the pagan gods, and if he could not, in the fourth century, restore the
ancient faith in the gods of Homer he nevertheless could not omit from his
creed the numerous deities whose temples and altars he had rebuilt. Here
he took advantage of the identification of Greek, Roman, and Oriental
deities which had been going on for centuries. The old names, endeared by
the associations of literature, could be retained without endangering the
supremacy of Helios. Julian identifies Zeus, Helios, Hades, Oceanus and
the Egyptian Serapis. But the omnipotent Zeus of Greek mythology is now a
creative force which works with Helios and has no separate existence.
Tradition had made Athene the child of Zeus, but Julian regards her as the
manifestation of the intelligent forethought of Helios. Dionysus is the
vehicle of his fairest thoughts, and Aphrodite a principle that emanates
from him. He contrives that all the more important gods of Greece, Egypt
and Persia shall play their parts as manifestations of Helios. The lesser
gods are mediating demons as well as forces. His aim was to provide the
Hellenic counterpart of the positive revealed religion of Christianity.
Hence his insistence on the inspiration of Homer, Hesiod, and Plato, and
his statement(612) that the allegorical interpretations of the mysteries
are not mere hypotheses, whereas the doctrines of the astronomers deserve
no higher title.
The Oration is dedicated to his friend and comrade in arms Sallust who is
probably identical with the Neo‐Platonic philosopher, of the school of
Iamblichus, who wrote about 360 the treatise _On the Gods and the World_.
Cumont calls this “the official catechism of the Pagan empire,” and
Wilamowitz regards it as the positive complement of Julian’s pamphlet
_Against the Christians_. Julian’s Eighth Oration is a discourse of
consolation, παραμυθητικὸς, for the departure of Sallust when Constantius
recalled him from Gaul in 358.
ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ
(Julian, Caesar)
ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΑ ΗΛΙΟΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΣΑΛΟΥΣΤΙΟΝ
(Hymn To King Helios. Dedicated To Sallust)
[B] Προσήκειν ὑπολαμβάνω τοῦ λόγου τοῦδε μάλιστα μὲν ἅπασιν,
(What I am now about to say I consider to be of the greatest importance
for all things)
ὅσσα τε γαῖαν ἔπι πνείει τε καὶ ἕρπει,(613)
(“That breathe and move upon the earth,”)
καὶ τοῦ εἶναι καὶ λογικῆς ψυχῆς καὶ νοῦ μετείληφεν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ τῶν
ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἐμαυτῷ· καὶ γάρ εἰμι τοῦ βασιλέως ὀπαδὸς Ἡλίου. [C] τούτου
δὲ ἔχω μὲν οἴκοι παρ᾽ ἐμαυτῷ τὰς πίστεις ἀκριβεστέρας· ὃ δέ μοι θέμις
εἰπεῖν καὶ ἀνεμέσητον, ἐντέτηκέ μοι δεινὸς ἐκ παίδων τῶν αὐγῶν τοῦ θεοῦ
πόθος, καὶ πρὸς τὸ φῶς οὕτω δὴ τὸ αἰθέριον ἐκ παιδαρίου κομιδῇ τὴν
διάνοιαν ἐξιστάμην, ὥστε οὐκ εἰς αὐτὸν μόνον ἀτενὲς ὁρᾶν ἐπεθύμουν, ἀλλὰ
καί, εἴ ποτε νύκτωρ ἀνεφέλου καὶ καθαρᾶς αἰθρίας οὔσης προέλθοιμι, [D]
πάντα ἀθρόως ἀφεὶς τοῖς οὐρανίοις προσεῖχον κάλλεσιν, οὐκέτι ξυνιεὶς οὐδὲν
εἴ τις λέγοι τι πρός με οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ὅ τι πράττοιμι προσέχων. ἐδόκουν τε
περιεργότερον ἔχειν πρὸς αὐτὰ καὶ πολυπράγμων τις εἶναι, καί μέ τις ἤδη
[131] ἀστρόμαντιν ὑπέλαβεν ἄρτι γενειήτην. καίτοι μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς οὔποτε
τοιαύτη βίβλος εἰς ἐμὰς ἀφῖκτο χεῖρας, οὐδὲ ἠπιστάμην ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ
χρῆμά πω τότε.(614) ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα ἐγώ φημι, μείζω ἔχων εἰπεῖν, εἰ φράσαιμι
ὅπως ἐφρόνουν τὸ τηνικαῦτα περὶ θεῶν; λήθη δὲ ἔστω τοῦ σκότους ἐκείνου.
