multitude of gods who have been recognised as such by those who survey the
heavens, not casually, nor like cattle. For as he divides the three
spheres by four through the zodiac,(724) which is associated with every
one of the three, so he divides the zodiac also into twelve divine powers;
and again he divides every one of these twelve by three, so as to make
thirty‐six gods in(725) all. Hence, as I believe, there descends from
above, from the heavens to us, a three‐fold gift of the Graces: I mean
from the spheres, for this god, by thus dividing them by four, sends to us
the fourfold glory of the seasons, which express the changes of time. And
indeed on our earth the Graces imitate a circle(726) in their statues. And
it is Dionysus who is the giver of the Graces, and in this very connection
he is said to reign with Helios. Why should I go on to speak to you of
Horus(727) and of the other names of gods, which all belong to Helios? For
from his works men have learned to know this god, who makes the whole
heavens perfect through the gift of intellectual blessings, and gives it a
share of intelligible beauty; and taking the heavens as their starting‐
point, they have learned to know him both as a whole and his parts also,
from his abundant bestowal of good gifts. For he exercises control over
all movement, even to the lowest plane of the universe. And everywhere he
makes all things perfect, nature and soul and everything that exists. And
marshalling together this great army of the gods into a single commanding
unity, he handed it over to Athene Pronoia(728) who, as the legend says,
sprang from the head of Zeus, but I say that she was sent forth from
Helios whole from the whole of him, being contained within him; though I
disagree with the legend only so far as I assert that she came forth not
from his highest part, but whole from the whole of him. For in other
respects, since I believe that Zeus is in no wise different from Helios, I
agree with that ancient tradition. And in using this very phrase Athene
Pronoia, I am not innovating, if I rightly understand the words:)
Ἵκετο δ᾽ ἐς Πυθῶνα καὶ ἐς Γλαυκῶπα Προνοίην.
(“He came to Pytho and to grey‐eyed Pronoia.”(729))
[C] οὕτως ἄρα καὶ τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἐφαίνετο Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόνοια σύνθρονος Ἀπόλλωνι
τῷ νομιζομένῳ μηδὲν Ἡλίου διαφέρειν. μή ποτε οὖν καὶ θείᾳ μοίρᾳ τοῦτο
Ὅμηρος· ἦν γάρ, ὡς εἰκός, θεόληπτος· ἀπεμαντεύσατο πολλαχοῦ τῆς ποιήσεως·
(This proves that the ancients also thought that Athene Pronoia shared the
throne of Apollo, who, as we believe, differs in no way from Helios.
Indeed, did not Homer by divine inspiration—for he was, we may suppose,
possessed by a god—reveal this truth, when he says often in his poems:)
Τιοίμην δ᾽ ὡς τίετ᾽ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Ἀπόλλων,(730)
(“May I be honoured even as Athene and Apollo were honoured”)
ὑπὸ Διὸς δήπουθεν, ὅσπερ ἐστὶν ὁ αὐτὸς Ἡλίῳ; καθάπερ δ᾽(731) ὁ βασιλεὺς
Ἀπόλλων ἐπικοινωνεῖ διὰ τῆς ἁπλότητος τῶν νοήσεων Ἡλίῳ, οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὴν
Ἀθηνᾶν [D] νομιστέον ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ παραδεξαμένην τὴν οὐσίαν οὖσάν τε αὐτοῦ
τελείαν νόησιν συνάπτειν μὲν τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἥλιον θεοὺς αὖ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν
ὅλων Ἡλίῳ δίχα συγχύσεως εἰς ἕνωσιν, αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν ἄχραντον καὶ καθαρὰν
ζωὴν ἁπ᾽ ἅκρας ἁψῖδος οὐρανοῦ διὰ τῶν ἑπτὰ κύκλων ἄχρι τῆς Σελήνης [150]
νέμουσαν ἐποχετεύειν, ἣν ἡ θεὸς ἥδε τῶν κυκλικῶν οὖσαν σωμάτων ἐσχάτην
ἐπλήρωσε τῆς φρονήσεως, ὑφ᾽ ἧς ἡ Σελήνη τά τε ὑπὲρ τὸν οὐρανὸν θεωρεῖ
νοητὰ καὶ τὰ ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὴν κοσμοῦσα τὴν ὕλην τοῖς εἴδεσιν ἀναιρεῖ τὸ θηριῶδες
