perfect, from the fact that he makes visible the objects of sight in the
universe, for through his light he perfects them; secondly, his creative
and generative power from the changes wrought by him in the universe;
thirdly, his power to link together all things into one whole, from the
harmony of his motions towards one and the same goal; fourthly, his middle
station we can comprehend from himself, who is midmost; and fifthly, the
fact that he is established as king among the intellectual gods, from his
middle station among the planets. Now if we see that these powers, or
powers of similar importance, belong to any one of the other visible
deities, let us not assign to Helios leadership among the gods. But if he
has nothing in common with those other gods except his beneficent energy,
and of this too he gives them all a share, then let us call to witness the
priests of Cyprus who set up common altars to Helios and Zeus; but even
before them let us summon as witness Apollo, who sits in council with our
god. For this god declares: “Zeus, Hades, Helios Serapis, three gods in
one godhead!”(657) Let us then assume that, among the intellectual gods,
Helios and Zeus have a joint or rather a single sovereignty. Hence I think
that with reason Plato called Hades a wise god.(658) And we call this same
god Hades Serapis also, namely the Unseen(659) and Intellectual, to whom
Plato says the souls of those who have lived most righteously and justly
mount upwards. For let no one conceive of him as the god whom the legends
teach us to shudder at, but as the mild and placable, since he completely
frees our souls from generation: and the souls that he has thus freed he
does not nail to other bodies, punishing them and exacting penalties, but
he carries aloft and lifts up our souls to the intelligible world. And
that this doctrine is not wholly new, but that Homer and Hesiod the most
venerable of the poets held it before us, whether this was their own view
or, like seers, they were divinely inspired with a sacred frenzy for the
truth, is evident from the following. Hesiod, in tracing his genealogy,
said(660) that Helios is the son of Hyperion and Thea, intimating thereby
that he is the true son of him who is above all things. For who else could
Hyperion(661) be? And is not Thea herself, in another fashion, said to be
most divine of beings? But as for a union or marriage, let us not conceive
of such a thing, since that is the incredible and paradoxical trifling of
the poetic Muse. But let us believe that his father and sire was the most
divine and supreme being; and who else could have this nature save him who
transcends all things, the central point and goal of all things that
exist? And Homer calls him Hyperion after his father and shows his
unconditioned nature, superior to all constraint. For Zeus, as Homer says,
since he is lord of all constrains the other gods. And when, in the course
of the myth, Helios says that on account of the impiety of the comrades of
Odysseus(662) he will forsake Olympus, Zeus no longer says,)
Αὐτῇ κεν γαίῃ ἐρύσαιμ᾽ αὐτῇ τε θαλάσσῃ,
(“Then with very earth would I draw you up and the sea
withal,”(663))
οὐδὲ ἀπειλεῖ δεσμὸν οὐδὲ βίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν δίκην φησὶν ἐπιθήσειν τοῖς
ἡμαρτηκόσιν, αὐτὸν δὲ ἀξιοῖ φαίνειν ἐν τοῖς θεοῖς. ἆρ᾽ οὐξὶ διὰ τούτων
πρὸς τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ καὶ τελεσιουργὸν εἶναί φησι τὸν Ἥλιον; ἐπὶ τί γὰρ αὐτοῦ
οἱ θεοὶ δέονται, πλὴν εἰ μὴ πρὸς τὴν οὐσίαν [B] καὶ τὸ εἶναι ἀφανῶς
ἐναστράπτων ὧν ἔφαμεν ἀγαθῶν ἀποπληρωτικὸς τυγχάνοι; τὸ γὰρ
(nor does he threaten him with fetters or violence, but he says that he
will inflict punishment on the guilty and bids Helios go on shining among
the gods. Does he not thereby declare that besides being unconditioned,
Helios has also the power to perfect? For why do the gods need him unless
by sending his light, himself invisible, on their substance and existence,
he fulfils for them the blessings of which I spoke? For when Homer says
that)
Ἠέλιόν τ᾽ ἀκάμαντα βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη
Πέμψεν ἐπ᾽ Ὠκεανοῖο ῥοὰς ἀέκοντα νέεσθαι(664)
(“Ox‐eyed Hera, the queen, sent unwearied Helios to go, all
unwilling, to the streams of Oceanus,”)
πρὸ τοῦ καιροῦ φησι νομισθῆναι τὴν νύκτα διὰ τινα χαλεπὴν ὁμίχλην. αὕτη
γὰρ ἡ θεός που, καὶ ἄλλοθι τῆς ποιήσεώς φησιν,(665)
(he means that, by reason of a heavy mist, it was thought to be night
before the proper time. And this mist is surely the goddess herself, and
in another place also in the poem he says,)
ἠέρα δ᾽ Ἥρη
Πίτνα πρόσθε βαθεῖαν. [C]
(“Hera spread before them a thick mist.”)
