Preparation for the Gospel 13.13.52–13.16.18

Eusebius of Caesarea · Preparation for the Gospel · ca. 313–324 · Caesarea · 56 passages

Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 1 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 1–2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: E. H. Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis libri XV (Oxford, 1903), vol. 3 (English).

Preparation 13, chapter 13

13.13.52Dindorf 2:217

Πάλιν ὅταν αἰθέρος ἠδʼ Ἀΐδου, πόντου, γαίης τε τύραννε, ὃς βρονταῖς σείεις βριαρὸν δόμον Οὐλύμποιο, δαίμονες ὃν φρίσσουσι, θεῶν δὲ δέδοικεν ὅμιλος, ᾧ Μοῖραι πείθονται, ἀμείλικτοί περ ἐοῦσαι· ἄφθιτε, μητροπάτωρ, οὗ θυμῷ πάντα δονεῖται, ὃς κινεῖς ἀνέμους, νεφέλῃσί τε πάντα καλύπτεις, πρηστῆρσι σχίζων πλατὺν αἰθέρα. σὴ μὲν ἐν ἄστροις τάξις ἀναλλάκτοισιν ἐφημοσύναισι τρέχουσα· σῷ δὲ θρόνῳ πυρόεντι παρεστᾶσιν πολύμοχθοι ἄγγελοι, οἶσι μέμηλε βροτοῖς ὡς πάντα τελεῖται. σὸν μὲν ἔαρ λάμπει νέον ἄνθεσι πορφυρέοισι· σὸς χειμὼν, ψυχραῖσιν ἐπερχόμενος νεφέλαισιν, σάς ποτε βακχευτὰς Βρόμιος διένειμεν ὀπώρας.

Palin hotan aitheros ēdʼ Aïdou, pontou, gaiēs te tyranne, hos brontais seieis briaron domon Oulympoio, daimones hon phrissousi, theōn de dedoiken homilos, hǭ Moirai peithontai, ameiliktoi per eousai; aphthite, mētropatōr, hou thymǭ panta doneitai, hos kineis anemous, nephelę̄si te panta kalypteis, prēstērsi schizōn platyn aithera. sē men en astrois taxis anallaktoisin ephēmosynaisi trechousa; sǭ de thronǭ pyroenti parestasin polymochthoi angeloi, oisi memēle brotois hōs panta teleitai. son men ear lampei neon anthesi porphyreoisi; sos cheimōn, psychraisin eperchomenos nephelaisin, sas pote bakcheutas Bromios dieneimen opōras.

Again, when he says: “Lord of the ether and of Hades, of sea and of earth, who with thunders shake the strong house of Olympus, at whom the daimones shudder and the throng of gods is afraid, whom the Fates obey, relentless though they are; imperishable, mother-father, by whose wrath all things are shaken, who move the winds and cover all things with clouds, splitting the broad ether with lightnings: yours is the order among the stars, running by unchangeable decrees; and by your fiery throne stand angels of much toil, whose care it is how all things are accomplished for mortals. Yours is the spring that shines new with purple flowers; yours the winter, coming with cold clouds; yours the autumn that Bromius once distributed to his bacchants.”

Notes and citation

Summary: An Orphic hymn praises God as lord of all creation, served by angels.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.125; Orphic fragment 248 (Kern). The sentence is completed in 13.13.53.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): οὑ θυμῷ → οὗ θυμῷ.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.125 (Miscellanies; quotation); Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. fr. 248 (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.52 (Dindorf 2:217; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-52). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.

13.13.53Dindorf 2:217–218

εἶτα ἐπιφέρει, ῥητῶς παντοκράτορα ὀνομάζων τὸν θεὸν ἄφθιτον, ἀθάνατον, ῥητὸν μόνον ἀθανάτοισιν. ἐλθὲ, μέγιστε θεῶν πάντων, κρατερῇ σὺν ἀνάγκῃ, φρικτὸς, ἀήττητος, μέγας, ἄφθιτος, ὃν στέφει αἰθήρ. διὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ μητροπάτωρ οὐ μόνον τὴν ἐκ μὴ ὄντων γένεσιν ἐμήνυσεν, ἐνδέδωκε δὲ ἀφορμὰς τοῖς τὰς προβολὰς εἰσάγουσι τάχα καὶ σύζυγον νοῆσαι τοῦ θεοῦ· παραφράζει δὲ ἐκείνας τὰς προφητικὰς γραφὰς, τήν τε διὰ Ὠσηὲ ‟ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ στερεῶν βροντὴν, κτίζων πνεῦμα, οὗ αἱ χεῖρες τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐθεμελίωσαν·” καὶ τὴν διὰ Μώσεως “ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἕτερος πλὴν ἐμοῦ. ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ, καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω· πατάξω, κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι. καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου.” αὐτὸς δʼ ἐξ ἀγαθοῖο κακὸν θνητοῖσι φυτεύει καὶ πόλεμον κρυόεντα, κατὰ τὸν Ὀρφέα.

eita epipherei, rhētōs pantokratora onomazōn ton theon aphthiton, athanaton, rhēton monon athanatoisin. elthe, megiste theōn pantōn, kraterę̄ syn anankę̄, phriktos, aēttētos, megas, aphthitos, hon stephei aithēr. dia men oun tou mētropatōr ou monon tēn ek mē ontōn genesin emēnysen, endedōke de aphormas tois tas probolas eisagousi tacha kai syzygon noēsai tou theou; paraphrazei de ekeinas tas prophētikas graphas, tēn te dia Ōsēe ‟idou egō stereōn brontēn, ktizōn pneuma, hou hai cheires tēn stratian tou ouranou ethemeliōsan;” kai tēn dia Mōseōs “idete idete hoti egō eimi, kai ouk esti theos heteros plēn emou. egō apoktenō, kai zēn poiēsō; pataxō, kagō iasomai. kai ouk estin hos exeleitai ek tōn cheirōn mou.” autos dʼ ex agathoio kakon thnētoisi phyteuei kai polemon kryoenta, kata ton Orphea.

Then he adds, expressly naming God the Almighty: “Imperishable, immortal, utterable only by immortals. Come, greatest of all gods, with strong necessity, fearful, invincible, great, imperishable, whom the ether crowns.” By “mother-father” he has not only indicated generation from nothing, but has perhaps given occasion to those who introduce emanations to conceive also of a consort of God. And he paraphrases those prophetic Scriptures, that through Hosea, “Behold, I am he who makes the thunder firm and creates the wind, whose hands founded the host of heaven,” and that through Moses, “See, see that I am, and there is no other god besides me. I will kill and I will make alive; I will strike and I will heal; and there is none who will deliver out of my hands.” “And he himself plants evil for mortals out of good, and chilling war,” according to Orpheus.

Amos 4:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:39 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Orphic hymn echoes Hosea and Moses on God’s sole sovereignty.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.126; Orphic fragment 248 (continued); the words ascribed to Hosea are Amos 4:13 (Septuagint); Deut 32:39; Orphic “Testament.” The “emanations” (προβολαί) refer to Valentinian teaching.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): σύζυγον νοῆσαι τοῖ θεοῦ → σύζυγον νοῆσαι τοῦ θεοῦ.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.126 (Miscellanies; quotation); Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. fr. 248 (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.53 (Dindorf 2:217–218; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-53). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.54Dindorf 2:218

τοιαῦτα καὶ ὁ Πάριος Ἀρχίλοχος λέγει ὢ Ζεῦ. σὸν μὲν οὐρανοῦ κράτος, σὺ δʼ ἔργʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπους ὁρᾷς λεωργά τε καὶ ἀθέμιστα. πάλιν ἡμῖν ᾀσάτω ὁ Ὀρφεὺς χεῖρα δὲ δεξιτερὴν ἐπὶ τέρματος Ὠκεανοῖο πάντοθεν ἐκτέτακεν· γαίη δʼ ὑπὸ ποσσὶ βέβηκε. ταῦτα ἐμφανῶς ἐκεῖθεν εἴληπται ‟κύριος σώσει κατοικουμένας, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην καταλήψεται τῇ χειρὶ ὡς νοσσιὰν, κύριος ὁ ποιήσας τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι· αὐτοῦ” ὥς φησιν Ἱερεμίας “καὶ ἀνορθώσας τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ. ἔτι πρὸς τοῖσδε Φωκυλίδης μὲν τοὺς ἀγγέλους δαίμονας καλῶν, τοὺς μὲν εἶναι ἀγαθοὺς αὐτῶν, τοὺς δὲ φαύλους διὰ τούτων παρίστησιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀποστάτας τινὰς παρειλήφαμεν, ἀλλʼ ἄρα δαίμονές εἰσιν ἐπʼ ἀνδράσιν ἄλλοτε ἄλλοι, οἱ μὲν ἐπερχομένου κακὸν ἀνέρος ἐκλύσασθαι.

toiauta kai ho Parios Archilochos legei ō Zeu. son men ouranou kratos, sy dʼ ergʼ epʼ anthrōpous horąs leōrga te kai athemista. palin hēmin ąsatō ho Orpheus cheira de dexiterēn epi termatos Ōkeanoio pantothen ektetaken; gaiē dʼ hypo possi bebēke. tauta emphanōs ekeithen eilēptai ‟kyrios sōsei katoikoumenas, kai tēn oikoumenēn holēn katalēpsetai tę̄ cheiri hōs nossian, kyrios ho poiēsas tēn gēn en tę̄ ischui; autou” hōs phēsin Hieremias “kai anorthōsas tēn oikoumenēn en tę̄ sophią autou. eti pros toisde Phōkylidēs men tous angelous daimonas kalōn, tous men einai agathous autōn, tous de phaulous dia toutōn paristēsin, epei kai hēmeis apostatas tinas pareilēphamen, allʼ ara daimones eisin epʼ andrasin allote alloi, hoi men eperchomenou kakon aneros eklysasthai.

Archilochus of Paros says such things too: “O Zeus, yours is the power of heaven, and you look upon the deeds of men, wicked and lawless.” Again let Orpheus sing to us: “And he has stretched out his right hand on all sides to the end of Ocean; and the earth stands beneath his feet.” These are clearly taken from that passage: “The Lord will save inhabited cities, and he will grasp the whole world with his hand like a nest,” “the Lord who made the earth by his strength,” as Jeremiah says, “and set up the world by his wisdom.” Further, Phocylides, calling the angels daimones, shows in these words that some of them are good and some bad, since we too have received that there are certain apostates: “But there are daimones over men, now some, now others; some to free a man from oncoming evil.”

Isa 10:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 10:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Archilochus, Orpheus, and Phocylides echo Scripture on God’s power and on good and evil angels.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.126–127; Archilochus, fragment 177 (West); Orphic “Testament”; Isa 10:14; Jer 10:12 (= 51:15; Septuagint 28:15); Phocylides, fragment 16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; accent slip in the digital text; line number leaked into the digital text; line-end hyphen left in the digital text; repeated word in the digital text; stray mark in the digital text): ἐΚ ἀνθρώπους → ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπους; ὁ Ὀρφεὺς Ὀρφεὺς χεῖρα → ὁ Ὀρφεὺς χεῖρα; τῇ χειρὶ 5 ὡς → τῇ χειρὶ ὡς; ‘Ιερεμίας → Ἱερεμίας; τοὐτων → τούτων; πα- ρειλήφαμεν → παρειλήφαμεν.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.126–127 (Miscellanies; quotation); Archilochus, fr. 177 (Archilochus; quotation); Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. Testament (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); quotation); Phocylides (Phocylides; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.54 (Dindorf 2:218; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-54). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.55Dindorf 2:218–219

καλῶς οὖν καὶ Φιλήμων ὁ κωμικὸς τὴν εἰδωλολατρίαν ἐκκόπτει διὰ τούτων οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν οὐδεμία τύχη θεὸς, οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ ταὐτόματον ὃ γίγνεται ὡς ἔτυχʼ ἑκάστῳ, προσαγορεύεται τύχη. Σοφοκλῆς δὲ ὁ τραγῳδοποιὸς οὐδὲ θεοῖς λέγει) αὐθαίρετα πάντα πέλονται, νόσφι Δῖός· κεῖνος γὰρ ἔχει τέλος ἠδὲ καὶ ἀρχήν. ὅ τε Ὀρφεὺς ἓν κράτος, εἶς δαίμων γένετο, μέγας οὐρανὸς αἴθων, ἐν δὲ τὰ πάντα τέτυκται, ἐν ᾧ τάδε πάντα κυκλεῖται, πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ γαῖα, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις.

kalōs oun kai Philēmōn ho kōmikos tēn eidōlolatrian ekkoptei dia toutōn ouk estin hēmin oudemia tychē theos, ouk estin, alla tautomaton ho gignetai hōs etychʼ hekastǭ, prosagoreuetai tychē. Sophoklēs de ho tragǭdopoios oude theois legei) authaireta panta pelontai, nosphi Dios; keinos gar echei telos ēde kai archēn. ho te Orpheus hen kratos, eis daimōn geneto, megas ouranos aithōn, en de ta panta tetyktai, en hǭ tade panta kykleitai, pyr kai hydōr kai gaia, kai ta epi toutois.

Well, then, does Philemon the comic poet cut out idolatry in these words: “There is no goddess Fortune for us, there is not; but what happens by chance, as it falls out for each, is called Fortune.” And Sophocles the tragedian says: “Not even for the gods are all things at their own choice, apart from Zeus; for he holds the end and the beginning.” And Orpheus: “One power, one daimon came to be, the great blazing heaven; and in one all things were made, in which all these revolve, fire and water and earth,” and so on.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philemon, Sophocles, and Orpheus teach one ruling power over all.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.128–129; Philemon, fragment 137 (Kock); Sophocles, fragment; Orphic fragment 168 (Kern).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἱὲν κράτος → ἓν κράτος.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.128–129 (Miscellanies; quotation); Philemon, fr. 137 (Philemon (fragments); quotation); Sophocles, fragment (Sophocles (plays and fragments); quotation); Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. fr. 168 (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.55 (Dindorf 2:218–219; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-55). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.56Dindorf 2:219

Πίνδαρος δὲ ὁ μελοποιὸς οἶον ἐκβακχεύεται ἄντικρυς εἰπὼν τί θεός; ὅ τι τὸ πᾶν καὶ πάλιν θεὸς ὁ πάντα τεύχων βροτοῖς. ἐπὰν δὲ εἴπῃ τί ἔλπεαι σοφίαν ὀλίγον τοι ἀνὴρ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἔχειν; τὰ θεῶν βουλεύματα ἐρευνᾶσαι βροτέᾳ φρενὶ δύσκολον· θνατᾶς δʼ ἀπὸ ματρὸς ἔφυ, ἐκεῖθεν ἔσπακε τὴν διάνοιαν τίς ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου; ἢ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο;

Pindaros de ho melopoios oion ekbakcheuetai antikrys eipōn ti theos? ho ti to pan kai palin theos ho panta teuchōn brotois. epan de eipę̄ ti elpeai sophian oligon toi anēr hyper andros echein? ta theōn bouleumata ereunasai broteą phreni dyskolon; thnatas dʼ apo matros ephy, ekeithen espake tēn dianoian tis egnō noun kyriou? ē tis symboulos autou egeneto?