αὐτῆς καὶ ταραχῶδες καὶ ἄτακτον. ἀνθρώποις δὲ ἀγαθὰ δίδωσιν Ἀθηνᾶ σοφίαν
τό(732) τε νοεῖν καὶ τὰς δημιουργικὰς τέχνας. κατοικεῖ δὲ τὰς ἀκροπόλεις
αὕτη δήπουθεν καταστησαμένη τὴν πολιτικὴν διὰ σοφίας κοινωνίαν. [B] ὀλίγα
ἔτι περὶ Ἀφροδίτης, ἣν συνεφάπτεσθαι τῆς δημιουργίας τῷ θεῷ Φοινίκων
ὁμολογοῦσιν οἱ λόγιοι, καὶ ἐγὼ πείθομαι. ἔστι δὴ οὖν αὕτη σύγκρασις τῶν
οὐρανίων θεῶν, καὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας αὐτῶν ἔτι φιλία καὶ ἕνωσις. Ἡλίου γὰρ
ἐγγὺς οὖσα καὶ συμπεριθέουσα καὶ πλησιάζουσα πληροῖ μὲν τὸν οὐρανὸν
εὐκρασίας, ἐνδίδωσι δὲ τὸ γόνιμον τῇ γῇ, προμηθουμένη καὶ αὐτὴ τῆς
ἀειγενεσίας τῶν ζῴων, ἧς ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς Ἥλιος ἔχει τὴν πρωτουργὸν αἰτίαν,
ἀφροδίτη δὲ αὐτῷ συναίτιος, [C] ἡ θέλγουσα μὲν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν σὺν
εὐφροσύνῃ, καταπέμπουσα δὲ εἰς γῆν ἐξ αἰθέρος αὐγὰς ἡδίστας καὶ ἀκηράτους
αὐτοῦ τοῦ χρυσίου στιλπνοτέρας. ἔτι ἐπιμετρῆσαι(733) βούλομαι τῆς Φοινίκων
θεολογίας· εἰ δὲ μὴ μάτην, ὁ λόγος προïὼν δείξει. οἱ τὴν Ἔμεσαν(734)
οἰκοῦντες, ἱερὸν ἐξ αἰῶνος Ἡλίου χωρίον, Μόνιμον αὐτῷ καὶ Ἄζιζον
συγκαθιδρύουσιν. [D] αἰνίττεσθαί φησιν Ἰάμβλιχος, παρ᾽ οὗ καὶ τᾶλλα πάντα
ἐκ πολλῶν μικρὰ ἐλάβομεν, ὡς ὁ Μόνιμος μὲν Ἑρμῆς εἴη, Ἄζιζος δὲ Ἄρης,
Ἡλίου πάρεδροι, πολλὰ καὶ ἀγαθὰ τῷ περὶ γῆν ἐποχετεύοντες τόπῳ.
(—by Zeus, that is to say, who is identical with Helios? And just as King
Apollo, through the singleness of his thoughts, is associated with Helios,
so also we must believe that Athene(735) has received her nature from
Helios, and that she is his intelligence in perfect form: and so she binds
together the gods who are assembled about Helios and brings them without
confusion into unity with Helios, the King of the All: and she distributes
and is the channel for stainless and pure life throughout the seven
spheres, from the highest vault of the heavens as far as Selene the
Moon:(736) for Selene is the last of the heavenly spheres which Athene
fills with wisdom: and by her aid Selene beholds the intelligible which is
higher than the heavens, and adorns with its forms the realm of matter
that lies below her, and thus she does away with its savagery and
confusion and disorder. Moreover to mankind Athene gives the blessings of
wisdom and intelligence and the creative arts. And surely she dwells in
the capitols of cities because, through her wisdom, she has established
the community of the state. I have still to say a few words about
Aphrodite, who, as the wise men among the Phoenicians affirm, and as I
believe, assists Helios in his creative function. She is, in very truth, a
synthesis of the heavenly gods, and in their harmony she is the spirit of
love and unity.(737) For she(738) is very near to Helios, and when she
pursues the same course as he and approaches him, she fills the skies with
fair weather and gives generative power to the earth: for she herself
takes thought for the continuous birth of living things. And though of
that continuous birth King Helios is the primary creative cause, yet
Aphrodite is the joint cause with him, she who enchants our souls with her
charm and sends down to earth from the upper air rays of light most sweet
and stainless, aye, more lustrous than gold itself. I desire to mete out
to you still more of the theology of the Phoenicians, and whether it be to
some purpose my argument as it proceeds will show. The inhabitants of
Emesa,(739) a place from time immemorial sacred to Helios, associate with
Helios in their temples Monimos and Azizos.(740) Iamblichus, from whom I
have taken this and all besides, a little from a great store, says that
the secret meaning to be interpreted is that Monimos is Hermes and Azizos
Ares, the assessors of Helios, who are the channel for many blessings to
the region of our earth.)
Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ τοιαῦτά ἐστι, καὶ διὰ τούτων
ἐπιτελούμενα μέχρι τῶν τῆς γῆς προήκει τελευταίων ὅρων· ὅσα δὲ ὑπὸ τὴν
Σελήνην ἐργάζεται, μακρὸν ἂν εἴη τὰ πάντα ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι. πλὴν ὡς ἐν
κεφαλαίῳ καὶ ταῦτα ῥητέον. [151] οἶδα μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε καὶ πρότερον
μνημονεύσας, ὁπηνίκα ἠξίουν ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων τὰ ἀφανῆ περὶ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ
σκοπεῖν οὐσίας, ὁ λόγος δὲ ἀπαιτεῖ με καὶ νῦν ἐν τάξει περὶ αὐτῶν δηλῶσαι.
(Such then are the works of Helios in the heavens, and, when completed by
means of the gods whom I have named, they reach even unto the furthest
bounds of the earth. But to tell the number of all his works in the region
below the moon would take too long. Nevertheless I must describe them also
in a brief summary. Now I am aware that I mentioned them earlier when I
claimed(741) that from things visible we could observe the invisible
properties of the god’s substance, but the argument demands that I should
expound them now also, in their proper order.)
Καθάπερ οὖν ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς ἔχειν ἔφαμεν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν Ἥλιον, πολὺ περὶ
τὴν ἀμέριστον οὐσίαν ἑαυτοῦ πλῆθος ἑνοειδῶς ἔχοντα τῶν θεῶν, ἔτι δὲ ἐν
τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς, [B] ἃ δὴ τὴν κύκλῳ διαιωνίαν πορεύεται μάλα εὐδαίμονα
πορείαν, ἀπεδείκνυμεν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ κύριον, ἐνδιδόντα μὲν τὸ γόνιμον τῇ
φύσει,(742) πληροῦντα δὲ τὸν ὅλον οὐρανὸν ὥσπερ τῆς φαινομένης αὐγῆς οὕτω
δὲ καὶ μυρίων ἀγαθῶν ἀφανῶν ἄλλων, τελειούμενα δὲ ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν
ἄλλων ἐμφανῶν θεῶν ἀγαθὰ χορηγούμενα, καὶ πρό γε τούτων αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους
ὑπὸ τῆς ἀπορρήτου καὶ θείας αὐτοῦ τελειουμένους ἐνεργείας· οὕτω δὲ καὶ
περὶ τὸν ἐν γενέσει τόπον θεούς τινας ἐπιβεβηκέναι νομιστέον [C] ὑπὸ τοῦ
βασιλέως Ἡλίου συνεχομένουσ, οἳ τὴν τετραπλῆν τῶν στοιχείων κυβερνῶντες
φύσιν, περὶ ἃς ἐστήρικται ταῦτα ψυχὰς μετὰ τῶν τριῶν κρειττόνων ἐνοικοῦσι
γενῶν. αὐταῖς δὲ ταῖς μερισταῖς ψυχαῖς ὅσων ἀγαθῶν ἐστιν αἴτιος, κρίσιν τε
αὐταῖς προτείνων καὶ δίκῃ κατευθύνων καὶ ἀποκαθαίρων λαμπρότητι; τὴν ὅλην
δὲ οὐχ οὗτος φύσιν, ἐνδιδοὺς ἄνωθεν αὐτῇ τὸ γόνιμον, κινεῖ καὶ ἀναζωπυρεῖ;
ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς μερισταῖς φύσεσιν [D] οὐ τῆς εἰς τέλος πορείας οὗτος ἐστιν
ἀληθῶς αἴτιος; ἄνθρωπον γὰρ ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπου γεννᾶσθαί φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ
ἡλίου.(743) ταὐτὸν δὴ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, ὅσα τῶν μεριστῶν ἐστι
φύσεων ἔργα, περὶ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἡλίου προσήκει διανοεῖσθαι. τί δέ; οὐχ ἡμῖν
ὄμβρους καὶ ἀνέμους καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς μεταρσίοις γινόμενα τῷ διττῷ τῆς
ἀναθυμιάσεως οἷον ὕλῃ χρώμενος ὁ θεὸς οὗτος ἐργάζεται; [152] θερμαίνων γὰρ
τὴν γῆν ἀτμίδα καὶ καπνὸν ἕλκει, γίνεται δὲ ἐκ τούτων οὐ τὰ μετάρσια
μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσα ἐπὶ γῆς πάθη, σμικρὰ καὶ μεγάλα.
