Preparation for the Gospel 3.12.1–4.1.11
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 3, chapter 12
3.12.1Dindorf 1:140
Κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἐλεφαντίνην πόλιν τετίμηται ἄγαλμα, πεπλασμένον μὲν, ἀλλʼ ἀνδρείκελον καὶ καθήμενον, κυανοῦν τε τὴν χροιὰν, κεφαλὴν δὲ κριοῦ κεκτημένον, καὶ βασίλειον, κέρατα τράγεια ἔχον, οἷς ἔπεστι κύκλος δισκοειδής. κάθηται δὲ, παρακειμένου κεραμέου ἀγγείου, ἐφʼ οὗ ἄνθρωπον ἀναπλάσσειν. δηλοῖ δὲ ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ κριοῦ πρόσωπον ἔχειν καὶ αἰγὸς κέρατα τὴν ἐν κριῷ σύνοδον ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης· τὸ δὲ ἐκ κυανοῦ χρῶμα, ὅτι ὑδραγωγὸς ἐν συνόδῳ ἡ σελήνη.
Kata de tēn Elephantinēn polin tetimētai agalma, peplasmenon men, allʼ andreikelon kai kathēmenon, kyanoun te tēn chroian, kephalēn de kriou kektēmenon, kai basileion, kerata trageia echon, hois epesti kyklos diskoeidēs. kathētai de, parakeimenou kerameou angeiou, ephʼ hou anthrōpon anaplassein. dēloi de apo men tou kriou prosōpon echein kai aigos kerata tēn en kriǭ synodon hēliou kai selēnēs; to de ek kyanou chrōma, hoti hydragōgos en synodǭ hē selēnē.
"At the city of Elephantine an image is honored, fashioned in the shape of a man and seated, blue in color, with a ram's head, and wearing a royal crown with goat's horns, on which is a disk-shaped circle. It sits beside an earthen vessel, on which it is shaping a man. From having the face of a ram and the horns of a goat it signifies the conjunction of the sun and moon in the Ram; and the blue color, that the moon in conjunction brings rain.
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry describes the ram-headed image at Elephantine as a symbol of the sun and moon in conjunction.
- Porphyry, On Images, continued (3.12.1–3.13.2).
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Imag. (Porphyry, On Images; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.12.1 (Dindorf 1:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-12-1). (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.
3.12.2Dindorf 1:140–141
τὸ δὲ δεύτερον φῶς τῆς σελήνης ἐν Ἀπόλλωνος πόλει καθιέρωται· ἔστι δὲ τούτου σύμβολον ἱερακοπρόσωπος ἄνθρωπος ζιβύνῃ χειρούμενος Τυφῶνα ἱπποποτάμῳ εἰκασμένον. λευκὸν δὲ τῇ χρόᾳ τὸ ἄγαλμα, τῆς μὲν λευκότητος τὸ φωτίζεσθαι τὴν σελήνην παραστησάσης, τοῦ δὲ ἱερακείου προσώπου τὸ ἀφʼ ἡλίου φωτίζεσθαι καὶ πνεῦμα λαμβάνειν. τὸν γὰρ ἱέρακα ἡλίῳ ἀφιεροῦσι· φωτὸς δὲ καὶ πνεύματος ἱέραξ αὐτοῖς σύμβολον διά τε τὴν ὀξυκινησίαν καὶ τὸ πρὸς ὕψος ἀνατρέχειν, ἔνθα τὸ φῶς· ὁ δὲ ἱπποπόταμος τὸν δυτικὸν δηλοῖ πόλον, παρὰ τὸ καταπίνειν εἰς ἑαυτὸν τοὺς περιπολοῦντας.
to de deuteron phōs tēs selēnēs en Apollōnos polei kathierōtai; esti de toutou symbolon hierakoprosōpos anthrōpos zibynę̄ cheiroumenos Typhōna hippopotamǭ eikasmenon. leukon de tę̄ chroą to agalma, tēs men leukotētos to phōtizesthai tēn selēnēn parastēsasēs, tou de hierakeiou prosōpou to aphʼ hēliou phōtizesthai kai pneuma lambanein. ton gar hieraka hēliǭ aphierousi; phōtos de kai pneumatos hierax autois symbolon dia te tēn oxykinēsian kai to pros hypsos anatrechein, entha to phōs; ho de hippopotamos ton dytikon dēloi polon, para to katapinein eis heauton tous peripolountas.
The second phase of the moon is consecrated in the city of Apollo; and its symbol is a man with a hawk's face subduing with a spear Typhon, represented as a hippopotamus. The image is white in color, the whiteness representing the moon's being lit, and the hawk's face its being lit and receiving breath from the sun. For they dedicate the hawk to the sun, and the hawk is for them a symbol of light and breath because of its swiftness and its soaring up on high, where the light is. The hippopotamus signifies the western pole, because it swallows up those that travel round into itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Apollonopolis the hawk-faced god spearing a hippopotamus symbolizes the moon's second phase.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.12.2 (Dindorf 1:140–141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-12-2). (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.
3.12.3Dindorf 1:141
θεὸς δὲ τιμᾶται ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ ὁ Ὦρος. ἡ δὲ τῆς Εἰληθυίας πόλις τὸ τρίτον φῶς θεραπεύει· τὸ δὲ ξόανον τετύπωται εἰς γῦπα πετομένην, ἧς τὸ πτέρωμα ἐκ σπουδαίων συνέστηκε λίθων. σημαίνει δὲ τὸ μὲν γυποειδὲς αὐτῆς τὴν γεννητικὴν πνευμάτων σελήνην· ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ πνεύματος οἴονται συλλαμβάνειν τὸν γῦπα, θηλείας πάσας ἀποφαινόμενοι.
theos de timatai en tę̄ polei tautę̄ ho Ōros. hē de tēs Eilēthuias polis to triton phōs therapeuei; to de xoanon tetypōtai eis gypa petomenēn, hēs to pterōma ek spoudaiōn synestēke lithōn. sēmainei de to men gypoeides autēs tēn gennētikēn pneumatōn selēnēn; ek gar tou pneumatos oiontai syllambanein ton gypa, thēleias pasas apophainomenoi.
The god honored in this city is Horus. The city of Eileithyia worships the third phase; its image is shaped as a flying vulture, whose plumage is made of precious stones. Its vulture shape signifies the moon as productive of winds; for they think the vulture conceives from the wind, declaring that all vultures are female.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Eileithyiopolis the vulture image symbolizes the moon's third phase.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.12.3 (Dindorf 1:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-12-3). (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.
3.12.4Dindorf 1:141
ἐν δὲ τοῖς κατʼ Ἐλευσῖνα μυστηρίοις ὁ μὲν ἱεροφάντης εἰς εἰκόνα τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ἐνσκευάζεται, δᾳδοῦχος δὲ εἰς τὴν ἡλίου· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ βωμῷ εἰς τὴν σελήνην, ὁ δὲ ἱεροκῆρυξ Ἑρμοῦ.
en de tois katʼ Eleusina mystēriois ho men hierophantēs eis eikona tou dēmiourgou enskeuazetai, dądouchos de eis tēn hēliou; kai ho men epi bōmǭ eis tēn selēnēn, ho de hierokēryx Hermou.
In the mysteries at Eleusis the hierophant is dressed to represent the creator, the torchbearer the sun, the priest at the altar the moon, and the sacred herald Hermes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Eleusinian priests represent the creator, sun, moon, and Hermes.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.12.4 (Dindorf 1:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-12-4). (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.
3.12.5Dindorf 1:141
καὶ ἄνθρωπος δὲ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς παρείληπται. Ἄναβις γάρ ἐστι κώμη Αἰγύπτου, ἐν ᾗ θεραπεύεται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ θύεται τούτῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βωμῶν τὰ ἱερεῖα καίεται· ὁ δὲ μετʼ ὀλίγον φάγοι ἂν τὰ ὡς ἂν ἀνθρώπῳ αὐτῷ παρεσκευασμένα.
kai anthrōpos de parʼ Aigyptiois en tois hierois pareilēptai. Anabis gar esti kōmē Aigyptou, en hę̄ therapeuetai anthrōpos, kai thyetai toutǭ kai epi tōn bōmōn ta hiereia kaietai; ho de metʼ oligon phagoi an ta hōs an anthrōpǭ autǭ pareskeuasmena.
Among the Egyptians a man too has been taken into the temples. For Anabis is a village of Egypt in which a man is worshipped; sacrifice is offered to him and the victims are burned on the altars; and a little later he would eat what had been prepared for him as for a man.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Anabis a man is worshipped with sacrifices.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): τὰ ὧς ἂν → τὰ ὡς ἂν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.12.5 (Dindorf 1:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-12-5). (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.
3.12.6Dindorf 1:141
ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲ τὰ ζῷα θεοὺς ἡγοῦνται, εἰκόνας δὲ ἐποιοῦντο καὶ σύμβολα ταῦτα θεῶν, δηλοῖ τὸ πολλαχοῦ βοῦς ἀναχθέντας θεοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἱερομηνίαις καὶ ταῖς πρὸς θεοὺς θρησκείαις βουθυτεῖν. ἡλίῳ μὲν γὰρ καὶ σελήνῃ βοῦς ἀνιέρωσαν.
hoti de oude ta zǭa theous hēgountai, eikonas de epoiounto kai symbola tauta theōn, dēloi to pollachou bous anachthentas theois en tais hieromēniais kai tais pros theous thrēskeiais bouthytein. hēliǭ men gar kai selēnę̄ bous anierōsan.
That they do not consider the animals gods, but made them images and symbols of gods, is shown by the fact that in many places they sacrifice oxen dedicated to gods on the holy days and in the worship of the gods. For they consecrated oxen to the sun and moon.
Notes and citation
Summary: Animals are symbols, not gods, since even consecrated oxen are sacrificed.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.12.6 (Dindorf 1:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-12-6). (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.
Preparation 3, chapter 13
3.13.1Dindorf 1:141
Ἀλλʼ ὅ γε ἡλίῳ ἀνακείμενος ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει, καλούμενος Μνεῦις, βοῶν ἐστι μέγιστος, σφόδρα μέλας, μάλιστα ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ὁ πολὺς μελαίνει τὰ ἀνθρώπεια σώματα. ἔχει δὲ τὴν οὐρὰν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους βοῦς καὶ τὸ πᾶν σῶμα ἀνάτριχον, καθάπερ ὁ ἥλιος τὸν ἐναντίον τῷ πόλῳ ποιεῖται δρόμον· τούς τε ὄρχεις μεγίστους, ἐπειδήπερ ὁ περὶ τὰ ἀφροδίσια ἵμερος γίνεται ὑπὸ θερμότητος, ὅ τε ἥλιος σπερμαίνειν λέγεται τὴν φύσιν.
Allʼ ho ge hēliǭ anakeimenos en Hēliou polei, kaloumenos Mneuis, boōn esti megistos, sphodra melas, malista hoti kai ho hēlios ho polys melainei ta anthrōpeia sōmata. echei de tēn ouran para tous allous bous kai to pan sōma anatrichon, kathaper ho hēlios ton enantion tǭ polǭ poieitai dromon; tous te orcheis megistous, epeidēper ho peri ta aphrodisia himeros ginetai hypo thermotētos, ho te hēlios spermainein legetai tēn physin.
"The one dedicated to the sun in Heliopolis, called Mnevis, is the largest of oxen, very black, chiefly because the sun in its strength blackens human bodies. Unlike other oxen it has its tail and its whole body with hair growing backward, as the sun makes its course opposite to the pole; and very large testicles, since sexual desire arises from heat, and the sun is said to impregnate nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: The bull Mnevis at Heliopolis symbolizes the sun.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): πό- λει → πόλει.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.1 (Dindorf 1:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-1). (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.
3.13.2Dindorf 1:141–142
σελήνῃ δὲ ταῦρον ἀνέθεσαν, ὃν Ἆπιν ἐπονομάζουσι, μέλανα μὲν καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἄλλους, φέροντα δὲ σημεῖα ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης, ὅτι καὶ τῆς σελήνης τὸ φῶς ἐξ ἡλίου· ἡλίου δὲ σημεῖον τὸ μέλαν τοῦ σώματος καὶ ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶτταν κάνθαρος· σελήνης δὲ σύμβολον τό τε διχότομον καὶ ἀμφίκυρτον.”
selēnę̄ de tauron anethesan, hon Apin eponomazousi, melana men kai auton hyper tous allous, pheronta de sēmeia hēliou kai selēnēs, hoti kai tēs selēnēs to phōs ex hēliou; hēliou de sēmeion to melan tou sōmatos kai ho hypo tēn glōttan kantharos; selēnēs de symbolon to te dichotomon kai amphikyrton.”
To the moon they dedicated a bull whom they call Apis, also blacker than the others, bearing signs of the sun and moon, because the moon's light comes from the sun. The sign of the sun is the blackness of the body and the beetle under the tongue; the symbol of the moon is the half-shaped and gibbous mark."
Notes and citation
Summary: The bull Apis symbolizes the moon and bears signs of both sun and moon.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): σε- λήνης → σελήνης.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.2 (Dindorf 1:141–142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-2). (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.
3.13.3Dindorf 1:142
Ταῦτά μοι ἐκ τῆς τοῦ προειρημένου ἀνδρὸς γραφῆς ἐπιτετμήσθω, ὡς ἂν μηδὲν ἡμᾶς λάθῃ τῶν ἀπορρήτων τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ὁμοῦ καὶ Αἰγυπτιακῆς θεολογίας, ἧς ἀποστάτας ἑαυτοὺς καὶ φυγάδας ὁμολογοῦμεν, κρίσει καὶ λογισμῷ σώφρονι καὶ τάδε παραιτησάμενοι.
Tauta moi ek tēs tou proeirēmenou andros graphēs epitetmēsthō, hōs an mēden hēmas lathę̄ tōn aporrētōn tēs Hellēnikēs homou kai Aigyptiakēs theologias, hēs apostatas heautous kai phygadas homologoumen, krisei kai logismǭ sōphroni kai tade paraitēsamenoi.
Let these extracts from the writing of the man mentioned suffice, so that none of the secrets of the Greek and Egyptian theology may escape us, from which we confess ourselves deserters and fugitives, having rejected these things too with judgment and sober reasoning.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius ends his extracts from Porphyry, from whose theology Christians have deliberately departed.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.3 (Dindorf 1:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-3). (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.
3.13.4Dindorf 1:142
οὐ γάρ με ἡ ἀλαζὼν ἐκπλήξει φωνὴ, φθέγξομαι οἷς θέμις ἐστὶ, θύρας δʼ ἐπίθεσθε βέβηλοι, φήσασα. βέβηλοι γοῦν οὐχ ἡμεῖς, ἀλλʼ οἵ γε τὰς τοιάσδε αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἀπρεπεῖς μυθολογίας κανθάρων πέρι καὶ θηρίων ἀλόγων σοφίας θεολόγου νοήματα εἶναι ἀποφηνάμενοι, οἱ, κατὰ τὸν θαυμάσιον ἀπόστολον, φάσκοντες εἶναι σοφοὶ ἐμωράνθησαν· ὅτι δὴ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ πετεινῶν καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν.”
ou gar me hē alazōn ekplēxei phōnē, phthenxomai hois themis esti, thyras dʼ epithesthe bebēloi, phēsasa. bebēloi goun ouch hēmeis, allʼ hoi ge tas toiasde aischras kai aprepeis mythologias kantharōn peri kai thēriōn alogōn sophias theologou noēmata einai apophēnamenoi, hoi, kata ton thaumasion apostolon, phaskontes einai sophoi emōranthēsan; hoti dē ēllaxan tēn doxan tou aphthartou theou en homoiōmati eikonos phthartou anthrōpou, kai peteinōn kai tetrapodōn kai herpetōn.”