And Pindar the lyric poet speaks as if in Bacchic frenzy, saying plainly: “What is God? What is the All.” And again: “God, who makes all things for mortals.” And when he says, “Why do you hope for wisdom, in which man has little above man? It is hard for a mortal mind to search out the counsels of the gods; and he was born of a mortal mother,” he has drawn the thought from there: “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

Isa 40:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:34 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Pindar, like Scripture, says God’s counsels are unsearchable.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.129; Pindar, fragments 140d, 141, 61 (Snell); Isa 40:13; Rom 11:34.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): τὸ πὰν → τὸ πᾶν.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.129 (Miscellanies; quotation); Pindar, fr. 140d, 141, 61 (Pindar (odes and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.56 (Dindorf 2:219; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-56). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.57Dindorf 2:219

ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἡσίοδος διʼ ὧν γράφει συνᾴδει τοῖς προειρημένοις, μάντις δʼ οὐδείς ἐστιν ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων ὅστις ἂν εἰδείη Ζῆνός νόον αἰγιόχοιο. εἰκότως ἄρα Σόλων ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν ταῖς ἐλεγείαις, καὶ αὐτὸς κατακολουθήσας Ἡσιόδῳ, πάμπαν δʼ ἀθανάτων ἀφανὴς νόος ἀνθρώποισι, γράφει.

alla kai Hēsiodos diʼ hōn graphei synądei tois proeirēmenois, mantis dʼ oudeis estin epichthoniōn anthrōpōn hostis an eideiē Zēnos noon aigiochoio. eikotōs ara Solōn ho Athēnaios en tais elegeiais, kai autos katakolouthēsas Hēsiodǭ, pampan dʼ athanatōn aphanēs noos anthrōpoisi, graphei.

And Hesiod too, in what he writes, agrees with what has been said: “No prophet among men upon the earth could know the mind of aegis-bearing Zeus.” Fittingly, then, Solon of Athens, following Hesiod, writes in his elegies: “The mind of the immortals is wholly unseen by men.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Hesiod and Solon say God’s mind is hidden from men.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.129–130; Hesiod, fragment 303 (Merkelbach–West); Solon, fragment 17 (West).

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.129–130 (Miscellanies; quotation); Solon, fr. 17 (Solon (elegies and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.57 (Dindorf 2:219; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-57). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.58Dindorf 2:219–220

Πάλιν τοῦ Μώσεως εἰς μόχθους καὶ πόνους διὰ τὴν παράβασιν τέξεσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα προφητεύσαντος ποιητής τις οὐκ ἄσημος γράφει Οὐδέ ποτʼ ἦμαρ Παύσονται καμάτου καὶ ὀϊζύος, οὐδέ τι νύκτωρ Στεινόμενοι· χαλεπὰς δὲ θεοὶ δώσουσι μερίμνας.

Palin tou Mōseōs eis mochthous kai ponous dia tēn parabasin texesthai tēn gynaika prophēteusantos poiētēs tis ouk asēmos graphei Oude potʼ ēmar Pausontai kamatou kai oïzyos, oude ti nyktōr Steinomenoi; chalepas de theoi dōsousi merimnas.

Again, when Moses prophesied that because of the transgression the woman would bear children in toils and pains, a poet of no small fame writes: “Never by day will they cease from toil and misery, nor at all by night, being worn down; and the gods will give them hard cares.”

Gen 3:16 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Hesiod echoes the curse of Genesis on toil.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.130; Gen 3:16; Hesiod, Works and Days 176–178.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): καμάου → καμάτου.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.130 (Miscellanies; quotation); Hesiod, Op. 176–178 (Hesiod, Works and Days; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.58 (Dindorf 2:219–220; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-58). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.59Dindorf 2:220

ἓτι Ὃμηρος μὲν εἰπὼν αὐτὸς δὲ χρύσεια πατὴρ ἐπίταινε τάλαντα· δίκαιον τὸν θεὸν μηνύει. Μένανδρος δὲ ὁ κωμικὸς ἀγαθὸν ἑρμηνεύων τὸν θεόν φησιν, ἃπαντι δαίμων άνδρὶ συμπαρίσταται εὐθὺς γενομένῳ μυσταγωγὸς τοῦ βίου ἀγαθός· κακὸν γὰρ δαίμονʼ οὐ νομιστέον εἶναι, βίον βλάπτοντα χρηστόν. εἶτα ἐπιφέρει ἃπαντα δʼ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι τὸν θεόν· ἢτοι πάντα θεὸν ἀγαθὸν λέγων, ἢ, ὃπερ καὶ μᾶλλον, ἐν πᾶσι τὸν θεὸν ἀγαθὸν εἶναι.

heti Homēros men eipōn autos de chryseia patēr epitaine talanta; dikaion ton theon mēnyei. Menandros de ho kōmikos agathon hermēneuōn ton theon phēsin, hapanti daimōn andri symparistatai euthys genomenǭ mystagōgos tou biou agathos; kakon gar daimonʼ ou nomisteon einai, bion blaptonta chrēston. eita epipherei hapanta dʼ agathon einai ton theon; ētoi panta theon agathon legōn, ē, hoper kai mallon, en pasi ton theon agathon einai.

Further, Homer, when he says, “And the father himself held out the golden scales,” indicates that God is just. And Menander the comic poet, interpreting God as good, says: “A daimon stands by every man as soon as he is born, a good guide of his life; for we must not think there is an evil daimon harming a good life.” Then he adds that God is wholly good, meaning either that every god is good, or, what is more likely, that God is good in all things.

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer shows God is just; Menander that he is good.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.130; Homer, Iliad 8.69 (22.209); Menander, fragment 714 (Kock).>>>

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; elision mark lost in the digital text): παὴρ ἐπίταινε → πατὴρ ἐπίταινε; κακὸν γὰρ δαίμον οὐ → κακὸν γὰρ δαίμονʼ οὐ; εἶται ἐπιφέρει → εἶτα ἐπιφέρει.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.130 (Miscellanies; quotation); Homer, Il. 8.69 (Homer, Iliad; quotation); Menander, fr. 714 (Menander (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.59 (Dindorf 2:220; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-59). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.60Dindorf 2:220–221

Πάλιν αὖ Αἰσχύλος μὲν ὁ τραγῳδοποιὸς τὴν Δύναμιν τοῦ θεοῦ παρατιθέμενος οὐκ ὀκνεῖ καὶ ὓψιστον Αὐτὸν προσαγορεύειν διὰ τούτων χώριζε θνητῶν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ μὴ δόκει ὃμοιον αὐτῷ σάρκινον καθεστάναι. οὐκ οἶσθά γʼ αὐτόν. ποτὲ μὲν ὡς πῦρ φαίνεται, ἂπλατος ὁρμῇ, ποτὲ δʼ ὓδωρ, ποτὲ γνόφος, καὶ θηρσὶν αὐτὸς γίνεται παρεμφερὴς, ἀνέμῳ, νεφέλῃ τε, κἀστραπῇ, βροντῇ, βροχῇ. ὑπηρετεῖ δʼ αὐτῷ θάλασσα, καὶ πετραι, καὶ πᾶσα πηγὴ, χὒδατος συστήματα· τρέμει δʼ ὂρη καὶ γαῖα, καὶ πελώριος βυθὸς θαλάσσης, καὶ ὀρέων ὓψος, [ἐπὶ] μέγα ἐπὰν ἐπιβλέψῃ γοργὸν ὂμμα δεσπότου· πάντα δυνατὴ γὰρ δόξα ὑψίστου θεοῦ. ἆρʼ ού δοκεῖ σοι ἐκεῖνο παραφράζειν τὸ “ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου τρέμει ἡ γῆ;”

Palin au Aischylos men ho tragǭdopoios tēn Dynamin tou theou paratithemenos ouk oknei kai hypsiston Auton prosagoreuein dia toutōn chōrize thnētōn ton theon, kai mē dokei homoion autǭ sarkinon kathestanai. ouk oistha gʼ auton. pote men hōs pyr phainetai, aplatos hormę̄, pote dʼ hydōr, pote gnophos, kai thērsin autos ginetai parempherēs, anemǭ, nephelę̄ te, kastrapę̄, brontę̄, brochę̄. hypēretei dʼ autǭ thalassa, kai petrai, kai pasa pēgē, chydatos systēmata; tremei dʼ orē kai gaia, kai pelōrios bythos thalassēs, kai oreōn hypsos, [epi] mega epan epiblepsę̄ gorgon omma despotou; panta dynatē gar doxa hypsistou theou. arʼ ou dokei soi ekeino paraphrazein to “apo prosōpou kyriou tremei hē gē?”

Again, Aeschylus the tragedian, setting forth the power of God, does not hesitate to call him Most High in these words: “Set God apart from mortals, and do not think that he is fleshly like yourself. You do not know him. Now he appears as fire, unapproachable in onset, now as water, now as darkness; and he himself becomes like beasts, like wind, and cloud, and lightning, thunder, rain. The sea serves him, and the rocks, and every spring, and the gatherings of water; the mountains tremble, and the earth, and the monstrous depth of the sea, and the height of the mountains, when the fierce eye of the Master looks upon them; for the glory of the Most High God can do all things.” Does he not seem to you to paraphrase that saying, “At the presence of the Lord the earth trembles”?

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Ps 114:7 (113:7 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Verses ascribed to Aeschylus describe the Most High God’s power, echoing the Psalms.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.131; Aeschylus, fragment 464 (spurious; probably a Jewish composition); Ps 114:7 (Septuagint 113:7). The editor deletes “on” (ἐπί).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; repeated line in the digital text): Λἰσχύλος → Αἰσχύλος; αὐῷ σάκινον → αὐτῷ σάρκινον; θηρςὶν αὐτὸς γίνεται παρεμφερὴς, καὶ θηρςὶν αὐτὸς γίνεται παρεμφερὴς, → θηρσὶν αὐτὸς γίνεται παρεμφερὴς,; παροςώπου → προσώπου.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.131 (Miscellanies; quotation); Aeschylus, fr. 464 (Aeschylus (plays and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.60 (Dindorf 2:220–221; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-60). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.61Dindorf 2:221

Ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁ μαντικώτατος Ἀπόλλων, μαρτυρῶν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ θεοῦ, λέγειν ἀναγκάζεται περὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ἡνίκα ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐστράτευον οἱ Μῆδοι, ὡς ἐδεῖτό τε καὶ ἱκέτευε τὸν Δία περὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς. ἔχει δὲ ὧδε ὁ χρησμὸς οὐ δύναται Πάλλας Δίʼ Ὀλύμπιον ἐξιλάσασθαι, λισσομένη πολλοῖσι λόγοις, καὶ μήτιδι πυκνῇ. πολλοὺς δʼ ἀθανάτων νηοὺς μαλερῷ πυρὶ δώσει, οἴ που νῦν ἱδρῶτι ῥεεύμενοι ἑστήκασι, δείματι παλλόμενοι, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις.

Epi toutois ho mantikōtatos Apollōn, martyrōn tę̄ doxę̄ tou theou, legein anankazetai peri tēs Athēnas, hēnika epi tēn Hellada estrateuon hoi Mēdoi, hōs edeito te kai hiketeue ton Dia peri tēs Attikēs. echei de hōde ho chrēsmos ou dynatai Pallas Diʼ Olympion exilasasthai, lissomenē polloisi logois, kai mētidi pyknę̄. pollous dʼ athanatōn nēous malerǭ pyri dōsei, oi pou nyn hidrōti rheeumenoi hestēkasi, deimati pallomenoi, kai ta epi toutois.

Besides these, Apollo the most prophetic, bearing witness to the glory of God, is compelled to say of Athena, when the Medes marched against Greece, how she begged and entreated Zeus for Attica. The oracle runs thus: “Pallas cannot appease Olympian Zeus, though she beseeches him with many words and close counsel. Many temples of the immortals he will give to devouring fire, which now perhaps stand streaming with sweat, quivering with fear,” and so on.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Delphic oracle concedes that Athena could not sway Zeus.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.132; the Delphic oracle in Herodotus, Histories 7.140–141.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.132 (Miscellanies; quotation); Herodotus, Hist. 7.140–141 (Herodotus, Histories; quotation); Orac. Apoll. (Oracles of Apollo (Didyma, Claros); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.61 (Dindorf 2:221; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-61). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.62Dindorf 2:221

Θεαρίδας δὲ ἐν τῷ Περὶ φύσεως γράφει “Ἁ ἀρχὰ τῶν ὄντων ἀρχὰ μὲν ὄντως ἀληθινὰ μία. κείνα γὰρ ἐν ἀρχᾷ τέ ἐστιν ἓν καὶ μόνον.” οὐδέ τις ἔσθʼ ἕτερος χωρὶς μεγάλου βασιλῆος, Ὀρφεὺς λέγει· ᾧ πειθόμενος ὁ κωμικὸς Δίφιλος γνωμικώτατα Τὸν ὄντα πάντων φησὶ) πατέρα,...... — — τοῦτον διὰ τέλους τίμα, μόνον ἀγαθῶν τοσούτων εὑρετὴν καὶ κτίστορα.

Thearidas de en tǭ Peri physeōs graphei “Ha archa tōn ontōn archa men ontōs alēthina mia. keina gar en archą te estin hen kai monon.” oude tis esthʼ heteros chōris megalou basilēos, Orpheus legei; hǭ peithomenos ho kōmikos Diphilos gnōmikōtata Ton onta pantōn phēsi) patera,...... — — touton dia telous tima, monon agathōn tosoutōn heuretēn kai ktistora.

And Thearidas writes in his work On Nature: “The principle of things that are, the truly true principle, is one; for in the beginning it is one and alone.” “Nor is there any other apart from the great king,” says Orpheus. Persuaded by him, the comic poet Diphilus says very gnomically: “The father of all things that are, … him honor to the end, sole finder and founder of so many goods.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Thearidas, Orpheus, and Diphilus confess one principle and Father of all.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.133; Thearidas (a Pythagorean, otherwise unknown); Orphic “Testament”; Diphilus, fragment 136 (Kock). Lines are lost in the Diphilus quotation (marked …).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark in the digital text): “‘Α ἀρχὰ → “Ἁ ἀρχὰ; μικωτατα → γνωμικώτατα.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.133 (Miscellanies; quotation); Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. Testament (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments); quotation); Diphilus, fr. 136 (Diphilus (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.62 (Dindorf 2:221; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-62). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.63Dindorf 2:221

εἰκότως τοίνυν ὁ Πλάτων ἐθίζει τὰς βελτίστας φύσεις ἀφικνεῖσθαι πρὸς τὸ μάθημα, ὃ ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν ἔφαμεν εἶναι μέγιστον, ἰδεῖν τε τἀγαθὸν καὶ ἀναβῆναι ἐκείνην τὴν ἀνάβασιν. τοῦτο δὴ, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐκ ὀστράκου ἂν εἴη περιστροφὴ, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς περιαγωγὴ, ἐκ νυκτερινῆς τινὸς ἡμέρας εἰς ἀληθινὴν τοῦ ὄντος οὖσαν ἐπάνοδον, ἣν δὴ φιλοσοφίαν ἀληθῆ φήσομεν εἶναι, καὶ τοὺς ταύτης μετασχόντας τοῦ χρυσοῦ γένους κρίνει, ἔστε μὲν δὴ πάντες ἀδελφοὶ, λέγων· οἱ δὲ τοῦ χρυσοῦ γένους ἀκριβέστατα, καὶ πάντη εἰς.

eikotōs toinyn ho Platōn ethizei tas beltistas physeis aphikneisthai pros to mathēma, ho en tǭ prosthen ephamen einai megiston, idein te tagathon kai anabēnai ekeinēn tēn anabasin. touto dē, hōs eoiken, ouk ostrakou an eiē peristrophē, alla psychēs periagōgē, ek nykterinēs tinos hēmeras eis alēthinēn tou ontos ousan epanodon, hēn dē philosophian alēthē phēsomen einai, kai tous tautēs metaschontas tou chrysou genous krinei, este men dē pantes adelphoi, legōn; hoi de tou chrysou genous akribestata, kai pantē eis.

