intellectual(840) and creative gods, who in their turn guide the visible
gods: she is both the mother and the spouse of mighty Zeus; she came into
being next to and together with the great creator; she is in control of
every form of life, and the cause of all generation; she easily brings to
perfection all things that are made; without pain she brings to birth, and
with the father’s(841) aid creates all things that are; she is the
motherless maiden,(842) enthroned at the side of Zeus, and in very truth
is the Mother of all the Gods. For having received into herself the causes
of all the gods, both intelligible and supra‐mundane, she became the
source of the intellectual gods. Now this goddess, who is also
Forethought, was inspired with a passionless love for Attis. For not only
the forms embodied in matter, but to a still greater degree the causes of
those forms, voluntarily serve her and obey her will. Accordingly the myth
relates the following: that she who is the Providence who preserves all
that is subject to generation and decay, loved their creative and
generative cause, and commanded that cause to beget offspring rather in
the intelligible region; and she desired that it should turn towards
herself and dwell with her, but condemned it to dwell with no other thing.
For only thus would that creative cause strive towards the uniformity that
preserves it, and at the same time would avoid that which inclines towards
matter. And she bade that cause look towards her, who is the source of the
creative gods, and not be dragged down or allured into generation. For in
this way was mighty Attis destined to be an even mightier creation, seeing
that in all things the conversion to what is higher produces more power to
effect than the inclination to what is lower. And the fifth substance
itself is more creative and more divine than the elements of our earth,
for this reason, that it is more nearly connected with the gods. Not that
anyone, surely, would venture to assert that any substance, even if it be
composed of the purest aether, is superior to soul undefiled and pure,
that of Heracles for instance, as it was when the creator sent it to
earth. For that soul of his both seemed to be and was more effective than
after it had bestowed itself on a body. Since even Heracles, now that he
has returned, one and indivisible, to his father one and indivisible, more
easily controls his own province than formerly when he wore the garment of
flesh and walked among men. And this shows that in all things the
conversion to the higher is more effective than the propensity to the
lower. This is what the myth aims to teach us when it says that the Mother
of the Gods exhorted Attis not to leave her or to love another. But he
went further, and descended even to the lowest limits of matter. Since,
however, it was necessary that his limitless course should cease and halt
at last, mighty Helios the Corybant,(843) who shares the Mother’s throne
and with her creates all things, with her has providence for all things,
and apart from her does nothing, persuaded the Lion(844) to reveal the
matter. And who is the Lion? Verily we are told that he is flame‐
coloured.(845) He is, therefore, the cause that subsists prior to the hot
and fiery, and it was his task to contend against the nymph and to be
jealous of her union with Attis. (And who the nymph is, I have said.) And
the myth says that the Lion serves the creative Providence of the world,
which evidently means the Mother of the Gods. Then it says that by
detecting and revealing the truth, he caused the youth’s castration. What
is the meaning of this castration? It is the checking of the unlimited.
For now was generation confined within definite forms checked by creative
Providence. And this would not have happened without the so‐called madness
of Attis, which overstepped and transgressed due measure, and thereby made
him become weak so that he had no control over himself. And it is not
surprising that this should come to pass, when we have to do with the
cause that ranks lowest among the gods. For consider the fifth substance,
which is subject to no change of any sort, in the region of the light of
the moon: I mean where our world of continuous generation and decay
borders on the fifth substance. We perceive that in the region of her
light it seems to undergo certain alterations and to be affected by
external influences. Therefore it is not contradictory to suppose that our
Attis also is a sort of demigod—for that is actually the meaning of the
myth—or rather for the universe he is wholly god, for he proceeds from the
third creator, and after his castration is led upwards again to the Mother
of the Gods. But though he seems to lean and incline towards matter, one
would not be mistaken in supposing that, though he is the lowest in order
of the gods, nevertheless he is the leader of all the tribes of divine
beings. But the myth calls him a demigod to indicate the difference
between him and the unchanging gods. He is attended by the Corybants who
are assigned to him by the Mother; they are the three leading
personalities of the higher races(846) that are next in order to the gods.