ἁλλὰ τὰ μὲν τῶν ποιητῶν χαίρειν ἐάσωμεν· ἔχει γὰρ μετὰ τοῦ θείου πολὺ καὶ
τἀνθρώπινον· ἃ δὲ ἡμᾶς ἔοικεν αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς διδάσκειν ὑπέρ τε αὑτοῦ καὶ τῶν
ἄλλων, ἐκεῖνα ἤδη διέλθωμεν.
(But let us leave the stories of the poets alone. For along with what is
inspired they contain much also that is merely human. And let me now
relate what the god himself seems to teach us, both about himself and the
other gods.)
Ὁ περὶ γῆν τόπος ἐν τῷ γίνεσθαι τὸ εἶναι ἔχει. τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ τὴν
ἀιδιότητα δωρούμενος αὐτῷ; ἆρ᾽ οὐχ ὁ ταῦτα μέτροις ὡρισμένοις συνέχων;
ἄπειρον μὲν γὰρ [D] εἶναι φύσιν σώματος οὐχ οἷόν τ᾽ ἦν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ
ἀγέννητός ἐστι μηδὲ αὐθυπόστατος· ἑκ δὲ τῆς οὐσίας εἰ πάντως ἐγίνετό τι
συνεχῶς, ἀνελύετο δὲ εἰς αὐτὴν μηδέν, ἐπέλειπεν ἂν τῶν γιγνομένων ἡ οὐσία.
τὴν δὴ τοιαύτην φύσιν ὁ θεὸς ὅδε μέτρῳ κινούμενος προσιὼν μὲν ὀρθοῖ καὶ
ἐγείρει, πόρρω δὲ ἀπιὼν ἐλαττοῖ καὶ φθείρει, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὸς ἀεὶ ζωοποιεὶ
κινῶν καὶ ἐποχετεύων αὐτῇ τὴν ζωὴν· ἡ δὲ ἀπόλειψις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ πρὸς θάτερα
[138] μετάστασις αἰτία γίνεται φθορᾶς τοῖς φθίνουσιν. ἀεὶ μὲν οὖν ἡ παρ᾽
αὐτοῦ τῶν ἀγαθῶν δόσις ἴση κάτεισιν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· ἄλλοτε γὰρ ἄλλη δέχεται
τὰ τοιαῦτα χώρα πρὸς τὸ μήτε τὴν γένεσιν ἐπιλείπειν μήτε τοῦ συνήθους ποτὲ
τὸν θεὸν ἔλαττον ἢ πλέον εὖ ποιῆσαι τὸν παθητὸν κόσμον. ἡ γὰρ ταυτότης
ὥσπερ τῆς οὐσίας, οὕτω δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐνεργείας ἐν τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ πρό γε τῶν
ἄλλων παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων Ἡλίῳ, ὃς καὶ τὴν κίνησιν ἁπλουστάτην ὑπὲρ
ἅπαντας ποιεῖται τοὺς τῷ παντὶ [B] τὴν ἐναντίαν φερομένους· ὃ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸ
τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπεροχῆς αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ποιεῖται ὁ κλεινὸς
Ἀριστοτέλης· ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων νοερῶν θεῶν οὐκ ἀμυδραὶ καθήκουσιν
εἰς τὸν κόσμον τόνδε δυνάμεις. εἶτα τί τοῦτο; μὴ γὰρ ἀποκλείομεν τοὺς
ἄλλους τούτῳ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ὁμολογοῦντες δεδόσθαι; πολὺ δὲ πλέον ἐκ τῶν
ἐμφανῶν ἀξιοῦμεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀφανῶν πιστεύειν. ὥσπερ [C] γὰρ τὰς ἐνδιδομένας
ἅπασιν ἐκεῖθεν δυνάμεις εἰς τὴν γῆν οὗτος φαίνεται τελεσιουργῶν καὶ
συναρμόζων πρός τε ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὸ πᾶν, οὕτω δὴ νομιστέον καὶ ἐν τοῖς
ἀφανέσιν αὐτῶν τὰς συνουσίας ἔχειν πρὸς ἀλλήλας, ἡγεμόνα μὲν ἐκείνην,