Fittingly, then, Plato trains the best natures to come to the study which we said before was the greatest: to see the good and to make that ascent. “This, it seems, would not be the turning of a potsherd, but the turning around of a soul from a kind of nightly day to the true ascent to what is, which we shall say is true philosophy.” And those who share in it he judges to be of the golden race, saying, “You are all brothers”; but those of the golden race most exactly, and in every way one.

Notes and citation

Summary: Clement: Plato’s ascent of the soul to the good is true philosophy, the mark of the golden race.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.133; Plato, Republic 7.519c–d, 521c; 3.415a. The last words are uncertain in the digital text; translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text; stray mark in the digital text): ὁ ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν → ὃ ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν; Πλάτωνʼ → Πλάτων.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.133 (Miscellanies; quotation); Plato, Resp. 521c (Plato (works); quotation); Plato, Resp. 415a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.63 (Dindorf 2:221; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-63). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.64Dindorf 2:221–222

τοῦ πατρὸς ἄρα καὶ ποιητοῦ ξυμπάντων ἐμφύτως καὶ ἀδιδάκτως ἀντιλαμβάνεται πάντα πρὸς πάντων, τὰ μὲν ἄψυχα συμπαθοῦντα, τῶν δὲ ζῴων τῶν ἐμψύχων τὰ μὲν ἤδη ἀθάνατα, τὰ δὲ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐργαζόμενα· τῶν δέ τοι θνητῶν τὰ μὲν ἐν φόβῳ καὶ διὰ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν ἔτι κατὰ γαστρὸς ὀχούμενα, τὰ δὲ αὐτεξουσίῳ λογισμῷ. καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πάντες Ἕλληνές τε καὶ βάρβαροι, γένος δʼ οὐδὲν οὐδαμοῦ τῶν γεωργούντων οὔτε νομάδων, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τῶν πολιτικῶν δύναται ζῆν, μὴ προκατειλημμένον τῇ τοῦ κρείττονος πίστει. διὸ πᾶν μὲν ἔθνος ἑῷον, πὰν δὲ ἑσπερίων ἁπτόμενον ᾐόνων, βόρειόν τε καὶ τὰ πρὸς τῷ νότῳ πάντα, μίαν ἔχει καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν πρόληψιν περὶ τοῦ καταστησαμένου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, εἴ γε καὶ τὰ καθολικώτατα τῶν ἐνεργημάτων αὐτοῦ διαπεφοίτηκεν ἐπʼ ἴσης πάντα.

tou patros ara kai poiētou xympantōn emphytōs kai adidaktōs antilambanetai panta pros pantōn, ta men apsycha sympathounta, tōn de zǭōn tōn empsychōn ta men ēdē athanata, ta de kathʼ hēmeran ergazomena; tōn de toi thnētōn ta men en phobǭ kai dia tēs mētros autōn eti kata gastros ochoumena, ta de autexousiǭ logismǭ. kai tōn anthrōpōn pantes Hellēnes te kai barbaroi, genos dʼ ouden oudamou tōn geōrgountōn oute nomadōn, allʼ oude tōn politikōn dynatai zēn, mē prokateilēmmenon tę̄ tou kreittonos pistei. dio pan men ethnos heǭon, pan de hesperiōn haptomenon ę̄onōn, boreion te kai ta pros tǭ notǭ panta, mian echei kai tēn autēn prolēpsin peri tou katastēsamenou tēn hēgemonian, ei ge kai ta katholikōtata tōn energēmatōn autou diapephoitēken epʼ isēs panta.

The Father and Maker of all things, then, is apprehended by all, innately and without teaching: by inanimate things, which feel with him; and of living beings, by the animate ones, some already immortal, others working day by day; and of mortal ones, some in fear, still carried in their mother’s womb, others by self-determining reason. And of men, all, Greeks and barbarians alike; and no race anywhere, whether farmers or nomads, nor even of city-dwellers, can live unless it has first been possessed by faith in the Higher Being. Therefore every nation of the east, every one touching the western shores, the north and all the regions toward the south, has one and the same preconception concerning him who established the government of all, since the most universal of his operations have pervaded all things equally.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Clement: all creatures and all nations have an innate notion of the one Creator.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.133–134. “Some in fear, still carried in their mother’s womb” follows the digital text; Clement’s text is usually emended here.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text; words run together in the digital text): πάνταπρὸς → πάντα πρὸς; ἐσπερίων → ἑσπερίων.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.133–134 (Miscellanies; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.64 (Dindorf 2:221–222; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-64). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.65Dindorf 2:222

Πολὺ δὲ πλέον οἱ παρʼ Ἕλλησι πολυπράγμονες φιλόσοφοι, ἐκ τῆς βαρβάρου ὁρμώμενοι φιλοσοφίας, τῷ ἀοράτῳ καὶ μόνῳ καὶ δυνατωτάτῳ καὶ τεχνικωτάτῳ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων καλλίστων αἰτιωτάτῳ τὴν προνομίαν ἔδωκαν, τὰ ἀκόλουθα τούτοις, εἰ μὴ κατηχηθεῖεν πρὸς ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ αὐτὸν ὅπως νοεῖσθαι πέφυκε τὸν θεὸν, μόνον δὲ, ὡς ἤδη πολλάκις εἰρήκαμεν, κατὰ περίφρασιν ἀληθῆ.”

Poly de pleon hoi parʼ Hellēsi polypragmones philosophoi, ek tēs barbarou hormōmenoi philosophias, tǭ aoratǭ kai monǭ kai dynatōtatǭ kai technikōtatǭ kai tōn allōn kallistōn aitiōtatǭ tēn pronomian edōkan, ta akoloutha toutois, ei mē katēchētheien pros hēmōn, ouk epistamenoi, allʼ oudʼ auton hopōs noeisthai pephyke ton theon, monon de, hōs ēdē pollakis eirēkamen, kata periphrasin alēthē.”

Much more did the inquisitive philosophers among the Greeks, setting out from the barbarian philosophy, give the precedence to the invisible, sole, most powerful, most skillful, and supreme cause of all other excellent things; not knowing the consequences of these, unless they were instructed by us, nor even how God is naturally to be conceived, but only, as we have often said already, by a true periphrasis.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Clement: the Greek philosophers, starting from Scripture, honored one supreme cause but knew God only indirectly.

Clement, Miscellanies 5.14.134. End of the quotation from Clement.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text; repeated syllables in the digital text): κατηχηθεῖεν χηθεῖεν → κατηχηθεῖεν; ὼς ἤδη → ὡς ἤδη.

Extrabiblical texts: Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.134 (Miscellanies; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.65 (Dindorf 2:222; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-65). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.13.66Dindorf 2:222

Τοσαῦτα καὶ ὁ Κλήμης. ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ διὰ μακροτέρων ἡμῖν ἡ κατὰ Πλάτωνα παρέστη φιλοσοφία συνῳδὸς οὖσα κατὰ πλεῖστα τοῖς Ἑβραίων δόγμασιν, (ἐφʼ οἷς καὶ ἀγάμεθα τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς τε καὶ τῆς ἄλλης τοῦ ἀληθοῦς εὐγνωμοσύνης, ) ὥρα ἐπιθεωρῆσαι τίνα ταῦτʼ εἶναί φαμεν ἐφʼ ὧν οὐκέθʼ ὁμοίως περὶ αὐτὸν διακείμεθα, τὴν δὲ νενομισμένην βάρβαρον τῆς κατʼ αὐτὸν προτιμῶμεν φιλοσοφίας.

Tosauta kai ho Klēmēs. allʼ epeidē dia makroterōn hēmin hē kata Platōna parestē philosophia synǭdos ousa kata pleista tois Hebraiōn dogmasin, (ephʼ hois kai agametha ton andra tēs te kai tēs allēs tou alēthous eugnōmosynēs, ) hōra epitheōrēsai tina tautʼ einai phamen ephʼ hōn oukethʼ homoiōs peri auton diakeimetha, tēn de nenomismenēn barbaron tēs katʼ auton protimōmen philosophias.

So much, then, from Clement. But since it has been shown at length that the philosophy of Plato is in most points in harmony with the doctrines of the Hebrews (for which we also admire the man, both for this and for his general good sense regarding the truth), it is time to consider what those points are on which we say we are no longer equally disposed toward him, and on account of which we prefer what is considered the barbarian philosophy to that which follows him.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius turns to the points on which he departs from Plato.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text): Ἐβραίων → Ἑβραίων.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.13.66 (Dindorf 2:222; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-13-66). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 13, chapter 14

13.14.1Dindorf 2:222–223

Τὰ Ἑβραίων λόγια θεοπρόπια καὶ χρησμοὺς θείας ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον δυνάμεως περιέχοντα, θεόν τε αὐθέντην ἐπιγραφόμενα, καὶ πιστούμενά γε τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν διὰ τῆς τῶν μελλόντων προρρήσεως, διά τε τῶν συμφώνων τοῖς θεσπίσμασιν ἀποτελεσμάτων, πάσης λέγεται διεψευσμένης διανοίας ἐκτὸς τυγχάνειν. τὰ γοῦν θεῖα λόγια ἁγνὰ, καὶ ἀργύριον πεπυρωμένον, δοκίμιον τῇ γῇ, κεκαθαρισμένον ἑπταπλασίως, ἀνείρηται.

Ta Hebraiōn logia theopropia kai chrēsmous theias ē kata anthrōpon dynameōs periechonta, theon te authentēn epigraphomena, kai pistoumena ge tēn epangelian dia tēs tōn mellontōn prorrēseōs, dia te tōn symphōnōn tois thespismasin apotelesmatōn, pasēs legetai diepseusmenēs dianoias ektos tynchanein. ta goun theia logia hagna, kai argyrion pepyrōmenon, dokimion tę̄ gę̄, kekatharismenon heptaplasiōs, aneirētai.

The oracles of the Hebrews, containing divine responses and prophecies of a power beyond the human, inscribed with God as their author, and confirming their promise by the foretelling of things to come and by events that agree with the predictions, are said to be free from every false thought. At any rate, the divine oracles have been proclaimed “pure, and silver tried in the fire, proved in the earth, purified seven times.”

Ps 12:6 (11:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Hebrew oracles, being from God and confirmed by fulfilled prophecy, are free from error.

Ps 12:6 (Septuagint 11:7).

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.1 (Dindorf 2:222–223; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.2Dindorf 2:223

ἀλλʼ οὐ καὶ τὰ Πλάτωνος τοιαῦτα, οὐδὲ μὴν ἑτέρου του τῶν έν ἀνθρώποις σοφῶν, οἳ θνητῆς διανοίας ὄμμασιν ἐπικήροις τε στοχασμοῖς καὶ εἰκασίαις, ὄναρ ὥσπερ, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὕπαρ, τῆς τῶν ὄντων φύσεως ἐπὶ φαντασίαν ἐλθόντες πολὺ τὸ κρᾶμα τοῦ ψεύδους τῷ τῆς φύσεως ἀληθεῖ συνεπηνέγκαντο, ὡς μὴ ἀνευρεῖν ἀπάτης καθαρὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς μάθημα.

allʼ ou kai ta Platōnos toiauta, oude mēn heterou tou tōn en anthrōpois sophōn, hoi thnētēs dianoias ommasin epikērois te stochasmois kai eikasiais, onar hōsper, allʼ ouch hypar, tēs tōn ontōn physeōs epi phantasian elthontes poly to krama tou pseudous tǭ tēs physeōs alēthei synepēnenkanto, hōs mē aneurein apatēs katharon en autois mathēma.

But the writings of Plato are not of this kind, nor indeed those of any other of the wise among men, who, having come to an imagination of the nature of things with the eyes of a mortal mind, by perishable conjectures and guesses, as in a dream and not awake, have brought in much admixture of falsehood with the truth of nature, so that no teaching free of deception can be found in them.

Notes and citation

Summary: Human philosophers, Plato included, mixed falsehood with truth.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.2 (Dindorf 2:223; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.3Dindorf 2:223

αὐτίκα γοῦν βραχύ τι τῆς φιλαυτίας εἰ ἐθελήσαίς ὑφεῖναι, καὶ φῶς αὐτὸ δυνάμει λογικῆς οὐσίας ἐπιθεωρῆσαι, γνοίης ἂν τὸν θαυμάσιον φιλόσοφον αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν δὴ μόνον πάντων Ἑλλήνων ἀληθείας προθύρων ψαύσαντα, ὕλῃ φθαρτῇ καὶ ξοάνοις βαναύσων χερσὶν εἰς ἀνδρείκελον σχῆμα κατεσκευασμένοις τὴν τῶν θεῶν προσηγορίαν καταισχύνοντα, καὶ μετὰ τὸ μέγα τῆς μεγαλοφωνίας ὕψος, διʼ ἧς τὸν πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν εἰδέναι τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς διετείνατο, ἄνωθέν ποθεν ἐξ ὑπερκοσμίων ἁψίδων εἰς τὸν κατωτάτω βυθὸν τῆς θεομισοῦς εἰδωλολατρίας τῷ δήμῳ τῶν Ἀθηναίων συνωθούμενον· ὡς μὴ διατρέπεσθαι τὸν Σωκράτην καταβῆναι φάντα εἰς Πειραιᾶ προσευξόμενον τῇ θεῷ, καὶ τὴν βάρβαρον ἑορτὴν τοὺς πολίτας τότε πρῶτον ἐπιτελοῦντας θεασόμενον, καὶ τὸν ἀλεκτρυόνα τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ θῦσαι ὁμολογοῦντα προστάξαι, τόν τε πάτριον Ἑλλήνων ἐξηγητὴν, τὸν ἐγκαθήμενον ἐν Δελφοῖς δαίμονα, θειάζοντα.

autika goun brachy ti tēs philautias ei ethelēsais hypheinai, kai phōs auto dynamei logikēs ousias epitheōrēsai, gnoiēs an ton thaumasion philosophon auton ekeinon, ton dē monon pantōn Hellēnōn alētheias prothyrōn psausanta, hylę̄ phthartę̄ kai xoanois banausōn chersin eis andreikelon schēma kateskeuasmenois tēn tōn theōn prosēgorian kataischynonta, kai meta to mega tēs megalophōnias hypsos, diʼ hēs ton patera kai dēmiourgon eidenai toude tou pantos dieteinato, anōthen pothen ex hyperkosmiōn hapsidōn eis ton katōtatō bython tēs theomisous eidōlolatrias tǭ dēmǭ tōn Athēnaiōn synōthoumenon; hōs mē diatrepesthai ton Sōkratēn katabēnai phanta eis Peiraia proseuxomenon tę̄ theǭ, kai tēn barbaron heortēn tous politas tote prōton epitelountas theasomenon, kai ton alektryona tǭ Asklēpiǭ thysai homologounta prostaxai, ton te patrion Hellēnōn exēgētēn, ton enkathēmenon en Delphois daimona, theiazonta.