Also Attis rules over the lions, who together with the Lion, who is their
leader, have chosen for themselves hot and fiery substance, and so are,
first and foremost, the cause of fire. And through the heat derived from
fire they are the causes of motive force and of preservation for all other
things that exist. And Attis encircles the heavens like a tiara, and
thence sets out as though to descend to earth.)
Οὗτος ὁ μέγας ἡμῖν θεὸς Ἄττις ἐστίν· αὗται τοῦ βασιλέως Ἄττιδος αἱ
θρηνούμεναι τέως φυγαὶ καὶ κρύψεις καὶ ἀφανισμοὶ καὶ αἱ δύσεις αἱ κατὰ τὸ
ἄντρον. τεκμήρια δὲ ἔστω μοι τούτου ὁ χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ γίνεται. τέμνεσθαι γάρ
φασι τὸ ἱερὸν δένδρον καθ᾽ ἣν ἡμέραν ὁ ἥλιος ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ἰσημερινῆς
ἁψῖδος ἔρχεται· εἶθ᾽ ἑξῆς περισαλπισμὸς παραλαμβάνεται· [D] τῇ τρίτῃ δὲ
τέμνεται τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ ἀπόρρητον θέρος τοῦ θεοῦ Γάλλου· ἐπὶ τούτοις Ἱλάρια,
φασί, καὶ ἑορταί. ὅτι μὲν οὖν στάσις ἐστὶ τῆς ἀπειρίας ἡ θρυλουμένη παρὰ
τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐκτομή, πρόδηλον ἐξ ὧν ἡνίκα ὁ μέγας Ἥλιος τοῦ ἰσημερινοῦ
ψαύσας κύκλου, ἵνα τὸ μάλιστα ὡρισμένον ἐστί·(847) τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἴσον
ὡρισμένον ἐστί, τὸ δὲ ἄνισον ἄπειρόν τε καὶ ἀδιεξίτητον· κατὰ τὸν λόγον
αὐτίκα τὸ δένδρον τέμνεται· [169] εἶθ᾽ ἑξῆς γίνεται τὰ λοιπά, τὰ μὲν διὰ
τοὺς μυστικοὺς καὶ κρυφίους θεσμούς, τὰ δὲ καὶ διὰ(848) ῥηθῆναι πᾶσι
δυναμένους. ἡ δὲ ἐκτομὴ τοῦ δένδρου, τοῦτο δὲ τῇ μὲν ἱστορίᾳ προσήκει τῇ
περὶ τὸν Γάλλον, οὐδὲν δὲ τοῖς μυστηρίοις, οἷς παραλαμβάνεται, διδασκόντων
ἡμᾶς οἶμαι τῶν θεῶν συμβολικῶς, ὅτι χρὴ τὸ κάλλιστον ἐκ γῆς δρεψαμένους,
ἀρετὴν μετὰ εὐσεβείας, ἀπενεγκεῖν τῇ θεῷ, σύμβολον τῆς ἐνταῦθα χρηστῆς
πολιτείας ἐσόμενον. τὸ γάρ τοι δένδρον ἐκ [B] γῆς μὲν φύεται, σπεύδει δὲ
ὥσπερ εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα καὶ ἰδεῖν τέ ἐστι καλὸν καὶ σκιὰν παρασχεῖν ἐν
πνίγει, ἤδη δὲ καὶ καρπὸν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προβαλεῖν καὶ χαρίσασθαι· οὗτως αὐτῷ
πολύ τί γε τοῦ γονίμου περίεστιν. ἡμῖν οὖν ὁ θεσμὸς παρακελεύεται, τοῖς
φύσει μὲν οὐρανίοις, εἰς γῆν δὲ ἐνεχθεῖσιν, ἀρετὴν μετὰ εὐσεβείας ἀπὸ τῆς
ἐν τῇ γῇ πολιτείας ἀμησαμένους παρὰ τὴν προγονικὴν [C] καὶ ζωογόνον
σπεύδειν θεόν.
(This, then, is our mighty god Attis. This explains his once lamented
flight and concealment and disappearance and descent into the cave. In
proof of this let me cite the time of year at which it happens. For we are
told that the sacred tree(849) is felled on the day when the sun reaches
the height of the equinox.(850) Thereupon the trumpets are sounded.(851)
And on the third day the sacred and unspeakable member of the god Gallus
is severed.(852) Next comes, they say, the Hilaria(853) and the festival.
