλέγχει τὸν λόγον· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι συνεχοῦς σκιᾶς καὶ συγκεχυμένης ὄψις, ἀλλ’ οὐ φαύλως ὑπογράφων ὁ Ἀγησιάναξ εἴρηκε

πᾶσα μὲν ἥδε πέριξ πυρὶ λάμπεται, ἐν δ’ ἄρα μέσσῃ
γλαυκότερον κυάνοιο φαείνεται ἠύτε κούρης
ὄμμα καὶ ὑγρὰ μέτωπα· τὰ δὲ ῥέθει ἄντα ἔοικεν·

ὄντως γὰρ ὑποδύεται περιόντα τοῖς λαμπροῖς τὰ σκιερὰ καὶ πιέζει πιεζόμενα πάλιν ὑπ’ αὐτῶν καὶ ἀποκοπτόμενα, καὶ ὅλως πέπλεκται δι’ ἀλλήλων, … γραφικὴν τὴν διατύπωσιν εἶναι τοῦ σχήματος. Ταὐτὸ δὲ καὶ πρὸς Κλέαρχον, ὦ Ἀριστότελες, οὐκ ἀπιθάνως ἐδόκει λέγεσθαι τὸν ὑμέτερον· ὑμέτερος γὰρ ἁνήρ, Ἀριστοτέλους τοῦ παλαιοῦ γεγονὼς συνήθης, εἰ καὶ πολλὰ τοῦ Περιπάτου παρέτρεψεν”.

     2. Well, to begin with, you see that it is absurd to call the figure seen in the moon an affection of vision in its feebleness giving way to brilliance, a condition which we call bedazzlement. Anyone who asserts this ⁵ does not observe that this phenomenon should rather have occurred in relation to the sun, since the sun lights upon us keen and violent (as Empedocles ⁶ too somewhere not infelicitously renders the difference of the two:

The sun keen-shafted and the gentle moon,

referring in this way to her allurement and cheerfulness and harmlessness), and moreover does not explain why dull and weak eyes discern no distinction of shape in the moon but her orb for them has an even and full light, whereas those of keen and robust vision make out more precisely and distinctly the pattern of facial features and more clearly perceive the variations. In fact the contrary, I think, should have been the case if the image resulted from an affection of the eye when it is overpowered: the weaker the subject affected, the clearer should be the appearance of the image. The unevenness also entirely refutes the hypothesis, for the shadow that one sees is not continuous and confused but is not badly depicted by the words of Agesianax ⁷:

She gleams with fire encircled, but within
Bluer than lapis show a maiden’s eye
And dainty brow, a visage manifest.

In truth, the dark patches submerge beneath the bright ones which they encompass and confine them, being confined and curtailed by them in turn; and they are thoroughly intertwined with each other so as to make the delineation of the figure resemble a painting. This, Aristotle, seemed ⁸ to be a point not without cogency against your Clearchus ⁹ also. For the man is yours, since he was an associate of the ancient Aristotle, although he did pervert many doctrines of the School” ¹⁰.

     3. Ὑπολαβόντος δὲ τοῦ Ἀπολλωνίδου τὸν λόγον καὶ τίς ἦν ἡ δόξα τοῦ Κλεάρχου διαπυθομένου “παντὶ μᾶλλον” ἔφην “ἀγνοεῖν ἢ σοὶ προσῆκόν ἐστι λόγον ὥσπερ ἀφ’ ἑστίας τῆς γεωμετρίας ὁρμώμενον. Λέγει γὰρ ἁνὴρ εἰκόνας ἐσοπτρικὰς εἶναι καὶ εἴδωλα τῆς μεγάλης θαλάσσης ἐμφαινόμενα τῇ σελήνῃ τὸ καλούμενον πρόσωπον. Ἥ τε γὰρ ἀκτὶς ἀνακλωμένη πολλαχόθεν ἅπτεσθαι τῶν οὐ κατ’ εὐθυωρίαν ὁρωμένων πέφυκεν, ἥ τε πανσέληνος αὐτὴ πάντων ἐσόπτρων ὁμαλότητι καὶ στιλπνότητι κάλλιστόν ἐστι καὶ καθαρώτατον. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὴν ἶριν οἴεσθ’ ὑμεῖς ἀνακλωμένης ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον τῆς ὄψεως ἐνορᾶσθαι τῷ νέφει λαβόντι νοτερὰν ἡσυχῇ λειότητα καὶ πῆξιν, οὕτως ἐκεῖνος ἐνορᾶσθαι τῇ σελήνῃ τὴν ἔξω θάλασσαν οὐκ ἐφ’ ἧς ἐστι χώρας, ἀλλ’ ὅθεν ἡ κλάσις ἐποίησε τῇ ὄψει τὴν ἐπαφὴν αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν ἀνταύγειαν· ὥς που πάλιν ὁ Ἀγησιάναξ εἴρηκεν

ᾗ πόντου μέγα κῦμα καταντία κυμαίνοντος
δείκελον ἰνδάλλοιτο πυριφλεγέθοντος ἐσόπτρου”.

     3. Apollonides broke in and inquired what the opinion of Clearchus was. “You are the last person”, I said, “who has any right not to know a theory of which geometry is, as it were, the very hearth and home. The man, you see, asserts that what is called the face consists of mirrored likenesses, that is images of the great ocean reflected in the moon ¹¹, for the visual ray when reflected naturally reaches from many points objects which are not directly visible and the full moon is itself in uniformity and lustre ¹² the finest and clearest of all mirrors. Just as you think, then, that the reflection of the visual ray to the sun accounts for the appearance of the rainbow in a cloud where the moisture has become somewhat smooth and condensed ¹³, so Clearchus thought that the outer ocean is seen in the moon, not in the place where it is but in the place whence the visual ray has been deflected to the ocean and the reflection of the ocean to us. So Agesianax again has somewhere said:

Or swell of ocean surging opposite
Be mirrored in a looking-glass of flame” ¹⁴.

     4. Ἡσθεὶς οὖν ὁ Ἀπολλωνίδης “ὡς ἴδιον” εἶπε “καὶ καινὸν ὅλως τὸ σκευώρημα τῆς δόξης, τόλμαν δέ τινα καὶ μοῦσαν ἔχοντος ἀνδρός· ἀλλὰ πῆ τὸν ἔλεγχον αὐτῷ προσῆγε”; “Πρῶτον μέν” εἶπον, “ᾗ μία φύσις τῆς ἔξω θαλάσσης ἐστί, σύρρουν καὶ συνεχὲς κύκλῳ πέλαγος, ἡ δ’ ἔμφασις οὐ μία τῶν ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ μελασμάτων, ἀλλ’ οἷον ἰσθμοὺς ἔχουσα, τοῦ λαμπροῦ διαιροῦντος καὶ διορίζοντος τὸ σκιερόν· ὅθεν ἑκάστου τόπου χωρισθέντος καὶ πέρας ἴδιον ἔχοντος αἱ τῶν φωτεινῶν ἐπιβολαὶ τοῖς σκοτεινοῖς ὕψους εἰκόνα καὶ βάθους λαμβάνουσαι τὰς περὶ τὰ ὄμματα καὶ τὰ χείλη φαινομένας εἰκόνας ὁμοιότατα διετύπωσαν· ὥστ’ ἢ πλείονας ἔξω θαλάσσας ὑποληπτέον ἰσθμοῖς τισι καὶ ἠπείροις ἀπολαμβανομένας, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἄτοπον καὶ ψεῦδος, ἢ μιᾶς οὔσης οὐ πιθανὸν εἰκόνα διεσπασμένην οὕτως ἐμφαίνεσθαι.

     Ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ ἐρωτῶν ἀσφαλέστερόν ἐστιν ἢ ἀποφαίνεσθαι σοῦ παρόντος, εἰ τῆς οἰκουμένης εὖρος τοσαύτης καὶ μῆκος ἐνδέχεται πᾶσιν ὡσαύτως ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης ὄψιν ἀνακλωμένην ἐπιθιγγάνειν τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ τοῖς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ μεγάλῃ θαλάττῃ πλέουσι νὴ Δία καὶ οἰκοῦσιν, ὥσπερ Βρεττανοῖς, καὶ ταῦτα μηδὲ τῆς γῆς, ὥς φατε, πρὸς τὴν σφαῖραν τῆς σελήνης κέντρου λόγον ἐπεχούσης. Τουτὶ μὲν οὖν” ἔφην “σὸν ἔργον ἐπισκοπεῖν, τὴν δὲ πρὸς τὴν σελήνην ἢ τῆς ὄψεως κλάσιν οὐκέτι σὸν οὐδ’ Ἱππάρχου· καίτοι γε φιλοπράγμων ἁνήρ· ἀλλὰ πολλοῖς οὐκ ἀρέσκει φυσιολογῶν περὶ τῆς ὄψεως. Ὡς αὐτὴν ὁμοπαθῆ κρᾶσιν ἴσχειν καὶ σύμπηξιν εἰκός ἐστι μᾶλλον ἢ πληγάς τινας καὶ ἀποπηδήσεις, οἵας ἔπλαττε τῶν ἀτόμων Ἐπίκουρος. Οὐκ ἐθελήσει δ’ οἶμαι τὴν σελήνην ἐμβριθὲς ὑποθέσθαι σῶμα καὶ στερεὸν ὑμῖν ὁ Κλέαρχος, ἀλλ’ ἄστρον αἰθέριον καὶ φωσφόρον, ὥς φατε· τοιαύτῃ δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ἢ θραύειν προσήκει ἢ ἀποστρέφειν, ὥστ’ οἴχεσθαι τὴν ἀνάκλασιν. Εἰ δὲ προσαμυνεῖταί τις ἡμᾶς, ἐρησόμεθα πῶς μόνον πρόσωπόν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ τὸ τῆς θαλάσσης ἔσοπτρον, ἄλλῳ δ’ οὐδενὶ τῶν τοσούτων ἀστέρων ἐνορᾶται· καίτοι τό γ’ εἰκὸς ἀπαιτεῖ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἢ πρὸς μηθένα τοῦτο πάσχειν τὴν ὄψιν. Ἀλλ’ …” πρὸς τὸν Λεύκιον ἔφην ἀποβλέψας, “ὃ πρῶτον ἐλέχθη τῶν ἡμετέρων ὑπόμνησον”.

     4. Apollonides was delighted. “What an original and absolutely novel contrivance the hypothesis is”, he said, “the work of a man of daring and culture; but how did you proceed to bring your counter-argument against it”? “In the first place”, I said, “in that, although the outer ocean is a single thing, a confluent and continuous sea ¹⁵, the dark spots in the moon do not appear as one buts having something like isthmuses between them, the brilliance dividing and delimiting the shadow. Hence, since each part is separated and has its own boundary, the layers of light upon shadow ¹⁶, assuming the semblance of height and depth, have produced a very close likeness of eyes and lips. Therefore, one must assume the existence of several outer oceans separated by isthmuses and mainlands, which is absurd and false; or, if the ocean is single, it is not plausible that its reflected image be thus discontinuous.

     Tell me whether —for in your presence it is safer to put this as a question than as an assertion— whether it is possible, though the inhabited world has length and breadth, that every visual ray when reflected from the moon should in like manner reach the ocean, even the visual rays of those who are sailing in the great ocean itself, yes and who dwell in it as the Britons do, and that too even though the earth, as you say ¹⁷, does not have the relation of centre to the orbit of the moon. Well, this”, I said, “it is your business to consider; but the reflection of vision either in respect to the moon or in general is beyond your province and that of Hipparchus too ¹⁸. Although Hipparchus was industrious, still many find him unsatisfactory in his explanation of the nature of vision itself, which is more likely to involve a sympathetic compound and fusion ¹⁹ than any impacts and rebounds such as those of the atoms that Epicurus invented ²⁰. Moreover, Clearchus, I think, would refuse to assume with us that the moon is a body of weight and solidity instead of an ethereal and luminiferous star as you say ²¹; and such a moon ought to shatter and divert the visual ray so that reflection would be out of the question. But if anyone dismisses our objections, we shall ask how it is that the reflection of the ocean exists as a face only in the moon and is seen in none of all the many other stars, although reason requires that all or none of them should affect the visual ray in this fashion. But let us have done with this; and do you”, I said with a glance at Leucius, “recall to me what part of our position was stated first”.

     5. Καὶ ὁ Λεύκιος “ἀλλὰ μὴ δόξωμεν” ἔφη “κομιδῇ προπηλακίζειν τὸν Φαρνάκην, οὕτω τὴν Στωικὴν δόξαν ἀπροσαύδητον ὑπερβαίνοντες, εἰπὲ δή τι πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα, παγέντος ἀέρος μῖγμα καὶ μαλακοῦ πυρὸς ὑποτιθέμενον τὴν σελήνην, εἶθ’ οἷον ἐν γαλήνῃ φρίκης ὑποτρεχούσης φάσκοντα τοῦ ἀέρος διαμελαίνοντος ἔμφασιν γίνεσθαι μορφοειδῆ … ”. “Xρηστῶς γ’” εἶπον “ὦ Λεύκιε, τὴν ἀτοπίαν εὐφήμοις περιαμπέχεις ὀνόμασιν· οὐχ οὕτω δ’ ὁ ἑταῖρος ἡμῶν, ἀλλ’, ὅπερ ἀληθὲς ἦν, ἔλεγεν ὑπωπιάζειν αὐτοὺς τὴν σελήνην, σπίλων καὶ μελασμῶν ἀναπιμπλάντας, ὁμοῦ μὲν Ἄρτεμιν καὶ Ἀθηνᾶν ἀνακαλοῦντας ὁμοῦ δὲ σύμμιγμα καὶ φύραμα ποιοῦντας ἀέρος ζοφεροῦ καὶ πυρὸς ἀνθρακώδους, οὐκ ἔχουσαν ἔξαψιν οὐδ’ αὐγὴν οἰκείαν, ἀλλὰ δυσκρινές τι σῶμα τυφόμενον ἀεὶ καὶ πυρίκαυστον, ὥσπερ τῶν κεραυνῶν τοὺς ἀλαμπεῖς καὶ ψολόεντας ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν προσαγορευομένους. Ὅτι μέντοι πῦρ ἀνθρακῶδες, οἷον οὗτοι τὸ τῆς σελήνης ποιοῦσιν, οὐκ ἔχει διαμονὴν οὐδὲ σύστασιν ὅλως, ἐὰν μὴ στερεᾶς ὕλης καὶ στεγούσης ἅμα καὶ τρεφούσης ἐπιλάβηται, βέλτιον οἶμαι συνορᾶν ἐνίων φιλοσόφων τοὺς ἐν παιδιᾷ λέγοντας τὸν Ἥφαιστον εἰρῆσθαι χωλόν, ὅτι τὸ πῦρ ξύλου χωρὶς ὥσπερ οἱ χωλοὶ βακτηρίας οὐ πρόεισιν.

     Εἰ οὖν ἡ σελήνη πῦρ ἐστι, πόθεν αὐτῇ τοσοῦτος ἐγγέγονεν ἀήρ; ὁ γὰρ ἄνω καὶ κύκλῳ φερόμενος οὑτοσὶ τόπος οὐκ ἀέρος, ἀλλὰ κρείττονος οὐσίας καὶ πάντα λεπτύνειν καὶ συνεξάπτειν φύσιν ἐχούσης ἐστίν· εἰ δ’ ἐγγέγονε, πῶς οὐκ οἴχεται μεταβάλλων εἰς ἕτερον εἶδος ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐξαιθερωθείς, ἀλλὰ σῴζεται καὶ συνοικεῖ πυρὶ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, ὥσπερ ἥλοις ἀραρὼς ἀεὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς μέρεσι καὶ συγγεγομφωμένος; Ἀραιῷ μὲν γὰρ ὄντι καὶ συγκεχυμένῳ μὴ μένειν ἀλλὰ σφάλλεσθαι προσήκει, συμπεπηγέναι δ’ οὐ δυνατὸν ἀναμεμιγμένον πυρὶ καὶ μήθ’ ὑγροῦ μετέχοντα μήτε γῆς, οἷς μόνοις ἀὴρ συμπήγνυσθαι πέφυκεν. Ἡ δὲ ῥύμη καὶ τὸν ἐν λίθοις ἀέρα καὶ τὸν ἐν ψυχρῷ μολίβδῳ συνεκκάει, μήτι γε δὴ τὸν ἐν πυρὶ δινούμενον μετὰ τάχους τοσούτου.

     Καὶ γὰρ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ δυσκολαίνουσι πάγον ἀέρος χαλαζώδη ποιοῦντι τὴν σελήνην ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς σφαίρας περιεχόμενον, αὐτοὶ δὲ τὴν σελήνην σφαῖραν οὖσαν πυρὸς ἀέρα φασὶν ἄλλον ἄλλῃ διεσπασμένον περιέχειν, καὶ ταῦτα μήτε ῥήξεις ἔχουσαν ἐν ἑαυτῇ μήτε βάθη καὶ κοιλότητας, ἅπερ οἱ γεώδη ποιοῦντες ἀπολείπουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐπιπολῆς δηλονότι τῇ κυρτότητι ἐπικείμενον. Τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶ καὶ πρὸς διαμονὴν ἄλογον καὶ πρὸς θέαν ἀδύνατον ἐν ταῖς πανσελήνοις· διορίσασθαι γὰρ οὐκ ἔδει μέλανα μένοντα καὶ σκιερόν, ἀλλ’ ἀμαυροῦσθαι κρυπτόμενον ἢ συνεκλάμπειν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου καταλαμβανομένης τῆς σελήνης. Καὶ γὰρ παρ’ ἡμῖν ὁ μὲν ἐν βάθεσι καὶ κοιλώμασι τῆς γῆς, οὗ μὴ δίεισιν αὐγή, διαμένει σκιώδης καὶ ἀφώτιστος, ὁ δ’ ἔξωθεν τῇ γῇ περικεχυμένος φέγγος ἴσχει καὶ χρόαν αὐγοειδῆ. Πρὸς πᾶσαν μὲν γάρ ἐστι ποιότητα καὶ δύναμιν εὐκέραστος ὑπὸ μανότητος, μάλιστα δὲ φωτὸς ἂν ἐπιψαύσῃ μόνον, ὥς φατε, καὶ θίγῃ, δι’ ὅλου τρεπόμενος ἐκφωτίζεται. Ταὐτὸν οὖν τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς εἰς βάθη τινὰ καὶ φάραγγας συνωθοῦσιν ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ τὸν ἀέρα κἂν καλῶς ἔοικε βοηθεῖν, ὑμᾶς τε διεξελέγχει τοὺς ἐξ ἀέρος καὶ πυρὸς οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως μιγνύντας αὐτῆς καὶ συναρμόζοντας τὴν σφαῖραν. Οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε λείπεσθαι σκιὰν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπιφανείας, ὅταν ὁ ἥλιος ἐπιλάμπῃ τῷ φωτὶ πᾶν ὁπόσον καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀποτεμνόμεθα τῇ ὄψει τῆς σελήνης”.

     5. Whereat Leucius said: “Nay, lest we give the impression of flatly insulting Pharnaces by thus passing over the Stoic opinion unnoticed, do now by all means address some remark to the gentleman who, supposing the moon to be a mixture of air and gentle fire, then says that what appears to be a figure is the result of the blackening of the air as when in a calm water there runs a ripple under the surface” ²². “You are very nice, Leucius”, I said, “to dress up the absurdity in respectable language. Not so our comrade ²³; but he said what is true, that they blacken the Moon’s eye defiling her with blemishes and bruises, at one and the same time addressing her as Artemis ²⁴ and Athena ²⁵ and making her a mass compounded of murky air and smouldering fire neither kindling nor shining of herself, an indiscriminate kind of body, forever charred and smoking like the thunderbolts that are darkling and by the poets called lurid ²⁶. Yet a smouldering fire, such as they suppose that of the moon to be, cannot persist or subsist at all unless it get solid fuel that shelters and at the same time nourishes it ²⁷; this some philosophers, I believe, see less clearly than do those who say in jest that Hephaestus is said to be lame because fire without wood, like the lame without a stick, makes no progress ²⁸.

     If the moon really is fire, whence came so much air in it? For the region that we see revolving above us is the place not of air but of a superior substance, the nature of which is to rarefy all things and set them afire; and, if air did come to be there, why has it not been etherealized by the fire ²⁹ and in this transformation disappeared but instead has been preserved as a housemate of fire this long time, as if nails had fixed it forever to the same spots and riveted it together? Air is tenuous and without configuration, and so it naturally slips and does not stay in place; and it cannot have become solidified if it is commingled with fire and partakes neither of moisture nor of earth by which all air can be solidified ³⁰. Moreover, velocity ignites the air in stones and in cold lead, not to speak of the air enclosed in fire that is whirling about with such great speed ³¹.

     Why, they are vexed by Empedocles because he represents the moon to be a hail-like congelation of air encompassed by the sphere of fire ³²; but they themselves say that the moon is a sphere of fire containing air dispersed about it here and there, and a sphere moreover that has neither clefts nor depths and hollows, such as are allowed by those who make it an earthy body, but has the air evidently resting upon its convex surface. That it should so remain is both contrary to reason and impossible to square with what is observed when the moon is full. On that assumption there should have been no distinction of dark and shadowy air; but all the air should become dark when occulted, or when the moon is caught by the sun it should all shine out with an even light. For with us too, while the air in the depths and hollows of the earth, wherever the sun's rays do not penetrate, remains shadowy and unlit, that which suffuses the earth outside takes on brilliance and a luminous colour. The reason is that air, because of its subtility, is delicately attuned to every quality and influence; and, especially if it touches light or, to use your phrase, merely is tangent to it, it is altered through and through and entirely illuminated ³³. So this same point seems right handsomely to re-enforce those who pack the air on the moon into depths of some kind and chasms, even as it utterly refutes you who make her globe an unintelligible mixture or compound of air and fire, —for it is not possible ³⁴ that a shadow remain upon the surface when the sun casts his light upon all of the moon that is within the compass of our vision”.

     6. Καὶ ὁ Φαρνάκης ἔτι μου λέγοντος “τοῦτ’ ἐκεῖνο πάλιν” εἶπεν “ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς ἀφῖκται τὸ περίακτον ἐκ τῆς Ἀκαδημείας, ἐν τῷ πρὸς ἑτέρους λέγειν διατρίβοντας ἑκάστοτε μὴ παρέχειν ἔλεγχον ὧν αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἀπολογουμένοις ἀεὶ χρῆσθαι, μὴ κατηγοροῦσιν, ἂν ἐντυγχάνωσιν. ἐμὲ δ’ οὖν οὐκ ἐξάξεσθε τήμερον εἰς τὸ διδόναι λόγον ὧν ἐπικαλεῖτε τοῖς Στωικοῖς, πρὶν εὐθύνας λαβεῖν παρ’ ὑμῶν ἄνω τὰ κάτω τοῦ κόσμου ποιούντων”. Kαὶ ὁ Λεύκιος γελάσας “μόνον” εἶπεν “ὦ τάν, μὴ κρίσιν ἡμῖν ἀσεβείας ἐπαγγείλῃς, ὥσπερ Ἀρίσταρχον ᾤετο δεῖν Κλεάνθης τὸν Σάμιον ἀσεβείας προσκαλεῖσθαι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὡς κινοῦντα τοῦ κόσμου τὴν ἑστίαν, ὅτι τὰ φαινόμενα σῴζειν ἁνὴρ ἐπειρᾶτο μένειν τὸν οὐρανὸν ὑποτιθέμενος, ἐξελίττεσθαι δὲ κατὰ λοξοῦ κύκλου τὴν γῆν, ἅμα καὶ περὶ τὸν αὑτῆς ἄξονα δινουμένην.

     Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν αὐτοὶ παρ’ αὑτῶν λέγομεν· οἱ δὲ γῆν ὑποτιθέμενοι τὴν σελήνην, ὦ βέλτιστε, τί μᾶλλον ὑμῶν ἄνω τὰ κάτω ποιοῦσι τὴν γῆν ἱδρυόντων ἐνταῦθα μετέωρον ἐν τῷ ἀέρι, πολλῷ τινι μείζονα τῆς σελήνης οὖσαν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἐκλειπτικοῖς πάθεσιν οἱ μαθηματικοὶ καὶ ταῖς διὰ τοῦ σκιάσματος παρόδοις τῆς ἐποχῆς τὸ μέγεθος ἀναμετροῦσιν; ἥ τε γὰρ σκιὰ τῆς γῆς ἐλάττων ὑπὸ μείζονος τοῦ φωτίζοντος ἀνατείνει καὶ τῆς σκιᾶς αὐτῆς λεπτὸν ὂν τὸ ἄνω καὶ στενὸν οὐδ’ Ὅμηρον, ὥς φασιν, ἔλαθεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν νύκτα ‘θοήν’ ὀξύτητι τῆς σκιᾶς προσηγόρευσεν· ὑπὸ τούτου δ’ ὅμως ἁλισκομένη ταῖς ἐκλείψεσιν ἡ σελήνη τρισὶ μόλις τοῖς αὑτῆς μεγέθεσιν ἀπαλλάττεται. Σκόπει δὴ πόσων ἡ γῆ σεληνῶν ἐστιν, εἰ σκιὰν ἀφίησιν, ᾗ βραχυτάτη, πλάτος τρισέληνον. Ἀλλ’ ὅμως ὑπὲρ τῆς σελήνης μὴ πέσῃ δεδοίκατε, περὶ δὲ τῆς γῆς ἴσως Αἰσχύλος ὑμᾶς πέπεικεν ὡς ὁ Ἄτλας

ἕστηκε κίον’ οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ χθονὸς
ὤμοις ἐρείδων, ἄχθος οὐκ εὐάγκαλον.

     Ἢ τῇ μὲν σελήνῃ κοῦφος ἀὴρ ὑποτρέχει καὶ στερεὸν ὄγκον οὐκ ἐχέγγυος ἐνεγκεῖν, τὴν δὲ γῆν κατὰ Πίνδαρον ‘ἀδαμαντοπέδιλοι κίονες’ περιέχουσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Φαρνάκης αὐτὸς μὲν ἐν ἀδείᾳ τοῦ πεσεῖν τὴν γῆν ἐστιν, οἰκτίρει δὲ τοὺς ὑποκειμένους τῇ μεταφορᾷ τῆς σελήνης Αἰθίοπας ἢ Ταπροβηνούς, μὴ βάρος αὐτοῖς ἐμπέσῃ τοσοῦτον; καίτοι τῇ μὲν σελήνῃ βοήθεια πρὸς τὸ μὴ πεσεῖν ἡ κίνησις αὐτὴ καὶ τὸ ῥοιζῶδες τῆς περιαγωγῆς, ὥσπερ ὅσα ταῖς σφενδόναις ἐντεθέντα τῆς καταφορᾶς κώλυσιν ἴσχει τὴν κύκλῳ περιδίνησιν· ἄγει γὰρ ἕκαστον ἡ κατὰ φύσιν κίνησις, ἂν ὑπ’ ἄλλου μηδενὸς ἀποστρέφηται. Διὸ τὴν σελήνην οὐκ ἄγει τὸ βάρος, ὑπὸ τῆς περιφορᾶς τὴν ῥοπὴν ἐκκρουόμενον· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἴσως λόγον εἶχε θαυμάζειν μένουσαν αὐτὴν παντάπασιν ὥσπερ ἡ γῆ καὶ ἀτρεμοῦσαν. Νῦν δὲ σελήνη μὲν ἔχει μεγάλην αἰτίαν τοῦ δεῦρο μὴ φέρεσθαι, τὴν δὲ γῆν ἑτέρας κινήσεως ἄμοιρον οὖσαν εἰκὸς ἦν μόνῳ τῷ βαρύνοντι κινεῖν. Βαρυτέρα δ’ ἐστὶ τῆς σελήνης οὐχ ὅσῳ μείζων, ἀλλ’ ἔτι μᾶλλον, ἅτε δὴ διὰ θερμότητα καὶ πύρωσιν ἐλαφρᾶς γεγενημένης. Ὅλως δ’ ἔοικεν ἐξ ὧν λέγεις ἡ σελήνη μᾶλλον, εἰ πῦρ ἐστι, γῆς δεῖσθαι καὶ ὕλης, ἐν ᾗ βέβηκε καὶ προσπέφυκε καὶ συνέχει καὶ ζωπυρεῖ τὴν δύναμιν ‘οὐ γὰρ ἔστι πῦρ χωρὶς ὕλης διανοηθῆναι σῳζόμενον’· γῆν δέ φατε ὑμεῖς ἄνευ βάσεως καὶ ῥίζης διαμένειν”.

     “Πάνυ μὲν οὖν” εἶπεν ὁ Φαρνάκης, “τὸν οἰκεῖον καὶ κατὰ φύσιν τόπον ἔχουσαν, ὥσπερ αὕτη, τὸν μέσον. οὗτος γάρ ἐστι, περὶ ὃν ἀντερείδει πάντα τὰ βάρη ῥέποντα καὶ φέρεται καὶ συννεύει πανταχόθεν· ἡ δ’ ἄνω χώρα πᾶσα, κἄν τι δέξηται γεῶδες ὑπὸ βίας ἀναρριφέν, εὐθὺς ἐκθλίβει δεῦρο, μᾶλλον δ’ ἀφίησιν, ᾗ πέφυκεν οἰκείᾳ ῥοπῇ καταφερόμενον”.

     6. Even while I was still speaking Pharnaces spoke: “Here we are faced again with that stock manoeuvre of the Academy ³⁵: on each occasion that they engage in discourse with others they will not offer any accounting of their own assertions but must keep their interlocutors on the defensive lest they become the prosecutors. Well, me you will not to‑day entice into defending the Stoics against your charges until I have called you people to account for turning the universe upside down”. Thereupon Leucius laughed and said: “Oh sir, just don’t bring suit against us for impiety as Cleanthes thought that the Greeks ought to lay an action for impiety against Aristarchus the Samian on the ground that he was disturbing the hearth of the universe because he sought to save the phenomena by assuming that the heaven is at rest while the earth is revolving along the ecliptic and at the same time is rotating about its own axis ³⁶.

     We ³⁷ express no opinion of our own now; but those who suppose that the moon is earth, why do they, my dear sir, turn things upside down any more than you ³⁸ do who station the earth here suspended in the air? Yet the earth is a great deal larger than the moon ³⁹ according to the mathematicians who during the occurrence of eclipses and the transits of the moon through the shadow calculate her magnitude by the length of time that she is obscured ⁴⁰. For the shadow of the earth grows smaller the further it extends, because the body that cast the light is larger than the earth ⁴¹; and that the upper part of the shadow itself is taper and narrow was recognized, as they say, even by Homer, who called night ‘nimble’ because of the sharpness of the shadow ⁴². Yet captured by this part in eclipses ⁴³ the moon barely escapes from it in a space thrice her own magnitude. Consider then how many times as large as the moon the earth is, if the earth casts a shadow which at its narrowest is thrice as broad as the moon ⁴⁴. All the same, you fear for the moon lest it fall; whereas concerning the earth perhaps Aeschylus has persuaded you that Atlas

Stands, staying on his back the prop of earth
And sky no tender burden to embrace ⁴⁵.

