34. As Plato grew older he believed that he could not explain the evils of
this world without admitting the existence of an "evil soul of the world"
(Zeller, _Philos. der Griechen_, II, p. 973, p. 981, n. 1). But this late
conception, opposed as it is to his entire system, is probably due to the
influence of Oriental dualism. It is found in the Epinomis (Zeller,
_ibid._, p. 1042, n. 4), where the influence of "Chaldean" theories is
undeniable; cf. Bidez, _Revue de Philologie_, XXIX, 1905, p. 319.
35. Plutarch, _De Iside_, 46 ff.; cf. Zeller, _Philos. der Griechen_, V, p.
188; Eisele, _Zur Demonologie des Plutarch_ (_Archiv für Gesch. der
Philos._, XVII), 1903, p. 283 f.--Cf. _infra_, n. 40. {266}
36. Arnobius, who was indebted to Cornelius Labeo for some exact
information on the doctrines of the magi, says (IV, 12, p. 150, 12,
Reifferscheid): "Magi suis in accitionibus memorant antitheos saepius
obrepere pro accitis, esse autem hos quosdam materiis ex crassioribus
spiritus qui deos se fingant, nesciosque mendaciis et simulationibus
ludant." Lactantius, the pupil of Arnobius, used the same word in speaking
of Satan that a Mazdean would have used in referring to Ahriman (_Inst.
divin._, II, 9, 13, p. 144, 13, Brandt): "Nox quam pravo illi antitheo
dicimus attributam"; he is the _aemulus Dei_.--Heliodorus who has made use
in his _Aethiopica_ of data taken from the Mazdean beliefs (see _Monuments
relatifs aux mystères de Mithra_, volume I, p. 336, n. 2) uses the Greek
word in the same sense, (IV, 7, p. 105, 27, Bekker ed.): [Greek: Antitheos
tis eoiken empodizein tên praxin].--The Ps.-Iamblichus, _De myster._, III,
31, § 15, likewise speaks of [Greek: daimones ponêrous hous dê kai kalousin
antitheous]. Finally the magical papyri also knew of the existence of these
deceiving spirits (Wessely, _Denksch. Akad. Wien_, XLII, p. 42, v. 702:
[Greek: Pempson moi ton alêthinon Asklêpion dicha tinos antitheou
planodaimonos]).
37. In a passage to which we shall return in note 39, Porphyry (_De
Abstin._, II, 42), speaks of the demons in almost the same terms as
Arnobius: [Greek: To gar pseudos toutois hoikeion; Boulontai gar einai
theoi kai hê proestôsa autôn dunamis dokein theos einai ho megistos] (cf.
c. 41: [Greek: Toutous kai ton proestôta autôn]); likewise Ps.-Iamblichus,
_De myst._, III, 30, 6: [Greek: Ton megan hêgemona tôn daimonôn].--In the
_De philos. ex orac. haur._ (pp. 147 ff. Wolff), an early work in which he
followed other sources than those in _De Abstinentia_, Porphyry made
Serapis (= Pluto) the chief of the malevolent demons. There was bound to be
a connection between the Egyptian god of the underworld and the Ahriman of
the Persians at an early date.--A veiled allusion to this chief of demons
may be contained in Lucan, VI, 742 ff., and Plutarch who, in _De Iside_,
46, called Ahriman Hades (_supra_, p. 190; cf. _Mon. myst. Mithra_, II, p.
131, No. 3), says elsewhere (_De latenter viv._, 6, p. 1130): [Greek: Ton
de tês enantias kurion moiras, eite theos eite daimôn estin, Aidên
onomazousin]. Cf. Decharme, _Traditions religieuses chez les Grecs_, 1904,
p. 431, n. 1.
38. The dedication _Diis angelis_ recently found at {267} Viminacium
(_Jahresh. Instituts in Wien_, 1905, Beiblatt, p. 6), in a country where
the Mithra worship had spread considerably seems to me to refer to this.
See Minuc. Felix, _Octav._, 26: "Magorum et eloquio et negotio primus
Hostanes angelos, id est ministros et nuntios Dei, eius venerationi novit
assistere." St. Cypr., "Quod idola dii n. s.," c. 6 (p. 24, 2, Hartel):
"Ostanes et formam Dei veri negat conspici posse et angelos veros sedi eius
dicit adsistere." Cf. Tertullian, _Apol._, XXIII: "Magi habentes
invitatorum angelorum et daemonum adsistentem sibi potestatem;" Arnobius,
II, 35 (p. 76, 15, Reifferscheid); Aug., _Civ. Dei_, X, 9, and the texts
collected by Wolff, _Porphyrii de philos. ex orac. haurienda_, 1856, pp.
223 ff.; Kroll, _De orac. Chaldaïcis_, 1894, pp. 53; Roscher, _Die
Hebdomadenlehre der griech. Philosophen_, Leipsic, 1906, p. 145; Abt,
_Apuleius und die Zauberei_, Giessen, 1909, p. 256.
39. Porphyry, _De Abstin._, II, 37-43, expounds a theory about the demons,
which, he says, he took from "certain Platonists" ([Greek: Platônikoi
tines], Numenius and Cronius?). That these authors, whoever they were,
helped themselves freely to the doctrines of the magi, seems to appear
immediately from the whole of Porphyry's exposition (one could almost give
an endless commentary on it with the help of the Mazdean books) and in
particular from the mention that is made of a power commanding the spirits
of evil (see _supra_, n. 37). This conclusion is confirmed by a comparison
with the passage of Arnobius cited above (n. 36), who attributes similar
theories to the "magi," and with a chapter of the Ps.-Iamblichus (_De
mysteriis_, III, 31) which develops analogous beliefs as being those of
"Chaldean prophets."--Porphyry also cites a "Chaldean" theologian in
connection with the influence of the demons, _De regressu animae_ (Aug.,
_Civ. Dei_, X, 9).
I conjecture that the source of all this demonology is the book attributed
to Hostanes which we find mentioned in the second century of our era by
Minucius Felix, St. Cyprian (_supra_, n. 38), etc.; cf. Wolff, op. cit., p.
138; _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 33. As a matter of fact it would be false
logic to try to explain the evolution of demonology, which is above
everything else religious, by the development of the philosophic theories
of the Greeks (see for instance the communications of Messrs. Stock and
Glover: _Transactions of the Congress of {268} History of Rel._, Oxford,
1908, II, pp. 164 ff.). The influence of the popular Hellenic or foreign
ideas has always been preponderant here; and the Epinomis, which contains
one of the oldest accounts of the theory of demons, as proved _supra_, n.
34, was influenced by the Semitic notions about genii, the ancestors of the
_djinns_ and the _wélys_ of Islam.
If, as we believe, the text of Porphyry really sets forth the theology of
the magi, slightly modified by Platonic ideas based on popular beliefs of
the Greeks and perhaps of the barbarians, we shall be able to draw
interesting conclusions in regard to the mysteries of Mithra. For instance,
one of the principles developed is that the gods must not be honored by the
sacrifice of animated beings ([Greek: empsucha]), and that immolation of
victims should be reserved for the demons. The same idea is found in
Cornelius Labeo, (Aug., _Civ. Dei_, VIII, 13; see Arnobius, VII, 24), and
possibly it was the practice of the Mithra cult. Porphyry (II, 36) speaks
in this connection of rites and mysteries, but without divulging them, and
it is known that in the course of its history Mazdaism passed from the
bloody to the bloodless sacrifice (_Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 6).