Miscellanies 5.8.45
Summary: The Greeks too used symbols: the Ephesian letters, which Androcydes interprets as darkness, light, earth, year, sun, and true voice; the Delphic sayings; the turning wheel and branches, which signify the circling of human affairs and life's brevity.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Stählin 2:355–357
Καὶ τί μοι περὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους ἐνδιατρίβειν, ἐξὸν αὐτοὺς τοὺς Ἕλληνας σφόδρα τῇ ἐπικρύψει κεχρημένους παραστῆσαι; Ἀνδροκύδης γοῦν ὁ Πυθαγορικὸς τὰ Ἐφέσια καλούμενα γράμματα ἐν πολλοῖς δὴ πολυθρύλητα ὄντα συμβόλων ἔχειν φησὶ τάξιν, σημαίνειν δὲ Ἄσκιον μὲν τὸ σκότος, μὴ γὰρ ἔχειν τοῦτο σκιάν· φῶς δὲ Κατάσκιον, ἐπεὶ καταυγάζει τὴν σκιάν· Λίξ τέ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ κατὰ ἀρχαίαν ἐπωνυμίαν καὶ Τετρὰξ ὁ ἐνιαυτὸς διὰ τὰς ὥρας, Δαμναμενεὺς δὲ ὁ ἥλιος ὁ δαμάζων, τὰ Αἴσιά τε ἡ ἀληθὴς φωνή. σημαίνει δʼ ἄρα τὸ σύμβολον ὡς κεκόσμηται τὰ θεῖα, οἷον σκότος πρὸς φῶς καὶ ἥλιος πρὸς ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ γῆ πρὸς παντοίαν φύσεως γένεσιν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Διονύσιος ὁ Θρᾷξ ὁ γραμματικὸς ἐν τῷ Περὶ τῆς ἐμφάσεως περὶ τοῦ τῶν τροχίσκων συμβόλου φησὶ κατὰ λέξιν· ἐσήμαινον γοῦν οὐ διὰ λέξεως μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ συμβόλων ἔνιοι τὰς πράξεις, διὰ λέξεως μὲν ὡς ἔχει τὰ λεγόμενα Δελφικὰ παραγγέλματα, τὸ ›μηδὲν ἄγαν‹ καὶ τὸ ›γνῶθι σαυτὸν‹ καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια, διὰ δὲ συμβόλων ὡς ὅ τε τροχὸς ὁ στρεφόμενος ἐν τοῖς τῶν θεῶν τεμένεσιν εἱλκυσμένος παρὰ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τὸ τῶν θαλλῶν τῶν διδομένων τοῖς προσκυνοῦσι. φησὶ γὰρ Ὀρφεὺς ὁ Θρᾴκιος· † θαλλῶν δʼ ὅσσα βροτοῖσιν ἐπὶ χθονὸς ἔργα μέμηλεν, οὐδὲν ἔχει μίαν αἶσαν ἐπὶ φρεσίν, ἀλλὰ κυκλεῖται πάντα πέριξ, στῆναι δὲ καθʼ ἓν μέρος οὐ θέμις ἐστίν, ἀλλʼ ἔχει, ὡς ἤρξαντο, δρόμου μέρος ἶσον ἕκαστος. οἱ θαλλοὶ ἤτοι τῆς πρώτης τροφῆς σύμβολον ὑπάρχουσιν, ἢ ὅπως ἐπιστῶνται οἱ πολλοὶ τοὺς μὲν καρποὺς διʼ ὅλου θάλλειν καὶ αὔξεσθαι διαμένοντας ἐπὶ πλεῖστον, σφᾶς δὲ αὐτοὺς ὀλίγον εἰληχέναι τὸν τῆς ζωῆς χρόνον, τούτου χάριν δίδοσθαι τοὺς θαλλοὺς βούλονται, ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἵνα ἐπιστῶνται, ὅτι, ὡς οὗτοι αὖ καίονται, οὕτως καὶ αὐτοὺς δεῖ τοῦτον τὸν βίον ταχέως ἐκλιπεῖν καὶ πυρὸς ἔργον γενέσθαι.
English · Claude translation
And why dwell on the barbarians, when it is possible to show that the Greeks themselves made great use of concealment? Androcydes the Pythagorean, at any rate, says that the so-called Ephesian letters, famous among many, have the order of symbols, and that Askion means darkness, for it has no shadow; Kataskion light, since it illuminates the shadow; Lix is the earth by an ancient name, Tetrax the year because of the seasons, Damnameneus the sun that subdues, and ta Aisia the true voice. The symbol signifies, then, how divine things are ordered: as darkness to light, the sun to the year, and the earth to every kind of natural birth. Dionysius Thrax the grammarian too, in his work On Expression, says word for word about the symbol of the little wheels: “Some signified actions not only by speech but also by symbols: by speech, as the so-called Delphic precepts, ‘Nothing in excess’ and ‘Know yourself’ and the like; by symbols, as the wheel turning in the precincts of the gods, drawn from the Egyptians, and that of the branches given to worshipers.” For Orpheus the Thracian says: “Of all the works that concern mortals on earth, … none has one fixed lot in the mind, but all things circle around, and it is not lawful to stand in one place; but each keeps, as they began, an equal share of the course.” The branches are either a symbol of the first food, or, so that the many may know that the fruits flourish and grow throughout, lasting a very long time, while they themselves have received a short span of life, for this reason they wish the branches to be given; and perhaps also so that they may know that, as these are burned, so they too must quickly leave this life and become the work of fire.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation of Orpheus is corrupt (dagger). The “Ephesian letters” were magical words.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.8.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/8/45/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.8.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/8/45/).
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