The Oration of Eusebius 13
13.1 Chapter XIII
1. And now let us proceed to explain the reasons for which this mighty Word of God descended to dwell with men. Our ignorant and foolish race, incapable of comprehending him who is the Lord of heaven and earth, proceeding from his Father’s Deity as from the supreme fountain, ever present throughout the world, and evincing by the clearest proofs his providential care for the interests of man; have ascribed the adorable title of Deity to the sun, and moon, the heaven and the stars of heaven. Nor did they stop here, but deified the earth itself, its products, and the various substances by which animal life is sustained, and devised images of Ceres, of Proserpine, of Bacchus, and many such as these.
Λέγωμεν δὴ τὰ ἑξῆς καὶ διασαφῶμεν τὴν αἰτίαν, δι' ἣν ὁ τοσοῦτος τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους κάθοδου ἐποιεῖτο. τοῦτον δὴ τὸν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἐπιστατοῦντα τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς οἷα πηγῆς τῆς ἀπωτάτω πατρικῆς θεότητος γεγεννημένον, καὶ μῷδε μὲν ἀεὶ τῷ κόσμῳ παρόντα καὶ συνόντα, τῆς δ' αὐτοῦ προ- νοίας καὶ τῆς εἰς ἀνθρώπους κηδεμονίας ἐναργῆ παρεχόμενον τὰ γνωρίσματα, ἀνθρώπων ἀφρόνων γένος μὴ συλλογισάμενόν, ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ οὐρανῷ ἄστροις καὶ ἄστροις τὴν σεβάσμιον ἀνέθεντο προσηγορίαν.
13.2
2. Nay, they shrank not from giving the name of gods to the very conceptions of their own minds, and the speech by which those conceptions are expressed; calling the mind itself Minerva, and language Mercury, and affixing the names of Mnemosyne and the Muses to those faculties by means of which science is acquired. Nor was even this enough: advancing still more rapidly in the career of impiety and folly, they deified their own evil passions, which it behooved them to regard with aversion, or restrain by the principles of self-control. Their very lust and passion and impure disease of soul, the members of the body which tempt to obscenity, and even the very uncontrol in shameful pleasure, they described under the titles of Cupid, Priapus, Venus, and other kindred terms.
καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γεώδη φύσιν καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ γῆς καρποὺς τροφάς τε σωμάτων παντοίας τοίας ἐθέωσαν, Δήμητραν καὶ Κόρην καὶ Διόνυσον καὶ ἀδελφά γε τούτων ἕτερα ἀνειδωλοποιήσαντες. καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν διανοίας τοὺς λογισμοὺς καὶ αὐτὸν δὴ τὸν τούτων ἑρμηνέα λόγον θεοὺς ἀνειπεῖν οὐκ ἀπώκνησαν, Ἁθηνᾶν μὲν τὴν διάνοιαν τὸν δὲ λόγον Ἑρμῆν ἐπονομάσαντες καὶ τάς γε τῶν μαθημάτων ἐπηβόλους δυνάμεις Μνημοσύνην καὶ Μούσας ἀνειπόντες. καὶ μέχρι μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἐπὶ μεῖζον δ' αὔξοντες ἀτοπέας ὑπερβολῇ δυσσεβείας τὰ οἰκεῖα πάθη, ἃ δὴ ἐχρῆν ἀποτρέπεσθαι καὶ λόγῳ σώφρονι θεραπεύειν, ἐνέωσαν, αὐτήν τε τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ τὴν ἐμπαθῆ καὶ ἀκόλαστον τῶν ψυχῶν νόσον τά τε
ὁλκὰ πρὸς αἰσχρουργίαν μέρη τε καὶ μέλη τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἔτι τὴν τῶν αἰσχρῶν ἡδονῶν ἀκράτειαν Ἔρωτα καὶ Πρίηπον καὶ Αφροδiτην καὶ ἄλλ’ ἄττα συγγενῆ τούτοις ἀνειπόντες.
13.3
3. Nor did they stop even here. Degrading their thoughts of God to this corporeal and mortal life, they deified their fellow-men, conferring the names of gods and heroes on those who had experienced the common lot of all, and vainly imagining that the Divine and imperishable Essence could frequent the tombs and monuments of the dead. Nay, more than this: they paid divine honors to animals of various species, and to the most noxious reptiles: they felled trees, and excavated rocks; they provided themselves with brass, and iron, and other metals, of which they fashioned resemblances of the male and female human form, of beasts, and creeping things; and these they made the objects of their worship.
καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀμφὶ τὰς σωμάτων γενέσεις καὶ τὸν κάτω θνητὸν βίον καταπεσόντες, ἀνθρώπους θνητοὺς ἐξεθείασαν καὶ μετὰ τὸν κοινὸν θάνατον ἥρωας καὶ θεοὺς ἐπεφήμισαν , ἀμφὶ μνήματα καὶ τάφους τὴν ἀθάνατον καὶ θείαν οὐσίαν ὑποτοπήσαντες εἰλεῖσθαι. καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ζώων ἀλόγων παντοία γένη ἑρπετῶν τε τὰ βλαπτικώτατα τῇ σεβασμίῳ προσηγορίᾳ τετιμήκασιν· καὶ μέχρι μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δρῦς κατακόψαντες καὶ πέτρας ἐκτεμόντες γῆς τε μέταλλα, καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ὕλης, διερευνησάμενοι, θηλειῶν τύπους καὶ ἀρρένων σχήματα θηρίων τε μορφὰς καὶ ἑρπετῶν ἀνεπλάσαντο, κἄπειτα τούτοις τιμὰς περιτεθείκασιν.
13.4
4. Nor did this suffice. To the evil spirits themselves which lurked within their statues, or lay concealed in secret and dark recesses, eager to drink their libations, and inhale the odor of their sacrifices, they ascribed the same divine honors. Once more, they endeavored to secure the familiar aid of these spirits, and the unseen powers which move through the tracts of air, by charms of forbidden magic, and the compulsion of unhallowed songs and incantations. Again, different nations have adopted different persons as objects of their worship. The Greeks have rendered to Bacchus, Hercules, Æsculapius, Apollo, and others who were mortal men, the titles of gods and heroes. The Egyptians have deified Horus and Isis, Osiris, and other mortals such as these. And thus they who boast of the wondrous skill whereby they have discovered geometry, astronomy, and the science of number, know not, wise as they are in their own conceit, nor understand how to estimate the measure of the power of God, or calculate his exceeding greatness above the nature of irrational and mortal beings.
καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐμφωλεύουσι τοῖς ξένοις σκοτίοις τε μυχοῖς ἐγκαταδεδυκόσι δαίμοσι πονηροῖς ἀμφὶ τὰς τῶν θυσιῶν λοιβάς τε καὶ κνίσας λιχνεύουσιν τὴν αὐτὴν τῶν θεῶν ἀνέθηκαν ἐπηγορίαν. καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῖς καταδέσμοις τισὶν ἀπειρημένης γοητείας, ἐκθέσμοις τε καὶ ἐπανάγκοις ᾡδαῖς καὶ ἐπῳδαῖς, δυνάμεις ἀφανεῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν ἀέρα ποτωμένας παρέδρους ἑαυτοῖς ἐφειλκύσαντο. θνητούς γε μὴν ἄνδρας ἐθέωσαν ἑτέρους ἕτεροι· παῖδες μὲν γὰρ Ἑλλήνων Διόνυσον καὶ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα ἄλλους τέ τινας ἀνθρώπους τῇ τῶν ἡρώων καὶ θεῶν τετιμήκασι προσηγορίᾳ, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ Ὧρον καὶ Ἶσιν καὶ Ὄσιριν καὶ τούτοις παραπλησίους πόλιν ἀνθρώπους θεοὺς νενομίκασιν· οὐδὲ μὴν καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν σοφίας γεωμετρίας τὴν εὕρεσιν ἀστρονομίας τε καὶ ἀριθμητικῆς αὐχοῦντες ἔγνωσαν οὐδὲ συνῆκαν οἱ σοφοὶ σταθμήσασθαι παρ' ἑαυτοῖς καὶ λογίσασθαι μέτρα θεοῦ δυνάμεως θνητῆς τε καὶ ἀλόγου διαφορὰν φύσεως.