For example, if you would be willing to lay aside a little of your self-love and contemplate the light itself by the power of the rational being, you would recognize that wonderful philosopher himself, the one alone of all the Greeks who touched the doorposts of truth, disgracing the name of the gods by applying it to perishable matter and to images made by vulgar hands in the shape of men; and, after the great height of his lofty speech, by which he claimed to know the Father and Creator of this universe, being pushed down from somewhere on high, from above the vaults of the world, into the lowest depth of God-hated idolatry together with the people of the Athenians: so that he is not ashamed that Socrates says he went down to the Piraeus to pray to the goddess and to watch the citizens celebrating the barbarian festival for the first time, and that he admits he ordered a cock to be sacrificed to Asclepius, and that he deifies the ancestral interpreter of the Greeks, the daimon who sits in Delphi.

Notes and citation

Summary: Even Plato fell back into the idolatry of the Athenians.

Plato, Republic 1.327a; Phaedo 118a; Republic 4.427b–c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text; line-end hyphen left in the digital text; repeated syllables in the digital text): φιλόφιλόσοφον → φιλόσοφον; ῾Ελλήνων → Ἑλλήνων; καται- σχύνοντα → καταισχύνοντα.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 327a (Plato (works); allusion); Plato, Phaed. 118a (Plato (works); allusion); Plato, Resp. 427b–c (Plato (works); allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.3 (Dindorf 2:223; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.4Dindorf 2:223–224

διὸ καὶ εἰκότως τῆς ἀφιλοσόφου πληθύος τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς δεισιδαίμονος πλάνης ἐπιγράψαιτο ἄν. ἀνάλαβε γοῦν σμικρὸν ἄνωθεν τὸν λόγον, καὶ θέα οἷά σοι ὁ πάνσοφος μετὰ τὰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ἀφθάρτους ἰδέας, καὶ μετὰ θεὸν πρῶτον καὶ δεύτερον αἴτιον, καὶ μετὰ νοερὰς καὶ ἀθανάτους οὐσίας, περὶ τῆς πανδήμου δόξης ἐνομοθέτει, λέγων

dio kai eikotōs tēs aphilosophou plēthyos tēn aitian tēs deisidaimonos planēs epigrapsaito an. analabe goun smikron anōthen ton logon, kai thea hoia soi ho pansophos meta tas asōmatous kai aphthartous ideas, kai meta theon prōton kai deuteron aition, kai meta noeras kai athanatous ousias, peri tēs pandēmou doxēs enomothetei, legōn

Therefore he might fittingly be charged with the guilt of the superstitious error of the unphilosophic multitude. Take up the argument a little from above, and see what laws the all-wise man made for you concerning popular opinion, after the incorporeal and imperishable ideas, after God, the first and the second cause, and after the intellectual and immortal beings, saying:

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius returns to Plato’s legislation on the traditional gods.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (running head and line-end hyphen in the digital text): πλη- EUSEBII θύος → πληθύος.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.4 (Dindorf 2:223–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.5Dindorf 2:224

“Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων δαιμόνων εἰπεῖν καὶ γνῶναι τὴν γένεσιν μεῖζον ἢ καθʼ ἡμᾶς. πιστευτέον δὲ τοῖς εἰρηκόσιν ἔμπροσθεν, ἐκγόνοις μὲν θεῶν οὖσιν, ὡς ἔφασαν, σαφῶς δέ που τοὺς ἑαυτῶν προγόνους εἰδόσιν· ἀδύνατον οὖν θεῶν παισὶν ἀπιστεῖν, καίπερ ἄνευ εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων ἀποδείξεων λέγουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὡς οἰκεῖα φασκόντων ἀπαγγέλλειν ἑπομένους τῷ νόμῳ πιστευτέον. οὕτως οὖν κατʼ ἐκείνους ἡμῖν ἡ γένεσις περὶ τούτων τῶν θεῶν ἐχέτω καὶ λεγέσθω· Γῆς τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ παῖδες Ὠκεανός τε καὶ Τηθὺς ἐγενέσθην, τούτων δὲ Φόρκυς Κρόνος τε καὶ ῾Ρέα, καὶ ὅσοι μετὰ τούτων, ἐκ δὲ Κρόνου καὶ ῾Ρέας Ζεὺς Ἥρα τε καὶ πάντες ὅσους ἴσμεν πάντας ἀδελφοὺς λεγομένους αὐτῶν, ἔτι τε τοὺς τούτων ἄλλους ἐκγόνους.”

“Peri de tōn allōn daimonōn eipein kai gnōnai tēn genesin meizon ē kathʼ hēmas. pisteuteon de tois eirēkosin emprosthen, ekgonois men theōn ousin, hōs ephasan, saphōs de pou tous heautōn progonous eidosin; adynaton oun theōn paisin apistein, kaiper aneu eikotōn kai anankaiōn apodeixeōn legousin, allʼ hōs oikeia phaskontōn apangellein hepomenous tǭ nomǭ pisteuteon. houtōs oun katʼ ekeinous hēmin hē genesis peri toutōn tōn theōn echetō kai legesthō; Gēs te kai Ouranou paides Ōkeanos te kai Tēthys egenesthēn, toutōn de Phorkys Kronos te kai ῾Rea, kai hosoi meta toutōn, ek de Kronou kai ῾Reas Zeus Hēra te kai pantes hosous ismen pantas adelphous legomenous autōn, eti te tous toutōn allous ekgonous.”

“Concerning the other daimones, to tell and to know their origin is beyond us. We must believe those who have spoken of it before, who were, as they said, offspring of the gods, and surely, I suppose, knew their own ancestors. It is impossible, then, to disbelieve the children of gods, even though they speak without probable or necessary proofs; but since they profess to report what concerns their own family, we must follow the law and believe them. Let the origin of these gods, then, be held and told by us as they tell it: Of Earth and Heaven were born Oceanus and Tethys; of these, Phorcys, Cronus and Rhea, and all who came with them; and of Cronus and Rhea, Zeus and Hera and all whom we know as their reputed brothers and sisters, and further their other offspring.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato’s injunction (Timaeus) to believe the poets’ genealogy of the gods.

Plato, Timaeus 40d–41a (compare 13.1.1–2).

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 40d–41a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.5 (Dindorf 2:224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.6Dindorf 2:224–225

Διὰ δὴ ταῦτα ἀπολειπτέος ἡμῖν ὁ φιλόσοφος, οὐ κατὰ φιλόσοφον, οὐδʼ αὐτὸς αὑτῷ συμφώνως, τὰς μυθικὰς τῶν ποιητῶν γενεαλογίας καθυποκρινάμενος. αὐτοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἀκοῦσαι φάντος ἐν Πολιτείᾳ τάδε. “ἐν τοῖς μείζοσιν, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, μύθοις ὀψόμεθα καὶ τοὺς ἐλάττους. δεῖ γὰρ δὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τύπον εἶναι καὶ ταὐτὸν δύνασθαι τούς τε μείζους καὶ τοὺς ἐλάττους· ἢ οὐκ οἴει; Ἔγωγε, ἔφη· ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἐννοῶ οὐδὲ τοὺς μείζους τίνας λέγεις. οὓς Ἡσίοδός τε καὶ Ὅμηρος, εἷπον, ἡμῖν ἐλεγέτην καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ποιηταί. οὗτοι γάρ που μύθους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ψευδεῖς συντιθέντες ἔλεγόν τε καὶ λέγουσι, ” τὰ μικρῷ πρόσθεν τεθειμένα.

Dia dē tauta apoleipteos hēmin ho philosophos, ou kata philosophon, oudʼ autos hautǭ symphōnōs, tas mythikas tōn poiētōn genealogias kathypokrinamenos. autou men gar ēn akousai phantos en Politeią tade. “en tois meizosin, ēn dʼ egō, mythois opsometha kai tous elattous. dei gar dē ton auton typon einai kai tauton dynasthai tous te meizous kai tous elattous; ē ouk oiei? Egōge, ephē; alla ouk ennoō oude tous meizous tinas legeis. hous Hēsiodos te kai Homēros, heipon, hēmin elegetēn kai hoi alloi poiētai. houtoi gar pou mythous tois anthrōpois pseudeis syntithentes elegon te kai legousi, ” ta mikrǭ prosthen tetheimena.

For these reasons the philosopher must be left behind by us, since, not as a philosopher nor consistently with himself, he pretended to accept the mythical genealogies of the poets. For one could hear him saying this in the Republic: “In the greater myths, I said, we shall see the lesser too. For the greater and the lesser must be of the same stamp and have the same effect. Do you not think so? I do, he said; but I do not see what you mean by the greater either. Those, I said, that Hesiod and Homer told us, and the other poets. For they, I suppose, composed false myths for men, and told them, and still tell them”: the words quoted a little before.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato contradicts himself by both accepting and condemning the poets’ myths.

Plato, Republic 2.377d (compare 13.3.1).

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 377d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.6 (Dindorf 2:224–225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.7Dindorf 2:225

πάλιν τε αὐτοῦ ἦν καὶ τὰ διʼ ὧν ἔφησεν Ἐξαλείψομεν ἄρα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, ἀπὸ τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους ἀρξάμενοι, πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, βουλοίμην κʼ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητευέμεν ἄλλῳ, ” καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· διʼ ὧν τε ἐπίλεγει

palin te autou ēn kai ta diʼ hōn ephēsen Exaleipsomen ara, ēn dʼ egō, apo toude tou epous arxamenoi, panta ta toiauta, bouloimēn kʼ eparouros eōn thēteuemen allǭ, ” kai ta hexēs; diʼ hōn te epilegei

And again his were the words in which he said: “We shall strike out, then, I said, beginning with this verse, all such things: ‘I would rather be a serf on the land, toiling for another,’” and what follows; and the words in which he adds:

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato would strike out Homer’s verses about Hades.

Plato, Republic 3.386c, quoting Homer, Odyssey 11.489.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing lost in the digital text): Εξαλείψομεν → Ἐξαλείψομεν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 386c (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Od. 11.489 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.7 (Dindorf 2:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.8Dindorf 2:225

“Πάλιν δὴ Ὀμήρου δεησόμεθα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ποιητῶν μὴ ποιεῖν Ἀχιλλέα θεὰς παῖδα, ἄλλοτʼ ἐπὶ πλευρὰς κατακείμενον, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὖτε ὕπτιον, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἑπόμενα. οἶς ἐπάγει

“Palin dē Omērou deēsometha kai tōn allōn poiētōn mē poiein Achillea theas paida, allotʼ epi pleuras katakeimenon, allote dʼ aute hyption, kai ta toutois hepomena. ois epagei

“Again we shall ask Homer and the other poets not to portray Achilles, son of a goddess, ‘now lying on his side, and now again on his back,’” and what follows. To which he adds:

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato would forbid portraying Achilles’ unmanly grief.

Plato, Republic 3.388a, quoting Homer, Iliad 24.10–11.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): “Πἀλιν → “Πάλιν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 388a (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 24.10–11 (Homer, Iliad; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.8 (Dindorf 2:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.9Dindorf 2:225

‟Ἢ Δία, καθευδόντων τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν τε ἀνθρώπων ὡς μόνος ἐγρηγορὼς, ἃ ἐβουλεύσατο, τούτων πάντων ῥᾳδίως ἐπιλαθόμενον διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀφροδισίων ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ οὕτως ἐκπλαγέντα ἰδόντα τὴν Ἥραν, ὥστε μηδʼ εἰς τὸ δωμάτιον ἐλθεῖν ἐθέλειν, ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ βουλόμενον χαμαὶ συγγίνεσθαι κορύδου δίκην· καὶ λέγοντα ὡς οὕτως ὑπὸ ἐπιθυμίας ἔχεται, ὡς οὐδὲ ὅτε πρῶτον ἐφοίτων πρὸς ἀλλήλους, φίλους λήθοντε τοκῆας, οὐδὲ Ἄρεος τε καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ὑπὸ Ἡφαίστου δεσμὸν διʼ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα.”

‟Ē Dia, katheudontōn tōn allōn theōn te anthrōpōn hōs monos egrēgorōs, ha ebouleusato, toutōn pantōn rhądiōs epilathomenon dia tēn tōn aphrodisiōn epithymian, kai houtōs ekplagenta idonta tēn Hēran, hōste mēdʼ eis to dōmation elthein ethelein, allʼ autou boulomenon chamai synginesthai korydou dikēn; kai legonta hōs houtōs hypo epithymias echetai, hōs oude hote prōton ephoitōn pros allēlous, philous lēthonte tokēas, oude Areos te kai Aphroditēs hypo Hēphaistou desmon diʼ hetera toiauta.”

“Or Zeus, when the other gods and men were asleep and he alone awake, easily forgetting all that he had planned because of his desire for sexual pleasure, and so struck at the sight of Hera that he did not even wish to go into the chamber, but wanted to lie with her there on the ground, like a lark; and saying that he is so possessed by desire as not even when they first went to each other ‘without their parents’ knowledge’; nor the binding of Ares and Aphrodite by Hephaestus for other such things.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato rejects Homer’s tales of Zeus’ lust and of Ares and Aphrodite.

Plato, Republic 3.390b–c; Homer, Iliad 14.294–296; Odyssey 8.266–366. “Like a lark” (κορύδου δίκην) is in the digital text; Plato’s text has “there on the ground.”

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 390b–c (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 14.294–296 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Homer, Od. 8.266–366 (Homer, Odyssey; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.9 (Dindorf 2:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.10Dindorf 2:225–226

Ὡν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον εἰρημένων τί δῆτα βούλεται αὐτῷ ἡ μετὰ ταῦτα φωνὴ τοὺς μὲν ποιητὰς θεῶν παῖδας ὀνομάζουσα, καὶ τό τε ἀπιστεῖν αὐτοῖς ἀδύνατον εἶναι φήσασα, καίπερ ἄνευ εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων αὐτοὺς ἀποδείξεων τοὺς περὶ θεῶν μύθους πλάσαι μαρτυραμένη;

Hōn touton ton tropon eirēmenōn ti dēta bouletai autǭ hē meta tauta phōnē tous men poiētas theōn paidas onomazousa, kai to te apistein autois adynaton einai phēsasa, kaiper aneu eikotōn kai anankaiōn autous apodeixeōn tous peri theōn mythous plasai martyramenē?

These things having been said in this way, what then does his later statement mean, which calls the poets children of gods, says that it is impossible to disbelieve them, and bears witness that they invented the myths about the gods without probable or necessary proofs?

