Miscellanies 6.18.168 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Stählin 2:518–519

εἶτα περὶ μὲν ποιητικῆς Πλάτων κοῦφον γάρ τι χρῆμα καὶ ἱερὸν ποιητὴς γράφει καὶ οὐχ οἷός τε ποιεῖν, πρὶν ἂν ἔνθεός τε καὶ ἔκφρων γένηται. καὶ ὁ Δημόκριτος ὁμοίως· ποιητὴς δὲ ἅσσα μὲν ἂν γράφῃ μετʼ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ καὶ ἱεροῦ πνεύματος, καλὰ κάρτα ἐστίν. ἴσμεν δὲ οἷα ποιηταὶ λέγουσιν. τοὺς δὲ τοῦ παντοκράτορος προφήτας θεοῦ οὐκ ἄν τις καταπλαγείη, ὄργανα θείας γενομένους φωνῆς; Καθάπερ οὖν ἀνδριάντα ἀποπλασάμενοι τοῦ γνωστικοῦ, ἤδη μὲν ἐπεδείξαμεν, οἷός ἐστι, μέγεθός τε καὶ κάλλος ἤθους αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐν ὑπογραφῇ δηλώσαντες· ὁποῖος γὰρ κατὰ τὴν θεωρίαν ἐν τοῖς φυσικοῖς, μετὰ ταῦτα δηλωθήσεται, ἐπὰν περὶ γενέσεως κόσμου διαλαμβάνειν ἀρξώμεθα.

English · Claude translation

Then, about poetry, Plato writes: “For a poet is a light and holy thing, and is not able to compose until he becomes inspired and out of his mind.” And Democritus likewise: “Whatever a poet writes with inspiration and a holy spirit is very beautiful.” And we know what sort of things poets say. Will no one, then, be astonished at the prophets of God Almighty, who became instruments of the divine voice? Having, then, as it were, modelled a statue of the one who knows, we have now shown what he is like, indicating in outline the greatness and beauty of his character. What he is like in contemplation in natural science will be shown afterward, when we begin to treat of the creation of the world.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:518–519 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Extrabiblical texts

Plato, Ion 534b (Plato (works)) · quotation, high confidence
Democritus (Democritus (fragments)) · quotation, medium confidence

Topics

Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

The quotations are Plato, Ion 534b, and Democritus, fragment B 18 (Diels–Kranz). The promised treatise on creation was apparently never written as announced.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): ποιεῖν. πρὶν → ποιεῖν, πρὶν.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.18.168 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/18/168/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.18.168 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/18/168/).