For the boastful voice will not dismay me that says, 'I speak to those for whom it is lawful; close the doors, you profane.' It is not we who are profane, but those who have declared that such shameful and unseemly myths about beetles and irrational beasts are the thoughts of theological wisdom, who, according to the admirable apostle, "professing to be wise became fools," because they "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."
Rom 1:22–23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who call such myths theology are the profane, as Paul says of those who worship images of creatures.
- Quotation: Rom 1:22–23.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.4 (Dindorf 1:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-4). (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.
3.13.5Dindorf 1:142
ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ πάντα τὸν περὶ τούτων ἀπόρρητον δὴ καὶ μυστικώτερον λόγον εἰς ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις μεταφορικῶς ἀνῆγον, ὥστε δοκεῖν μηκέτʼ ἐπὶ τὰ ὁρώμενα μέρη τοῦ κόσμου τὴν θεοποιίαν αὐτῶν συντείνειν, ἀλλʼ ἐπί τινας ἀοράτους καὶ ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις, σκεψώμεθα εἰ μὴ καὶ οὕτως μίαν χρὴ τὴν θείαν δύναμιν ἀποθαυμάζειν, ἀλλʼ οὐ πολλὰς ἡγεῖσθαι.
allʼ epei panta ton peri toutōn aporrēton dē kai mystikōteron logon eis asōmatous dynameis metaphorikōs anēgon, hōste dokein mēketʼ epi ta horōmena merē tou kosmou tēn theopoiian autōn synteinein, allʼ epi tinas aoratous kai asōmatous dynameis, skepsōmetha ei mē kai houtōs mian chrē tēn theian dynamin apothaumazein, allʼ ou pollas hēgeisthai.
But since they referred the whole secret and more mystical account of these things metaphorically to incorporeal powers, so that their deification seems no longer to extend to the visible parts of the world but to certain invisible and incorporeal powers, let us consider whether even so we must not admire one divine power, and not suppose there are many.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even if the gods are invisible powers, there should be one divine power, not many.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.5 (Dindorf 1:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-5). (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.
3.13.6Dindorf 1:142–143
οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπεὶ πολλὰ σχήματα καὶ μέρη καὶ μέλη ὑφʼ ἐνὶ σώματι δεδημιούργηται, τοσαύτας χρῆν ἡμᾶς τὰς ψυχὰς ἔχειν ἡγεῖσθαι, οὐδὲ τοσούτους ποιητὰς καὶ δημιουργοὺς τοῦ σώματος νομίζειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχὴν μίαν τὸ πᾶν σῶμα κινεῖν, καὶ μίαν δημιουργὸν δύναμιν τὸ πᾶν ζῷον τεκτήνασθαι.
oude gar epei polla schēmata kai merē kai melē hyphʼ eni sōmati dedēmiourgētai, tosautas chrēn hēmas tas psychas echein hēgeisthai, oude tosoutous poiētas kai dēmiourgous tou sōmatos nomizein, alla kai psychēn mian to pan sōma kinein, kai mian dēmiourgon dynamin to pan zǭon tektēnasthai.
For though many shapes, parts, and limbs have been fashioned in one body, we should not think we have as many souls, nor suppose there are as many makers and creators of the body; but one soul moves the whole body, and one creative power has fashioned the whole living creature.
Notes and citation
Summary: As one soul moves a body of many parts, so one creative power made it.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.6 (Dindorf 1:142–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-6). (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.
3.13.7Dindorf 1:143
οὕτω δῆτα καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, ἑνὸς μὲν ὄντος καὶ ἐκ μιᾶς τῆς σωματικῆς ὕλης συνεστῶτος, εἰς μέρη δὲ πλεῖστα διῃρημένου, καὶ μίαν τῶν ὅλων φυσικὴν συμπάθειαν ὑποφαίνοντος, κρᾶσίν τε καὶ μῖξιν τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ στοιχείων, ἀλλοιώσεις τε καὶ μεταβολὰς αὐτῶν εἰς ἑαυτὰ, ὅλον δὲ καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἔνα κόσμον καὶ μίαν ἁρμονίαν ἐπιδεικνυμένου, οὐ πολλὰς χρῆν ὑποτίθεσθαι δημιουργοὺς δυνάμεις, μόνην δὲ θεολογεῖν τὴν ὡς ἀληθῶς θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ θεοῦ σοφίαν.
houtō dēta kai epi tou sympantos kosmou, henos men ontos kai ek mias tēs sōmatikēs hylēs synestōtos, eis merē de pleista dię̄rēmenou, kai mian tōn holōn physikēn sympatheian hypophainontos, krasin te kai mixin tōn en autǭ stoicheiōn, alloiōseis te kai metabolas autōn eis heauta, holon de kai to pan ena kosmon kai mian harmonian epideiknymenou, ou pollas chrēn hypotithesthai dēmiourgous dynameis, monēn de theologein tēn hōs alēthōs theou dynamin kai theou sophian.
So too with the whole world: since it is one and composed of one bodily matter, though divided into very many parts, and shows one natural sympathy of the whole, a blending and mingling of the elements in it, and their alterations and changes into one another, and displays the whole and all as one world and one harmony, we should not suppose many creative powers, but proclaim as God only the true power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Cor 1:24 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The unity of the world points to one creative power, the power and wisdom of God.
- Echo of 1 Cor 1:24 ("the power of God and the wisdom of God").
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.7 (Dindorf 1:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-7). (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.
3.13.8Dindorf 1:143
ὁ δὲ καὶ τὰς Αἰγυπτιακὰς μυθολογίας πάλιν ἐπὶ ἀσωμάτους μεταφέρει δυνάμεις, λαθὼν ὁ σοφώτατος αὐτὸς ἑαυτόν. ἀκήκοας γὰρ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ὅπως τὸν Χαιρήμονα καὶ πλείους ἄλλους ὡμολόγει μηδʼ ἄλλο τι πρὸ τῶν ὁρωμένων κόσμων ἡγεῖσθαι, ἐν ἀρχῆς τε λόγῳ τίθεσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους· τούτους γὰρ πάντα εἰς τὰ φυσικὰ καὶ οὐδὲν εἰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ζώσας οὐσίας ἑρμηνεύειν.
ho de kai tas Aigyptiakas mythologias palin epi asōmatous metapherei dynameis, lathōn ho sophōtatos autos heauton. akēkoas gar en tois prosthen hopōs ton Chairēmona kai pleious allous hōmologei mēdʼ allo ti pro tōn horōmenōn kosmōn hēgeisthai, en archēs te logǭ tithesthai tous Aigyptious; toutous gar panta eis ta physika kai ouden eis asōmatous kai zōsas ousias hermēneuein.
But he, most wise as he is, has not noticed that he again transfers the Egyptian mythologies to incorporeal powers. For you heard above how he admitted that Chaeremon and many others thought there was nothing prior to the visible worlds, and that they put the Egyptians at the head of their account; for these interpreted everything in terms of natural things and nothing in terms of incorporeal and living beings.
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry contradicts himself by referring Egyptian myths to incorporeal powers.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): ἐρμηνεύειν → ἑρμηνεύειν; ὁρω- μένων → ὁρωμένων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.8 (Dindorf 1:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-8). (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.
3.13.9Dindorf 1:143
εἰ δὴ οὖν κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ὁμολογίαν Αἰγυπτίων ἦν τὸ μηδὲν ἀνάγειν εἰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ζώσας οὐσίας, πάντα δὲ τὰ περὶ θεῶν αὐτοῖς μυθολογούμενα ἐπὶ τὰ φυσικὰ τοῦ κόσμου μέρη μεταφέρειν, τί δὴ ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς εὑρεσιλογοῦντες Αἰγυπτίοις τὰ μηδαμῶς αὐτῶν οἰκεῖα προσγράφετε, ἐπὶ δυνάμεις ἀσωμάτους φάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τὴν ἀναφορὰν τῆς θεολογίας αὐτῶν ποιεῖσθαι; καθόλου μὲν οὖν ταῦτα αἰτιατέον.
ei dē oun kata tēn autōn homologian Aigyptiōn ēn to mēden anagein eis asōmatous kai zōsas ousias, panta de ta peri theōn autois mythologoumena epi ta physika tou kosmou merē metapherein, ti dē ex hyparchēs heuresilogountes Aigyptiois ta mēdamōs autōn oikeia prosgraphete, epi dynameis asōmatous phaskontes autous tēn anaphoran tēs theologias autōn poieisthai? katholou men oun tauta aitiateon.
If, then, by your own admission it was the way of the Egyptians to refer nothing to incorporeal and living beings, but to transfer all the myths about the gods to the natural parts of the world, why do you, inventing from the beginning, ascribe to the Egyptians what in no way belongs to them, saying that they refer their theology to incorporeal powers? This, then, is the general charge.
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry wrongly ascribes to the Egyptians a theology of incorporeal powers.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.9 (Dindorf 1:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-9). (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.
3.13.10Dindorf 1:143–144
Καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ μέρος δὲ ἡγοῦμαι τὸν ἔλεγχον τῆς κατηναγκασμένης ἀποδόσεως αὐτῶν οὐ μακρᾶς ἀνασκευῆς δεῖσθαι. ἵνα γὰρ τὸν Αἰγυπτιακὸν παρελθών τις λῆρον καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀδόλεσχον φλυαρίαν ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν σοφῶν Ἑλλήνων μετέλθοι φυσιολογίας, τίς οὐκ ἂν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων αὐτόθεν καταμέμψαιτο τοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα παρεξηγεῖσθαι πειρωμένοις;
Kai epi tōn kata meros de hēgoumai ton elenchon tēs katēnankasmenēs apodoseōs autōn ou makras anaskeuēs deisthai. hina gar ton Aigyptiakon parelthōn tis lēron kai tēn pollēn autōn kai adoleschon phlyarian epi tas tōn sophōn Hellēnōn metelthoi physiologias, tis ouk an tōn eu phronountōn autothen katamempsaito tois ta toiauta parexēgeisthai peirōmenois?
In the particulars too, I think, the refutation of their forced interpretation needs no long rebuttal. For if one passes over the Egyptian nonsense and their great and garrulous trifling and turns to the natural philosophy of the wise Greeks, who among the sensible would not at once find fault with those who try to give such false explanations?
Notes and citation
Summary: The Greek allegories are likewise easily refuted.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined; accent corrected): δασθαι → δεῖσθαι; φρονούν- τῶν → φρονούντων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.10 (Dindorf 1:143–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-10). (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.
3.13.11Dindorf 1:144
ἔστω γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς μηκέθʼ ἡ πυρώδης καὶ αἰθέριος οὐσία, ὥσπερ οὖν τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἐνομίζετο κατὰ τὸν Πλούταρχον, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνωτάτω νοῦς, ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς, ὁ τὰ πάντα ζωογονῶν· πῶς οὖν ἔσται τούτου πατὴρ μὲν ὁ Κρόνος, ὅν φασιν εἶναι τὸν χρόνον, Ῥέα δὲ μήτηρ, ἣν ὁ ἑρμηνεὺς ἔφησεν εἶναι τὴν πετρώδη καὶ ὄρειον δύναμιν; τὴν γὰρ Ἥραν οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τὸν ἀέρα τὸν καὶ αἰθέρα προσειπὼν ἀδελφὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ γυναῖκά φησιν εἶναι τοῦ κοσμοποιοῦ καὶ ζωοποιοῦ πάντων νοῦ.
estō gar ho Zeus mēkethʼ hē pyrōdēs kai aitherios ousia, hōsper oun tois palaiois enomizeto kata ton Ploutarchon, allʼ autos ho anōtatō nous, ho tōn holōn dēmiourgos, ho ta panta zōogonōn; pōs oun estai toutou patēr men ho Kronos, hon phasin einai ton chronon, Rhea de mētēr, hēn ho hermēneus ephēsen einai tēn petrōdē kai oreion dynamin? tēn gar Hēran ouk oidʼ hopōs ton aera ton kai aithera proseipōn adelphēn homou kai gynaika phēsin einai tou kosmopoiou kai zōopoiou pantōn nou.
For let Zeus no longer be the fiery and ethereal substance, as the ancients thought according to Plutarch, but the supreme mind itself, the creator of the universe, who gives life to all things. How then will Cronus, who they say is time, be his father, and Rhea his mother, whom the interpreter said is the rocky and mountainous power? And Hera, whom, I know not how, he called the air and also the ether, he says is the sister and also the wife of the mind that made the world and gives life to all.
Notes and citation
Summary: If Zeus is the supreme mind, his genealogy and marriage make no sense.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.11 (Dindorf 1:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-11). (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.
3.13.12Dindorf 1:144
ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ Λητὼ πάλιν λήθω τις καλείσθω, διὰ τὴν κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον, ὥς φασιν, ἀναισθησίαν, καὶ ὅτι λήθη ξυνομαρτεῖ ταῖς ὑπὸ σελήνην γενομέναις ψυχαῖς. πῶς ἂν οὖν ἡ λήθη γένοιτʼ ἂν ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης μήτηρ, Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος τῶν Λητοῦς παίδων εἰς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην μετενηνεγμένων;
alla kai hē Lētō palin lēthō tis kaleisthō, dia tēn kata ton hypnon, hōs phasin, anaisthēsian, kai hoti lēthē xynomartei tais hypo selēnēn genomenais psychais. pōs an oun hē lēthē genoitʼ an hēliou kai selēnēs mētēr, Apollōnos kai Artemidos tōn Lētous paidōn eis hēlion kai selēnēn metenēnegmenōn?
And let Leto again be called a kind of forgetfulness (letho), because of the insensibility of sleep, as they say, and because forgetfulness accompanies souls born beneath the moon. How then could forgetfulness be the mother of the sun and moon, if Apollo and Artemis, the children of Leto, are transferred to the sun and moon?
Notes and citation
Summary: Forgetfulness cannot be the mother of the sun and moon.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.12 (Dindorf 1:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-12). (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.
3.13.13Dindorf 1:144
τί δὲ χρὴ σέβειν ὡς θεὸν τὴν Ῥέαν ἢ τὴν Δήμητρα, εἰ ἡ μὲν τῆς πετρώδους καὶ ὀρείου γῆς, ἡ δὲ τῆς πεδιάδος τὰ σύμβολα φέρειν ἐλέγετο; τὴν δὲ Κόρην τὸν κόρον ἀλληγοροῦντες τίνι λόγῳ καὶ ταύτην οἴονται δεῖν τῇ σεβασμίῳ προσηγορίᾳ τιμᾶν;
ti de chrē sebein hōs theon tēn Rhean ē tēn Dēmētra, ei hē men tēs petrōdous kai oreiou gēs, hē de tēs pediados ta symbola pherein elegeto? tēn de Korēn ton koron allēgorountes tini logǭ kai tautēn oiontai dein tę̄ sebasmiǭ prosēgorią timan?
Why should Rhea or Demeter be worshipped as a goddess, if the one was said to bear the symbols of rocky and mountainous earth and the other of the plain? And Kore, whom they allegorize as the sprout, on what principle do they think she too should be honored with the reverend name?