τοῦ(615) δὲ ὅτι με τὸ οὐράνιον πάντη περιήστραπτε φῶς ἤγειρέ τε καὶ
παρώξυνεν ἐπὶ τὴν θέαν, ὥστε ἤδη καὶ τῆς σελήνης τὴν ἐναντίαν πρὸς τὸ πᾶν
αὐτὸς ἀπ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ κίνησιν ξυνεῖδον, [B] οὐδενί πω ξυντυχὼν τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα
φιλοσοφούντων, ἔστω μοι τὰ ῥηθέντα σημεῖα. ζηλῶ μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε τῆς
εὐποτμίας καὶ εἴ τῳ τὸ σῶμα παρέσχε θεὸς ἐξ ἱεροῦ καὶ προφητικοῦ συμπαγὲν
σπέρματος ἀναλαβόντι σοφίας ἀνοῖξαι θησαυρούς· οὐκ ἀτιμάζω δὲ ταύτην, ἧς
ἠξιώθην αὐτὸς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦδε μερίδος, ἐν τῷ κρατοῦντι καὶ βασιλεύοντι
τῆς γῆς γένει τοῖς κατ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν χρόνοις γενόμενος, [C] ἀλλ᾽ ἡγοῦμαι,(616)
εἴπερ χρὴ πείθεσθαι τοῖς σοφοῖς, ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τοῦτον κοινὸν
πατέρα. λέγεται γὰρ ὀρθῶς ἄνθρωπος ἄνθροπων γεννᾶν καὶ ἥλιος,(617) ψυχὰς
οὐκ ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν σπείρων(618) εἰς
γῆν,(619) ἐφ᾽ ὅ τι δὲ χρῆμα δηλοῦσιν αὗται τοῖς βίοις, οὗς προαιροῦνται.
κάλλιστον μὲν οὖν, εἴ τῳ ξυνηνέχθη καὶ πρὸ τριγονίας ἀπὸ πολλῶν πάνυ
προπατόρων ἐφεξῆς τῷ θεῷ δουλεῦσαι, μεμπτὸν δὲ οὐδὲ ὅστις, [D] ἐπεγνωκὼς
ἑαυτὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦδε θεράποντα φύσει, μόνος ἐξ ἁπάντων ἢ ξὺν ὀλίγοις
αὑτὸν ἐπιδίδωσι τῇ θεραπείᾳ τοῦ δεσπότου.
(and have a share in existence and a reasoning soul(620) and intelligence,
but above all others it is of importance to myself. For I am a follower of
King Helios. And of this fact I possess within me, known to myself alone,
proofs more certain that I can give.(621) But this at least I am permitted
to say without sacrilege, that from my childhood an extraordinary longing
for the rays of the god penetrated deep into my soul; and from my earliest
years my mind was so completely swayed by the light that illumines the
heavens that not only did I desire to gaze intently at the sun, but
whenever I walked abroad in the night season, when the firmament was clear
and cloudless, I abandoned all else without exception and gave myself up
to the beauties of the heavens; nor did I understand what anyone might say
to me, nor heed what I was doing myself. I was considered to be over‐
curious about these matters and to pay too much attention to them, and
people went so far as to regard me as an astrologer when my beard had only
just begun to grow. And yet, I call heaven to witness, never had a book on
this subject come into my hands; nor did I as yet even know what that
science was. But why do I mention this, when I have more important things
to tell, if I should relate how, in those days, I thought about the gods?
However let that darkness(622) be buried in oblivion. But let what I have
said bear witness to this fact, that the heavenly light shone all about
me, and that it roused and urged me on to its contemplation, so that even
then I recognised of myself that the movement of the moon was in the
opposite direction to the universe, though as yet I had met no one of
those who are wise in these matters. Now for my part I envy the good
fortune of any man to whom the god has granted to inherit a body built of
the seed of holy and inspired ancestors, so that he can unlock the
treasures of wisdom; nor do I despise that lot with which I was myself
endowed by the god Helios, that I should be born of a house that rules and
governs the world in my time; but further, I regard this god, if we may
believe the wise, as the common father of all mankind.(623) For it is said
with truth that man and the sun together beget man, and that the god sows
this earth with souls which proceed not from himself alone but from the
other gods also; and for what purpose, the souls reveal by the kind of
lives that they select. Now far the best thing is when anyone has the
fortune to have inherited the service of the god, even before the third
generation, from a long and unbroken line of ancestors; yet it is not a
thing to be disparaged when anyone, recognising that he is by nature
intended to be the servant of Helios, either alone of all men, or in
company with but few, devotes himself to the service of his master.)
