Preparation for the Gospel 5.14.1–5.23.7
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 5, chapter 14
5.14.1Dindorf 1:233–234
Ἐμφαίνουσι δὲ πολλαχοῦ οἱ θεοὶ ἅπερ λέγουσι προσημαίνοντες, τῷ ἑκάστου γινώσκειν τὴν τῆς γενέσεως σύστασιν, εἶναι αὐτοὺς, εἰ χρὴ οὕτω φάναι, ἄκρους τε μάγους καὶ ἄκρους γενεθλιαλόγους. καὶ πάλιν ἐν χρησμοῖς ἔφη τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα εἰπεῖν ‘‘κλῄζειν Ἑρμείην ἠδʼ Ἠέλιον κατὰ ταὐτὰ, ἡμέρῃ Ἠελίου, Μήνην δʼ ὅτε τῆσδε παρείη, ἠδὲ Κρόνον καὶ Ῥέαν ἠδʼ ἑξείης Ἀφροδίτην κλήσεσιν ἀφθέγκτοις, ἃς εὗρε μάγων ὄχʼ ἄριστος τῆς ἑπταφθόγγου βασιλεὺς, ὃν πάντες ἴσασιν· Ὀστάνην λέγεις εἰπόντων ἐπήγαγεν καὶ σφόδρα καὶ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀεὶ θεὸν ἑπτάκι φωνεῖν.”
Emphainousi de pollachou hoi theoi haper legousi prosēmainontes, tǭ hekastou ginōskein tēn tēs geneseōs systasin, einai autous, ei chrē houtō phanai, akrous te magous kai akrous genethlialogous. kai palin en chrēsmois ephē ton Apollōna eipein ‘‘klę̄zein Hermeiēn ēdʼ Ēelion kata tauta, hēmerę̄ Ēeliou, Mēnēn dʼ hote tēsde pareiē, ēde Kronon kai Rhean ēdʼ hexeiēs Aphroditēn klēsesin aphthenktois, has heure magōn ochʼ aristos tēs heptaphthongou basileus, hon pantes isasin; Ostanēn legeis eipontōn epēgagen kai sphodra kai kathʼ hekaston aei theon heptaki phōnein.”
"The gods often make plain what they say, foretelling it, by knowing the constitution of each man's nativity, being, if one may so say, consummate magi and consummate astrologers. And again in oracles he says that Apollo said: 'Invoke Hermes and the Sun likewise, on the day of the Sun, and the Moon when her day comes, and Cronus and Rhea and next Aphrodite, with unspoken invocations, which the best of the magi found, the king of the seven-voiced, whom all know.' When they said, 'You mean Ostanes,' he added: 'And earnestly, and always call each god seven times.'"
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo prescribes planetary invocations devised by the magus Ostanes.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization; breathing misread in digitization): οἶ θεοὶ → οἱ θεοὶ; Ρέαν → Ῥέαν.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.14.1 (Dindorf 1:233–234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-14-1). (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.
5.14.2Dindorf 1:234
ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς καὶ ταῦτα παρατίθησιν “Ἒστι δὲ σύμβολα μὲν τῆς Ἑκάτης κηρὸς τρίχρωμος, ἐκ λευκοῦ καὶ μέλανος καὶ ἐρυθροῦ συνεστὼς, ἔχων τύπον Ἑκάτης φερούσης μάστιγα καὶ λαμπάδα καὶ ξίφος, περὶ ἣν εἱλείσθω δράκων· οὐρανοῦ δὲ ἀστέρες οἱ θαλάττιοι πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν πεπατταλευμένοι. ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ θεοὶ αὐτοὶ μεμηνύκασι διὰ τούτων. λέγει δὲ ὁ Πὰν τούσδε δʼ αὖ ἐλαύνετε, κηρὸν ἐν πυρὸς μένει θέντες αἰόλου χροός· λευκὸς ἔστω καὶ μέλας, καὶ τὸ πῦρ φαεσφόρον ἄνθρακος πεφλεγμένου, δεῖμα νερτέρων κυνῶν γλύμμα δεινὸν Ἑκάτης. λαμπὰς ἔστω πρὸς χέρας, καὶ ξίφος τὸ ποίνιμον, καὶ δράκων περισταλὴς ἅμμασιν κόρην κρατῶν, δεινὸν ἀμφὶ κρᾶτα θεὶς, αἰόλη τε κλεὶς ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ δαιμόνων κράτος μάστιγος ψόφος πολύς.”
ho dʼ autos kai tauta paratithēsin “Esti de symbola men tēs Hekatēs kēros trichrōmos, ek leukou kai melanos kai erythrou synestōs, echōn typon Hekatēs pherousēs mastiga kai lampada kai xiphos, peri hēn heileisthō drakōn; ouranou de asteres hoi thalattioi pro tōn thyrōn pepattaleumenoi. tauta gar hoi theoi autoi memēnykasi dia toutōn. legei de ho Pan tousde dʼ au elaunete, kēron en pyros menei thentes aiolou chroos; leukos estō kai melas, kai to pyr phaesphoron anthrakos pephlegmenou, deima nerterōn kynōn glymma deinon Hekatēs. lampas estō pros cheras, kai xiphos to poinimon, kai drakōn peristalēs hammasin korēn kratōn, deinon amphi krata theis, aiolē te kleis homou kai to daimonōn kratos mastigos psophos polys.”
The same writer sets down this too: "The symbols of Hecate are wax of three colors, white, black, and red, bearing a figure of Hecate holding a whip, a torch, and a sword, with a serpent coiled around her; and the symbols of Heaven are the starfish nailed up before the doors. For the gods themselves have made these known through the following. Pan says: 'Drive these away, setting wax of varied color in the might of fire; let it be white and black, and the fire light-bearing from the kindled coal, the dread carved image of Hecate, terror of the hounds below. Let a torch be in her hands, and the avenging sword, and a serpent coiled around, holding the maiden in its knots, set dreadfully about her head, and a gleaming key too, and, power over the demons, the loud crack of the whip.'"
Notes and citation
Summary: Pan's oracle prescribes a wax image of Hecate as a charm against demons.
- "Heaven" (Uranus): the symbols of Hecate are set beside those of Heaven (οὐρανοῦ).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): οὐ- ρανοῦ → οὐρανοῦ.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.14.2 (Dindorf 1:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-14-2). (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.