13.5
5. Hence they shrank not from applying the name of gods to the most hideous of the brute creation, to venomous reptiles and savage beasts. The Phœnicians deified Melcatharus, Usorus, and others; mere mortals, and with little claim to honor: the Arabians, Dusaris and Obodas: the Getæ, Zamolxis: the Cicilians, Mopsus: and the Thebans, Amphiaraus: in short, each nation has adopted its own peculiar deities, differing in no respect from their fellow-mortals, being simply and truly men. Again, the Egyptians with one consent, the Phœnicians, the Greeks, nay, every nation beneath the sun, have united in worshiping the very parts and elements of the world, and even the produce of the ground itself. And, which is most surprising, though acknowledging the adulterous, unnatural, and licentious crimes of their deities, they have not only filled every city, and village, and district with temples, shrines, and statues in their honor, but have followed their evil example to the ruin of their own souls.
διὸ δὴ πᾶν εἶδος εἰδεχθῶν κνωδάλων καὶ παντοίων ζώων γένη ἑρπετά τε ἰοβόλα καὶ θῆρας ἀγρίους θεοὺς προσειπεῖν οὐκ ἀπώκνησαν, Φοίνικες δὲ Μελκάθαρον καὶ Οὕσωρον
καί τινας ἄλλους ἀτιμοτέρους θνητοὺς πάλιν ἄνδρας θεοὺς ἀνηγόρευσαν, ὡς καὶ παῖδες Ἀράβων Δούσαρίν τινα καὶ Ὄβοδον, καὶ οἱ Γέται τὸν Ζάμολξιν καὶ τὸν Μόψον Κίλικες, καὶ τὸν Ἀμφιάρεων Θηβαῖοι, καὶ παῤ ἑτέροις πάλιν ἑτέρους, τὴν φύσιν οὐδὲν τῶν θνητῶν διαλλάττοντας αὐτὸ δὲ μόνον ἀληθῶς ἀνθρώπους.
ὁμοῦ δὴ οὖν πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι, Φοίνικες, Ἕλληνες, καὶ πᾶν τὸ θνητὸν γένος, ὅσον ἡλίου βολαὶ φωτίζουσι, τὰ μέρη τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τά γε στοιχεῖα τούς τε ἀπὸ γῆς βλαστοῦντας καρπούς, καὶ τὰ σφῶν αὐτῶν πάθη ναὶ μὴν καὶ τὰς δαιμονικὰς μανίας τε καὶ φαντασίας, καὶ πρό γε τούτων ἄνδρας θνητοὺς ἀνθρωπείαις χρησαμένους συμφοραῖς, καὶ οὐτ' ἀρετῆς διδασκαλεῖα καθ' ὂν ἔζων χρόνον συστησαμένους, οὔτε σώφρονος βίου μαθήματα ἀνθρώποις ἐπιπονήσαντας. οὐ φιλόσοφα δόγματα καταδείξαντας, οὐκ ὀνησιφόρον ἔργον ἐπιδεδειγμένους. οὐ μαθητὰς τῆς ἀρετῆς καταλείψαντας, οὐ λόγους, οὐ συγγράμματα πρὸς εὐζωίαν συντείνοντα παραδόντας, ἠσχολημένους δὲ περὶ γύναια καὶ αἰσχρὰς ἡδονάς, εἰκῆ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν οὐκ οἶδ' ὁποίας δαιμονικῆς ἐνεργείας πλάνῃ θεοὺς καὶ ἥρωας ἀνηγόρευσαν θυοίαις τε καὶ τελεταῖς σὺν γοητικαῖς ἀπάταις ἐτίμησαν, νεὼς αὐτοῖς καὶ ἱερὰ κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κατὰ χώρας δειμάμενοι, τὸν δ’ ἐπέκεινα τοῦ κόσμου μόνον ἀληθῆ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον παμβασιλέα καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων ἐν οὐδενὶ τέθεινται. οἱ δ’ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤλαυνον μανίας τε καὶ φρενοβλαβείας ὡς ἐν ταὐτῷ τούσδε τινὰς τοὺς τυχόντας ἄνδρας θεοὺς ἀναχορεύειν, καὶ παραχρῆμα τοῖς αὐτοῖς θνητῶν συνάπτειν πάθη, ἔρωτάς τε παρανόμους καὶ πράξεις αἰσχρὰς ςωῆς τε καταστροφὰς καὶ θανάτους τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀνατιθέναι. εἶτα τοιαῦτα οὐχ ὑφ' ἑτέρων διαβαλλόμενα φάσκοντες, αὐτοὶ δὲ μάρτυρες τούτων ὄντες, πλάνας τε καὶ πἐνθη καὶ θανάτους καὶ πρό γε τούτων μοιχείας αὐτῶν καὶ ἀρρἐνων φθορὰς γυναικῶν τε ἁρπαγὰς ὁμολογοῦντες, οὐδὲν ἡττον πόλεις πάσας καὶ κώμας καὶ χώρας ναοῖς καὶ ἀγάλμασι καὶ ἱεροῖς ἐπλήρουν, τῇ τῶν θεῶν ὁμοιοτροπίᾳ τὰς ἑαυτῶν προσαπολλύντες φυχάς.