     Or, while under the moon there stretches air unsubstantial and incapable of supporting a solid mass, the earth, as Pindar says, is encompassed by ‘steel-shod pillars’ ⁴⁶; and therefore Pharnaces is himself without any fear that the earth may fall but is sorry for the Ethiopians or Taprobanians ⁴⁷, who are situated under the circuit of the moon, lest such a great weight fall upon them. Yet the moon is saved from falling by its very motion and the rapidity of its revolution, just as missiles placed in slings are kept from falling by being whirled around in a circle ⁴⁸. For each thing is governed by its natural motion unless it be diverted by something else. That is why the moon is not governed by its weight: the weight has its influence frustrated by the rotatory motion. Nay, there would be more reason perhaps to wonder if she were absolutely unmoved and stationary like the earth. As it is, while the moon has good cause for not moving in this direction, the influence of weight alone might reasonably move the earth, since it has no part in any other motion; and the earth is heavier than the moon not merely in proportion to its greater size but still more, inasmuch as the moon has, of course, become light through the action of heat and fire ⁴⁹. In short, your own statements seem to make the moon, if it is fire, stand in greater need of earth, that is of matter to serve it as a foundation, as something to which to adhere, as something to lend it coherence, and as something that can be ignited by it, for it is impossible to imagine fire being maintained without fuel ⁵⁰, but you people say that earth does abide without root or foundation” ⁵¹.

     “Certainly it does”, said Pharnaces, “in occupying the proper and natural place that belongs to it, the middle, for this is the place about which all weights in their natural inclination press against one another and towards which they move and converge from every direction, whereas all the upper space, even if it receive something earthy which has been forcibly hurled up into it, straightway extrudes it into our region or rather lets it go where its proper inclination causes it naturally to descend” ⁵².

     7. Πρὸς τοῦτ’ ἐγὼ τῷ Λευκίῳ χρόνον ἐγγενέσθαι βουλόμενος ἀναμιμνησκομένῳ, τὸν Θέωνα καλέσας “τίς” ἔφην “ὦ Θέων, εἴρηκε τῶν τραγικῶν ὡς ἰατροί

πικρὰν πικροῖς κλύζουσι φαρμάκοις χολήν”;

     Ἀποκριναμένου δὲ τοῦ Θέωνος ὅτι Σοφοκλῆς, “καὶ δοτέον” εἶπον “ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης ἐκείνοις· φιλοσόφων δ’ οὐκ ἀκουστέον, ἂν τὰ παράδοξα παραδόξοις ἀμύνεσθαι βούλωνται καὶ μαχόμενοι πρὸς τὰ θαυμάσια τῶν δογμάτων ἀτοπώτερα καὶ θαυμασιώτερα πλάττωσιν, ὥσπερ οὗτοι τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον φορὰν εἰσάγουσιν. ᾞ τί παράδοξον οὐκ ἔνεστιν; Οὐχὶ τὴν γῆν σφαῖραν εἶναι, τηλικαῦτα βάθη καὶ ὕψη καὶ ἀνωμαλίας ἔχουσαν; Οὐκ ἀντίποδας οἰκεῖν ὥσπερ θρῖπας ἢ γαλεώτας τραπέντα ἄνω τὰ κάτω τῇ γῇ προσισχομένους; Ἡμᾶς δ’ αὐτοὺς μὴ πρὸς ὀρθὰς βεβηκότας ἀλλὰ πλαγίους ἐπιμένειν ἀπονεύοντας, ὥσπερ οἱ μεθύοντες; οὐ μύδρους χιλιοταλάντους διὰ βάθους τῆς γῆς φερομένους, ὅταν ἐξίκωνται πρὸς τὸ μέσον, ἵστασθαι μηδενὸς ἀπαντῶντος μηδ’ ὑπερείδοντος, εἰ δὲ ῥύμῃ κάτω φερόμενοι τὸ μέσον ὑπερβάλλοιεν, αὖθις ὀπίσω στρέφεσθαι καὶ ἀνακάμπτειν ἀπ’ αὐτῶν; οὐ τμήματα δοκῶν ἀποπρισθέντα τῆς γῆς ἑκατέρωθεν μὴ φέρεσθαι κάτω διὰ παντός, ἀλλὰ προσπίπτοντα πρὸς τὴν γῆν ἔξωθεν εἴσω διωθεῖσθαι καὶ ἀποκρύπτεσθαι περὶ τὸ μέσον; Οὐ ῥεῦμα λάβρον ὕδατος κάτω φερόμενον εἰ πρὸς τὸ μέσον ἔλθοι σημεῖον, ὅπερ αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν ἀσώματον, ἵστασθαι περικορυσσόμενον ἢ κύκλῳ περιπολεῖν, ἄπαυστον αἰώραν καὶ ἀκατάπαυστον αἰωρούμενον;

     Οὐδὲ γὰρ ψευδῶς ἔνια τούτων βιάσαιτο ἄν τις αὑτὸν εἰς τὸ δυνατὸν τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ καταστῆσαι. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὰ ἄνω κάτω κἂν πάντα τραπέμπαλιν εἶναι, τῶν ἄχρι τοῦ μέσου κάτω τῶν δ’ ὑπὸ τὸ μέσον αὖ πάλιν ἄνω γινομένων· ὥστ’, εἴ τις συμπαθείᾳ τῆς γῆς τὸ μέσον αὐτῆς ἔχων σταίη περὶ τὸν ὀμφαλόν, ἅμα καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἄνω καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἄνω ἔχειν τὸν αὐτόν· κἂν μὲν διασκάπτῃ τις τὸν ἐπέκεινα τόπον, ἀνακύπτον αὐτοῦ τὸ … εἶναι καὶ κάτω ἄνωθεν ἕλκεσθαι τὸν ἀνασκαπτόμενον, εἰ δὲ δὴ τούτῳ τις ἀντιβεβηκὼς νοοῖτο, τοὺς ἀμφοτέρων ἅμα πόδας ἄνω γίνεσθαι καὶ λέγεσθαι.

     7. At this —for I wished Leucius to have time to collect his thoughts— I called to Theon. "Which of the tragic poets was it, Theon", I asked, "who said that physicians

With bitter drugs the bitter bile purge?"

     Theon replied that it was Sophocles ⁵³. "Yes", I said, "and we have of necessity to allow them this procedure; but to philosophers one should not listen if they desire to repulse paradoxes with paradoxes and in struggling against opinions that are amazing fabricate others that are more amazing and outlandish ⁵⁴, as these people do in introducing their ‘motion to the centre’. What paradox is not involved in this doctrine? Not the one that the earth is a sphere although it contains such great depths and heights and irregularities ⁵⁵? Not that people live on the opposite hemisphere clinging to the earth like wood-worms or geckos turned bottomside up ⁵⁶? — and that we ourselves in standing remain not at right angles to the earth but at an oblique angle, leaning from the perpendicular like drunken men ⁵⁷? Not that incandescent masses of forty tons ⁵⁸ falling through the depth of the earth stop when they arrive at the centre, though nothing encounter or support them; and, if in their downward motion the impetus should carry them past the centre, they swing back again and return of themselves? Not that pieces of meteors burnt out on either side of the earth do not move downwards continually but falling upon the surface of the earth force their way into it from the outside and conceal themselves about the centre ⁵⁹? Not that a turbulent stream of water, if in flowing downwards should reach the middle point, which they themselves call incorporeal ⁶⁰, stops suspended or moves round about it, oscillating in an incessant and perpetual see-saw ⁶¹?

     Some of these a man could not even mistakenly force himself to conceive as possible. For this amounts to ‘upside down’ and ‘all things topsy-turvy’, everything as far as the centre being ‘down’ and everything under the centre in turn being ‘up’ ⁶². The result is that, if a man should so coalesce with the earth ⁶³ that its centre is at his navel, the same person at the same time has his head up and his feet up too. Moreover, if he dig through the further side, his bottom in emerging is up, and the man digging himself ‘up’ is pulling himself ‘down’ from ‘above’ ⁶⁴; and, if someone should then be imagined to have gone in the opposite direction to this man, the feet of both of them at the same time turn out to be ‘up’ and are so called.

     8. Τοιούτων μέντοι καὶ τοσούτων παραδοξολογιῶν οὐ μὰ Δία πήραν, ἀλλὰ θαυματοποιοῦ τινος ἀποσκευὴν καὶ πυλαίαν κατανωτισάμενοι καὶ παρέλκοντες ἑτέρους φασὶ γελοιάζειν, ἄνω τὴν σελήνην γῆν οὖσαν ἐνιδρύοντας, οὐχ ὅπου τὸ μέσον ἐστί. Καίτοι γ’ εἰ πᾶν σῶμα ἐμβριθὲς εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ συννεύει καὶ πρὸς τὸ αὑτοῦ μέσον ἀντερείδει πᾶσι τοῖς μορίοις, οὐχ ὡς μέσον οὖσα τοῦ παντὸς ἡ γῆ μᾶλλον ἢ ὡς ὅλον οἰκειώσεται μέρη αὐτῆς ὄντα τὰ βάρη· καὶ τεκμήριον … ἔσται τῶν ῥεπόντων οὐ τῇ γῇ τῆς μεσότητος πρὸς τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν γῆν κοινωνίας τινὸς καὶ συμφυΐας τοῖς ἀπωσμένοις αὐτῆς εἶτα πάλιν καταφερομένοις. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπιστρέφει τὰ μέρη ἐξ ὧν συνέστηκε, καὶ ἡ γῆ τὸν λίθον ὥσπερ … προσήκοντα δέχεται καὶ φέρει προσκείμενον· ὅθεν ἑνοῦται τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ συμφύεται πρὸς αὐτὴν τῶν τοιούτων ἕκαστον.

     Εἰ δέ τι τυγχάνει σῶμα τῇ γῇ μὴ προσνενεμημένον ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς μηδ’ ἀπεσπασμένον, ἀλλά που καθ’ αὑτὸ σύστασιν ἔσχεν ἰδίαν καὶ φύσιν, ὡς φαῖεν ἂν ἐκεῖνοι τὴν σελήνην, τί κωλύει χωρὶς εἶναι καὶ μένειν περὶ αὑτό, τοῖς αὑτοῦ πεπιεσμένον μέρεσι καὶ συμπεπεδημένον; Οὔτε γὰρ ἡ γῆ μέσον οὖσα δείκνυται τοῦ παντὸς ἥ τε πρὸς τὴν γῆν τῶν ἐνταῦθα συνέρεισις καὶ σύστασις ὑφηγεῖται τὸν τρόπον, ᾧ μένειν τὰ ἐκεῖ συμπεσόντα πρὸς τὴν σελήνην εἰκός ἐστιν. Ὁ δὲ πάντα τὰ γεώδη καὶ βαρέα συνελαύνων εἰς μίαν χώραν καὶ μέρη ποιῶν ἑνὸς σώματος οὐχ ὁρῶ διὰ τί τοῖς κούφοις τὴν αὐτὴν ἀνάγκην οὐκ ἀνταποδίδωσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐᾷ χωρὶς εἶναι συστάσεις πυρὸς τοσαύτας καὶ οὐ πάντας εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάγων τοὺς ἀστέρας ἓν φῶς οἴεται δεῖν καὶ σῶμα κοινὸν εἶναι τῶν ἀνωφερῶν καὶ φλογοειδῶν ἁπάντων.

     8. Nevertheless, though of tall tales of such a kind and number they have shouldered and lugged in — not a wallet-full, by heaven, but some juggler's pack and hotchpotch, still they say ⁶⁵ that others are playing the buffoon by placing the moon, though it is earth, on high and not where the centre is. Yet if all heavy body converges to the same point and is compressed in all its parts upon its own centre ⁶⁶, it is no more as centre of the sum of things than as a whole that the earth would appropriate to herself the heavy bodies that are parts of herself; and the downward tendency of falling bodies ⁶⁷ proves not that the earth is in the centre of the cosmos but that those bodies which when thrust away from the earth fall back to her again have some affinity and cohesion with her ⁶⁸. For as the sun attracts to itself the parts of which it consists ⁶⁹ so the earth too accepts as her own the stone ⁷⁰ that has properly a downward tendency, and consequently every such thing ultimately unites and coheres with her.

     If there is a body, however, that was not originally allotted to the earth or detached from it but has somewhat independently a constitution and nature of its own, as those men ⁷¹ would say of the moon, what is to hinder it from being permanently separate in its own place, compressed and bound together by its own parts? For it has not been proved that the earth is the centre of the sum of things ⁷², and the way in which things in our region press together and concentrate upon the earth suggests how in all probability things in that region converge upon the moon and remain there. The man who drives together into a single region all earthy and heavy things and makes them part of a single body — I do not see for what reason he does not apply the same compulsion to light objects in their turn but allows so many separate concentrations of fire and, since he does not collect all the stars together, clearly does not think that there must also be a body common to all things that are fiery and have an upward tendency.

     9. Ἀλλ’ ἥλιον μὲν ἀπλέτους μυριάδας ἀπέχειν τῆς ἄνω περιφορᾶς φατε” εἶπον, “ὦ φίλε Ἀπολλωνίδη, καὶ φωσφόρον ἐπ’ αὐτῷ καὶ στίλβοντα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πλάνητας ὑφιεμένους τε τῶν ἀπλανῶν καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐν διαστάσεσι μεγάλαις φέρεσθαι, τοῖς δὲ βαρέσι καὶ γεώδεσιν οὐδεμίαν οἴεσθε τὸν κόσμον εὐρυχωρίαν παρέχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ καὶ διάστασιν; Ὁρᾶτε ὅτι γελοῖόν ἐστιν, εἰ γῆν οὐ φήσομεν εἶναι τὴν σελήνην, ὅτι τῆς κάτω χώρας ἀφέστηκεν, ἄστρον δὲ φήσομεν, ὁρῶντες ἀπωσμένην τῆς ἄνω περιφορᾶς μυριάσι σταδίων τοσαύταις ὥσπερ εἰς βυθόν τινα καταδεδυκυῖαν. Τῶν μέν γ’ ἄστρων κατωτέρω τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὅσον οὐκ ἄν τις εἴποι μέτρον, ἀλλ’ ἐπιλείπουσιν ὑμᾶς τοὺς μαθηματικοὺς ἐκλογιζομένους οἱ ἀριθμοί, τῆς δὲ γῆς τρόπον τινὰ ψαύει καὶ περιφερομένη πλησίον,

ἅρματος ὡς πέρι χνοίη ἑλίσσεται

φησὶν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς,

ἥ τε περὶ ἄκραν … .

     Οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν σκιὰν αὐτῆς ὑπερβάλλει πολλάκις ἐπὶ μικρὸν αἰρομένην τῷ παμμέγεθες εἶναι τὸ φωτίζον, ἀλλ’ οὕτως ἔοικεν ἐν χρῷ καὶ σχεδὸν ἐν ἀγκάλαις τῆς γῆς περιπολεῖν, ὥστ’ ἀντιφράττεσθαι πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ὑπ’ αὐτῆς, μὴ ὑπεραίρουσα τὸν σκιερὸν καὶ χθόνιον καὶ νυκτέριον τοῦτον τόπον, ὃς γῆς κλῆρός ἐστι. Διὸ λεκτέον οἶμαι θαρροῦντας ἐν τοῖς γῆς ὅροις εἶναι τὴν σελήνην ὑπὸ τῶν ἄκρων αὐτῆς ἐπιπροθουμένην.

     9. Now”, said I, “my dear Apollonides, you mathematicians ⁷³ say that the sun is an immense distance from the upper circumference and that above the sun Venus and Mercury and the other planets ⁷⁴ revolved lower than the fixed stars and at great intervals from one another; but you think that in the cosmos there is provided no scope and extension for heavy and earthy objects. You see that it is ridiculous for us to deny that the moon is earth because she stands apart from the nether region and yet to call her a star although we see her removed so many thousands of miles from the upper circumference as if plunged into a pit. So far beneath the stars is she that the distance cannot be expressed, but you mathematicians in trying to calculate it run short of numbers; she practically grazes the earth and revolving close to it

Whirls like a chariot’s axle-box about,

Empedocles says ⁷⁵,

that skims the post in passing.

     Frequently she does not even surmount the earth’s shadow, though it extends but a little way because the illuminating body is very large; but she seems to revolve so close, almost within arm’s reach of the earth, as to be screened by it from the sun unless she rises above this shadowy, terrestrial, and nocturnal place which is the earth’s estate. Therefore we must boldly declare, I think, that the moon is within the confines of the earth inasmuch as she is occulted by its extremities.

     10. Σκόπει δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀφεὶς ἀπλανεῖς καὶ πλάνητας, ἃ δείκνυσιν Ἀρίσταρχος ἐν τῷ Περὶ μεγεθῶν καὶ ἀποστημάτων, ὅτι τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου ἀπόστημα τοῦ ἀποστήματος τῆς σελήνης ὃ ἀφέστηκεν ἡμῶν πλέον μὲν ἢ ὀκτωκαιδεκαπλάσιον ἔλαττον δ’ ἢ εἰκοσαπλάσιόν ἐστι. Καίτοι ὁ τὴν σελήνην ἐπὶ μήκιστον αἴρων ἀπέχειν φησὶν ἡμῶν ἓξ καὶ πεντηκονταπλάσιον τῆς ἐκ τοῦ κέντρου τῆς γῆς· αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶ τεσσάρων μυριάδων καὶ κατὰ τοὺς μέσως ἀναμετροῦντας· καὶ ἀπὸ ταύτης συλλογιζομένοις ἀπέχει ὁ ἥλιος τῆς σελήνης πλέον ἢ τετρακισχιλίας τριάκοντα μυριάδας· οὕτως ἀπῴκισται τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ βάρος καὶ τοσοῦτο τῇ γῇ προσκεχώρηκεν. Ὥστε, εἰ τοῖς τόποις τὰς οὐσίας διαιρετέον, ἡ γῆς μοῖρα καὶ χώρα προσκαλεῖται σελήνην, καὶ τοῖς περὶ γῆν πράγμασι καὶ σώμασιν ἐπίδικός ἐστι κατ’ ἀγχιστείαν καὶ γειτνίασιν.

     Καὶ οὐδὲν οἶμαι πλημμελοῦμεν, ὅτι τοῖς ἄνω προσαγορευομένοις βάθος τοσοῦτο καὶ διάστημα διδόντες ἀπολείπομέν τινα καὶ τῷ κάτω περιδρομὴν καὶ πλάτος, ὅσον ἐστὶν ἀπὸ γῆς ἐπὶ σελήνην. Οὔτε γὰρ ὁ τὴν ἄκραν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ μόνην ἄνω τἄλλα δὲ κάτω προσαγορεύων ἅπαντα μέτριός ἐστιν, οὔθ’ ὁ τῇ γῇ μᾶλλον δ’ ὁ τῷ κέντρῳ τὸ κάτω περιγράφων ἀνεκτός· ἀλλὰ καὶ κινητικὸν ταύτῃ διάστημα δοτέον ἐπιχωροῦντος τοῦ κόσμου διὰ μέγεθος. Πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἀξιοῦντα πᾶν εὐθὺς ἄνω καὶ μετέωρον εἶναι τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἕτερος ἀντηχεῖ πάλιν εὐθὺς εἶναι κάτω τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀπλανοῦς περιφορᾶς.

     10. Dismiss the fixed stars and the other planets and consider the demonstrations of Aristarchus in his treatise, On Sizes and Distances, that ‘the distance of the sun is more than 18 times and less than 20 times the distance of the moon’, that is its distance from us ⁷⁶. According to the highest estimate, however, the moon’s distance from us is said to be 56 times the radius of the earth ⁷⁷. Even according to the mean calculations this radius is 40,000 stades; and, if we reckon from this, the sun is more than 40,300,000 stades distant from the moon. She has migrated so far from the sun on account of her weight and has moved so close to the earth that, if properties ⁷⁸ are to be determined by locations, the lot, I mean the position, of earth lays an action against the moon and she is legally assignable by right of propinquity and kinship to the chattels real and personal of earth.

     And we do not go wrong, I think, when we assign to those bodies above denominated such immense depth and distance, and leave to that which is below a certain circular course and broadway as much as lies between earth and the moon: for neither the man who pretends the summit of heaven to be the sole ‘above’, and denominates all the rest as ‘below’, is reasonable in his definition; nor yet is he who circumscribes ‘below’ by the limits of Earth, or rather by the Centre, to be listened to: but even moveable … inasmuch as the universe allows of the interval required by reason of its own extensiveness. But in reply to such as demand that all which is separate from earth shall be consequently ‘above’ and ‘on high’, another directly responds with the contrary axiom, that all which is reckoned from the fixed circumference is to be considered as ‘below’.

     11. Ὅλως δὲ πῶς λέγεται καὶ τίνος ἡ γῆ μέση κεῖσθαι; τὸ γὰρ πᾶν ἄπειρόν ἐστι, τῷ δ’ ἀπείρῳ μήτ’ ἀρχὴν ἔχοντι μήτε πέρας οὐ προσήκει μέσον ἔχειν· πέρας γάρ τι καὶ τὸ μέσον, ἡ δ’ ἀπειρία περάτων στέρησις. Ὁ δὲ μὴ τοῦ παντὸς ἀλλὰ τοῦ κόσμου μέσην εἶναι τὴν γῆν ἀποφαινόμενος ἡδύς ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ καὶ τὸν κόσμον αὐτὸν ἐνέχεσθαι ταῖς αὐταῖς ἀπορίαις νομίζει. Τὸ γὰρ πᾶν οὐδὲ τούτῳ μέσον ἀπέλιπεν, ἀλλ’ ἀνέστιος καὶ ἀνίδρυτός ἐστιν ἐν ἀπείρῳ κενῷ φερόμενος πρὸς οὐδὲν οἰκεῖον· εἰ δ’ ἄλλην τινὰ τοῦ μένειν εὑράμενος αἰτίαν ἕστηκεν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ τόπου φύσιν, ὅμοια καὶ περὶ γῆς καὶ περὶ σελήνης εἰκάζειν τινὶ πάρεστιν, ὡς ἑτέρᾳ τινὶ τύχῃ καὶ φύσει μᾶλλον ἢ τόπου διαφορᾷ τῆς μὲν ἀτρεμούσης ἐνταῦθα τῆς δ’ ἐκεῖ φερομένης.

     Ἄνευ δὲ τούτων, ὅρα μὴ μέγα τι λέληθεν αὐτούς· εἰ γάρ, καὶ ὁπωσοῦν ὅ τι ἂν ἐκτὸς γένηται τοῦ κέντρου τῆς γῆς, ἄνω ἐστίν, οὐθέν ἐστι τοῦ κόσμου κάτω μέρος, ἀλλ’ ἄνω καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ πᾶν ἁπλῶς σῶμα τὸ κέντρῳ περιεστηκὸς ἢ περικείμενον ἄνω γίνεται, κάτω δὲ μόνον ὂν ἕν, τὸ ἀσώματον σημεῖον ἐκεῖνο, ὃ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀντικεῖσθαι τὴν τοῦ κόσμου φύσιν ἀναγκαῖον, εἴ γε δὴ τὸ κάτω πρὸς τὸ ἄνω κατὰ φύσιν ἀντίκειται. Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον τὸ ἄτοπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἀπόλλυσι τὰ βάρη, δι’ ἣν δεῦρο καταρρέπει καὶ φέρεται· σῶμα μὲν γὰρ οὐθέν ἐστι κάτω πρὸς ὃ κινεῖται, τὸ δ’ ἀσώματον οὔτ’ εἰκὸς οὔτε βούλονται τοσαύτην ἔχειν δύναμιν, ὥστε πάντα κατατείνειν ἐφ’ ἑαυτὸ καὶ περὶ αὑτὸ συνέχειν. ἀλλ’ ὅλως ἄλογον εὑρίσκεται καὶ μαχόμενον τοῖς πράγμασι τὸ ἄνω τὸν κόσμον ὅλον εἶναι, τὸ δὲ κάτω μηθὲν ἀλλ’ ἢ πέρας ἀσώματον καὶ ἀδιάστατον· ἐκεῖνο δ’ εὔλογον, ὡς λέγομεν ἡμεῖς, τῷ τ’ ἄνω χώραν καὶ τῷ κάτω πολλὴν καὶ πλάτος ἔχουσαν διῃρῆσθαι.

     11. After all, in what sense is earth situated in the middle and in the middle of what? The sum of things is infinite; and the infinite, having neither beginning nor limit, cannot properly have a middle, for the middle is a kind of limit too but infinity is a negation of limits. He who asserts that the earth is in the middle not of the sum of things but of the cosmos is naïve if he supposes that the cosmos itself is not also involved in the same difficulties ⁷⁹. In fact, in the sum of things no middle has been left for the cosmos either, but it is without hearth and habitation ⁸⁰, moving in infinite void to nothing of its own; or, if it has come to rest because it has found some other reason for abiding, not because of the nature of its location ⁸¹, similar inferences are permissible in the cases of both earth and moon, that the former is stationary here and the latter is in motion there by reason of a different soul or nature rather than a difference of location.

     Besides this, consider whether they ⁸² have not overlooked an important point. If anything in any way at all off the centre of the earth is ‘up’, no part of the cosmos is ‘down’; but it turns out that the earth and the things on the earth and absolutely all body surrounding or enclosing the centre are ‘up’ and only one thing is ‘down’, that incorporeal point ⁸³ which must be in opposition to the entire nature of the cosmos, if in fact 'down' and 'up' are natural opposites ⁸⁴. This, moreover, does not exhaust the absurdity. The cause of the descent of heavy objects and of their motion to this region is also abolished, for there is no body that is 'down' towards which they are in motion and it is neither likely nor in accordance with the intention of these men that the incorporeal should have so much influence as to attract all these objects and keep them together around itself ⁸⁵. On the contrary, it proves to be entirely unreasonable and inconsistent with the facts for the whole cosmos to be ‘up’ and nothing but an incorporeal and unextended limit to be ‘down’; but that statement of ours is reasonable, that ample space and broad has been divided between ‘up’ and ‘down’.

     12. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ θέντες, εἰ βούλει, παρὰ φύσιν ἐν οὐρανῷ τοῖς γεώδεσι τὰς κινήσεις ὑπάρχειν, ἀτρέμα, μὴ τραγικῶς ἀλλὰ πράως σκοπῶμεν, ὅτι τοῦτο τὴν σελήνην οὐ δείκνυσι γῆν μὴ οὖσαν ἀλλὰ γῆν ὅπου μὴ πέφυκεν οὖσαν· ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ πῦρ τὸ Αἰτναῖον ὑπὸ γῆν παρὰ φύσιν ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ πῦρ ἐστι, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῖς ἀσκοῖς περιληφθὲν ἔστι μὲν ἀνωφερὲς φύσει καὶ κοῦφον, ἥκει δ’ ὅπου μὴ πέφυκεν ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης· αὐτὴ δ’ ἡ ψυχή, πρὸς Διός” εἶπον “οὐ παρὰ φύσιν τῷ σώματι συνεῖρκται βραδεῖ ταχεῖα καὶ ψυχρῷ πυρώδης, ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς φατε, καὶ ἀόρατος αἰσθητῷ; Διὰ τοῦτ’ οὖν σώματι ψυχὴν μὴ λέγωμεν ἐνεῖναι μηδὲ νοῦν, χρῆμα θεῖον, ἀήττητον ὑπὸ βρίθους καὶ πάχους οὐρανόν τε πάντα καὶ γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν ἐν ταὐτῷ περιπολοῦντα καὶ διιπτάμενον, εἰς σάρκας ἥκειν καὶ νεῦρα καὶ μυελοὺς καὶ παθέων μυρίων μεστὰς ὑγρότητας;

     Ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς ὑμῖν οὗτος οὐ τῇ μὲν αὑτοῦ φύσει χρώμενος ἕν ἐστι μέγα πῦρ καὶ συνεχές, νυνὶ δ’ ὑφεῖται καὶ κέκαμπται καὶ διεσχημάτισται, πᾶν χρῶμα γεγονὼς καὶ γινόμενος ἐν ταῖς μεταβολαῖς; ὥσθ’ ὅρα καὶ σκόπει, δαιμόνιε, μὴ μεθιστὰς καὶ ἀπάγων ἕκαστον, ὅπου πέφυκεν εἶναι, διάλυσίν τινα κόσμου φιλοσοφῇς καὶ τὸ νεῖκος ἐπάγῃς τὸ Ἐμπεδοκλέους τοῖς πράγμασι, μᾶλλον δὲ τοὺς παλαιοὺς κινῇς Τιτᾶνας ἐπὶ τὴν φύσιν καὶ Γίγαντας καὶ τὴν μυθικὴν ἐκείνην καὶ φοβερὰν ἀκοσμίαν καὶ πλημμέλειαν ἐπιδεῖν ποθῇς, χωρὶς τὸ βαρὺ πᾶν καὶ χωρὶς … τὸ κοῦφον

ἔνθ’ οὔτ’ ἠελίοιο δεδίσκεται ἀγλαὸν εἶδος,
οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδ’ αἴης λάσιον γένος, οὐδὲ θάλασσα,

ὥς φησιν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, οὐ γῆ θερμότητος μετεῖχεν, οὐχ ὕδωρ πνεύματος, οὐκ ἄνω τι τῶν βαρέων, οὐ κάτω τι τῶν κούφων· ἀλλ’ ἄκρατοι καὶ ἄστοργοι καὶ μονάδες αἱ τῶν ὅλων ἀρχαί, μὴ προσιέμεναι σύγκρισιν ἑτέρου πρὸς ἕτερον μηδὲ κοινωνίαν, ἀλλὰ φεύγουσαι καὶ ἀποστρεφόμεναι καὶ φερόμεναι φορὰς ἰδίας καὶ αὐθάδεις οὕτως εἶχον ὡς ἔχει πᾶν οὗ θεὸς ἄπεστι κατὰ Πλάτωνα τουτέστιν, ὡς ἔχει τὰ σώματα νοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς ἀπολιπούσης, ἄχρις οὗ τὸ ἱμερτὸν ἧκεν ἐπὶ τὴν φύσιν ἐκ προνοίας, Φιλότητος ἐγγενομένης καὶ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἔρωτος, ὡς Ἐμπεδοκλῆς λέγει καὶ Παρμενίδης καὶ Ἡσίδος, ἵνα καὶ τόπους ἀμείψαντα καὶ δυνάμεις ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων μεταλαβόντα καὶ τὰ μὲν κινήσεως τὰ δὲ μονῆς ἀνάγκαις ἐνδεθέντα καὶ καταβιασθέντα πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον, ἐξ οὗ πέφυκεν, ἐνδοῦναι καὶ μεταστῆναι … ἁρμονίαν καὶ κοινωνίαν ἀπεργάσηται τοῦ παντός.

     12. All the same, let us assume, if you please, that the motions of earthy objects in the heaven are contrary to nature; and then let us calmly observe without any histrionics and quite dispassionately that this indicates not that the moon is not earth but that she is earth in an ‘unnatural’ location. For the fire of Aetna too is below earth ‘unnaturally’, but it is fire; and the air confined in skins ⁸⁶, though by nature it is light and has an upward tendency, has been constrained to occupy an ‘unnatural’ location. As to the soul herself”, I said, “by Zeus, is her confinement in body not contrary to nature, swift as she is and fiery, as you say ⁸⁷, and invisible in a sluggish, cold, and sensible vehicle? Shall we then on this account deny that there is a soul in body or that mind, a divine thing, though it traverses instantaneously in its flight all heaven and earth and sea ⁸⁸, has passed into flesh and sinew and marrow under the influence of weight and density and countless qualities that attend liquefaction ⁸⁹?