And that this castration, so much discussed by the crowd, is really the
halting of his unlimited course, is evident from what happens directly
mighty Helios touches the cycle of the equinox, where the bounds are most
clearly defined. (For the even is bounded, but the uneven is without
bounds, and there is no way through or out of it.) At that time then,
precisely, according to the account we have, the sacred tree is felled.
Thereupon, in their proper order, all the other ceremonies take place.
Some of them are celebrated with the secret ritual of the Mysteries, but
others by a ritual that can be told to all. For instance, the cutting of
the tree belongs to the story of Gallus and not to the Mysteries at all,
but it has been taken over by them, I think because the gods wished to
teach us, in symbolic fashion, that we must pluck the fairest fruits from
the earth, namely, virtue and piety, and offer them to the goddess to be
the symbol of our well‐ordered constitution here on earth. For the tree
grows from the soil, but it strives upwards as though to reach the upper
air, and it is fair to behold and gives us shade in the heat, and casts
before us and bestows on us its fruits as a boon; such is its
superabundance of generative life. Accordingly the ritual enjoins on us,
who by nature belong to the heavens but have fallen to earth, to reap the
harvest of our constitution here on earth, namely, virtue and piety, and
then strive upwards to the goddess of our forefathers, to her who is the
principle of all life.)
Εὐθὺς οὖν ἡ σάλπιγξ μετὰ τὴν ἐκτομὴν ἐνδίδωσι τὸ ἀνακλητικὸν τῷ Ἄττιδι καὶ
τοῖς ὅσοι ποτὲ οὐρανόθεν ἔπτημεν εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐπέσομεν. μετὰ δὴ τὸ
σύμβολον τοῦτο, ὅτε ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἄττις ἵστησι τὴν ἀπειρίαν διὰ τῆς ἐκτομῆς,
ἡμῖν οἱ θεοὶ κελεύουσιν ἐκτέμνειν καὶ αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἀπειρίαν
καὶ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἡγεμόνας,(854) ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ ὡρισμένον καὶ ἑνοειδὲς καί,
εἴπερ οἷόν τέ ἐστιν, [D] αὐτὸ τὸ ἓν ἀνατρέχειν· οὗπερ γενομένου πάντως
ἕπεσθαι χρὴ τὰ Ἱλάρια. τί γὰρ εὐθυμότερον, τί δὲ ἱλαρώτερον γένοιτο ἂν
ψυχῆς ἀπειρίαν μὲν καὶ γένεσιν καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ κλύδωνα διαφυγούσης, ἐπὶ δὲ
τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀναχθείσης; ὧν ἕνα καὶ τὸν Ἄττιν ὄντα περιεῖδεν οὐδαμῶς
ἡ τῶν θεῶν Μήτηρ βαδίζοντα πρόσω πλέον ἢ χρῆν, πρὸς ἑαυτὴν δὲ ἐπέστρεψε,
στῆσαι τὴν ἀπειρίαν προστάξασα.
(Therefore, immediately after the castration, the trumpet sounds the
recall for Attis and for all of us who once flew down from heaven and fell
to earth. And after this signal, when King Attis stays his limitless
course by his castration, the god bids us also root out the unlimited in
ourselves and imitate the gods our leaders and hasten back to the defined
and uniform, and, if it be possible, to the One itself. After this, the
Hilaria must by all means follow. For what could be more blessed, what
more joyful than a soul which has escaped from limitlessness and
generation and inward storm, and has been translated up to the very gods?
And Attis himself was such a one, and the Mother of the Gods by no means
allowed him to advance unregarded further than was permitted: nay, she
made him turn towards herself, and commanded him to set a limit to his
limitless course.)