13.6
6. We hear of gods and the sons of gods described by them as heroes and good genii, titles entirely opposed to truth, honors utterly at variance with the qualifies they are intended to exalt. It is as if one who desired to point out the sun and the luminaries of heaven, instead of directing his gaze thitherward, should grope with his hands on the ground, and search for the celestial powers in the mud and mire. Even so mankind, deceived by their own folly and the craft of evil spirits, have believed that the Divine and spiritual Essence which is far above heaven and earth could be compatible with the birth, the affections, and death, of mortal bodies here below. To such a pitch of madness did they proceed, as to sacrifice the dearest objects of their affection to their gods, regardless of all natural ties, and urged by frenzied feeling to slay their only and best beloved children.
θεοὺς δὴ τοίνυν καὶ θεῶν παῖδας ἥρωάς τε κἀγαθοὺς
δαίμονας λόγω̣ μὲν ἠν παῤ αὐτοῖς ἀκούειν, ἔργῳ δὲ πᾶν τοὐναντίον· τἀναντία γοῦν τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐσέμνυνον, ὡς εἰ καὶ ἥλιόν τις καὶ φῶτα τὰ κατ' οὐρανὸν δεῖξαί τῳ βουληθεὶς ἄνω μὲν εἰς ὕφος μὴ ἐπαίροι τὰς ὄψεις, κάτω δὲ εἰς γῆν τὰς χεῖρας βαλὼν καὶ χαμαὶ εἰς ἔδαφος ῥίψας ὲν πηλῷ καὶ βορβόρῳ τὰς οὐρανίους δυνάμεις ἐπιζη- τοίη. οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος φρενοβλαβείᾳ καὶ δαι- μόνων ἀπάτῃ πονηρῶν τὴν ἐπέκεινα οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ κόσμου θείαν Λαὶ νοητὴν οὐσίαν κάτω που ἐν σωμάτων γενέσει καὶ θνητῶν πάθεσί τε καὶ θανάτοις ἐπέπειστο εἰναι.
οἱ δ' εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤλαυνον ἀνοίας, ὡς καὶ τὰ φίλτατα θύειν αὐτοῖς μηδὲ φειδὼ ποιεῖσθαι τῆς φύσεως, ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ τὰ μονογενῆ καὶ ἀγαπητὰ τῶν τέκνων μανίᾳ καὶ διανοίας ἐκστάσει κατασφάττειν.
13.7
7. For what can be a greater proof of madness, than to offer human sacrifice, to pollute every city, and even their own houses, with kindred blood? Do not the Greeks themselves attest this, and is not all history filled with records of the same impiety? The Phœnicians devoted their best beloved and only children as an annual sacrifice to Saturn. The Rhodians, on the sixth day of the month Metageitnion, offered human victims to the same god. At Salamis, a man was pursued in the temple of Minerva Agraulis and Diomede, compelled to run thrice round the altar, afterwards pierced with a lance by the priest, and consumed as a burnt offering on the blazing pile. In Egypt, human sacrifice was most abundant. At Heliopolis three victims were daily offered to Juno, for whom king Amoses, impressed with the atrocity of the practice, commanded the substitution of an equal number of waxen figures. In Chios, and again in Tenedos, a man was slain and offered up to Omadian Bacchus. At Sparta they immolated human beings to Mars. In Crete they did likewise, offering human sacrifices to Saturn. In Laodicea of Syria a virgin was yearly slain in honor of Minerva, for whom a hart is now the substitute. The Libyans and Carthaginians appeased their gods with human victims. The Dumateni of Arabia buried a boy annually beneath the altar. History informs us that the Greeks without exception, the Thracians also, and Scythians, were accustomed to human sacrifice before they marched forth to battle. The Athenians record the immolation of the virgin children of Leus, and the daughter of Erechtheus. Who knows not that at this day a human victim is offered in Rome itself at the festival of Jupiter Latiaris?