συμφωνούσας δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν τὰς ἄλλας ἅμα. ἐπεὶ καί, εί μέσον ἔφαμεν ἐν
μέσοις ἱδρῦσθαι τὸν θεὸν τοῖς νοεροῖς θεοῖς, ποταπή τις ἡ μεσότης ἐστὶν ὧν
αὖ χρὴ μέσον αὐτὸν ὑπολαβεῖν, αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰπεῖν Ἥλιος δοίη.
(The region of the earth contains being in a state of becoming. Then who
endows it with imperishability? Is it not he(666) who keeps it all
together by means of definite limits? For that the nature of being should
be unlimited was not possible, since it is neither uncreated nor self‐
subsistent. And if from being something were generated absolutely without
ceasing and nothing were resolved back into it, the substance of things
generated would fail. Accordingly this god, moving in due measure, raises
up and stimulates this substance when he approaches it, and when he
departs to a distance he diminishes and destroys it; or rather he himself
continually revivifies it by giving it movement and flooding it with life.
And his departure and turning in the other direction is the cause of decay
for things that perish. Ever does his gift of blessings descend evenly
upon the earth. For now one country now another receives them, to the end
that becoming may not cease nor the god ever benefit less or more than is
his custom this changeful world. For sameness, as of being so also of
activity, exists among the gods, and above all the others in the case of
the King of the All, Helios; and he also makes the simplest movement of
all the heavenly bodies(667) that travel in a direction opposite to the
whole. In fact this is the very thing that the celebrated Aristotle makes
a proof of his superiority, compared with the others. Nevertheless from
the other intellectual gods also, forces clearly discernible descend to
this world. And now what does this mean? Are we not excluding the others
when we assert that the leadership has been assigned to Helios? Nay, far
rather do I think it right from the visible to have faith about the
invisible.(668) For even as this god is seen to complete and to adapt to
himself and to the universe the powers that are bestowed on the earth from
the other gods for all things, after the same fashion we must believe that
among the invisible gods also there is intercourse with one another; his
mode of intercourse being that of a leader, while the modes of intercourse
of the others are at the same time in harmony with his. For since we said
that the god is established midmost among the midmost intellectual gods,
may King Helios himself grant to us to tell what is the nature of that
middleness among things of which we must regard him as the middle.)