Καὶ μή τις ὑπολάβῃ με λέγειν, ὡς ταῦτα ἐπράχθη ποτέ καὶ γέγονεν, [170]
ὥσπερ οὐκ εἰδότων τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν, ὅ, τι ποιήσουσιν, ἢ τὰ σφῶν αὐτῶν
ἁμαρτήματα διορθουμένων. ἀλλὰ οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν ὄντων ἀεὶ τὰς αἰτίας, ἤτοι
τῶν θεῶν ὑφηγουμένων ἢ κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς διερευνώμενοι, βέλτιον δὲ ἴσως
εἰπεῖν ζητοῦντες ὑφ᾽ ἡγεμόσι τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔπειτα εὑρόντες ἐσκέπασαν
αὐτὰς(855) μύθοις παραδόξοις, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ παραδόξου καὶ ἀπεμφαίνοντος τὸ
πλάσμα φωραθὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ζήτησιν ἡμᾶς τῆς [B] ἀληθείας προτρέψῃ, τοῖς μὲν
ἰδιώταις ἀρκούσης οἶμαι τῆς ἀλόγου καὶ διὰ τῶν συμβόλων μόνων ὠφελείας,
τοῖς δὲ περιττοῖς κατὰ τὴν φρόνησιν οὕτως μόνως ἐσομένης ὠφελίμου τῆς περὶ
θεῶν ἀληθείας, εἴ τις ἐξετάζων αὐτὴν ὑφ᾽ ἡγεμόσι τοῖς θεοῖς εὕροι καὶ
λάβοι, διὰ μὲν τῶν αἰνιγμάτων ὑπομνησθείς, ὅτι χρή τι περὶ αὐτῶν ζητεῖν,
ἐς τέλος δὲ καὶ ὥσπερ κορυφὴν τοῦ πράγματος διὰ τῆς σκέψεως εὑρὼν
πορευθείη, [C] οὐκ αἰδοῖ καὶ πίστει μᾶλλον ἀλλοτρίας δόξης ἢ τῆς σφετέρᾳ
κατὰ νοῦν ἐνεργείᾳ.
(But let no one suppose my meaning to be that this was ever done or
happened in a way that implies that the gods themselves are ignorant of
what they intend to do, or that they have to correct their own errors. But
our ancestors in every case tried to trace the original meanings of
things, whether with the guidance of the gods or independently—though
perhaps it would be better to say that they sought for them under the
leadership of the gods—then when they had discovered those meanings they
clothed them in paradoxical myths. This was in order that, by means of the
paradox and the incongruity, the fiction might be detected and we might be
induced to search out the truth. Now I think ordinary men derive benefit
enough from the irrational myth which instructs them through symbols
alone. But those who are more highly endowed with wisdom will find the
truth about the gods helpful; though only on condition that such a man
examine and discover and comprehend it under the leadership of the gods,
and if by such riddles as these he is reminded that he must search out
their meaning, and so attains to the goal and summit of his quest(856)
through his own researches; he must not be modest and put faith in the
opinions of others rather than in his own mental powers.)
Τί οὖν εἶναί φαμεν, ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ; κατανοήσαντες ἄχρι τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος
οὐ τὸ νοητὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα ταῦτα σώματα τῆς ἀπαθοῦς ὄντα
καὶ θείας μερίδος, ἄχρι τούτου θεοὺς ἐνόμισαν ἀκραιφνεῖς εἶναι· τῇ γονίμῳ
δὲ τῶν θεῶν οὐσίᾳ τῶν τῇδε παρυποστάντων, ἐξ ἀιδίου συμπροελθούσης τῆς
ὕλης τοῖς θεοῖς, [D] παρ᾽ αὐτῶν δὲ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ ὑπέρπληρες αὐτῶν
τῆς γονίμου καὶ δημιουργικῆς αἰτίας ἡ των ὄντων προμήθεια συνουσιωμένη
τοῖς θεοῖς ἐξ ἀιδίου, καὶ σύνθωκος μὲν οὖσα τῷ βασιλεῖ Διί, πηγὴ δὲ τῶν
νοερῶν θεῶν, καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν ἄζωον καὶ ἄγονον καὶ σκύβαλον καὶ τῶν ὄντων,
οἷον ἂν εἴποι τις, ἀποκάθαρμα καὶ τρύγα καὶ ὑποσταθμὴν διὰ τῆς τελευταίας
αἰτίας(857) τῶν θεῶν, εἰς ἣν αἱ πάντων οὐσίαι τῶν θεῶν ἀποτελευτῶσιν,
ἐκόσμησέ τε καὶ διωρθώσατο καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μετέστησεν.