Notes and citation
Summary: Why worship rocky ground, plains, or sprouts?
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.13 (Dindorf 1:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-13). (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.
3.13.14Dindorf 1:144
τί δὲ μᾶλλον τὴν σπερματοῦχον δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀκροδρύων γένεσιν, ἢ τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἔαρ προφαινομένων ἀνθέων καὶ πρὶν τελεσιγονῆσαι διαρρεόντων, ἢ τῆς τῶν τελείων καρπῶν ἐκτομῆς τὰ σύμβολα, Διόνυσον καὶ Ἄττιν καὶ Ἄδωνιν ἐπονομάζοντας, ὡς θεοὺς χρῆναι σέβειν, οὐχὶ δὲ τούτων ἁπάντων τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος προτιμᾶν, ᾧ ταῦτα πρὸς χρῆσιν καὶ τροφὴν ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς θεὸς ὑπεστήσατο;
ti de mallon tēn spermatouchon dynamin, kai tēn tōn akrodryōn genesin, ē tōn kata to ear prophainomenōn antheōn kai prin telesigonēsai diarreontōn, ē tēs tōn teleiōn karpōn ektomēs ta symbola, Dionyson kai Attin kai Adōnin eponomazontas, hōs theous chrēnai sebein, ouchi de toutōn hapantōn to anthrōpeion genos protiman, hǭ tauta pros chrēsin kai trophēn ho tōn holōn dēmiourgos theos hypestēsato?
Why should one worship as gods the seed-bearing power and the generation of tree fruits, or the symbols of the spring flowers that fall before bearing seed, or of the cutting of ripe fruits, naming them Dionysus, Attis, and Adonis, and not rather prefer to all these the human race, for whose use and food the God who created the universe made them?
Notes and citation
Summary: Mankind, for whom crops were made, is more honorable than the crops called gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in digitization): Ἄδωνινκ → Ἄδωνιν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.14 (Dindorf 1:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-14). (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.
3.13.15Dindorf 1:144–145
Μεταβὰς δὲ ἐκ τούτων καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ κατὰ τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον τῆς γενναίας ἀπελέγξεις φυσιολογίας, εὐλόγως τῆς ἀναισχυντίας ἐπιμεμψάμενος τοῖς, φέρε, τὸν ἥλιον αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἀπόλλω, καὶ πάλιν τὸν Ἡρακλέα, καὶ αὖθις τὸν Διόνυσον, καὶ τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν ὁμοίως ἀποφαινομένοις.
Metabas de ek toutōn kai ta loipa kata ton homoion tropon tēs gennaias apelenxeis physiologias, eulogōs tēs anaischyntias epimempsamenos tois, phere, ton hēlion auton einai ton Apollō, kai palin ton Hēraklea, kai authis ton Dionyson, kai ton Asklēpion homoiōs apophainomenois.
Passing on from these, you will refute the rest of the noble natural philosophy in the same way, rightly blaming the shamelessness of those who declare that the sun, if you please, is Apollo, and again Heracles, and again Dionysus, and likewise Asclepius.
Notes and citation
Summary: The sun cannot be Apollo, Heracles, Dionysus, and Asclepius all at once.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; digitization slip): φυσιολολίας → φυσιολογίας; ᾿Ασκληπιὸν → Ἀσκληπιὸν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.15 (Dindorf 1:144–145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-15). (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.
3.13.16Dindorf 1:145
πῶς γὰρ ὁ αὐτὸς πατὴρ ἂν γένοιτο καὶ υἱὸς, Ἀσκληπιὸς ὁμοῦ καὶ Ἀπόλλων; πῶς δʼ ἂν πάλιν εἰς Ἡρακλέα μετενεχθείη, εἰ δὴ ἐκ θνητῆς γυναικὸς τῆς Ἀλκμήνης ὁ Ἡρακλῆς αὐτοῖς ὡμολόγηται; πῶς δʼ ἂν ἐμμανὴς γένοιτο καὶ σφάξειε τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ παῖδας ὁ ἥλιος, ὅτι δὴ καὶ ταῦτα προσαναγέγραπται τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ;
pōs gar ho autos patēr an genoito kai huios, Asklēpios homou kai Apollōn? pōs dʼ an palin eis Hēraklea metenechtheiē, ei dē ek thnētēs gynaikos tēs Alkmēnēs ho Hēraklēs autois hōmologētai? pōs dʼ an emmanēs genoito kai sphaxeie tous heautou paidas ho hēlios, hoti dē kai tauta prosanagegraptai tǭ Hēraklei?
For how could the same be both father and son, Asclepius and Apollo together? And how could he be transferred to Heracles, if they admit that Heracles was born of a mortal woman, Alcmene? And how could the sun go mad and slaughter his own children, since this too is recorded of Heracles?
Notes and citation
Summary: The sun cannot be both father and son, or a madman who killed his children.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): ῾Ηρακλεῖ → Ἡρακλεῖ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.16 (Dindorf 1:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-16). (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.
3.13.17Dindorf 1:145
ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἄθλους ἐπιτελοῦντα τοὺς δώδεκα τὸν Ἡρακλέα τῆς κατʼ οὐρανὸν διαιρέσεως τοῦ ζωδιακοῦ κύκλου, ὅν φασι τὸν ἥλιον περιπολεῖν, τὸ σύμβολον φέρειν. τίς οὖν ἔτι γένοιτʼ ἂν Εὐρυσθεὺς ὁ τῷ ἡλίῳ, ὥσπερ οὖν τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ, τοὺς ἄθλους ἐκτελεῖν ἐπιτάττων; πῶς δʼ ἂν ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἀναχθεῖεν αἱ πεντήκοντα Θεστίου θυγατέρες καὶ τὸ τῶν λοιπῶν αἰχμαλωτίδων πλῆθος, αἷς τὸν Ἡρακλέα λόγος ἔχει μιγῆναι, ἐξ ὧν καὶ θνητοὶ παῖδες αὐτῷ γενόμενοι ἐπὶ μήκιστον τὴν τῶν γενῶν παρέτειναν διαδοχήν; τίς δʼ ἂν εἴη ὁ Κένταυρος, οὗ τῷ αἵματι τὸν χιτῶνα μολύνασα ἡ Δηιάνειρα τὸν ἥλιον, ὥσπερ οὖν τὸν Ἡρακλέα, τῇ δεδηλωμένῃ περιβάλοι ἂν συμφορᾷ;
alla tous athlous epitelounta tous dōdeka ton Hēraklea tēs katʼ ouranon diaireseōs tou zōdiakou kyklou, hon phasi ton hēlion peripolein, to symbolon pherein. tis oun eti genoitʼ an Eurystheus ho tǭ hēliǭ, hōsper oun tǭ Hēraklei, tous athlous ektelein epitattōn? pōs dʼ an epi ton hēlion anachtheien hai pentēkonta Thestiou thygateres kai to tōn loipōn aichmalōtidōn plēthos, hais ton Hēraklea logos echei migēnai, ex hōn kai thnētoi paides autǭ genomenoi epi mēkiston tēn tōn genōn pareteinan diadochēn? tis dʼ an eiē ho Kentauros, hou tǭ haimati ton chitōna molynasa hē Dēianeira ton hēlion, hōsper oun ton Hēraklea, tę̄ dedēlōmenę̄ peribaloi an symphorą?
But Heracles performing the twelve labors, they say, bears the symbol of the division in heaven of the zodiac, around which the sun travels. Who, then, would be the Eurystheus who ordered the sun, as he did Heracles, to perform the labors? And how could the fifty daughters of Thestius and the crowd of the other captive women be referred to the sun, with whom the story says Heracles had intercourse, and from whom mortal children were born to him who extended the succession of their families very far? And who would be the Centaur, with whose blood Deianeira stained the tunic and could involve the sun, as Heracles, in the calamity described?
Notes and citation
Summary: The details of Heracles' life cannot apply to the sun.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; punctuation misread in digitization): ἐπιτάττων., → ἐπιτάττων;; ῾Ηρακλέα λόγος → Ἡρακλέα λόγος; τὸν ῾Ηρακλέα, τῇ → τὸν Ἡρακλέα, τῇ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.17 (Dindorf 1:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-17). (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.
3.13.18Dindorf 1:145–146
ἀλλὰ γὰρ μηκέτʼ ἔστω ὁ ἥλιος αὐτοῖς Ἡρακλῆς, ἔστω δʼ ὁ Διόνυσος· καὶ τί ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν Διόνυσον; φαίη τις ἂν εἰκότως. τίς γὰρ ἡ τοῦτον γεννήσασα, εἴτε Σεμέλη τις λέγοιτο εἴτε Περσεφόνη; πῶς δʼ ἂν εἴη ὁ Διόνυσος ὁμοῦ καὶ ἥλιος καὶ ἡ κατὰ τοὺς ὑγροὺς καρποὺς καὶ τὰ ἀκρόδρυα βλαστῶσα δύναμις; τί δʼ ἂν γένοιτο τῶν συστρατευσαμένων αὐτῷ γυναικῶν τὸ πλῆθος; τίς δὲ καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἡλίου, ὥσπερ οὑν ἡ τοῦ Διονύσου, Ἀριάδνη; τί δὲ μᾶλλον οἴνου, οὐχὶ δὲ σίτου καὶ ὀσπρίων καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ γῆς ἁπάντων καρπῶν γένοιτʼ ἂν χορηγὸς ὁ Διόνυσος ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον μεταγόμενος;
alla gar mēketʼ estō ho hēlios autois Hēraklēs, estō dʼ ho Dionysos; kai ti tauta pros ton Dionyson? phaiē tis an eikotōs. tis gar hē touton gennēsasa, eite Semelē tis legoito eite Persephonē? pōs dʼ an eiē ho Dionysos homou kai hēlios kai hē kata tous hygrous karpous kai ta akrodrya blastōsa dynamis? ti dʼ an genoito tōn systrateusamenōn autǭ gynaikōn to plēthos? tis de kai hē tou hēliou, hōsper houn hē tou Dionysou, Ariadnē? ti de mallon oinou, ouchi de sitou kai ospriōn kai tōn apo gēs hapantōn karpōn genoitʼ an chorēgos ho Dionysos epi ton hēlion metagomenos?
But let the sun be for them no longer Heracles, but Dionysus. 'And what has this to do with Dionysus?' one might well say. For who was his mother, whether she is called Semele or Persephone? How could Dionysus be at once the sun and the power that makes moist fruits and tree fruits sprout? What would become of the crowd of women who campaigned with him? Who would be the sun's Ariadne, as she was Dionysus'? And why would Dionysus, transferred to the sun, be the provider of wine rather than of grain and pulse and all the fruits of the earth?
Notes and citation
Summary: Dionysus' story too cannot be applied to the sun.
- "And what has this to do with Dionysus?" is a Greek proverb.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): πλῇθος → πλῆθος; Διό- νυσος → Διόνυσος; Διο- νύσου → Διονύσου.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.18 (Dindorf 1:145–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-18). (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.
3.13.19Dindorf 1:146
εἰ δὲ καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸς αὐτοῖς πάλιν εἴη ὁ ἥλιος, πῶς οὗτος ὑπὸ τοῦ Δῖός κεραυνοῦται ῥυπαρὰς ἕνεκεν αἰσχροκερδείας, κατὰ τὸν Βοιώτιον μελοποιὸν Πίνδαρον ὧδέ πως λέγοντα Ἔτραπεν κἀκεῖνον ἀγάνορι μισθῷ χρυσὸς ἐν χερσὶν φανεὶς,... χερσὶ δʼ ἄρα Κρονίων ῥίψαις διʼ ἀμφοῖν ἀμπνοὰν στέρνων κάθελεν ὠκέως, αἴθων δὲ κεραυνὸς ἐνέσκηψεν μόρον.
ei de kai Asklēpios autois palin eiē ho hēlios, pōs houtos hypo tou Dios keraunoutai rhyparas heneken aischrokerdeias, kata ton Boiōtion melopoion Pindaron hōde pōs legonta Etrapen kakeinon aganori misthǭ chrysos en chersin phaneis,... chersi dʼ ara Kroniōn rhipsais diʼ amphoin ampnoan sternōn kathelen ōkeōs, aithōn de keraunos eneskēpsen moron.
And if Asclepius again is the sun for them, how is he struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt for sordid love of gain, according to the Boeotian lyric poet Pindar, who says: 'Even he was turned aside by a lordly fee, gold shown in his hand ... and the son of Cronus, hurling with his hands through both, swiftly took the breath from their breasts, and the blazing thunderbolt struck down death.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Pindar says Asclepius was killed by Zeus for greed, which cannot apply to the sun.
- Pindar, Pythian 3.54–58.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray digit in digitization): ἥλιος 5 πῶς → ἥλιος, πῶς.
Extrabiblical texts: Pindar, Pyth. 3.54 (Pindar (odes and fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.19 (Dindorf 1:146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-19). (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.
3.13.20Dindorf 1:146
τίνες δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐξ ἡλίου Ἀσκληπιάδαι, εἰς μακρὸν τοῦ βίου διαφυλαχθέντες καὶ θνητῶν ἀνδρῶν γένεσιν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις παραπλησίαν ὑποστησάμενοι; πλὴν ἀλλὰ πάλιν αὐτοῖς, ὥσπερ διὰ μηχανῆς, τὰς αἰσχρὰς καὶ μυθικὰς περὶ θεῶν διηγήσεις ἀποφεύγουσιν, εἰς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ κόσμου μέρη ἀνατρέχοι ἂν ὁ λόγος.
tines de kai hoi ex hēliou Asklēpiadai, eis makron tou biou diaphylachthentes kai thnētōn andrōn genesin pasin anthrōpois paraplēsian hypostēsamenoi? plēn alla palin autois, hōsper dia mēchanēs, tas aischras kai mythikas peri theōn diēgēseis apopheugousin, eis hēlion kai selēnēn kai ta loipa tou kosmou merē anatrechoi an ho logos.
And who are the Asclepiads descended from the sun, preserved for a long time and producing a birth of mortal men like all other men? But again, as if by stage machinery, as they flee the shameful and mythical stories about the gods, the account would run back for them to the sun, moon, and other parts of the world.
Notes and citation
Summary: The allegorists escape the shameful myths only by retreating to the heavenly bodies.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.20 (Dindorf 1:146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-20). (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.
