A Plea for the Christians 14

The argument about our not coming forward and not recognizing the same gods as the cities is quite silly. Those who charge us with atheism because we do not believe in the gods they know do not agree among themselves about the gods. The Athenians have set up Celeus and Metaneira as gods; the Lacedaemonians, Menelaus, to whom they sacrifice and hold festivals; the people of Ilium cannot bear even to hear his name, and extol Hector instead; the Ceans hold Aristaeus to be the same as Zeus and Apollo; the Thasians worship Theagenes, who even committed a murder at the Olympic games; the Samians, Lysander, despite all his slaughters and all his crimes; Alcman and Hesiod, Medea; the Cilicians, Niobe; the Sicilians, Philip son of Butacides; the people of Amathus, Onesilus; the Carthaginians, Hamilcar. The day would fail me if I listed them all. Since, then, they disagree among themselves about their own gods, why do they accuse us of not agreeing with them? And are not the practices of the Egyptians ridiculous? At their festivals they beat their breasts in the temples as if over the dead, and they sacrifice to the same beings as gods. And no wonder, since they even hold animals to be gods, shave their heads when these die, bury them in temples, and hold public lamentations. If, then, we are impious because we do not practice our piety in common with them, all cities and all nations are impious; for not all recognize the same gods.