[D] Μεσότητα μὲν δή φαμεν οὐ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις θεωρουμένην ἴσον
ἀφεστῶσαν τῶν ἄκρων, οἷον ἐπὶ χρωμάτων τὸ ξανθὸν ἢ φαιόν, ἐπὶ δὲ θερμοῦ
καὶ ψυχροῦ τὸ χλιαρόν, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑνωτικὴν καὶ συνάγουσαν
τὰ διεστῶτα, ὁποίαν τινά φησιν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τὴν ἁρμονίαν ἐξορίζων αὐτῆς
παντελῶς τὸ νεῖκος. τίνα οὖν ἐστιν, ἃ συνάγει, καὶ τίνων ἐστὶ μέσος; φημὶ
δὴ οὖν ὅτι τῶν τε ἐμφανῶν καὶ περικοσμίων θεῶν καὶ τῶν ἀύλων καὶ νοητῶν,
[139] οἳ περὶ τἀγαθόν εἰσιν, ὥσπερ πολυπλασιαζομένης ἀπαθῶς καὶ ἄνευ
προσθήκης τῆς νοητῆς καὶ θείας οὐσίας. ὡς μὲν οὖν ἐστι μέση τις, οὐκ ἀπὸ
τῶν ἄκρων κραθεῖσα, τελεία δὲ καὶ ἀμιγὴς ἀφ᾽ ὅλων τῶν θεῶν ἐμφανῶν τε καὶ
ἀφανῶν καὶ αἰσθητῶν καὶ νοητῶν ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἡλίου νοερὰ καὶ πάνκαλος
οὐσία, καὶ ὁποίαν τινὰ χρὴ τὴν μεσότητα νομίζειν, εἴρηται. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ
τοῖς καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐπεξελθεῖν, ἵν᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ κατ᾽ εἴδη τὸ μέσον τῆς οὐσίας,
ὅπως ἔχει πρός τε τὰ πρῶτα καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα,(669) [B] τῷ νῷ κατίδωμεν, εἰ
καὶ μὴ πάντα διελθεῖν ῥᾴδιον, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν τὰ δυνατὰ φράσαι πειραθῶμεν.
(Now “middleness”(670) we define not as that mean which in opposites is
seen to be equally remote from the extremes, as, for instance, in colours,
tawny or dusky, and warm in the case of hot and cold, and the like, but
that which unifies and links together what is separate; for instance the
sort of thing that Empedocles(671) means by Harmony when from it he
altogether eliminates Strife. And now what does Helios link together, and
of what is he the middle? I assert then that he is midway between the
visible gods who surround the universe and the immaterial and intelligible
gods who surround the Good—for the intelligible and divine substance is as
it were multiplied without external influence and without addition. For
that the intellectual and wholly beautiful substance of King Helios is
middle in the sense of being unmixed with extremes, complete in itself,
and distinct from the whole number of the gods, visible and invisible,
both those perceptible by sense and those which are intelligible only, I
have already declared, and also in what sense we must conceive of his
middleness. But if I must also describe these things one by one, in order
that we may discern with our intelligence how his intermediary nature, in
its various forms, is related both to the highest and the lowest, even
though it is not easy to recount it all, yet let me try to say what can be
said.)
Ἓν παντελῶς τὸ νοητὸν ἀεὶ προüπάρχον, τὰ(672) δὲ πάντα ὁμοῦ συνειληφὸς ἐν
τῷ ἑνί. τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ ὁ σύμπας κόσμος ἕν ἐστι ζῷον ὅλον δι᾽ ὅλου ψυχῆς
καὶ νοῦ πλῆρες, τέλειον ἐκ μερῶν τελείων;(673) ταύτης οὖν τῆς διπλῆς
ἑνοειδοῦς τελειότητος· φημὶ δὲ τῆς ἐν τῷ νοητῷ πάντα ἐν ἑνὶ συνεχούσης,
καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν κόσμον [C] εἰς μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν φύσιν τελείαν