     This Zeus of yours too, is it not true that, while in his own nature he is single, a great and continuous fire, at present he is slackened and subdued and transformed, having become and continuing to become everything in the course of his mutations ⁹⁰? So look out and reflect, good sir, lest in rearranging and removing each thing to its ‘natural’ location you contrive a dissolution of the cosmos and bring upon things the ‘Strife’ of Empedocles —or rather lest you arouse against nature the ancient Titans and Giants ⁹¹ and long to look upon that legendary and dreadful disorder and discord when you have separated all that is heavy and all that is light.

The sun’s bright aspect is not there descried,
No, nor the shaggy might of earth, nor sea

as Empedocles says ⁹². Earth had no part in heat, water no part in air; there was not anything heavy above or anything light below; but the principles of all things ⁹³ were untempered and unamiable ⁹⁴ and solitary, not accepting combination or association with one another, but avoiding and shunning one another and moving with their own peculiar and arbitrary motions ⁹⁵ they were in the state in which, according to Plato ⁹⁶, everything is from which God is absent, that is to say in which bodies are when mind or soul is wanting. So they were until desire came over nature providentially, for Affection arose or Aphrodite or Eros, as Empedocles says and Parmenides and Hesiod ⁹⁷, in order that by changing position and interchanging functions and by being constrained some to motion and some to rest and compelled to give way and shift from the ‘natural’ to the ‘better’ the bodies might produce a universal concord and community.

     13. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ οὐδ’ ἄλλο τι τῶν τοῦ κόσμου μερῶν παρὰ φύσιν ἔσχεν, ἀλλ’ ἕκαστον ᾗ πέφυκε κεῖται, μηδεμιᾶς μεθιδρύσεως μηδὲ μετακοσμήσεως δεόμενον μηδ’ ἐν ἀρχῇ δεηθέν, ἀπορῶ τί τῆς προνοίας ἔργον ἐστὶν ἢ τίνος γέγονε ποιητὴς καὶ πατὴρ δημιουργὸς ὁ Ζεὺς ‘ὁ ἀριστοτέχνας’. Οὐ γὰρ ἐν στρατοπέδῳ τακτικῶν ὄφελος, εἴπερ εἰδείη τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἕκαστος ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν τε καὶ χώραν κατὰ καιρὸν οὗ δεῖ λαβεῖν καὶ διαφυλάσσειν, οὐδὲ κηπουρῶν οὐδ’ οἰκοδόμων, εἰ πῆ μὲν αὐτὸ τὸ ὕδωρ ἀφ’ αὑτοῦ πέφυκεν ἐπιέναι τοῖς δεομένοις καὶ κατάρδειν ἐπιρρέον, πῆ δὲ πλίνθοι καὶ ξύλα καὶ λίθοι ταῖς κατὰ φύσιν χρώμενα ῥοπαῖς καὶ νεύσεσιν ἐξ ἑαυτῶν καταλαμβάνειν τὴν προσήκουσαν ἁρμονίαν καὶ χώραν.

     Εἰ δ’ οὗτος μὲν ἄντικρυς ἀναιρεῖ τὴν πρόνοιαν ὁ λόγος, τῷ θεῷ δ’ ἡ τάξις τῶν ὄντων προσήκει καὶ τὸ διαιρεῖν, τί θαυμαστὸν οὕτως τετάχθαι καὶ διηρμόσθαι τὴν φύσιν, ὡς ἐνταῦθα μὲν πῦρ ἐκεῖ δ’ ἄστρα, καὶ πάλιν ἐνταῦθα μὲν γῆν ἄνω δὲ σελήνην ἱδρῦσθαι, βεβαιοτέρῳ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν τῷ κατὰ λόγον δεσμῷ περιληφθεῖσαν; Ὡς, εἴ γε πάντα δεῖ ταῖς κατὰ φύσιν ῥοπαῖς χρῆσθαι καὶ φέρεσθαι καθ’ ὃ πέφυκε, μήθ’ ἥλιος κυκλοφορείσθω μήτε φωσφόρος μηδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀστέρων μηδείς· ἄνω γάρ, οὐ κύκλῳ τὰ κοῦφα καὶ πυροειδῆ κινεῖσθαι πέφυκεν. Εἰ δὲ τοιαύτην ἐξαλλαγὴν ἡ φύσις ἔχει παρὰ τὸν τόπον, ὥστ’ ἐνταῦθα μὲν ἄνω φαίνεσθαι φερόμενον τὸ πῦρ, ὅταν δ’ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν παραγένηται, τῇ δίνῃ συμπεριστρέφεσθαι, τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ καὶ τοῖς βαρέσι καὶ γεώδεσιν ἐκεῖ γενομένοις συμβέβηκεν ὡσαύτως εἰς ἄλλο κινήσεως εἶδος ὑπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος ἐκνενικῆσθαι; Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῶν μὲν ἐλαφρῶν τὴν ἄνω φορὰν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τῷ οὐρανῷ κατὰ φύσιν ἐστί, τῶν δὲ βαρέων καὶ κάτω ῥεπόντων οὐ δύναται κρατεῖν, ἀλλ’ ᾗ ποτ’ ἐκεῖνα δυνάμει, καὶ ταῦτα μετακοσμήσας ἐχρήσατο τῇ φύσει αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον.

     13. If not a single one of the parts of the cosmos ever got into an ‘unnatural’ condition but each one is ‘naturally’ situated, requiring no transposition or rearrangement and having required none in the beginning either, I cannot make out what use there is of providence ⁹⁸ or of what Zeus, ‘the master-craftsman’ ⁹⁹ is maker and father-creator ¹⁰⁰. In an army, certainly, tacticians are useless if each one of the soldiers should know of himself his post and position and the moment when he must take and keep them. Gardeners and builders are useless too if here water all of itself ‘naturally’ moves to the things that require it and irrigates them with its stream, and there bricks and timbers and stones by following their ‘natural’ inclinations and tendencies assume of themselves their appropriate position and arrangement.

     If, however, this notion eliminates providence forthwith and if the arrangement of existing things pertains to God and the distributing of them too ¹⁰¹, what wonder is there that nature has been so marshalled and disposed that here in our region there is fire but the stars are yonder and again that earth is here but the moon is established on high, held fast by the bonds of reason which are firmer than the bonds of nature ¹⁰²? For, if all things really must follow their ‘natural’ inclinations and move with their ‘natural’ motions, you must order the sun not to revolve and Venus too and every other star as well, for light and fiery bodies move ‘naturally’ upwards and not in a circle ¹⁰³. If, however, nature includes such variation in accordance with location that fire, though it is seen to move upwards here, as soon as it has reached the heavens revolves along with their rotation, what wonder is there that the same thing has happened to heavy and earthy bodies that have got there and that they too have been reduced by the environment to a different kind of motion? For it certainly cannot be that heaven ‘naturally’ deprives light objects of their upward motion but is unable to master objects that are heavy and have a downward inclination; on the contrary, by whatever influence it rearranged the former it rearranged the latter too and employed the nature of both of them for the better.

     14. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλ’ εἴ γε δεῖ τὰς καταδεδουλωμένας ἕξεις… δόξας ἀφέντας ἤδη τὸ φαινόμενον ἀδεῶς λέγειν, οὐδὲν ἔοικεν ὅλου μέρος αὐτὸ καθ’ ἑαυτὸ τάξιν ἢ θέσιν ἢ κίνησιν ἰδίαν ἔχειν, ἣν ἄν τις ἁπλῶς κατὰ φύσιν προσαγορεύσειεν· ἀλλ’ ὅταν ἕκαστον, οὗ χάριν γέγονε καὶ πρὸς ὃ πέφυκεν ἢ πεποίηται, τούτῳ μέλλῃ παρέχειν χρησίμως καὶ οἰκείως κινούμενον ἑαυτὸ καὶ πάσχον ἢ ποιοῦν ἢ διακείμενον, ὡς ἐκείνῳ πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἢ κάλλος ἢ δύναμιν ἐπιτήδειόν ἐστι, τότε δοκεῖ τὴν κατὰ φύσιν χώραν ἔχειν καὶ κίνησιν καὶ διάθεσιν. Ὁ γοῦν ἄνθρωπος, ὡς εἴ τι τῶν ὄντων ἕτερον κατὰ φύσιν γεγονώς, ἄνω μὲν ἔχει τὰ ἐμβριθῆ καὶ γεώδη μάλιστα περὶ τὴν κεφαλήν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς μέσοις τὰ θερμὰ καὶ πυρώδη· τῶν δ’ ὀδόντων οἱ μὲν ἄνωθεν οἱ δὲ κάτωθεν ἐκφύονται καὶ οὐδέτεροι παρὰ φύσιν ἔχουσιν· οὐδὲ τοῦ πυρὸς τὸ μὲν ἄνω περὶ τὰ ὄμματα ἀποστίλβον κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶ τὸ δ’ ἐν κοιλίᾳ καὶ καρδίᾳ παρὰ φύσιν, ἀλλ’ ἕκαστον οἰκείως καὶ χρησίμως τέτακται.

ναὶ μὴν κηρύκων τε λιθορρίνων

χελωνῶν τε καὶ παντὸς ὀστρέου φύσιν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, καταμανθάνων

ἔνθ’ ὄψει χθόνα χρωτὸς ὑπέρτατα ναιετάουσαν,

καὶ οὐ πιέζει τὸ λιθῶδες οὐδὲ καταθλίβει τὴν ἕξιν ἐπικείμενον, οὐδέ γε πάλιν τὸ θερμὸν ὑπὸ κουφότητος εἰς τὴν ἄνω χώραν ἀποπτάμενον οἴχεται, μέμικται δέ πως πρὸς ἄλληλα καὶ συντέτακται κατὰ τὴν ἑκάστου φύσιν.

     14. What is more, if we are finally to throw off the habits and opinions that have held our minds in thrall and fearlessly to say what really appears to be the case, no part of a whole all by itself seems to have any order, position, or motion of its own which could be called unconditionally ‘natural’ ¹⁰⁴. On the contrary, each and every such part, whenever its motion is usefully and properly accommodated to that for the sake of which the part has come to be and which is the purpose of its growth or production, and whenever it acts or is affected or disposed so that it contributes to the preservation or beauty or function of that thing, then, I believe, it has its ‘natural’ position and motion and disposition. In man, at any rate, who is the result of ‘natural’ process if any being is, the heavy and earthy parts are above, chiefly in the region of the head, and the hot and fiery parts are in the middle regions; some of the teeth grow from above and some from below, and neither set is ‘contrary to nature’; and it cannot be said that the fire which flashes in the eyes above is ‘natural’ whereas that in the bowels and heart is ‘contrary to nature’, but each has been assigned its proper and useful station. Observe, as Empedocles says ¹⁰⁵, the nature of

Tritons and tortoises with hides of stone

and of all testaceans,

Thou'lt see earth there established over flesh;

and the stony matter does not oppress or crush the constitution ¹⁰⁶ on which it is superimposed, nor on the other hand does the heat by reason of lightness fly off to the upper region and escape, but they have been somehow intermingled and organically combined in accordance with the nature of each.

     15. Ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἔχειν καὶ τὸν κόσμον, εἴ γε δὴ ζῷόν ἐστι, πολλαχοῦ γῆν ἔχοντα πολλαχοῦ δὲ πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ πνεῦμα, οὐκ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀποτεθλιμμένον ἀλλὰ λόγῳ διακεκοσμημένον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὀφθαλμὸς ἐνταῦθα τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὑπὸ κουφότητος ἐκπιεσθείς, οὐδ’ ἡ καρδία τῷ βάρει ὀλισθοῦσα πέπτωκεν εἰς τὸ στῆθος, ἀλλ’ ὅτι βέλτιον ἦν οὕτως ἑκάτερον τετάχθαι. Μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου μερῶν νομίζωμεν μήτε γῆν ἐνταῦθα κεῖσθαι συμπεσοῦσαν διὰ βάρος, μήτε τὸν ἥλιον, ὡς ᾤετο Μητρόδωρος ὁ Χῖος, εἰς τὴν ἄνω χώραν ἀσκοῦ δίκην ὑπὸ κουφότητος ἐκτεθλῖφθαι, μήτε τοὺς ἄλλους ἀστέρας ὥσπερ ἐν ζυγῷ σταθμοῦ διαφορᾷ ῥέψαντας ἐν οἷς εἰσι γεγονέναι τόποις· ἀλλὰ τοῦ κατὰ λόγον κρατοῦντος οἱ μὲν ὥσπερ ‘ὄμματα φωσφόρα’ τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ παντὸς ‘ἐνδεδεμένοι’ περιπολοῦσιν, ἥλιος δὲ καρδίας ἔχων δύναμιν ὥσπερ αἷμα καὶ πνεῦμα διαπέμπει καὶ διασκεδάννυσιν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ θερμότητα καὶ φῶς, γῇ δὲ καὶ θαλάσσῃ χρῆται κατὰ φύσιν ὁ κόσμος, ὅσα κοιλίᾳ καὶ κύστει ζῷον· σελήνη δ’ ἡλίου μεταξὺ καὶ γῆς ὥσπερ καρδίας καὶ κοιλίας ἧπαρ ἤ τι μαλθακὸν ἄλλο σπλάγχνον ἐγκειμένη τήν τ’ ἄνωθεν ἀλέαν ἐνταῦθα διαπέμπει καὶ τὰς ἐντεῦθεν ἀναθυμιάσεις πέψει τινὶ καὶ καθάρσει λεπτύνουσα περὶ ἑαυτὴν ἀναδίδωσιν.

     Εἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἄλλα τὸ γεῶδες αὐτῆς καὶ στερέμνιον ἔχει τινὰ πρόσφορον χρείαν, ἄδηλον ἡμῖν. Ἐν παντὶ δὲ κρατεῖ τὸ βέλτιον τοῦ κατηναγκασμένου. Τί γὰρ οὐχ οὕτως λάβωμεν, ἐξ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσι, τὸ εἰκός; Λέγουσι δὲ τοῦ αἰθέρος τὸ μὲν αὐγοειδὲς καὶ λεπτὸν ὑπὸ μανότητος οὐρανὸν γεγονέναι, τὸ δὲ πυκνωθὲν καὶ συνειληθὲν ἄστρα· τούτων δὲ τὸ νωθρότατον εἶναι τὴν σελήνην καὶ θολερώτατον. Ἀλλ’ ὅμως ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν οὐκ ἀποκεκριμένην τοῦ αἰθέρος τὴν σελήνην, ἀλλ’ ἔτι πολλῷ μὲν τῷ περὶ αὐτὴν ἐμφερομένην, πολλὴν δ’ ὑφ’ ἑαυτὴν ἔχουσαν ἀνέμων … δινεῖσθαι καὶ κομήτας. οὕτως οὐ ταῖς ῥοπαῖς σεσήκωται κατὰ βάρος καὶ κουφότητα τῶν σωμάτων ἕκαστον, ἀλλ’ ἑτέρῳ λόγῳ κεκόσμηται”.

     15. Such is probably the case with the cosmos too, if it really is a living being ¹⁰⁷: in many places it has earth and in many fire and water and breath as the result not of forcible expulsion ¹⁰⁸ but of rational arrangement. After all, the eye has its present position in the body not because it was extruded thither as a result of its lightness, and the heart is in the chest not because its heaviness has caused it to slip and fall thither but because it was better that each of them should be so located. Let us not then believe with regard to the parts of the cosmos that earth is situated here because its weight has caused it to subside or that the sun, as Metrodorus of Chios ¹⁰⁹ once thought, was extruded into the upper region like an inflated skin by reason of its lightness or that the other stars got into their present positions because they tipped the balance, as it were, at different weights. On the contrary, the rational principle is in control; and that is why the stars revolve fixed like ‘radiant eyes’ ¹¹⁰ in the countenance of the universe, the sun in the heart’s capacity transmits and disperses out of himself heat and light as if it were blood and breath, and earth and sea ‘naturally’ serve the cosmos to the ends that bowels and bladder do an animal. The moon, situate between sun and earth as the liver or another of the soft viscera ¹¹¹ is between heart and bowels, transmits hither the warmth from above and sends upwards the exhalations from our region, refining them in herself by a kind of concoction and purification ¹¹².

     It is not clear to us whether her earthiness and solidity have any use suitable to other ends also. Nevertheless, in everything the better has control of the necessary ¹¹³. Well, what probability can we thus conceive in the statements of the Stoics? They say that the luminous and tenuous part of the ether by reason of its subtility became sky and the part which was condensed or compressed became stars, and that of these the most sluggish and turbid is the moon ¹¹⁴. Yet all the same anyone can see that the moon has not been separated from the ether but that there is still a large amount of it about her in which she moves and much of it beneath her in which they themselves as that the bearded stars and comets whirl. So it is not the inclinations consequent upon weight and lightness that have circumscribed the precincts ¹¹⁵ of each of the bodies, but their arrangement is the result of a different principle”.

     16. Λεχθέντων δὲ τούτων κἀμοῦ τῷ Λευκίῳ τὸν λόγον παραδιδόντος ἐπὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις βαδίζοντα τοῦ δόγματος, Ἀριστοτέλης μειδιάσας “μαρτύρομαι” εἶπεν “ὅτι τὴν πᾶσαν ἀντιλογίαν πεποίησαι πρὸς τοὺς αὐτὴν μὲν ἡμίπυρον εἶναι τὴν σελήνην ὑποτιθεμένους, κοινῇ δὲ τῶν σωμάτων τὰ μὲν ἄνω τὰ δὲ κάτω ῥέπειν ἐξ ἑαυτῶν φάσκοντας· εἰ δ’ ἔστι τις ὁ λέγων κύκλῳ τε κινεῖσθαι κατὰ φύσιν τὰ ἄστρα καὶ πολὺ παρηλλαγμένης οὐσίας εἶναι τῶν τεττάρων, οὐδ’ ἀπὸ τύχης ἦλθεν ἐπὶ μνήμην ἡμῖν, ὥστ’ ἐμέ τε πραγμάτων ἀπηλλάχθαι καὶ … Λεύκιος “ἥκιστα, ὠγαθέ” εἶπεν, “ἀλλὰ τὰ ἄλλα μὲν ἴσως ἄστρα καὶ τὸν ὅλον οὐρανὸν εἴς τινα φύσιν καθαρὰν καὶ εἰλικρινῆ καὶ τῆς κατὰ πάθος ἀπηλλαγμένην μεταβολῆς τιθεμένοις ὑμῖν καὶ κύκλον ἄγουσιν ἀιδίου καὶ ἀτελευτήτου περιφορᾶς … οὐκ ἄν τις ἔν γε τῷ νῦν διαμάχοιτο, καίτοι μυρίων οὐσῶν ἀποριῶν· ὅταν δὲ καταβαίνων ὁ λόγος οὕτω θίγῃ τῆς σελήνης, οὐκέτι φυλάττει τὴν ἀπάθειαν ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τὸ κάλλος ἐκείνου τοῦ σώματος· ἀλλ’ ἵνα τὰς ἄλλας ἀνωμαλίας καὶ διαφορὰς ἀφῶμεν, αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ διαφαινόμενον πρόσωπον πάθει τινὶ τῆς οὐσίας ἢ ἀναμίξει πως ἑτέρας ἐπιγέγονε· πάσχει δέ τι καὶ τὸ μιγνύμενον· ἀποβάλλει γὰρ τὸ εἰλικρινές, βίᾳ τοῦ χείρονος ἀναπιμπλάμενον.

     Αὐγῆς δὲ νώθειαν καὶ τάχους ἀμβλύτητα καὶ τὸ θερμὸν ἀδρανὲς καὶ ἀμαυρόν, ᾧ κατὰ τὸν Ἴωνα ‘μέλας οὐ πεπαίνεται βότρυς’, εἰς τί θησόμεθα πλὴν ἀσθένειαν αὐτῆς καὶ πάθος; Πόθεν οὖν πάθους ἀιδίῳ σώματι καὶ ὀλυμπίῳ μέτεστιν; Ὅλως γάρ, ὦ φίλε Ἀριστότελες, γῆ μὲν οὖσα πάγκαλόν τι χρῆμα καὶ σεμνὸν ἀναφαίνεται καὶ κεκοσμημένον, ὡς δ’ ἄστρον ἢ φῶς ἤ τι σῶμα θεῖον καὶ οὐράνιον δέδια μὴ ἄμορφος ᾖ καὶ ἀπρεπὴς καὶ καταισχύνουσα τὴν καλὴν ἐπωνυμίαν· εἴ γε τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ τοσούτων τὸ πλῆθος ὄντων μόνη φωτὸς ἀλλοτρίου δεομένη περίεισι, κατὰ Παρμενίδην

ἀεὶ παπταίνουσα πρὸς αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο.

     Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἑταῖρος ἐν τῇ διατριβῇ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ Ἀναξαγόρειον ἀποδεικνύς, ὡς ἥλιος ἐντίθησι τῇ σελήνῃ τὸ λαμπρόν, ηὐδοκίμησεν· ἐγὼ δὲ ταῦτα μὲν οὐκ ἐρῶ, ἃ παρ’ ὑμῶν ἢ μεθ’ ὑμῶν ἔμαθον, ἔχων δὲ τοῦτο πρὸς τὰ λοιπὰ βαδιοῦμαι. Φωτίζεσθαι τοίνυν τὴν σελήνην οὐχ ὡς ὕελον ἢ κρύσταλλον ἐλλάμψει καὶ διαφαύσει τοῦ ἡλίου πιθανόν ἐστιν, οὐδ’ αὖ κατὰ σύλλαμψίν τινα καὶ συναυγασμόν, ὥσπερ αἱ δᾷδες αὐξομένου τοῦ φωτός· οὕτως γὰρ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐν νουμηνίαις ἢ διχομηνίαις ἔσται πανσέληνος ἡμῖν, εἰ μὴ στέγει μηδ’ ἀντιφράττει τὸν ἥλιον, ἀλλὰ δίεισιν ὑπὸ μανότητος ἢ κατὰ σύγκρασιν εἰσλάμπει καὶ συνεξάπτει περὶ αὐτὴν τὸ φῶς. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐκκλίσεις οὐδ’ ἀποστροφὰς αὐτῆς, ὥσπερ ὅταν ᾖ διχότομος καὶ ἀμφίκυρτος ἢ μηνοειδής, αἰτιᾶσθαι περὶ τὴν σύνοδον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ στάθμην, φησὶ Δημόκριτος ^β, ἱσταμένη τοῦ φωτίζοντος ὑπολαμβάνει καὶ δέχεται τὸν ἥλιον, ὥστ’ αὐτήν τε φαίνεσθαι καὶ διαφαίνειν ἐκεῖνον εἰκὸς ἦν. Ἡ δὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ τοῦτο ποιεῖν· αὐτή τε γὰρ ἄδηλός ἐστι τηνικαῦτα κἀκεῖνον ἀπέκρυψε καὶ ἠφάνισε πολλάκις, ‘ἀπεσκέδασεν δέ οἱ αὐγάς’, ὥς φησιν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς,

ἔς τε αἶαν καθύπερθεν, ἀπεσκνίφωσε δὲ γαίης
τόσσον, ὅσον τ’ εὖρος γλαυκώπιδος ἔπλετο μήνης,

καθάπερ εἰς νύκτα καὶ σκότος οὐκ εἰς ἄστρον ἕτερον τοῦ φωτὸς ἐμπεσόντος. Ὃ δὲ λέγει Ποσειδώνιος, ὡς ὑπὸ βάθους τῆς σελήνης οὐ περαιοῦται δι’ αὐτῆς τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φῶς πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἐλέγχεται καταφανῶς. Ὁ γὰρ ἀὴρ ἄπλετος ὢν καὶ βάθος ἔχων πολλαπλάσιον τῆς σελήνης ὅλος ἐξηλιοῦται καὶ καταλάμπεται ταῖς αὐγαῖς. Ἀπολείπεται τοίνυν τὸ τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέους, ἀνακλάσει τινὶ τοῦ ἡλίου πρὸς τὴν σελήνην γίνεσθαι τὸν ἐνταῦθα φωτισμὸν ἀπ’ αὐτῆς. Ὅθεν οὐδὲ θερμὸν οὐδὲ λαμπρὸν ἀφικνεῖται πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὥσπερ ἦν εἰκὸς ἐξάψεως καὶ μίξεως δυοῖν φώτων γεγενημένης ἀλλ’ οἷον αἵ τε φωναὶ κατὰ τὰς ἀνακλάσεις ἀμαυροτέραν ἀναφαίνουσι τὴν ἠχὼ τοῦ φθέγματος αἵ τε πληγαὶ τῶν ἀφαλλομένων βελῶν μαλακώτεραι προσπίπτουσιν,

ὣς αὐγὴ τύψασα σεληναίης κύκλον εὐρύν

ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἀμυδρὰν ἀνάρροιαν ἴσχει πρὸς ἡμᾶς, διὰ τὴν κλάσιν ἐκλυομένης τῆς δυνάμεως”.

     16. With these remarks I was about to yield the floor to Leucius ¹¹⁶, since the proofs of our position were next in order; but Aristotle smiled and said: “The company is my witness that you have directed your entire refutation against those who suppose that the moon is for her part semi-igneous and yet assert of all bodies in common that of themselves they incline either upwards or downwards. Whether there is anyone, however, who says ¹¹⁷ that the stars move naturally in a circle and are of a substance far superior to the four substances here ¹¹⁸ did not even accidentally come to your notice, so that I at any rate have been spared trouble”. And Leucius broke in and said: “… good friend, probably one would not for the moment quarrel with you and your friends, dispute the countless difficulties involved, when you ascribe to the other stars and the whole heaven a nature pure and undefiled and free from qualitative change and moving in a circle whereby it is possible to have the nature of endless revolution too; but let this doctrine descend and touch the moon, and in her it no longer preserves the impassivity and beauty of that body. Not to mention her other irregularities and divergencies, this very face which she displays is the result of some alteration of her substance or of the admixture somehow of another substance ¹¹⁹. That which is subjected to mixture, however, is the subject of some affection too, for it loses its purity, since it is perforce infected by what is inferior to it.

     The moon’s sluggishness and slackness of speed and the feebleness and faintness of her heat which, in the words of Ion ‘ripes not the grape to duskiness’ ¹²⁰, to what shall we ascribe them except to her weakness and alteration, if an eternal and celestial ¹²¹ body can have any part in alteration? The fact is in brief, my dear Aristotle, that regarded as earth the moon has the aspect of a very beautiful, august, and elegant object; but as a star or luminary or a divine and heavenly object she is, I am afraid, misshapen, ugly, and a disgrace to the noble title, if it is true that of all the host in heaven she alone goes about in need of alien light ¹²², as Parmenides says

Fixing her glance forever on the sun ¹²³.

     Our comrade in his discourse ¹²⁴ won approval by his demonstration of this very proposition of Anaxagoras’s that ‘the sun imparts to the moon her brilliance’ ¹²⁵; for my part, I shall not speak about these matters that I learned from you or in your company but gladly proceed to what remains. Well then, it is plausible that the moon is illuminated not by the sun’s irradiating and shining through her in the manner of glass ¹²⁶ or ice ¹²⁷ nor again as the result of some sort of concentration of brilliance or aggregation of rays, the light increasing as in the case of torches ¹²⁸. Were that true, we should see the moon at the full on the first of the month no less than in the middle of the month, if she does not conceal and obstruct the sun but because of her subtility let his light through or as a result of combining with it flashes forth and joins in kindling the light in herself ¹²⁹. Certainly her deviations or aversions ¹³⁰ cannot be alleged as the cause of her invisibility when she is in conjunction, as they are when she is at the half and gibbous or crescent; then, rather, ‘standing in a straight line with her illuminant’, says Democritus, ‘she sustains and receives the sun’ ¹³¹, so that it would be reasonable for her to be visible and to let him shine thru. Far from doing this, however, she is at that time invisible herself and often has concealed and obliterated him ‘his beams she put to flight’, as Empedocles says,

From heaven above as far as to the earth, whereof
such breadth as had the bright-eyed moon, she cast in shade ¹³²,

just as if the light had fallen into night and darkness and not upon another star. As for the explanation of Posidonius that the profundity of the moon prevents the light of the sun from passing through her to us ¹³³, this is obviously refuted by the fact that the air, though it is boundless and has many times the profundity of the moon, is in its entirety illumined and filled with sunshine by the rays. There remains then the theory of Empedocles that the moonlight which we see comes from the moon’s reflection of the sun. That is why there is neither warmth ¹³⁴ nor brilliance in it when it reaches us, as we should expect there to be if there had been a kindling or mixture of the lights of sun and moon ¹³⁵. To the contrary, just as voices when they are reflected produce an echo which is fainter than the original sound and the impact of missiles after a ricochet is weaker,

Thus, having struck the moon’s broad disk, the ray ¹³⁶ 

comes to us in a refluence weak and faint because the deflection slackens its force”.

     17. Ὑπολαβὼν δ’ ὁ Σύλλας “ἀμέλει ταῦτ’” εἶπεν “ἔχει τινὰς πιθανότητας· ὃ δ’ ἰσχυρότατόν ἐστι τῶν ἀντιπιπτόντων, πότερον ἔτυχέ τινος παραμυθίας ἢ παρῆλθεν ἡμῶν τὸν ἑταῖρον”; “Tί τοῦτο” ἔφη “λέγεις”; Ὁ Λεύκιος· “ἦ τὸ πρὸς τὴν διχότομον ἀπορούμενον”; “Πάνυ μὲν οὖν” ὁ Σύλλας εἶπεν· “ἔχει γάρ τινα λόγον τὸ πάσης ἐν ἴσαις γωνίαις γινομένης ἀνακλάσεως, ὅταν ἡ σελήνη διχοτομοῦσα μεσουρανῇ, μὴ φέρεσθαι τὸ φῶς ἐπὶ γῆς ἀπ’ αὐτῆς ἀλλ’ ὀλισθάνειν ἐπέκεινα τῆς γῆς· ὁ γὰρ ἥλιος ἐπὶ τοῦ ὁρίζοντος ὢν ἅπτεται τῇ ἀκτῖνι τῆς σελήνης· διὸ καὶ κλασθεῖσα πρὸς ἴσας ἐπὶ θάτερον ἐκπεσεῖται πέρας καὶ οὐκ ἀφήσει δεῦρο τὴν αὐγήν· ἢ διαστροφὴ μεγάλη καὶ παράλλαξις ἔσται τῆς γωνίας, ὅπερ ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν”. “Ἀλλὰ νὴ Δί’” εἶπεν ὁ Λεύκιος “καὶ τοῦτ’ ἐρρήθη”. Καὶ πρός γε Μενέλαον ἀποβλέψας ἐν τῷ διαλέγεσθαι τὸν μαθηματικόν “αἰσχύνομαι μέν” ἔφη “σοῦ παρόντος, ὦ φίλε Μενέλαε, θέσιν ἀναιρεῖν μαθηματικὴν ὥσπερ θεμέλιον τοῖς κατοπτρικοῖς ὑποκειμένην πράγμασιν· ἀνάγκη δ’ εἰπεῖν ὅτι τὸ πρὸς ἴσας γίνεσθαι γωνίας ἀνάκλασιν πᾶσαν οὔτε φαινόμενον αὐτόθεν οὔθ’ ὁμολογούμενόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ διαβάλλεται μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν κυρτῶν κατόπτρων, ὅταν ἐμφάσεις ποιῇ μείζονας ἑαυτῶν πρὸς ἓν τὸ τῆς ὄψεως σημεῖον, διαβάλλεται δὲ τοῖς διπτύχοις κατόπτροις, ὧν ἐπικλιθέντων πρὸς ἄλληλα καὶ γωνίας ἐντὸς γενομένης ἑκάτερον τῶν ἐπιπέδων διττὴν ἔμφασιν ἀποδίδωσι καὶ ποιεῖ τέτταρας εἰκόνας ἀφ’ ἑνὸς προσώπου, δύο μὲν ἀντιστρόφους τοῖς ἔξωθεν ἀριστεροῖς μέρεσι, δύο δὲ δεξιοφανεῖς ἀλλ’ ἀμαυρὰς ἐν βάθει τῶν κατόπτρων.