(I said then that Helios holds sway among the intellectual gods in that he
unites into one, about his own undivided substance, a great multitude of
the gods: and further, I demonstrated that among the gods whom we can
perceive, who revolve eternally in their most blessed path, he is leader
and lord; since he bestows on their nature its generative power, and fills
the whole heavens not only with visible rays of light but with countless
other blessings that are invisible; and, further, that the blessings which
are abundantly supplied by the other visible gods are made perfect by him,
and that even prior to this the visible gods themselves are made perfect
by his unspeakable and divine activity. In the same manner we must believe
that on this our world of generation certain gods have alighted who are
linked together with Helios: and these gods guide the four‐fold nature of
the elements, and inhabit, together with the three higher races,(744)
those souls which are upborne by the elements. But for the divided
souls(745) also, of how many blessings is he the cause! For he extends to
them the faculty of judging, and guides them with justice, and purifies
them by his brilliant light. Again, does he not set in motion the whole of
nature and kindle life therein, by bestowing on it generative power from
on high? But for the divided natures also, is not he the cause that they
journey to their appointed end?(746) For Aristotle says that man is
begotten by man and the sun together. Accordingly the same theory about
King Helios must surely apply to all the other activities of the divided
souls. Again, does he not produce for us rain and wind and the clouds in
the skies, by employing, as though it were matter, the two kinds of
vapour? For when he heats the earth he draws up steam and smoke, and from
these there arise not only the clouds but also all the physical changes on
our earth, both great and small.)
Τί οὖν περὶ(747) τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπέξειμι μακρότερα, ἐξὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πέρας ἤδη
βαδίζειν ὑμνήσαντα πρότερον ὅσα ἔδωκεν ἀνθρώποις Ἥλιος ἀγαθά; γινόμενοι
γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τρεφόμεθα παρ᾽ ἐκείνου. [B] τὰ μὲν οὖν θειότερα καὶ ὅσα ταῖς
ψυχαῖς δίδωσιν ἀπολύων αὐτὰς τοῦ σώματος, εἶτα ἐπανάγων ἐπὶ τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ
συγγενεῖς οὐσίας, καὶ τὸ λεπτὸν καὶ εὔτονον τῆς θείας αὐγῆς οἷον ὄχημα τῆς
εἰς τὴν γένεσιν ἀσφαλοῦς διδόμενον καθόδου ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμνείσθω τε ἄλλοις
ἀξίως καὶ ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν πιστευέσθω μᾶλλον ἢ δεικνύσθω· τὰ δὲ ὅσα γνώριμα πέφυκε
τοῖς πᾶσιν οὐκ ὀκνητέον ἐπεξελθεῖν. οὐρανόν φησι Πλάτων(748) ἡμῖν γενέσθαι
σοφίας διδάσκαλον. ἐνθένδε γὰρ [C] ἀριθμοῦ κατενοήσαμεν φύσιν, ἧς τὸ
διαφέρον οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ διὰ τῆς ἡλίου περιόδου κατενοήσαμεν. φησί τοι καὶ
αὐτὸς Πλάτων ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα πρότερον. εἶτα ἐκ τοῦ φωτὸς τῆς σελήνης, ὃ
δὴ δίδοται τῇ θεῷ ταύτῃ παρ᾽ ἡλίου, μετὰ τοῦτο προήλθομεν ἐπὶ πλέον τῆς
τοιαύτης συνέσεως, ἁπανταχοῦ τῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τοῦτον στοχαζόμενοι
συμφωνίας. ὅπερ αὐτός πού φησιν,(749) ὡς ἄρα τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἐπίπονον ὂν
φύσει θεοὶ ἐλεήσαντες [D] ἔδωκαν ἡμῖν τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τὰς Μούσας