5.14.3Dindorf 1:234–235
Διὰ τούτων καὶ τῶν τούτοις ὁμοίων ὁ γενναῖος Ἑλλήνων φιλόσοφος, ὁ θαυμαστὸς θεολόγος, ὁ τῶν ἀπορρήτων μύστης, τὴν ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίαν ὡς ἀπόρρητα θεῶν περιέχουσαν λόγια παραφαίνει, ἄντικρυς τῆς πονηρᾶς καὶ δαιμονικῆς ἀληθῶς δυνάμεως ἐξαγορεύων τὰς κατʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐνέδρας. τί γὰρ ἂν εἴη βιωφελὲς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ τῆς κακοτέχνου γοητείας;
Dia toutōn kai tōn toutois homoiōn ho gennaios Hellēnōn philosophos, ho thaumastos theologos, ho tōn aporrētōn mystēs, tēn ek logiōn philosophian hōs aporrēta theōn periechousan logia paraphainei, antikrys tēs ponēras kai daimonikēs alēthōs dynameōs exagoreuōn tas katʼ anthrōpōn enedras. ti gar an eiē biōpheles anthrōpois ek tēs kakotechnou goēteias?
Through these and similar things the noble philosopher of the Greeks, the wonderful theologian, the initiate in secrets, displays his Philosophy from Oracles as containing secret oracles of the gods, plainly revealing the snares laid against men by the wicked and truly demonic power. For what could be useful to human life from the evil art of sorcery?
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry's collection reveals the demons' snares, not divine wisdom.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): γενναἲος → γενναῖος; δυνά- μεως → δυνάμεως.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.14.3 (Dindorf 1:234–235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-14-3). (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.
5.14.4Dindorf 1:235
τί δʼ ἂν ἔχοι θεοφιλὲς ἡ τῶν ἀψύχων ξοάνων περιεργία; ποίας δʼ εἰκὼν ἐνθέου γένοιτʼ ἂν δυνάμεως ἡ τῶν τοιῶνδε σχημάτων μόρφωσις; τί δʼ οὐ μᾶλλον φιλοσοφεῖν ἢ μαγεύειν καὶ τὰ ἀπειρημένα διώκειν συμβουλεύειν ἐχρῆν, τοῦ κατʼ ἀρετὴν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν τρόπου πρὸς εὐδαίμονα καὶ μακάριον βίον αὐτάρκους τυγχάνοντος; ὁ δὲ ἐπιτείνων τὸν οἰκεῖον ἔλεγχον προστίθησι τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ ταῦτα
ti dʼ an echoi theophiles hē tōn apsychōn xoanōn periergia? poias dʼ eikōn entheou genoitʼ an dynameōs hē tōn toiōnde schēmatōn morphōsis? ti dʼ ou mallon philosophein ē mageuein kai ta apeirēmena diōkein symbouleuein echrēn, tou katʼ aretēn kai philosophian tropou pros eudaimona kai makarion bion autarkous tynchanontos? ho de epiteinōn ton oikeion elenchon prostithēsi tois eirēmenois kai tauta
What God-loving thing could the curious fashioning of lifeless images contain? Of what divine power could the shaping of such figures be an image? Why should they not rather have advised philosophizing than practicing magic and pursuing what is forbidden, when the way of virtue and philosophy is sufficient for a happy and blessed life? But he, increasing his own refutation, adds to what has been said this too:
Notes and citation
Summary: Magic and images contribute nothing to a happy life, unlike virtue and philosophy.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letters lost in digitization): πρʼς → πρὸς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.14.4 (Dindorf 1:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-14-4). (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.
Preparation 5, chapter 15
5.15.1Dindorf 1:235
“Ὅτι δὲ φιλοῦσι τὰ σύμβολα τῶν χαρακτήρων ἡ Ἑκάτη παραβάλλουσα πρὸς ἃ φιλοῦσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι μεμήνυκε διὰ τούτων τίς βροτὸς οὐ πεπόθηκε χαρακτῆρας ὀπάσασθαι χαλκοῦ καὶ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου αἰγλήεντος; τίς δὲ τάδʼ οὐ φιλέει, τῶν δὴ καθύπερθεν ἐφεστὼς, εἰς ἓν ἀγειρόμενος εἴρω πολυμοιρέα φωτῶν;
“Hoti de philousi ta symbola tōn charaktērōn hē Hekatē paraballousa pros ha philousin hoi anthrōpoi memēnyke dia toutōn tis brotos ou pepothēke charaktēras opasasthai chalkou kai chrysou kai argyrou aiglēentos? tis de tadʼ ou phileei, tōn dē kathyperthen ephestōs, eis hen ageiromenos eirō polymoirea phōtōn?
"That they love the symbols of the characters, Hecate has made known, comparing them with what men love, through these lines: 'What mortal has not longed to obtain stamped pieces of bronze, gold, and gleaming silver? And who, standing above, does not love these things, as I, gathered into one, string the many destinies of men?'
Notes and citation
Summary: Hecate says the gods love their symbols as men love money.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.15.1 (Dindorf 1:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-15-1). (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.
5.15.2Dindorf 1:235
οὐ μόνον δʼ ὅτι φίλοι οἱ χαρακτῆρες δεδήλωκεν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ, ὅπερ ἔφαμεν, αὐτοὶ περιγράφονται, καί εἰσιν οἷον ἐν ἱερῷ χωρίῳ τῇ ὑποκειμένῃ εἰκόνι· οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀχεῖσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ γῆς ἱερὰς ἐδυνήθησαν· ἱερὰ δὲ ἡ εἰκόνα φέρουσα θεοῦ, ἧς ἀρθείσης λέλυται τὸ κρατοῦν ἐπὶ γῆς τὸ θεῖον.”
ou monon dʼ hoti philoi hoi charaktēres dedēlōken, allʼ hoti kai, hoper ephamen, autoi perigraphontai, kai eisin hoion en hierǭ chōriǭ tę̄ hypokeimenę̄ eikoni; ou gar epi gēs ocheisthai, allʼ epi gēs hieras edynēthēsan; hiera de hē eikona pherousa theou, hēs artheisēs lelytai to kratoun epi gēs to theion.”
And she has shown not only that the characters are dear, but also, as we said, that they themselves are circumscribed and are, as it were, in a sacred place in the underlying image; for they could not be carried on earth, but on sacred earth; and sacred is that which bears the image of the god, and when it is removed, what holds the divine on earth is loosed."
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods are bound to the sacred images that bear their symbols.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.15.2 (Dindorf 1:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-15-2). (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.