     Ὧν τῆς γενέσεως τὴν αἰτίαν Πλάτων ἀποδίδωσιν. Εἴρηκε γὰρ ὅτι τοῦ κατόπτρου ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν ὕψος λαβόντος ὑπαλλάττουσιν αἱ ὄψεις τὴν ἀνάκλασιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑτέρων ἐπὶ θάτερα μεταπίπτουσαν. Εἴπερ οὖν τῶν ὄψεων εὐθὺς πρὸς ἡμᾶς … ἀνατρέχουσιν, αἱ δ’ ἐπὶ θάτερα μέρη τῶν κατόπτρων ὀλισθάνουσαι πάλιν ἐκεῖθεν ἀναφέρονται πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οὐ δυνατόν ἐστιν ἐν ἴσαις γωνίαις γίνεσθαι πάσας ἀνακλάσεις. Οἷς οἱ ὁμόσε χωροῦντες ἀξιοῦσιν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης ἐπὶ γῆν φερομένοις ῥεύμασι τὴν ἰσότητα τῶν γωνιῶν ἀναιρεῖν, πολλῷ τοῦτ’ ἐκείνου πιθανώτερον εἶναι νομίζοντες. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλ’ εἰ δεῖ τοῦτο χαρίζεσθαι τῇ πολλὰ δὴ φίλῃ γεωμετρίᾳ καὶ δοῦναι, πρῶτον μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἠκριβωμένων ταῖς λειότησι συμπίπτειν ἐσόπτρων εἰκός ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ σελήνη πολλὰς ἀνωμαλίας ἔχει καὶ τραχύτητας, ὥστε τὰς αὐγὰς ἀπὸ σώματος μεγάλου προσφερομένας ὕψεσιν ἀξιολόγοις ἀντιλάμψεις καὶ διαδόσεις ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνουσιν, ἀνακλᾶσθαί τε παντοδαπῶς καὶ περιπλέκεσθαι καὶ συνάπτειν αὐτὴν ἑαυτῇ τὴν ἀνταύγειαν, οἷον ἀπὸ πολλῶν φερομένην πρὸς ἡμᾶς κατόπτρων. Ἔπειτα κἂν πρὸς αὐτῇ τῇ σελήνῃ τὰς ἀντανακλάσεις ἐν ἴσαις γωνίαις ποιῶμεν, οὐκ ἀδύνατον φερομένας ἐν διαστήματι τοσούτῳ τὰς αὐγὰς κλάσεις ἴσχειν καὶ περιολισθήσεις, ὡς συγχεῖσθαι καὶ κάμπτειν τὸ φῶς. Ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ δεικνύουσι γράφοντες, ὅτι πολλὰ τῶν φώτων αὐγὴν ἀφίησι κατὰ γραμμῆς ὑπὸ τὴν κεκλιμένην ὑποταθείσης· σκευωρεῖσθαι δ’ ἅμα λέγοντι διάγραμμα, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς πολλούς, οὐκ ἐνῆν.

     17. Sulla then broke in and said: “No doubt this position has its plausible aspects; but what tells most strongly on the other side, did our comrade ¹³⁷ explain that away or did he fail to notice it”? “What's that”? said Leucius, “or do you mean the difficulty with respect to the half-moon”? “Exactly”, said Sulla, “for there is some reason in the contention that, since all reflection occurs at equal angles ¹³⁸, whenever the moon at the half is in mid-heaven the light cannot move earthwards from her but must glance off beyond the earth. The ray that then touches the moon comes from the sun on the horizon ¹³⁹ and therefore, being reflected at equal angles, would be produced to the point on the opposite horizon and would not shed its light upon us, or else there would be great distortion and aberration of the angle, which is opposite” ¹⁴⁰. “Yes, by Heaven”, said Leucius, “there was talk of this too”; and, looking at Menelaus the mathematician as he spoke, he said: “In your presence, my dear Menelaus, I am ashamed to confute a mathematical proposition, the foundation, as it were, on which rests the subject of catoptrics. Yet it must be said that the proposition, ‘all reflection occurs at equal angles’ ¹⁴¹, is neither self-evident nor an admitted fact ¹⁴². It is refuted in the case of convex ¹⁴³ mirrors when the point of incidence of the visual ray produces images that are magnified in one respect; and it is refuted by folding mirrors ¹⁴⁴, either plane of which, when they have been inclined to each other and have formed an inner angle, exhibits a double image, so that four likenesses of a single object are produced, two reversed on the outer surfaces and two dim ones not reversed in the depth of the mirrors.

     The reason for the production of these images Plato explains ¹⁴⁵, for he has said that when the mirror is elevated on both sides the visual rays interchange their reflection because they shift from one side to the other. So, if of the visual rays some revert straight to us from the plane surfaces while others glance off to the opposite sides of the mirrors and thence return to us again, it is not possible that all reflections occur at equal angles ¹⁴⁶. Consequently some people take direct issue with the mathematicians and maintain that they confute the equality of the angles of incidence and reflection by the very streams of light that flow from the moon upon the earth, for they deem this fact to be much more credible than that theory. Nevertheless, suppose that this ¹⁴⁷ must be conceded as a favour to geometry, the dearly beloved! In the first place, it is likely of the occur only in mirrors that have been polished to exact smoothness; but the moon is very uneven and rugged, with the result that the rays from a large body striking against considerable heights which receive reflections and diffusions of light from one another are multifariously reflected and intertwined and the refulgence itself combines with itself, coming to us, as it were, from many mirrors. In the second place, even if we assume that the reflections on the surface of the moon occur at equal angles, it is not impossible that the rays as they travel through such a great interval get fractured and deflected ¹⁴⁸ so as to be blurred and to bend their light. Some people even give a geometrical demonstration that the moon sheds many of her beams upon the earth along a line extended from the surface that is bent away from us ¹⁴⁹; but I could not construct a geometrical diagram while talking, and talking to many people too.

     18. Τὸ δ’ ὅλον” ἔφη “θαυμάζω πῶς τὴν διχότομον ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς κινοῦσιν ἐμπίπτουσαν μετὰ τῆς ἀμφικύρτου καὶ τῆς μηνοειδοῦς. εἰ γὰρ αἰθέριον ὄγκον ἢ πύρινον ὄντα τὸν τῆς σελήνης ἐφώτιζεν ὁ ἥλιος, οὐκ ἂν ἀπέλειπεν αὐτῆς σκιερὸν ἀεὶ καὶ ἀλαμπὲς ἡμισφαίριον πρὸς αἴσθησιν, ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἔψαυε περιών, ὅλην ἀναπίμπλασθαι καὶ δι’ ὅλης τρέπεσθαι τῷ φωτὶ πανταχόσε χωροῦντι δι’ εὐπετείας ἦν προσῆκον. Ὅπου γὰρ οἶνος ὕδατος θιγὼν κατὰ πέρας καὶ σταγὼν αἵματος εἰς ὑγρὸν ἐμπεσόντος ἀνέχρωσε πᾶν ἅμα … φοινιχθέν, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν ἀέρα λέγουσιν οὐκ ἀπορροίαις τισὶν οὐδ’ ἀκτῖσι μεμιγμέναις ἀλλὰ τροπῇ καὶ μεταβολῇ κατὰ νύξιν ἢ ψαῦσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ φωτὸς ἐξηλιοῦσθαι, πῶς ἄστρον ἄστρου καὶ φῶς φωτὸς ἁψάμενον οἴονται μὴ κεράννυσθαι μηδὲ σύγχυσιν ποιεῖν δι’ ὅλου καὶ μεταβολὴν ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνα φωτίζειν μόνον, ὧν ἅπτεται κατὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν; Ὃν γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος περιιὼν κύκλον ἄγει καὶ περιστρέφει περὶ τὴν σελήνην, νῦν μὲν ἐπιπίπτοντα τῷ διορίζοντι τὸ ὁρατὸν αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ ἀόρατον, νῦν δ’ ἀνιστάμενον πρὸς ὀρθὰς ὥστε τέμνειν ἐκεῖνον ὑπ’ ἐκείνου τε τέμνεσθαι, ἄλλαις δὲ κλίσεσι καὶ σχέσεσι τοῦ λαμπροῦ πρὸς τὸ σκιερὸν ἀμφικύρτους καὶ μηνοειδεῖς ἀποδιδόντα μορφὰς ἐν αὐτῇ, παντὸς μᾶλλον ἐπιδείκνυσιν οὐ σύγκρασιν ἀλλ’ ἐπαφήν, οὐδὲ σύλλαμψιν ἀλλὰ περίλαμψιν αὐτῆς ὄντα τὸν φωτισμόν.

     Ἐπεὶ δ’ οὐκ αὐτὴ φωτίζεται μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ δεῦρο τῆς αὐγῆς ἀναπέμπει τὸ εἴδωλον, ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον ἰσχυρίσασθαι τῷ λόγῳ περὶ τῆς οὐσίας δίδωσιν. Αἱ γὰρ ἀνακλάσεις γίνονται πρὸς οὐδὲν ἀραιὸν οὐδὲ λεπτομερές, οὐδ’ ἔστι φῶς ἀπὸ φωτὸς ἢ πῦρ ἀπὸ πυρὸς ἀφαλλόμενον ἢ νοῆσαι ῥᾴδιον, ἀλλὰ δεῖ τὸ ποιῆσον ἀντιτυπίαν τινὰ καὶ κλάσιν ἐμβριθὲς εἶναι καὶ πυκνόν, ἵνα πρὸς αὐτὸ πληγὴ καὶ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ φορὰ γένηται. Τὸν γοῦν αὐτὸν ἥλιον ὁ μὲν ἀὴρ διίησιν οὐ παρέχων ἀνακοπὰς οὐδ’ ἀντερείδων, ἀπὸ δὲ ξύλων καὶ λίθων καὶ ἱματίων εἰς φῶς τιθεμένων πολλὰς ἀντιλάμψεις καὶ περιλάμψεις ἀποδίδωσιν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὴν γῆν ὁρῶμεν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ φωτιζομένην· οὐ γὰρ εἰς βάθος ὥσπερ ὕδωρ οὐδὲ δι’ ὅλης ὥσπερ ἀὴρ διίησι τὴν αὐγήν, ἀλλ’ οἷος τὴν σελήνην περιστείχει κύκλος αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅσον ὑποτέμνεται μέρος ἐκείνης, τοιοῦτος ἕτερος περίεισι τὴν γῆν καὶ τοσοῦτον φωτίζων ἀεὶ καὶ ἀπολείπων ἕτερον ἀφώτιστον· ἡμισφαιρίου γὰρ ὀλίγῳ δοκεῖ μεῖζον εἶναι τὸ περιλαμπόμενον ἑκατέρας. Δότε δή μοι γεωμετρικῶς εἰπεῖν πρὸς ἀναλογίαν ὡς, εἰ τριῶν ὄντων οἷς τὸ ἀφ’ ἡλίου φῶς πλησιάζει, γῆς σελήνης ἀέρος, ὁρῶμεν οὐχ ὡς ὁ ἀὴρ μᾶλλον ἢ ὡς ἡ γῆ φωτιζομένην τὴν σελήνην, ἀνάγκη φύσιν ἔχειν ὁμοίαν ἃ τὰ αὐτὰ πάσχειν ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πέφυκεν”.

     18. Speaking generally”, he said, “I marvel that they adduce against us the moon’s shining upon the earth at the half and at the gibbous and the crescent phases too ¹⁵⁰. After all, if the mass of the moon that is illumined by the sun were ethereal or fiery, the sun would not leave her ¹⁵¹ a hemisphere that to our perception is ever in shadow and unilluminated; on the contrary, if as he revolves he grazed her ever so slightly, she should be saturated in her entirety and altered through and through by the light proceeding easily in all directions. Since wine that just touches water at its surface ¹⁵² or a drop of blood fallen into liquid at the moment of contact stains all the liquid red ¹⁵³, and since they say that the air itself is filled with sunshine not by having any effluences or rays commingled with it but by an alteration and change that results from impact or contact of the light ¹⁵⁴, how do they imagine that a star can come in contact with a star or light with light and instead of blending and producing a thorough mixture and change merely illumine those portions of the surface which it touches ¹⁵⁵? In fact, the circle which the sun in its revolution describes and causes to turn about the moon now coinciding with the circle that divides her visible and invisible parts and now standing at right angles to it so as to intersect it and be intersected by it, by different inclinations and relations of the bright part to the dark producing in her the gibbous and crescent phases ¹⁵⁶, conclusively demonstrates that her illumination is the result not of combination but of contact, not of a concentration of light within her but of light shining upon her from without.

     In that she is not only illumined herself, however, but also transmits to us the semblance of her illumination, she gives us all the more confidence in our theory of her substance. There are no reflections from anything rarefied or tenuous in texture, and it is not easy even to imagine light rebounding from light or fire from fire; but whatever is to cause a repercussion or a reflection must be compact and solid ¹⁵⁷, in order that it may stop a blow and repel it ¹⁵⁸. At any rate, the same sunlight that the air lets pass without impediment or resistance is widely reflected and diffused from wood and stone and clothing exposed to its rays. The earth too we see illumined by the sun in this fashion. It does not let the light penetrate its depths as water does or pervade it through and through as air does; but such as is the circle of the sun that moves around the moon and so great as is the part of her that it intercepts, just such a circle in turn moves around the earth, always illuminating just so much and leaving another part unlimited ¹⁵⁹, for the illumined portion of either body appears to be slightly greater than a hemisphere ¹⁶⁰. Give me leave then to put it in geometrical fashion in terms of a proportion. Given three things approached by the light from the sun: earth, moon, air; if we see that the moon is illumined not as the air is rather than as the earth, the things upon which the same agent produces the same effects must be of a similar nature” ¹⁶¹.

     19. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντες ἐπῄνεσαν τὸν Λεύκιον, “εὖ γ’” ἔφην “ὅτι καλῷ λόγῳ καλὴν ἀναλογίαν προσέθηκας· οὐ γὰρ ἀποστερητέον σε τῶν ἰδίων”. Κἀκεῖνος ἐπιμειδιάσας “οὐκοῦν” ἔφη “καὶ δεύτερον ἀναλογίᾳ προσχρηστέον, ὅπως μὴ τῷ τὰ αὐτὰ πάσχειν ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ταὐτὰ ποιεῖν ταὐτὸν ἀποδείξωμεν τῇ γῇ τὴν σελήνην προσεοικυῖαν. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν οὕτως τῶν περὶ τὸν ἥλιον γινομένων ὅμοιόν ἐστιν ὡς ἔκλειψις ἡλίου δύσει, δότε μοι ταύτης τῆς ἔναγχος συνόδου μνησθέντες, ἣ πολλὰ μὲν ἄστρα πολλαχόθεν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διέφηνεν εὐθὺς ἐκ μεσημβρίας ἀρξαμένη, κρᾶσιν δ’ οἵαν τὸ λυκαυγὲς τῷ ἀέρι παρέσχεν. Εἰ δὲ μή, Θέων ἡμῖν οὗτος τὸν Μίμνερμον ἐπάξει καὶ τὸν Κυδίαν καὶ τὸν Ἀρχίλοχον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὸν Στησίχορον καὶ τὸν Πίνδαρον ἐν ταῖς ἐκλείψεσιν ὀλοφυρομένους ‘ἄστρον φανερώτατον κλεπτόμενον’ καί ‘μέσῳ ἄματι νύκτα γινομένην’ καὶ τὴν ‘ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου σκότους ἀτραπὸν ἐσσυμέναν’ φάσκοντας, ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τὸν Ὅμηρον νυκτὶ καὶ ζόφῳ τὰ πρόσωπα κατέχεσθαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων λέγοντα καί ‘τὸν ἥλιον ἐξαπολωλέναι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ’ περὶ τὴν † σελήνην καὶ … τοῦτο γίνεσθαι πέφυκε

τοῦ μὲν φθίνοντος μηνὸς τοῦ δ’ ἱσταμένου.

     Τὰ λοιπὰ δ’ οἶμαι ταῖς μαθηματικαῖς ἀκριβείαις εἰς τὸν … ἐξῆχθαι καὶ βέβαιον, ὡς ἥ γε νύξ ἐστι σκιὰ γῆς, ἡ δ’ ἔκλειψις τοῦ ἡλίου σκιὰ σελήνης, ὅταν ἡ ὄψις ἐν αὐτῇ γένηται. Δυόμενος γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀντιφράττεται πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν, ἐκλιπὼν δ’ ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης· ἀμφότεραι δ’ εἰσὶν ἐπισκοτήσεις, ἀλλ’ ἡ μὲν δυτικὴ τῆς γῆς ἡ δ’ ἐκλειπτικὴ τῆς σελήνης τῇ σκιᾷ καταλαμβανούσης τὴν ὄψιν. Ἐκ δὲ τούτων εὐθεώρητον τὸ γινόμενον. Εἰ γὰρ ὅμοιον τὸ πάθος, ὅμοια τὰ ποιοῦντα· τῷ γὰρ αὐτῷ τὰ αὐτὰ συμβαίνειν ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν. Εἰ δ’ οὐχ οὕτως τὸ περὶ τὰς ἐκλείψεις σκότος βύθιόν ἐστιν οὐδ’ ὁμοίως τῇ νυκτὶ πιέζει τὸν ἀέρα, μὴ θαυμάζωμεν· οὐσία μὲν γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ τοῦ τὴν νύκτα ποιοῦντος καὶ τοῦ τὴν ἔκλειψιν σώματος, μέγεθος δ’ οὐκ ἴσον· ἀλλ’ Αἰγυπτίους μὲν ἑβδομηκοστόδυον οἶμαι φάναι μόριον εἶναι τὴν σελήνην, Ἀναξαγόραν δ’ ὅση Πελοπόννησος. Ἀρίσταρχος δὲ τὴν διάμετρον τῆς γῆς πρὸς τὴν διάμετρον τῆς σελήνης λόγον ἔχουσαν ἀποδείκνυσιν, ὃς ἐλάττων μὲν ἢ ἑξήκοντα πρὸς δεκαεννέα, μείζων δ’ ἢ ὡς ἑκατὸν ὀκτὼ πρὸς τεσσαράκοντα τρί’ ἐστίν.

     Ὅθεν ἡ μὲν γῆ παντάπασι τῆς ὄψεως τὸν ἥλιον ἀφαιρεῖται διὰ μέγεθος· μεγάλη γὰρ ἡ ἐπιπρόσθησις καὶ χρόνον ἔχουσα τὸν τῆς νυκτός· ἡ δὲ σελήνη κἂν ὅλον ποτὲ κρύψῃ τὸν ἥλιον, οὐκ ἔχει χρόνον οὐδὲ πλάτος ἡ ἔκλειψις, ἀλλὰ περιφαίνεταί τις αὐγὴ περὶ τὴν ἴτυν, οὐκ ἐῶσα βαθεῖαν γενέσθαι τὴν σκιὰν καὶ ἄκρατον. Ἀριστοτέλης δ’ ὁ παλαιὸς αἰτίαν τοῦ πλεονάκις τὴν σελήνην ἐκλείπουσαν ἢ τὸν ἥλιον καθορᾶσθαι πρὸς ἄλλαις τισὶ καὶ ταύτην ἀποδίδωσιν· ἥλιον γὰρ ἐκλείπειν σελήνης ἀντιφράξει, σελήνην δὲ … . Ὁ δὲ Ποσειδώνιος ὁρισάμενος οὕτω τόδε τὸ πάθος ‘ἔκλειψίς ἐστιν ἡλίου † σύνοδος σκιᾶς σελήνης ἧς τὴν ἔκλειψιν …’· ἐκείνοις γὰρ μόνοις ἔκλειψίς ἐστιν, ὧν ἂν ἡ σκιὰ τῆς σελήνης καταλαβοῦσα τὴν ὄψιν ἀντιφράξῃ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον· ὁμολογῶν δὲ σκιὰν τῆς σελήνης φέρεσθαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι λέγειν ἑαυτῷ καταλέλοιπεν *** ἄστρου δὲ σκιὰν ἀδύνατον γενέσθαι· τὸ γὰρ ἀφώτιστον σκιὰ λέγεται, τὸ δὲ φῶς οὐ ποιεῖ σκιὰν ἀλλ’ ἀναιρεῖν πέφυκεν.

     19. When all had applauded Leucius, I said: “Congratulations upon having added to an elegant account an elegant proportion, for you must not be defrauded of what belongs to you”. He smiled thereat and said: “Well then proportion must be used a second time, in order that we may prove the moon to be like the earth not only because the effects of the same agent are the same on both but also because the effects of both on the same patient are the same. Now, grant me that nothing that happens to the sun is so like its setting as a solar eclipse. You will if you call to mind this conjunction recently which, beginning just after noonday, made many stars shine out from my parts of the sky ¹⁶² and tempered the air in the manner of twilight ¹⁶³. If you do not recall it, Theon here will cite us Mimnermus ¹⁶⁴ and Cydias ¹⁶⁵ and Archilochus ¹⁶⁶ and Stesichorus besides and Pindar ¹⁶⁷, who during eclipses bewail ‘the brightest star bereft’ ¹⁶⁸ and ‘at midday falling’ ¹⁶⁹ and say that the beam of the sun ‘is sped the path of shade’ ¹⁷⁰; and to crown all he will cite Homer, who says ‘the faces of men are covered with night and gloom’ ¹⁷¹ and ‘the sun has perished out of heaven’ ¹⁷² speaking with reference to the moon and hinting that this naturally occurs

When waning month to waxing month gives way ¹⁷³.

     For the rest, I think that it has been reduced by the precision of mathematics to the clear and certain formula that night is the shadow of earth ¹⁷⁴ and the eclipse of the sun is the shadow of the moon ¹⁷⁵ whenever the visual ray encounters it. The fact is that in setting the sun is screened from our vision by the earth and in eclipse by the moon; but are cases of occultation, but the vespertine is occultation by the earth and the ecliptic by the moon with her shadow intercepting the visual ray ¹⁷⁶. What follows from this is easy to perceive. If the effect is similar, the agents are similar, for it must be the same agents that cause the same things to happen to the same subject. Nor should we marvel if the darkness of eclipses is not so deep or so oppressive of the air as night is. The reason is that the body which produces night and that which produces the eclipse while the same in substance are not equal in size. In fact the Egyptians, I think, say that the moon is one seventy-second part (of the earth) ¹⁷⁷, and Anaxagoras that it is the size of the Peloponnesus ¹⁷⁸; and Aristarchus demonstrates that the ratio of the earth’s diameter to the diameter of the moon is smaller than 60 to 19 and greater than 108 to 43 ¹⁷⁹.

     Consequently the earth because of its size removes the sun from sight entirely, for the obstruction is large and its duration is that of the night. Even if the moon, however, does sometimes cover the sun entirely, the eclipse does not have duration or extension; but a kind of light is visible about the rim which keeps the shadow from being profound and absolute ¹⁸⁰. The ancient Aristotle gives this as a reason besides some others why the moon is observed in eclipse more frequently than the sun, saying that the sun is eclipse by interposition of the moon but the moon by that of the earth, which is much larger ¹⁸¹. Posidonius gave this definition: ‘The following condition is an eclipse of the sun, conjunction of the moon’s shadow with whatever parts of the earth it may obscure, for there is an eclipse only for those whose visual ray the shadow of the moon intercepts and screens from the sun’ ¹⁸²; —since he concedes then that a shadow of the moon falls upon us, he has left himself nothing to say that I can see. Of a star there can be no shadow, for shadow means the unlighted and light does not produce shadow but naturally destroys it ¹⁸³.

     20. Ἀλλὰ τί δή” ἔφη “μετὰ τοῦτο τῶν τεκμηρίων ἐλέχθη”; Κἀγώ “τὴν αὐτήν” ἔφην “ἐλάμβανεν ἡ σελήνη ἔκλειψιν”. “Ὀρθῶς” εἶπεν “ὑπέμνησας· ἀλλὰ δὴ πότερον ὡς πεπεισμένων ὑμῶν καὶ τιθέντων ἐκλείπειν τὴν σελήνην ὑπὸ τοῦ σκιάσματος ἁλισκομένην ἤδη τρέπωμαι πρὸς τὸν λόγον, ἢ βούλεσθε μελέτην ποιήσωμαι καὶ ἀπόδειξιν ὑμῖν τῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων ἕκαστον ἀπαριθμήσας”; “Νὴ Δί’” εἶπεν ὁ Θέων “τούτοις καὶ ἐμμελέτησον· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πειθοῦς τινος δέομαι, ταύτῃ μόνον ἀκηκοὼς ὡς ἐπὶ μίαν μὲν εὐθεῖαν τῶν τριῶν σωμάτων γιγνομένων, γῆς καὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης, αἱ ἐκλείψεις συντυγχάνουσιν· ἡ γὰρ γῆ τῆς σελήνης ἢ πάλιν ἡ σελήνη τῆς γῆς ἀφαιρεῖται τὸν ἥλιον· ἐκλείπει γὰρ οὗτος μὲν σελήνης, σελήνη δὲ γῆς ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τριῶν ἱσταμένης· ὧν γίνεται τὸ μὲν ἐν συνόδῳ τὸ δ’ ἐν διχομηνίᾳ”. Καὶ ὁ Λεύκιος ἔφη “σχεδὸν μέντοι τῶν λεγομένων κυριώτατα ταῦτ’ ἐστί· πρόσλαβε δὲ πρῶτον, εἰ βούλει, τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ σχήματος τῆς σκιᾶς λόγον· ἔστι γὰρ κῶνος, ἅτε δὴ μεγάλου πυρὸς ἢ φωτὸς σφαιροειδοῦς ἐλάττονα σφαιροειδῆ δὲ περιβάλλοντος ὄγκον. Ὅθεν ἐν ταῖς ἐκλείψεσι τῆς σελήνης αἱ περιγραφαὶ τῶν μελαινομένων πρὸς τὰ λαμπρὰ τὰς ἀποτομὰς περιφερεῖς ἴσχουσιν· ἃς γὰρ ἂν στρογγύλον στρογγύλῳ προσμῖξαν ἢ δέξηται τομὰς ἢ παράσχῃ, πανταχόσε χωροῦσαι δι’ ὁμοιότητα γίνονται κυκλοτερεῖς. Δεύτερον οἶμαί σε γινώσκειν, ὅτι σελήνης μὲν ἐκλείπει πρῶτα μέρη τὰ πρὸς ἀπηλιώτην, ἡλίου δὲ τὰ πρὸς δύσιν, κινεῖται δ’ ἡ μὲν σκιὰ τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνατολῶν, ἥλιος δὲ καὶ σελήνη τοὐναντίον ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολάς.

     Ταῦτα γὰρ ἰδεῖν τε παρέχει τῇ αἰσθήσει τὰ φαινόμενα κἀκ λόγων οὐ πάνυ τι μακρῶν μαθεῖν ἔστιν· ἐκ δὲ τούτων ἡ αἰτία βεβαιοῦται τῆς ἐκλείψεως. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἥλιος μὲν ἐκλείπει καταλαμβανόμενος, σελήνη δ’ ἀπαντῶσα τῷ ποιοῦντι τὴν ἔκλειψιν, εἰκότως μᾶλλον δ’ ἀναγκαίως ὁ μὲν ὄπισθεν ἁλίσκεται πρῶτον ἡ δ’ ἔμπροσθεν. Ἄρχεται γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν ἡ ἐπιπρόσθησις, ὅθεν πρῶτον μὲν ἐπιβάλλει τὸ ἐπιπροσθοῦν· ἐπιβάλλει δ’ ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἀφ’ ἑσπέρας ἡ σελήνη πρὸς αὐτὸν ἁμιλλωμένη, ταύτῃ δ’ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνατολῶν, ὡς πρὸς τοὐναντίον ὑποφερομένη. Τρίτον τοίνυν ἔτι τὸ τοῦ χρόνου λάβε καὶ τὸ τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν ἐκλείψεων αὐτῆς. Ὑψηλὴ μὲν ἐκλείπουσα καὶ ἀπόγειος ὀλίγον ἀποκρύπτεται χρόνον, πρόσγειος δὲ καὶ ταπεινὴ αὐτὸ τοῦτο παθοῦσα σφόδρα πιέζεται καὶ βραδέως ἐκ τῆς σκιᾶς ἄπεισι. Καίτοι ταπεινὴ μὲν οὖσα τοῖς μεγίστοις χρῆται κινήμασιν, ὑψηλὴ δὲ τοῖς ἐλαχίστοις· ἀλλὰ τὸ αἴτιον ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ τῆς διαφορᾶς ἔστιν. Εὐρυτάτη γὰρ οὖσα περὶ τὴν βάσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ κῶνοι, συστελλομένη τε κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς ὀξὺ τῇ κορυφῇ καὶ λεπτὸν ἀπολήγει πέρας. Ὅθεν ἡ σελήνη ταπεινὴ μὲν ἐμπεσοῦσα τοῖς μεγίστοις λαμβάνεται κύκλοις ὑπ’ αὐτῆς καὶ διαπερᾷ τὸ βύθιον καὶ σκοτωδέστατον, ἄνω δ’ οἷον ἐν τενάγει διὰ λεπτότητα τοῦ σκιεροῦ χρανθεῖσα ταχέως ἀπαλλάττεται. Παρίημι δ’ ὅσα χωρὶς ἰδίᾳ πρὸς τὰς βάσεις καὶ τὰς διαφορήσεις ἐλέχθη· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖναι μέχρι γε τοῦ ἐνδεχομένου προσίενται τὴν αἰτίαν· ἀλλ’ ἐπανάγω πρὸς τὸν ὑποκείμενον λόγον ἀρχὴν ἔχοντα τὴν αἴσθησιν.