συγχορευτάς. ἐφάνη δὲ ἡμῖν Ἥλιος τούτων κοινὸς ἡγεμών, Διονύσου μὲν πατὴρ
ὑμνούμενος, ἡγεμῶν δὲ Μουσῶν. ὁ δὲ αὐτῷ συμβασιλεύων Ἀπόλλων οὐ πανταχοῦ
μὲν ἀνῆκε τῆς γῆς χρηστήρια, σοφίαν δὲ ἔδωκεν ἀνθρώποις ἔνθεον, ἐκόσμησε
δὲ ἱεροῖς καὶ πολιτικοῖς τὰς πόλεις θεσμοῖς; οὗτος ἡμέρωσε μὲν διὰ τῶν
Ἑλληνικῶν ἀποικιῶν τὰ πλεῖστα τῆς οἰκουμένης, παρεσκεύασε δὲ ῥᾷον
ὑπακοῦσαι Ῥωμαίοις ἔχουσι καὶ αὐτοῖς οὐ [153] γένος μόνον Ἑλληνικόν, ἀλλὰ
καὶ θεσμοὺς ἱεροὺς καὶ τὴν περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς εὐπιστίαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος
Ἑλληνικὴν καταστησαμένοις τε καὶ φυλάξασι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὸν περὶ
τὴν πόλιν κόσμον οὐδεμιᾶς τῶν ἄριστα πολιτευσαμένων πόλεων καταστησαμένοις
φαυλότερον, εἰ μὴ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπασῶν, ὅσαι γε ἐν χρήσει γεγόνασι
πολιτεῖαι, κρείσσονα· ἀνθ᾽ ὧν οἶμαι καὶ αὐτὸς ἔγνων τὴν πόλιν Ἑλληνίδα
γένος τε καὶ πολιτείαν.
(But why do I deal with the same questions at such length, when I am free
at last to come to my goal, though not till I have first celebrated all
the blessings that Helios has given to mankind? For from him are we born,
and by him are we nourished. But his more divine gifts, and all that he
bestows on our souls when he frees them from the body and then lifts them
up on high to the region of those substances that are akin to the god; and
the fineness and vigour of his divine rays, which are assigned as a sort
of vehicle for the safe descent of our souls into this world of
generation; all this, I say, let others celebrate in fitting strains, but
let me believe it rather than demonstrate its truth. However, I need not
hesitate to discuss so much as is known to all. Plato says that the sky is
our instructor in wisdom. For from its contemplation we have learned to
know the nature of number, whose distinguishing characteristics we know
only from the course of the sun. Plato himself says that day and night
were created first.(750) And next, from observing the moon’s light, which
was bestowed on the goddess by Helios, we later progressed still further
in the understanding of these matters: in every case conjecturing the
harmony of all things with this god. For Plato himself says somewhere that
our race was by nature doomed to toil, and so the gods pitied us and gave
us Dionysus and the Muses as playfellows. And we recognised that Helios is
their common lord, since he is celebrated as the father of Dionysus and
the leader of the Muses. And has not Apollo, who is his colleague in
empire, set up oracles in every part of the earth, and given to men
inspired wisdom, and regulated their cities by means of religious and
political ordinances? And he has civilised the greater part of the world
by means of Greek colonies, and so made it easier for the world to be
governed by the Romans. For the Romans themselves not only belong to the
Greek race, but also the sacred ordinances and the pious belief in the
gods which they have established and maintain are, from beginning to end,
Greek. And beside this they have established a constitution not inferior
to that of any one of the best governed states, if indeed it be not
superior to all others that have ever been put into practice. For which
reason I myself recognise that our city is Greek, both in descent and as
to its constitution.)