5.15.3Dindorf 1:235
Διὰ δὴ τούτων ἁπάντων ἡγοῦμαι σαφῶς ἐληλέγχθαι ὡς ἄρα περίγειοί τινες καὶ φιλοπαθεῖς δαίμονες ἥλωσαν αὐτῶν ὄντες οἱ θεοί· διό μοι δοκῶ σώφρονι λογισμῷ τὴν ἀποστροφὴν αὐτῶν πεποιῆσθαι.
Dia dē toutōn hapantōn hēgoumai saphōs elēlenchthai hōs ara perigeioi tines kai philopatheis daimones hēlōsan autōn ontes hoi theoi; dio moi dokō sōphroni logismǭ tēn apostrophēn autōn pepoiēsthai.
Through all these things I think it has been clearly proved that their gods have been caught being earthly demons, lovers of passion. Therefore I think I have turned away from them with sober reasoning.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods are shown to be earthly, passion-loving demons.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.15.3 (Dindorf 1:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-15-3). (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.
5.15.4Dindorf 1:235–236
ὁρᾷς γοῦν ὡς κρατεῖν αὐτοὺς ἔν τισι γῆς χωρίοις τοὺς κατὰ μαγείαν φασὶ τύπους καὶ τοὺς τοιούσδε χαρακτῆρας, δέον, εἴπερ ἄρα θεῖόν τι ἦν ἀληθῶς, μηδʼ ἀλλαχῆ πη ἐπιβαίνειν ἢ ἐν μόνῃ ψυχῆς διανοίᾳ, καὶ ταύτῃ παντὸς ῥύπου καὶ πάσης κηλῖδος κεκαθαρμένῃ, σωφροσύνῃ τε καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἀρεταῖς κεκοσμημένῃ.
horąs goun hōs kratein autous en tisi gēs chōriois tous kata mageian phasi typous kai tous toiousde charaktēras, deon, eiper ara theion ti ēn alēthōs, mēdʼ allachē pē epibainein ē en monę̄ psychēs dianoią, kai tautę̄ pantos rhypou kai pasēs kēlidos kekatharmenę̄, sōphrosynę̄ te kai dikaiosynę̄ kai tais allais aretais kekosmēmenę̄.
You see, at any rate, that they say magical figures and such characters master them in certain places on earth; whereas, if there were truly anything divine, it should alight nowhere else than in the mind of the soul alone, and that purified of all filth and every stain, and adorned with self-control, justice, and the other virtues.
Notes and citation
Summary: The divine would dwell only in a pure and virtuous soul, not in magical figures.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (iota subscript lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): κεκοσμημένη. → κεκοσμημένῃ.; κεκαθαρ- μένῃ → κεκαθαρμένῃ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.15.4 (Dindorf 1:235–236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-15-4). (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.
5.15.5Dindorf 1:236
τούτων γὰρ ἐν ἀνθρώπου ψυχῇ ὡς ἐν ἀληθῶς ἱερῷ χωρίῳ προυποκειμένων, εἰκότως ἂν ἐπέλθοι θείου πνεύματος παρουσία· οὐδʼ ἂν ἦν ἔτι χρεία τῆς κακοτέχνου γοητείας ταῖς εἰς ὑποδοχὴν τοῦ θείου κατὰ τὴν ἐνάρετον καὶ φιλόθεον πρᾶξιν προηυτρεπισμέναις ψυχαῖς.
toutōn gar en anthrōpou psychę̄ hōs en alēthōs hierǭ chōriǭ proupokeimenōn, eikotōs an epelthoi theiou pneumatos parousia; oudʼ an ēn eti chreia tēs kakotechnou goēteias tais eis hypodochēn tou theiou kata tēn enareton kai philotheon praxin proēutrepismenais psychais.
For when these are first laid as foundations in a man's soul as in a truly sacred place, the presence of the divine Spirit may reasonably come upon it; and there would be no further need of the evil art of sorcery for souls prepared by virtuous and God-loving action to receive the divine.
Notes and citation
Summary: A virtuous soul receives the divine Spirit without any sorcery.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; punctuation misread in digitization): ὧς ἐν → ὡς ἐν; παρουσία ’ οὐδʼ → παρουσία· οὐδʼ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.15.5 (Dindorf 1:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-15-5). (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.
5.15.6Dindorf 1:236
ὥστε διαρρήδην ἐξ ἀπάντων τούτων περιγείους τινὰς ἁλίσκεσθαι, φιλοπαθεῖς τε καὶ φιλοσωμάτους ὑπάρχειν δαίμονας, περὶ ὧν ἄρτι ἐλέγομεν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἑξῆς τούτοις ἄκουε οἷα ὁ αὐτὸς συγγραφεὺς περὶ τοῦ ἐκλελοιπέναι αὐτῶν τὰ βοώμενα χρηστήρια ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς τίθησι τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον
hōste diarrēdēn ex apantōn toutōn perigeious tinas haliskesthai, philopatheis te kai philosōmatous hyparchein daimonas, peri hōn arti elegomen. alla gar hexēs toutois akoue hoia ho autos syngrapheus peri tou ekleloipenai autōn ta boōmena chrēstēria en tois autois tithēsi touton ton tropon
So from all these they are expressly caught being earthly demons, lovers of passion and of the body, of whom we spoke just now. But listen next to what the same writer sets down in the same work about the failure of their celebrated oracles, in this way:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Porphyry's admission that the oracles have failed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; stray mark and accent misread in digitization): ἔξ ἀπάντων → ἐξ ἀπάντων; τοῦτον ’τον τρόπον → τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.15.6 (Dindorf 1:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-15-6). (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 5, chapter 16
5.16.1Dindorf 1:236
“ Ἄμφι δὲ Πύθω οἱ Κλαρίην τε θεοπρόπα Φοίβου αὐδήσει φάτις ἡμετέρη θεμιτώδεσιν ὀμφαῖς. μύρια μὲν γαίης μαντήια θέσκελα νώτῳ ἐβλύσθη, πηγαί τε καὶ ἄσθματα δινήεντα· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἂψ χθονίοισιν ὑπαὶ κόλποισιν ἔδεκτο ἀυτὴ γαία χανοῦσα, τὰ δʼ ὤλεσε μυρίος αἰὼν. μούνῳ δʼ ἠελίῳ φαεσιμβρότῳ εἰσέτʼ ἔασιν ἐν Διδύμων γυάλοις Μυκαλήϊον ἔνθεον ὕδωρ, Πυθῶνός τʼ ἀνὰ πέζαν ὑπαὶ Παρνάσιον αἶπος, καὶ κραναὴ Κλαρίη, τρηχὺ στόμα φοιβάδος ὀμφῆς. Νικαεῦσι δὲ χρῶν ἔφη Πυθῷον δʼ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀναρρῶσαι λάλον ὀμφήν· ἤδη γὰρ δολιχοῖσιν ἀμαυρωθεῖσα χρόνοισιν βέβληται κληῖδας ἀμαντεύτοιο σιωπῆς. ῥέξατε δʼ ὡς ἔθος ἐστὶ θεοπρόπα θύματα Φοίβῳ.