συναγομένης ἑνώσεως· ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἡλίου μέση τελειότης ἑνοειδής ἐστιν,
ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς ἱδρυμένη θεοῖς. ἀλλὰ δὴ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο συνοχή τίς ἐστιν ἐν
τῷ νοητῷ τῶν θεῶν κόσμῳ πάντα πρὸς τὸ ἓν συντάττουσα. τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ περὶ
τὸν οὐρανὸν φαίνεται κύκλῳ πορευομένη τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος οὐσία,(674) ἣ
πάντα συνέχει τὰ μέρη καὶ σφίγγει πρὸς αὑτὰ συνέχουσα τὸ φύσει σκεδαστὸν
αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπορρέον ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων; δύο δὴ ταύτας τὰς(675) οὐσίας συνοχῆς
αἰτίας, τὴν μὲν ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς, [D] τὴν δὲ ἐν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς φαινομένην ὁ
βασιλεὺς Ἥλιος εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάπτει, τῆς μὲν μιμούμενος τὴν συνεκτικὴν
δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς, ἅτε ἐξ αὐτῆς προελθών, τῆς δὲ τελευταίας
προκατάρχων, ἣ περὶ τὸν ἐμφανῆ θεωρεῖται κόσμον. μή ποτε οὖν καὶ τὸ
αὐθυπόστατον πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς ὑπάρχον, τελευταῖον δ᾽ [140] ἐν
τοῖς κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν φαινομένοις μέσην ἔχει τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως οὐσίαν
αὐθυπόστατον Ἡλίου, ἀφ᾽ ἧς κάτεισιν οἰσίας πρωτουργοῦ εἰς τὸν ἐμφανῆ
κόσμον ἡ περιλάμπουσα τὰ σύμπαντα αὐγή; πάλιν δὲ κατ᾽ ἄλλο σκοποῦντι εἷς
μὲν ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργός, πολλοὶ δὲ οἱ κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν περιπολοῦντες
δημιουργικοὶ θεοί. μέσην ἄρα καὶ τούτων τὴν ἀφ᾽ Ἡλίου καθήκουσαν εἰς τὸν
κόσμον δημιουργίαν θετέον. [B] ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ γόνιμον τῆς ζωῆς πολὺ μὲν καὶ
ὑπέρπληρες ἐν τῷ νοητῷ, φαίνεται δὲ ζωῆς γονίμου καὶ ὁ κόσμος ὢν πλήρης.
πρόδηλον οὖν ὅτι καὶ τὸ γόνιμον τοῦ βασιλέως Ἡλίου τῆς ζωῆς μέσον ἐστὶν
ἀμφοῖν, ἐπεὶ τούτῳ μαρτυρεῖ καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα· τὰ μὲν γὰρ τελειοῖ τῶν
εἰδῶν, τὰ δὲ ἐργάζεται, τὰ δὲ κοσμεῖ, τὰ δὲ ἀνεγείρει, καὶ ἓν οὐδέν ἐστιν,
ὃ δίχα τῆς ἀφ᾽ Ἡλίου δημιουργικῆς δυνάμεως εἰς φῶς πρόεισι [C] καὶ
γένεσιν. ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις εἰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς ἄχραντον καὶ καθαρὰν
ἄυλον οὐσίαν νοήσαιμεν, οὐδενὸς ἔξωθεν αὐτῇ προσιόντος οὐδὲ ἐνυπάρχοντος
ἀλλοτρίου, πλήρη δὲ τῆς οἰκείας ἀχράντου καθαρότητος, τήν τε ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ
περὶ τὸ κύκλῳ φερόμενον σῶμα πρὸς πάντα ἀμιγῆ τὰ στοιχεῖα λίαν εἰλικρινῆ
καὶ καθαρὰν φύσιν ἀχράντου καὶ δαιμονίου σώματος, ἑυρήσομεν καὶ τὴν τοῦ
βασιλέως [D] Ἡλίου λαμπρὰν καὶ ἀκήρατον οὐσίαν ἀμφοῖν μέσην, τῆς τε ἐν
τοῖς νοητοῖς ἀύλου καθαρότητος καὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ἀχράντου καὶ
ἀμιγοῦς πρὸς γένεσιν καὶ φθορὰν καθαρᾶς εἰλικρινείας. μέγιστον δὲ τούτου
τεκμήριον, ὅτι μηδὲ τὸ φῶς, ὃ μάλιστα ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ γῆν φέρεται, συμμίγνυταί
τινι μηδὲ ἀναδέχεται ῥύπον καὶ μίασμα, μένει δὲ πάντως ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν
ἄχραντον καὶ ἀμόλυντον καὶ ἀπαθές.