καὶ τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο τούτου μανικώτερον θύειν ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἀπέσας καὶ τοὺς αὐτῶν οἵκους ἐμφυλίοις μολύνειν φόνοις; ἢ οὐ ταῦτα Ἑλλήνων παῖδες μαρτυροῦσι καὶ πᾶσά γε ἡ ἱστορία τῆς τούτων μνήμης πεπλήρωται; Κρόνῳ μὲν γὰρ Φοίνικες καθ’ ἕκαστον ἔτος ἔθυον τὰ ἀγαπητὰ καὶ μονογενῆ τῶν τέκνων, τῷ δ’ αὐτῷ τούτῳ καὶ ἐν Ῥόδῳ μηνὶ Μεταγειτνιῶνι ἕκτῃ ἱσταμένου ἀνθρώπους ἔσφαττον. ἐν δὲ Σαλαμῖνι ὑφ' ἔνα περίβολον Ἀθηνᾶς Ἀγραύλιδος καὶ Διομήδους ἐλαυνόμενός τις ἀνὴρ τρὶς περιέθει τὸν βωμόν, ἔπειτα ὁ ἱερεὺς αὐτὸν λόγχῃ ἔπαιεν κατὰ τοῦ στομάχου, καὶ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν νησθεῖσαν πυρὰν ὡλοκαύτιζεν. ἐγίγνοντο δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου πλεῖσται ὅσαι ἀνθρωποκτονίαι, ἐθύοντό τε τῇ Ἥρᾳ ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει τῆς ἡμέρας τρεῖς, ἀνθ’ ὧν Ἀμόσης ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ δεινὸν συνιδὼν κηρίνους τοὺς ἴσους ἐκέλευσεν έπιτίθεσθαι. καὶ ἐν Χίῳ δὲ τῷ Ὠμαδίῳ Διονύσῳ ἄνθρωπον διασπῶντες ἔθυον, καὶ ἐν Τενέδῳ δὲ ὡσαύτως, ἐν δὲ Λακεδαίμονι τῷ Ἄρει τὴν δί ἀνθρώπων ἐτέλουν θυσίαν. καὶ ἐν Κρήτῃ δὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτ' ἄπραττον, ἀνθρωποθυτοῦντες τῷ Κρόνῳ. Ἀθηνᾷ δὲ παρθένος κατ' ἔτος ἐθύετο ἐν Λαοδαμείᾳ τῆς Συρίας, νῦν δὲ ἔλαφος. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Λίβυες καὶ Καρχηδόνιοι ταῖς ἀνθρωποθυσίαις τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἱλεοῦντο θεούς. καὶ Δουματηνοὶ
δὲ τῆς Ἀραβίας καθ' ἕκαστον ἔτος ἔθυον παῖδα, ὃν ὑπὸ τὸν βωμὸν ἔθαπτον, κοινῶς δὲ πάντας Ἕλληνας, πρὶν ἐπὶ πολέμους ἐξιέναι, ἀνθρωποκτονεῖν ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει, Θρᾷκας τε καὶ Σκύθας ὁμοίως. Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τὰς Λεὼ κόρας καὶ τὴν Ἐρεχθέως θυγατέρα σφαγιασθεῖσαν μνημονεύουσιν. ἀλλ' ἔτι καὶ νῦν τίς ἀγνοεῖ κατὰ τὴν μεγάλην πόλιν τῇ τοῦ Λατιαρίου Διὸς ἑορτὴ σφαγιαζόμενον ἄνθρωπον;
13.8
8. And these facts are confirmed by the testimony of the most approved philosophers. Diodorus, the epitomizer of libraries, affirms that two hundred of the noblest youths were sacrificed to Saturn by the Libyan people, and that three hundred more were voluntarily offered by their own parents. Dionysius, the compiler of Roman history, expressly says that Jupiter and Apollo demanded human sacrifices of the so-called Aborigines, in Italy. He relates that on this demand they offered a proportion of all their produce to the gods; but that, because of their refusal to slay human victims, they became involved in manifold calamities, from which they could obtain no release until they had decimated themselves, a sacrifice of life which proved the desolation of their country. Such and so great were the evils which of old afflicted the whole human race.