“ Amphi de Pythō hoi Klariēn te theopropa Phoibou audēsei phatis hēmeterē themitōdesin omphais. myria men gaiēs mantēia theskela nōtǭ eblysthē, pēgai te kai asthmata dinēenta; kai ta men aps chthonioisin hypai kolpoisin edekto autē gaia chanousa, ta dʼ ōlese myrios aiōn. mounǭ dʼ ēeliǭ phaesimbrotǭ eisetʼ easin en Didymōn gyalois Mykalēïon entheon hydōr, Pythōnos tʼ ana pezan hypai Parnasion aipos, kai kranaē Klariē, trēchy stoma phoibados omphēs. Nikaeusi de chrōn ephē Pythǭon dʼ ouk estin anarrōsai lalon omphēn; ēdē gar dolichoisin amaurōtheisa chronoisin beblētai klēidas amanteutoio siōpēs. rhexate dʼ hōs ethos esti theopropa thymata Phoibǭ.
"'About Pytho and the Clarian oracles of Phoebus our word will speak with lawful voices. Countless wondrous oracles gushed forth on the back of the earth, springs and whirling exhalations; and some the earth herself, gaping, took back again into her nether bosom, and others countless ages destroyed. Only for the Sun who gives light to mortals do there still remain the divine water of Mycale in the vales of Didyma, and at the foot of Pytho beneath the height of Parnassus, and rocky Claros, the rough mouth of Phoebus's voice.' And giving an oracle to the Nicaeans he said: 'It is not possible to restore the talking voice of Pytho; for already, darkened by long ages, it has thrown the bolts of oracle-less silence. But offer to Phoebus, as is the custom, the prophetic sacrifices.'"
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's oracles admit that most oracles have perished and Delphi has fallen silent.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip): Νίκαεῦι → Νικαεῦσι.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.16.1 (Dindorf 1:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-16-1). (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.
5.16.2Dindorf 1:236–237
Τούτοις κατὰ καιρὸν ἐνταῦθα προσήκει καὶ τὰ Πλουτάρχου προσθεῖναι ἀφʼ οὗ πεποίηται συγγράμματος “ Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων χρηστηρίων.’’ Παυσαμένου δὲ τοῦ Ἀμμωνίου, Μᾶλλον, ἔφην ἐγὼ, περὶ τοῦ μαντείου δίελθε ἡμῖν, ὦ Κλεόμβροτε· μεγάλη γὰρ ἡ πάλαι δόξα τῆς ἐκεῖ θεότητος, τὰ δὲ νῦν ἔοικεν ἀπομαραίνεσθαι.
Toutois kata kairon entautha prosēkei kai ta Ploutarchou prostheinai aphʼ hou pepoiētai syngrammatos “ Peri tōn ekleloipotōn chrēstēriōn.’’ Pausamenou de tou Ammōniou, Mallon, ephēn egō, peri tou manteiou dielthe hēmin, ō Kleombrote; megalē gar hē palai doxa tēs ekei theotētos, ta de nyn eoiken apomarainesthai.
To these it is timely to add here the words of Plutarch from the treatise he composed On the Failure of the Oracles: "When Ammonius had finished, I said: 'Tell us rather about the oracle there, Cleombrotus; for great was the ancient fame of the godhead there, but now it seems to be fading away.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Plutarch's dialogue opens with the decline of a famous oracle.
- Plutarch, On the Failure of the Oracles 5 (411e–f), sections 5.16.2–4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip): δυγγράμματος → συγγράμματος; Μαλλὸν → Μᾶλλον.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 5 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.16.2 (Dindorf 1:236–237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-16-2). (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.
5.16.3Dindorf 1:237
τοῦ δὲ Κλεομβρότου σιωπῶντος καὶ κάτω βλέποντος ὁ Δημήτριος οὐδὲν ἔφη δεῖν περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ πυνθάνεσθαι καὶ διαπορεῖν, τὴν ἐνταῦθα τῶν χρηστηρίων ἀμαύρωσιν, μᾶλλον δὲ πλὴν ἑνὸς ἢ δυοῖν ἁπάντων ἔκλειψιν ὁρῶντας, ἀλλὰ κοινῇ σκοπεῖν διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν οὕτως ἐξησθένηκε.
tou de Kleombrotou siōpōntos kai katō blepontos ho Dēmētrios ouden ephē dein peri tōn ekei pynthanesthai kai diaporein, tēn entautha tōn chrēstēriōn amaurōsin, mallon de plēn henos ē dyoin hapantōn ekleipsin horōntas, alla koinę̄ skopein diʼ hēn aitian houtōs exēsthenēke.
And when Cleombrotus was silent and looked down, Demetrius said there was no need to inquire and raise questions about things there, when we see the fading of the oracles here, or rather the failure of all but one or two, but rather to consider together for what reason it has become so weak.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demetrius notes that nearly all oracles have failed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): δυοἲν → δυοῖν.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 5 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.16.3 (Dindorf 1:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-16-3). (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.