(What shall I say now by way of summary? Because men observed that, as far
as the fifth substance, not only the intelligible world but also the
visible bodies of our world must be classed as unaffected by externals and
divine, they believed that, as far as the fifth substance, the gods are
uncompounded. And when by means of that generative substance the visible
gods came into being, and, from everlasting, matter was produced along
with those gods, from them and through their agency, by reason of the
superabundance in them of the generative and creative principle; then the
Providence of the world, she who from everlasting is of the same essential
nature as the gods, she who is enthroned by the side of King Zeus, and
moreover is the source of the intellectual gods, set in order and
corrected and changed for the better all that seemed lifeless and barren,
the refuse and so to speak offscourings of things, their dregs and
sediment: and this she did by means of the last cause(858) derived from
the gods, in which the substances of all the gods come to an end.)
[171] Ὁ γὰρ Ἄττις οὗτος ἔχων τὴν κατάστικτον τοῖς ἄστροις τιάραν εὔδηλον
ὅτι τὰς πάντων τῶν θεῶν εἰς τὸν ἐμφανῆ κόσμον ὁρωμένας λήξεις ἀρχὰς
ἐποιήσατο τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βασιλείας· ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τὸ μὲν ἀκραιφνὲς καὶ καθαρὸν ῾ἦν
ἄχρι γαλαξίου· περὶ τοῦτον δὲ ἤδη τὸν τόπον μιγνυμένου πρὸς τὸ ἀπαθὲς τοῦ
παθητοῦ καὶ τῆς ὕλης παρυφισταμένης ἐκεῖθεν, ἡ πρὸς ταύτην κοινωνία
κατάβασίς ἐστιν εἰς τὸ ἄντρον, [B] οὐκ ἀκουσίως μὲν γενομένη τοῖς θεοῖς
καὶ τῇ τούτων Μητρί, λεγομένη δὲ ἀκουσίως γενέσθαι. φύσει γὰρ ἐν κρείττονι
τοὺς θεοὺς ὄντας οὐκ ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τάδε καθέλκειν ἐθέλει τὰ βελτίω, ἀλλὰ διὰ
τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων συγκαταβάσεως καὶ ταῦτα ἀνάγειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀμείνονα καὶ
θεοφιλεστέραν λῆξιν. οὕτω τοι καὶ τὸν Ἄττιν οὐ κατεχθραίνουσα μετὰ τὴν
ἐκτομὴν ἡ Μήτηρ λέγεται, ἀλλὰ ἀγανακτεῖ μὲν οὐκέτι, ἀγανακτοῦσα δὲ λέγεται
διὰ τὴν συγκατάβασιν, ὅτι κρείττων ὢν [C] καὶ θεὸς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ
καταδεεστέρῳ· στήσαντα δὲ αὐτὸν τῆς ἀπειρίας τὴν πρόοδον καὶ τὸ ἀκόσμητον
τοῦτο κοσμήσαντα διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἰσημερινὸν κύκλον συμπαθείας, ἵνα ὁ
μέγας Ἥλιος τῆς ὡρισμένης κινήσεως τὸ τελειότατον κυβερνᾷ μέτρον, ἐπανάγει
πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἡ θεὸς ἀσμένως, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔχει παρ᾽ ἑαυτῇ. καὶ οὐδέποτε
γέγονεν, ὅτε μὴ ταῦτα τοῦτον εἶχε τὸν τρόπον, ὅνπερ νῦν ἔχει, ἀλλ᾽ ἀεὶ μὲν
Ἄττις ἐστὶν ὑπουργὸς τῇ Μητρὶ [D] καὶ ἡνίοχος, ἀεὶ δὲ ὀργᾷ εἰς τὴν
γένεσιν, ἀεὶ δὲ ἀποτέμνεται τὴν ἀπειρίαν διὰ τῆς ὡρισμένης τῶν εἰδῶν
αἰτίας. ἐπαναγόμενος δὲ ὥσπερ ἐκ γῆς τῶν ἀρχαίων αὖθις λέγεται δυναστεύειν
σκήπτρων, ἐκπεσὼν μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδαμῶς οὐδὲ ἐκπίπτων, ἐκπεσεῖν δὲ αὐτῶν
λεγόμενος διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ παθητὸν σύμμιξιν.