[B] Τί ἔτι σοι λέγω, πῶς τῆς ὑγιείας καὶ σωτηρίας πάντων προυνόησε τὸν
σωτῆρα τῶν ὅλων ἀπογεννήσας Ἀσκληπιόν, ὅπως δὲ ἀρετὴν ἔδωκε παντοίαν
Ἀφροδίτην Ἀθηνᾷ συγκαταπέμψας ἡμῖν, κηδεμόνα μόνον οὐχὶ νόμον θέμενος,
πρὸς μηδὲν ἕτερον χρῆσθαι τῇ μίξει ἢ πρὸς τὴν γέννησιν(751) τοῦ ὁμοίου;
διά τοι τοῦτο καὶ κατὰ τὰς περιόδους αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ φυόμενα καὶ τὰ
παντοδαπῶν ζῴων φῦλα κινεῖται [C] πρὸς ἀπογέννησιν τοῦ ὁμοίου. τί χρὴ τὰς
ἀκτῖνας αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ φῶς σεμνῦναι; νὺξ γοῦν ἀσέληνός τε καὶ ἄναστρος ὅπως
ἐστὶ φοβερά, ἆρα ἐννοεῖ τις, ἵν᾽ ἐντεῦθεν, ὁπόσον ἔχομεν ἀγαθὸν ἐξ ἡλίου
τὸ φῶς, τεκμήρηται; τοῦτο δὲ αὐτὸ συνεχὲς παρέχων καὶ ἀμεσολάβητον νυκτὶ
ἐν οἷς χρὴ τόποις ἀπὸ τῆς σελήνης τοῖς ἄνω, ἐκεχειρίαν ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς νυκτὸς
τῶν πόνων δίδωσιν. οὐδὲν ἂν γένοιτο πέρας τοῦ λόγου, εἰ πάντα ἐπεξιέναι
[D] τις ἐθελήσειε τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἓν γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀγαθὸν κατὰ τὸν βίον, ὃ
μὴ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦδε λαβόντες ἔχομεν, ἤτοι παρὰ μόνου τέλειον, ἢ διὰ τῶν
ἄλλων θεῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τελειούμενον.
(Shall I now go on to tell you how Helios took thought for the health and
safety of all men by begetting Asclepios(752) to be the saviour of the
whole world? and how he bestowed on us every kind of excellence by sending
down to us Aphrodite together with Athene, and thus laid down for our
protection what is almost a law, that we should only unite to beget our
kind? Surely it is for this reason that, in agreement with the course of
the sun, all plants and all the tribes of living things are aroused to
bring forth their kind. What need is there for me to glorify his beams and
his light? For surely everyone knows how terrible is night without a moon
or stars, so that from this he can calculate how great a boon for us is
the light of the sun? And this very light he supplies at night, without
ceasing, and directly, from the moon in those upper spaces where it is
needed, while he grants us through the night a truce from toil. But there
would be no limit to the account if one should endeavour to describe all
his gifts of this sort. For there is no single blessing in our lives which
we do not receive as a gift from this god, either perfect from him alone,
or, through the other gods, perfected by him.)
Ἡμῖν δέ ἐστιν ἐρχηγὸς καὶ τῆς πόλεως. οἰκεῖ γοῦν αὐτῆς οὐ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν
μόνον μετὰ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Ἀφροδίτης Ζεὺς ὁ πάντων πατὴρ ὑμνούμενος, ἀλλὰ
καὶ Ἀπόλλων ἐπὶ τῷ Παλλαντίῳ λόφῳ καὶ Ἥλιος αὐτὸς τοῦτο τὸ(753) κοινὸν
ὄνομα πᾶσι καὶ γνώριμον. [154] ὅπως δὲ αὐτῷ πάντη καὶ πάντα προσήκομεν οἱ
Ῥωμυλίδαι τε καὶ Αἰνεάδαι, πολλὰ ἔχων εἰπεῖν ἐρῶ βραχέα τὰ γνωριμώτατα.