Φέρε οὖν, ὅπως ἂν οἷοί τε ὦμεν, ὑμνήσωμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἑορτήν, ἣν ἡ
βασιλεύουσα πόλις ἐπετησίοις ἀγάλλει θυσίαις. ἔστι μὲν οὖν, εὖ οἶδα,
χαλεπὸν καὶ τὸ ξυνεῖναι περὶ αὐτοῦ μόνον, ὁπόσος τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἀφανὴς [132]
ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ λογισαμένῳ, φράσαι δὲ ἴσως ἀδύνατον, εἰ καὶ τῆς ἀξίας
ἔλαττον ἐθελήσειέ τις. ἐφικέσθαι μὲν γὰρ τοῦ πρὸς ἀξίαν εὖ οἶδα ὅτι τῶν
ἁπάντων οὐδεὶς ἂν δύναιτο, τοῦ μετρίου δὲ μὴ διαμαρτεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἐπαίνοις
τὸ κεφάλαιόν ἐστι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐν τῷ δύνασθαι φράζειν δυνάμεως. ἀλλ᾽
ἔμοιγε τούτου παρασταίη βοηθὸς ὅ τε λόγιος(624) Ἑρμῆς ξὺν ταῖς Μούσαις ὅ
τε Μουσηγέτης Ἀπόλλων,(625) [B] ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτῷ προσήκει τῶν λόγων, καὶ
δοῖεν δὲ εἰπεῖν ὁπόσα τοῖς θεοῖς φίλα λέγεσθαί τε καὶ πιστεύεσθαι περὶ
αὐτῶν. τίς οὖν ὁ τρόπος ἔσται τῶν ἐπαίνων; ἢ δῆλον ὅτι περὶ τῆς οὐσίας
αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅθεν προῆλθε καὶ τῶν δυνάμεων καὶ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν διελθόντες,
ὁπόσαι φανεραὶ ὅσαι τ᾽ ἀφανεῖς, καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν δόσεως, ἣν κατὰ
πάντας ποιεῖται τοὺς κόσμους, οὐ παντάπασιν ἀπᾴδοντα ποιησόμεθα τῷ θεῷ τὰ
ἐγκώμια; [C] ἀρκτέον δὲ ἐνθένδε.
(Come then, let me celebrate, as best I may, his festival which the
Imperial city(626) adorns with annual sacrifices.(627) Now it is hard, as
I well know, merely to comprehend how great is the Invisible, if one judge
by his visible self,(628) and to tell it is perhaps impossible, even
though one should consent to fall short of what is his due. For well I
know that no one in the world could attain to a description that would be
worthy of him, and not to fail of a certain measure of success in his
praises is the greatest height to which human beings can attain in the
power of utterance. But as for me, may Hermes, the god of eloquence, stand
by my side to aid me, and the Muses also and Apollo, the leader of the
Muses, since he too has oratory for his province, and may they grant that
I utter only what the gods approve that men should say and believe about
them. What, then, shall be the manner of my praise? Or is it not evident
that if I describe his substance and his origin, and his powers and
energies, both visible and invisible, and the gift of blessings which he
bestows throughout all the worlds,(629) I shall compose an encomium not
wholly displeasing to the god? With these, then, let me begin.)