(For it is evident that Attis of whom I speak, who wears the tiara set
with stars, took for the foundation of his own dominion the functions of
every god as we see them applied to the visible world. And in his case all
is undefiled and pure as far as the Milky Way. But, at this very point,
that which is troubled by passion begins to mingle with the passionless,
and from that union matter begins to subsist. And so the association of
Attis with matter is the descent into the cave, nor did this take place
against the will of the gods and the Mother of the Gods, though the myth
says that it was against their will. For by their nature the gods dwell in
a higher world, and the higher powers do not desire to drag them hence
down to our world: rather through the condescension of the higher they
desire to lead the things of our earth upwards to a higher plane more
favoured by the gods. And in fact the myth does not say that the Mother of
the Gods was hostile to Attis after his castration: but it says that
though she is no longer angry, she was angry at the time on account of his
condescension, in that he who was a higher being and a god had given
himself to that which was inferior. But when, after staying his limitless
progress, he has set in order the chaos of our world through his sympathy
with the cycle of the equinox, where mighty Helios controls the most
perfect symmetry of his motion within due limits, then the goddess gladly
leads him upwards to herself, or rather keeps him by her side. And never
did this happen save in the manner that it happens now; but forever is
Attis the servant and charioteer of the Mother; forever he yearns
passionately towards generation; and forever he cuts short his unlimited
course through the cause whose limits are fixed, even the cause of the
forms. In like manner the myth says that he is led upwards as though from
our earth, and again resumes his ancient sceptre and dominion: not that he
ever lost it, or ever loses it now, but the myth says that he lost it on
account of his union with that which is subject to passion and change.)
Ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνο ἴσως ἄξιον προσαπορῆσαι· διττῆς γὰρ οὔσης τῆς ἰσημερίας, [172]
οὐ τὴν ἐν ταῖς χηλαῖς, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ κριῷ προτιμῶσι. τίς οὖν αἰτία τούτου,
φανερὸν δήπουθεν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ ἥλιος ἄρχεται τότε πλησιάζειν ἀπὸ τῆς
ἰσημερίας, αὐξομένης οἶμαι τῆς ἡμέρας, ἔδοξεν οὗτος ὁ καιρὸς ἁρμοδιώτερος.
ἔξω γὰρ τῆς αἰτίας, ἥ φησι τοῖς θεοῖς εἶναι τὸ φῶς σύνδρομον, ἔχειν
οἰκείως πιστευτέον τοῖς ἀφεθῆναι τῆς γενέσεως σπεύδουσι τὰς ἀναγωγοὺς
ἀκτῖνας ἡλίου. [B] σκόπει δὲ ἐναργῶς· ἕλκει μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς πάντα καὶ
προκαλεῖται(859) καὶ βλαστάνειν ποιεῖ τῇ ζωπυρίδι καὶ θαυμαστῇ θέρμῃ,
διακρίνων οἶμαι πρὸς ἄκραν λεπτότητα τὰ σώματα, καὶ τὰ φύσει φερόμενα κάτω
κουφίζει. τὰ δὴ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἀφανῶν αὐτοῦ δυνάμεων ποιητέον τεκμήρια. ὁ γὰρ
ἐν τοῖς σώμασι διὰ τῆς σωματοειδοῦς θέρμης οὕτω τοῦτο ἀπεργαζόμενος πῶς οὐ
διὰ τῆς ἀφανοῦς καὶ ἀσωμάτου πάντη καὶ θείας καὶ καθαρᾶς ἐν ταῖς ἀκτῖσιν
ἱδρυμένης οὐσίας ἕλξει καὶ ἀνάξει τὰς εὐτυχεῖς ψυχάς; [C] οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ
πέφηνεν οἰκεῖον μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς τὸ φῶς τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς ἀναχθῆναι σπεύδουσιν,