3.13.21Dindorf 1:146–147
εἴ γε πῦρ μὲν ἦν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἥφαιστος καὶ ἡ θερμὴ δύναμις, Ποσειδῶν δὲ ἡ ὑγρὰ οὐσία, Ἥρα δὲ ὁ ἀὴρ, καὶ γῆ πάλιν, ἡ μὲν ὄρειος καὶ πετρώδης Ῥέα, ἡ δὲ πεδινὴ καὶ γόνιμος Δημήτηρ, καὶ Κόρη δὲ ἡ σπερματοῦχος, καὶ Διόνυσος ἡ φυτευτικὴ τῶν ἀκροδρύων δύναμις. καὶ ἥλιος Ἀπόλλων σὺν τοῖς κατειλεγμένοις, σελήνη δὲ ποτὲ μὲν Ἄρτεμις, ποτὲ δὲ Ἀθηνᾶ, καὶ πάλιν Ἑκάτη καὶ Εἰλήθυια, οὐκοῦν πάλιν τὴν κτίσιν παρὰ τὸν κτίστην, καὶ τὴν δημιουργίαν τοῦ παντὸς, ἀλλʼ οὐ τὸν δημιουργὸν θεολογοῦντες ἀπελέγχονται, λίαν ἐπισφαλῶς καὶ ἐπικινδύνως καὶ ἐπὶ κακῷ τῆς ἰδίας αὐτῶν κεφαλῆς.
ei ge pyr men ēn autois ho Hēphaistos kai hē thermē dynamis, Poseidōn de hē hygra ousia, Hēra de ho aēr, kai gē palin, hē men oreios kai petrōdēs Rhea, hē de pedinē kai gonimos Dēmētēr, kai Korē de hē spermatouchos, kai Dionysos hē phyteutikē tōn akrodryōn dynamis. kai hēlios Apollōn syn tois kateilegmenois, selēnē de pote men Artemis, pote de Athēna, kai palin Hekatē kai Eilēthuia, oukoun palin tēn ktisin para ton ktistēn, kai tēn dēmiourgian tou pantos, allʼ ou ton dēmiourgon theologountes apelenchontai, lian episphalōs kai epikindynōs kai epi kakǭ tēs idias autōn kephalēs.
If Hephaestus for them was fire and the hot power, Poseidon the moist substance, Hera the air; and the earth again, the mountainous and rocky part Rhea, the plain and fruitful part Demeter; Kore the seed-bearing power and Dionysus the power that plants tree fruits; the sun Apollo with those listed, and the moon now Artemis, now Athena, and again Hecate and Eileithyia, then they are again convicted of proclaiming as gods the creation instead of the Creator, and the work of the universe but not its creator, very dangerously and perilously, and to the ruin of their own heads.
Rom 1:25 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The allegorists worship the creation instead of the Creator.
- Allusion to Rom 1:25.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): ῾Ρέα → Ῥέα.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.21 (Dindorf 1:146–147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-21). (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.
3.13.22Dindorf 1:147
εἰ δὲ μὴ τὰ ὁρώμενα σώματα ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων μηδέ γε τὰ αἰσθητὰ μέρη τοῦ κόσμου φήσουσι θεοποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐν τούτοις ἀοράτους δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ δὴ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν, (ἕνα γὰρ ὄντα θεὸν παντοίαις δυνάμεσι τὰ πάντα πληροῦν, καὶ διὰ πάντων διήκειν, καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπιστατεῖν, ἀσωμάτως δὲ καὶ ἀφανῶς ἐν πᾶσιν ὄντα, καὶ διὰ πάντων διήκοντα, καὶ τοῦτον εἰκότως διὰ τῶν δεδηλωμένων σέβειν φασὶ) τί δῆτα τοιγαροῦν οὐχὶ τὰς αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἀπρεπεῖς περὶ θεῶν μυθολογίας ὡς ἂν ἀθέσμους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς παραιτησάμενοι, καὶ αὐτάς γε τὰς περὶ τούτων βίβλους, ὡς δυσσεβῆ καὶ ἀκόλαστα περιεχούσας, ἀφανεῖς ποιήσαντες, τὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον καὶ ἀόρατον θεὸν γυμνῶς καὶ καθαρῶς καὶ ἄνευ τινὸς αἰσχρᾶς περιπλοκῆς ἀνυμνοῦσι;
ei de mē ta horōmena sōmata hēliou kai selēnēs kai astrōn mēde ge ta aisthēta merē tou kosmou phēsousi theopoiein, alla tas en toutois aoratous dynameis autou dē tou epi pasin, (hena gar onta theon pantoiais dynamesi ta panta plēroun, kai dia pantōn diēkein, kai tois pasin epistatein, asōmatōs de kai aphanōs en pasin onta, kai dia pantōn diēkonta, kai touton eikotōs dia tōn dedēlōmenōn sebein phasi) ti dēta toigaroun ouchi tas aischras kai aprepeis peri theōn mythologias hōs an athesmous kai asebeis paraitēsamenoi, kai autas ge tas peri toutōn biblous, hōs dyssebē kai akolasta periechousas, aphaneis poiēsantes, ton hena kai monon kai aoraton theon gymnōs kai katharōs kai aneu tinos aischras periplokēs anymnousi?
But if they say they do not deify the visible bodies of the sun, moon, and stars, nor the perceptible parts of the world, but the invisible powers in them of the God over all himself (for, being one God, he fills all things with all kinds of powers, pervades all, and presides over all, being in all incorporeally and invisibly and pervading all, and him, they say, they rightly worship through the things described), why then do they not reject as lawless and impious the shameful and unseemly myths about the gods, and do away with the very books about them as containing impious and licentious things, and hymn the one and only and invisible God plainly and purely, without any shameful entanglement?
Notes and citation
Summary: If they worship the one God's powers, they should reject the myths and worship him purely.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; words joined in digitization): ἀλλὰτὰς → ἀλλὰ τὰς; καθα- ρῶς → καθαρῶς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.22 (Dindorf 1:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-22). (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.
3.13.23Dindorf 1:147
τοῦτο γὰρ δέον ἦν ποιεῖν τοῖς τἀληθὲς ἐπεγνωκόσι, μηδὲ κατάγειν καὶ καταβάλλειν εἰς αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἐμπαθεῖς ἀρρητολογίας τὴν σεβάσμιον τοῦ θεοῦ πρόσρησιν· ἀλλὰ μηδʼ ἐν οἰκίσκοις καὶ σκότου μυχοῖς ἀνδρῶν τε οἰκοδομαῖς σφὰς αὐτοὺς ἐναποκλείειν, ὡς ἔνδον εὑρήσοντας τὸν θεὸν, μηδʼ ἐν ξοάνοις ἐξ ἀψύχου πεποιημένοις ὕλης τὰς θείας τιμᾶν οἴεσθαι δυνάμεις, μηδὲ μὴν γεώδεσιν ἀτμοῖς αἱμάτων καὶ λύθρου καὶ νεκρῶν ζῴων αἵμασι κεχαρισμένα τῷ θεῷ πράττειν νομίζειν.
touto gar deon ēn poiein tois talēthes epegnōkosi, mēde katagein kai kataballein eis aischras kai empatheis arrētologias tēn sebasmion tou theou prosrēsin; alla mēdʼ en oikiskois kai skotou mychois andrōn te oikodomais sphas autous enapokleiein, hōs endon heurēsontas ton theon, mēdʼ en xoanois ex apsychou pepoiēmenois hylēs tas theias timan oiesthai dynameis, mēde mēn geōdesin atmois haimatōn kai lythrou kai nekrōn zǭōn haimasi kecharismena tǭ theǭ prattein nomizein.
For this is what those who have recognized the truth ought to have done: not to drag down and degrade the reverend name of God to shameful and passionate unspeakable tales; nor to shut themselves up in little houses and recesses of darkness and buildings made by men, as if they would find God inside; nor to think they honor the divine powers in images made of lifeless matter; nor to suppose that they please God with earthly fumes of blood and gore and the blood of dead animals.
Notes and citation
Summary: They should not shut God in temples, honor him with images, or please him with bloody sacrifices.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): νεκρόν ζῴων → νεκρῶν ζῴων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.23 (Dindorf 1:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-23). (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.
3.13.24Dindorf 1:147–148
τούτων δὲ ἁπάντων, ὡς ἂν πλάνης δεσμῶν ἀπολυθέντας, χρῆν δήπου τοὺς σοφοὺς καὶ μετεωρολέσχας πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τῆς φυσικῆς θεωρίας ἀφθόνως κοινωνεῖν, μονονουχὶ γυμνῶς προκηρύττοντας ἅπασι μὴ τὰ φαινόμενα, τὸν δʼ ἀφανῆ δημιουργὸν τῶν φαινομένων μόνον ἀποθαυμάζειν, καὶ τὰς ἀοράτους αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις ἀοράτως καὶ ἀσωμάτως θρησκεύειν, οὐ πῦρ ἅψαντας, οὐδέ γε κριὸν καὶ ταῦρον θυσαμένους, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ στεφάνοις καὶ ξοάνοις καὶ ναῶν οἰκοδομαῖς τὸ θεῖον τιμᾶν οἰομένους, λογισμοῖς δὲ κεκαθαρμένοις καὶ δόγμασιν ὀρθοῖς καὶ ἀληθέσι τοῦτο πράττοντας, ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ ψυχῆς καὶ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁμοιώσει.
toutōn de hapantōn, hōs an planēs desmōn apolythentas, chrēn dēpou tous sophous kai meteōroleschas pasin anthrōpois tēs physikēs theōrias aphthonōs koinōnein, mononouchi gymnōs prokēryttontas hapasi mē ta phainomena, ton dʼ aphanē dēmiourgon tōn phainomenōn monon apothaumazein, kai tas aoratous autou kai asōmatous dynameis aoratōs kai asōmatōs thrēskeuein, ou pyr hapsantas, oude ge krion kai tauron thysamenous, allʼ oude stephanois kai xoanois kai naōn oikodomais to theion timan oiomenous, logismois de kekatharmenois kai dogmasin orthois kai alēthesi touto prattontas, en apatheią psychēs kai tę̄ pros auton kata to dynaton tēs aretēs homoiōsei.
Released from all these as from bonds of error, the wise and the star-gazers ought surely to have shared their natural theory freely with all men, all but proclaiming openly to all that they should admire not the visible things but only the invisible creator of the visible, and worship his invisible and incorporeal powers invisibly and incorporeally; not lighting fires, nor sacrificing ram and bull, nor thinking to honor the divine with garlands, images, and buildings of temples, but doing this with purified reasonings and right and true doctrines, in tranquility of soul and in likeness to him, as far as possible, through virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: The philosophers should have taught all people to worship the invisible Creator spiritually, through virtue.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): γυμνὠς → γυμνῶς; τιμὰν → τιμᾶν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.24 (Dindorf 1:147–148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-24). (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.
3.13.25Dindorf 1:148
ἀλλʼ οὐδείς γε πώποτε, οὐ βάρβαρος, οὐχ Ἕλλην, πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ταύτης κατῆρξε τῆς ἀληθείας ἢ μόνος ὁ ἡμέτερος σωτήρ· ὃς δὴ τῆς παλαιᾶς πλάνης πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀποφυγὴν προκηρύξας τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀφθόνως εὕρετο τὴν πρὸς τὸν ἀληθῆ καὶ μόνον τῶν ὅλων θεὸν ἐπιστροφήν τε καὶ εὐσέβειαν· οἱ δὲ τηνάλλως σοφοὶ τοῦ βίου τὴν ἀνωτάτω φιλοσοφίαν αὐχήσαντες, ᾗ φησιν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος ‘‘γνόντες θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν, ἢ εὐχαρίστησαν, ἀλλʼ ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐσκοτίσθη ἡ ἀσύνετος αὐτῶν καρδία. φήσαντες γοῦν εἶναι σοφοὶ ἐμωράνθησαν, καὶ ἐσεβάσθησαν καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα, ὅς ἐστιν εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ”
allʼ oudeis ge pōpote, ou barbaros, ouch Hellēn, pasin anthrōpois tautēs katērxe tēs alētheias ē monos ho hēmeteros sōtēr; hos dē tēs palaias planēs pasi tois ethnesin apophygēn prokēryxas tois pasin aphthonōs heureto tēn pros ton alēthē kai monon tōn holōn theon epistrophēn te kai eusebeian; hoi de tēnallōs sophoi tou biou tēn anōtatō philosophian auchēsantes, hę̄ phēsin ho theios apostolos ‘‘gnontes theon ouch hōs theon edoxasan, ē eucharistēsan, allʼ emataiōthēsan en tois dialogismois autōn, kai eskotisthē hē asynetos autōn kardia. phēsantes goun einai sophoi emōranthēsan, kai esebasthēsan kai elatreusan tę̄ ktisei para ton ktisanta, hos estin eulogētos eis tous aiōnas. ”
But no one ever, neither barbarian nor Greek, began to teach this truth to all men except our Savior alone. He proclaimed to all the nations escape from the ancient error, and freely found for all the turning to the true and only God of the universe and piety toward him. But those vainly wise, who boasted of the highest philosophy of life, as the divine apostle says, "knowing God, did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever."
Rom 1:21–22 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:25 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Only Christ taught all people the true worship of the one God, while the philosophers, as Paul says, became fools.
- Quotation: Rom 1:21–22, 25.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): παλαιὰς → παλαιᾶς; ᾖ φησιν → ᾗ φησιν.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.13.25 (Dindorf 1:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-13-25). (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.
Preparation 3, chapter 14
3.14.1Dindorf 1:148
Μετὰ γοῦν τὴν μακρὰν καὶ πολλὴν φιλοσοφίαν καὶ μετὰ τὰς σεμνὰς μετεωρολογίας καὶ φυσιολογίας, ἄνωθέν ποθεν ὡς ἀφʼ ὑψηλοτάτης ἀκρωρείας καταπίπτοντες σὺν τοῖς πλήθεσι κατεσύροντο καὶ τῇ τῶν παλαιῶν πολυθέῳ πλάνῃ συνεφύροντο, τὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ὅμοια, διὰ τοῦ θύειν καὶ τοῖς ξοάνοις προσπίπτειν, δοξάζειν ὑποκρινόμενοι, αὔξοντές τε καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον κρατύνοντες τὴν δημώδη τῶν μυθικῶν διηγημάτων περὶ θεῶν ὑπόληψιν.
Meta goun tēn makran kai pollēn philosophian kai meta tas semnas meteōrologias kai physiologias, anōthen pothen hōs aphʼ hypsēlotatēs akrōreias katapiptontes syn tois plēthesi katesyronto kai tę̄ tōn palaiōn polytheǭ planę̄ synephyronto, ta tois pollois homoia, dia tou thyein kai tois xoanois prospiptein, doxazein hypokrinomenoi, auxontes te kai eti mallon kratynontes tēn dēmōdē tōn mythikōn diēgēmatōn peri theōn hypolēpsin.
So after their long and copious philosophy and their solemn talk about the heavens and nature, falling as it were from a very lofty mountain-top, they were swept down with the multitude and mingled with the polytheistic error of the ancients, pretending to hold the same opinions as the many by sacrificing and falling down before images, and increasing and strengthening still more the popular belief in the mythical stories about the gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Despite their philosophy, the philosophers joined the crowd in sacrifices and image worship.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip): ἀωρωρείας → ἀκρωρείας.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.1 (Dindorf 1:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-1). (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.
3.14.2Dindorf 1:148–149
πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἂν εἶεν τοῖς πᾶσι πρόδηλοι σεμνολογούμενοι μὲν ταῖς φυσιολογίαις, καὶ μέχρι λόγων τὰ αἰσχρὰ καλλωπίζοντες τῇ παρατροπῇ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἔργοις δʼ αὐτοῖς τὴν μυθικὴν συνιστῶντες πλάνην καὶ τὴν πάνδημον δεισιδαιμονίαν; καὶ οὐδέπω τοῦτο θαυμαστὸν, ὅτε καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀναγράφουσι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν θεοὺς ταῖς περὶ αὐτῶν συμφερομένους μυθολογίαις.
pōs oun ouk an eien tois pasi prodēloi semnologoumenoi men tais physiologiais, kai mechri logōn ta aischra kallōpizontes tę̄ paratropę̄ tēs alētheias, ergois dʼ autois tēn mythikēn synistōntes planēn kai tēn pandēmon deisidaimonian? kai oudepō touto thaumaston, hote kai autous anagraphousi tous heautōn theous tais peri autōn sympheromenous mythologiais.