     Ὁρῶμεν γὰρ ὅτι πῦρ ἐκ τόπου σκιεροῦ διαφαίνεται καὶ διαλάμπει μᾶλλον, εἴτε παχύτητι τοῦ σκοτώδους ἀέρος οὐ δεχομένου τὰς ἀπορρεύσεις καὶ διαχύσεις ἀλλὰ συνέχοντος ἐν ταὐτῷ τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ σφίγγοντος, εἴτε τῆς αἰσθήσεως τοῦτο πάθος ἐστίν, ὡς τὰ θερμὰ παρὰ τὰ ψυχρὰ θερμότερα καὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς παρὰ τοὺς πόνους σφοδροτέρας, οὕτω τὰ λαμπρὰ φαίνεσθαι παρὰ τὰ σκοτεινὰ φανερώτερα, τοῖς διαφόροις πάθεσιν ἀντεπιτείνοντα τὴν φαντασίαν. Ἔοικε δὲ πιθανώτερον εἶναι τὸ πρότερον· ἐν γὰρ ἡλίῳ πᾶσα πυρὸς φύσις οὐ μόνον τὸ λαμπρὸν ἀπόλλυσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ εἴκειν γίνεται δύσεργος καὶ ἀμβλυτέρα· σκίδνησι γὰρ ἡ θερμότης καὶ διαχέει τὴν δύναμιν. Εἴπερ οὖν ἡ σελήνη πυρὸς εἴληχε βληχροῦ καὶ ἀδρανοῦς, ἄστρον οὖσα θολερώτερον, ὥσπερ αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, οὐθὲν ὧν πάσχουσα φαίνεται νῦν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐναντία πάντα πάσχειν αὐτὴν προσῆκόν ἐστι, φαίνεσθαι μὲν ὅτε κρύπτεται, κρύπτεσθαι δ’ ὁπηνίκα φαίνεται· τουτέστι κρύπτεσθαι μὲν τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον ὑπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος αἰθέρος ἀμαυρουμένην, ἐκλάμπειν δὲ καὶ γίνεσθαι καταφανῆ δι’ ἓξ μηνῶν καὶ πάλιν διὰ πέντε τῇ σκιᾷ τῆς γῆς ὑποδυομένην. Αἱ γὰρ πέντε καὶ ἑξήκοντα καὶ τετρακόσιαι περίοδοι τῶν ἐκλειπτικῶν πανσελήνων τὰς τέσσαρας καὶ τετρακοσίας ἑξαμήνους ἔχουσι τὰς δ’ ἄλλας πενταμήνους. Ἔδει τοίνυν διὰ τοσούτων χρόνων φαίνεσθαι τὴν σελήνην ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ λαμπρυνομένην· ἡ δ’ ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ μὲν ἐκλείπει καὶ ἀπόλλυσι τὸ φῶς, ἀναλαμβάνει δ’ αὖθις, ὅταν ἐκφύγῃ τὴν σκιάν, καὶ φαίνεταί γε πολλάκις ἡμέρας, ὡς πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ πύρινον οὖσα σῶμα καὶ ἀστεροειδές”.

     20. Well now”, he said, “which of the proofs came for this”? And I replied, “That the moon is subject to the same eclipse”. “Thank you”, he said, “for reminding me; but now shall I assume that you have been persuaded and do hold the moon to be eclipsed by being caught in the shadow and so turn straightway to my argument ¹⁸⁴, or do you prefer that I give you a lecture and demonstration in which each of the arguments is enumerated”? “By heaven”, said Theon, “do give these gentlemen a lecture. As for me, I want some persuasion as well, since I have only heard it put this way: when the three body, earth and sun and moon, get into a straight line, eclipses take place because the earth deprives the moon or the moon, on the other hand, deprives the earth of the sun, the sun being eclipsed when the moon and the moon when the earth takes the middle position of the three, the former of which cases occurs at conjunction and the latter at the middle of the month” ¹⁸⁵. Whereupon Leucius said, “Those soldier roughly the main points, though, of what is said on the subject. Add thereto first, if you will, the argument from the shape of the shadow. It is a cone, as is natural when a large fire or light that is spherical circumfuses a smaller but spherical mass ¹⁸⁶. This is the reason why in eclipses of the moon the darkened parts are outlined against the bright in segments that are curved ¹⁸⁷, for whenever two round bodies come into contact the lines by which either intersects the other turn out to be circular since they have everywhere a uniform tendency ¹⁸⁸. Secondly, I think that you are aware that of the moon the eastward parts are first eclipsed and of the sun the westward parts and that, while the shadow of the earth moves from east to west, the sun and the moon move contrariwise towards the east ¹⁸⁹.

     This is made visible to sense-perception by the phenomena and needs no very lengthy explanations to be understood, and these Philadelphia confirm the cause of the eclipse. Since the sun is eclipsed by being overtaken and the moon by encountering that which produces the eclipse, it is reasonable or rather it is necessary that the sun be caught first from behead and the moon from the front, for the obstruction begins from that point which the intercepting body first assails. The sun is assailed from the west by the moon that is striving after him, and she is assailed from the east by the earth's shadow that is sweeping down as it were in the opposite direction. Thirdly, moreover, consider the matter of the duration and the magnitude of lunar eclipses. If the moon is eclipsed when she is high and far from the earth, she is concealed for a little time; but, if the survey thing happens to her when she is low and near the earth, se is strongly curbed and is slow to get out of the shadow, although when she is low her exertions of motion are greatest and when she is high they are least. The reason for the difference lies in the shadow, which being broadest at the base, as cones are, and gradually contracting terminates at the vertex in a sharp and fine tip. Consequently the moon, if she has met the shadow when she is low, is involved by it in its largest circles ¹⁹⁰ and traverses its deep and darkest part; but above as it were in shallow water by reason of the fineness of the shadow she is just grazed and quickly gets clean away ¹⁹¹. I pass over all that was said besides with particular reference to the phases and variations ¹⁹², for these too, in so far as is possible ¹⁹³, admit the cause alleged; and instead I revert to the argument before us ¹⁹⁴ which has its basis in the evidence of the senses.

     We see that from a shadowy place fire glows and shines forth more intensely ¹⁹⁵, whether because the dark air being dense does not admit its effluences and diffusions but confines and concentrates the substance in a single place or because this is an affection of our senses that as hot things appear to be hotter in comparison with cold and pleasures more intense in comparison with pains so bright things appear conspicuous when compared with dark, their appearance being intensified by contrast to the different impressions ¹⁹⁶. The former explanation seems to be the more plausible, for in sunlight fire of every kind not only loses its brilliance but by giving way becomes ineffective and less keen, the reason being that the heat of the sun disperses and dissipates its potency ¹⁹⁷. If, then, as the Stoics themselves assert ¹⁹⁸, the moon, being a rather turbid star, has a faint and feeble fire of her own, she ought to have none of the things happen to her that now obviously do but the very opposite; she ought to be revealed when she is hidden and hidden whenever she is now revealed, that is hidden all the rest of the time when she is bedimmed by the circumambient ether ¹⁹⁹ but shining forth and becoming brilliantly clear at intervals of six months or again at intervals of five when she sinks under the shadow of the earth, since of 465 ecliptic full moons 404 occur in cycles of six months and the rest in cycles of five months ²⁰⁰. It ought to have been at such intervals of time then that the moon is revealed resplendent in the shadow, whereas in the shadow she is eclipsed and loses her light but regains it again as soon as she escapes the shadow ²⁰¹ and is revealed often even by day, which implies that she is anything but a fiery and star-like body".

     21. Εἰπόντος δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ Λευκίου συνεξέδραμον ἅμα πως τῷ … ὅ τε Φαρνάκης καὶ ὁ Ἀπολλωνίδης· εἶτα τοῦ Ἀπολλωνίδου παρέντος ὁ Φαρνάκης εἶπεν, ὅτι τοῦτο καὶ μάλιστα τὴν σελήνην δείκνυσιν ἄστρον ἢ πῦρ οὖσαν· οὐ γάρ ἐστι παντελῶς ἄδηλος ἐν ταῖς ἐκλείψεσιν, ἀλλὰ διαφαίνει τινὰ χρόαν ἀνθρακώδη καὶ βλοσυράν, ἥτις ἴδιός ἐστιν αὐτῆς. Ὁ δ’ Ἀπολλωνίδης ἐνέστη περὶ τῆς σκιᾶς· ἀεὶ γὰρ οὕτως … ὀνομάζειν τοὺς μαθηματικοὺς τὸν ἀλαμπῆ τόπον … σκιάν τε μὴ δέχεσθαι τὸν οὐρανόν. Ἐγὼ δέ “τοῦτο μὲν” ἔφην “πρὸς τοὔνομα μᾶλλον ἐριστικῶς ἢ πρὸς τὸ πρᾶγμα φυσικῶς καὶ μαθηματικῶς ἐνισταμένου. τὸν γὰρ ἀντιφραττόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς γῆς τόπον εἰ μὴ σκιάν τις ἐθέλοι καλεῖν ἀλλ’ ἀφεγγὲς χωρίον, ὅμως ἀναγκαῖον ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν σελήνην γενομένην … καὶ ὅλως” ἔφην “εὔηθές ἐστιν ἐκεῖ μὴ φάναι τῆς γῆς ἐξικνεῖσθαι τὴν σκιάν, … ἡ σκιὰ τῆς σελήνης ἐπιπίπτουσα τῇ ὄψει καὶ διήκουσα πρὸς τὴν γῆν ἔκλειψιν ἡλίου ποιεῖν. Πρὸς σὲ δέ, ὦ Φαρνάκη, τρέψομαι. Τὸ γὰρ ἀνθρακῶδες ἐκεῖνο καὶ διακαὲς χρῶμα τῆς σελήνης, ὃ φῂς ἴδιον αὐτῆς εἶναι, σώματός ἐστι πυκνότητα καὶ βάθος ἔχοντος· οὐθὲν γὰρ ἐθέλει τοῖς ἀραιοῖς ὑπόλειμμα φλογὸς οὐδ’ ἴχνος ἐμμένειν οὐδ’ ἔστιν ἄνθρακος γένεσις, οὗ μὴ στερέμνιον σῶμα δεξάμενον διὰ βάθους τὴν πύρωσιν καὶ σῷζον· ὥς που καὶ Ὅμηρος εἴρηκεν

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πυρὸς ἄνθος ἀπέπτατο, παύσατο δὲ φλὸξ
ἀνθρακιὴν στορέσασα.

     Ὁ γὰρ ἄνθραξ ἔοικεν οὐ πῦρ ἀλλὰ σῶμα πεπυρωμένον εἶναι καὶ πεπονθὸς ὑπὸ πυρὸς στερεῷ καὶ ῥίζαν ἔχοντι προσμένοντος ὄγκῳ καὶ προσδιατρίβοντος· αἱ δὲ φλόγες ἀραιᾶς εἰσιν ἔξαψις καὶ ῥεύματα τροφῆς καὶ ὕλης, ταχὺ δι’ ἀσθένειαν ἀναλυομένης. Ὥστ’ οὐδὲν ἂν ὑπῆρχε τοῦ γεώδη καὶ πυκνὴν εἶναι τὴν σελήνην ἕτερον οὕτως ἐναργὲς τεκμήριον, εἴπερ αὐτῆς ἴδιον ἦν ὡς χρῶμα τὸ ἀνθρακῶδες. Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἔστιν, ὦ φίλε Φαρνάκη· πολλὰς γὰρ ἐκλείπουσα χρόας ἀμείβει καὶ διαιροῦσιν αὐτὰς οὕτως οἱ μαθηματικοὶ κατὰ χρόνον καὶ ὥραν ἀφορίζοντες· ἂν ἀφ’ ἑσπέρας ἐκλείπῃ, φαίνεται μέλαινα δεινῶς ἄχρι τρίτης ὥρας καὶ ἡμισείας· ἂν δὲ μέσῃ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ ἐπιφοινίσσον ἵησι καὶ πῦρ καὶ πυρωπόν· ἀπὸ δ’ ἑβδόμης ὥρας καὶ ἡμισείας ἀνίσταται τὸ ἐρύθημα· καὶ τέλος ἤδη πρὸς ἕω λαμβάνει χρόαν κυανοειδῆ καὶ χαροπήν, ἀφ’ ἧς δὴ καὶ μάλιστα ‘γλαυκῶπιν’ αὐτὴν οἱ ποιηταὶ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἀνακαλοῦνται. Τοσαύτας οὖν χρόας ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ τὴν σελήνην λαμβάνουσαν ὁρῶντες οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἐπὶ μόνον καταφέρονται τὸ ἀνθρακῶδες, ὃ μάλιστα φήσαι τις ἂν ἀλλότριον αὐτῆς εἶναι καὶ μᾶλλον ὑπόμιγμα καὶ λεῖμμα τοῦ φωτὸς διὰ τῆς σκιᾶς περιλάμποντος, ἴδιον δὲ τὸ μέλαν καὶ γεῶδες.

     Ὅπου δὲ πορφυρίσιν ἐνταῦθα καὶ φοινικίσι λίμναις τε καὶ ποταμοῖς δεχομένοις ἥλιον ἐπίσκια χωρία γειτνιῶντα συγχρῴζεται καὶ περιλάμπεται, διὰ τὰς ἀνακλάσεις ἀποδιδόντα πολλοὺς καὶ διαφόρους ἀπαυγασμούς, τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ ῥεῦμα πολὺ σκιᾶς ἐμβάλλον ὥσπερ εἰς πέλαγος οὐράνιον οὐ σταθεροῦ φωτὸς οὐδ’ ἠρεμοῦντος ἀλλὰ μυρίοις ἄστροις περιελαυνομένου μίξεις τε παντοδαπὰς καὶ μεταβολὰς λαμβάνοντος, ἄλλην ἄλλοτε χρόαν ἐκματτόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης ἐνταῦθ’ ἀποδίδωσιν; Ἄστρον μὲν γὰρ ἢ πῦρ οὐκ ἂν ἐν σκιᾷ διαφανείη μέλαν ἢ γλαυκὸν ἢ κυανοειδές, ὄρεσι δὲ καὶ πεδίοις καὶ θαλάσσαις πολλαὶ μὲν ἀφ’ ἡλίου μορφαὶ χρωμάτων ἐπιτρέχουσι καὶ σκιαῖς καὶ ὁμίχλαις, οἵας φαρμάκοις γραφικοῖς μιγνύμενον ἐπάγει βαφὰς τὸ λαμπρόν. Ὧν τὰ μὲν τῆς θαλάττης ἐπικεχείρηκεν ἁμωσγέπως ἐξονομάζειν Ὅμηρος ‘ἰοειδέα’ καλῶν καί ‘οἴνοπα πόντον’, αὖθις δέ ‘πορφύρεον κῦμα’ ‘γλαυκήν’ τ’ ἄλλως ‘θάλασσαν’ καί ‘λευκὴν γαλήνην’, τὰς δὲ περὶ τὴν γῆν διαφορὰς τῶν ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλως ἐπιφαινομένων χρωμάτων παρῆκεν ὡς ἀπείρους τὸ πλῆθος οὔσας. Τὴν δὲ σελήνην οὐκ εἰκὸς ὥσπερ τὴν θάλασσαν μίαν ἔχειν ἐπιφάνειαν, ἀλλ’ ἐοικέναι μάλιστα τῇ γῇ τὴν φύσιν, ἣν ἐμυθολόγει Σωκράτης ὁ παλαιός, εἴτε δὴ ταύτην αἰνιττόμενος εἴτε δὴ ἄλλην τινὰ διηγούμενος. Οὐ γὰρ ἄπιστον οὐδὲ θαυμαστόν, εἰ μηδὲν ἔχουσα διεφθορὸς ἐν ἑαυτῇ μηδ’ ἰλυῶδες, ἀλλὰ φῶς τε καρπουμένη καθαρὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ θερμότητος οὐ διακαοῦς οὐδὲ μανικοῦ πυρὸς ἀλλὰ νοτεροῦ καὶ ἀβλαβοῦς καὶ κατὰ φύσιν ἔχοντος οὖσα πλήρης κάλλη τε θαυμαστὰ κέκτηται τόπων ὄρη τε φλογοειδῆ καὶ ζώνας ἁλουργοὺς ἔχει χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον οὐκ ἐν βάθει διεσπαρμένον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοῖς πεδίοις ἐξανθοῦντα πολὺν ἢ πρὸς ὕψεσι λείοις προφερόμενον.

     Εἰ δὲ τούτων ὄψις ἀφικνεῖται διὰ τῆς σκιᾶς ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλη πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξαλλαγῇ καὶ διαφορᾷ τινι τοῦ περιέχοντος, τό γε μὴν τίμιον οὐκ ἀπόλλυσι τῆς δόξης οὐδὲ τὸ θεῖον ἡ σελήνη, γῆ τις … ἱερὰ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων νομιζομένη μᾶλλον ἢ πῦρ θολερόν, ὥσπερ οἱ Στωικοὶ λέγουσι, καὶ τρυγῶδες. Πῦρ μέν γε παρὰ Μήδοις καὶ Ἀσσυρίοις βαρβαρικὰς ἔχει τιμάς, οἳ φόβῳ τὰ βλάπτοντα θεραπεύουσι πρὸ τῶν σεμνῶν ἀφοσιούμενοι, τὸ δὲ γῆς ὄνομα παντί που φίλον Ἕλληνι καὶ τίμιον, καὶ πατρῷον ἡμῖν ὥσπερ ἄλλον τινὰ θεῶν σέβεσθαι. Πολλοῦ δὲ δέομεν ἄνθρωποι τὴν σελήνην, γῆν οὖσαν ὀλυμπίαν, ἄψυχον ἡγεῖσθαι σῶμα καὶ ἄνουν καὶ ἄμοιρον ὧν θεοῖς ἀπάρχεσθαι προσήκει, νόμῳ τε τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀμοιβὰς τίνοντας καὶ κατὰ φύσιν σεβομένους τὸ κρεῖττον ἀρετῇ καὶ δυνάμει καὶ τιμιώτερον. Ὥστε μηδὲν οἰώμεθα πλημμελεῖν γῆν αὐτὴν θέμενοι, τὸ δὲ φαινόμενον τουτὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῆς, ὥσπερ ἡ παρ’ ἡμῖν ἔχει γῆ κόλπους τινὰς μεγάλους, οὕτως ἐκείνην ἀνεπτύχθαι βάθεσι μεγάλοις καὶ ῥήξεσιν ὕδωρ ἢ ζοφερὸν ἀέρα περιέχουσιν, ὧν ἐντὸς οὐ καθίησιν οὐδ’ ἐπιψαύει τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φῶς, ἀλλ’ ἐκλείπει καὶ διεσπασμένην ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἀνάκλασιν ἀποδίδωσιν”.

     21. When Lucius said this, almost while he was speaking Pharnaces and Apollonides sprang forth together. Then, Apollonides having yielded, Pharnaces said that this very point above all proves the moon to be a star or fire, since she is not entirely invisible in her eclipses but displays a colour smouldering and grim which is peculiar to her ²⁰². Apollonides raised an objection concerning the “shadow” on the ground that the scientists always give this name to the region that is without light and the heaven does not admit shadow ²⁰³. “This”, I said, “is the objection of one who speaks captiously to the name rather than like a natural scientist and mathematician to the fact. If one refuses to call the region screened by the earth ‘shadow’ and insists upon calling it ‘lightless space’, nevertheless when the moon gets into it she must be obscured since she is deprived of the solar light. Speaking generally too, it is silly”, I said, “to deny that the shadow of the earth reaches that point from which on its part the shadow of the moon by impinging upon the sight and extending to the earth produces an eclipse of the sun. Now I shall turn to you, Pharnaces. That smouldering and glowing colour of the moon which you say is peculiar to her is characteristic of a body that is compact and a solid, for no remnant or trace of flame will remain in tenuous things nor is incandescence possible unless there is a hard body that has been ignited through and through and sustains the ignition ²⁰⁴. So Homer too has somewhere said:

But when fire’s bloom had flown and flame had ceased
He smoothed the embers ²⁰⁵ 

     The reason probably is that what is igneous ²⁰⁶ is not fire but body that has been ignited and subjected to the action of fire, which adheres to a solid and stable mass and continues to occupy itself with it, whereas flames are the kindling and flux of tenuous nourishment or matter which because of its feebleness is swiftly dissolved. Consequently there would be no other proof of the moon’s earthy and compact nature so manifest as the smouldering colour, if it really were her own. But it is not so, my dear Pharnaces, for as she is eclipsed she exhibits many changes of colour which scientists have distinguished as follows, delimiting them according to time or hour ²⁰⁷. If the eclipse occurs between eventide and half after the third hour, she appears terribly black; if at midnight, then she gives of this reddish and fiery colour; from half after the seventh hour a blush arises ²⁰⁸ on her face; and finally, if she is eclipsed when the dawn is already near, she takes on a bluish or azure ²⁰⁹ hue, from which especially it is that the poets and Empedocles give her the epithet ’bright-eyed’ ²¹⁰. Now, when one sees the moon take on so many hues in the shadow, it is a mistake to settle upon the smouldering colour alone, the very one that might especially be called alien to her and rather an admixture or remnant of the light shining round about through the shadow, while the black or earthy colour could be called her own ²¹¹.

     Since here on earth places near lakes and rivers open to the sun take on the colour and brilliance of the purple and red awnings that shade them, by reason of the reflections giving off many various effulgences, what wonder if a great flood of shade debouching as it were into a heavenly sea of light, not calm or at rest but undergoing all sorts of combinations and alterations as it is churned about by countless stars, takes from the moon at different times the stain of different hues and presents them to our sight ²¹²? A star or fire could not in shadow shine out black or glaucous or bluish; but over mountains, plains, and sea flit many kinds of colours from the sun, and blended with the shadows and mists his brilliance ²¹³ induces such tints as brilliance does when blended with a painter’s pigments. Those of the sea Homer has endeavoured somehow or other to designate, using the terms ‘violet’ ²¹⁴ and ‘wine-dark deep’ ²¹⁵ and again ‘purple swell’ ²¹⁶ and elsewhere ‘glaucous sea’ ²¹⁷and ‘white calm’ ²¹⁸; but he passed over as being an endless multitude the variations of the colours that appear differently at different times about the land. It is likely, however, that the moon has not a single plane surface like the sea but closely resembles in constitution the earth that the ancient Socrates made the subject of a myth ²¹⁹, whether he really was speaking in riddles about this earth or was giving a description of some other ²²⁰. It is in fact not incredible or wonderful that the moon, if she has nothing corrupted or slimy in her but garners pure light from heaven and is filled with width, which is fire not glowing or raging but moist ²²¹ and harmless and in its natural state, has got open regions of marvellous beauty and mountains flaming bright and has zones of royal purple with gold and silver not scattered in her depths but bursting forth in abundance on the plains or openly visible on the smooth heights ²²².

     If through the shadow there comes to us a glimpse of these, different at different times because of some variation and difference of the atmosphere, the honourable repute of the moon is surely not impaired nor is her divinity because she is held by men to be a celestial and holy earth rather than, as the Stoics say, a fire turbid and dreggish ²²³. Fire, to be sure, is given barbaric honours among the Medes and Assyrians, who from fear by way of propitiation worship the maleficent rather than the reverend; but to every Greek, of course, the name of earth is dear and honourable, and it is our ancestral tradition to revere her like any other god. As men we are far from thinking that the moon, because she is a celestial ²²⁴ earth, is a body without soul and mind and without share in the first-fruits that it beseems us to offer to the gods according to custom requiting them for the goods we have received and naturally revering what is better and more honourable in virtue and power. Consequently let us not think it an offence to suppose that she is earth and that for this which appears to be her face, just as our earth has certain great gulfs, so that earth yawns with great depths and clefts which contain water or murky air; the interior of these the light of the sun does not plumb or even touch, but it fails and the reflection which it sends back here is discontinuous” ²²⁵.

     22. Ὑπολαβὼν δ’ ὁ Ἀπολλωνίδης “εἶτ’, ὦ πρὸς αὐτῆς” ἔφη “τῆς Σελήνης, δυνατὸν εἶναι δοκεῖ ὑμῖν ῥηγμάτων τινῶν ἢ φαράγγων εἶναι σκιὰς κἀκεῖθεν ἀφικνεῖσθαι δεῦρο πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν, ἢ τὸ συμβαῖνον οὐ λογίζεσθε κἀγὼ τουτὶ εἴπω; ἀκούοιτε δὲ καίπερ οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντες. Ἡ μὲν διάμετρος τῆς σελήνης δυοκαίδεκα δακτύλους ἔχει τὸ φαινόμενον ἐν τοῖς μέσοις ἀποστήμασι μέγεθος. Τῶν δὲ μελάνων καὶ σκιερῶν ἕκαστον ἡμιδακτυλίου φαίνεται μεῖζον, ὥστε τῆς διαμέτρου μεῖζον ἢ εἰκοστοτέταρτον εἶναι. Καὶ μήν, εἰ μόνων ὑποθοίμεθα τὴν περίμετρον τῆς σελήνης τρισμυρίων σταδίων μυρίων δὲ τὴν διάμετρον, κατὰ τὸ ὑποκείμενον οὐκ ἔλαττον ἂν εἴη πεντακοσίων σταδίων ἐν αὐτῇ τῶν σκιερῶν ἕκαστον. Ὅρα δὴ πρῶτον, ἂν ᾖ δυνατὸν τῇ σελήνῃ τηλικαῦτα βάθη καὶ τηλικαύτας εἶναι τραχύτητας ὥστε σκιὰν ποιεῖν τοσαύτην, ἔπειτα πῶς οὖσαι τηλικαῦται τὸ μέγεθος ὑφ’ ἡμῶν οὐχ ὁρῶνται”. Κἀγὼ μειδιάσας πρὸς αὐτόν “εὖγ’” ἔφην “ὅτι τοιαύτην ἐξεύρηκας ἀπόδειξιν, ὦ Ἀπολλωνίδη, δι’ ἧς κἀμὲ καὶ σαυτὸν ἀποδείξεις τῶν Ἀλωαδῶν ἐκείνων εἶναι μείζονας, οὐκ ἐν ἅπαντι μέντοι χρόνῳ τῆς ἡμέρας ἀλλὰ πρωῒ μάλιστα καὶ δείλης, εἴ γ’ οἴει, τὰς σκιὰς ἡμῶν τοῦ ἡλίου ποιοῦντος ἠλιβάτους, τὸν καλὸν τοῦτο τῇ αἰσθήσει παρέχειν συλλογισμόν, ὡς, εἰ μέγα τὸ σκιαζόμενον, ὑπερμέγεθες τὸ σκιάζον. Ἐν Λήμνῳ μὲν οὐδέτερος ἡμῶν εὖ οἶδ’ ὅτι γέγονε, τουτὶ μέντοι τὸ τεθρυλημένον ἰαμβεῖον ἀμφότεροι πολλάκις ἀκηκόαμεν

Ἄθως καλύψει πλευρὰ Λημνίας βοός·

     ἐπιβάλλει γὰρ ἡ σκιὰ τοῦ ὄρους, ὡς ἔοικε, χαλκέῳ τινι βοιδίῳ, μῆκος ἀποτείνουσα διὰ τῆς θαλάττης οὐκ ἔλαττον ἑπτακοσίων σταδίων, *** τὸ κατασκιάζον ὕψος εἶναι. Διὰ τίν’ αἰτίαν; ὅτι πολλαπλασίους αἱ τοῦ φωτὸς ἀποστάσεις τῶν σωμάτων τὰς σκιὰς ποιοῦσι. Δεῦρο δὴ θεῶ καὶ τῆς σελήνης, ὅτε πάμμηνός ἐστι καὶ μάλιστα τὴν ἰδέαν ἔναρθρον τοῦ προσώπου βαθύτητι τῆς σκιᾶς ἀποδίδωσι, τὸ μέγιστον ἀπέχοντα διάστημα τὸν ἥλιον· ἡ γὰρ ἀπόστασις τοῦ φωτὸς αὕτη τὴν σκιὰν μεγάλην, οὐ τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν σελήνην ἀνωμαλιῶν πεποίηκε. Καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ τῶν ὀρῶν τὰς ὑπεροχὰς ἐῶσι μεθ’ ἡμέραν αἱ περιαυγαὶ τοῦ ἡλίου καθορᾶσθαι, τὰ μέντοι βαθέα καὶ κοῖλα φαίνεται καὶ σκιώδη πόρρωθεν. Οὐδὲν οὖν ἄτοπον, εἰ καὶ τῆς σελήνης τὴν ἀντίλαμψιν καὶ τὸν ἐπιφωτισμὸν οὐκ ἔστι καθορᾶν ἀκριβῶς, αἱ δὲ τῶν σκιερῶν παραθέσεις παρὰ τὰ λαμπρὰ τῇ διαφορᾷ τὴν ὄψιν οὐ λανθάνουσιν.

     22. Here Apollonides broke in. “Then by the moon herself”, he said, “do you people think it possible that any clefts and chasms cast shadows which from the moon reach our sight here or do you not reckon the consequence and shall I tell you what it is? Please listen then, though it is not anything unknown to you. The diameter of the moon measures twelve digits in apparent size at her mean distance ²²⁶; and each of the black and shadowy spots appears greater than half a digit and consequently would be greater than one twenty-fourth of her diameter. Well then, if we should suppose that the circumference of the moon is only thirty thousand stades and her diameter ten thousand each of the shadowy spots on her would in accordance with the assumption measure not less than five hundred stades ²²⁷. Consider now in the first place whether it is possible for the moon to have depths and corrugations so great as to cast such a large shadow; in the second place why, if they are of such great magnitude, we do not see them”. Then I said to him with a smile: “Congratulations for having discovered such a demonstration, Apollonides. It would enable you to prove that both you and I are taller than the famous sons of Aloeus ²²⁸, not at every time of day to be sure but early in the morning particularly and in late afternoon if, when the sun makes our shadows enormous, you intend to supply sensation with this lovely reasoning that, if the shadow cast is large, what casts the shadow is immense. I am well aware that neither of us has been in Lemnos; we have both, however, often heard this line that is on everyone’s lips:

     Athos will veil the Lemnian heifer’s flank ²²⁹.

     The point of this apparently is that the shadow of the mountain, extending not less than seven hundred stades over the sea ²³⁰, falls upon a left bronze heifer; but it is not necessary, I presume, that what casts the shadow be size stades high, for the reason that shadows are made many times the size of the objects that cast them by the remoteness of the light from the objects ²³¹. Come then, observe that, when the moon is at the full and because of the shadow’s depth exhibits most articulately the appearance of the face, the sun is at his maximum distance from her. The reason is that the remoteness of the light alone and not the magnitude of the irregularities on the surface of the moon has made the shadow large. Besides, even in the case of mountains the dazzling beams of the sun prevent their crags from being discerned in broad daylight, although their depths and hollows and shadowy parts are visible from afar. So it is not at all strange that in the case of the moon too it is not possible to discern accurately the reflection and illumination, whereas the juxtapositions of the shadowy and brilliant parts by reason of the contrast do not escape our sight.