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius asks how Plato can call the poets children of gods after condemning them.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips (δ for θ); OCR slips (χ for κ)): ἀδύνατου → ἀδύνατον; χαίπερ ἂνευ εἰχότων καὶ ἀναγχαίων → καίπερ ἄνευ εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων; περὶ δεῶν μύδους → περὶ θεῶν μύθους.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.10 (Dindorf 2:225–226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.11Dindorf 2:226

Τί δὲ ἡ ἄλογος ἐθέλει πίστις, δέει τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων τιμωρίας προβεβλημένη; πῶς δὲ θεῶν Οὐρανὸς καὶ Γῆ πρῶτοι, ἒπειτα τούτων ἒκγονοι, Ὠκεανὸς καὶ Τηθὺς, Κρόνος τε καὶ πάντες οἰ πρὸς Ὀμήρου καὶ Ἡσιόδου μυθευόμενοι παῖδες καὶ ἀδελφοὶ καὶ ἒκγονοι τούτων, ὁπότε ταῦτα αὐτὰ ἀνῄρει λέγων

Ti de hē alogos ethelei pistis, deei tēs apo tōn nomōn timōrias probeblēmenē? pōs de theōn Ouranos kai Gē prōtoi, epeita toutōn ekgonoi, Ōkeanos kai Tēthys, Kronos te kai pantes oi pros Omērou kai Hēsiodou mytheuomenoi paides kai adelphoi kai ekgonoi toutōn, hopote tauta auta anę̄rei legōn

And what does the irrational faith mean, put forward through fear of punishment from the laws? And how are Heaven and Earth the first of the gods, and then their offspring, Oceanus and Tethys, and Cronus, and all the children and brothers and descendants of these told in the myths of Homer and Hesiod, when he himself was doing away with these very things, saying:

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato’s irrational faith from fear of the law contradicts his rejection of the myths.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and broken word in the digital text; word broken in the digital text): Τίδὲ ἡ ἂλογος ἐδέλει πί στις → Τί δὲ ἡ ἄλογος ἐθέλει πίστις; προβεβλη μένη → προβεβλημένη; πῶς δὲ δεῶν Οὐρανὸς χαὶ → πῶς δὲ θεῶν Οὐρανὸς καὶ; μυδευόμενοι → μυθευόμενοι.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.11 (Dindorf 2:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.12Dindorf 2:226

“ Ὅπερ, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, χρὴ πρῶτον καὶ μάλιστα μέμφεσθαι, ἄλλως τε καὶ τις μὴ καλῶς ψεύδηται. Τί τοῦτο; Ὅταν εἰκάζῃ τις κακῶς τῷ λόγῳ περὶ θεῶν τε καὶ ἡρώων, οἶοί εἰσιν, ὣσπερ γραφεὺς μηδὲν ἐοικότα γράφων οἶς ἂν ὂμοια βουληθῇ γράψαι.” Καὶ πάλιν “Πρῶτον μὲν, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, τὸ μέγιστον καὶ περὶ Τῶν μεγίστων ψεῦδος ὁ εἰπὼν οὐ καλῶς ἐψεύσατο, ὡς Οὐρανός τε εἰργάσατο ἃ φησι δρᾶσαι αὐτὸν Ἠσίοδος, ὂ τε αὖ Κρόνος ἐτιμωρήσατο αὑτόν“ καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς.

“ Hoper, ēn dʼ egō, chrē prōton kai malista memphesthai, allōs te kai tis mē kalōs pseudētai. Ti touto? Hotan eikazę̄ tis kakōs tǭ logǭ peri theōn te kai hērōōn, oioi eisin, hōsper grapheus mēden eoikota graphōn ois an omoia boulēthę̄ grapsai.” Kai palin “Prōton men, ēn dʼ egō, to megiston kai peri Tōn megistōn pseudos ho eipōn ou kalōs epseusato, hōs Ouranos te eirgasato ha phēsi drasai auton Ēsiodos, o te au Kronos etimōrēsato hauton“ kai ta toutois hexēs.

“The fault, I said, that ought to be blamed first and most of all, especially if anyone lies not well. What is that? When someone represents badly in words what the gods and heroes are like, as a painter does whose picture is not at all like the things he wished to paint.” And again: “First, I said, he who told the greatest lie about the greatest things did not lie well: that Heaven did what Hesiod says he did, and how Cronus in turn took vengeance on him,” and what follows.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato himself condemned the poets’ lies about Heaven and Cronus.

Plato, Republic 2.377d–e (compare 13.3.2–3).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Μέμφεσθαι, ἂλλως → μέμφεσθαι, ἄλλως; τῷ λόλῶ περὶ δεῶν Τε → τῷ λόγῳ περὶ θεῶν τε; Κφόνος → Κρόνος.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 377d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.12 (Dindorf 2:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.14.13Dindorf 2:226

Πῶς δὲ οἱ νῦν ψευδεῖς καὶ οὐκ ἀληθεῖς ποιηταὶ πάλιν οἱ αὐτοὶ θεῶν ἔκγονοι λέγοιντʼ ἂν; ἀλλὰ γὰρ τούτων δὴ χάριν ἀπολειπτέος μὲν ἠμῖν οὖτος, δέει θανάτου τὸν Ἀθηναίων δῆμον καθυποκρινάμενος· τιμητέος δὲ Μωςῆς, τά τε Ἐβραίων λόγια καθαρᾶς ἐξεχόμενα διόλου τῆς μόνης ἀληθοῦς καὶ ἀπλανοῦς εὐσεβείας. Θέα δὴ καὶ ἂλλο.

Pōs de hoi nyn pseudeis kai ouk alētheis poiētai palin hoi autoi theōn ekgonoi legointʼ an? alla gar toutōn dē charin apoleipteos men ēmin outos, deei thanatou ton Athēnaiōn dēmon kathypokrinamenos; timēteos de Mōsēs, ta te Ebraiōn logia katharas exechomena diolou tēs monēs alēthous kai aplanous eusebeias. Thea dē kai allo.

How then could the same poets, now called false and untruthful, again be called offspring of the gods? For these reasons, then, this man must be left behind by us, since through fear of death he pretended to agree with the people of the Athenians; and Moses must be honored, and the oracles of the Hebrews, which hold throughout to the pure, the only true and unerring godliness. Now look at another point.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato must be set aside for his pretense; Moses and the Hebrew oracles hold to true godliness.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): οὑκ ἀληδεῖς → οὐκ ἀληθεῖς; δεῶν ἒκγονοι → θεῶν ἔκγονοι; ἀλλὰ λὰ ρ τούτων → ἀλλὰ γὰρ τούτων; δέει δανάτου → δέει θανάτου; ἀληδοῦς → ἀληθοῦς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.14.13 (Dindorf 2:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-14-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 13, chapter 15

13.15.1Dindorf 2:226–227

Ἐβραῖοι τὴν μέσην τῶν λογικῶν φύσιν γεννητὴν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀγέννητον εἶναί φασι. Ταύτην δὲ Εἰς νοερὰς οὐσίας διαιροῦντες τῷ λόγῳ πνεύματα καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ θεοῦ λειτουργοὺς ἀγγέλους τε καὶ ἀρχαγγέλους ἐπονομάζουσιν· ἐκ δὲ τῆς τούτων ἀποπτώσεως καὶ παρατροπῆς τὸ δαιμόνων γένος καὶ πὰν τὸ τῆς ἐναντίας καὶ μοχθηρὰς ἐνεργείας εἶδος εἰσάγουσι.

Ebraioi tēn mesēn tōn logikōn physin gennētēn, allʼ ouk agennēton einai phasi. Tautēn de Eis noeras ousias diairountes tǭ logǭ pneumata kai dynameis kai theou leitourgous angelous te kai archangelous eponomazousin; ek de tēs toutōn apoptōseōs kai paratropēs to daimonōn genos kai pan to tēs enantias kai mochthēras energeias eidos eisagousi.

The Hebrews say that the middle order of rational natures is generated and not ungenerated. Dividing this in thought into intellectual beings, they call them spirits and powers and ministers of God, angels and archangels; and from the falling away and perversion of these they derive the race of demons and every kind of contrary and wicked activity.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Hebrews teach that angels are created, and that demons came from their fall.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): λογιχῶν → λογικῶν; πνεύμαα → πνεύματα.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.1 (Dindorf 2:226–227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.2Dindorf 2:227

διόπερ οὐδὲ θεοὺς ἐπιτρέπουσιν ἡγεῖσθαι τοὺς μὴ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἀχώριστον τῆς φύσεως ἐπαγομένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ εἶναι οὐ παρʼ ἑαυτῶν, παρὰ δὲ τοῦ πάντων αἰτίου ἐπενηνεγμένους, τό τε εὑ εἶναι, καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν, αὐτό τε τὸ ἀθάνατον, οὔτε τῷ ἐπὶ πάντων θεῷ ὁμοίως οὔτε τῷ διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα συνέστη ἐπιφερομένους.

dioper oude theous epitrepousin hēgeisthai tous mē to kalon kai agathon achōriston tēs physeōs epagomenous, alla kai to einai ou parʼ heautōn, para de tou pantōn aitiou epenēnegmenous, to te heu einai, kai tēn aretēn, auto te to athanaton, oute tǭ epi pantōn theǭ homoiōs oute tǭ diʼ hou ta panta synestē epipheromenous.

Therefore they do not allow those to be considered gods who do not carry the beautiful and good as inseparable from their nature, but have received even their existence not from themselves but from the cause of all, and their well-being and virtue, and immortality itself, possessing these neither in the same way as the God over all nor as him through whom all things were made.

Notes and citation

Summary: Created spirits, depending on God for being and virtue, are not gods.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.2 (Dindorf 2:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.3Dindorf 2:227

ὁ δέ γε Πλάτων ἀσωμάτους μὲν καὶ νοητὰς οὐσίας τὰς λογικὰς φύσεις Ἑβραίοις ὑφίστησι, διαπίπτει δὲ τῆς ἀκολουθίας, πρῶτον μὲν ἀγεννήτους εἶναι φάσκων αὐτὰς, ὥσπερ καὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν, ἔπειτα ἐξ ἀπορροίας τῆς τοῦ πρώτου αἰτίου συστῆναι λέγων. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος αὐτὰς γεγονέναι διδόναι βούλεται.

ho de ge Platōn asōmatous men kai noētas ousias tas logikas physeis Hebraiois hyphistēsi, diapiptei de tēs akolouthias, prōton men agennētous einai phaskōn autas, hōsper kai pasan psychēn, epeita ex aporroias tēs tou prōtou aitiou systēnai legōn. oude gar ek tou mē ontos autas gegonenai didonai bouletai.

Plato, like the Hebrews, posits the rational natures as incorporeal and intelligible beings, but he falls away from consistency, first by saying that they are ungenerated, like every soul, and then by saying that they came into being from an emanation of the first cause. For he will not allow that they came into being from what is not.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato errs in calling rational beings ungenerated emanations.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): Πλάτωνʼ → Πλάτων.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.3 (Dindorf 2:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.4Dindorf 2:227

διὸ καὶ πλειόνων θεῶν ὑποτίθεται εἶναι γένος, ἀπορροίας τινὰς καὶ προβολὰς τοῦ πρώτου καὶ τοῦ δευτέρου αἰτίου τῷ λόγῳ ὑφιστάμενος· εἶναί τε ἀγαθὰς τὴν φύσιν, οὐδαμῶς οἵας τε τῆς οἰκείας ἐκστῆναι ἀρετῆς, ἔνθεν αὐτοὺς καὶ θεοὺς εἷναι δοξάζει.

dio kai pleionōn theōn hypotithetai einai genos, aporroias tinas kai probolas tou prōtou kai tou deuterou aitiou tǭ logǭ hyphistamenos; einai te agathas tēn physin, oudamōs hoias te tēs oikeias ekstēnai aretēs, enthen autous kai theous heinai doxazei.

Therefore he also supposes a race of many gods, conceiving in thought certain emanations and projections of the first and second cause, and holding that they are good by nature and in no way able to depart from their own virtue; for which reason he also thinks them gods.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato makes these emanations gods.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.4 (Dindorf 2:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.5Dindorf 2:227

τούτων δὲ ἕτερον εἶναι τὸ δαιμόνων φῦλον ἡγεῖται, φαυλότητος ὂν καὶ μοχθηρίας καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον τροπῆς δεκτικόν· ὧν τοὺς μὲν ἀγαθοὺς, τοὺς δὲ φαύλους εἶναί τε καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι. ταῦτα δὲ παρὰ τὰ Ἑβραίοις δοκοῦντα τοῦτον ὑποθέμενος τὸν τρόπον, οὐκ ἀποδίδωσιν ὁπόθεν ὑποστῆναι φάναι εἰκὸς τοὺς δαίμονας.

toutōn de heteron einai to daimonōn phylon hēgeitai, phaulotētos on kai mochthērias kai tēs epi to cheiron tropēs dektikon; hōn tous men agathous, tous de phaulous einai te kai onomazesthai. tauta de para ta Hebraiois dokounta touton hypothemenos ton tropon, ouk apodidōsin hopothen hypostēnai phanai eikos tous daimonas.

He considers the race of daimones to be different from these, being capable of baseness and wickedness and of turning to the worse; and he says that some of them are good and some bad, and are so called. Having laid this down in this way, contrary to the teaching of the Hebrews, he does not explain from what source it is reasonable to say that the daimones came into being.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato does not explain where the daimones come from.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.5 (Dindorf 2:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.6Dindorf 2:227–228

ἐκ μὲν γὰρ τῆς τῶν σωμάτων ὕλης οὐδεὶς ἂν νοῦν ἔχων εἴποι· ἄλογος γὰρ αὕτη· λογικὰ δʼ οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐξ ἀλόγου τεχθείη, λογικοὶ δὲ οἱ δαίμονες. εἰ δʼ ἐκ τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων ἀπορροίας οὗτοι, καὶ πῶς οὐ θεοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῖς γεγεννηκόσιν ἐξ ἴσου; πῶς δʼ ἀγαθῆς οὔσης πηγῆς οὐχ ὅμοια καὶ τὰ παρʼ αὐτῆς; κακίας δʼ ἐν τοῖς δευτέροις ἡ βλάστη πόθεν ἐξέφυ τῆς ῥίζης ἄνωθεν ἐξ ἀγαθῶν καὶ διʼ ἀγαθῶν ἰούσης;

ek men gar tēs tōn sōmatōn hylēs oudeis an noun echōn eipoi; alogos gar hautē; logika dʼ ouk an pote ex alogou techtheiē, logikoi de hoi daimones. ei dʼ ek tēs tōn kreittonōn aporroias houtoi, kai pōs ou theoi kai autoi tois gegennēkosin ex isou? pōs dʼ agathēs ousēs pēgēs ouch homoia kai ta parʼ autēs? kakias dʼ en tois deuterois hē blastē pothen exephy tēs rhizēs anōthen ex agathōn kai diʼ agathōn iousēs?

No one with sense would say they came from the matter of bodies; for that is irrational, and rational things could never be born from the irrational, and the daimones are rational. But if they come from the emanation of the higher beings, how are they not gods themselves, equal to those who begot them? How, when the source is good, are its products not like it? And from where did the shoot of evil in the second order spring, when the root proceeds from above, from good things and through good things?

Notes and citation

Summary: If daimones are emanations of good beings, they could not be evil.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.6 (Dindorf 2:227–228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.7Dindorf 2:228

πῶς δʼ ἂν γένοιτο πικρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ γλυκέος; εἰ δὲ δὴ σκότους παντὸς καὶ πικρίας πάσης χαλεπώτερον τὸ τῶν μοχθηρῶν δαιμόνων γένος, πῶς ἐξ ἀπορροίας λέγοιτʼ ἂν τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων φύσεως; εἰ δὲ ἐκ τῆσδε ἦν, οὐδʼ ἂν ἐτράπη τῆς οἰκείας λήξεως· εἰ δʼ ἠλλοίωται, οὐδʼ ἦν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπαθὲς τὴν φύσιν· εἰ δʼ οὐ τοιάδε ἦν, καὶ πῶς θεοὶ εἶεν, οἱ δὴ φαύλης οἶοί τε εἰσὶ μετέχειν μοίρας;

pōs dʼ an genoito pikron apo tou glykeos? ei de dē skotous pantos kai pikrias pasēs chalepōteron to tōn mochthērōn daimonōn genos, pōs ex aporroias legoitʼ an tēs tōn kreittonōn physeōs? ei de ek tēsde ēn, oudʼ an etrapē tēs oikeias lēxeōs; ei dʼ ēlloiōtai, oudʼ ēn tēn archēn apathes tēn physin; ei dʼ ou toiade ēn, kai pōs theoi eien, hoi dē phaulēs oioi te eisi metechein moiras?