How, then, would they not be plain to all, speaking solemnly in their natural philosophy and dressing up shameful things in words by turning the truth aside, but in their deeds supporting the mythical error and the popular superstition? And this is not yet surprising, since they record their gods themselves as agreeing with the myths about them.
Notes and citation
Summary: The philosophers' practice contradicts their words, and their gods confirm the myths.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): θαυ- μαστὸν → θαυμαστὸν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.2 (Dindorf 1:148–149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-2). (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.
3.14.3Dindorf 1:149
ἄκουε γοῦν ὅπως ὁ Ἀπόλλων αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διδάσκει ὕμνον, ὃν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐξέδωκεν, ὁμολογῶν ἐν Δήλῳ τῇ νήσῳ ὑπὸ Λητοῦς γεγεννῆσθαι, καὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς ἐν Τρίκκῃ, ὡς καὶ Ἑρμῆς τετέχθαι ὁμολογῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Μαίας.
akoue goun hopōs ho Apollōn autos peri heautou didaskei hymnon, hon eis heauton exedōken, homologōn en Dēlǭ tę̄ nēsǭ hypo Lētous gegennēsthai, kai palin ho Asklēpios en Trikkę̄, hōs kai Hermēs tetechthai homologōn apo tēs Maias.
Listen, then, how Apollo himself teaches about himself in a hymn he gave out concerning himself, confessing that he was born of Leto on the island of Delos; and again Asclepius at Tricca; and Hermes too confessing that he was born of Maia.
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracles of Apollo, Asclepius, and Hermes confirm their mythical births.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.3 (Dindorf 1:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-3). (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.
3.14.4Dindorf 1:149
γράφει δὲ ὁ Πορφύριος καὶ ταῦτα ἐν οἷς ἐπέγραψε Περὶ τῆς ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίας, ἔνθα καὶ τῶν χρησμῶν ἐμνημόνευσεν ὧδέ πως ἐχόντων “ὦ μέγα πᾶσιν χάρμα βροτοῖσιν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν ματέρος ἁγνᾶς προθορὼν τοκετῶν.
graphei de ho Porphyrios kai tauta en hois epegrapse Peri tēs ek logiōn philosophias, entha kai tōn chrēsmōn emnēmoneusen hōde pōs echontōn “ō mega pasin charma brotoisin, apo tōn hierōn materos hagnas prothorōn toketōn.
Porphyry writes this too in the work he entitled On the Philosophy from Oracles, where he records the oracles, which run somewhat as follows: "O great joy to all mortals, leaping forth from the holy birth-pangs of a pure mother."
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry quotes an oracular hymn on Apollo's birth.
- Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (sections 3.14.4–8).
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.4 (Dindorf 1:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-4). (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.
3.14.5Dindorf 1:149
οἷς ἐπιλέγει ἀλλʼ ὅτε Λατὼ ὠδὶς ἱερὰ λάζυτο πᾶσαν, ὀροθυνομένων διδύμων τοκετῶν ἔνδοθι σηκῶν, ἵστατο μὲν γαῖʼ, ἵστατο δʼ ἀὴρ, πάγνυτο νᾶσος, πάγνυτο κῦμα· ἀνὰ δʼ ἐξέθορες, μάντι Λυκωρεῦ, τοξότα Φοῖβε, καὶ χρησμολάλων βασιλεῦ τριπόδων.
hois epilegei allʼ hote Latō ōdis hiera lazyto pasan, orothynomenōn didymōn toketōn endothi sēkōn, histato men gaiʼ, histato dʼ aēr, pagnyto nasos, pagnyto kyma; ana dʼ exethores, manti Lykōreu, toxota Phoibe, kai chrēsmolalōn basileu tripodōn.
To which he adds: "But when holy travail seized Leto wholly, as the twin births were stirring within the shrines, the earth stood still, the air stood still, the island grew firm, the wave grew firm; and you leapt forth, prophet Lycoreus, archer Phoebus, king of the oracle-speaking tripods."
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracle describes Leto's labor and Apollo's birth on Delos.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.5 (Dindorf 1:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-5). (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.
3.14.6Dindorf 1:149
καὶ ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς πάλιν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ Τρίκκης ἐξ ἱερῆς ἥκω θεὸς, ὅν ποτε μήτηρ Φοίβῳ ὑπευνηθεῖσα κυεῖ σοφίης βασιλῆα, ἴδριν ἰητορίης Ἀσκληπιόν· ἀλλὰ τί πεύθῃ;
kai ho Asklēpios palin peri heautou Trikkēs ex hierēs hēkō theos, hon pote mētēr Phoibǭ hypeunētheisa kyei sophiēs basilēa, idrin iētoriēs Asklēpion; alla ti peuthę̄?
And Asclepius again about himself: "From holy Tricca I come, a god, whom once my mother, bedded with Phoebus, bore as king of wisdom, Asclepius, skilled in healing. But what do you ask?"
Notes and citation
Summary: Asclepius's oracle declares his birth at Tricca from a mortal mother and Phoebus.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.6 (Dindorf 1:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-6). (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.
3.14.7Dindorf 1:149
ὁ δʼ Ἑρμῆς φησιν ὧδʼ ἐγὼ, ὃν καλέεις, Ζηνὸς καὶ Μαιάδος υἱὸς, Ἑρμείης προβέβηκα, λιπὼν ἀστραῖον ἄνακτα.
ho dʼ Hermēs phēsin hōdʼ egō, hon kaleeis, Zēnos kai Maiados huios, Hermeiēs probebēka, lipōn astraion anakta.
And Hermes says: "Here I am, whom you call, son of Zeus and Maia, Hermes; I have come forth, leaving the starry king."
Notes and citation
Summary: Hermes' oracle declares him the son of Zeus and Maia.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.7 (Dindorf 1:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-7). (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.
3.14.8Dindorf 1:149–150
καὶ τὸ εἶδος δὲ ἑαυτῶν ὑπογράφουσι τοῦ σχήματος, ὥσπερ ὁ Πὰν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν χρησμοῖς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ τάδε λέγει διδάσκων Εὔχομαι βροτὸς γεγὼς Πανὶ συμφύτῳ θεῶ, δισσοκέρατι, δισσόποδι, τραγοσκελεῖ, τρυφῶντι.''
kai to eidos de heautōn hypographousi tou schēmatos, hōsper ho Pan kai autos en chrēsmois peri heautou tade legei didaskōn Euchomai brotos gegōs Pani symphytǭ theō, dissokerati, dissopodi, tragoskelei, tryphōnti.''
And they even describe their own bodily form, as Pan himself says in oracles about himself, teaching this: "I, born a mortal, pray to Pan, the god akin to me, two-horned, two-footed, goat-legged, wanton."
Notes and citation
Summary: Pan's oracle describes his goatlike form.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): σχήμα- τος → σχήματος.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.8 (Dindorf 1:149–150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-8). (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.
3.14.9Dindorf 1:150
ταῦτα ἐν ἀπορρήτοις τῆς ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίας ὁ δηλωθεὶς ἀνὴρ τέθειται. οὐκέτʼ ἄρα ὁ Πὰν σύμβολον ἦν τοῦ παντὸς, δαίμων δʼ ἂν εἴη τις τοιοῦτος οἷος καὶ ὑπογέγραπται ὁ καὶ τὸν χρησμὸν ἐκδούς· οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸ πᾶν καὶ ὁ σύμπας κόσμος ἔχρησε τὰ προκείμενα. τούτου τοιγαροῦν τοῦ δαίμονος, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῦ παντὸς τὴν εἰκόνα ἐκτυπώσαντες ἄνδρες τὸ προγεγραμμένον ἐμιμήσαντο σχῆμα.
tauta en aporrētois tēs ek logiōn philosophias ho dēlōtheis anēr tetheitai. ouketʼ ara ho Pan symbolon ēn tou pantos, daimōn dʼ an eiē tis toioutos hoios kai hypogegraptai ho kai ton chrēsmon ekdous; ou gar dē to pan kai ho sympas kosmos echrēse ta prokeimena. toutou toigaroun tou daimonos, allʼ ou tou pantos tēn eikona ektypōsantes andres to progegrammenon emimēsanto schēma.
These things the man mentioned has set down among the secrets of his Philosophy from Oracles. So Pan was no longer the symbol of the universe (to pan), but would be a demon of the kind described, who gave out the oracle; for surely it was not the universe and the whole world that uttered the words quoted. It was of this demon, then, and not of the universe, that men made the image, imitating the form described.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pan's oracle shows he is a demon, not a symbol of the universe.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): σύμβο- λον → σύμβολον; προ- κείμενα → προκείμενα.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.9 (Dindorf 1:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-9). (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.
3.14.10Dindorf 1:150
καὶ ὁ Ἑρμῆς δὲ πῶς ἂν νοοῖτο ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ποιητικός τε καὶ ἑρμηνευτικὸς λόγος, μητέρα Μαῖαν τὴν Ἄτλαντος ὁμολογῶν ἐσχηκέναι, τήν γε περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγομένην μυθολογίαν, ἀλλʼ οὐ φυσιολογίαν ἐγκρίνας;
kai ho Hermēs de pōs an nooito ho tōn hapantōn poiētikos te kai hermēneutikos logos, mētera Maian tēn Atlantos homologōn eschēkenai, tēn ge peri autou legomenēn mythologian, allʼ ou physiologian enkrinas?
And how could Hermes be understood as the reason that makes and interprets all things, when he confesses that he had Maia the daughter of Atlas for his mother, thus approving the mythology told about him and not the natural philosophy?
Notes and citation
Summary: Hermes' oracle confirms the myth, not the allegory.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): Ἄτλαντς → Ἄτλαντος.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.10 (Dindorf 1:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-10). (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.
3.14.11Dindorf 1:150
οὕτω καὶ ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς πῶς ἂν μετάγοιτο εἰς ἥλιον, πατρίδα τὴν Τρίκκην ἐπιγραψάμενος καὶ ἀπὸ θνητῆς ὁμολογῶν γεγονέναι μητρός; πῶς δʼ ἂν ἥλιος ὢν αὐτὸς τοῦ ἡλίου πάλιν υἱὸς ἀποφανθείη; ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ πατέρα τὸν Φοῖβον οὐκ ἄλλον εἶναι τοῦ ἡλίου ἐφυσιολόγησαν.
houtō kai ho Asklēpios pōs an metagoito eis hēlion, patrida tēn Trikkēn epigrapsamenos kai apo thnētēs homologōn gegonenai mētros? pōs dʼ an hēlios ōn autos tou hēliou palin huios apophantheiē? epei kai ton autou patera ton Phoibon ouk allon einai tou hēliou ephysiologēsan.
So too, how could Asclepius be transferred to the sun, when he names Tricca as his fatherland and confesses that he was born of a mortal mother? And how could he, being the sun, be shown in turn to be the son of the sun? For they explained his father Phoebus as being none other than the sun.
Notes and citation
Summary: Asclepius cannot be both the sun and the sun's son.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip and repeated syllables; line-break hyphen rejoined): ἐπιγραθόμενος μένος → ἐπιγραψάμενος; τοὐ ἡλίου → τοῦ ἡλίου; ἐφυ- σιολόγησαν → ἐφυσιολόγησαν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.11 (Dindorf 1:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-11). (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.
3.14.12Dindorf 1:150
ἐξ ἡλίου δὲ καὶ θνητῆς γυναικὸς φάναι αὐτὸν πῶς οὐ πάντων καταγελαστότατον; ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν πατέρα ἥλιον, ὃν δὴ Ἀπόλλωνά φασιν εἶναι, πῶς εἰκὸς ἐν Δήλῳ γεγεννῆσθαι τῇ νήσῳ ὑπὸ θνητῆς πάλιν μητρὸς τῆς Λητοῦς;
ex hēliou de kai thnētēs gynaikos phanai auton pōs ou pantōn katagelastotaton? epei kai auton ton patera hēlion, hon dē Apollōna phasin einai, pōs eikos en Dēlǭ gegennēsthai tę̄ nēsǭ hypo thnētēs palin mētros tēs Lētous?
And to say that he was born of the sun and a mortal woman, how is it not the most ridiculous of all? Since how is it likely that his father the sun himself, whom they say is Apollo, was born on the island of Delos of a mortal mother again, Leto?
Notes and citation
Summary: It is absurd that the sun should be born of a mortal woman on Delos.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.12 (Dindorf 1:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-12). (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.
3.14.13Dindorf 1:150–151
ἐνταῦθά μοι τήρει ὁπόσους Ἕλληνες θεοὺς γεννητοὺς γυναικῶν ἐθεολόγησαν, εἰς παράθεσιν, εἴ ποτε πειρῷντο σκώπτειν τὴν τοῦ ἡμετέρου σωτῆρος γένεσιν, καὶ ὅτι οὐ ποιητῶν εἰσιν αἱ φωναὶ, ἀλλʼ αὐτῶν τῶν θεῶν αἱ προκείμεναι σημειώσεις.
entautha moi tērei hoposous Hellēnes theous gennētous gynaikōn etheologēsan, eis parathesin, ei pote peirǭnto skōptein tēn tou hēmeterou sōtēros genesin, kai hoti ou poiētōn eisin hai phōnai, allʼ autōn tōn theōn hai prokeimenai sēmeiōseis.
Here note for me how many gods the Greeks proclaimed as born of women, for comparison, in case they ever try to mock the birth of our Savior; and note that these words are not those of poets, but the statements quoted are from the gods themselves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius notes that Greek gods themselves claim birth from women, which Greeks should remember before mocking Christ's birth.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): αἶ φωναὶ → αἱ φωναὶ; αἰ προκείμεναι → αἱ προκείμεναι.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.14.13 (Dindorf 1:150–151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-14-13). (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.
Preparation 3, chapter 15
3.15.1Dindorf 1:151
Ποιητῶν μὲν οὖν, ὥς φασι, μύθους περὶ θεῶν πλαττομένων, φιλοσόφων δὲ φυσιολογούντων, χρῆν δήπου εἰκότως τῶν μὲν καταφρονεῖν, τοὺς δὲ θαυμάζειν ὡς φιλοσόφους, καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν ποιητικῶν λήρων τὰς τῶν κρειττόνων ἐκδέχεσθαι πιθανολογίας· θεῶν δʼ αὖ πάλιν καὶ φιλοσόφων εἰς ἅμιλλαν κατιόντων, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἐν χρησμοῖς τὰ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς, ὡς ἂν μᾶλλον εἰδότων, ἀκριβῶς διδασκόντων, τῶν δὲ εἰς ἀσυμφώνους καὶ ἀναποδείκτους εὑρεσιλογίας τὰς περὶ ὧν μὴ ἴσασιν ὑπονοίας περιτρεπόντων, τίσιν αἱρεῖ λόγος πείθεσθαι; ἢ τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἐρωτᾶν ἄξιον;
Poiētōn men oun, hōs phasi, mythous peri theōn plattomenōn, philosophōn de physiologountōn, chrēn dēpou eikotōs tōn men kataphronein, tous de thaumazein hōs philosophous, kai mallon tōn poiētikōn lērōn tas tōn kreittonōn ekdechesthai pithanologias; theōn dʼ au palin kai philosophōn eis hamillan kationtōn, kai tōn men en chrēsmois ta kathʼ heautous, hōs an mallon eidotōn, akribōs didaskontōn, tōn de eis asymphōnous kai anapodeiktous heuresilogias tas peri hōn mē isasin hyponoias peritrepontōn, tisin hairei logos peithesthai? ē touto oude erōtan axion?