ταῦτα μὲν φιλοσόφων οἱ καὶ δοκιμώτατοι μεμαρτυρήκασιν οὕτως ἔχειν, Διόδωρος δὲ ὁ τὰς βιβλιοθήκας ἐπιτεμὼν φηοὶ τῷ Κρόνῳ δια- κοσίους τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων παίδων δημοσίᾳ θῦσαι τοὺς Λίβυας, οὐκ ἐλάττους δὲ ἐπιδοῦναι τῇ θυσίᾳ τριακοσίους ἑτέρους, ὁ δὲ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἱστορίας συγγραφεὺς Διονύσιος αὐτὸν αὐτὸν τὸν Δία καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνa αἰτῆσαι ἀνθρωποθυσίας ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ παρὸ τῶν καλου- μένων Ἀβοριγινῶν. τοὺς αἰτηθέντας οὐν φησι καρπῶν μὲν ἁπάν- των τὸ λάχος ἀποθῦσαι τις θεοῖς· ὅτι δὲ μὴ καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἔθυσαν, παντοίαις περιπεσεῖν συμφοραῖς, μὴ πρότερόν τε κακῶν παῦλαν σχεῖ; ἢ δεκατεῦσαι ἑαυτούς· οὕτω δ' οὖν ἀνθρώπων δεκάτας ἀφαιρουμενους τε καὶ θύοντας ἐρημίας αἰτίους γενέσθαι τῇ χώρᾳ. τοσούτοις κακοῖς τὸ πᾶν τῶν ’ν γένος πάλαι πρότερον κατετρύχετο.
13.9
9. Nor was this the full extent of their misery: they groaned beneath the pressure of other evils equally numerous and irremediable. All nations, whether civilized or barbarous, throughout the world, as if actuated by a demoniac frenzy, were infected with sedition as with some fierce and terrible disease: insomuch that the human family was irreconcilably divided against itself; the great system of society was distracted and torn asunder; and in every corner of the earth men stood opposed to each other, and strove with fierce contention on questions of law and government.
οὐκ ἤρκει δ ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ κακῶς πράττειν, μυρίαις δὲ καὶ ἄλλαις ἀνηκέστοις καταδεδούλωτο συμφοραῖς. όμοῦ γὰρ τὰ καθ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἔθνη, Ἕλληνά τε καὶ βαρβάρα, ὡς ὑπὸ δαιμονι- κῆς ἐνεργείας οἰστρούμενα δεινῇ καὶ χαλεπωτάτῃ νόσῳ διεστασίαζεν, τῷ ἄμικτον εἶναι καὶ ἀκατάλλακτον αὐτὸ πρὸς ἑαυτὸ τὸ τῶν ἀν- θρώπων γένος, ὡδε κἀκεῖσε τοῦ μεγάλου σώματος τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως διεσπασμένου, ἐφ' ἑκάστῃ γωνίᾳ γῆς ἀποστατούντων ἀνθρώπων νό- μοις τε καὶ πολιτείαις διαμαχομένων ἀλλήλοις,
13.10
10. Nay, more than this: with passions aroused to fury, they engaged in mutual conflicts, so frequent that their lives were passed as it were in uninterrupted warfare. None could undertake a journey except as prepared to encounter an enemy; in the very country and villages the rustics girded on the sword, provided themselves with armor rather than with the implements of rural labor, and deemed it noble exploit to plunder and enslave any who belonged to a neighboring state.
καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μό- νον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξαγριουμένων πυκναῖς ταῖς κατ’ ἀλλήλων ἐπανα- στάσεσιν, ὥστ' ἀεὶ καὶ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου μάχαις ταῖς κατ' ἀλλή- λων καὶ πολέμοις σχολάζειν , μὴ ἐξεῖναί τέ ποι τῷ βουλομένῳ στέλλεσθαι μὴ πολεμίου τρόπον καθωπλισμένῳ, κατ’ ἀγρούς τε καὶ κατὰ κώμας ξιφηφορεῖν τοὺς γεωπόνους καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν πρὸς γεωρυίαν
ὀργάνων τὰς ἐνόπλους κεκτῆσθαι παρασκευάς, τό τε ληΐζεσθαι ἀνδραποδίζεσθαι τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων ἐπ' ἀρετῆς τίθεσθαι μέρει.