How could bitter come from sweet? And if the race of wicked daimones is harsher than all darkness and all bitterness, how could it be said to come from an emanation of the higher nature? If it were from that, it would not have turned from its own lot; and if it has been altered, it was not from the beginning impassible in nature; and if it was not such, how could they be gods who are capable of sharing a bad lot?

Notes and citation

Summary: Evil daimones cannot be emanations of the divine.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in the digital text; stray mark in the digital text): τοιάδε άδε ἦν → τοιάδε ἦν; οἱ· δὴ → οἱ δὴ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.7 (Dindorf 2:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.8Dindorf 2:228

ἀλλʼ εἰ μήτε τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων ἀπορροίας μήτʼ αὖ τῆς τῶν σωμάτων ὕλης εἶεν, ὥρα ἢ ἀγεννήτους λέγειν καὶ πρὸς τῇ ἀγεννήτῳ ὕλῃ τῶν σωμάτων τρίτον στῖφος λογικῶν ἀγεννήτων ἀντιπαρατάττειν τῷ θεῷ, οὐκέτι τε τὸν θεὸν πάντων εἶναι ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν τῶν ὅλων ἀποδιδόναι, ἢ τοῦθʼ ὁμολογοῦντας, καὶ τὰ μὴ ὄντα ποιεῖν αὐτὸν τοῖς Ἑβραίων συμφώνως ὁμολογεῖν λόγοις.

allʼ ei mēte tēs tōn kreittonōn aporroias mētʼ au tēs tōn sōmatōn hylēs eien, hōra ē agennētous legein kai pros tę̄ agennētǭ hylę̄ tōn sōmatōn triton stiphos logikōn agennētōn antiparatattein tǭ theǭ, ouketi te ton theon pantōn einai poiētēn kai dēmiourgon tōn holōn apodidonai, ē touthʼ homologountas, kai ta mē onta poiein auton tois Hebraiōn symphōnōs homologein logois.

But if they are neither from the emanation of the higher beings nor from the matter of bodies, it is time either to call them ungenerated, and besides the ungenerated matter of bodies to range a third body of ungenerated rational beings against God, and no longer to make God the maker of all things and creator of the universe; or else, admitting this, to confess in agreement with the words of the Hebrews that he makes even the things that are not.

Notes and citation

Summary: Either the daimones are ungenerated rivals of God, or God creates from nothing, as the Hebrews teach.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.8 (Dindorf 2:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.9Dindorf 2:228

τίνα δὲ οἵδε περὶ τῶνδε ἐκδιδάσκουσι; τὴν μέσην τῶν λογικῶν φύσιν οὔτʼ ἐκ τῆς τῶν σωμάτων ὕλης οὔτʼ ἐξ ἀπορροίας τῆς ἀγεννήτου καὶ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἐχούσης οὐσίας ὑποστῆναί φασι· μὴ οὖσαν δὲ πρότερον δυνάμει δραστηρίῳ τοῦ πάντων αἰτίου γεγονέναι.

tina de hoide peri tōnde ekdidaskousi? tēn mesēn tōn logikōn physin outʼ ek tēs tōn sōmatōn hylēs outʼ ex aporroias tēs agennētou kai aei kata ta auta kai hōsautōs echousēs ousias hypostēnai phasi; mē ousan de proteron dynamei drastēriǭ tou pantōn aitiou gegonenai.

And what do these teach about these things? They say that the middle order of rational natures did not come into being either from the matter of bodies or from an emanation of the ungenerated being which is always the same and unchanging, but that, not existing before, it came into being by the active power of the cause of all.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Hebrews: rational beings were created from nothing by God’s power.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.9 (Dindorf 2:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.15.10Dindorf 2:228–229

ταύτῃ τε μὴ θεοὺς εἶναι, μηδὲ κυρίως τῆσδε τῆς προσηγορίας ἠξιῶσθαι, ὅτι μηδὲ τὴν φύσιν ἰσοῦται τῷ πεποιηκότι, μηδʼ ἀχώριστον ὁμοίως τῷ θεῷ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐφέλκεται, τό τε τῷ καλῷ ἐναντίον ἐστὶν ὅτε καὶ δέξοιτʼ ἂν ὀλιγωρίᾳ τῆς περὶ τὸ κρεῖττον σχολῆς, ἣν αὐτὸς ἕκαστος αὐτῷ κατείργασται, τῆς οἰκείας ὁρμῆς τε καὶ γνώμης πεφυκὼς κύριος. ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τάδε. μετίωμεν δὲ καὶ ἐφʼ ἕτερα.

tautę̄ te mē theous einai, mēde kyriōs tēsde tēs prosēgorias ēxiōsthai, hoti mēde tēn physin isoutai tǭ pepoiēkoti, mēdʼ achōriston homoiōs tǭ theǭ to agathon ephelketai, to te tǭ kalǭ enantion estin hote kai dexoitʼ an oligōrią tēs peri to kreitton scholēs, hēn autos hekastos autǭ kateirgastai, tēs oikeias hormēs te kai gnōmēs pephykōs kyrios. tauta kai peri tade. metiōmen de kai ephʼ hetera.

And in this way they are not gods, nor properly deemed worthy of this name, because they are not equal in nature to their Maker, nor do they carry the good as inseparable, as God does; and at times they may even receive what is contrary to the good, through neglect of their attention to the better, which each has wrought for himself, being by nature master of his own impulse and will. So much on these things also. Let us pass on to other matters.

Notes and citation

Summary: Created spirits are not gods; they can fall through free neglect of the good.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.15.10 (Dindorf 2:228–229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-15-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 13, chapter 16

13.16.1Dindorf 2:229

Ἑβραίοις ὁμοίως τὴν ψυχὴν ἀθάνατον ὑποθέμενος, καὶ τῷ θεῷ ὁμοίαν αὐτὴν εἰπὼν, οὐκέτʼ ἀκολούθως αὐτοῖς ποτὲ μὲν αὐτῆς τὴν οὐσίαν σύνθετον εἶναί φησιν, ὡς ἂν μέρος μέν τι ἐπαγομένης τῆς ἀμερίστου καὶ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐχούσης αἰτίας, καὶ μέρος περὶ τὰ σώματα μεριστῆς φύσεως.

Hebraiois homoiōs tēn psychēn athanaton hypothemenos, kai tǭ theǭ homoian autēn eipōn, ouketʼ akolouthōs autois pote men autēs tēn ousian syntheton einai phēsin, hōs an meros men ti epagomenēs tēs ameristou kai aei kata ta auta echousēs aitias, kai meros peri ta sōmata meristēs physeōs.

Having supposed, like the Hebrews, that the soul is immortal, and having said that it is like God, he is no longer consistent with them when he says at one time that its essence is composite, as taking one part from the indivisible cause that is always the same, and one part from the nature that is divisible in bodies.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato, unlike the Hebrews, makes the soul composite.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.1 (Dindorf 2:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.2Dindorf 2:229

λέγει δʼ οὖν αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν ἐν Τιμαίῳ ‟ ῾Ο δὲ καὶ γενέσει καὶ ἀρετῇ προτέραν καὶ πρεσβυτέραν ψυχὴν σώματος, ὡς δεσπότιν καὶ ἄρξουσαν ἀρξομένου, συνεστήσατο ἐκ τῶνδε καὶ τοιῷδε τρόπῳ. τῆς ἀμερίστου καὶ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐχούσης οὐσίας, καὶ τῆς αὖ περὶ τὰ σώματα γινομένης μεριστῆς, τρίτον ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ἐν μέσῳ συνεκεράσατο οὐσίας εἶδος, τῆς τε ταυτοῦ φύσεως αὖ πέρι καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἑτέρου, καὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ συνέστησεν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ τε ἀμεροῦς αὐτῶν καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὰ σώματα μεριστοῦ. καὶ τρία λαβὼν αὐτὰ ὄντα συνεκεράσατο εἰς μίαν πάντα ἰδέαν, τὴν θατέρου φύσιν δύσμικτον οὖσαν εἰς ταὐτὸ ξυναρμόττων βίᾳ.”

legei dʼ oun autois rhēmasin en Timaiǭ ‟ ῾O de kai genesei kai aretę̄ proteran kai presbyteran psychēn sōmatos, hōs despotin kai arxousan arxomenou, synestēsato ek tōnde kai toiǭde tropǭ. tēs ameristou kai aei kata ta auta echousēs ousias, kai tēs au peri ta sōmata ginomenēs meristēs, triton ex amphoin en mesǭ synekerasato ousias eidos, tēs te tautou physeōs au peri kai tēs tou heterou, kai kata ta auta synestēsen en mesǭ tou te amerous autōn kai tou kata ta sōmata meristou. kai tria labōn auta onta synekerasato eis mian panta idean, tēn thaterou physin dysmikton ousan eis tauto xynarmottōn bią.”

He speaks thus, in these very words, in the Timaeus: “And he made the soul prior to the body and older in birth and excellence, to be its mistress and ruler and the body its subject, out of the following elements and in the following way. From the indivisible being that is always the same, and from the divisible being that comes to be in bodies, he mixed a third form of being between the two, partaking of the nature of the same and of the other; and he set it accordingly in the middle between the indivisible of them and that which is divisible in bodies. And taking these three, he mixed them all into one form, forcing the nature of the other, which is hard to mix, into union with the same.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato (Timaeus) on the composition of the soul.

Plato, Timaeus 34c–35a.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 34c–35a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.2 (Dindorf 2:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.3Dindorf 2:229

Ἔνθεν εἰκότως αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ παθητικὸν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῇ συνῆπται. ἀλλὰ τοτὲ μὲν ὧδε περὶ ψυχῆς οὐσίας διείληφε, τοτὲ δὲ ἄλλο τι χεῖρον περιτίθησιν αὐτῇ ἀτόπημα, τὴν θείαν ἐκείνην καὶ οὐράνιον, τὴν ἀσώματον καὶ λογικὴν, τὴν θεῷ ὁμοίαν καὶ διʼ ἀρετῆς μέγεθος τὰς οὐρανίους ὑπερπαίουσαν ἀψῖδας, ἄνωθέν ποθεν ἐκ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων ἐπὶ ὄνους καὶ λύκους καὶ μύρμηκας καὶ μελίττας κατιέναι φάσκων, καὶ τούτῳ πιστεύειν ἡμᾶς παρακαλῶν τῷ λόγῳ ἄνευ τινὸς ἀποδείξεως.

Enthen eikotōs autǭ kai to pathētikon tǭ logǭ tēs ousias autę̄ synēptai. alla tote men hōde peri psychēs ousias dieilēphe, tote de allo ti cheiron peritithēsin autę̄ atopēma, tēn theian ekeinēn kai ouranion, tēn asōmaton kai logikēn, tēn theǭ homoian kai diʼ aretēs megethos tas ouranious hyperpaiousan apsidas, anōthen pothen ek tōn hyperkosmiōn epi onous kai lykous kai myrmēkas kai melittas katienai phaskōn, kai toutǭ pisteuein hēmas parakalōn tǭ logǭ aneu tinos apodeixeōs.

Hence, reasonably according to his account, the passible part of the soul’s being is joined to it. But at one time he has taken this view of the soul’s essence, at another he attaches to it another, worse absurdity, saying that that divine and heavenly soul, incorporeal and rational, like God, and by the greatness of its virtue rising above the vaults of heaven, comes down from somewhere above the world into asses and wolves and ants and bees; and he urges us to believe this argument without any proof.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato also teaches that the soul passes into animals, without proof.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): τούτʼ ᾦ πιστεύειν → τούτῳ πιστεύειν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.3 (Dindorf 2:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.4Dindorf 2:229–230

λέγει δʼ οὖν ἐν μὲν τῷ περὶ ψυχῆς τάδε Καὶ μέχρι γε τούτου πλανῶνται, ἕως ἂν τῇ τοῦ σωματοειδοῦς τοῦ ξυνεπακολουθοῦντος ἐπιθυμίᾳ πάλιν ἐνδεθῶσιν εἰς σῶμα. ἐνδοῦνται δὲ, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς, εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα ἤθη, ὁποῖα ἄττʼ ἂν καὶ μεμελετηκυῖαι τύχωσιν ἐν βίῳ.

legei dʼ oun en men tǭ peri psychēs tade Kai mechri ge toutou planōntai, heōs an tę̄ tou sōmatoeidous tou xynepakolouthountos epithymią palin endethōsin eis sōma. endountai de, hōsper eikos, eis ta toiauta ēthē, hopoia attʼ an kai memeletēkuiai tychōsin en biǭ.

He says this, then, in the dialogue On the Soul: “And they wander until, through the desire of the bodily nature that follows them about, they are bound again into a body. And they are bound, as is likely, into such characters as they happen to have practiced in life.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato (Phaedo): souls are bound again into bodies according to their habits.

Plato, Phaedo 81d–e.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 81d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.4 (Dindorf 2:229–230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.5Dindorf 2:230

Τὰ ποῖα δὴ ταῦτα λέγεις, ὢ Σώκρατες; Οἶον τοὺς μὲν τὰς γαστριμαργίας τε καὶ ὕβρεις καὶ φιλοποσίας μεμελετηκότας καὶ μὴ διευλαβουμένους εἰς τὰ τῶν ὄνων γένη καὶ τῶν τοιούτων θηρίων εἰκὸς ἐνδύεσθαι· ἣ οὐκ οἴει; Πάνυ μὲν οὖν εἰκὸς λέγεις.

Ta poia dē tauta legeis, ō Sōkrates? Oion tous men tas gastrimargias te kai hybreis kai philoposias memeletēkotas kai mē dieulaboumenous eis ta tōn onōn genē kai tōn toioutōn thēriōn eikos endyesthai; hē ouk oiei? Pany men oun eikos legeis.

What kinds do you mean, Socrates? For example, those who have practiced gluttony and insolence and drunkenness, and taken no care to avoid them, are likely to enter the races of asses and such beasts. Do you not think so? What you say is very likely.

Notes and citation

Summary: The gluttonous become asses.

Plato, Phaedo 81e–82a.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 81e–82a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.5 (Dindorf 2:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.6Dindorf 2:230

Τοὺς δέ γε ἀδικίας καὶ τυραννίδας καὶ ἁρπαγὰς προτετιμηκότας εἰς τὰ τῶν λύκων τε καὶ ἱεράκων καὶ ἰκτίνων γένη· ἢ ποῖ ἂν ἄλλοσε φαῖμεν τὰς τοιαύτας ἰέναι; Ἀμέλει, ἔφη ὁ Κέβης, εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα. Οὐκοῦν, ἦ δʼ ὃς, δῆλα δὴ καὶ τἄλλα, ᾗ ἑκάστη ἴοι κατὰ τὰς αὐτῶν ὁμοιότητας τῆς μελέτης.