αὔξεται δὲ ἐν τῷ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν κόσμῳ τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὥστε εἶναι τὴν ἡμέραν μείζω
τῆς νυκτός, Ἡλίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιπορεύεσθαι τὸν κριὸν ἀρξαμένου·
δέδεικται δὴ καὶ(860) ἀναγωγὸν φύσει τὸ τῶν ἀκτίνων τοῦ θεοῦ διά τε τῆς
φανερᾶς ἐνεργείας καὶ τῆς ἀφανοῦς, ὑφ᾽ ἧς παμπληθεῖς ἀνήχθησαν ψυχαὶ [D]
τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἀκολουθήσασαι τῇ φανοτάτῃ καὶ μάλιστα ἡλιοειδεῖ. τὴν γὰρ
τοιαύτην τῶν ὀμμάτων αἴσθησιν οὐκ ἀγαπητὴν μόνον οὐδὲ χρήσιμον εἰς τὸν
βίον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς σοφίαν ὁδηγὸν ὁ δαιμόνιος ἀνύμνησε Πλάτων.(861) εἰ δὲ
καὶ τῆς ἀρρήτου μυσταγωγίας ἁψαίμην, ἢν ὁ Χαλδαῖος περὶ τὸν ἑπτάκτινα θεὸν
ἐβάκχευσεν, ἀνάγων δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰς ψυχάς, ἄγνωστα ἐρῶ, καὶ μάλα γε ἄγνωστα
τῷ συρφετῷ, [173] θεουργοῖς δὲ τοῖς μακαρίοις γνώριμα· διόπερ αὐτὰ σιωπήσω
τανῦν.
(But perhaps it is worth while to raise the following question also. There
are two equinoxes, but men pay more honour to the equinox in the sign of
Capricorn than to that in the sign of Cancer.(862) Surely the reason for
this is evident. Since the sun begins to approach us immediately after the
spring equinox,—for I need not say that then the days begin to
lengthen,—this seemed the more agreeable season. For apart from the
explanation which says that light accompanies the gods, we must believe
that the uplifting rays(863) of the sun are nearly akin to those who yearn
to be set free from generation. Consider it clearly: the sun, by his
vivifying and marvellous heat, draws up all things from the earth and
calls them forth and makes them grow; and he separates, I think, all
corporeal things to the utmost degree of tenuity, and makes things weigh
light that naturally have a tendency to sink. We ought then to make these
visible things proofs of his unseen powers. For if among corporeal things
he can bring this about through his material heat, how should he not draw
and lead upwards the souls of the blessed by the agency of the invisible,
wholly immaterial, divine and pure substance which resides in his rays? We
have seen then that this light is nearly akin to the god, and to those who
yearn to mount upwards, and moreover, that this light increases in our
world, so that when Helios begins to enter the sign of Capricorn the day
becomes longer than the night. It has also been demonstrated that the
god’s rays are by nature uplifting; and this is due to his energy, both
visible and invisible, by which very many souls have been lifted up out of
the region of the senses, because they were guided by that sense which is
clearest of all and most nearly like the sun. For when with our eyes we
perceive the sun’s light, not only is it welcome and useful for our lives,
but also, as the divine Plato said when he sang its praises, it is our
guide to wisdom. And if I should also touch on the secret teaching of the
Mysteries in which the Chaldean,(864) divinely frenzied, celebrated the
God of the Seven Rays, that god through whom he lifts up the souls of men,
I should be saying what is unintelligible, yea wholly unintelligible to
the common herd, but familiar to the happy theurgists.(865) And so I will
for the present be silent on that subject.)