13.11
11. Nay, more than this: from the fables they had themselves devised respecting their own deities, they deduced occasions for a vile and abandoned life, and wrought the ruin of body and soul by licentiousness of every kind. Not content with this, they even overstepped the bounds which nature had defined, and together committed incredible and nameless crimes, “men with men (in the words of the sacred writer) working un-seemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.”
καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν, ὡν ἐλογοποίησαν περὶ τῶν οἰκείων θεῶν, αἰσχρᾶς καὶ παρανόμου ζωῆς ἐφόδια προσλαβόντες, Παντοίοις τρόποις ἀκολασίας όμοῦ τοῖς σώμασι καὶ τὰς αὐτῶν ψυχὰς προσδιέφθειραν. καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὅρους ὑπερβάβτες τῆς φύσεως ἐπέκεινα ἐχώρουν ἀρρητοποιΐας καὶ τὰ ἄπιστα κατ' ἀλλήλων ἐμπαροινοῦντες· „ἄρρενές τε ἐπ' ἄρσεσι ἀσχημοσύνην κατεργαςόμενοι, καὶ τὴν ἀντιμισθίαν ἣν ἔδει τῆς πλάνης αὐτῶν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἀπολαμβάνοντες,“ ᾗ φασὶν ἰεροὶ λόγοι.
13.12
12. Nor did they stop even here; but perverted their natural thoughts of God, and denied that the course of this world was directed by his providential care, ascribing the existence and constitution of all things to the blind operation of chance, or the necessity of fate.
καὶ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς περὶ θεοῦ φυσικὰς ἐννοίας παρατρέψαν- τες ἀπρονόητα μὲν καὶ ἀνεπιτρόπευτα τὰ τῇδε πάντα ἡγοῦντο, ἀλόγῳ δὲ καὶ αὐτομάτῳ φύσει εἱμαρμένης τε ἀνάγκῃ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς οὐσίωσίν τε καὶ σύοτασιν ἀνετίθεσαν.
13.13
13. Once more: believing that soul and body were alike dissolved by death, they led a brutish life, unworthy of the name: careless of the nature or existence of the soul, they dreaded not the tribunal of Divine justice, expected no reward of virtue, nor thought of chastisement as the penalty of an evil life.
καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς σφῶν ψυχὰς αὐτοῖς συνδιαφθείρεσθαι τοῖς σώμασιν ὑπολαμβάνοντες θηριώδη ζωὴν καὶ βίον ἀβίωτον διῆγον, οὐ ψυχῆς οὐσίαν διερευνώμενοι, οὐ θείας κρίσεως δικαιωτήρια προσόοκῶντες, οὐκ ἀρετῆς ἔπαθλα, οὐκ ἀδίκου βίου τιμωρίας ἐν νῷ βαλλόμενοι,
13.14
14. Hence it was that whole nations, a prey to wickedness in all its forms, were wasted by the effects of their own brutality: some living in the practice of most vile and lawless incest with mothers, others with sisters, and others again corrupting their own daughters. Some were found who slew their confiding guests; others who fed on human flesh; some strangled, and then feasted on, their aged men; others threw them alive to dogs. The time would fail me were I to attempt to describe the multifarious symptoms of the inveterate malady which had asserted its dominion over the whole human race.
ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὅλα ἔθνη πολυτρόποις κακίας εἴδεσι θηριώδει κατετήκονο βίῳ, οἱ μὲν μητράσι μιγνύμενοι μίξιν ἔκθεσμον καὶ παρανομω- τάτην, οἱ δὲ τὰς ἀδελφὰς αὐτῶν γαμοῦντες, οἱ δὲ τὰς αὐτῶν θυγατέρας διαφθείροντες, καὶ οἱ μὲν τοὺς ἐπιδημοῦντας ξένους κατασφάτ- τοντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ κρεῶν ἀνθρωπείων ἀπογευόμενοι, οἱ δ' ἀγχόνῃ τοὺς γεγηρακότας ἀποπνίγοντες κἄπειτα τούτοις ἑστιώμενοι, οἱ δὲ κυσὶν ἔτι ζῶντας παραβάλλοντες.