     23. Ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνο μᾶλλον” ἔφην “ἐλέγχειν δοκεῖ τὴν λεγομένην ἀνάκλασιν ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης, ὅτι τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀνακλωμέναις αὐγαῖς ἑστῶτας οὐ μόνον συμβαίνει τὸ φωτιζόμενον ὁρᾶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ φωτίζον. Ὅταν γὰρ αὐγῆς ἀφ’ ὕδατος πρὸς τοῖχον ἁλλομένης ὄψις ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ πεφωτισμένῳ κατὰ τὴν ἀνάκλασιν τόπῳ γένηται, τὰ τρία καθορᾷ, τήν τ’ ἀνακλωμένην αὐγὴν καὶ τὸ ποιοῦν ὕδωρ τὴν ἀνάκλασιν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον αὐτόν, ἀφ’ οὗ τὸ φῶς τῷ ὕδατι προσπίπτον ἀνακέκλασται. Τούτων δ’ ὁμολογουμένων καὶ φαινομένων κελεύουσι τοὺς ἀνακλάσει φωτίζεσθαι τὴν γῆν ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης ἀξιοῦντας ἐπιδεικνύναι νύκτωρ ἐμφαινόμενον τῇ σελήνῃ τὸν ἥλιον, ὥσπερ ἐμφαίνεται τῷ ὕδατι μεθ’ ἡμέραν, ὅταν ἀνάκλασις ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ γένηται· μὴ φαινομένου δὲ τούτου, κατ’ ἄλλον οἴονται τρόπον, οὐκ ἀνακλάσει, γίνεσθαι τὸν φωτισμόν· εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο, μηδὲ γῆν εἶναι τὴν σελήνην”. “Τί οὖν” ἔφη “πρὸς αὐτοὺς λεκτέον”; ὁ Ἀπολλωνίδης· “κοινὰ γὰρ ἔοικε καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς εἶναι τὰ τῆς ἀνακλάσεως”. “Ἀμέλει τρόπον τινά” ἔφην ἐγώ “κοινά, τρόπον δ’ ἄλλον οὐ κοινά. Πρῶτον δ’ ὅρα τὰ τῆς εἰκόνος ὡς ‘ἄνω ποταμῶν’ καὶ τραπέμπαλιν λαμβάνουσιν. Ἐπὶ γῆς γάρ ἐστι καὶ κάτω τὸ ὕδωρ, ὑπὲρ γῆς δὲ σελήνη καὶ μετέωρος· ὅθεν ἀντίστροφον αἱ κεκλασμέναι τὸ σχῆμα τῆς γωνίας ποιοῦσι, τῆς μὲν ἄνω πρὸς τῇ σελήνῃ τῆς δὲ κάτω πρὸς τῇ γῇ τὴν κορυφὴν ἐχούσης. Μὴ ἅπασαν οὖν ἰδέαν κατόπτρων μηδ’ ἐκ πάσης ἀποστάσεως ὁμοίαν ἀνάκλασιν ποιεῖν ἀξιούτωσαν, ἐπεὶ μάχονται πρὸς τὴν ἐνάργειαν.

     Οἱ δὲ σῶμα μὴ λεπτὸν μηδὲ λεῖον, ὥσπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, ἀποφαίνοντες τὴν σελήνην ἀλλ’ ἐμβριθὲς καὶ γεῶδες οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως ἀπαιτοῦνται τοῦ ἡλίου τὴν ἔμφασιν ἐν αὐτῇ πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ γάλα τοὺς τοιούτους ἐσοπτρισμοὺς ἀποδίδωσιν οὐδὲ ποιεῖ τῆς ὄψεως ἀνακλάσεις διὰ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν καὶ τραχύτητα τῶν μορίων· πόθεν γε τὴν σελήνην δυνατόν ἐστιν ἀναπέμπειν ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς τὴν ὄψιν, ὥσπερ ἀναπέμπει τὰ λειότερα τῶν ἐσόπτρων; καίτοι καὶ ταῦτα δήπουθεν, ἐὰν ἀμυχή τις ἢ ῥύπος ἢ τραχύτης καταλάβῃ τὸ σημεῖον ἂν, ἀφ’ οὗ πέφυκεν ἡ ὄψις ἀνακλασθῆναι, τυφλοῦται, καὶ βλέπεται μὲν αὐτά, τὴν δ’ ἀνταύγειαν οὐκ ἀποδίδωσιν. Ὁ δ’ ἀξιῶν ἢ καὶ τὴν ὄψιν ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἢ μηδὲ τὸν ἥλιον ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς ἀνακλᾶν ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς τὴν σελήνην ἡδύς ἐστι τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἥλιον ἀξιῶν εἶναι φῶς δὲ τὴν ὄψιν οὐρανὸν δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἡλίου δι’ εὐτονίαν καὶ λαμπρότητα πρὸς τῇ σελήνῃ γινομένην μετὰ πληγῆς τὴν ἀνάκλασιν φέρεσθαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς εἰκός ἐστιν· ἡ δ’ ὄψις ἀσθενὴς οὖσα καὶ λεπτὴ καὶ ὀλιγοστὴ τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ μήτε πληγὴν ἀνακρουστικὴν ποιεῖ μήτ’ ἀφαλλομένης τηρεῖ τὴν συνέχειαν ἀλλὰ θρύπτεται καὶ ἀπολείπει, πλῆθος οὐκ ἔχουσα φωτὸς ὥστε μὴ διασπᾶσθαι περὶ τὰς ἀνωμαλίας καὶ τραχύτητας; Ἀπὸ μὲν γὰρ ὕδατος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐσόπτρων ἰσχύουσαν ἔτι τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐγγὺς οὖσαν ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἅλλεσθαι τὴν ἀνάκλασιν οὐκ ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς σελήνης, κἂν γίνωνταί τινες ὀλισθήσεις αὐτῆς, ἀσθενεῖς ἔσονται καὶ ἀμυδραὶ καὶ προαπολείπουσαι διὰ τὸ μῆκος τῆς ἀποστάσεως.

     Καὶ γὰρ ἄλλως τὰ μὲν κοῖλα τῶν ἐσόπτρων εὐτονωτέραν ποιεῖ τῆς προηγουμένης αὐγῆς τὴν ἀνακλωμένην, ὥστε καὶ φλόγας ἀναπέμπειν πολλάκις, τὰ δὲ κυρτὰ καὶ τὰ σφαιροειδῆ τῷ μὴ πανταχόθεν ἀντερείδειν ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἀμαυράν … . Ὁρᾶτε δήπουθεν, ὅταν ἴριδες δύο φανῶσι, νέφους νέφος ἐμπεριέχοντος, ἀμαυρὰ ποιοῦσαν καὶ ἀσαφῆ τὰ χρώματα τὴν περιέχουσαν· τὸ γὰρ ἐκτὸς νέφος ἀπωτέρω τῆς ὄψεως κείμενον οὐκ εὔτονον οὐδ’ ἰσχυρὰν τὴν ἀνάκλασιν ἀποδίδωσι. Καὶ τί δεῖ πλείονα λέγειν; Ὅπου γὰρ τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φῶς ἀνακλώμενον ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης τὴν μὲν θερμότητα πᾶσαν ἀποβάλλει, τῆς δὲ λαμπρότητος αὐτοῦ λεπτὸν ἀφικνεῖται μόλις πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀδρανὲς λείψανον, ἦπου τῆς ὄψεως τὸν ἴσον φερομένης δίαυλον ἐνδέχεται μόριον ὁτιοῦν λείψανον ἐξικέσθαι πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης; Ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ οἶμαι. Σκοπεῖτε δ’” εἶπον “καὶ ὑμεῖς· εἰ τὰ αὐτὰ πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὴν σελήνην ἔπασχεν ἡ ὄψις, ἔδει καὶ γῆς καὶ φυτῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἄστρων ἐμφάσεις ποιεῖν τὴν πανσέληνον, οἵας τὰ λοιπὰ ποιεῖται τῶν ἐσόπτρων· εἰ δ’ οὐ γίνονται πρὸς ταῦτα τῆς ὄψεως ἀνακλάσεις δι’ ἀσθένειαν αὐτῆς ἢ τραχύτητα τῆς σελήνης, μηδὲ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀπαιτῶμεν.

     23. “There is this, however”, I said, “which seems to be a stronger objection to the alleged reflection from the moon. It happens that those who have placed themselves in the path of reflected rays see not only the object illumined but also what illuminates it. For example, if when a ray rebounds from water to a wall the eye is situated in the place that is itself illumined by the reflection, the eye discerns all three things, the reflected ray and the water that causes the reflection and the sun itself ²³², the source of the light which has been reflected by impinging upon the water. On the basis of these admitted and apparent facts those who maintain that the moon illuminates the earth with reflected light are bidden (by their adversaries) ²³³ to point out in the moon at night an appearance of the sun such as there is in water by day whenever there is a reflection of the sun from it. Since there is no such appearance, (these adversaries) think that the illumination comes about in another way and not by reflection and that, if there is not reflection, neither is the moon an earth”. “What response must be made to them then?” said Apollonides, “for the characteristics of reflection seem to present us with a problem in common” ²³⁴. “In common in a way certainly”, said I, “but in another way not in common either. In the first place consider the matter of the image ²³⁵, how topsy-turvy and like ‘rivers flowing uphill’ ²³⁶ they conceive it. The fact is that water is on earth and below, and the moon above the earth and on high; and hence the angles produced by the reflected rays are the converse of each other, the one having its apex above at the moon, the other below at the earth ²³⁷. So they must not demand that every kind of mirror or a mirror at every distance produce a similar reflection, since (in doing so) they are at variance with the manifest facts.

     Those, on the other hand, who declare that the moon is not a tenuous or smooth body as water is but a heavy and earthy one ²³⁸, I do not understand why it is required of them that the sun be manifest to vision in her. For milk does not return such mirrorings either or produce reflections of the visual ray, and the reason is the irregularity and roughness of its particles ²³⁹; how in the world then is it possible for the moon to cast the visual ray back from herself in the way that the smoother mirrors do? Yet even these, of course, are occluded if a scratch or speck of dirt or roughness covers the point from which the visual ray is naturally reflected, and while the mirrors themselves are seen they do not return the customary reflection ²⁴⁰. One who demands that the moon either reflect our vision from herself to the sun as well or else not reflect the sun from herself to us either is naive, for he is demanding that the eye be a sun, the vision light, and the human being a heaven. Since the light of the sun because of its intensity and brilliance arrives at the moon with a shock, it is reasonable that its reflection should reach to us; but the visual ray, since it is weak and tenuous and many times slighter, what wonder if it does not have an impact that produces recoil or if in rebounding it does not maintain its continuity but is dispersed and exhausted, not having light enough to keep it from being scattered about the irregularities and corrugations (of the moon)? From water, to be sure, and from mirrors of other kinds it is not impossible for the reflection (of the visual ray) to rebound to the sun, since it is still strong because it is near to its point of origin ²⁴¹; but from the moon, even if the visual rays do in some cases glance off, they will be weak and dim and prematurely exhausted because of the magnitude of the distance ²⁴².

     What is more too, whereas mirrors that are concave make the ray of light more intense after reflection than it was before so as often even to send off flames ²⁴³, convex and spherical mirrors ²⁴⁴ by not exerting counter-pressure upon it from all points give it off weak and faint. You observe, I presume, whenever two rainbows appear, as one cloud encloses another, that the encompassing rainbow produces colours that are faint and indistinct. The reason for this is that the outer cloud, being situated further off from the eye, returns reflection that is not intense or strong ²⁴⁵. Nay, what need of further arguments? When the light of the sun by being reflected from the moon loses all its heat ²⁴⁶ and of its brilliance there barely reaches us a slight and feeble remnant, is it really possible that of the visual ray travelling the same double-course ²⁴⁷ any fraction of a remnant should from the moon arrive at the sun? For my part, I think not; and do you too”, I said, “consider this. If the visual ray were affected in the same way by warm water and by the moon, the full moon ought to show such reflections of the earth and plants and human beings and stars as all other mirrors do; but, if there occur no reflections of the visual ray to these objects either because of the weakness of the ray or the ruggedness of the moon, let us not require that there be such reflection to the sun either.

     24. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν” ἔφην, “ὅσα μὴ διαπέφευγε τὴν μνήμην τῶν ἐκεῖ λεχθέντων, ἀπηγγέλκαμεν· ὥρα δὲ καὶ Σύλλαν παρακαλεῖν μᾶλλον δ’ ἀπαιτεῖν τὴν διήγησιν, οἷον ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς ἀκροατὴν γεγενημένον· ὥστε, εἰ δοκεῖ, καταπαύσαντες τὸν περίπατον καὶ καθίσαντες ἐπὶ τῶν βάθρων ἑδραῖον αὐτῷ παράσχωμεν ἀκροατήριον”. Ἔδοξε δὴ ταῦτα, καὶ καθισάντων ἡμῶν ὁ Θέων “ἐγώ τοι, ὦ Λαμπρία” εἶπεν “ἐπιθυμῶ μὲν οὐδενὸς ἧττον ὑμῶν ἀκοῦσαι τὰ λεχθησόμενα, πρότερον δ’ ἂν ἡδέως ἀκούσαιμι περὶ τῶν οἰκεῖν λεγομένων ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης, οὐκ εἰ κατοικοῦσί τινες ἀλλ’ εἰ δυνατὸν ἐκεῖ κατοικεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ οὐ δυνατόν, ἄλογον καὶ τὸ γῆν εἶναι τὴν σελήνην. Δόξει γὰρ πρὸς οὐθὲν ἀλλὰ μάτην γεγονέναι μήτε καρποὺς ἐκφέρουσα μήτ’ ἀνθρώποις τισὶν ἕδραν παρέχουσα καὶ γένεσιν καὶ δίαιταν· ὧν ἕνεκα καὶ ταύτην γεγονέναι φαμὲν κατὰ Πλάτωνα

τροφὸν ἡμετέραν ἡμέρας τε καὶ νυκτὸς ἀτρεκῆ φύλακα καὶ δημιουργόν.

     Ὁρᾷς δ’ ὅτι πολλὰ λέγεται καὶ σὺν γέλωτι καὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς περὶ τούτων. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τὴν σελήνην οἰκοῦσιν ὥσπερ Ταντάλοις ἐκ κεφαλῆς ἐκκρέμασθαί φασι, τοὺς δ’ οἰκοῦντας αὖ πάλιν ἐπ’ αὐτῆς ὥσπερ Ἰξίονας ἐνδεδεμένους ῥύμῃ τόση… . Καίτοι μίαν οὐ κινεῖται κίνησιν, ἀλλ’, ὥς που καὶ λέγεται, Τριοδῖτίς ἐστιν, ἅμα μῆκος ἐπὶ τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ καὶ πλάτος φερομένη καὶ βάθος· ὧν τὴν μὲν περιδρομὴν τὴν δ’ ἕλικα τὴν δ’ οὐκ οἶδα πῶς ἀνωμαλίαν ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ μαθηματικοί, καίπερ οὐδεμίαν † ὁμαλὴν οὐδὲ τεταγμένην ταῖς ἀποκαταστάσεσιν ὁρῶντες ἔχουσαν. Οὔκουν εἰ λέων τις ἔπεσεν ὑπὸ ῥύμης εἰς Πελοπόννησον, ἄξιόν ἐστι θαυμάζειν, ἀλλ’ ὅπως οὐ μυρί’ ὁρῶμεν ἀεὶ ‘πεσήματ’ ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἀπολακτισμοὺς βίων’ ἐκεῖθεν οἷον ἐκκυβιστώντων καὶ περιτρεπομένων.

     Καὶ γὰρ γελοῖον περὶ μονῆς τῶν ἐκεῖ διαπορεῖν, εἰ μὴ γένεσιν μηδὲ σύστασιν ἔχειν δύνανται. ὅπου γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Τρωγλοδῦται, οἷς ἡμέρας μιᾶς ἀκαρὲς ἵσταται κατὰ κορυφὴν ὁ ἥλιος ἐν τροπαῖς εἶτ’ ἄπεισιν, ὀλίγον ἀπέχουσι τοῦ κατακεκαῦσθαι ξηρότητι τοῦ περιέχοντος, ἦπου τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης εἰκός ἐστι δώδεκα θερείας ὑπομένειν ἔτους ἑκάστου, κατὰ μῆνα τοῦ ἡλίου πρὸς κάθετον αὐτοῖς ἐφισταμένου καὶ στηρίζοντος, ὅταν ᾖ πανσέληνος; Πνεύματά γε μὴν καὶ νέφη καὶ ὄμβρους, ὧν χωρὶς οὔτε γένεσις φυτῶν ἔστιν οὔτε σωτηρία γενομένοις, ἀμήχανον ἐκεῖ διανοηθῆναι συνιστάμενα διὰ θερμότητα καὶ λεπτότητα τοῦ περιέχοντος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τῶν ὀρῶν τὰ ὑψηλὰ δέχεται τοὺς ἀγρίους καὶ ἐναντίους χειμῶνας, ἀλλ’ … ἤδη καὶ σάλον ἔχων ὑπὸ κουφότητος ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκφεύγει τὴν σύστασιν ταύτην καὶ πύκνωσιν. Εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία φήσομεν, ὥσπερ ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ τῷ Ἀχιλλεῖ νέκταρός τι καὶ ἀμβροσίας ἐνέσταξε μὴ προσιεμένῳ τροφήν, οὕτω τὴν σελήνην, Ἀθηνᾶν λεγομένην καὶ οὖσαν, τρέφειν τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀμβροσίαν ἀνιεῖσαν αὐτοῖς ἐφημέριον, ὡς Φερεκύδης ὁ παλαιὸς οἴεται σιτεῖσθαι τοὺς θεούς. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ἰνδικὴν ῥίζαν, ἥν φησι Μεγασθένης τοὺς μήτ’ ἐσθίοντας μήτε πίνοντας ἀλλ’ ἀστόμους ὄντας ὑποτύφειν καὶ θυμιᾶν καὶ τρέφεσθαι τῇ ὀσμῇ, πόθεν ἄν τις ἐκεῖ φυομένην λάβοι μὴ βρεχομένης τῆς σελήνης”;

     24. So we for our part”, said I, “have now reported as much of that conversation ²⁴⁸ as has not slipped our mind; and it is high time to summon Sulla or rather to demand his narrative as the agreed condition upon which he was admitted as a listener. So, if it is agreeable, let us stop our promenade and sit down upon the benches, that we may provide him with a settled audience”. To this then they agreed; and, when we had sat down, Theon said: “Though, as you know, Lamprias, I am as eager as any of you to hear what is going to be said, I should like before that to hear about the beings that are said to dwell on the moon ²⁴⁹ — not whether any really do inhabit it but whether habitation there is possible. If it is not possible, the assertion that the moon is an earth is itself absurd, for she would then appear to have come into existence vainly and to no purpose, neither bringing forth fruit nor providing for men of some kind an origin, an abode, and a means of life, the purposes for which this earth of ours came into being, as we say with Plato,

our nurse, strict guardian and artificer of day and night ²⁵⁰.

     You see that there is much talk about these things both in jest and seriously. It is said that those who dwell under the moon have her suspended overhead like the stone of Tantalus ²⁵¹and on the other hand that those who dwell upon her, fast bound like so many Ixions ²⁵² by such great velocity, are kept from falling by being whirled round in a circle. Yet it is not with a single motion that she moves; but she is, as somewhere she is in fact called, the goddess of three ways ²⁵³, for she moves on the zodiac against the signs in longitude and latitude and in depth at the same time. Of these movements the mathematicians call the first ‘revolution’, the second ‘spiral’, and the third, I know not why ‘anomaly’, although they see that she has no motion at all that is uniform and fixed by regular recurrences ²⁵⁴. There is reason to wonder then not that the velocity caused a lion to fall on the Peloponnesus ²⁵⁵ but how it is that we are not forever seeing countless ‘men falling headlong and lives spurned away’ ²⁵⁶, tumbling off the moon, as it were, and turned head over heels.

     It is moreover ridiculous to raise the question how the inhabitants of the moon remain there, if they cannot come to be or exist. Now, when Egyptians and Troglodytes ²⁵⁷, for whom the sun stands in the zenith one moment of one day at the solstice and then departs, are all but burnt to a cinder by the dryness of the atmosphere, is it really likely that the men on the moon endure twelve summers every year, the sun standing fixed vertically above them each month at the full moon? Yet winds and clouds and rains, without which plants can neither arise nor having arisen be preserved, because of the heat and tenuousness of the atmosphere cannot possibly be imagined as forming there, for not even here on earth do the lofty mountains admit fierce and continual storms ²⁵⁸ but the air, being tenuous already and having a rolling swell ²⁵⁹ as a result of its lightness, escapes this compaction and condensation. otherwise, by Heaven, we shall have to say that, as Athena when Achilles was taking no food instilled into him some nectar and ambrosia ²⁶⁰, so the moon, which is Athena in name and fact ²⁶¹, nourishes her men by sending up ambrosia for them day by day, the food of the gods themselves as the ancient Pherecydes believes ²⁶². For even the Indian root which according to Megasthenes the Mouthless Men, who neither eat nor drink, kindle and cause to smoulder and inhale for their nourishment ²⁶³, how could it be supposed to grow there if the moon is not moistened by rain?”

     25. Ταῦτα τοῦ Θέωνος εἰπόντος “κάλλιστά γε” ἔφην “καὶ ἄριστα τῇ παιδιᾷ τοῦ λόγου τὰς ὀφρῦς ἡμῶν ἔλυσας· δι’ ἃ καὶ θάρσος ἡμῖν ἐγγίνεται πρὸς τὴν ἀπόκρισιν, μὴ πάνυ πικρὰν μηδ’ αὐστηρὰν εὐθύνην προσδοκῶσι. Καὶ γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς τῶν σφόδρα πεπεισμένων τὰ τοιαῦτα διαφέρουσιν οὐδὲν οἱ σφόδρα δυσκολαίνοντες αὐτοῖς καὶ διαπιστοῦντες ἀλλὰ μὴ πράως τὸ δυνατὸν καὶ τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον ἐθέλοντες ἐπισκοπεῖν. Εὐθὺς οὖν τὸ πρῶτον οὐκ ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ κατοικοῦσιν ἄνθρωποι τὴν σελήνην, μάτην γεγονέναι καὶ πρὸς μηθέν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τήνδε τὴν γῆν δι’ ὅλης ἐνεργὸν οὐδὲ προσοικουμένην ὁρῶμεν, ἀλλὰ μικρὸν αὐτῆς μέρος ὥσπερ ἄκροις τισὶν ἢ χερρονήσοις ἀνέχουσιν ἐκ βυθοῦ γόνιμόν ἐστι ζῴων καὶ φυτῶν, τῶν δ’ ἄλλων τὰ μὲν ἔρημα καὶ ἄκαρπα χειμῶσι καὶ αὐχμοῖς, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα κατὰ τῆς μεγάλης δέδυκε θαλάσσης. ἀλλὰ σύ, τὸν Ἀρίσταρχον ἀγαπῶν ἀεὶ καὶ θαυμάζων, οὐκ ἀκούεις Κράτητος ἀναγινώσκοντος.

Ὠκεανός, ὅσπερ γένεσις πάντεσσι τέτυκται
ἀνδράσιν ἠδὲ θεοῖς, πλείστην ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἵησιν.

     Ἀλλὰ πολλοῦ δεῖ μάτην ταῦτα γεγονέναι· καὶ γὰρ ἀναθυμιάσεις ἡ θάλασσα μαλακὰς ἀνίησι, καὶ τῶν πνευμάτων τὰ ἥδιστα θέρους ἀκμάζοντος ἐκ τῆς ἀοικήτου καὶ κατεψυγμένης αἱ χιόνες ἀτρέμα διατηκόμεναι χαλῶσι καὶ διασπείρουσιν, ‘ἡμέρας τε καὶ νυκτὸς’ ἕστηκεν ἀτρεκὴς ἐν μέσῳ ‘φύλαξ’ κατὰ Πλάτωνα ‘καὶ δημιουργός’. Οὐδὲν οὖν κωλύει καὶ τὴν σελήνην ζῴων μὲν ἔρημον εἶναι, παρέχειν δ’ ἀνακλάσεις τε τῷ φωτὶ περὶ αὐτὴν διαχεομένῳ καὶ συρροὴν ταῖς τῶν ἀστέρων αὐγαῖς ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ σύγκρασιν, ᾗ συνεκπέττει τε τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀναθυμιάσεις ἅμα τε καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου τὸ ἔμπυρον ἄγαν καὶ σκληρὸν ἀνίησι. Καί πού τι καὶ παλαιᾷ φήμῃ διδόντες Ἄρτεμιν αὐτὴν νομισθῆναι φήσομεν ὡς παρθένον καὶ ἄγονον, ἄλλως δὲ βοηθητικὴν καὶ ὠφέλιμον. Ἐπεὶ τῶν γ’ εἰρημένων οὐδέν, ὦ φίλε Θέων, ἀδύνατον δείκνυσι τὴν λεγομένην ἐπ’ αὐτῆς οἴκησιν. Ἥ τε γὰρ δίνη πολλὴν ἔχουσα πραότητα καὶ γαλήνην ἐπιλεαίνει τὸν ἀέρα καὶ διανέμει συγκατακοσμούμενον, ὥστε μηδὲν εἶναι δέος ἐκπεσεῖν καὶ ἀποσφαλῆναι τοὺς ἐκεῖ βεβηκότας, † εἰ δὲ μὴ δὲ αὐτὴ † καὶ τὸ ποικίλον τοῦτο τῆς φορᾶς καὶ πεπλανημένον οὐκ ἀνωμαλίας οὐδὲ ταραχῆς ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ θαυμαστὴν ἐπιδείκνυνται τάξιν ἐν τούτοις καὶ πορείαν οἱ ἀστρολόγοι κύκλοις τισὶ περὶ κύκλους ἑτέρους ἐξελιττομένοις συνάγοντες, οἳ ἄγουσιν αὐτὴν οἱ μὲν ἀτρεμοῦσαν, οἱ δὲ λείως καὶ ὁμαλῶς ἀεὶ τάχεσι τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀνθυποφερομένην· αὗται γὰρ αἱ τῶν κύκλων ἐπιβάσεις καὶ περιαγωγαὶ καὶ σχέσεις πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὰ φαινόμενα τῆς κινήσεως ὕψη καὶ βάθη καὶ τὰς κατὰ πλάτος παραλλάξεις ἅμα ταῖς κατὰ μῆκος αὐτῆς περιόδοις ἐμμελέστατα συμπεραίνουσι.

     Τὴν δὲ πολλὴν θερμότητα καὶ συνεχῆ πύρωσιν ὑφ’ ἡλίου οὐ παύσῃ φοβούμενος, ἂν πρῶτον μὲν ἀντιθῇς † ταῖς ἕνδεκα θεριναῖς συνόδοις τὰς πανσελήνους· εἴσῃ † δὲ τὸ συνεχὲς τῆς μεταβολῆς ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς χρόνον οὐκ ἐχούσαις πολὺν ἐμποιεῖν κρᾶσιν οἰκείαν καὶ τὸ ἄγαν ἑκατέρας ἀφαιρεῖν· διὰ μέσου δὲ τούτων, ὡς εἰκός, ὥραν ἔαρι προσφορωτάτην ἔχουσιν. Ἔπειτα πρὸς μὲν ἡμᾶς καθίησι δι’ ἀέρος θολεροῦ καὶ συνεπερείδοντος τὴν θερμότητα ταῖς ἀναθυμιάσεσι τρεφομένην, ἐκεῖ δὲ λεπτὸς ὢν καὶ διαυγὴς ὁ ἀὴρ σκίδνησι καὶ διαχεῖ τὴν αὐγήν, ὑπέκκαυμα καὶ σῶμα μηδὲν ἔχουσαν.Ὕλην δὲ καὶ καρποὺς αὐτόθι μὲν ὄμβροι τρέφουσιν, ἑτέρωθι δέ, ὥσπερ ἄνω περὶ Θήβας παρ’ ὑμῖν καὶ Συήνην, οὐκ ὄμβριον ὕδωρ ἀλλὰ γηγενὲς ἡ γῆ πίνουσα καὶ χρωμένη πνεύμασι καὶ δρόσοις οὐκ ἂν ἐθελήσειεν οἶμαι τῇ πλεῖστον ὑομένῃ πολυκαρπίας ὑφίεσθαι δι’ ἀρετήν τινα καὶ κρᾶσιν. Τὰ δ’ αὐτὰ φυτὰ τῷ γένει παρ’ ἡμῖν μέν, ἐὰν σφόδρα πιεσθῇ χειμῶσιν, ἐκφέρει πολὺν καὶ καλὸν καρπόν, ἐν δὲ Λιβύῃ καὶ παρ’ ὑμῖν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δύσριγα κομιδῇ καὶ δειλὰ πρὸς χειμῶνάς ἐστι.