5.16.4Dindorf 1:237
τὰ γὰρ ἄλλα τί δεῖ λέγειν, ὅπου γε τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἕνεκα χρηστηρίων πολύφωνον οὖσαν ἐν τοῖς πρότερον χρόνοις νῦν ἐπιλέλοιπε κομιδῆ, καθάπερ νάματα, καὶ πολὺς ἐπέσχε μαντικῆς αὐχμὸς τὴν χώραν. οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ ἀλλαχόθι νῦν ἢ περὶ Λεβάδειαν ἡ Βοιωτία παρέχει τοῖς χρῄζουσιν ἀρύσασθαι μαντικῆς· τῶν δʼ ἄλλων τὰ μὲν σιγὴ, τὰ δὲ παντελὴς ἐρημία κατέσχηκε.” Ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ὁ αὐτὸς περὶ τοῦ καὶ θνήσκειν τοὺς αὐτῶν δαίμονας ταῦτά φησι
ta gar alla ti dei legein, hopou ge tēn Boiōtian heneka chrēstēriōn polyphōnon ousan en tois proteron chronois nyn epileloipe komidē, kathaper namata, kai polys epesche mantikēs auchmos tēn chōran. oudamou gar allachothi nyn ē peri Lebadeian hē Boiōtia parechei tois chrę̄zousin arysasthai mantikēs; tōn dʼ allōn ta men sigē, ta de pantelēs erēmia kateschēke.” Eti pros toutois ho autos peri tou kai thnēskein tous autōn daimonas tauta phēsi
For why speak of the others, when Boeotia, which in former times was many-voiced with oracles, has now been utterly deserted by them, like springs dried up, and a great drought of prophecy has seized the land? For nowhere else in Boeotia now but at Lebadea can those in need draw from prophecy; of the others, some are held by silence and some by total desolation." Further, besides these, the same writer says this about their demons dying:
Notes and citation
Summary: Only Lebadea's oracle remains in Boeotia; Eusebius turns to Plutarch on the death of demons.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip; leaked marginal letter in digitization): τοἳς → τοῖς; κατέσχηχε → κατέσχηκε; θνήσκειν d τοὺς → θνήσκειν τοὺς.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 5 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.16.4 (Dindorf 1:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-16-4). (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 5, chapter 17
5.17.1Dindorf 1:237
“Τὸ μὲν ἐφεστάναι τοῖς χρηστηρίοις, εἶπε, μὴ θεοὺς, οἷς ἀπηλλάχθαι τῶν περὶ γῆν προσῆκόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ δαίμονας ὑπηρέτας θεῶν, οὐ δοκεῖ μοι κακῶς ἀξιοῦσθαι. τὸ δὲ τοῖς δαίμοσι τούτοις, μονονουχὶ δραχμὴν λαμβάνοντας ἐκ τῶν ἐπῶν τῶν Ἐμπεδοκλέους, ἁμαρτίας καὶ ἄτας καὶ πλάνας θεηλάτους ἐπιφέρειν, τελευτῶντας δὲ καὶ θανάτους ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπων ὑποτίθεσθαι, θρασύτερον ἡγοῦμαι καὶ βαρβαρικώτερον.
“To men ephestanai tois chrēstēriois, eipe, mē theous, hois apēllachthai tōn peri gēn prosēkon estin, alla daimonas hypēretas theōn, ou dokei moi kakōs axiousthai. to de tois daimosi toutois, mononouchi drachmēn lambanontas ek tōn epōn tōn Empedokleous, hamartias kai atas kai planas theēlatous epipherein, teleutōntas de kai thanatous hōsper anthrōpōn hypotithesthai, thrasyteron hēgoumai kai barbarikōteron.
"'That not gods, for whom it is fitting to be free of earthly things, but demons, servants of the gods, preside over the oracles,' he said, 'does not seem to me a bad opinion. But to take, as it were, a handful from the verses of Empedocles and impose on these demons sins, calamities, and god-sent wanderings, and finally to suppose deaths for them as for men, I consider rather rash and barbarous.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Heracleon objects to the idea that demons sin and die.
- Plutarch, On the Failure of the Oracles 15–19 (418e–420a), sections 5.17.1–12 (compare 5.4.2).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin letter misread in digitization): “Tὸ μὲν → “Τὸ μὲν.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 15 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.1 (Dindorf 1:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-1). (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.
5.17.2Dindorf 1:237–238
ἠρώτησεν οὖν ὁ Κλεόμβροτος τὸν Φίλιππον ὅστις εἴη καὶ ὁπόθεν ὁ νεανίας. πυθόμενος δὲ τοὔνομα καὶ τὴν πόλιν, οὐδὲ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς, ἔφη, λανθάνομεν, ὦ Ἡρακλέων, ἐν λόγοις ἀτόποις γεγονότες, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστι περὶ πραγμάτων μεγάλων μὴ μεγάλαις προσχρησάμενον ἀρχαῖς ἐπὶ τὸ εἰκὸς τῇ δόξῃ προελθεῖν.
ērōtēsen oun ho Kleombrotos ton Philippon hostis eiē kai hopothen ho neanias. pythomenos de tounoma kai tēn polin, oude hēmas autous, ephē, lanthanomen, ō Hērakleōn, en logois atopois gegonotes, allʼ ouk esti peri pragmatōn megalōn mē megalais proschrēsamenon archais epi to eikos tę̄ doxę̄ proelthein.
Cleombrotus then asked Philip who the young man was and where he came from; and having learned his name and city, he said: 'We ourselves are not unaware, Heracleon, that we have come into strange arguments; but it is not possible in great matters to arrive at a probable opinion without using great principles.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cleombrotus says great questions require bold principles.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 16 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.2 (Dindorf 1:237–238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-2). (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.
5.17.3Dindorf 1:238
σὺ δὲ σεαυτὸν λέληθας ὃ δίδως ἀφαιρούμενος. ὁμολογεῖς γὰρ εἶναι δαίμονας, τῷ δὲ μὴ φαύλους ἀξιοῦν εἶναι, μηδὲ θνητοὺς, οὐκέτι δαίμονας φυλάττεις. τίνι γὰρ τῶν θεῶν διαφέρουσιν, εἰ καὶ κατʼ οὐσίαν τὸ ἄφθαρτον καὶ κατʼ ἀρετὴν τὸ ἀπαθὲς καὶ ἀναμάρτητον ἔχουσι;
sy de seauton lelēthas ho didōs aphairoumenos. homologeis gar einai daimonas, tǭ de mē phaulous axioun einai, mēde thnētous, ouketi daimonas phylatteis. tini gar tōn theōn diapherousin, ei kai katʼ ousian to aphtharton kai katʼ aretēn to apathes kai anamartēton echousi?
But you do not notice that you take away what you grant. For you admit that demons exist, but by not allowing them to be bad or mortal you no longer keep them demons. For in what do they differ from the gods, if in substance they have incorruptibility and in virtue freedom from passion and sin?'
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons that are neither bad nor mortal would be indistinguishable from gods.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 16 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.3 (Dindorf 1:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-3). (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.