If, then, as they say, the poets invent myths about the gods and the philosophers give natural explanations, we should surely despise the former and admire the latter as philosophers, and accept the plausible accounts of the better men rather than the poets' nonsense. But when the gods in turn enter into competition with the philosophers, the gods teaching exactly in their oracles the facts about themselves, as those who know better, and the philosophers turning their conjectures about what they do not know into inconsistent and unproved inventions, whom does reason choose to believe? Or is this not even worth asking?
Notes and citation
Summary: When gods and philosophers disagree about the gods, reason must side with the gods' own testimony.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined): τὰς τόν κρειττόνων → τὰς τῶν κρειττόνων; εὑρεδιλογίας → εὑρεσιλογίας; περὶ ὣν → περὶ ὧν; ποιητι- κῶν → ποιητικῶν; πιθανο- λογίας → πιθανολογίας; ἅμιλ- λαν → ἅμιλλαν; περιτρε- πόντων → περιτρεπόντων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.15.1 (Dindorf 1:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-15-1). (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.
3.15.2Dindorf 1:151
εἰ δὴ οὑν ἀληθεύσουσιν οἱ θεοὶ κυροῦντες τὰς περὶ αὐτῶν ἀνθρωποπαθείας, ψευδεῖς ἂν εἶεν οἱ ἀθετοῦντες αὐτάς· εἰ δὲ τῶν φιλοσόφων ἀληθεῖς αἱ φυσιολογίαι, ψευδεῖς γένοιντʼ ἂν αἱ τῶν θεῶν μαρτυρίαι.
ei dē houn alētheusousin hoi theoi kyrountes tas peri autōn anthrōpopatheias, pseudeis an eien hoi athetountes autas; ei de tōn philosophōn alētheis hai physiologiai, pseudeis genointʼ an hai tōn theōn martyriai.
If, then, the gods speak the truth in confirming the human passions ascribed to them, those who reject them would be false; but if the natural explanations of the philosophers are true, the testimonies of the gods would be false.
Notes and citation
Summary: Either the gods or the philosophers must be lying.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing lost in digitization; breathing misread in digitization): τἀς περὶ → τὰς περὶ; άνθρωποπαθείας → ἀνθρωποπαθείας; οἶ ἀθετοῦντες → οἱ ἀθετοῦντες; αἶ φυσιολογίαι → αἱ φυσιολογίαι.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.15.2 (Dindorf 1:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-15-2). (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.
3.15.3Dindorf 1:151
ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς, εἴποι τις ἂν, ὁ Ἀπόλλων ἔφη που ἐν χρησμοῖς ἐρωτηθεὶς περὶ αὑτοῦ ὅστις εἴη Ἥλιος, Ὧρος, Ὄσιρις, ἄναξ Δῖός υἱὸς, Ἀπόλλων, ὡρῶν καὶ καιρῶν ταμίης, ἀνέμων τε καὶ ὄμβρων, ἠοῦς καὶ νυκτὸς πολυαστέρου ἡνία νωμῶν, ζαφλεγέων ἄστρων βασιλεὺς ἠδʼ ἀθάνατον πῦρ.
alla kai autos, eipoi tis an, ho Apollōn ephē pou en chrēsmois erōtētheis peri hautou hostis eiē Hēlios, Hōros, Osiris, anax Dios huios, Apollōn, hōrōn kai kairōn tamiēs, anemōn te kai ombrōn, ēous kai nyktos polyasterou hēnia nōmōn, zaphlegeōn astrōn basileus ēdʼ athanaton pyr.
But Apollo himself, someone might say, said somewhere in oracles, when asked about himself who he was: "Helios, Horus, Osiris, lord, son of Zeus, Apollo, steward of seasons and times, of winds and rains, guiding the reins of dawn and of starry night, king of the blazing stars and immortal fire."
Notes and citation
Summary: An oracle of Apollo identifies him with the sun.
- From Porphyry's Philosophy from Oracles.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization; digitization slip): ἴφη → ἔφη; ήοῦς → ἠοῦς.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.15.3 (Dindorf 1:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-15-3). (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.
3.15.4Dindorf 1:151
οὐκοῦν οἱ αὐτοὶ καὶ τοῖς τῶν ποιητῶν μύθοις καὶ ταῖς τῶν φιλοσόφων ὑπονοίαις συμφέρονται, μαχομένοις συνιστάμενοι. εἰ γὰρ μητέρας ἐπιγράφονται θνητὰς καὶ πατρίδας τὰς ἐπὶ γῆς ὁμολογοῦσι, πῶς ἂν εἶεν οἵους φυσιολογοῦσιν;
oukoun hoi autoi kai tois tōn poiētōn mythois kai tais tōn philosophōn hyponoiais sympherontai, machomenois synistamenoi. ei gar mēteras epigraphontai thnētas kai patridas tas epi gēs homologousi, pōs an eien hoious physiologousin?
So the same gods agree both with the myths of the poets and with the conjectures of the philosophers, siding with parties at war with each other. For if they ascribe to themselves mortal mothers and acknowledge earthly fatherlands, how could they be such as the philosophers explain them?
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods support both poets and philosophers, who contradict each other.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): μαχο- μένοις → μαχομένοις.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.15.4 (Dindorf 1:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-15-4). (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.
3.15.5Dindorf 1:151–152
ἔστω γὰρ ὁ Ἀπόλλων ἥλιος — πάλιν γὰρ ἄνω καὶ κάτω εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ περιτρέχων αὐτοῖς ἁλώσεται ὁ λόγος — πῶς οὖν ἡ Δῆλος, ἡ κατὰ θάλατταν εἰσέτι νῦν προφαινομένη νῆσος, γένοιτʼ ἂν τοῦ ἡλίου πατρὶς, μήτηρ δὲ ἡ Λητώ; ταυτὶ γὰρ ἀρτίως ἐκύρουν ὡς ἀληθῆ γε ὄντα οἱ αὐτοῦ χρησμοί. πῶς δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ ἀνδρος θνητοῦ τὴν φύσιν γένοιτʼ ἂν ὁ ἥλιος πατὴρ, ἐκ θνητῆς αὐτὸν γυναικὸς πεποιημένος; ἀλλὰ παρείσθω ταῦτα.
estō gar ho Apollōn hēlios — palin gar anō kai katō eis ta auta peritrechōn autois halōsetai ho logos — pōs oun hē Dēlos, hē kata thalattan eiseti nyn prophainomenē nēsos, genoitʼ an tou hēliou patris, mētēr de hē Lētō? tauti gar artiōs ekyroun hōs alēthē ge onta hoi autou chrēsmoi. pōs de kai tou Asklēpiou andros thnētou tēn physin genoitʼ an ho hēlios patēr, ek thnētēs auton gynaikos pepoiēmenos? alla pareisthō tauta.
For let Apollo be the sun (for again their argument, running up and down to the same points, will be caught). How then could Delos, the island still seen in the sea today, be the fatherland of the sun, and Leto his mother? For his own oracles just now confirmed these things as true. And how could the sun be the father of Asclepius, a man mortal by nature, having begotten him by a mortal woman? But let these things pass.
Notes and citation
Summary: The sun cannot have been born on Delos or have fathered a mortal.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): ταύτα → ταῦτα.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.15.5 (Dindorf 1:151–152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-15-5). (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.
Preparation 3, chapter 16
3.16.1Dindorf 1:152
Τοῦ δὲ χρησμοῦ τὸ ψεῦδος καὶ ἄλλως ἔστιν ἀπελέγχειν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ ὁ ἥλιος οὐρανόθεν αὐτοῖς καταβὰς, ἔπειτα τὸν δοχέα πληρώσας, τὸν χρησμὸν ἀπεφοίβαζεν· ἐπεὶ οὔτε δυνατὸν οὔτε θέμις ἀνάγκαις ἀνθρώπων τὸν τηλικοῦτον ὑποτάττεσθαι φωστῆρα· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ εἰ φαῖεν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ θείαν καὶ νοερὰν δύναμιν, ὅτι μηδὲ ταύτης γένοιτʼ ἄν ποτε δεκτικὴ ἀνθρωπεία ψυχή.
Tou de chrēsmou to pseudos kai allōs estin apelenchein. ou gar dē ho hēlios ouranothen autois katabas, epeita ton dochea plērōsas, ton chrēsmon apephoibazen; epei oute dynaton oute themis anankais anthrōpōn ton tēlikouton hypotattesthai phōstēra; allʼ oudʼ ei phaien tēn en autǭ theian kai noeran dynamin, hoti mēde tautēs genoitʼ an pote dektikē anthrōpeia psychē.
The falsehood of the oracle can be refuted in another way too. For surely the sun did not come down from heaven to them, fill the receiver, and then utter the oracle; since it is neither possible nor lawful for so great a luminary to be subjected to the compulsions of men. Nor would it be, if they should say it was the divine and intellectual power in it, since a human soul could never receive even this.
Notes and citation
Summary: The sun could not descend into a medium to give oracles.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): κατα- βὰς → καταβὰς; ἀπε- φοίβαζεν → ἀπεφοίβαζεν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.16.1 (Dindorf 1:152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-16-1). (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.
3.16.2Dindorf 1:152
ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς ἂν εἴη λόγος καὶ ἐπὶ σελήνης. εἰ γὰρ τὴν Ἑκάτην αὐτὴν εἶναι φήσουσι καί πως ἀνάγκαις ἀνθρώπων καθέλκεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦ δοχέως χρᾶν, εἴς τε αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἐρωτικὰς διακονίας παραλαμβάνεσθαι αὐτὴν ἄρχουσαν τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων, εἰκὸς ἂν εἴη τὴν Ἑκάτην ταῦτα πράττειν· ὃ καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ὁμολογεῖ συγγραφεὺς, ὡς κατὰ καιρὸν ἀπελέγξομεν.
ho dʼ autos an eiē logos kai epi selēnēs. ei gar tēn Hekatēn autēn einai phēsousi kai pōs anankais anthrōpōn kathelkesthai, kai dia tou docheōs chran, eis te aischras kai erōtikas diakonias paralambanesthai autēn archousan tōn ponērōn daimonōn, eikos an eiē tēn Hekatēn tauta prattein; ho kai ho autos homologei syngrapheus, hōs kata kairon apelenxomen.
The same argument would hold for the moon. For if they say that she is Hecate herself, and is somehow drawn down by the compulsions of men, gives oracles through the receiver, and is employed in shameful and erotic services as ruler of the wicked demons, would it be fitting for Hecate to do these things? Yet the same author admits it, as we shall show at the proper time.
Notes and citation
Summary: If Hecate is the moon, the moon would serve shameful magic as queen of evil demons.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): δια- κονίας → διακονίας; πονη- ρῶν → πονηρῶν; πράτ- τειν → πράττειν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.16.2 (Dindorf 1:152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-16-2). (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.
3.16.3Dindorf 1:152
πῶς δὲ ὁ Πλούτων καὶ ὁ Σάραπις εἰς τὸν ἥλιον δυνατοὶ ἂν εἷεν φυσιολογεῖσθαι, ὅτε τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων ὁ αὐτὸς πάλιν ἀποφαίνεται τὸν Σάραπιν εἶναι τὸν αὐτὸν τῷ Πλούτωνι; καὶ χρησμοὺς δὲ τοῦ Σαράπιδος ἐγγράφων πῶς ἂν δύναιτο τοῦ ἡλίου αὐτοὺς λέγειν εἷναι;
pōs de ho Ploutōn kai ho Sarapis eis ton hēlion dynatoi an heien physiologeisthai, hote ton archonta tōn ponērōn daimonōn ho autos palin apophainetai ton Sarapin einai ton auton tǭ Ploutōni? kai chrēsmous de tou Sarapidos engraphōn pōs an dynaito tou hēliou autous legein heinai?
And how could Pluto and Sarapis be explained as the sun, when the same author again declares that Sarapis, the same as Pluto, is the ruler of the wicked demons? And when he records oracles of Sarapis, how could he say they are the sun's?
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry calls Sarapis the ruler of evil demons, so he cannot be the sun.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined): ἐγγράρων → ἐγγράφων; φυσιολογεῖ- σθαι → φυσιολογεῖσθαι; αὐ- τὸς → αὐτὸς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.16.3 (Dindorf 1:152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-16-3). (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.
3.16.4Dindorf 1:152
ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐξ ἁπάντων τούτων λείπεται μηδὲν μὲν ἀληθὲς φέρειν ὁμολογεῖν τὰς δηλωθείσας φυσιολογίας, σοφίσματα δʼ εἶναι σοφιστῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ εὑρεσιλογίας.
alla gar ex hapantōn toutōn leipetai mēden men alēthes pherein homologein tas dēlōtheisas physiologias, sophismata dʼ einai sophistōn andrōn kai heuresilogias.
From all these it remains to admit that the natural explanations described carry nothing true, but are sophistries and inventions of sophists.
Notes and citation
Summary: The allegorical explanations are mere sophistry.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.16.4 (Dindorf 1:152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-16-4). (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.
Preparation 3, chapter 17
3.17.1Dindorf 1:152–153
Τούς γέ τοι τῶν χρησμῶν ὑπηρέτας ἀληθεῖ λόγῳ φάσκειν δαίμονας εἶναι φαύλους, ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἀπάτῃ τὰ ἀμφότερα παίζοντας, καὶ τοτὲ μὲν συντιθεμένους ταῖς μυθικωτέραις περὶ αὐτῶν ὑπολήψεσιν ἐπὶ τῇ πανδήμῳ πλάνῃ, τοτὲ δὲ τὰ τῆς φιλοσόφου γοητείας ἐπικυροῦντας ἐπὶ τῇ καὶ τούτων ἐπιτριβῇ καὶ φυσιώσει· ὥστε πανταχόθεν ἁλίσκεσθαι μηδὲν αὐτοὺς ἀληθεύειν.
Tous ge toi tōn chrēsmōn hypēretas alēthei logǭ phaskein daimonas einai phaulous, epʼ anthrōpōn apatę̄ ta amphotera paizontas, kai tote men syntithemenous tais mythikōterais peri autōn hypolēpsesin epi tę̄ pandēmǭ planę̄, tote de ta tēs philosophou goēteias epikyrountas epi tę̄ kai toutōn epitribę̄ kai physiōsei; hōste pantachothen haliskesthai mēden autous alētheuein.
In truth one must say that the ministers of the oracles are wicked demons, playing both parts to deceive men: at one time agreeing with the more mythical beliefs about them, to promote the popular error, and at another confirming the sorcery of the philosophers, to their ruin and puffing up; so that from every side they are caught telling no truth.
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracles are the work of evil demons who deceive both the masses and the philosophers.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.17.1 (Dindorf 1:152–153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-17-1). (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.
3.17.2Dindorf 1:153
Τοσούτων ἡμῖν εἰρημένων καιρὸς ἤδη μεταβάντας τὸ τρίτον εἶδος ἐπελθεῖν τῆς Ἑλλήνων θεολογίας, ὃ δή φασιν εἶναι πολιτικόν τε καὶ νόμιμον. μάλιστα γὰρ ἱκανὸν τοῦτο πρὸς ἔκπληξιν τῶν πολλῶν εἶναι νενόμισται, διά τε τὰ θρυλούμενα μαντεῖα καὶ τὰς διὰ χρησμῶν ἀκέσεις τε καὶ θεραπείας τῶν πεπονθότων σωμάτων, τάς τε κατά τινων ἐπισκήψεις.