ἐπιλείψει με ὁ χρόνος τὰ πάντα τῆς παλαιᾶς νόσου τῆς δὴ τὸ πᾶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος κεκρατηκυίας διηγούμενον,
13.15
15. Such, and numberless others like these, were the prevailing evils, on account of which the gracious Word of God, full of compassion for his human flock, had long since, by the ministry of his prophets, and earlier still, as well as later, by that of men distinguished by pious devotion to God, invited those thus desperately afflicted to their own cure; and had, by means of laws, exhortations, and doctrines of every kind, proclaimed to man the principles and elements of true godliness. But when for mankind, distracted and torn as I have said, not indeed by wolves and savage beasts, but by ruthless and soul-destroying spirits of evil, human power no longer sufficed, but a help was needed superior to that of man; then it was that the Word of God, obedient to his all-gracious Father’s will, at length himself appeared, and most willingly made his abode amongst us.
ταῦτα καὶ ἀδελφὰ τούτοις μυρία, ὡν δὴ χάριν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις λογικῆς ἀγέλης οἶκτον λαβών, πάλαι μὲν διά τινων αὐτοῦ προφητῶν καὶ ἔτι πάλαι πρότερον δι’ ἑτέρων θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ μετὰ τούτους διὰ τῶν μετέπειτα γνωρίμων ἐπὶ τὴν σφῶν θεραπείαν ἀνεκαλεῖτο τοὺς ἀπεγνωσμένους, νόμοις καὶ παραινέσεσι ποικίλαις διδασκαλίαις τε παντοίαις προοίμί ὄττα καὶ στοιχεῖα θεοσε-
βείας εἰς ἀνθρώπους καταβαλλόμενος. ὡς οὖν οὐκέτ’ ἀνθρωπείας δυνάμεως κρε,ίττονος δὲ ἥ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐδεῖτο βοηθοῦ τὸ θνητὸν γένος, ὡδε κἀκεῖσε πλανώμενον ἀφειδῶς τε σπαραττόμενον οὐχ ὑπὸ λύκων καὶ θηρίων ἀτιθάοων, δεινῶν δὲ καὶ ἀγρίων ὑπὸ δαιμόνων καὶ πνευμάτων ἀπηνῶν καὶ ψυχοφθόρων, ἧκεν λοιπὸν ἡμῖν αὐτὸς μάλα προθύμως καὶ παρῆν ἐφ' ἡμετέρας παρεμβολὲς ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, πατρὸς παναγάθου πειθαρχῶν νεύματι.
13.16
16. The causes of his advent I have already described, induced by which he condescended to the society of man; not in his wonted form and manner, for he is incorporeal, and present everywhere throughout the world, proving by his agency both in heaven and earth the greatness of his almighty power, but in a character new and hitherto unknown. Assuming a mortal body, he deigned to associate and converse with men; desiring, through the medium of their own likeness, to save our mortal race.
αἰτία δ’ ἦν αὐτῷ τῆς ἐνταυθοῖ παρουσίας τὰ δεδηλωμένα, ὧν δὴ ἕνεκα πάντων εἰς θνητῶν ὁμιλίας παριὼν οὐχ ὅπερ αὐτῷ σύνηθες ἦν τοῦτ' ἔπραττεν, ἀσωμάτῳ μὲν ὄντι καὶ τὸν ἅπαντα κόσμον ἀφανῶς ἐπιπορευομένῳ ἔργοις δ’ αὐτοῖς οὐρανίοις τε καὶ τοῖς κατὰ γῆν τὰς αὐτοῦ μεγαλουργίας ἐκφαίνοντι, καινοτέρῳ δὲ καὶ τὸν συνήθη παραλλάττοντι τρόπῳ. δι' ὀργάνου γάρ τοι θνητοῦ τὰς πρὸς τοὺς θνητοὺς ὁμιλίας τε καὶ διατριβὰς ὑπῄει, τὸ θνητὸν διὰ τοῦ όμοίου σῶσαι προμηθούμενος.