5.17.4Dindorf 1:238
πρὸς ταῦτα τοῦ Ἡρακλέωνος σιωπῇ διανοουμένου τι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Φίλιππος, ἀλλὰ φαύλους μὲν δαίμονας οὐκ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς μόνον, ὦ Ἡρακλέων, ἀπέλιπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Ξενοκράτης καὶ Χρύσιππος· ἔτι δὲ Δημόκριτος εὐχόμενος εὐλόγχων εἰδώλων τυγχάνειν δῆλος ἦν ἕτερα δυστράπελα καὶ μοχθηρὰς γινώσκων ἔχοντα προαιρέσεις τινὰς καὶ ὁρμάς.
pros tauta tou Hērakleōnos siōpę̄ dianooumenou ti pros auton ho Philippos, alla phaulous men daimonas ouk Empedoklēs monon, ō Hērakleōn, apelipen, alla kai Platōn kai Xenokratēs kai Chrysippos; eti de Dēmokritos euchomenos eulonchōn eidōlōn tynchanein dēlos ēn hetera dystrapela kai mochthēras ginōskōn echonta proaireseis tinas kai hormas.
While Heracleon was silently pondering a reply, Philip said: 'But bad demons were admitted not only by Empedocles, Heracleon, but also by Plato, Xenocrates, and Chrysippus; and Democritus too, praying to meet with propitious images, plainly knew of others that are perverse and have wicked purposes and impulses.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philip notes that many philosophers believed in bad demons.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; accent corrected): Ἐμπεδο- κλῃς → Ἐμπεδοκλῆς.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 17 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.4 (Dindorf 1:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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5.17.5Dindorf 1:238
περὶ δὲ τοῦ θανάτου τῶν τοιούτων ἀκήκοα λόγον ἀνδρὸς οὐκ ἄφρονος οὐδὲ ἀλαζόνος. Αἰμιλιανοῦ γὰρ τοῦ ῥήτορος, οὗ καὶ ἡμῶν ἔνιοι διακηκόασιν, Ἐπιθέρσης ἦν πατὴρ, ἐμὸς πολίτης καὶ διδάσκαλος γραμματικῶν.
peri de tou thanatou tōn toioutōn akēkoa logon andros ouk aphronos oude alazonos. Aimilianou gar tou rhētoros, hou kai hēmōn enioi diakēkoasin, Epithersēs ēn patēr, emos politēs kai didaskalos grammatikōn.
And about the death of such beings I have heard an account from a man neither foolish nor boastful. Epitherses, my fellow citizen and teacher of grammar, was the father of Aemilianus the rhetor, whom some of you too have heard.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philip introduces the story told by Epitherses.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 17 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.5 (Dindorf 1:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-5). (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.
5.17.6Dindorf 1:238
οὗτος ἔφη ποτὲ πλέων εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐπιβῆναι νεὼς ἐμπορικὰ χρήματα καὶ συχνοὺς ἐπιβάτας ἀγούσης· ἐσπέρας δʼ ἤδη περὶ τὰς Ἐχινάδας νήσους ἀποσβῆναι τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὴν ναῦν διαφερομένην πλησίον γενέσθαι Παξῶν· ἐγρηγορέναι δὲ τοὺς πλείστους καὶ πίνειν, ἐπεὶ δεδειπνηκότες ἦσαν· ἐξαίφνης δὲ φωνῆς ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου τῶν Παξῶν ἀκουσθῆναι, Θαμνοῦν τινὸς βοῇ καλοῦντος, ὥστε θαυμάζειν· ὁ γὰρ Θαμνοῦς Αἰγύπτιος ἦν κυβερνήτης, οὐδὲ τῶν ἐμπλεόντων γνώριμος πολλοῖς ἀπʼ ὀνόματος. δὶς μὲν οὖν κληθέντα σιωπῆσαι, τὸ δὲ τρίτον ὑπακοῦσαι τῷ καλοῦντι, κἀκεῖνον ἐπιτείναντα τὴν φωνὴν εἰπεῖν, ὁπόταν γένῃ κατὰ τὸ Παλῶδες, ἀπάγγειλον ὅτι Πὰν ὁ μέγας τέθνηκεν.
houtos ephē pote pleōn eis Italian epibēnai neōs emporika chrēmata kai sychnous epibatas agousēs; esperas dʼ ēdē peri tas Echinadas nēsous aposbēnai to pneuma kai tēn naun diapheromenēn plēsion genesthai Paxōn; egrēgorenai de tous pleistous kai pinein, epei dedeipnēkotes ēsan; exaiphnēs de phōnēs apo tēs nēsou tōn Paxōn akousthēnai, Thamnoun tinos boę̄ kalountos, hōste thaumazein; ho gar Thamnous Aigyptios ēn kybernētēs, oude tōn empleontōn gnōrimos pollois apʼ onomatos. dis men oun klēthenta siōpēsai, to de triton hypakousai tǭ kalounti, kakeinon epiteinanta tēn phōnēn eipein, hopotan genę̄ kata to Palōdes, apangeilon hoti Pan ho megas tethnēken.
He said that once, sailing to Italy, he embarked on a ship carrying merchandise and many passengers. In the evening, near the Echinades islands, the wind dropped, and the ship drifted near Paxi. Most were awake and drinking, since they had dined. Suddenly a voice was heard from the island of Paxi, someone loudly calling Thamus, so that they wondered; for Thamus was an Egyptian pilot, not known by name even to many of those on board. Twice called, he was silent, but the third time he answered the caller, and the other, raising his voice, said: "When you come opposite Palodes, announce that the great Pan is dead."
Notes and citation
Summary: A voice from the island of Paxi told the pilot Thamus to announce that the great Pan was dead.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 17 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.6 (Dindorf 1:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-6). (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.
5.17.7Dindorf 1:238–239
τοῦτο ἀκούσαντας ὁ Ἐπιθέρσης ἔφη πάντας ἐκπλαγῆναι, καὶ διδόντας ἑαυτοῖς λόγον, εἴτε ποιῆσαι βέλτιον εἴη τὸ προστεταγμένον, εἴτε μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐὰν, οὕτω γνῶναι τὸν Θαμνοῦν, εἰ μὲν εἴη πνεῦμα, παραπλεῖν ἡσυχίαν ἔχοντα, νηνεμίας δὲ καὶ γαλήνης περὶ τὸν τόπον γενομένης ἀνειπεῖν ἃ ἤκουσεν.
touto akousantas ho Epithersēs ephē pantas ekplagēnai, kai didontas heautois logon, eite poiēsai beltion eiē to prostetagmenon, eite mē polypragmonein, allʼ ean, houtō gnōnai ton Thamnoun, ei men eiē pneuma, paraplein hēsychian echonta, nēnemias de kai galēnēs peri ton topon genomenēs aneipein ha ēkousen.
On hearing this, Epitherses said, all were astonished, and they debated among themselves whether it would be better to carry out the command or not to meddle but let it be; and Thamus decided thus: if there were a wind, to sail past keeping quiet, but if calm and stillness came about the place, to announce what he had heard.