γέγονε, φασίν, ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης Αἰνείας, ἥπερ ἐστὶν ὑπουργὸς Ἡλίῳ καὶ
συγγενής. αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν κτίστην ἡμῶν τῆς πόλεως Ἄρεως ἡ φήμη παρέδωκε
παῖδα, πιστουμένη τὸ παράδοξον τῶν λόγων διὰ τῶν ὕστερον ἐπακολουθησάντων
σημείων. ὑπέσχε γὰρ αὐτῷ, φασί, μαζὸν θήλεια λύκος. ἐγὼ δὲ ὅτι μὲν Ἄρης
Ἄζιζος λεγόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν Ἔμεσαν(754) [B] Σύρων Ἡλίου
προπομπεύει, καίπερ εἰδὼς καὶ προειπὼν ἀφήσειν μοι δοκῶ. τοῦ χάριν δὲ ὁ
λύκος Ἄρει μᾶλλον, οὐχὶ δὲ Ἡλίῳ προσήκει; καίτοι λυκάβαντά φασιν ἀπὸ τοῦ
λύκου τὸυ ἐνιαύσιον χρόνον· ὀνομάζει δὲ αὐτὸν οὐχ Ὅμηρος μόνον οὐδὲ οἱ
γνώριμοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ὁ θεός· διανύων γάρ φησιν
(Moreover he is the founder of our city.(755) For not only does Zeus, who
is glorified as the father of all things, inhabit its citadel(756)
together with Athene and Aphrodite, but Apollo also dwells on the Palatine
Hill, and Helios himself under this name of his which is commonly known to
all and familiar to all. And I could say much to prove that we, the sons
of Romulus and Aeneas, are in every way and in all respects connected with
him, but I will mention briefly only what is most familiar. According to
the legend, Aeneas is the son of Aphrodite, who is subordinate to Helios
and is his kinswoman. And the tradition has been handed down that the
founder of our city was the son of Ares, and the paradoxical element in
the tale has been believed because of the portents which later appeared to
support it. For a she‐wolf, they say, gave him suck. Now I am aware that
Ares, who is called Azizos by the Syrians who inhabit Emesa, precedes
Helios in the sacred procession, but I mentioned it before, so I think I
may let that pass. But why is the wolf sacred only to Ares and not to
Helios? Yet men call the period of a year “lycabas,”(757) which is derived
from “wolf.” And not only Homer(758) and the famous men of Greece call it
by this name, but also the god himself, when he says:)
Ὀρχηθμῷ λυκάβαντα δυωδεκάμηνα κέλευθα.
(“With dancing does he bring to a close his journey of twelve
months, even the lycabas.”)
[C] βούλει οὖν ἔτι σοι φράσω μεῖζον τεκμήριον, ὅτι ἄρα ὁ τῆς πόλεως ἡμῶν
οἰκιστὴς οὐχ ὑπ᾽ Ἀρεως κατεπέμφθη μόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως αὐτῷ τῆς μὲν τοῦ
σώματος κατασκευῆς συνεπελάβετο δαίμων ἀρήιος καὶ γενναῖος, ὁ λεγόμενος
ἐπιφοιτῆσαι τῇ Σιλβίᾳ λουτρὰ τῇ θεῷ φερούσῃ, τὸ δὲ ὅλον ἐξ Ἡλίου κατῆλθεν
ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ θεοῦ Κυρίνου· πειστέον γὰρ οἶμαι τῇ φήμῃ. [D] σύνοδος ἀκριβὴς
τῶν τὴν ἐμφανῆ κατανειμαμένων βασιλείαν Ἡλίου τε καὶ Σελήνης ὥσπερ οὖν εἰς
τὴν γῆν κατήγαγεν, οὕτω καὶ ἀνήγαγεν ὃν(759) ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐδέξατο, τὸ
θνητὸν ἀφανίσασα πυρὶ κεραυνίῳ τοῦ σώματος. οὕτω προδήλως ἡ τῶν περιγείων
δημιουργὸς ὑπὸ αὐτὸν ἄκρως γενομένη τὸν ἥλιον ἐδέξατο εἰς γῆν πεμπόμενον
διὰ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τῆς Προνοίας τὸν Κυρῖνον, ἀνιπτάμενόν τε αὖθις ἀπὸ γῆς ἐπὶ
τὸν βασιλέα τῶν ὅλων ἐπανήγαγεν αὐτίκα Ἥλιον.
(Now do you wish me to bring forward a still greater proof that the
founder of our city was sent down to earth, not by Ares alone, though
perhaps some noble daemon with the character of Ares did take part in the
fashioning of his mortal body, even he who is said to have visited
Silvia(760) when she was carrying water for the bath of the goddess,(761)
but the whole truth is that the soul of the god Quirinus(762) came down to
earth from Helios; for we must, I think, believe the sacred tradition. And
the close conjunction of Helios and Selene, who share the empire over the
visible world, even as it had caused his soul to descend to earth, in like
manner caused to mount upwards him whom it received back from the earth,
after blotting out with fire from a thunderbolt(763) the mortal part of
his body. So clearly did she who creates earthly matter, she whose place
is at the furthest point below the sun, receive Quirinus when he was sent
down to earth by Athene, goddess of Forethought; and when he took flight
again from earth she led him back straightway to Helios, the King of the
All.)