Tous de ge adikias kai tyrannidas kai harpagas protetimēkotas eis ta tōn lykōn te kai hierakōn kai iktinōn genē; ē poi an allose phaimen tas toiautas ienai? Amelei, ephē ho Kebēs, eis ta toiauta. Oukoun, ē dʼ hos, dēla dē kai talla, hę̄ hekastē ioi kata tas autōn homoiotētas tēs meletēs.

And those who have preferred injustice and tyranny and robbery, into the races of wolves and hawks and kites; or where else should we say such souls go? Certainly, said Cebes, into such. Then, he said, it is clear about the others too, where each would go according to the likeness of its practices.

Notes and citation

Summary: The unjust become wolves and birds of prey.

Plato, Phaedo 82a.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 82a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.6 (Dindorf 2:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.7Dindorf 2:230

Δῆλον δὴ, ἔφη· πῶς δʼ οὔ; Οὐκοῦν εὐδαιμονέστατοι, ἔφη, καὶ τούτων εἰσὶ καὶ εἰς βέλτιστον τόπον ἰόντες οἶ τὴν δημοτικὴν καὶ πολιτικὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπιτετηδευκότες, ἣν δὴ καλοῦσι σωφροσύνην τε καὶ δικαιοσύνην, ἐξ ἔθους τε καὶ μελέτης γεγονυῖαν, ἄνευ φιλοσοφίας τε καὶ νοῦ; δὴ οὗτοι εὐδαιμονέστατοι; Ὅτι τούτους εἰκός ἐστιν εἰς τοιοῦτον πάλιν ἀφικνεῖσθαι πολιτικὸν καὶ ἥμερον γένος, ἤπου μελιττῶν ἢ σφηκῶν ἢ μυρμήκων, ἢ καὶ εἰς αὐτό γε πάλιν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος.”

Dēlon dē, ephē; pōs dʼ ou? Oukoun eudaimonestatoi, ephē, kai toutōn eisi kai eis beltiston topon iontes oi tēn dēmotikēn kai politikēn aretēn epitetēdeukotes, hēn dē kalousi sōphrosynēn te kai dikaiosynēn, ex ethous te kai meletēs gegonuian, aneu philosophias te kai nou? dē houtoi eudaimonestatoi? Hoti toutous eikos estin eis toiouton palin aphikneisthai politikon kai hēmeron genos, ēpou melittōn ē sphēkōn ē myrmēkōn, ē kai eis auto ge palin to anthrōpinon genos.”

Clearly, he said; of course. Then the happiest even of these, he said, and those who go to the best place, are those who have practiced the popular and civic virtue which they call temperance and justice, arising from habit and practice, without philosophy and mind? Why are these the happiest? Because it is likely that they come again into some such civic and gentle race, perhaps of bees or wasps or ants, or even back into the human race itself.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Those with civic virtue become bees, ants, or men again.

Plato, Phaedo 82a–b. The digital text runs together question and answer; translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; repeated syllables in the digital text; repeated word in the digital text): εὐδαιμονέστατοι, στατοι, ἔφη → εὐδαιμονέστατοι, ἔφη; φιλοσοφίας τε καὶ νοῦ; νοῦ; δὴ → φιλοσοφίας τε καὶ νοῦ; δὴ; άυθρώπινον → ἀνθρώπινον.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 82a–b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.7 (Dindorf 2:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.8Dindorf 2:230–231

Καὶ ἐν τῷ Φαιδρῷ δὲ ἐπάκουσον ὁποῖα διέξεισιν ‟Εἰς μὲν γὰρ τὸ αὐτὸ ὅθεν ἥκει ψυχὴ οὐκ ἀφικνεῖται ἐτῶν μυρίων· οὐ γὰρ πτεροῦται πρὸ τοσούτου χρόνου, πλὴν ἡ τοῦ φιλοσοφήσαντος ἀδόλως ἢ παιδεραστήσαντος μετὰ φιλοσοφίας. αὗται δὲ τρίτῃ περιόδῳ τῇ χιλιετεῖ, ἐὰν ἕλωνται τρὶς ἐφεξῆς τὸν βίον τοῦτον, οὕτω πτερωθεῖσαι τρισχιλιοστῷ ἔτει ἀπέρχονται. αἱ δὲ ἄλλαι, ὅταν τὸν πρῶτον βίον τελευτήσωσι, κρίσεως ἔτυχον· κριθεῖσαι δὲ αἶ μὲν εἰς τὰ ὑπὸ γῆς δικαιωτήρια ἐλθοῦσαι δίκην τίνουσιν, αἶ δʼ εἰς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τινὰ τόπον ὑπὸ τῆς δίκης κουφισθεῖσαι διάγουσιν ἀξίως οὗ ἐν ἀνθρώπου εἴδει ἐβίωσαν βίου. τῷ δὲ χιλιοστῷ ἀμφότεραι ἀφικνούμεναι ἐπὶ κλήρωσίν τε καὶ αἵρεσιν τοῦ δευτέρου βίου, αἱροῦνται ὃν ἂν ἐθέλῃ ἑκάστη. ἔνθα δὴ καὶ εἰς θηρίου βίον ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ ἀφικνεῖται καὶ ἐκ θηρίου, ὅς ποτε ἄνθρωπος ἦν, πάλιν εἰς ἄνθρωπον.”

Kai en tǭ Phaidrǭ de epakouson hopoia diexeisin ‟Eis men gar to auto hothen hēkei psychē ouk aphikneitai etōn myriōn; ou gar pteroutai pro tosoutou chronou, plēn hē tou philosophēsantos adolōs ē paiderastēsantos meta philosophias. hautai de tritę̄ periodǭ tę̄ chilietei, ean helōntai tris ephexēs ton bion touton, houtō pterōtheisai trischiliostǭ etei aperchontai. hai de allai, hotan ton prōton bion teleutēsōsi, kriseōs etychon; kritheisai de ai men eis ta hypo gēs dikaiōtēria elthousai dikēn tinousin, ai dʼ eis tou ouranou tina topon hypo tēs dikēs kouphistheisai diagousin axiōs hou en anthrōpou eidei ebiōsan biou. tǭ de chiliostǭ amphoterai aphiknoumenai epi klērōsin te kai hairesin tou deuterou biou, hairountai hon an ethelę̄ hekastē. entha dē kai eis thēriou bion anthrōpinē psychē aphikneitai kai ek thēriou, hos pote anthrōpos ēn, palin eis anthrōpon.”

And hear what he relates in the Phaedrus: “For the soul does not come to the same place from which it came for ten thousand years; for it does not grow wings before so long a time, except the soul of one who has philosophized sincerely, or loved boys with philosophy. These, in the third period of a thousand years, if they choose this life three times in succession, thus grow their wings and depart in the three-thousandth year. But the others, when they have ended their first life, come to judgment; and having been judged, some go to the places of correction under the earth and pay the penalty, while others, lifted up by justice to some place in heaven, live in a manner worthy of the life they lived in human form. And in the thousandth year both come to the allotment and choice of their second life, and each chooses the one it wishes. There a human soul passes into the life of a beast, and from a beast, one that was once a man passes back into a man.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato (Phaedrus) on judgment and the cycles of reincarnation.

Plato, Phaedrus 248e–249b.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text): οὐκ άφικνεῖται → οὐκ ἀφικνεῖται.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaedr. 248e–249b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.8 (Dindorf 2:230–231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.9Dindorf 2:231

Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν Φαιδρῷ· ἐν δὲ τῇ Πολιτείᾳ τοιάδε γράφοντος ἄκουε Ἰδεῖν μὲν γὰρ ἔφη ψυχὴν τήν ποτε Ὀρφέως γενομένην κύκνου βίον αἱρουμένην, μίσει τοῦ γυναικείου γένους διὰ τὸν ὑπʼ ἐκείνων θάνατον οὐκ ἐθέλουσαν ἐν γυναικὶ γεννηθεῖσαν γενέσθαι. ἰδεῖν δὲ τὴν Θαμύρου ἀηδόνος ἑλομένην· ἰδεῖν δὲ κύκνον μεταβάλλοντα εἰς ἀνθρωπίνου βίου αἵρεσιν, καὶ ἄλλα ζῷα μουσικὰ ὡσαύτως, ὡς τὸ εἰκός.

Kai tauta men en Phaidrǭ; en de tę̄ Politeią toiade graphontos akoue Idein men gar ephē psychēn tēn pote Orpheōs genomenēn kyknou bion hairoumenēn, misei tou gynaikeiou genous dia ton hypʼ ekeinōn thanaton ouk ethelousan en gynaiki gennētheisan genesthai. idein de tēn Thamyrou aēdonos helomenēn; idein de kyknon metaballonta eis anthrōpinou biou hairesin, kai alla zǭa mousika hōsautōs, hōs to eikos.

So much in the Phaedrus. And hear him writing such things as these in the Republic: “He said he saw the soul that had once been Orpheus choosing the life of a swan, out of hatred of the female sex because of his death at their hands, not wishing to be born of a woman; and he saw the soul of Thamyras choosing that of a nightingale; and he saw a swan changing to the choice of a human life, and other musical creatures likewise, as was likely.

Notes and citation

Summary: In the Myth of Er, Orpheus chooses to be a swan, Thamyras a nightingale.

Plato, Republic 10.620a.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 620a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.9 (Dindorf 2:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.10Dindorf 2:231–232

τὴν δὲ λαχοῦσαν ψυχὴν ἑλέσθαι λέοντος βίον, εἶναι δὲ τὴν Αἵαντος τοῦ Τελαμωνίου, φεύγουσαν ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι, μεμνημένην τῆς τῶν ὅπλων κρίσεως. τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος, ἐχθρὰν καὶ ταύτην τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου γένους διὰ τὰ πάθη ἀετοῦ διαλλάξαι βίον. ἐν μέσοις δὲ λαχοῦσαν τὴν Ἀταλάντης ψυχὴν, κατιδοῦσαν μεγάλας τιμὰς ἀθλητοῦ ἀνδρὸς, οὐ δύνασθαι παρελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ λαβεῖν. μετὰ δὲ ταύτην ἰδεῖν τὴν Ἐπειοῦ τοῦ Πανοπέως εἰς τεχνικῆς γυναικὸς ἰοῦσαν φύσιν πόρρω δὲ ἐν ὑστάτοις ἰδεῖν τὴν τοῦ γελωτοποιοῦ Θερσίτου πίθηκον ἐνδυομένην.

tēn de lachousan psychēn helesthai leontos bion, einai de tēn Haiantos tou Telamōniou, pheugousan anthrōpon genesthai, memnēmenēn tēs tōn hoplōn kriseōs. tēn de epi toutǭ tou Agamemnonos, echthran kai tautēn tou anthrōpinou genous dia ta pathē aetou diallaxai bion. en mesois de lachousan tēn Atalantēs psychēn, katidousan megalas timas athlētou andros, ou dynasthai parelthein, alla labein. meta de tautēn idein tēn Epeiou tou Panopeōs eis technikēs gynaikos iousan physin porrō de en hystatois idein tēn tou gelōtopoiou Thersitou pithēkon endyomenēn.

The soul that drew its lot chose the life of a lion; it was that of Ajax son of Telamon, avoiding becoming a man, remembering the judgment of the arms. And next the soul of Agamemnon; this too, hostile to the human race because of its sufferings, exchanged for the life of an eagle. And the soul of Atalanta, which had drawn its lot among the middle ones, seeing the great honors of a male athlete, could not pass them by but took them. After her he saw the soul of Epeius son of Panopeus going into the nature of a craftswoman; and far off, among the last, he saw the soul of the buffoon Thersites putting on an ape.

Notes and citation

Summary: Ajax becomes a lion, Agamemnon an eagle, Thersites an ape.

Plato, Republic 10.620b–c (Plato specifies the twentieth lot).

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 620b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.10 (Dindorf 2:231–232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.11Dindorf 2:232

κατὰ τύχην δὲ τὴν Ὀδυσσέως λαχοῦσαν πασῶν ὑστάτην, αἱρησομένην ἰέναι· μνήμῃ δὲ τῶν προτέρων πόνων φιλοτιμίας λελωφηκυῖαν ζητεῖν περιιοῦσαν χρόνον πολὺν βίον ἀνδρὸς ἰδιώτου καὶ ἀπράγμονος, καὶ μόγις εὑρεῖν κείμενόν που καὶ παρημελημένον ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ εἰπεῖν ἰδοῦσαν ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἂν ἔπραξε καὶ πρώτη λαχοῦσα, καὶ ἀσμένην ἑλέσθαι. καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ θηρίων ὡσαύτως εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἰέναι καὶ εἰς ἄλληλα, τὰ μὲν ἄδικα εἰς τὰ ἄγρια, τὰ δὲ δίκαια εἰς τὰ ἥμερα μεταβαλόντα, καὶ πάσας μίξεις μίγνυσθαι.”

kata tychēn de tēn Odysseōs lachousan pasōn hystatēn, hairēsomenēn ienai; mnēmę̄ de tōn proterōn ponōn philotimias lelōphēkuian zētein periiousan chronon polyn bion andros idiōtou kai apragmonos, kai mogis heurein keimenon pou kai parēmelēmenon hypo tōn allōn, kai eipein idousan hoti tautʼ an epraxe kai prōtē lachousa, kai asmenēn helesthai. kai ek tōn allōn de thēriōn hōsautōs eis anthrōpous ienai kai eis allēla, ta men adika eis ta agria, ta de dikaia eis ta hēmera metabalonta, kai pasas mixeis mignysthai.”

And by chance the soul of Odysseus, having drawn the last lot of all, went to choose; and remembering its former toils, having recovered from ambition, it went about for a long time seeking the life of a private man who minded his own business, and with difficulty found it lying somewhere, neglected by the others; and when it saw it, it said that it would have done the same even if it had drawn the first lot, and chose it gladly. And from the other beasts likewise some went into men and into one another, the unjust changing into the wild, the just into the tame, and all kinds of mixtures were made.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Odysseus chooses a quiet private life; animals pass into men and other animals.

Plato, Republic 10.620c–d.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 620c–d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.11 (Dindorf 2:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.12Dindorf 2:232

Τοσαῦτα περὶ ψυχῆς ὁ Πλάτων εἰπὼν δῆλός ἐστιν Αἰγυπτιάζων τῷ δόγματι· οὐ γὰρ Ἑβραίων ὁ λόγος, ὅτι μηδὲ ἀληθείᾳ φίλος. τοῦτο δʼ οὐ καιρὸς ἀπελέγχειν, ὅτι μηδʼ αὐτὸς διʼ ἀποδείξεων ἐνεχείρησε τῷ προβλήματι. τοσοῦτον δʼ εὐλόγως τις ἂν ἐπισημήναιτο, ὡς οὐκ ἦν σύμφωνα τὸν αὐτὸν λέγειν ἅμα τῇ τελευτῇ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαττομένας δίκας εἰς Ἅιδου ὧν ἔδρασαν διδόναι κἀκεῖσε τιμωρεῖσθαι εἰς ἄπειρον, καὶ πάλιν φάσκειν αὐτὰς τοὺς ἐνταῦθα βίους κατὰ γνώμην οἰκείαν αἱρεῖσθαι.