Tosoutōn hēmin eirēmenōn kairos ēdē metabantas to triton eidos epelthein tēs Hellēnōn theologias, ho dē phasin einai politikon te kai nomimon. malista gar hikanon touto pros ekplēxin tōn pollōn einai nenomistai, dia te ta thryloumena manteia kai tas dia chrēsmōn akeseis te kai therapeias tōn peponthotōn sōmatōn, tas te kata tinōn episkēpseis.
Having said so much, it is now time to pass on and go through the third kind of Greek theology, which they say is the civic and legal one. For this above all is thought able to astonish the many, because of the much-talked-of oracles, the cures and healings of afflicted bodies given through oracles, and the punishments inflicted on certain people.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius turns to the third, civic theology, with its oracles and healings.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.17.2 (Dindorf 1:153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-17-2). (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.
3.17.3Dindorf 1:153
ὧν δὴ καὶ διὰ πείρας ἐλθεῖν φάσκοντες εὖ μάλα πεπείκασιν ἑαυτοὺς μὲν εὐσεβοῦντας εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς δίκαια πράττειν, ἡμᾶς δὲ τὰ μέγιστα ἀσεβεῖν, τὰς οὕτως ἐμφανεῖς καὶ εὐεργετικὰς δυνάμεις μὴ ταῖς προσηκούσαις θεραπείαις τιμῶντας. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτʼ οὖν ἑτέραν λόγου ἀρχὴν ἀναλαβόντες ὑπαντήσωμεν.
hōn dē kai dia peiras elthein phaskontes eu mala pepeikasin heautous men eusebountas eis tous theous dikaia prattein, hēmas de ta megista asebein, tas houtōs emphaneis kai euergetikas dynameis mē tais prosēkousais therapeiais timōntas. kai pros tautʼ oun heteran logou archēn analabontes hypantēsōmen.
Claiming to have experienced these, they have thoroughly persuaded themselves that they do right in being pious toward the gods, and that we commit the greatest impiety in not honoring with fitting worship powers so manifest and beneficent. Let us meet these claims, then, taking up another beginning of our argument.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans think Christians impious for neglecting these powers; Eusebius will answer in a new book.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization): ὑπαντησωμεν → ὑπαντήσωμεν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 3.17.3 (Dindorf 1:153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-3-17-3). (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.
Preparation 4, chapter 1
4.1.1Dindorf 1:153
Τὸ τρίτον εἶδος τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης, ἀφʼ ἧς δυνάμει καὶ εὐεργεσίᾳ τοῦ λυτρωτοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἠλευθερώθημεν, ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τούτῳ συγγράμματι τῆς Εὐαγγελικῆς Προπαρασκευῆς καιρὸς ἀπελέγξαι καλεῖ.
To triton eidos tēs polytheou planēs, aphʼ hēs dynamei kai euergesią tou lytrōtou kai sōtēros hēmōn ēleutherōthēmen, en tǭ tetartǭ toutǭ syngrammati tēs Euangelikēs Proparaskeuēs kairos apelenxai kalei.
The third kind of polytheistic error, from which we have been set free by the power and kindness of our Redeemer and Savior, the time calls us to refute in this fourth book of the Preparation for the Gospel.
Notes and citation
Summary: Book 4 will refute the third kind of polytheism.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.1 (Dindorf 1:153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-1). (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.
4.1.2Dindorf 1:153–154
ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ πᾶν τῆς θεολογίας αὐτῶν εἶδος εἰς τρία γενικώτερον διαιροῦσιν, εἴς τε τὸ μυθικὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν τετραγῳδημένον, καὶ εἰς τὸ φυσικὸν τὸ δὴ πρὸς τῶν φιλοσόφων ἐφευρημένον, εἰς τε τὸ πρὸς τῶν νόμων διεκδικούμενον ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει καὶ χώρᾳ πεφυλαγμένον, ταύτων δὲ μέρη δύο ἤδη πρότερον διὰ τῶν πρὸ τούτου συγγραμμάτων ἡμῖν ἐξήπλωται, τό τε ἱστορικὸν, ὃ δὴ μυθικὸν ἀποκαλοῦσι, καὶ τὸ ἐπαναβεβηκὸς τοὺς μύθους, ὃ δὴ φυσικὸν ἢ θεωρητικὸν ἢ ὅπη ἄλλῃ χαίρουσι προσαγορεύοντες, καιρὸς ἂν εἴη τὸ τρίτον ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος διελθεῖν. τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ κατὰ πόλεις καὶ χώρας συνεστὼς, πολιτικὸν αὐτοῖς προσαγορευόμενον· ὃ καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τῶν νόμων διεκδικεῖται, ὡς ἂν παλαιὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ πάτριον καὶ τῆς τῶν θεολογουμένων δυνάμεως αὐτόθεν τὴν ἀρετὴν ὑποφαῖνον.
epeidē gar to pan tēs theologias autōn eidos eis tria genikōteron diairousin, eis te to mythikon hypo tōn poiētōn tetragǭdēmenon, kai eis to physikon to dē pros tōn philosophōn epheurēmenon, eis te to pros tōn nomōn diekdikoumenon en hekastę̄ polei kai chōrą pephylagmenon, tautōn de merē dyo ēdē proteron dia tōn pro toutou syngrammatōn hēmin exēplōtai, to te historikon, ho dē mythikon apokalousi, kai to epanabebēkos tous mythous, ho dē physikon ē theōrētikon ē hopē allę̄ chairousi prosagoreuontes, kairos an eiē to triton epi tou parontos dielthein. touto de esti to kata poleis kai chōras synestōs, politikon autois prosagoreuomenon; ho kai malista pros tōn nomōn diekdikeitai, hōs an palaion homou kai patrion kai tēs tōn theologoumenōn dynameōs autothen tēn aretēn hypophainon.
For since they divide the whole form of their theology generally into three: the mythical, dramatized by the poets; the physical, invented by the philosophers; and that maintained by the laws and preserved in each city and country; and since two of these parts have already been unfolded by us in the preceding books, the historical, which they call mythical, and that which rises above the myths, which they call physical or theoretical or whatever else they like to call it, it is time now to go through the third. This is the one established in cities and countries, called by them civic, which is above all maintained by the laws, as being at once ancient and ancestral and as displaying at once the excellence of the power of the beings it proclaims as gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan theology has three kinds, mythical, physical, and civic; Eusebius now treats the civic.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; word split in digitization): μύ θους → μύθους; ἐφευρη- μένον → ἐφευρημένον; συγ- γραμμάτων → συγγραμμάτων; χαί- ρουσι → χαίρουσι; θεολο- γουμένων → θεολογουμένων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.2 (Dindorf 1:153–154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-2). (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.
4.1.3Dindorf 1:154
διατεθρύληται γοῦν αὐτοῖς μαντεῖα καὶ χρησμοὶ, θεραπεῖαί τε καὶ ἀκέσεις παντοίων παθῶν, ἐπισκήψεις τε κατὰ ἀσεβῶν· ὧν δὴ καὶ διὰ πείρας ἐλθεῖν φάσκοντες εὖ μάλα πεπείκασιν ἑαυτοὺς τὰ θεῖα τιμῶντας δίκαια πράττειν, ἡμᾶς δὲ τὰ μέγιστα ἀσεβεῖν, τὰς οὕτως ἐμφανεῖς καὶ εὐεργετικὰς δυνάμεις ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ τιθεμένους, ἄντικρυς δὲ παρανομοῦντας, δέον σέβειν ἕκαστον τὰ πάτρια, μηδὲ κινεῖν τὰ ἀκίνητα, στοιχεῖν δὲ καὶ ἐφέπεσθαι τῇ τῶν προπατόρων εὐσεβείᾳ, μηδὲ πολυπραγμονεῖν ἔρωτι καινοτομίας. ταύτῃ γοῦν φασιν ἐπαξίως καὶ θάνατον ὑπὸ τῶν νόμων ὡρίσθαι τοῖς πλημμελοῦσι τὴν ζημίαν.
diatethrylētai goun autois manteia kai chrēsmoi, therapeiai te kai akeseis pantoiōn pathōn, episkēpseis te kata asebōn; hōn dē kai dia peiras elthein phaskontes eu mala pepeikasin heautous ta theia timōntas dikaia prattein, hēmas de ta megista asebein, tas houtōs emphaneis kai euergetikas dynameis en oudeni logǭ tithemenous, antikrys de paranomountas, deon sebein hekaston ta patria, mēde kinein ta akinēta, stoichein de kai ephepesthai tę̄ tōn propatorōn eusebeią, mēde polypragmonein erōti kainotomias. tautę̄ goun phasin epaxiōs kai thanaton hypo tōn nomōn hōristhai tois plēmmelousi tēn zēmian.
For oracles and prophecies are noised abroad among them, healings and cures of all kinds of afflictions, and punishments of the impious. Claiming to have experienced these, they have thoroughly persuaded themselves that they do right in honoring the divine, and that we commit the greatest impiety in holding of no account powers so manifest and beneficent, and that we plainly break the law, since each one should reverence his ancestral religion, not move what is immovable, but walk in and follow the piety of his forefathers, and not meddle out of love of novelty. Thus, they say, death too has rightly been fixed by the laws as the penalty for offenders.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans claim the civic religion proves itself by oracles and cures, and that Christians deserve death for breaking ancestral law.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined): ράσκοντες → φάσκοντες; οὐ- δενὶ → οὐδενὶ.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.3 (Dindorf 1:154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-3). (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.
4.1.4Dindorf 1:154–155
τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἱστορικόν τε ὂν καὶ μυθικὸν τῆς θεολογίας εἶδος ὅπη τις βούλεται ποιητῶν τιθέσθω, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ φιλοσόφων τὸ δεύτερον, διὰ τῆς τῶν μύθων φυσικωτέρας ἀλληγορίας ἀπηγγελμένον· τὸ δὲ τρίτον, ὃ καὶ πρὸς τῶν ἀρχόντων ὡς ἂν παλαιὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ πολιτικὸν τιμητέον τε καὶ φυλακτέον εἶναι νενομοθέτηται, μήτε τις ποιητῶν, φασὶ, μήτε φιλοσόφων κινείτω, τοῖς δʼ ἐκ παλαιοῦ κρατήσασι θεσμοῖς ἔν τε ἀγροῖς καὶ πόλεσι μενέτω πᾶς στοιχῶν, νόμοις πατρίοις πειθόμενος.
to men oun prōton historikon te on kai mythikon tēs theologias eidos hopē tis bouletai poiētōn tithesthō, hōsper oun kai philosophōn to deuteron, dia tēs tōn mythōn physikōteras allēgorias apēngelmenon; to de triton, ho kai pros tōn archontōn hōs an palaion homou kai politikon timēteon te kai phylakteon einai nenomothetētai, mēte tis poiētōn, phasi, mēte philosophōn kineitō, tois dʼ ek palaiou kratēsasi thesmois en te agrois kai polesi menetō pas stoichōn, nomois patriois peithomenos.
The first kind of theology, the historical and mythical, let anyone, they say, assign to the poets as he likes, as also the second to the philosophers, since it is set forth through the more physical allegory of the myths. But the third, which the rulers have enacted must be honored and preserved as both ancient and civic, let no poet or philosopher disturb; but let everyone, in fields and cities, abide by and walk in the ordinances that have prevailed from of old, obeying the ancestral laws.
Notes and citation
Summary: The pagans insist that the civic religion, unlike myth or philosophy, must not be questioned.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip): ἴν τε ἀγροῖς → ἔν τε ἀγροῖς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.4 (Dindorf 1:154–155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-4). (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.
4.1.5Dindorf 1:155
πρὸς δὴ οὖν ταῦτα καιρὸς ἀποδοῦναι τὸν παρʼ ἡμῖν λόγον, ἀπολογισμόν τε ὑποσχεῖν τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εὐαγγελικῆς πραγματείας ἀντικηρυττούσης τοῖς εἰρημένοις, καὶ τοῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων νόμοις ἀντινομοθετούσης.
pros dē oun tauta kairos apodounai ton parʼ hēmin logon, apologismon te hyposchein tēs tou sōtēros hēmōn euangelikēs pragmateias antikēryttousēs tois eirēmenois, kai tois tōn ethnōn hapantōn nomois antinomothetousēs.
Against this, then, it is time to give our account and render the reason for the gospel work of our Savior, which proclaims the contrary to what has been said and legislates against the laws of all the nations.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius will justify the gospel, which opposes the laws of the nations.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): πραγ- ματείας → πραγματείας.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.5 (Dindorf 1:155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-5). (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.
4.1.6Dindorf 1:155
Ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐ θεοὶ τὰ ἄψυχα ξόανα προφανὲς καὶ αὐτοῖς, ὅτι δʼ οὐδὲ τὰ τῆς μυθικῆς αὐτῶν θεολογίας φέρει τινὰ σεμνὸν καὶ θεοπρεπῆ λόγον ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ δέδεικται συγγράμματι, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ καὶ τῷ τρίτῳ ὅτι μηδὲ τὰ τῆς φυσικωτέρας καὶ φιλοσόφου τῶν μύθων ἑρμηνείας ἀβίαστον αὐτοῖς περιέχει τὴν ἐξήγησιν.
Hoti men oun ou theoi ta apsycha xoana prophanes kai autois, hoti dʼ oude ta tēs mythikēs autōn theologias pherei tina semnon kai theoprepē logon en tǭ prōtǭ dedeiktai syngrammati, hōsper oun kai en tǭ deuterǭ kai tǭ tritǭ hoti mēde ta tēs physikōteras kai philosophou tōn mythōn hermēneias abiaston autois periechei tēn exēgēsin.
That the lifeless images are not gods is evident even to themselves; that their mythical theology bears no dignified account worthy of God has been shown in the first book, as in the second and third that the more physical and philosophical interpretation of the myths contains no explanation free from force.
Notes and citation
Summary: The previous books showed that neither the myths nor their allegories are worthy of God.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): ἀβία- στον → ἀβίαστον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.6 (Dindorf 1:155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-6). (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.
4.1.7Dindorf 1:155
τὸ δὴ τρίτον φέρε σκεψώμεθα, τί ποτε χρὴ νομίζειν τὰς ἐν τοῖς ξοάνοις ἐμφωλευούσας δυνάμεις, πότερα τὸν τρόπον ἀστείας καὶ ἀγαθὰς καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς θείας, ἢ τούτων ἁπάντων τὰ ἐναντία.
to dē triton phere skepsōmetha, ti pote chrē nomizein tas en tois xoanois emphōleuousas dynameis, potera ton tropon asteias kai agathas kai hōs alēthōs theias, ē toutōn hapantōn ta enantia.
Come, then, let us consider the third point: what we should think of the powers lurking in the images, whether they are of a refined character, good and truly divine, or the opposite of all these.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius asks whether the powers in the images are good or evil.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.7 (Dindorf 1:155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-7). (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.