Ὁ θεῖος οὗτος καὶ πάγκαλος κόσμος ἀπ᾽ ἄκρας ἁψῖδος οὐρανοῦ μέχρι γῆς
ἐσχάτης ὑπὸ τῆς ἀλύτου συνεχόμενος τοῦ θεοῦ προνοίας ἐξ ἀιδίου γέγονεν
ἀγέννητος(630) ἔς τε τὸν ἐπίλοιπον χρόνον ἀίδιος, οὐχ ὑπ᾽ ἄλλου του
φρουρούμενος ἢ προσεχῶς μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος, οὗ τὸ κεφάλαιόν ἐστιν
ἀκτὶς ἀελίου,(631) βαθμῷ δὲ ὥσπερ δευτέρῳ τοῦ νοητοῦ κόσμου, πρεσβυτέρως
δὲ ἔτι διὰ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα, περὶ ὃν πάντα ἐστίν. [D] οὗτος τοίνυν, εἴτε
τὸ ἐπέκεινα τοῦ νοῦ καλεῖν αὐτὸν θέμις εἴτε ἰδέαν τῶν ὄντων, ὃ δή φημι τὸ
νοητὸν ξύμπαν, εἴτε ἕν, ἐπειδὴ πάντων τὸ ἓν δοκεῖ πως πρεσβύτατον, εἴτε ὃ
Πλάτων εἴωθεν ὀνομάζειν τἀγαθόν, αὕτη δὴ οὖν ἡ μονοειδὴς τῶν ὅλων αἰτία,
πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἐξηγουμένη κάλλους τε καὶ τελειότητος ἑνώσεώς τε καὶ
δυνάμεως ἀμηχάνου, κατὰ τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ μένουσαν πρωτουργὸν οὐσίαν μέσον ἐκ
μέσων τῶν νοερῶν [133] καὶ δημιουργικῶν αἰτιῶν Ἥλιον θεὸν μέγιστον
ἀνέφηνεν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ πάντα ὅμοιον ἑαυτῷ· καθάπερ καὶ ὁ δαιμόνιος οἴεται
Πλάτων, “Τοῦτον τοίνυν,” λέγων, “ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, φάναι με λέγειν τὸν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ
ἔκγονον, ὃν τἀγαθὸν ἐγέννησεν ἀνάλογον ἑαυτῷ, ὅτιπερ αὐτὸ ἐν τῷ νοητῷ τόπῳ
πρός τε νοῦν καὶ τὰ νοούμενα, τοῦτο τοῦτον ἐν τῷ ὁρατῷ πρός τε ὄψιν καὶ τὰ
ὁρώμενα.”(632) ἔχει μὲν δὴ τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ ταύτην οἶμαι τὴν ἀναλογίαν πρὸς τὸ
ὁρατόν, ἥνπερ πρὸς τὸ νοητὸν ἁλήθεια.(633) αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ξύμπας, ἅτε δὴ τοῦ
πρώτου [B] καὶ μεγίστου τῆς ἐδέας τἀγαθοῦ γεγονὼς ἔκγονος, ὑποστὰς αὐτοῦ
περὶ τὴν μόνιμον οὐσίαν ἐξ ἀιδίου καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς θεοῖς παρεδέξατο
δυναστείαν, ὧν τἀγαθόν ἐστι τοῖς νοητοῖς αἴτιον, ταῦτα αὐτὸς τοῖς νοεροῖς
νέμων. ἔστι δ᾽ αἴτιον οἶμαι τἀγαθὸν τοῖς νοητοῖς θεοῖς κάλλους, οὐσίας,
τελειότητος, ἑνώσεως, συνέχον αὐτὰ καὶ περιλάμπον ἀγαθοειδεῖ δυνάμει·
ταῦτα δὴ καὶ τοῖς νοεροῖς [C] Ἥλιος δίδωσιν, ἄρχειν καὶ βασιλεύειν αὐτῶν
ὑπὸ τἀγαθοῦ τεταγμένος, εἰ καὶ συμπροῆλθον αὐτῷ καὶ συνυπέστησαν, ὅπως
οἶαμι καὶ τοῖς νοεροῖς θεοῖς ἀγαθοειδὴς αἰτία προκαθηγουμένη τῶν ἀγαθῶν
πᾶσιν ἅπαντα κατὰ νοῦν εὐθύνῃ.