Tosauta peri psychēs ho Platōn eipōn dēlos estin Aigyptiazōn tǭ dogmati; ou gar Hebraiōn ho logos, hoti mēde alētheią philos. touto dʼ ou kairos apelenchein, hoti mēdʼ autos diʼ apodeixeōn enecheirēse tǭ problēmati. tosouton dʼ eulogōs tis an episēmēnaito, hōs ouk ēn symphōna ton auton legein hama tę̄ teleutę̄ tas psychas tōn asebōn enthende apallattomenas dikas eis Haidou hōn edrasan didonai kakeise timōreisthai eis apeiron, kai palin phaskein autas tous entautha bious kata gnōmēn oikeian haireisthai.

Having said so much about the soul, Plato is plainly following the Egyptians in his doctrine; for the teaching is not that of the Hebrews, since it is not a friend of truth. This is not the time to refute it, since he himself did not attempt the problem with proofs. But one might reasonably point out this much: that it was not consistent for the same man to say that the souls of the impious, departing from here at death, pay the penalty in Hades for what they did and are punished there without end, and again to say that they choose their lives here according to their own will.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius: Plato’s transmigration is Egyptian, and contradicts his teaching on eternal punishment.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text; stray stop in the digital text): διʼ ἀποδείξεων· ἐνεχείρησε → διʼ ἀποδείξεων ἐνεχείρησε; Πλάτωνʼ → Πλάτων.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.12 (Dindorf 2:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.13Dindorf 2:232–233

ἐνδεῖσθαι γὰρ αὐτὰς εἰς σῶμά φησιν ἐπιθυμίᾳ τοῦ σωματοειδοῦς· καὶ τὰς μὲν ὕβρει καὶ γαστριμαργίᾳ ἐντραφείσας ὄνους γίνεσθαι, θηρίων τε ἄλλων ὑποδύνειν σώματα, κατὰ γνώμην, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ δίκην ταῦτα αἱρουμένας· τοὺς δὲ ἀδίκους καὶ ἅρπαγας λύκους καὶ ἰκτῖνας γίγνεσθαι, ἐθελοντὰς ἐπὶ τοῦτʼ ἐλθόντας. εἶτα Ὀρφέως μὲν ψυχὴν κύκνον εἶναι θελῆσαι· Θαμύρου δὲ ἀηδόνος, Θερσίτην δὲ πιθήκου βίον ἑλέσθαι.

endeisthai gar autas eis sōma phēsin epithymią tou sōmatoeidous; kai tas men hybrei kai gastrimargią entrapheisas onous ginesthai, thēriōn te allōn hypodynein sōmata, kata gnōmēn, allʼ ou kata dikēn tauta hairoumenas; tous de adikous kai harpagas lykous kai iktinas gignesthai, ethelontas epi toutʼ elthontas. eita Orpheōs men psychēn kyknon einai thelēsai; Thamyrou de aēdonos, Thersitēn de pithēkou bion helesthai.

For he says that they are bound into a body by desire for the bodily; and that those brought up in insolence and gluttony become asses, and enter the bodies of other beasts, choosing these by their own will, not by way of justice; and that the unjust and rapacious become wolves and kites, coming to this willingly. Then that the soul of Orpheus wished to be a swan, that of Thamyras a nightingale, and that Thersites chose the life of an ape.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato makes rebirth a matter of choice, not of justice.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.13 (Dindorf 2:232–233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.14Dindorf 2:233

ποῦ δʼ ἂν εἴη τὰ τῆς μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγὴν κρίσεως, ἣν ἐν μὲν τῷ περὶ ψυχῆς ὑπογράφων φησὶν, ὡς “Ἐπειδὰν ἀφίκωνται οἱ τετελευτηκότες εἰς τὸν τόπον οἷ ὁ δαίμων ἕκαστον κομίζει,... καὶ οἳ μὲν ἂν δόξωσι μέσως βεβιωκέναι, πορευθέντες ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀχέροντα, ἀναβάντες ἃ δὴ αὐτοῖς ὀχήματά ἐστιν, ἐπὶ τούτων ἀφικνοῦνται εἰς τὴν λίμνην, καὶ ἐκεῖ οἰκοῦσί τε καὶ καθαιρόμενοι τῶν τε ἀδικημάτων διδόντες δίκας ἀπολύονται, εἴ τίς τι ἠδίκηκε, τῶν τε εὐεργεσιῶν τιμὰς φέρονται κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἕκαστος. οἳ δʼ ἂν δόξωσιν ἀνιάτως ἔχειν διὰ τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἢ ἱεροσυλίας πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας ἢ φόνους ἀδίκους καὶ παρανόμους πολλοὺς ἐξειργασμένοι, ἢ ἄλλα ὅσα τοιαῦτα τυγχάνει ὄντα, τούτους δὲ ἡ προσήκουσα μοῖρα ῥίπτει εἰς τὸν Τάρταρον, ὅθεν οὔ ποτε ἐκβαίνουσι.”

pou dʼ an eiē ta tēs meta tēn enthende apallagēn kriseōs, hēn en men tǭ peri psychēs hypographōn phēsin, hōs “Epeidan aphikōntai hoi teteleutēkotes eis ton topon hoi ho daimōn hekaston komizei,... kai hoi men an doxōsi mesōs bebiōkenai, poreuthentes epi ton Acheronta, anabantes ha dē autois ochēmata estin, epi toutōn aphiknountai eis tēn limnēn, kai ekei oikousi te kai kathairomenoi tōn te adikēmatōn didontes dikas apolyontai, ei tis ti ēdikēke, tōn te euergesiōn timas pherontai kata tēn axian hekastos. hoi dʼ an doxōsin aniatōs echein dia ta megethē tōn hamartēmatōn, ē hierosylias pollas kai megalas ē phonous adikous kai paranomous pollous exeirgasmenoi, ē alla hosa toiauta tynchanei onta, toutous de hē prosēkousa moira rhiptei eis ton Tartaron, hothen ou pote ekbainousi.”

Where, then, would be the judgment after departure from here, which he describes in the dialogue On the Soul, saying: “When the dead have come to the place to which his daimon brings each … those who are judged to have lived a middling life go to the Acheron, embark on the vessels there for them, and on these come to the lake; and there they dwell, and being purified, and paying the penalty for their wrongdoings, they are released, if anyone has done wrong, and receive rewards for their good deeds, each according to his merit. But those who are judged incurable because of the greatness of their sins, having committed many great sacrileges, or many unjust and lawless murders, or other such things, these their fitting fate hurls into Tartarus, from which they never come out.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato (Phaedo) describes judgment, purification, and eternal punishment in Tartarus.

Plato, Phaedo 113d–e. Part of Plato’s text is omitted (marked …).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): παρανόμονς → παρανόμους.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 113d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.14 (Dindorf 2:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.15Dindorf 2:233

Καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὧδέ πη διῆλθε. περὶ δὲ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐπάκουσον ὥς φησι “Τούτων δὲ αὐτῶν οἱ φιλοσοφίᾳ ἱκανῶς καθηράμενοι ἄνευ τε καμάτων ζῶσι τὸ παράπαν εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον, καὶ εἰς οἰκήσεις ἔτι τούτων καλλίους ἀφικνοῦνται, ἃς οὔτε ῥᾴδιον δηλῶσαι οὔτε ὁ χρόνος ἱκανὸς ἐν τῷ παρόντι.”

Kai ta men peri tōn asebōn hōde pē diēlthe. peri de tōn eusebōn epakouson hōs phēsi “Toutōn de autōn hoi philosophią hikanōs kathēramenoi aneu te kamatōn zōsi to parapan eis ton epeita chronon, kai eis oikēseis eti toutōn kallious aphiknountai, has oute rhądion dēlōsai oute ho chronos hikanos en tǭ paronti.”

Thus he described the fate of the impious. Hear how he speaks of the godly: “And of these, those who have been sufficiently purified by philosophy live thereafter altogether without toils for all time to come, and come to dwellings even fairer than these, which it is not easy to describe, nor is there sufficient time at present.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato: those purified by philosophy live forever without bodies in fairer dwellings.

Plato, Phaedo 114c. The text here reads “without toils” (καμάτων), where Plato has “without bodies” (σωμάτων).

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 114c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.15 (Dindorf 2:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.16Dindorf 2:233–234

Καὶ ἐν τῷ Γοργίᾳ δὲ πρόσχες τί καί φησι Τὸν μὲν δικαίως τὸν βίον διελθόντα καὶ ὁσίως, ἐπειδὰν τελευτήσῃ, εἰς μακάρων νήσους ἀπιόντα οἰκεῖν ἐν πάσῃ εὐδαιμονίᾳ ἐκτὸς κακῶν, τὸν δὲ ἀδίκως καὶ ἀθέως εἰς τὸ τῆς τίσεως τε καὶ δίκης δεσμωτήριον, ὃ δὴ Τάρταρον καλοῦσιν, ἰέναι... οἱ δʼ ἂν τὰ ἔσχατα ἀδικήσωσι καὶ διὰ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀδικήματα ἀνίατοι γένωνται, ἐκ τούτων τὰ παραδείγματα γίγνεται, καὶ οὗτοι αὐτοὶ μὲν οὐκέτι ὀνίνανται, ἅτε ἀνίατοι ὄντες, ἄλλοι δὲ ὀνίνανται οἱ τούτους ὁρῶντες διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τὰς μεγίστας καὶ ὀδυνηρότατα καὶ φοβερώτατα πάθη πάσχοντας τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, ἀτεχνῶς παραδείγματα ἀνηρτημένους ἐκεῖ Ἅιδου ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, τοῖς ἀεὶ τῶν ἀδίκων ἀφικνουμένοις θεάματα καὶ νουθετήματα.”

Kai en tǭ Gorgią de prosches ti kai phēsi Ton men dikaiōs ton bion dielthonta kai hosiōs, epeidan teleutēsę̄, eis makarōn nēsous apionta oikein en pasę̄ eudaimonią ektos kakōn, ton de adikōs kai atheōs eis to tēs tiseōs te kai dikēs desmōtērion, ho dē Tartaron kalousin, ienai... hoi dʼ an ta eschata adikēsōsi kai dia ta toiauta adikēmata aniatoi genōntai, ek toutōn ta paradeigmata gignetai, kai houtoi autoi men ouketi oninantai, hate aniatoi ontes, alloi de oninantai hoi toutous horōntes dia tas hamartias tas megistas kai odynērotata kai phoberōtata pathē paschontas ton aei chronon, atechnōs paradeigmata anērtēmenous ekei Haidou en tǭ desmōtēriǭ, tois aei tōn adikōn aphiknoumenois theamata kai nouthetēmata.”

And attend to what he says in the Gorgias: “That he who has passed his life justly and holily, when he dies, goes away to the islands of the blessed and dwells in all happiness apart from evils; but he who has lived unjustly and godlessly goes to the prison of retribution and justice, which they call Tartarus … And those who have committed the extreme wrongs and have become incurable through such wrongs, from these the examples are made; and they themselves are no longer benefited, since they are incurable, but others are benefited who see them suffering for all time the greatest, most painful and most fearful sufferings for their sins, simply hung up there in the prison in Hades as examples, a spectacle and a warning to the unjust who are always arriving.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato (Gorgias): the just go to the islands of the blessed, the incurably wicked suffer forever as examples.

Plato, Gorgias 523a–b; 525c. Part of Plato’s text is omitted (marked …).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words run together in the digital text): Ἅιδουἐν → Ἅιδου ἐν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Gorg. 523a–b (Plato (works); quotation); Plato, Gorg. 525c (Plato (works); quotation)

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.16 (Dindorf 2:233–234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.17Dindorf 2:234

Ταῦτα πῶς ἂν δύναιτο συνᾴδειν τοῖς περὶ ἀμοιβῆς σωμάτων, ἃ τὴν ψυχὴν μετιοῦσαν αἱρεῖσθαι φάσκουσι, λόγοις; πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἡ αὐτὴ τιμωρίας καὶ δεσμωτήρια καὶ τοσαύτην δίκην εἰς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε τελευτὴν ὑφέξει, καὶ πάλιν οἵα τις ἀνειμένη καὶ δεσμῶν ἐλευθέρα βίους ἕλοιτʼ ἂν οὓς ἂν ἐθέλῃ; εἰ δὲ τὰ καθʼ ἡδονὴν μέλλοι πάλιν αἱρεῖσθαι, καὶ ποῦ τὸ τῆς τίσεως τε καὶ δίκης δεσμωτήριον; μυρία δʼ ἂν καὶ ἄλλα τις ἐπὶ σχολῆς ἐπιλάβοιτʼ ἂν τοῦ λόγου, ὧν οὐ καιρὸς τὴν διάνοιαν μηκύνειν.

Tauta pōs an dynaito synądein tois peri amoibēs sōmatōn, ha tēn psychēn metiousan haireisthai phaskousi, logois? pōs gar an hē autē timōrias kai desmōtēria kai tosautēn dikēn eis ton aei chronon meta tēn enthende teleutēn hyphexei, kai palin hoia tis aneimenē kai desmōn eleuthera bious heloitʼ an hous an ethelę̄? ei de ta kathʼ hēdonēn melloi palin haireisthai, kai pou to tēs tiseōs te kai dikēs desmōtērion? myria dʼ an kai alla tis epi scholēs epilaboitʼ an tou logou, hōn ou kairos tēn dianoian mēkynein.

How could these things agree with the arguments about the exchange of bodies, which say that the soul, migrating, chooses them? For how could the same soul undergo punishments and prisons and such great penalty for all time after its death here, and again, as if released and free from bonds, choose whatever lives it wishes? And if it is again to choose what is pleasant, where then is the prison of retribution and justice? One might at leisure find countless other objections to the argument, on which it is not the time to dwell at length.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius: eternal punishment and free choice of new lives are incompatible.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line number leaked into the digital text; repeated syllables in the digital text): ἐθέλῃ 5 εἰ → ἐθέλῃ; εἰ; δεσμωτήριον; ριον; μυρία → δεσμωτήριον; μυρία.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.17 (Dindorf 2:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.16.18Dindorf 2:234

καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὀλίσθημα τῆς τοῦ Πλάτωνος περὶ τῶνδε δόξης ταύτῃ πη πέφανται· τὸ δʼ ἕτερον τῆς τοῦ δόγματος διασκευῆς, διʼ οὗ τὸ μέν τι θεῖον καὶ λογικὸν εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸ δέ τι μέρος αὐτῆς ἄλογον καὶ παθητικὸν τυγχάνειν ὡρίσατο, καὶ πρὸς τῶν αὐτοῦ γνωρίμων κατέγνωσται, ὡς μαθεῖν ἔνεστιν ἀπὸ τῶν τοιῶνδε λόγων

kai to men prōton olisthēma tēs tou Platōnos peri tōnde doxēs tautę̄ pē pephantai; to dʼ heteron tēs tou dogmatos diaskeuēs, diʼ hou to men ti theion kai logikon einai tēs psychēs, to de ti meros autēs alogon kai pathētikon tynchanein hōrisato, kai pros tōn autou gnōrimōn kategnōstai, hōs mathein enestin apo tōn toiōnde logōn

Thus the first slip of Plato’s opinion on these matters has been shown in some way. The other, in the structure of the doctrine, by which he defined one part of the soul as divine and rational, and another part as irrational and passible, has been condemned even by his own followers, as may be learned from the following words:

Notes and citation

Summary: Even Plato’s followers rejected his division of the soul into rational and irrational parts.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.16.18 (Dindorf 2:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-13-52/#p-13-16-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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