Ὅπερ δὲ ἔλεγον, ὅτι καὶ τὸν καιρὸν οὐκ ἀλόγως ὑποληπτέον, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἔνι
μάλιστα μετὰ εἰκότος καὶ ἀληθοῦς λόγου παρὰ τῶν παλαιῶν τῷ θεσμῷ
προστεθεῖσθαι, σημεῖον δὴ(866) τούτου, ὅτι τὸν ἰσημερινὸν κύκλον ἡ θεὸς
αὐτὴ(867) κατενείματο. τελεῖται γὰρ περὶ τὸν ζυγὸν Δηοῖ καὶ Κόρῃ τὰ σεμνὰ
καὶ ἀπόρρητα μυστήρια. [B] καὶ τοῦτο εἰκότως γίνεται. χρὴ γὰρ καὶ ἀπιόντι
τῷ θεῷ τελεσθῆναι πάλιν, ἵνα μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀθέου καὶ σκοτεινῆς δυσχερὲς
πάθωμεν ἐπικρατούσης δυνάμεως. δὶς γοῦν Ἀθηναῖοι τῇ Δηοῖ τελοῦσι τὰ
μυστήρια, ἐν αὐτῷ μὲν τῷ κριῷ τὰ μικρὰ, φασί, μυστήρια, τὰ μεγάλα δὲ περὶ
τὰς χηλὰς ὄντος ἡλίου, δι᾽ ἃς ἔναγχος ἔφην αἰτίας. μεγάλα δὲ ὠνομάσθαι καὶ
μικρὰ νομίζω καὶ ἄλλων ἕνεκα, μάλιστα δέ, ὡς εἰκός, τούτου ἀποχωροῦντος
τοῦ θεοῦ μᾶλλον ἤπερ προσιόντος· [C] διόπερ ἐν τούτοις ὅσον εἰς ὑπόμνησιν
μόνον. ἅτε δὴ καὶ παρόντος τοῦ σωτῆρος καὶ ἀναγωγοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ προτέλεια
κατεβάλλοντο τῆς τελετῆς· εἶτα μικρὸν ὕστερον ἁγνεῖαι συνεχεῖς καὶ τῶν
ἱερέων(868) ἁγιστεῖαι. ἀπιόντος δὲ λοιπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἀντίχθονα
ζώνην, καὶ φυλακῆς ἕνεκα καὶ σωτηρίας αὐτὸ τὸ κεφάλαιον ἐπιτελεῖται τῶν
μυστηρίων. ὅρα δέ· ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα τὸ τῆς γενέσεως αἴτιον ἀποτέμνεται, οὕτω
δὲ καὶ παρὰ Ἀθηναίοις οἱ τῶν ἀρρήτων ἁπτόμενοι παναγεῖς εἰσι, [D] καὶ ὁ
τούτων ἐξάρχων ἱεροφάντης ἀπέστραπται πᾶσαν τὴν γένεσιν, ὡς οὐ μετὸν αὐτῷ
τῆς ἐπ᾽ ἄπειρον προόδου, τῆς ὡρισμένης δὲ καὶ ἀεὶ μενούσης καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ
συνεχομένης οὐσίας ἀκηράτου τε καὶ καθαρᾶς. ὑπὲρ μὲν δὴ τούτων ἀπόχρη
τοσαῦτα.
(I was saying that we ought not to suppose that the ancients appointed the
season of the rites irrationally, but rather as far as possible with
plausible and true grounds of reason; and indeed a proof of this is that
the goddess herself chose as her province the cycle of the equinox. For
the most holy and secret Mysteries of Deo and the Maiden(869) are
celebrated when the sun is in the sign of Libra, and this is quite
natural. For when the gods depart we must consecrate ourselves afresh, so
that we may suffer no harm from the godless power of darkness that now
begins to get the upper hand. At any rate the Athenians celebrate the
Mysteries of Deo twice in the year, and the Lesser Mysteries as they call
them in the sign of Capricorn, and the Great Mysteries when the sun is in
the sign of Cancer, and this for the reason that I have just mentioned.
And I think that these Mysteries are called Great and Lesser for several
reasons, but especially, as is natural, they are called great when the god
departs rather than when he approaches; and so the Lesser are celebrated
only by way of reminder.(870) I mean that when the saving and uplifting
god approaches, the preliminary rites of the Mysteries take place. Then a
little later follow the rites of purification, one after another, and the
consecration of the priests. Then when the god departs to the antipodes,
the most important ceremonies of the Mysteries are performed, for our
protection and salvation. And observe the following: As in the festival of
the Mother the instrument of generation is severed, so too with the
Athenians, those who take part in the secret rites are wholly chaste and
their leader the hierophant forswears generation; because he must not have
aught to do with the progress to the unlimited, but only with the
substance whose bounds are fixed, so that it abides for ever and is
contained in the One, stainless and pure. On this subject I have said
enough.)