     Τῆς δὲ Γεδρωσίας καὶ Τρωγλοδύτιδος, ἣ καθήκει πρὸς τὸν ὠκεανόν, ἀφόρου διὰ ξηρότητα καὶ ἀδένδρου παντάπασιν οὔσης, ἐν τῇ παρακειμένῃ καὶ περικεχυμένῃ θαλάττῃ θαυμαστὰ μεγέθη φυτῶν τρέφεται καὶ κατὰ βυθοῦ τέθηλεν, ὧν τὰ μὲν ἐλαίας τὰ δὲ δάφνας τὰ δ’ Ἴσιδος τρίχας καλοῦσιν. Οἱ δ’ ἀνακαμψέρωτες οὗτοι προσαγορευόμενοι τῆς γῆς ἐξαιρεθέντες οὐ μόνον ζῶσι κρεμάμενοι χρόνον ὅσον βούλεταί τις, ἀλλὰ βλαστάνουσιν … . Σπείρεται δὲ τὰ μὲν πρὸς χειμῶνος τὰ δὲ θέρους ἀκμάζοντος, ὥσπερ σήσαμον καὶ μελίνη· τὸ δὲ θύμον ἢ τὸ κενταύριον ἂν εἰς ἀγαθὴν καὶ πίονα σπαρῇ χώραν καὶ βρέχηται καὶ ἄρδηται, τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἐξίσταται ποιότητος καὶ ἀποβάλλει τὴν δύναμιν, αὐχμῷ δὲ χαίρει καὶ πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἐπιδίδωσιν. Εἰ δ’ ὥς φασιν οὐδὲ τὰς δρόσους ἀνέχεται, καθάπερ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν Ἀραβικῶν, ἀλλ’ ἐξαμαυροῦται διαινόμενα καὶ φθείρεται, τί δὴ θαυμαστόν ἐστιν εἰ γίνονται περὶ τὴν σελήνην ῥίζαι καὶ σπέρματα καὶ ὗλαι μηθὲν ὑετῶν δεόμεναι μηδὲ χιόνων ἀλλὰ πρὸς θερινὸν ἀέρα καὶ λεπτὸν εὐφυῶς ἔχουσαι; Πῶς δ’ οὐκ εἰκὸς ἀνιέναι τε πνεύματα θαλπόμενα τῇ σελήνῃ καὶ τῷ σάλῳ τῆς περιφορᾶς αὔρας τε παρομαρτεῖν ἀτρέμα καὶ δρόσους καὶ ὑγρότητας ἐλαφρὰς περιχεούσας καὶ διασπειρομένας ἐπαρκεῖν τοῖς βλαστάνουσιν, αὐτὴν δὲ τῇ κράσει μὴ πυρώδη μηδ’ αὐχμηρὰν ἀλλὰ μαλακὴν καὶ ὑδροποιὸν εἶναι; ξηρότητος μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀφικνεῖται πάθος ἀπ’ αὐτῆς πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὑγρότητος δὲ πολλὰ καὶ θηλύτητος, αὐξήσεις φυτῶν, σήψεις κρεῶν, τροπαὶ καὶ ἀνέσεις οἴνων, μαλακότητες ξύλων, εὐτοκίαι γυναικῶν. Δέδοικα δ’ ἡσυχάζοντα Φαρνάκην αὖθις ἐρεθίζειν καὶ κινεῖν, ὠκεανοῦ τε πλημμύρας, ὡς λέγουσιν αὐτοί, καὶ πορθμῶν ἐπιδόσεις διαχεομένων καὶ αὐξανομένων ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης τῷ ἀνυγραίνεσθαι παρατιθέμενος. Διὸ πρὸς σὲ τρέψομαι μᾶλλον, ὦ φίλε Θέων· λέγεις γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐξηγούμενος ταυτὶ τὰ Ἀλκμᾶνος

οἷα Διὸς θυγάτηρ Ἔρσα τρέφει καὶ δίας Σελάνας,

     ὅτι νῦν τὸν ἀέρα καλεῖ Δία καί φησιν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης καθυγραινόμενον εἰς δρόσους τρέπεσθαι. Κινδυνεύει γάρ, ὦ ἑταῖρε, πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀντιπαθῆ φύσιν ἔχειν, εἴγε μὴ μόνον, ὅσα πυκνοῦν καὶ ξηραίνειν ἐκεῖνος, αὕτη μαλάσσειν καὶ διαχεῖν πέφυκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀπ’ ἐκείνου θερμότητα καθυγραίνειν καὶ καταψύχειν προσπίπτουσαν αὐτῇ καὶ συμμιγνυμένην. Οἵ τε δὴ τὴν σελήνην ἔμπυρον σῶμα καὶ διακαὲς εἶναι νομίζοντες ἁμαρτάνουσιν, οἵ τε τοῖς ἐκεῖ ζῴοις ὅσα τοῖς ἐνταῦθα πρὸς γένεσιν καὶ τροφὴν καὶ δίαιταν ἀξιοῦντες ὑπάρχειν ἐοίκασιν ἀθεάτοις τῶν περὶ τὴν φύσιν ἀνωμαλιῶν, ἐν αἷς μείζονας ἔστι καὶ πλέονας πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν ζῴων ἢ πρὸς τὰ μὴ ζῷα διαφορὰς καὶ ἀνομοιότητας εὑρεῖν. καὶ ἄστομοι μὲν ἄνθρωποι καὶ ὀσμαῖς τρεφόμενοι μὴ ἔστωσαν, εἰ † μὴ … μὴ δοκοῦσι, τὴν δ’ ἄλιμον, ἧς ἡμῖν αὐτὸς ἐξηγεῖτο δύναμιν, ᾐνίξατο μὲν Ἡσίοδος εἰπών

οὐδ’ ὅσον ἐν μαλάχῃ τε καὶ ἀσφοδέλῳ μέγ’ ὄνειαρ,

     ἔργῳ δ’ ἐμφανῆ παρέσχεν Ἐπιμενίδης, διδάξας ὅτι μικρῷ παντάπασιν ἡ φύσις ὑπεκκαύματι ζωπυρεῖ καὶ συνέχει τὸ ζῷον, ἂν ὅσον ἐλαίας μέγεθος λάβῃ, μηδεμιᾶς ἔτι τροφῆς δεόμενον. Τοὺς δ’ ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης, εἴπερ εἰσίν, εὐσταλεῖς εἶναι τοῖς σώμασι καὶ διαρκεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων τρέφεσθαι πιθανόν ἐστι. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴν τὴν σελήνην, ὥσπερ τὸν ἥλιον ζῷον ὄντα πύρινον καὶ τῆς γῆς ὄντα πολλαπλάσιον, ἀπὸ τῶν ὑγρῶν φασι τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τρέφεσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀστέρας ἀπείρους ὄντας· οὕτως ἐλαφρὰ καὶ λιτὰ τῶν ἀναγκαίων φέρειν ζῷα τὸν ἄνω τόπον ὑπολαμβάνουσιν. Ἀλλ’ οὔτε ταῦτα συνορῶμεν οὔθ’ ὅτι καὶ χώρα καὶ φύσις καὶ κρᾶσις ἄλλη πρόσφορός ἐστιν αὐτοῖς. Ὥσπερ οὖν εἰ τῇ θαλάττῃ μὴ δυναμένων ἡμῶν προσελθεῖν μηδ’ ἅψασθαι, μόνον δὲ τὴν θέαν αὐτῆς πόρρωθεν ἀφορώντων καὶ πυνθανομένων ὅτι πικρὸν καὶ ἄποτον καὶ ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ ἐστίν, ἔλεγέ τις ὡς ‘ζῷα πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα καὶ παντοδαπὰ ταῖς μορφαῖς τρέφει κατὰ βυθοῦ καὶ θηρίων ἐστὶ πλήρης ὕδατι χρωμένων ὅσαπερ ἡμεῖς ἀέρι’, μύθοις ἂν ὅμοια καὶ τέρασιν ἐδόκει περαίνειν, οὕτως ἐοίκαμεν ἔχειν καὶ ταὐτὸ πάσχειν πρὸς τὴν σελήνην, ἀπιστοῦντες ἐκεῖ τινας ἀνθρώπους κατοικεῖν. Ἐκείνους δ’ ἂν οἴομαι πολὺ μᾶλλον ἀποθαυμάσαι τὴν γῆν ἀφορῶντας οἷον ὑποστάθμην καὶ ἰλὺν τοῦ παντὸς ἐν ὑγροῖς καὶ ὁμίχλαις καὶ νέφεσι διαφαινομένην ἀλαμπὲς καὶ ταπεινὸν καὶ ἀκίνητον χωρίον, εἰ ζῷα φύει καὶ τρέφει μετέχοντα κινήσεως ἀναπνοῆς θερμότητος· κἂν εἴ ποθεν αὐτοῖς ἐγγένοιτο τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν τούτων ἀκοῦσαι

σμερδαλέ’, εὐρώεντα, τά τε στυγέουσι θεοί περ,

καί

τόσσον ἔνερθ’ Ἀΐδαο, ὅσον οὐρανὸς ἔστ’ ἀπὸ γαίης,

ταῦτα φήσουσιν ἀτεχνῶς περὶ τοῦ χωρίου τούτου λέγεσθαι καὶ τὸν Ἅιδην ἐνταῦθα καὶ τὸν Τάρταρον ἀπῳκίσθαι, γῆν δὲ μίαν εἶναι τὴν σελήνην, ἴσον ἐκείνων τῶν ἄνω καὶ τῶν κάτω τούτων ἀπέχουσαν."

     25. When Theon had so spoken, I said “Bravo, you have most excellently smoothed our brows by the sport of your speech, wherefore we have been inspired with boldness to reply, since we anticipate no very sharp or bitter scrutiny. It is, moreover, a fact that there really is no difference between those who in such matters are firm believers and those who are violently annoyed by them and firmly disbelieve and refuse to examine calmly what can be and what might be ²⁶⁴. So, for example, in the first place, if the moon is not inhabited by men, it is not necessary that she have come to be in vain and to no purpose, for we see that this earth of ours is not productive and inhabited throughout its whole extent either but only a small part of it is fruitful of animals and plants on the peaks, as it were, and peninsulas rising out of the deep, while of the rest some parts are desert and from less with winter-storms and summer-droughts and the most are sunk in the great sea. You, however, because of your constant fondness and admiration for Aristarchus, give no heed to the text that Crates read:

Ocean, that is the universal source
Of men and gods, spreads over most of earth ²⁶⁵.

     Yet it is by no means for nothing that these parts have come to be. The sea gives off gentle exhalations, and the most pleasant winds when summer is at its height are released and dispersed from the uninhabited and frozen region by the snows that are gradually melting there ²⁶⁶. 'A strict guardian and artificer of day and night' has according to Plato ²⁶⁷ been stationed in the centre. Nothing then prevents the moon too, while destitute of living beings, from providing reflections for the light that is diffused about her and for the rays of the stars a point of confluence in herself and a blending whereby she digests the exhalations from the earth and at the same time slackens the excessive torridity and harshness of the sun ²⁶⁸. Moreover, conceding a point perhaps to ancient tradition also, we shall say that she was held to be Artemis on the ground that she is a virgin and sterile but is helpful and beneficial to other females ²⁶⁹. In the second place, my dear Theon, nothing that has been said proves impossible the alleged inhabitation of the moon. As to the rotation, since it is very gentle and serene, it smooths the air and distributes it in settled order, so that there is no danger of falling and slipping off for those who stand there. And if it is not simple either ²⁷⁰, even this complication and variation of the motion is not attributable to irregularity or confusion; but in them astronomers demonstrate a marvellous order and progression, making her revolve with circles that unroll about other circles, some assuming that she is herself motion less and others that she retrogresses smoothly and regularly with ever constant velocity ²⁷¹, for these superpositions of the circles and their rotations and relations to one another and to us combine most harmoniously to produce the apparent variations of her motion in altitude and the deviations in latitude at the same time as her revolutions in longitude ²⁷². As to the great hear and continual scorching of the sun, you will cease to fear it, if first of all you set the conjunctions over against the universe summery full-moons ²⁷³ and suppose that the continuousness of the change produces in the extremes, which do not last a long time, a suitable tempering and removes the excess from either. Between these then, as is likely, they have a season most nearly approaching spring. In the second place, upon us the sun sends, through air which is turbid and nourished by the exhalations, whereas there the air being tenuous and translucent scatters and diffuses the sun's light, which has no tinder or body to sustain it ²⁷⁴. The fruits of tree and field here in our region are nourished by rains; but elsewhere, as up in your home ²⁷⁵ around Thebes and Syene, the land drinking water that springs from earth instead of rain-water and enjoying breezes and dews ²⁷⁶ would refuse, I think, to adapt itself ²⁷⁷ to the fruitfulness that attends the most abundant rainfall, and that because of a certain excellence and temperament that it has. Plants of the same kind, which in our region if sharply nipped in by winter bear good fruit in abundance, in Libya and in your home in Egypt are very sensitive to cold and afraid of winter ²⁷⁸.

     And, while Gedrosia and Ethiopia which comes down to the ocean is barren and entirely treeless because of the aridity, in the adjacent and surrounding sea there grow and thrive down in the deep plants of great magnitude, some of which are called olives, some laurels, and some tresses of Isis ²⁷⁹; and the plants here called ‘love-restorers’ when lifted out of the earth and hung up not only live as long as you wish but sprout ²⁸⁰ ... . Some plants are sown towards winter, and some at the height of summer as sesame and millet ²⁸¹. Thyme or centaury, if sown in good, rich soil and wetted and watered, departs from its natural quality and loses its strength, whereas drought delights it and causes it to reach its proper stature ²⁸²; and some plants, as they say, cannot stand even dew, as is true of the majority of Arabian plants, but are blighted and destroyed by being moistened ²⁸³. What wonder if on the moon there grow roots and seeds and trees that have no need of rain nor yet of snow but are naturally adapted to a summery and rarefied air? And why is it unlikely that winds arise warmed by the moon and that breezes steadily accompany the rolling swell of her revolution by scattering off and diffusing dews and light moisture suffice for the vegetation and that she herself is not fiery or dry in temperament but soft and humidifying? After all, no influence of dry and comes to us from her but much of moistness and femininity ²⁸⁴: the growth of plants, the decay of meats, the souring and flattening of wine, the softening of timbers, the easy delivery of women ²⁸⁵. Now that Pharnaces is quiet I am afraid of provoking and arousing him again if I cite, in the words of his own school, the flood-tides of Ocean and the swelling of the straits when they are increased and poured abroad by the liquefying action of the moon ²⁸⁶. Therefore I shall rather turn to you, my dear Theon, for when you expound these words of Alcman’s,

Such as are nourished by Dew,
daughter of Zeus and of divine Selene ²⁸⁷,

     you tell us that at this point he calls the air ‘Zeus’ and says that it is liquefied by the moon and turns to dew-drops ²⁸⁸. It is in fact probable, my friend, that the moon's nature is contrary to that of the sun, if of herself she not only naturally softens and dissolves all that he condenses and dries but liquefies and cools even the heat that he casts upon her and imbues her with. They err then who believe the moon to be a fiery and glowing body; and those who demand that living beings there be equipped just as those here are for generation, nourishment, and livelihood seem blind to the diversities of nature, among which one can discover more and greater differences and dissimilarities between living beings than between them and inanimate objects ²⁸⁹. Let there not be mouthless men nourished by odours who Megasthenes thinks do exist ²⁹⁰; yet the Hungerbane ²⁹¹, the virtue of which he was himself trying to explain to us, Hesiod hinted at when he said

     Nor what great profit mallow has and squill ²⁹².

     and Epimenides made manifest in fact when he showed that with a very little fuel nature kindles and sustains the living creature, which needs no further nourishment if it gets as much as the size of an olive ²⁹³. It is plausible that the men on the moon, if they do exist, are slight of body and capable of being nourished by whatever comes their way ²⁹⁴. After all, they say that the moon herself, like the sun which is an animate being of fire many times as large as the earth, is nourished by the moisture on the earth, as are the rest of the stars too, though they are countless; so light and frugal of requirements they do conceive the creatures to be that inhabit the upper region ²⁹⁵. We have no comprehension of these beings, however, nor of the king that a different place and nature and temperature are suitable to them. Just as, assuming that we were unable to approach the sea or touch it but only had a view of it from afar and the information that it is bitter, unpotable, and salty water, if someone said that it supports in its depths many large animals of multifarious shapes and is full of beasts that use water for all the ends that we use air, his statements would seem to us like a tissue of myths and marvels, such appears to be our relation to the moon and our attitude towards her is apparently the same when we disbelieve that any men dwell there. Those men, I think, would be much more amazed at the earth, when they look out at the sediment and dregs ²⁹⁶ of the universe, as it were, obscurely visible in moisture, mists, and clouds as a light less, low, and motionless spot, to think that it engenders and nourishes animate beings which partake of motion, breath, and warmth. If they should chance to hear somewhere these Homeric words,

     Dreadful and dank, which even gods abhor ²⁹⁷ 

and

Deep under Hell as far as Earth from Heaven ²⁹⁸,

     these you would say are simply a description of this place and Hell and Tartarus have been relegated hither while the moon alone is earth, since it is equally distant from those upper regions and these lower ones”.

     26. Ἔτι δέ μου σχεδὸν λέγοντος ὁ Σύλλας ὑπολαβών “ἐπίσχες” εἶπεν “ὦ Λαμπρία, καὶ παραβαλοῦ τὸ θυρίον τοῦ λόγου, μὴ λάθῃς τὸν μῦθον ὥσπερ εἰς γῆν ἐξοκείλας καὶ συγχέῃς τὸ δρᾶμα τοὐμὸν ἑτέραν ἔχον σκηνὴν καὶ διάθεσιν. Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὑποκριτής εἰμι, πρότερον δ’ αὐτοῦ φράσω τὸν ποιητὴν ὑμῖν *** εἰ μή τι κωλύει, καθ’ Ὅμηρον ἀρξάμενος.

     Ὠγυγίη τις νῆσος ἀπόπροθεν εἰν ἁλὶ κεῖται,

     δρόμον ἡμερῶν πέντε Βρεττανίας ἀπέχουσα πλέοντι πρὸς ἑσπέραν· ἕτεραι δὲ τρεῖς ἴσον ἐκείνης ἀφεστῶσαι καὶ ἀλλήλων πρόκεινται μάλιστα κατὰ δυσμὰς ἡλίου θερινάς. Ὧν ἐν μιᾷ τὸν Κρόνον οἱ βάρβαροι καθεῖρχθαι μυθολογοῦσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Διός, † τὸν δ’ ὡς υἱὸν ἔχοντα φρουρὸν τῶν τε νήσων ἐκείνων καὶ τῆς θαλάττης, ἣν Κρόνιον πέλαγος ὀνομάζουσι, παρακατῳκίσθαι. Τὴν δὲ μεγάλην ἤπειρον, ὑφ’ ἧς ἡ μεγάλη περιέχεται κύκλῳ θάλαττα, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἔλαττον ἀπέχειν, τῆς δ’ Ὠγυγίας περὶ πεντακισχιλίους σταδίους κωπήρεσι πλοίοις κομιζομένῳ· ῾βραδύπορον γὰρ εἶναι καὶ πηλῶδες ὑπὸ πλήθους ῥευμάτων τὸ πέλαγος· τὰ δὲ ῥεύματα τὴν μεγάλην ἐξιέναι γῆν καὶ γίνεσθαι προχώσεις ἀπ’ αὐτῶν καὶ βαρεῖαν εἶναι καὶ γεώδη τὴν θάλατταν, ᾗ καὶ πεπηγέναι δόξαν ἔσχἐ. Τῆς δ’ ἠπείρου τὰ πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ κατοικεῖν Ἕλληνας περὶ κόλπον οὐκ ἐλάττονα τῆς Μαιώτιδος, οὗ τὸ στόμα τῷ στόματι τοῦ Κασπίου πελάγους μάλιστα κατ’ εὐθεῖαν κεῖσθαι· καλεῖν δὲ καὶ νομίζειν ἐκείνους ἠπειρώτας μὲν αὑτοὺς νησιώτας δὲ τοὺς ταύτην τὴν γῆν κατοικοῦντας, ὡς καὶ κύκλῳ περίρρυτον οὖσαν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης· οἴεσθαι δὲ τοῖς Κρόνου λαοῖς ἀναμιχθέντας ὕστερον τοὺς μεθ’ Ἡρακλέους παραγενομένους καὶ ὑπολειφθέντας ἤδη σβεννύμενον τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν ἐκεῖ καὶ κρατούμενον γλώττῃ τε βαρβαρικῇ καὶ νόμοις καὶ διαίταις οἷον ἀναζωπυρῆσαι πάλιν ἰσχυρὸν καὶ πολὺ γενόμενον· διὸ τιμὰς ἔχειν πρώτας τὸν Ἡρακλέα, δευτέρας δὲ τὸν Κρόνον. Ὅταν οὖν ὁ τοῦ Κρόνου ἀστήρ, ὃν Φαίνοντα μὲν ἡμεῖς, ἐκείνους δὲ Νυκτοῦρον ἔφη καλεῖν, εἰς Ταῦρον παραγένηται δι’ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα, παρασκευασαμένους ἐν χρόνῳ πολλῷ τὰ περὶ τὴν θυσίαν καὶ τὸν ἀ... ἐκπέμπειν κλήρῳ λαχόντας ἐν πλοίοις τοσούτοις θεραπείαν τε πολλὴν καὶ παρασκευὴν ἀναγκαίαν μέλλουσι πλεῖν πέλαγος τοσοῦτον εἰρεσίᾳ καὶ χρόνον ἐπὶ ξένης βιοτεύειν πολὺν ἐμβαλλομένους. ἀναχθέντας οὖν χρῆσθαι τύχαις, ὡς εἰκός, ἄλλους ἄλλαις, τοὺς δὲ διασωθέντας ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης πρῶτον μὲν ἐπὶ τὰς προκειμένας νήσους οἰκουμένας δ’ ὑφ’ Ἑλλήνων κατίσχειν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ὁρᾶν κρυπτόμενον ὥρας μιᾶς ἔλαττον ἐφ’ ἡμέρας τριάκοντα· καὶ νύκτα τοῦτ’ εἶναι, σκότος ἔχουσαν ἐλαφρὸν καὶ λυκαυγὲς ἀπὸ δυσμῶν περιλαμπόμενον.

     Ἐκεῖ δὲ διατρίψαντας ἡμέρας ἐνενήκοντα μετὰ τιμῆς καὶ φιλοφροσύνης, ἱεροὺς νομιζομένους καὶ προσαγορευομένους, ὑπὸ πνευμάτων ἤδη περαιοῦσθαι· μηδ’ ἄλλους τινὰς ἐνοικεῖν ἢ σφᾶς τ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτῶν ἀποπεμφθέντας. Ἐξεῖναι μὲν γὰρ ἀποπλεῖν οἴκαδε τοὺς τῷ θεῷ τὰ τρὶς δέκ’ ἔτη συλλατρεύσαντας, αἱρεῖσθαι δὲ τοὺς πλείστους ἐπιεικῶς αὐτόθι κατοικεῖν, τοὺς μὲν ὑπὸ συνηθείας τοὺς δ’ ὅτι πόνου δίχα καὶ πραγμάτων ἄφθονα πάρεστι πάντα, πρὸς θυσίαις καὶ χορηγίαις ἢ περὶ λόγους τινὰς ἀεὶ καὶ φιλοσοφίαν διατρίβουσι· θαυμαστὴν γὰρ εἶναι τῆς τε νήσου τὴν φύσιν καὶ τὴν πραότητα τοῦ περιέχοντος ἀέρος· ἐνίοις δὲ καὶ τὸ θεῖον ἐμποδὼν γίνεσθαι διανοηθεῖσιν ἀποπλεῖν ὥσπερ συνήθεσι καὶ φίλοις ἐπιδεικνύμενον. Οὐκ ὄναρ γὰρ μόνον οὐδὲ διὰ συμβόλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ φανερῶς ἐντυγχάνειν πολλοὺς ὄψεσι δαιμόνων καὶ φωναῖς. Αὐτὸν μὲν γὰρ τὸν Κρόνον ἐν ἄντρῳ βαθεῖ περιέχεσθαι πέτρας χρυσοειδοῦς καθεύδοντα ῾τὸν γὰρ ὕπνον αὐτῷ μεμηχανῆσθαι δεσμὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Διός᾿, ὄρνιθας δὲ τῆς πέτρας κατὰ κορυφὴν εἰσπετομένους ἀμβροσίαν ἐπιφέρειν αὐτῷ, καὶ τὴν νῆσον εὐωδίᾳ κατέχεσθαι πᾶσαν, ὥσπερ ἐκ πηγῆς σκιδναμένῃ τῆς πέτρας· τοὺς δὲ δαίμονας ἐκείνους περιέπειν καὶ θεραπεύειν τὸν Κρόνον, ἑταίρους αὐτῷ γενομένους, ὅτε δὴ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐβασίλευε· καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν μαντικοὺς ὄντας προλέγειν, τὰ δὲ μέγιστα καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ὡς ὀνείρατα τοῦ Κρόνου κατιόντας ἐξαγγέλλειν· ὅσα γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς προδιανοεῖται, ταῦτ’ ὀνειροπολεῖν τὸν Κρόνον, ἐπειδὰν στασιάσαντα τὰ τιτανικὰ πάθη καὶ κινήματα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν αὐτῷ παντάπασιν ὁ ὕπνος κατακοιμήσῃ καὶ γένηται τὸ βασιλικὸν καὶ θεῖον αὐτὸ καθ’ ἑαυτὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀκήρατον.

     Ἐνταῦθα δὴ κομισθείς, ὡς ἔλεγεν, ὁ ξένος καὶ θεραπεύων τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ σχολῆς, ἀστρολογίας μὲν ἐφ’ ὅσον γεωμετρήσαντι πορρωτάτω προελθεῖν δυνατόν ἐστιν ἐμπειρίαν ἔσχε, φιλοσοφίας δὲ τῆς ἄλλης τῷ φυσικῷ χρώμενος. Ἐπιθυμίαν δέ τινα καὶ πόθον ἔχων γενέσθαι τῆς μεγάλης νήσου θεατής῾οὕτως γὰρ ὡς ἔοικε τὴν παρ’ ἡμῖν οἰκουμένην ὀνομάζουσιν᾿, ἐπεὶ δὴ τὰ τριάκοντ’ ἔτη διῆλθεν, ἀφικομένων τῶν διαδόχων οἴκοθεν ἀσπασάμενος τοὺς φίλους ἐξέπλευσε, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα κατεσκευασμένος εὐσταλῶς ἐφόδιον δὲ συχνὸν ἐν χρυσοῖς ἐκπώμασι κομίζων. Ἃ μὲν οὖν ἔπαθε καὶ ὅσους ἀνθρώπους διῆλθεν, ἱεροῖς τε γράμμασιν ἐντυγχάνων ἐν τελεταῖς τε πάσαις τελούμενος, οὐ μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἔργον ἐστὶ διελθεῖν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἡμῖν ἀπήγγελλεν εὖ μάλα καὶ καθ’ ἕκαστον ἀπομνημονεύων· ὅσα δ’ οἰκεῖα τῆς ἐνεστώσης διατριβῆς ἐστιν, ἀκούσατε. Πλεῖστον γὰρ ἐν Καρχηδόνι χρόνον διέτριψεν, ἅτε δὴ παρ’ ἡμῖν μεγάλας τοῦ Κρόνου τιμὰς ἔχοντος, καί τινας, ὅθ’ ἡ προτέρα πόλις ἀπώλλυτο, διφθέρας ἱερὰς ὑπεκκομισθείσας κρύφα καὶ διαλαθούσας πολὺν χρόνον ἐν γῇ κειμένας ἐξευρών, τῶν τε φαινομένων θεῶν ἔφη χρῆναι καί μοι παρεκελεύετο τιμᾶν διαφερόντως τὴν Σελήνην ὡς τοῦ βίου κυριωτάτην οὖσαν ... ἐχομένην”.

     26. Almost before I had finished, Sulla broke in. “Hold on, Lamprias”, he said, “and put to the wicket of your discourse ²⁹⁹ lest you unwittingly run the myth aground, as it were, and confound my drama, which has a different setting and a different disposition. Well, I am but the actor of the piece, but first I shall say that its author began for our sake — if there be no objection — with a quotation from Homer: ³⁰⁰

   An isle, Ogygia, lies far out at sea ³⁰¹,

     a run of five days off from Britain as you sail westward; and three other islands equally distant from it and from one another lie out from it in the general direction of the summer sunset. In one of these, according to the tale told by the natives, Cronus is confined by Zeus, and the antique Briareus, holding watch and ward over those islands and the sea that they call the Cronian main, has been settled close beside him ³⁰². The great mainland, by which the great ocean is encircled ³⁰³, while not so far from the other islands, is about five thousand stades from Ogygia, the voyage being made by oar, for the main is slow to traverse and muddy as a result of the multitude of streams ³⁰⁴. The streams are discharged by the great land-mass and produce alluvial deposits, thus giving density and earthiness to the sea, which has been thought actually to be congealed ³⁰⁵. On the coast of the mainland Greeks dwell about a gulf which is not smaller than the Maeotis ³⁰⁶ and the mouth of the Caspian sea ³⁰⁷, and moreover they both lie on the same straight line. These people consider and call themselves continentals and the inhabitants of this land islanders because the sea flows around it on all sides; and they believe that with the peoples of Cronus there mingled at a later time those who arrived in the train of Heracles and were left behind by him and that these latter so to speak rekindled again to a strong, high flame the Hellenic spark there which was already being quenched and overcome by the tongue, the laws, and the manners of the barbarians. Therefore Heracles has the highest honours and Cronos the second. Now when at intervals of thirty years the star of Cronus, which we call ‘Splendent’ ³⁰⁸ but they, our author said, call ‘Night-watchman’, enters the sign of Taurus ³⁰⁹, they, having spent a long time in preparation for the sacrifice and the expedition, choose by lot and send forth a sufficient number of envoys in a correspondingly sufficient number of ships, putting aboard a large retinue and the provisions necessary for men who are going to cross so much sea by oar and live such a long time in a foreign land. Now when they have put to sea the several voyagers meet with various fortunes as one might expect; but those who survive the voyage first put in at the outlying islands, which are inhabited by Greeks ³¹⁰, and see the sun pass out of sight for less than an hour over a period of thirty days ³¹¹ — and this is night, though it has a darkness that is slight and twilight glimmering from the west.

     There they spend ninety days regarded with honour and friendliness as holy men and so addressed, and then winds carry them across to their appointed goal ³¹². Nor do any others inhabit it but themselves and those who have been dispatched before them, for, while those who have served the god together for the stint of thirty years are allowed to sail off home, most of them usually choose to settle in the spot, some out of habit and others because without toil or trouble they have all things in abundance while they constantly employ their time in sacrifices and celebrations or with various discourse and philosophy, for the nature of the island is marvellous as is the softness of the circumambient air. Some when they intend to sail away are even hindered by the divinity which presents itself to them as to intimates and friends not in dreams only or by means of omens, but many also come upon the visions and the voices of spirits manifest. For Cronus himself sleeps confined in a deep cave of rock that shines like gold — the sleep that Zeus has contrived like a bond for him —, and birds flying in over the summit of the rock bring ambrosia to him, and all the island is suffused with fragrance scattered from the rock as from a fountain; and those spirits mentioned before tend and serve Cronus, having been his comrades what time he ruled as king over gods and men. Many things they do foretell of themselves, for they are oracular; but the prophecies that are greatest and of the greatest matters they come down and report as dreams of Cronus, for all that Zeus premeditates Cronus sees in his ³¹³ dreams ³¹³ and the titanic affections and motions of his soul make him rigidly tense until sleep restores his repose once more and the royal and divine element is all by itself, pure and unalloyed ³¹⁴.

     Here then the stranger ³¹⁵ was conveyed, as he said, and while he served the god became at his leisure acquainted with astronomy, in which he made as much progress as one can by practising geometry, and with the rest of philosophy by dealing with so much of it as is possible for the natural philosopher ³¹⁶. Since he had a strange desire and longing to observe the Great Island (for so, it seems, they call our part of the world), when the thirty years had elapsed, the relief-party having arrived from home, he saluted his friends and sailed away, lightly equipped for the rest but carrying a large viaticum in golden beakers. Well, all his experiences and all the men whom he visited, encountering sacred writings and being initiated in all rites — to recount all this as he reported it to us, relating it thoroughly and in detail, is not a task for a single day; but listen to so much as is pertinent to the present discussion. He spent a great deal of time in Carthage inasmuch as Cronus receives great honour in our country ³¹⁷, and he discovered certain sacred parchments that had been secretly spirited off to safety when the earlier city was being destroyed and had lain unnoticed in the ground for a long time ³¹⁸. Among the visible gods ³¹⁹ he said that one should especially honour the moon, and so he kept exhorting me to do, inasmuch as she is sovereign over life and death, bordering as she does upon the meads of Hades.

     27. Θαυμάζοντος δέ μου ταῦτα καὶ δεομένου σαφέστερον ἀκοῦσαι “πολλά” εἶπεν “ὦ Σύλλα, περὶ θεῶν οὐ πάντα δὲ καλῶς λέγεται παρ’ Ἕλλησιν. Οἷον εὐθὺς ὀρθῶς Δήμητραν καὶ Κόρην ὀνομάζοντες οὐκ ὀρθῶς ὁμοῦ καὶ περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀμφοτέρας εἶναι τόπον νομίζουσιν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐν γῇ καὶ κυρία τῶν περὶ γῆν ἐστιν, ἡ δ’ ἐν σελήνῃ καὶ τῶν περὶ σελήνην, Κόρη τε καὶ Φερσεφόνη κέκληται, τὸ μὲν ὡς φωσφόρος οὖσα, Κόρη δ’ ὅτι καὶ τοῦ ὄμματος, ἐν ᾧ τὸ εἴδωλον ἀντιλάμπει τοῦ βλέποντος, ὥσπερ τὸ ἡλίου φέγγος ἐνορᾶται τῇ σελήνῃ, κόρην προσαγορεύομεν. Τοῖς τε περὶ τὴν πλάνην καὶ τὴν ζήτησιν αὐτῶν λεγομένοις ἔνεστι μέν τι καὶ ἀληθές· ἀλλήλων γὰρ ἐφίενται χωρὶς οὖσαι καὶ συμπλέκονται περὶ τὴν σκιὰν πολλάκις· τὸ δὲ νῦν μὲν ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ φωτὶ νῦν δ’ ἐν σκότῳ καὶ νυκτὶ γενέσθαι περὶ τὴν Κόρην ψεῦδος μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν, τοῦ δὲ χρόνου τῷ ἀριθμῷ πλάνην παρέσχηκεν· οὐ γὰρ ἓξ μῆνας ἀλλὰ παρ’ ἓξ μῆνας ὁρῶμεν αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῆς γῆς ὥσπερ ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς τῇ σκιᾷ λαμβανομένην, ὀλιγάκις δὲ τοῦτο διὰ πέντε μηνῶν πάσχουσαν. Ἐπεὶ τόν γ’ Ἅιδην ἀπολιπεῖν ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν αὐτήν, τοῦ Ἅιδου πέρας οὖσαν· ὥσπερ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐπικρυψάμενος οὐ φαύλως τοῦτ’ εἶπεν

ἀλλά σ’ ἐς Ἠλύσιον πεδίον καὶ πείρατα γαίης.