4.1.8Dindorf 1:155
ἄλλος μὲν οὖν τάχα ἂν ἴσως τὸν περὶ τούτων ἐφοδεύων λόγον πλάνην εἶναι τὸ πᾶν καὶ γοήτων ἀνδρῶν τεχνάσματά τε καὶ ῥᾳδιουργίας ὑπεστήσατο, καθόλου περιγράφων τὴν δόξαν, ὡς μὴ ὅτι θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ πονηροῦ δαίμονος εἶναι νομίζειν τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ θρυλούμενα. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ποιήματα καὶ τὰς τῶν χρησμῶν συνθέσεις οὐκ ἀφυῶν ἀνδρῶν, εὖ μάλα δὲ πρὸς ἀπάτην ἐσκευωρημένων πλάσματα τυγχάνειν, μέσῳ καὶ ἀμφιβόλῳ συγκείμενα τρόπῳ, πρὸς ἑκάτερά τε τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκβάσεως προσδοκωμένων οὐκ ἀφυῶς ἐφαρμόζειν· τὰ δὲ τὸν πολὺν ἀπατῶντα διά τινων τερατειῶν θαύματα φυσικαῖς αἰτίαις ἀνῆφθαι.
allos men oun tacha an isōs ton peri toutōn ephodeuōn logon planēn einai to pan kai goētōn andrōn technasmata te kai rhądiourgias hypestēsato, katholou perigraphōn tēn doxan, hōs mē hoti theou, alla mēde ponērou daimonos einai nomizein ta peri autou thryloumena. ta men gar poiēmata kai tas tōn chrēsmōn syntheseis ouk aphyōn andrōn, eu mala de pros apatēn eskeuōrēmenōn plasmata tynchanein, mesǭ kai amphibolǭ synkeimena tropǭ, pros hekatera te tōn apo tēs ekbaseōs prosdokōmenōn ouk aphyōs epharmozein; ta de ton polyn apatōnta dia tinōn terateiōn thaumata physikais aitiais anēphthai.
Another, perhaps, going through the account of these things, might suppose that the whole is deceit and the tricks and knavery of sorcerers, rejecting the belief entirely, so as to think that the things noised abroad about them belong not only not to a god but not even to a wicked demon. For, he would say, the verses and compositions of the oracles are fictions of men not without talent but well equipped for deceit, composed in a middle and ambiguous way, and cleverly fitted to either of the outcomes expected; and the wonders that deceive the many by marvels depend on natural causes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some explain the oracles as human trickery and natural causes, not even demons.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.8 (Dindorf 1:155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-8). (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.
4.1.9Dindorf 1:155–156
πολλὰ γὰρ εἶναι εἴδη ῥιζῶν καὶ βοτανῶν καὶ φυτῶν καὶ καρπῶν καὶ λίθων, ξηρῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ ὑγρῶν παντοίας ὕλης δυνάμεων ἐν τῇ τῶν ὅλων φύσει, τὰ μὲν ἀποκρουστικὰ καί τινων ἀπελαστικά, τὰ δὲ συνάγειν πεφυκότα καὶ ἐφέλκεσθαι, τὰ δὲ διακρίνειν καὶ σκεδαννύναι πυκνοῦν τε καὶ στέλλειν δυνάμενα, ἕτερα δὲ χαλᾶν καὶ ὑγραίνειν καὶ ἀραιοῦν, σώζειν τε αὖ πάλιν ἄλλα καὶ ἕτερα κτείνειν, τρέπειν τε διόλου, καὶ τὸ παρὸν ἐναλλάττειν, καὶ τοτὲ μὲν τῇδε μεταποιεῖν, τοτὲ δὲ τῇδε, καὶ τὰ μὲν πρὸς πλείω χρόνον, τὰ δὲ πρὸς βραχὺν τοῦτο ποιεῖν, καὶ πάλιν τὰ μὲν εἰς πλῆθος, τὰ δὲ μέχρις ὀλίγων μόνον ἰσχύειν, καὶ τῶν μὲν τάδε ἡγεῖσθαι, τισὶ δὲ ἕτερα ἐπακολουθεῖν, συντρέχειν τε ἄλλα ἄλλοις καὶ συναύξειν καὶ συμφθείρεσθαι· ναὶ μὴν καὶ ὑγιείας εἶναι τινὰ ποιητικὰ, ἰατρικῆς οὐκ ἄπωθεν ἐπιστήμης, τὰ δὲ νοσοποιὰ τυγχάνειν καὶ δηλητήρια· ἤδη δὲ φυσικαῖς ἀνάγκαις συμβαίνειν τινὰ, καὶ τῇ σελήνῃ συναύξειν καὶ συμφθίνειν, ζῴων τε εἶναι καὶ φυτῶν καὶ ῥιζῶν ἀντιπαθείας μυρίας, καὶ πολλὰ θυμιαμάτων καρωτικῶν τε καὶ ὑπνωτικῶν, ἑτέρων δὲ φαντασίας ποιητικῶν· συναίρεσθαι δὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα καὶ τὰ χωρία καὶ τοὺς τόπους ἐν οἷς τελίσκεται τὰ γιγνόμενα· ὄργανά τε εἶναι καὶ σκεύη πόρρωθεν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτηδείως τῇ τέχνῃ προηυτρεπισμένα· πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ συνεργοὺς τῆς μαγγανείας παραλαμβάνεσθαι ἔξωθεν, πολυπραγμονοῦντας τοὺς ἀφικνουμένους καὶ τὰς ἑκάστου χρείας καὶ ὧν ἧκέ τις δεησόμενος· πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄδυτα καὶ τοὺς τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀβάτους μυχοὺς τῶν ἱερῶν ἐντὸς ἀποκρύπτειν· καὶ τὸ σκότος δὲ οὐ μικρὰ συνεργεῖν τῇ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ὑποθέσει· καὶ αὐτὴν δὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα τὴν προλαβοῦσαν ὑπόληψιν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὡς θεοῖς προσιόντων αὐτοῖς δεισιδαιμονίαν, τήν τε ἐκ προγόνων προκατασχοῦσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς δόξαν.
polla gar einai eidē rhizōn kai botanōn kai phytōn kai karpōn kai lithōn, xērōn te allōn kai hygrōn pantoias hylēs dynameōn en tę̄ tōn holōn physei, ta men apokroustika kai tinōn apelastika, ta de synagein pephykota kai ephelkesthai, ta de diakrinein kai skedannynai pyknoun te kai stellein dynamena, hetera de chalan kai hygrainein kai araioun, sōzein te au palin alla kai hetera kteinein, trepein te diolou, kai to paron enallattein, kai tote men tę̄de metapoiein, tote de tę̄de, kai ta men pros pleiō chronon, ta de pros brachyn touto poiein, kai palin ta men eis plēthos, ta de mechris oligōn monon ischyein, kai tōn men tade hēgeisthai, tisi de hetera epakolouthein, syntrechein te alla allois kai synauxein kai symphtheiresthai; nai mēn kai hygieias einai tina poiētika, iatrikēs ouk apōthen epistēmēs, ta de nosopoia tynchanein kai dēlētēria; ēdē de physikais anankais symbainein tina, kai tę̄ selēnę̄ synauxein kai symphthinein, zǭōn te einai kai phytōn kai rhizōn antipatheias myrias, kai polla thymiamatōn karōtikōn te kai hypnōtikōn, heterōn de phantasias poiētikōn; synairesthai de ouch hēkista kai ta chōria kai tous topous en hois telisketai ta gignomena; organa te einai kai skeuē porrōthen autois epitēdeiōs tę̄ technę̄ proēutrepismena; pollous de kai synergous tēs manganeias paralambanesthai exōthen, polypragmonountas tous aphiknoumenous kai tas hekastou chreias kai hōn hēke tis deēsomenos; polla de kai ta adyta kai tous tois pollois abatous mychous tōn hierōn entos apokryptein; kai to skotos de ou mikra synergein tę̄ katʼ autous hypothesei; kai autēn de ouch hēkista tēn prolabousan hypolēpsin kai tēn tōn hōs theois prosiontōn autois deisidaimonian, tēn te ek progonōn prokataschousan en autois doxan.
For, he would say, there are in the nature of the universe many kinds of roots, herbs, plants, fruits, and stones, and powers of all kinds of other matter, dry and moist: some repelling and driving certain things away, others naturally gathering and drawing them; some able to separate and scatter, to condense and contract, others to loosen, moisten, and rarefy; some again preserving and others killing, changing things entirely, altering what is present, transforming it now this way and now that; some doing this for a longer time, others for a short time; some again effective on a multitude, others only on a few; some leading in these things, others following, some running together with others, increasing and perishing together; yes, and some productive of health, not far from the science of medicine, and others causing disease and deadly. Some things happen by natural necessity, increasing and waning with the moon; there are countless antipathies of animals, plants, and roots, and many fumigations that stupefy and cause sleep, and others that produce visions. The places and spots where the rites are performed contribute not least; and there are instruments and apparatus skillfully prepared for them long beforehand. Many accomplices in the trickery are employed from outside, who inquire about those who arrive, the needs of each, and what each has come to ask. Many things too are hidden in the inner shrines and in the recesses of the temples inaccessible to the many; and darkness contributes no little to their purpose; and not least the preconceived belief and the superstition of those who approach them as gods, and the opinion inherited from their ancestors that has taken hold of them.
Notes and citation
Summary: The skeptic attributes oracular wonders to natural substances, drugs, stage effects, accomplices, and the credulity of worshippers.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined; repeated punctuation in digitization; repeated syllables in digitization; repeated word in digitization): καὶ καὶ λίθων → καὶ λίθων; ἀπελαστικἀ → ἀπελαστικά; πεθυκότα → πεφυκότα; ἐπιστήμης,, → ἐπιστήμης,; συμφθίνειν, φθίνειν, → συμφθίνειν,; ἐν οἶς → ἐν οἷς; ἀποκρου- στικὰ → ἀποκρουστικὰ; σκεδαν- νύναι → σκεδαννύναι; πλῆ- θος → πλῆθος; ἰα- τρικῆς → ἰατρικῆς; τυγ- χάνειν → τυγχάνειν; ἀντι- παθείας → ἀντιπαθείας; ἐν- τὸς → ἐντὸς; συνερ- γεῖν → συνεργεῖν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.9 (Dindorf 1:155–156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-9). (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.
4.1.10Dindorf 1:156–157
προσκείσθω καὶ τὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἠλίθιον τῆς διανοίας, τό τε ἀδρανὲς τοῦ λογισμοῦ καὶ ἀβασάνιστον τοῦ πλήθους, καὶ ἔμπαλιν τὸ δεινὸν καὶ κακεντρεχὲς τῶν περὶ τὴν κακότεχνον ταύτην διατριβὴν τευταζόντων, τό τε τῶν γοήτων ἀπατηλὸν καὶ πανοῦργον τοῦ τρόπου, τοτὲ μὲν τὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἑκάστῳ προϋπισχνουμένων καὶ τὸ παρὸν ἐπὶ χρησταῖς ἐλπίσι θεραπευόντων, τοτὲ δὲ τοῦ μέλλοντος καταστοχαζομένων, καὶ εἰς ἄδηλον καταμαντευομένων, τήν τε διάνοιαν τῶν χρησμῶν ἀμφιβολίαις ῥημάτων καὶ ἀσαφείαις ἐπισκοτούντων, ὡς μή τινα συνιέναι τὸ χρησθὲν, τῇ δὲ τοῦ λεχθέντος ἀδηλίᾳ τὸν ἔλεγχον ἐκφεύγειν.
proskeisthō kai to tōn pollōn ēlithion tēs dianoias, to te adranes tou logismou kai abasaniston tou plēthous, kai empalin to deinon kai kakentreches tōn peri tēn kakotechnon tautēn diatribēn teutazontōn, to te tōn goētōn apatēlon kai panourgon tou tropou, tote men ta pros hēdonēn hekastǭ proÿpischnoumenōn kai to paron epi chrēstais elpisi therapeuontōn, tote de tou mellontos katastochazomenōn, kai eis adēlon katamanteuomenōn, tēn te dianoian tōn chrēsmōn amphiboliais rhēmatōn kai asapheiais episkotountōn, hōs mē tina synienai to chrēsthen, tę̄ de tou lechthentos adēlią ton elenchon ekpheugein.
Let there be added the foolishness of the mind of the many, the weakness and want of critical reasoning of the multitude, and on the other hand the cleverness and malice of those busy with this evil art, and the deceitfulness and knavery of the sorcerers' ways: now promising each what will please him beforehand and soothing the present with good hopes, now guessing at the future and prophesying at random, and darkening the meaning of the oracles with ambiguous and obscure words, so that no one understands what was given in the oracle, and they escape refutation by the obscurity of what was said.
Notes and citation
Summary: The credulity of the crowd and the cunning of the oracle-mongers explain much.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization; repeated syllables and stray marks in digitization): του πλήθους → τοῦ πλήθους; προὐ̓πισχνου- προυπισχνουμένων → προϋπισχνουμένων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.10 (Dindorf 1:156–157; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-10). (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.
4.1.11Dindorf 1:157
πολλὰ δὲ συμβαίνειν καὶ ἄλλαις τισὶν ἀπάταις καὶ τερατείαις, συμπαραλαμβανομένων τοῖς γιγνομένοις ἐπῳδῶν δή τινων μετά τινος ἀσήμου καὶ βαρβαρικῆς ἐπιρρήσεως, ἵνα δὴ ὑπὸ τούτων σπουδάζεσθαι δοκῇ τὰ μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν πρὸς αὐτῶν γιγνόμενα· μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ παιδείας ὁρμᾶσθαι νομιζομένων ἐκπλήττειν αὐτῶν δὴ τῶν χρησμῶν τὰ ποιήματα, εὖ μὲν τῇ συνθέσει τῶν ῥημάτων κεκαλλωπισμένα, εὖ δὲ τῷ τῆς μεγαλοφωνίας ὄγκῳ τετυφωμένα, πολλῷ δὲ καὶ τῷ τῆς ἀνατάσεως κόμπῳ τῷ τε πεπλασμένῳ τύφῳ τῆς θεοφορίας ἐσχηματισμένα, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀμφιβόλου φωνῆς τὸν πάντα σχεδὸν ἀπατῶντα λεών.
polla de symbainein kai allais tisin apatais kai terateiais, symparalambanomenōn tois gignomenois epǭdōn dē tinōn meta tinos asēmou kai barbarikēs epirrēseōs, hina dē hypo toutōn spoudazesthai dokę̄ ta mēdʼ hotioun pros autōn gignomena; malista de tous pollous kai tōn apo paideias hormasthai nomizomenōn ekplēttein autōn dē tōn chrēsmōn ta poiēmata, eu men tę̄ synthesei tōn rhēmatōn kekallōpismena, eu de tǭ tēs megalophōnias onkǭ tetyphōmena, pollǭ de kai tǭ tēs anataseōs kompǭ tǭ te peplasmenǭ typhǭ tēs theophorias eschēmatismena, kai dia tēs amphibolou phōnēs ton panta schedon apatōnta leōn.
Many things too come about by other deceits and marvel-mongering, with certain incantations employed in the proceedings together with some unintelligible and barbarous utterance, so that what in no way comes about through them may seem to be effected by them. Above all, the many, and even those thought to start from education, are dazzled by the verses of the oracles themselves, finely adorned in the composition of words, finely puffed up with the bulk of grandiloquence, fashioned with much pompous elevation and pretended conceit of inspiration, and deceiving almost the whole people by their ambiguous utterance.
Notes and citation
Summary: Incantations and grandiloquent, ambiguous verses add to the deception.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.1.11 (Dindorf 1:157; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/3-12-1/#p-4-1-11). (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.