(Wholly one is the intelligible world, pre‐existent from all time, and it
combines all things together in the One. Again is not our whole world also
one complete living organism, wholly throughout the whole of it full of
soul and intelligence, “perfect, with all its parts perfect”? Midway then
between this uniform two‐fold perfection—I mean that one kind of unity
holds together in one all that exists in the intelligible world, while the
other kind of unity unites in the visible world all things into one and
the same perfect nature—between these, I say, is the uniform perfection of
King Helios, established among the intellectual gods. There is, however,
next in order, a sort of binding force in the intelligible world of the
gods, which orders all things into one. Again is there not visible in the
heavens also, travelling in its orbit, the nature of the Fifth Substance,
which links and compresses(676) together all the parts, holding together
things that by nature are prone to scatter and to fall away from one
another? These existences, therefore, which are two causes of connection,
one in the intelligible world, while the other appears in the world of
sense‐perception, King Helios combines into one, imitating the synthetic
power of the former among the intellectual gods, seeing that he proceeds
from it, and subsisting prior to the latter which is seen in the visible
world. Then must not the unconditioned also, which exists primarily in the
intelligible world, and finally among the visible bodies in the heavens,
possess midway between these two the unconditioned substance of King
Helios, and from that primary creative substance do not the rays of his
light, illumining all things, descend to the visible world? Again, to take
another point of view, the creator of the whole is one, but many are the
creative gods(677) who revolve in the heavens. Midmost therefore of these
also we must place the creative activity which descends into the world
from Helios. But also the power of generating life is abundant and
overflowing in the intelligible world; and our world also appears to be
full of generative life. It is therefore evident that the life‐generating
power of King Helios also is midway between both the worlds: and the
phenomena of our world also bear witness to this. For some forms he
perfects, others he makes, or adorns, or wakes to life, and there is no
single thing which, apart from the creative power derived from Helios, can
come to light and to birth. And further, besides this, if we should
comprehend the pure and undefiled and immaterial substance(678) among the
intelligible gods—to which nothing external is added, nor has any alien
thing a place therein, but it is filled with its own unstained purity—and
if we should comprehend also the pure and unmixed nature of unstained and
divine substance, whose elements are wholly unmixed, and which, in the
visible universe, surrounds the substance that revolves,(679) here also we
should discover the radiant and stainless substance of King Helios, midway
between the two; that is to say, midway between the immaterial purity that
exists among the intelligible gods, and that perfect purity, unstained and
free from birth and death, that exists in the world which we can perceive.
And the greatest proof of this is that not even the light which comes down
nearest to the earth from the sun is mixed with anything, nor does it
admit dirt and defilement, but remains wholly pure and without stain and
free from external influences among all existing things.)
Ἔτι δὲ προσεκτέον τοῖς ἀύλοις εἴδεσι καὶ νοητοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς,
ὅσα περὶ τὴν ὕλην ἐστὶν [141] ἢ περὶ τὸ ὑποκείμενον. ἀναφανήσεται πάλιν
ἐνταῦθα μέσον τὸ νοερὸν τῶν περὶ τὸν μέγαν Ἥλιον εἰδῶν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν καὶ τὰ περὶ
τὴν ὕλην εἴδη βοηθεῖται μήποτε ἂν δυνηθέντα μήτε εἶναι μήτε σώζεσθαι μὴ
παρ᾽ ἐκείνου πρὸς τὴν οὐσίαν συνεργούμενα. τί γάρ; οὐχ οὗτος ἐστι τῆς
διακρίσεως τῶν εἰδῶν καὶ συγκρίσεως τῆς ὕλης αἴτιος, οὐ νοεῖν ἡμῖν αὑτὸν
μόνον παρέχων, ἁλλὰ καὶ ὁρᾶν ὄμμασιν; ἡ γάρ τοι τῶν ἀκτίνων εἰς πάντα τὸν
κόσμον διανομὴ καὶ ἡ τοῦ φωτὸς ἕνωσις [B] τὴν δημιουργικὴν ἐνδείκνυται
διάκρισιν τῆς ποιήσεως.