      Ὅπου γὰρ ἡ σκιὰ τῆς γῆς ἐπινεμομένη παύεται, τοῦτο τέρμα τῆς γῆς ἔθετο καὶ πέρας. Εἰς δὲ τοῦτο φαῦλος μὲν οὐδεὶς οὐδ’ ἀκάθαρτος ἄνεισιν, οἱ δὲ χρηστοὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν κομισθέντες αὐτόθι ῥᾷστον μὲν οὕτως βίον, οὐ μὴν μακάριον οὐδὲ θεῖον ἔχοντες ἄχρι τοῦ δευτέρου θανάτου διατελοῦσι”.

     27. When I expressed surprise at this and asked for a clearer account, he said ³²⁰: ’Many assertions about the gods, Sulla, are current among the Greeks, but not all of them are right. So, for example, although they give the right names to Demeter and Corê, they are wrong in believing that both are together in the same region. The fact is that the former is in the region of earth and is sovereign over terrestrial things, and the latter is in the moon and mistress of lunar things. She has been called both Corê and Phersephonê ³²¹, the latter as being a bearer of light ³²² and Corê because that is what we call the part of the eye in which is reflected the likeness of him who looks into it ³²³ as the light of the sun is seen in the moon. The tales told of the wandering and the quest of these goddesses contain the truth spoken covertly ³²⁴, for they long for each other when they are apart and they often embrace in the shadow. The statement concerning Corê that now she is in the light of heaven and now in darkness and night is not false but has given rise to error in the computation of the time, for not throughout six months but every six months we see her being wrapped in shadow by the earth as it were by her mother, and infrequently we see this happen to her at intervals of five months ³²⁵, for she cannot abandon Hades since she is the boundary of Hades, as Homer too has rather well put it in veiled terms:

   But to Elysium’s plain, the bourne of earth ³²⁶.

     Where the range of the earth’s shadow ends, this he set as the term and boundary ³²⁷ of the earth ³²⁷. To this point rises no one who is evil or unclean, but the good are conveyed thither after death and there continue to lead a life most easy to be sure ³²⁸ though not blessed or divine until their second  death ³²⁹”.

     28. “Τίς δ’ οὗτός ἐστιν, ὦ Σύλλα;” “Μὴ περὶ τούτων ἔρῃ, μέλλω γὰρ αὐτὸς διηγεῖσθαι. Τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἱ πολλοὶ σύνθετον μὲν ὀρθῶς, ἐκ δυοῖν δὲ μόνων σύνθετον οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἡγοῦνται. Μόριον γὰρ εἶναί πως ψυχῆς οἴονται τὸν νοῦν, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐκείνων ἁμαρτάνοντες, οἷς ἡ ψυχὴ δοκεῖ μόριον εἶναι τοῦ σώματος. Νοῦς γὰρ ψυχῆς, ὅσῳ ψυχὴ σώματος, ἄμεινόν ἐστι καὶ θειότερον. ποιεῖ δ’ ἡ μὲν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος μῖξις αἴσθησιν ἡ δὲ νοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς σύνοδος λόγον· ὧν τὸ μὲν ἡδονῆς ἀρχὴ καὶ πόνου τὸ δ’ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας. Τριῶν δὲ τούτων συμπαγέντων, τὸ μὲν σῶμα ἡ γῆ τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν ἡ σελήνη, τὸν δὲ νοῦν ὁ ἥλιος παρέσχεν εἰς τὴν γένεσιν … ὥσπερ αὖ τῇ σελήνῃ τὸ φέγγος. Ὃν δ’ ἀποθνήσκομεν θάνατον, ὁ μὲν ἐκ τριῶν δύο ποιεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ δ’ ἓν ἐκ δυοῖν, καὶ ὁ μέν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ γῇ τῆς Δήμητρος, … ἐν αὐτῇ τελεῖν καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς Ἀθηναῖοι Δημητρείους ὠνόμαζον τὸ παλαιόν· ὁ δ’ ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ τῆς Φερσεφόνης· καὶ σύνοικός ἐστι τῆς μὲν χθόνιος ὁ Ἑρμῆς τῆς δ’ οὐράνιος. λύει δ’ αὕτη μὲν ταχὺ καὶ μετὰ βίας τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ἡ δὲ Φερσεφόνη πράως καὶ χρόνῳ πολλῷ τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μονογενὴς κέκληται· μόνον γὰρ γίνεται τὸ βέλτιστον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου διακρινόμενον αὐτῆς.

     Συντυγχάνει δ’ οὕτως κατὰ φύσιν ἑκάτερον· Πᾶσαν ψυχήν, ἄνουν τε καὶ σὺν νῷ, σώματος ἐκπεσοῦσαν εἱμαρμένον ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ γῆς καὶ σελήνης χωρίῳ πλανηθῆναι χρόνον οὐκ ἴσον, ἀλλ’ αἱ μὲν ἄδικοι καὶ ἀκόλαστοι δίκας τῶν ἀδικημάτων τίνουσι, τὰς δ’ ἐπιεικεῖς, ὅσον ἀφαγνεῦσαι καὶ ἀποπνεῦσαι τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ὥσπερ ἀτμοῦ πονηροῦ μιασμούς, ἐν τῷ πραοτάτῳ τοῦ ἀέρος, ὃν λειμῶνας Ἅιδου καλοῦσι, δεῖ γίνεσθαι χρόνον τινὰ τεταγμένον. Ἔνθ’ οἷον ἐξ ἀποδημίας ἀνακομιζόμεναι φυγαδικῆς εἰς πατρίδα γεύονται χαρᾶς, οἵαν οἱ τελούμενοι μάλιστα θορύβῳ καὶ πτοήσει συγκεκραμένην μετ’ ἐλπίδος ἡδείας ἔχουσι· πολλὰς γὰρ ἐξωθεῖ καὶ ἀποκυματίζει γλιχομένας ἤδη τῆς σελήνης, ἐνίας δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ περικάτω τρεπομένας οἷον εἰς βυθὸν αὖθις ὁρῶσι καταδυομένας. Αἱ δ’ ἄνω γενόμεναι καὶ βεβαίως ἱδρυθεῖσαι πρῶτον μέν, ὥσπερ οἱ νικηφόροι, περιίασιν ἀναδούμεναι στεφάνοις πτερῶν εὐσταθείας λεγομένοις, ὅτι τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ ἄλογον καὶ τὸ παθητικὸν εὐήνιον ἐπιεικῶς τῷ λόγῳ καὶ κεκοσμημένον ἐν τῷ βίῳ παρέσχοντο. Δεύτερον δ’ ἀκτῖνι τὴν ὄψιν ἐοικυῖαι, πυρὶ δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἄνω κουφιζομένην ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα, *** τῷ περὶ τὴν σελήνην αἰθέρι καὶ τόνον ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ δύναμιν, οἷον τὰ στομούμενα βαφήν, ἴσχουσι· τὸ γὰρ ἀραιὸν ἔτι καὶ διακεχυμένον ῥώννυται καὶ γίνεται σταθερὸν καὶ διαυγές, ὥσθ’ ὑπὸ τῆς τυχούσης ἀναθυμιάσεως τρέφεσθαι· καὶ καλῶς Ἡράκλειτος εἶπεν ὅτι

     αἱ ψυχαὶ ὀσμῶνται καθ’ Ἅιδην

     28. “And what is this, Sulla?” “Do not ask about these things, for I am going to give a full explanation myself. Most people rightly hold man to be composite but wrongly hold him to be composed of only two parts. The reason is that they suppose mind to be somehow part of soul, thus erring no less than those who believe soul to be part of body, for in the same degree as soul is superior to body so is mind better and more divine than soul. The result of soul and body commingled is the irrational or the affective factor, whereas of mind and soul the conjunction produces reason; and of these the former is source of pleasure and pain, the latter of virtue and vice ³³⁰. In the composition of these three factors earth furnishes the body, the moon the soul, and the sun furnishes mind to man for the purpose of his generation ³³¹ even as it furnishes light to the moon herself. As to the death we die, one death reduces man from three factors to two and another reduces him from two to one ³³²; and the former takes place in the earth that belongs to Demeter (wherefore ‘to make an end’ is called ‘to render one’s life to her’ and Athenians used in olden times to call the dead ‘Demetrians’) ³³³, the latter in the moon that belongs to Phersephonê, and associated with the former is Hermes the terrestrial, with the latter Hermes the celestial ³³⁴. While the goddess here ³³⁵ dissociates the soul from the body swiftly and violently, Phersephonê gently and by slow degrees detaches the mind from the soul and has therefore been called ‘single-born’ because the best part of man is ‘born single’ when separated off by her ³³⁶.

     Each of the two separations naturally occurs in this fashion: All soul, whether without mind or with it ³³⁷, when it has issued from the body ³³⁸ is destined to wander in the region between earth and moon but not for an equal time. Unjust and licentious souls pay penalties for their offences; but the good souls must in the gentlest part of the air, which they call ‘the meads of Hades’ ³³⁹, pass a certain set time sufficient to purge and blow away the pollutions contracted from the body as from an evil odour ³⁴⁰. Then, as if brought home from banishment abroad, they savour joy most like that of initiates, which attended by glad expectation is mingled with confusion and excitement ³⁴¹. For many, even as they are in the act of clinging to the moon, she thrusts off and sweeps away; and some of those souls too that are on the moon they see turning upside down as if sinking again into the deep ³⁴². Those that have got up, however, and have found a firm footing first go about like victors crowned with wreaths of feathers called wreaths of steadfastness ³⁴³, because in life they had made the irrational or affective element of the soul orderly and tolerably tractable to reason ³⁴⁴; secondly, in appearance resembling a ray of light but in respect of their nature, which in the upper region is buoyant as it is here in ours, resembling the ether about the moon ³⁴⁵, they get from it both tension and strength as edged instruments get a temper ³⁴⁶, for what laxness and diffuseness they still have is strengthened and becomes firm and translucent. In consequence they are nourished by any exhalation that reaches them, and Heraclitus was right in saying:

   Souls employ the sense of smell in Hades ³⁴⁷.

     29. Ἐφορῶσι δὲ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτῆς σελήνης τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὴν φύσιν οὐχ ἁπλῆν οὐδ’ ἄμικτον, ἀλλ’ οἷον ἄστρου σύγκραμα καὶ γῆς οὖσαν. Ὡς γὰρ ἡ γῆ πνεύματι μεμιγμένη καὶ ὑγρῷ … μαλακὴ γέγονε καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῇ σαρκὶ παρέχει τὴν αἴσθησιν ἐγκεκραμένον, οὕτως τῷ αἰθέρι λέγουσι τὴν σελήνην ἀνακεκραμένην διὰ βάθους ἅμα μὲν ἔμψυχον εἶναι καὶ γόνιμον, ἅμα δ’ ἰσόρροπον ἔχειν τὴν πρὸς τὸ βαρὺ συμμετρίαν τῆς κουφότητος. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν οὕτως τὸν κόσμον ἐκ τῶν ἄνω καὶ τῶν κάτω φύσει φερομένων συνηρμοσμένον ἀπηλλάχθαι παντάπασι τῆς κατὰ τόπον κινήσεως. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ Ξενοκράτης ἔοικεν ἐννοῆσαι θείῳ τινὶ λογισμῷ, τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβὼν παρὰ Πλάτωνος. Πλάτων γάρ ἐστιν ὁ καὶ τῶν ἀστέρων ἕκαστον ἐκ γῆς καὶ πυρὸς συνηρμόσθαι διὰ τῶν δυοῖν μεταξὺ φύσεων ἀναλογίᾳ δεθεισῶν ἀποφηνάμενος· οὐδὲν γὰρ εἰς αἴσθησιν ἐξικνεῖσθαι, ᾧ μή τι γῆς ἐμμέμικται καὶ φωτός. Ὁ δὲ Ξενοκράτης τὰ μὲν ἄστρα καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκ πυρός φησι καὶ τοῦ πρώτου πυκνοῦ συγκεῖσθαι, τὴν δὲ σελήνην ἐκ τοῦ δευτέρου πυκνοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου ἀέρος, τὴν δὲ γῆν ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ ἀέρος καὶ τοῦ τρίτου τῶν πυκνῶν· ὅλως δὲ μήτε τὸ πυκνὸν αὐτὸ καθ’ αὑτὸ μήτε τὸ μανὸν εἶναι ψυχῆς δεκτικόν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ οὐσίας σελήνης. Εὖρος δὲ καὶ μέγεθος οὐχ ὅσον οἱ γεωμέτραι λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ μεῖζον πολλάκις ἐστί· καταμετρεῖ δὲ τὴν σκιὰν τῆς γῆς ὀλιγάκις τοῖς ἑαυτῆς μεγέθεσιν οὐχ ὑπὸ σμικρότητος, ἀλλὰ θερμότητος, ᾗ κατεπείγει τὴν κίνησιν ὅπως ταχὺ διεκπερᾷ τὸν σκοτώδη τόπον ὑπεκφέρουσα τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὰς ψυχὰς σπευδούσας καὶ βοώσας. Οὐκέτι γὰρ ἐξακούουσιν ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ γενόμεναι τῆς περὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἁρμονίας· ἅμα δὲ καὶ κάτωθεν αἱ τῶν κολαζομένων ψυχαὶ τηνικαῦτα διὰ τῆς σκιᾶς ὀδυρόμεναι καὶ ἀλαλάζουσαι προσφέρονται ‘διὸ καὶ κροτεῖν ἐν ταῖς ἐκλείψεσιν εἰώθασιν οἱ πλεῖστοι χαλκώματα καὶ ψόφον ποιεῖν καὶ πάταγον ἐπὶ τὰς φαύλας’· ἐκφοβεῖ δ’ αὐτὰς καὶ τὸ καλούμενον πρόσωπον, ὅταν ἐγγὺς γένωνται, βλοσυρόν τι καὶ φρικῶδες ὁρώμενον.

     Ἔστι δ’ οὐ τοιοῦτον, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἡ παρ’ ἡμῖν ἔχει γῆ κόλπους βαθεῖς καὶ μεγάλους, ἕνα μὲν ἐνταῦθα διὰ στηλῶν Ἡρακλείων ἀναχεόμενον εἴσω πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἔξω δὲ τὸν Κάσπιον καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν θάλατταν, οὕτως βάθη ταῦτα τῆς σελήνης ἐστὶ καὶ κοιλώματα. Καλοῦσι δ’ αὐτῶν τὸ μὲν μέγιστον Ἑκάτης μυχόν, ὅπου καὶ δίκας διδόασιν αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ λαμβάνουσιν ὧν ἂν ἤδη γεγενημέναι δαίμονες ἢ πάθωσιν ἢ δράσωσι, τὰς δὲ δύο Μακράς· περαιοῦνται γὰρ αἱ ψυχαὶ δι’ αὐτῶν, νῦν μὲν εἰς τὰ πρὸς οὐρανὸν τῆς σελήνης, νῦν δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὰ πρὸς γῆν· ὀνομάζεσθαι δὲ τὰ μὲν πρὸς οὐρανὸν τῆς σελήνης Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, τὰ δ’ ἐνταῦθα Φερσεφόνης † οὐκ ἀντίχθονος.

     29. First they behold the moon as she is in herself ³⁴⁸: her magnitude and beauty and nature, which is not simple and unmixed but a blend as it were of star and earth. Just as the earth has become soft by having been mixed with breath and moisture and as blood gives rise to sense-perception in the flesh with which it is commingled ³⁴⁹, so the moon, they say ³⁵⁰, because it has been permeated through and through by ether is at once animated and fertile and at the same time has the proportion of lightness to heaviness in equipoise. In fact it is in this way too, they say, that the universe itself has entirely escaped local motion, because it has been constructed out of the things that naturally move upwards and those that naturally move downwards ³⁵¹. This was also the conception of Xenocrates who, taking his start from Plato, seems ³⁵² to have reached it by a kind of superhuman reasoning. Plato is the one who declared that each of the stars as well was constructed of earth and fire bound together in a proportion by means of the two intermediate natures, for nothing, as he said, attains perceptibility that does not contain an admixture of earth and light ³⁵³; but Xenocrates says that the stars and the sun are composed of fire and the first density, the moon of the second density and air that is proper to her, and the earth of water and air and the third kind of density and that in general neither density all by itself nor subtility is receptive of soul ³⁵⁴. So much for the moon’s substance. As to her breadth or magnitude, it is not what the geometers say but many times greater. She measures off the earth’s shadow with few of her own magnitudes not because it is small but she more ardently hastens her motion in order that she may quickly pass through the gloomy place bearing away the souls of the good which cry out and urge her one because when they are in the shadow they no longer catch the sound of the harmony of heaven ³⁵⁵. At the same time too with wails and cries the souls of the chastised then approach through the shadow from below. That is why most people have the custom of beating brasses during eclipses and of raising a din and clatter against the souls ³⁵⁶, which are frightened off also by the so‑called face when they get near it, for it has a grim and horrible aspect ³⁵⁷.

     It is no such thing, however; but just as our earth contains gulfs that are deep and extensive ³⁵⁸, one here pouring in towards us through the Pillars of Heracles and outside the Caspian and the Red Sea with its gulfs ³⁵⁹, so those features are depths and hollows of the moon. The largest of them is called ³⁶⁰ ‘Hecatê’s Recess’ ³⁶¹ where the souls suffer and exact penalties for whatever they have endured or committed after having already become Spirits ³⁶²; and the two long ones are called ‘the Gates’ ³⁶³, for through them pass the souls now to the side of the moon that faces heaven and now back to the side that faces earth ³⁶⁴. The side of the moon towards heaven is named ‘Elysian plain’ ³⁶⁵, the hither side ‘House of counter-terrestrial Phersephonê’ ³⁶⁶.

     30. Οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ διατρίβουσιν ἐπ’ αὐτὴν οἱ δαίμονες, ἀλλὰ χρηστηρίων δεῦρο κατίασιν ἐπιμελησόμενοι, καὶ ταῖς ἀνωτάτω συμπάρεισι καὶ συνοργιάζουσι τῶν τελετῶν, κολασταί τε γίνονται καὶ φύλακες ἀδικημάτων καὶ σωτῆρες ἔν τε πολέμοις καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ἐπιλάμπουσιν. Ὅ τι δ’ ἂν μὴ καλῶς περὶ ταῦτα πράξωσιν ἀλλ’ ὑπ’ ὀργῆς ἢ πρὸς ἄδικον χάριν ἢ φθόνῳ, δίκην τίνουσιν· ὠθοῦνται γὰρ αὖθις ἐπὶ γῆν συνειργνύμενοι σώμασιν ἀνθρωπίνοις. Ἐκ δὲ τῶν βελτιόνων ἐκείνων οἵ τε περὶ τὸν Κρόνον ὄντες ἔφασαν αὐτοὺς εἶναι καὶ πρότερον ἐν τῇ Κρήτῃ τοὺς Ἰδαίους Δακτύλους, ἔν τε Φρυγίᾳ τοὺς Κορύβαντας γενέσθαι καὶ τοὺς περὶ Βοιωτίαν ἐν † Οὐδώρα Τροφωνιάδας καὶ μυρίους ἄλλους πολλαχόθι τῆς οἰκουμένης· ὧν ἱερὰ καὶ τιμαὶ καὶ προσηγορίαι διαμένουσιν, αἱ δὲ δυνάμεις ἐξέλιπον ἐνίων εἰς ἕτερον τόπον τῆς ἀρίστης ἐξαλλαγῆς τυγχανόντων. Τυγχάνουσι δ’ οἱ μὲν πρότερον οἱ δ’ ὕστερον, ὅταν ὁ νοῦς ἀποκριθῇ τῆς ψυχῆς· ἀποκρίνεται δ’ ἔρωτι τῆς περὶ τὸν ἥλιον εἰκόνος, δι’ ἧς ἐπιλάμπει τὸ ἐφετὸν καὶ καλὸν καὶ θεῖον καὶ μακάριον, οὗ πᾶσα φύσις, ἄλλη δ’ ἄλλως ὀρέγεται. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴν τὴν σελήνην ἔρωτι τοῦ ἡλίου περιπολεῖν ἀεὶ καὶ συγγίνεσθαι ὀρεγομένην ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὸ γονιμώτατον. Λείπεται δ’ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς φύσις ἐπὶ τὴν σελήνην, οἷον ἴχνη τινὰ βίου καὶ ὀνείρατα διαφυλάττουσα· καὶ περὶ ταύτης ὀρθῶς ἡγοῦ λελέχθαι τό

     ψυχὴ δ’ ἠύτ’ ὄνειρος ἀποπταμένη πεπότηται.

     Οὐδὲ γὰρ εὐθὺς οὐδὲ τοῦ σώματος ἀπαλλαγεῖσα τοῦτο πέπονθεν ἀλλ’ ὕστερον, ὅταν ἔρημος καὶ μόνη τοῦ νοῦ ἀπαλλαττομένη γένηται. Καὶ Ὅμηρος ὧν εἶπε πάντων μάλιστα δὴ κατὰ θεὸν εἰπεῖν ἔοικε περὶ τῶν καθ’ Ἅιδου

τὸν δὲ μετ’ εἰσενόησα βίην Ἡρακληείην,
εἴδωλον· αὐτὸς δὲ μετ’ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν.

     Αὐτός τε γὰρ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν οὐ θυμός ἐστιν οὐδὲ φόβος οὐδ’ ἐπιθυμία, καθάπερ οὐδὲ σάρκες οὐδ’ ὑγρότητες, ἀλλ’ ᾧ διανοούμεθα καὶ φρονοῦμεν, ἥ τε ψυχὴ τυπουμένη μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ τυποῦσα δὲ τὸ σῶμα καὶ περιπτύσσουσα πανταχόθεν ἐκμάττεται τὸ εἶδος· ὥστε κἂν χωρὶς ἑκατέρου γένηται, πολὺν χρόνον διατηροῦσα τὴν ὁμοιότητα καὶ τὸν τύπον εἴδωλον ὀρθῶς ὀνομάζεται. Τούτων δ’ ἡ σελήνη, καθάπερ εἴρηται, στοιχεῖόν ἐστιν. Ἀναλύονται γὰρ εἰς ταύτην, ὥσπερ εἰς τὴν γῆν τὰ σώματα τῶν νεκρῶν, ταχὺ μὲν αἱ σώφρονες, μετὰ σχολῆς ἀπράγμονα καὶ φιλόσοφον στέρξασαι βίον῾ἀφεθεῖσαι γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ καὶ πρὸς οὐθὲν ἔτι χρώμεναι τοῖς πάθεσιν ἀπομαραίνονταἰ· τῶν δὲ φιλοτίμων καὶ πρακτικῶν ἐρωτικῶν τε περὶ σώματα καὶ θυμοειδῶν αἱ μὲν οἷον ἐν ὕπνῳ ταῖς τοῦ βίου μνημοσύναις ὀνείρασι χρώμεναι διαφέρονται, καθάπερ ἡ τοῦ Ἐνδυμίωνος· εἰ δ’ αὐτὰς τὸ ἄστατον καὶ τὸ εὐπαθὲς ἐξίστησι καὶ ἀφέλκει τῆς σελήνης πρὸς ἄλλην γένεσιν, οὐκ ἐᾷ … ἀλλ’ ἀνακαλεῖται καὶ καταθέλγει. Μικρὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν οὐδ’ ἥσυχον οὐδ’ ὁμολογούμενον ἔργον ἐστίν, ὅταν ἄνευ νοῦ τῷ παθητικῷ σώματος ἐπιλάβωνται.

     Τιτυοὶ δὲ καὶ Τυφῶνες ὅ τε Δελφοὺς κατασχὼν καὶ συνταράξας τὸ χρηστήριον ὕβρει καὶ βίᾳ Πύθων ἐξ ἐκείνων ἄρα τῶν ψυχῶν ἦσαν, ἐρήμων λόγου καὶ τύφῳ πλανηθέντι τῷ παθητικῷ χρησαμένων. Χρόνῳ δὲ κἀκείνας κατεδέξατο εἰς αὑτὴν ἡ σελήνη καὶ κατεκόσμησεν, εἶτα τὸν νοῦν αὖθις ἐπισπείραντος τοῦ ἡλίου τῷ ζωτικῷ δεχομένη νέας ποιεῖ ψυχάς, ἡ δὲ γῆ τρίτον σῶμα παρέσχεν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ αὕτη δίδωσιν ἀλλ’ ἀποδίδωσιν μετὰ θάνατον ὅσα λαμβάνει πρὸς γένεσιν· ἥλιος δὲ λαμβάνει μὲν οὐδὲν ἀπολαμβάνει δὲ τὸν νοῦν διδούς, σελήνη δὲ καὶ λαμβάνει καὶ δίδωσι καὶ συντίθησι καὶ διαιρεῖ καὶ κατ’ ἄλλην καὶ ἄλλην δύναμιν· ὧν Εἰλείθυια μὲν ἣ συντίθησιν Ἄρτεμις δ’ ἣ διαιρεῖ καλεῖται. Καὶ τριῶν Μοιρῶν ἡ μὲν Ἄτροπος περὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἱδρυμένη τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνδίδωσι τῆς γενέσεως, ἡ δὲ Κλωθὼ περὶ τὴν σελήνην φερομένη συνδεῖ καὶ μίγνυσιν, ἐσχάτη δὲ συνεφάπτεται περὶ γῆν ἡ Λάχεσις· ᾗ πλεῖστον τύχης μέτεστι. Τὸ γὰρ ἄψυχον ἄκυρον αὐτὸ καὶ παθητὸν ὑπ’ ἄλλων, ὁ δὲ νοῦς ἀπαθὴς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ, μικτὸν δὲ καὶ μέσον ἡ ψυχὴ καθάπερ ἡ σελήνη τῶν ἄνω καὶ κάτω σύμμιγμα καὶ μετακέρασμα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γέγονε, τοῦτον ἄρα πρὸς ἥλιον ἔχουσα τὸν λόγον ὃν ἔχει γῆ πρὸς σελήνην.

     Ταῦτ’” εἶπεν ὁ Σύλλας “ἐγὼ μὲν ἤκουσα τοῦ ξένου διεξιόντος, ἐκείνῳ δ’ οἱ τοῦ Κρόνου κατευνασταὶ καὶ θεράποντες, ὡς ἔλεγεν αὐτός, ἐξήγγειλαν. Ὑμῖν δ’, ὦ Λαμπρία, χρῆσθαι τῷ λόγῳ πάρεστιν ᾗ βούλεσθε”.

    30. Yet not forever do the Spirits tarry upon the moon; they descend hither to take charge of oracles, they attend and participate in the highest of the mystic rituals, they act as warders against misdeeds and chastisers of them, and they flash forth as saviour a manifest in war and on the sea ³⁶⁷. For any act that they perform in these matters not fairly but inspired by wrath or for an unjust end or out of envy they are penalized, for they are cast out upon earth again confined in human bodies ³⁶⁸. To the former class of better Spirits ³⁶⁹ the attendants of Cronos said that they belong themselves as did aforetime the Idaean Dactyls ³⁷⁰ in Crete and the Corybants ³⁷¹ in Phrygia as well as the Boeotian Trophoniads in Udora ³⁷² and thousands of others in many parts of the world whose rites, honours, and titles persist but whose powers tended to another place as they achieved the ultimate alteration. They achieve it, some sooner and some later, once the mind has been separated from the soul ³⁷³. It is separated by love for the image in the sun through which shines forth manifest the desirable and fair and divine and blessed towards which all nature in one way or another yearns ³⁷⁴, for it must be out of love for the sun that the moon herself goes her rounds and gets into conjunction with him in her yearning to receive from him what is most fructifying ³⁷⁵. The substance of the soul is left upon the moon and retains certain vestiges and dreams of life as it were; it is this that you must properly take to be the subject of the statement

   Soul like a dream has taken wing and sped ³⁷⁶,

     for it is not straightway nor once it has been released from the body that it reaches this state but later when, divorced from the mind, it is deserted and alone. Above all else that Homer said his words concerning those in Hades appear to have been divinely inspired

Thereafter marked I mighty Heracles —
His shade; but he is with the deathless god ³⁷⁷.

     In fact the self of each of us is not anger or fear or desire just as it is not bits of flesh or fluids either but is that which we reason and understand ³⁷⁸; and the soul receives the impression of its shape through being moulded by the mind and moulding in turn and enfolding the body on all sides, so that, even if it be separated from either one for a long time, since it preserves the likeness and the imprint it is correctly called an image ³⁷⁹. Of these, as has been said ³⁸⁰, the moon is the element, for they are resolved into it ³⁸¹ as the bodies of the dead are resolved into earth. This happens quickly to the temperate souls who had been fond of a leisurely, unmeddlesome, and philosophical life, for abandoned by the mind and no longer exercising the passions for anything they quickly wither away. Of the ambitious and the active, the irascible and those who are enamoured of the body, however, some pass their time ³⁸² as it were in sleep with the memories of their lives for dreams as did the soul of Endymion ³⁸³; but, when they are excited by restlessness and emotion and drawn away from the moon to another birth, she forbids them to sink towards earth ³⁸⁴ and keeps conjuring them back and binding them with charms, for it is no slight, quiet, or harmonious business when with the affective faculty apart from reason they seize upon a body.

     Creatures like Tityus ³⁸⁵ and Typho ³⁸⁶ and the Python ³⁸⁷ that with insolence and violence occupied Delphi and confounded the oracle belonged to this class of souls, void of reason and subject to the affective element gone astray through delusion ³⁸⁸; but even these in time the moon took back to herself and reduced to order. Then when the sun with his vital force has again sowed mind in her she receives it and produces new souls, and earth in the third place furnishes body ³⁸⁹. In fact, the earth gives nothing in giving back after death all that she takes for generation, and the sun takes nothing but takes back the mind that he gives, whereas the moon both takes and gives and joins together and divides asunder in virtue of her different powers, of which the one that joins together is called Ilithyia and that which divides asunder Artemis ³⁹⁰. Of the three Fates too Atropos enthroned in the sun initiates generation, Clotho in motion on the moon mingles and binds together, and finally upon the earth Lachesis too puts her hand to the task, she who has the largest share in chance ³⁹¹. For the inanimate is itself powerless and susceptible to alien agents, and the mind is impassable and sovereign; but the soul is a mixed and intermediate thing, even as the moon has been created by god a compound and blend of the things above and below and therefore stands to the sun in the relation of earth to moon.

     These”, said Sulla, “I heard the stranger relate; and he had the account, as he said himself, from the chamberlains and servitors of Cronus. You and your companions, Lamprias, may make what you will of the tale ³⁹²”.