(This divine and wholly beautiful universe, from the highest vault of
heaven to the lowest limit of the earth, is held together by the
continuous providence of the god, has existed from eternity ungenerated,
is imperishable for all time to come, and is guarded immediately by
nothing else than the Fifth Substance(634) whose culmination is the beams
of the sun; and in the second and higher degree, so to speak, by the
intelligible world; but in a still loftier sense it is guarded by the King
of the whole universe, who is the centre of all things that exist. He,
therefore, whether it is right to call him the Supra‐Intelligible, or the
Idea of Being, and by Being I mean the whole intelligible region, or the
One, since the One seems somehow to be prior to all the rest, or, to use
Plato’s name for him, the Good; at any rate this uncompounded cause of the
whole reveals to all existence beauty, and perfection, and oneness, and
irresistible power; and in virtue of the primal creative substance that
abides in it, produced, as middle among the middle and intellectual,
creative causes, Helios the most mighty god, proceeding from itself and in
all things like unto itself. Even so the divine Plato believed, when he
writes, “Therefore (said I) when I spoke of this, understand that I meant
the offspring of the Good which the Good begat in his own likeness, and
that what the Good is in relation to pure reason and its objects in the
intelligible world, such is the sun in the visible world in relation to
sight and its objects.” Accordingly his light has the same relation to the
visible world as truth has to the intelligible world. And he himself as a
whole, since he is the son of what is first and greatest, namely, the Idea
of the Good, and subsists from eternity in the region of its abiding
substance, has received also the dominion among the intellectual gods, and
himself dispenses to the intellectual gods those things of which the Good
is the cause for the intelligible gods. Now the Good is, I suppose, the
cause for the intelligible gods of beauty, existence, perfection, and
oneness, connecting these and illuminating them with a power that works
for good. These accordingly Helios bestows on the intellectual gods also,
since he has been appointed by the Good to rule and govern them, even
though they came forth and came into being together with him, and this
was, I suppose, in order that the cause which resembles the Good may guide
the intellectual gods to blessings for them all, and may regulate all
things according to pure reason.)
Ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίτος ὁ φαινόμενος οὑτοσί δίσκος ἐναργῶς αἴτιός ἐστι τοῖς
αἰσθητοῖς τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ ὅσων ἔφαμεν τοῖς νοεροῖς θεοῖς τὸν μέγαν
Ἥλιον, τοσούτων αἴτιος(635) καὶ ὁ φαινόμενος ὅδε τοῖς φανεροῖς. τούτων δ᾽
ἐναργεῖς αἱ πίστεις ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων [D] τὰ ἀφανῆ σκοποῦντι.(636) φέρε δὴ
πρῶτον αὐτὸ τὸ φῶς οὐκ εἶδός ἐστιν ἀσώματόν τι θεῖον τοῦ κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν
διαφανοῦς; αὐτὸ δὲ ὅ, τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ διαφανές, πᾶσι μὲν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν
συνυποκείμενον τοῖς στοιχείοις καὶ ὂν αὐτῶν προσεχὲς εἶδος, οὐ σωματοειδὲς
οὐδὲ συμμιγνύμενον οὐδὲ τὰς οἰκείας σώματι προσιέμενον ποιότητας. οὔκουν
ἰδίαν αὐτοῦ θέρμην ἐρεῖς,(637) οὐ τὴν ἐναντίαν αὐτῇ ψυχρότητα, οὐ τὸ
σκληρόν, οὐ τὸ μαλακὸν ἀποδώσεις, [134] οὐδ᾽ ἄλλην τινὰ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἁφὴν
διαφορῶν, οὔκουν οὐδὲ γεῦσιν οὐδὲ ὀδμήν, ὄψει δὲ μόνον ὑποπίπτει πρὸς
ἐνέργειαν ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτὸς ἡ τοιαύτη φύσις ἀγομένη. τὸ δὲ φῶς εἶδός ἐστι
ταύτης οἷον ὕλης ὑπεστρωμένης καὶ παρεκτεινομένης τοῖς σώμασιν. αὐτοῦ δὲ
τοῦ φωτὸς ὄντος ἀσωμάτου ἀκρότης ἂν εἴη τις καὶ ὥσπερ ἄνθος ἀκτῖνες. ἡ μὲν
οὖν τῶν Φοινίκων δόξα, σοφῶν τὰ θεῖα καὶ ἐπιστημόνων, ἄχραντον εἶναι
ἐνέργειαν αὐτοῦ τοῦ καθαροῦ [B] νοῦ τὴν ἁπανταχῇ προϊοῦσαν αὐγὴν ἔφη· οὐκ
ἀπᾴδει δὲ οὐδὲ ὁ λόγος, εἴπερ αὐτὸ τὸ φῶς ἀσώματον, εἴ τις αὐτοῦ μηδὲ τὴν