(But we must go on to consider the immaterial and intelligible forms,(680)
and also those visible forms which are united with matter or the
substratum. Here again, the intellectual will be found to be midmost among
the forms that surround mighty Helios, by which forms in their turn the
material forms are aided; for they never could have existed or been
preserved, had they not been brought, by his aid, into connection with
being. For consider: is not he the cause of the separation of the forms,
and of the combination of matter, in that he not only permits us to
comprehend his very self, but also to behold him with our eyes? For the
distribution of his rays over the whole universe, and the unifying power
of his light, prove him to be the master workman who gives an individual
existence to everything that is created.)
Πολλῶν δὲ ὄντων ἔτι περὶ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν φαινομένων ἀγαθῶν, ἃ δὴ
ὅτι μέσος ἐστὶ τῶν τε νοητῶν καὶ τῶν ἐγκοσμίων θεῶν παρίστησιν, ἐπὶ τὴν
τελευταίαν αὐτοῦ μετίωμεν ἐμφανῆ λῆξιν. πρώτη μὲν οὖν ἐστιν αὐτοῦ τῶν περὶ
τὸν τελευταῖον κόσμον ἡ τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀγγέλων οἷον ἐν παραδείγματι τὴν ἰδέαν
καὶ τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἔχουσα· μετὰ ταύτην δὲ ἡ τῶν αἰσθητῶν γεννητική, [C] ἧς
τὸ μὲν τιμιώτερον οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀστέρων ἔχει τὴν αἰτίαν, τὸ δὲ ὑποδεέστερον
ἐπιτροπεύει τὴν γένεσιν, ἐξ ἀιδίου περιέχον αὐτῆς ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἀγέννητον
αἰτίαν. ἅπαντα μὲν οὖν τὰ περὶ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦδε διελθεῖν οὐδὲ εἴ
τῳ δοίη νοῆσαι αὐτὰ(681) ὁ θεὸς οὗτος δυνατόν, ὅπου καὶ τὰ πάντα
περιλαβεῖν τῷ νῷ ἔμοιγε φαίνεται ἀδύνατον.
(Now though there are many more blessings connected with the substance of
the god and apparent to us, which show that he is midway between the
intelligible and the mundane gods(682) let us proceed to his last visible
province. His first province then in the last of the worlds is, as though
by way of a pattern, to give form and personality to the sun’s
angels.(683) Next is his province of generating the world of sense‐
perception, of which the more honourable part contains the cause of the
heavens and the heavenly bodies, while the inferior part guides this our
world of becoming, and from eternity contains in itself the uncreated
cause of that world. Now to describe all the properties of the substance
of this god, even though the god himself should grant one to comprehend
them, is impossible, seeing that even to grasp them all with the mind is,
in my opinion, beyond our power.)
Ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλὰ διεληλύθαμεν, ἐπιθετέον ὥσπερ σφραγῖδα τῷ λόγῳ τῷδε
μέλλοντας ἐφ᾽ ἕτερα μεταβαίνειν οὐκ ἐλάττονος [D] τῆς θεωρίας δεόμενα. τίς
οὖν ἡ σφραγὶς καὶ οἷον ἐν κεφαλαίῳ τὰ πάντα περιλαμβάνουσα ἡ περὶ τῆς
οὐσίας τοῦ θεοῦ νόησις, αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἐπὶ νοῦν θείη βουλομένοις ἐν βραχεῖ
συνελεῖν τήν τε αἰτίαν, ἀφ᾽ ἧς προῆλθε, καὶ αὐτὸς ὅστις ἐστί, τίνων τε
ἀποπληροῖ τὸν ἐμφανῆ κόσμον. ῥητέον οὖν ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς μὲν προῆλθε τοῦ θεοῦ
εἷς ἀφ᾽ ἑνὸς τοῦ νοητοῦ κόσμου βασιλεὺς Ἥλιος, [142] τῶν νοερῶν θεῶν μέσος
ἐν μέσοις τεταγμένος κατὰ παντοίαν μεσότητα, τὴν ὁμόφρονα καὶ φίλην καὶ τὰ
διεστῶτα συνάγουσαν, εἰς ἕνωσιν ἄγων τὰ τελευταῖα τοῖς πρώτοις,
τελειότητος καὶ συνοχῆς καὶ γονίμου ζωῆς καὶ τῆς ἑνοειδοῦς οὐσίας τὰ μέσα
ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ, τῷ τε αἰσθητῷ κόσμῳ παντοίων ἀγαθῶν προηγούμενος,(684) οὐ
μόνον δι᾽ ἧς αὐτὸς αὐγῆς περιλάμπει κοσμῶν καὶ φαιδρύνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν
οὐσίαν τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀγγέλων(685) ἑαυτῷ συνυποστήσας καὶ τὴν ἀγέννητον
αἰτίαν [B] τῶν γινομένων περιέχων, ἔτι τε πρὸ ταύτης τῶν ἀιδίων σωμάτων
τὴν ἀγήρω καὶ μόνιμον τῆς ζωῆς αἰτίαν.