Notes and citation
Summary: Thamus resolved to deliver the message if the sea were calm.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; accent corrected): βέλ- τίον → βέλτιον.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 17 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.7 (Dindorf 1:238–239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-7). (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.
5.17.8Dindorf 1:239
ὡς οὖν ἐγένετο κατὰ τὸ Παλῶδες, οὔτε πνεύματος ὄντος οὔτε κλύδωνος, ἐκ πρύμνης βλέποντα τὸν Θαμνοῦν πρὸς τὴν γῆν εἰπεῖν, ὥσπερ ἤκουσεν, ὅτι Πὰν ὁ μέγας τέθνηκεν, οὐ φθῆναι δὲ παυσάμενον αὐτὸν, καὶ γενέσθαι μέγαν οὐχ ἑνὸς, ἀλλὰ πολλῶν στεναγμὸν, ἅμα θαυμασμῷ μεμιγμένον.
hōs oun egeneto kata to Palōdes, oute pneumatos ontos oute klydōnos, ek prymnēs bleponta ton Thamnoun pros tēn gēn eipein, hōsper ēkousen, hoti Pan ho megas tethnēken, ou phthēnai de pausamenon auton, kai genesthai megan ouch henos, alla pollōn stenagmon, hama thaumasmǭ memigmenon.
So when they came opposite Palodes, there being neither wind nor wave, Thamus, looking from the stern toward the land, said as he had heard, that the great Pan is dead; and he had not yet finished when there arose a great lamentation, not of one but of many, mingled with amazement.
Notes and citation
Summary: When Thamus announced Pan's death, a great lamentation arose.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letters transposed in digitization): Θαμονῦν → Θαμνοῦν.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 17 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.8 (Dindorf 1:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-8). (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.
5.17.9Dindorf 1:239
οἷα δὲ πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων παρόντων ταχὺ τὸν λόγον ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ σκεδασθῆναι καὶ Θαμνοῦν γενέσθαι μετάπεμπτον ὑπὸ Τιβερίου Καίσαρος· οὕτω δὲ πιστεῦσαι τῷ λόγῳ τὸν Τιβέριον ὥστε διαπυνθάνεσθαι καὶ ζητεῖν περὶ τοῦ Πανός· εἰκάζειν δὲ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν φιλολόγους συχνοὺς ὄντας τὸν ἐξ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ Πηνελόπης γεγενημένον.
hoia de pollōn anthrōpōn parontōn tachy ton logon en tę̄ Rhōmę̄ skedasthēnai kai Thamnoun genesthai metapempton hypo Tiberiou Kaisaros; houtō de pisteusai tǭ logǭ ton Tiberion hōste diapynthanesthai kai zētein peri tou Panos; eikazein de tous peri auton philologous sychnous ontas ton ex Hermou kai Pēnelopēs gegenēmenon.
Since many people were present, the story quickly spread in Rome, and Thamus was summoned by Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius believed the story so much that he made inquiries and investigations about Pan; and the many scholars about him conjectured that he was the son born of Hermes and Penelope.
Notes and citation
Summary: Tiberius investigated the report of Pan's death.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing lost in digitization): οἶα δὲ → οἷα δὲ; Ρώμῃ → Ῥώμῃ.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 17 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.9 (Dindorf 1:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-9). (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.
5.17.10Dindorf 1:239
ὁ μὲν οὑν Φίλιππος εἶχε τῶν παρόντων ἐνίους μάρτυρας, Αἰμιλιανοῦ τοῦ γέροντος ἀκηκοότας ὁ δὲ Δημήτριος ἔφη τῶν περὶ τὴν Βρεττανίαν νήσων εἶναι πολλὰς ἐρήμους σποράδας, ὧν ἐνίας δαιμόνων καὶ ἡρώων ὀνομάζεσθαι· πλεῦσαι δὲ αὐτὸς ἱστορίας καὶ θέας ἕνεκα πομπῇ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὴν ἔγγιστα κειμένην τῶν ἐρήμων, ἔχουσαν οὐ πολλοὺς ἐποικοῦντας, ἱεροὺς δὲ καὶ ἀσύλους πάντας ὑπὸ τῶν Βρεττανῶν ὄντας.
ho men houn Philippos eiche tōn parontōn enious martyras, Aimilianou tou gerontos akēkootas ho de Dēmētrios ephē tōn peri tēn Brettanian nēsōn einai pollas erēmous sporadas, hōn enias daimonōn kai hērōōn onomazesthai; pleusai de autos historias kai theas heneka pompę̄ tou basileōs eis tēn engista keimenēn tōn erēmōn, echousan ou pollous epoikountas, hierous de kai asylous pantas hypo tōn Brettanōn ontas.
Philip had some of those present as witnesses, who had heard it from the old man Aemilianus. And Demetrius said that of the islands around Britain many are deserted and scattered, some of which are named after demons and heroes; and that he himself, sent by the king to inquire and observe, sailed to the nearest of the deserted ones, which had few inhabitants, all of whom were held sacred and inviolable by the Britons.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demetrius tells of a sacred island near Britain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): πολ- λοὺς → πολλοὺς.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 18 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.10 (Dindorf 1:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-10). (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.
5.17.11Dindorf 1:239–240
ἀφιγμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ νεωστὶ σύγχυσιν μεγάλην περὶ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ διοσημίας πολλὰς γενέσθαι, καὶ πνεύματα καταρραγῆναι, καὶ πεσεῖν πρηστῆρας. ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐλώφησε, λέγειν τοὺς νησιώτας ὅτι τῶν κρειττόνων τινὸς ἔκλειψις γέγονεν· ὡς γὰρ λύχνος ἀναπτόμενος, φάναι, δεινὸν οὐδὲν ἔχει, σβεννύμενος δὲ πολλοῖς λυπηρός ἐστιν, οὕτως αἱ μεγάλαι ψυχαὶ τὰς μὲν ἀναλάμψεις εὐμενεῖς καὶ ἀλύπους ἔχουσιν, αἱ δὲ σβέσεις αὐτῶν καὶ φθοραὶ πολλάκις μὲν, ὡς νῦν, πνεύματα καὶ χαλάζας τρέφουσι, πολλάκις δὲ λοιμικοῖς πάθεσι τὸν ἀέρα φαρμάττουσιν.
aphigmenou de autou neōsti synchysin megalēn peri ton aera kai diosēmias pollas genesthai, kai pneumata katarragēnai, kai pesein prēstēras. epei dʼ elōphēse, legein tous nēsiōtas hoti tōn kreittonōn tinos ekleipsis gegonen; hōs gar lychnos anaptomenos, phanai, deinon ouden echei, sbennymenos de pollois lypēros estin, houtōs hai megalai psychai tas men analampseis eumeneis kai alypous echousin, hai de sbeseis autōn kai phthorai pollakis men, hōs nyn, pneumata kai chalazas trephousi, pollakis de loimikois pathesi ton aera pharmattousin.