πηγὴν ὑπολάβοι σῶμα, νοῦ δὲ ἐνέργειαν ἄχραντον εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἕδραν
ἐλλαμπομένην, ἣ τοῦ παντὸς οὐρανοῦ τὸ μέσον εἴληχεν, ὅθεν ἐπιλάμπουσα
πάσης μὲν εὐτονίας πληροῖ τοὺς οὐρανίους κύκλους, πάντα δὲ περιλάμπει θείῳ
καὶ ἀχράντῳ φωτί. τὰ μέντοι ἐν τοῖς θεοῖς ἔργα προϊόντα παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ μετρίως
γε(638) ἡμῖν ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἴρηται(639) καὶ ῥηθήσεται μετ᾽ ὀλίγον. [C]
ὄσα δὲ ὁρῶμεν αὐτῇ πρῶτον ὄψει ὄνομα μόνον ἐστὶν ἔργου τητώμενον, εἰ μὴ
προσλάβοι τὴν τοῦ φωτὸς ἡγεμονικὴν βοήθειαν. ὁρατὸν δὲ ὅλως εἴη ἂν τί μὴ
φωτὶ πρῶτον ὥσπερ ὕλη τεχνίτῃ προσαχθέν, ἵν᾽ οἶμαι τὸ εἶδος δέξηται; καὶ
γὰρ τὸ χρυσίον ἁπλῶς οὑτωσὶ κεχυμένον ἔστι μὲν χρυσίον, οὐ μὴν ἄγαλμα οὐδὲ
εἰκών, πρὶν ἂν ὁ τεχνίτης αὐτῷ περιθῇ τὴν μορφήν. οὐκοῦν καὶ ὅσα πέφυκεν
ὁρᾶσθαι μὴ ξὺν [D] φωτὶ τοῖς ὁρῶσι προσαγόμενα τοῦ ὁρατὰ εἶναι παντάπασιν
ἐστέρηται. διδοὺς οὖν τοῖς τε ὁρῶσι τὸ ὁρᾶν τοῖς τε ὁρωμένοις τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι
δύο φύσεις ἐνεργείᾳ μιᾷ τελειοῖ, ὄψιν καὶ ὁρατόν· αἱ δὲ τελειότητες εἴδη
τέ εἰσι καὶ οὐσία.
(But this visible disc also, third(640) in rank, is clearly, for the
objects of sense‐perception the cause of preservation, and this visible
Helios(641) is the cause for the visible gods(642) of just as many
blessings as we said mighty Helios bestows on the intellectual gods. And
of this there are clear proofs for one who studies the unseen world in the
light of things seen. For in the first place, is not light itself a sort
of incorporeal and divine form of the transparent in a state of activity?
And as for the transparent itself, whatever it is, since it is the
underlying basis, so to speak, of all the elements, and is a form
peculiarly belonging to them, it is not like the corporeal or compounded,
nor does it admit qualities peculiar to corporeal substance.(643) You will
not therefore say that heat is a property of the transparent, or its
opposite cold, nor will you assign to it hardness or softness or any other
of the various attributes connected with touch or taste or smell; but a
nature of this sort is obvious to sight alone, since it is brought into
activity by light. And light is a form of this substance, so to speak,
which is the substratum of and coextensive with the heavenly bodies. And
of light, itself incorporeal, the culmination and flower, so to speak, is
the sun’s rays. Now the doctrine of the Phoenicians, who were wise and
learned in sacred lore, declared that the rays of light everywhere
diffused are the undefiled incarnation of pure mind. And in harmony with
this is our theory, seeing that light itself is incorporeal, if one should
regard its fountainhead, not as corporeal, but as the undefiled activity
of mind(644) pouring light into its own abode: and this is assigned to the
middle of the whole firmament, whence it sheds its rays and fills the
heavenly spheres with vigour of every kind and illumines all things with
light divine and undefiled. Now the activities proceeding from it and
exercised among the gods have been, in some measure at least, described by
me a little earlier and will shortly be further spoken of. But all that we
see merely with the sight at first is a name only, deprived of activity,
unless we add thereto the guidance and aid of light. For what, speaking
generally, could be seen, were it not first brought into touch with light
in order that, I suppose, it may receive a form, as matter is brought
under the hand of a craftsman? And indeed molten gold in the rough is
simply gold, and not yet a statue or an image, until the craftsman give it
its proper shape. So too all the objects of sight, unless they are brought
under the eyes of the beholder together with light, are altogether
deprived of visibility. Accordingly by giving the power of sight to those
who see, and the power of being seen to the objects of sight, it brings to
perfection, by means of a single activity, two faculties, namely vision
and visibility.(645) And in forms and substance are expressed its
perfecting powers.)
Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἴσως λεπτότερον· ᾧ δὲ παρακολουθοῦμεν ξύμπαντες, ἀμαθεῖς
καὶ ἰδιῶται, φιλόσοφοι καὶ λόγιοι, τίνα ἐν τῷ παντὶ δύναμιν ἀνίσχων ἔχει
καὶ καταδυόμενος ὁ θεός; νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν ἐργάζεται καὶ μεθίστησι φανερῶς
καὶ τρέπει τὸ πᾶν. [135] καίτοι τίνι τοῦτο τῶν ἄλλων ἀστέρων ὑπάρχει; πῶς
οὖν οὐκ ἐκ τούτων ἤδη καὶ περὶ τῶν θειοτέρων πιστεύομεν, ὡς ἄρα καὶ τὰ
ὑπὲρ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀφανῆ καὶ θεῖα νοερῶν θεῶν γένη τῆς ἀγαθοειδοῦς
ἀποπληροῦται παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως, ᾧ πᾶς μὲν ὑπείκει χορὸς ἀστέρων, ἕπεται
δὲ ἡ γένεσις ὑπὸ τῆς τούτου κυβερνωμένη προμηθείας; [B] οἱ μὲν γὰρ
πλάνητες(646) ὅτι περὶ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ βασιλέα χορεύοντες ἔν τισιν ὡρισμένοις
πρὸς αὐτὸν διαστήμασιν ἁρμοδιώτατα φέρονται κύκλῳ, στηριγμούς τινας
ποιούμενοι καὶ πρόσω καὶ ὀπίσω πορείαν, ὡς οἱ τῆς σφαιρικῆς ἐπιστήμονες
θεωρίας ὀνομάζουσι τὰ περὶ αὐτοὺς φαινόμενα, καὶ ὡς τὸ τῆς σελήνης αὔξεται
καὶ λήγει φῶς, πρὸς τὴν ἀπόστασιν ἡλίου πάσχον, πᾶσί που δῆλον. πῶς οὖν
οὐκ εἰκότως καὶ τὴν πρεσβυτέραν τῶν σωμάτων ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς [C] θεοῖς
διακόσμησιν ὑπολαμβάνομεν ἀνάλογον ἔχειν τῇ τοιαύτῃ τάξει;
(However, this is perhaps somewhat subtle; but as for that guide whom we
all follow, ignorant and unlearned, philosophers and rhetoricians, what
power in the universe has this god when he rises and sets? Night and day
he creates, and before our eyes changes and sways the universe. But to
which of the other heavenly bodies does this power belong? How then can we
now fail to believe, in view of this, in respect also to things more
divine that the invisible and divine tribes of intellectual gods above the
heavens are filled with power that works for good by him, even by him to
whom the whole band of the heavenly bodies yields place, and whom all
generated things follow, piloted by his providence? For that the planets
dance about him as their king, in certain intervals, fixed in relation to
him, and revolve in a circle with perfect accord, making certain halts,
and pursuing to and fro their orbit,(647) as those who are learned in the
study of the spheres call their visible motions; and that the light of the
moon waxes and wanes varying in proportion to its distance from the sun,
is, I think, clear to all. Then is it not natural that we should suppose
that the more venerable ordering of bodies among the intellectual gods
corresponds to this arrangement?)