(But since I have already described many of them, I must set a seal, as it
were, on this discourse, now that I am about to pass to other subjects
that demand no less investigation. What then that seal is, and what is the
knowledge of the god’s substance that embraces all these questions, and as
it were sums them up under one head, may he himself suggest to my mind,
since I desire to describe in a brief summary both the cause from which he
proceeded, and his own nature, and those blessings with which he fills the
visible world. This then we must declare, that King Helios is One and
proceeds from one god, even from the intelligible world which is itself
One; and that he is midmost of the intellectual gods, stationed in their
midst by every kind of mediateness that is harmonious and friendly, and
that joins what is sundered; and that he brings together into one the last
and the first, having in his own person the means of completeness, of
connection, of generative life and of uniform being: and that for the
world which we can perceive he initiates blessings of all sorts, not only
by means of the light with which he illumines it, adorning it and giving
it its splendour, but also because he calls into existence, along with
himself, the substance of the Sun’s angels; and that finally in himself he
comprehends the ungenerated cause of things generated, and further, and
prior to this, the ageless and abiding cause of the life of the
imperishable bodies.(686))
Ἃ μὲν οὖν περὶ τῆς οὐσίας ἐχρῆν εἰπεῖν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦδε, καίτοι τῶν πλείστων
παραλειφθέντων, εἴρηται ὅμως οὐκ ὀλίγα· ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ τῶν δυνάμεων αὐτοῦ
πλῆθος καὶ τὸ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν κάλλος τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὥστε εἶναι τῶν περὶ τὴν
οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ θεωρουμένων ὑπερβολήν, ἐπεὶ καὶ πέφυκε τὰ θεῖα προϊόντα εἰς
τὸ ἐμφανὲς πληθύνεσθαι διὰ τὸ περιὸν καὶ γόνιμον τῆς ζωῆς, ὅρα τί
δράσομεν, [C] οἳ πρὸς ἀχανὲς πέλαγος ἀποδυόμεθα, μόγις καὶ ἀγαπητῶς ἐκ
πολλοῦ τοῦ πρόσθεν ἀναπαυόμενοι λόγου. τολμητέον δ᾽ ὅμως τῷ θεῷ θαρροῦντα
καὶ πειρατέον ἅψασθαι τοῦ λόγου.
(Now as for what it was right to say about the substance of this god,
though the greater part has been omitted, nevertheless much has been said.
But since the multitude of his powers and the beauty of his activities is
so great that we shall now exceed the limit of what we observed about his
substance,—for it is natural that when divine things come forth into the
region of the visible they should be multiplied, in virtue of the
superabundance of life and life‐generating power in them,—consider what I
have to do. For now I must strip for a plunge into this fathomless sea,
though I have barely, and as best I might, taken breath, after the first
part of this discourse. Venture I must, nevertheless, and putting my trust
in the god endeavour to handle the theme.)