Λάβωμεν οὖν ἐξ ἁπάντων τὸ μὲν τελεσιουργὸν ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς ἀποφαίνειν ὁρᾶν
τὰ ὁρατικά· τελειοῖ γὰρ αὐτὰ διὰ τοῦ φωτός· τὸ δὲ δημιουργικὸν καὶ
γόνιμον(648) ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὸ ξύμπαν μεταβολῆς, τὸ δὲ ἐν ἑνὶ πόντων
συνεκτικὸν ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὰς κινήσεις πρὸς ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συμφωνίας, τὸ δὲ
μέσον ἐξ αὐτοῦ(649) μέσου, τὸ δὲ τοῖς νοεροῖς αὐτὸν ἐνιδρύσθαι βασιλέα ἐκ
τῆς ἐν τοῖς πλανωμένοις μέσης τάξεως. [D] εἰ μὲν οὖν ταῦτα περί τινα τῶν
ἄλλων ἐμφανῶν ὁρῶμεν θεῶν ἢ τοσαῦτα ἕτερα, μή τοι τούτῳ τὴν περὶ τοὺς
θεοὺς ἡγεμονίαν προσνείμωμεν· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν αὐτῷ κοινὸν πρὸς τοὺς
ἄλλους ἔξω τὴς ἀγαθοεργίας, ἧς καὶ αὐτῆς μεταδέδωσι τοῖς πᾶσι,
μαρτυράμενοι τούς τε Κυπρίων ἱερέας, οἱ κοινοὺς ἀποφαίνουσι βωμοὺς Ἡλίῳ
καὶ Διί, πρὸ τούτων δὲ ἔτι τὸν Ἀπόλλω(650) συνεδρεύοντα τῷ θεῷ τῷδε
παρακαλέσαντες μάρτυρα· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς οὗτος “Εἷς Ζεύς, εἷς Ἀίδης, [136]
εἷς Ἥλιός ἐστι Σέραπις· κοινὴν ὑπολάβωμεν”, μᾶλλον δὲ μίαν Ἡλίου καὶ Διὸς
ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς θεοῖς δυναστείαν· ὅθεν μοι δοκεῖ καὶ Πλάτων οὐκ ἀπεικότως
φρόνιμον θεὸν Ἅιδην ὀνομάσαι. καλοῦμεν δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ Σάραπιν,
τὸν ἀιδῆ δηλονότι καὶ νοερόν, πρὸς ὅν φησιν(651) ἄνω πορεύεσθαι τὰς ψυχὰς
τῶν ἄριστα βιωσάντων καὶ δικαιότατα. μὴ γὰρ δή τις ὑπολάβῃ τοῦτον, [B] ὃν
οἱ μῦθοι πείθουσι φρίττειν, ἀλλὰ τὸν πρᾷον καὶ μείλιχον, ὃς ἀπολύει
παντελῶς τῆς γενέσεως τὰς ψυχάς, οὐχὶ δὲ λυθείσας αὐτὰς σώμασιν ἑτέροις
προσηλοῖ(652) κολάζων καὶ πραττόμενος δίκας, ἀλλὰ πορεύων ἄνω καὶ
ἀνατείνων τὰς ψυχὰς ἐπὶ τὸν νοητὸν κόσμον. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲ νεαρὰ παντελῶς
ἐστιν ἡ δόξα, προύλαβον δὲ αὐτὴν οἱ πρεσβύτατοι τῶν ποιητῶν, Ὅμηρός τε καὶ
Ἡσίοδος, εἴτε καὶ νοοῦντες οὅτως εἴτε καὶ ἐπιπνοίᾳ θείᾳ καθάπερ οἱ μάντεις
ἐνθουσιῶντες πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, [C] ἐνθένδ᾽ ἂν γίγνοιτο γνώριμον. ὁ μὲν
γενεαλογῶν αὐτὸν Ὑπερίονος ἔφη καὶ Θείας, μόνον οὐχὶ διὰ τούτων
αἰνιττόμενος τοῦ πάντων ὑπερέχοντος αὐτὸν ἔκγονον(653) γνήσιον φῦναι· ὁ
γὰρ Ὑπερίων τίς ἂν ἕτερος εἴη παρὰ τοῦτον; ἡ Θεία δὲ αὐτὴ τρόπον ἕτερον οὐ
τὸ θειότατον τῶν ὄντων λέγεται; μὴ δὲ συνδυασμὸν μηδὲ γάμους
ὑπολαμβάνωμεν, ἄπιστα καὶ παράδοξα ποιητικῆς μούσης ἀθύρματα. [D] πατέρα
δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ γεννήτορα νομίζωμεν τὸν θειότατον καὶ ὑπέρτατον· τοιοῦτος δὲ
τίς ἂν ἄλλος(654) εἴη τοῦ πάντων ἐπέκεινα καὶ περὶ ὃν πάντα καὶ οὗ ἕνεκα
πάντα ἐστίν; Ὅμηρος δὲ αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς Ὑπερίονα καλεῖ,(655) καὶ
δείκνυσί γε αὐτοῦ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον καὶ πάσης ἀνάγκης κρεῖττον. ὁ γάρ τοι
Ζεύς, ὡς ἐκεῖνός φησιν, ἁπάντων ὢν κύριος τοὺς ἄλλους προσαναγκάζει· ἐν δὲ
τῷ μύθῳ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦδε λέγοντος,(656) ὅτι ἄρα διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῶν
Ὀδυσσέως ἑταίρων [137] ἀπολείψει τὸν Ὄλυμπον, οὐκέτι φησίν