Soon after he arrived, there was great disturbance in the air, many portents, winds bursting out, and whirlwinds falling. When it abated, the islanders said that one of the higher beings had passed away. 'For as a lamp,' they said, 'when lit has nothing dreadful, but when quenched is grievous to many, so the great souls have kindlings that are kindly and harmless, but their quenchings and destructions often, as now, nourish winds and hail, and often poison the air with pestilential afflictions.'
Notes and citation
Summary: The islanders explained a storm as caused by the death of a great spirit.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; repeated syllable in digitization): νεωστὶ στὶ → νεωστὶ; αἶ μεγάλαι → αἱ μεγάλαι.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 18 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.11 (Dindorf 1:239–240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-11). (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.
5.17.12Dindorf 1:240
ἐκεῖ μέντοι μίαν εἶναι νῆσον, ἐν ᾗ τὸν Κρόνον καθεῖρχθαι φρουρούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Βριάρεω καθεύδοντα· δεσμὸν γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸν ὕπνον μεμηχανῆσθαι· πολλοὺς δὲ περὶ αὐτὸν εἶναι δαίμονας ὀπαδοὺς καὶ θεράποντας.”
ekei mentoi mian einai nēson, en hę̄ ton Kronon katheirchthai phrouroumenon hypo tou Briareō katheudonta; desmon gar autǭ ton hypnon memēchanēsthai; pollous de peri auton einai daimonas opadous kai therapontas.”
There is one island there, moreover, in which Cronus is imprisoned, guarded by Briareus as he sleeps; for sleep has been devised as his bond; and many demons are around him as attendants and servants."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cronus is said to sleep imprisoned on an island near Britain.
Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Def. orac. 18 (Plutarch; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.12 (Dindorf 1:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-12). (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.
5.17.13Dindorf 1:240
Τοσαῦτα ὁ Πλούταρχος. ἐπιτηρῆσαι δὲ ἄξιον τὸν καιρὸν ἐν ᾧ φησι τὸν θάνατον γεγονέναι τοῦ δαίμονος. οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὁ κατὰ Τιβέριον καθʼ ὃν ὁ ἡμέτερος σωτὴρ τὰς σὺν ἀνθρώποις ποιούμενος διατριβὰς πᾶν γένος δαιμόνων ἐξελαύνειν τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀναγέγραπται βίου· ὥστε ἤδη τινὰς τῶν δαιμόνων γονυπετεῖν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἱκετεύειν μὴ τῷ περιμένοντι αὐτοὺς Ταρτάρῳ παραδοῦναι.
Tosauta ho Ploutarchos. epitērēsai de axion ton kairon en hǭ phēsi ton thanaton gegonenai tou daimonos. houtos de ēn ho kata Tiberion kathʼ hon ho hēmeteros sōtēr tas syn anthrōpois poioumenos diatribas pan genos daimonōn exelaunein tou tōn anthrōpōn anagegraptai biou; hōste ēdē tinas tōn daimonōn gonypetein auton, kai hiketeuein mē tǭ perimenonti autous Tartarǭ paradounai.
So much Plutarch. It is worth observing the time at which he says the death of the demon took place. This was the time of Tiberius, in which our Savior, spending his life among men, is recorded to have driven every kind of demon out of human life, so that some of the demons even fell on their knees before him and begged him not to hand them over to the Tartarus awaiting them.
Matt 8:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 8:31 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The death of Pan coincides with the time when Christ drove out demons.
- Allusion to the Gospel exorcisms (Matt 8:29; Luke 8:31).
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.13 (Dindorf 1:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-13). (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.
5.17.14Dindorf 1:240
ἔχεις οὖν καὶ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων καθαιρέσεως τὸν χρόνον, οὐκ ἄλλοτε ἐξ αἰῶνος ἱστορηθείσης, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωποθυσίας τῶν ἐθνῶν τὴν κατάλυσιν οὐκ ἄλλοτε ἢ μετὰ τὸ προελθὸν εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους κήρυγμα τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας γεγενημένην. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῆς νεωτέρας ἱστορίας ἐληλέγχθω.
echeis oun kai tēs tōn daimonōn kathaireseōs ton chronon, ouk allote ex aiōnos historētheisēs, hōsper oun kai tēs anthrōpothysias tōn ethnōn tēn katalysin ouk allote ē meta to proelthon eis pantas anthrōpous kērygma tēs euangelikēs didaskalias gegenēmenēn. tauta men oun hēmin apo tēs neōteras historias elēlenchthō.
You have, then, the time of the destruction of the demons, recorded at no other time in all the ages, just as the abolition of human sacrifice among the nations took place at no other time than after the preaching of the gospel teaching went out to all men. Let these things, then, be proved by us from more recent history.
Notes and citation
Summary: The demons' destruction, like the end of human sacrifice, came with the gospel.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.17.14 (Dindorf 1:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-17-14). (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.
Preparation 5, chapter 18
5.18.1Dindorf 1:240
Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ μὴ τοῖς πᾶσι γνώριμα τυγχάνει τὰ εἰρημένα, εὖ μοι δοκεῖ ἐντεῦθεν ἐπὶ τὰ πᾶσι πρόδηλα τοῖς φιλολόγοις μεταβῆναι, καὶ τοὺς παλαιτάτους τῷ χρόνῳ χρησμοὺς ἐξετάσαι ἀνὰ στόμα πάντων Ἑλλήνων ᾀδομένους, κἀν ταῖς κατὰ πόλιν διατριβαῖς τοῖς ἐπὶ παιδείᾳ φοιτῶσι παραδιδομένους.
Allʼ epei mē tois pasi gnōrima tynchanei ta eirēmena, eu moi dokei enteuthen epi ta pasi prodēla tois philologois metabēnai, kai tous palaitatous tǭ chronǭ chrēsmous exetasai ana stoma pantōn Hellēnōn ądomenous, kan tais kata polin diatribais tois epi paideią phoitōsi paradidomenous.
But since what has been said is not known to all, it seems good to me to pass from here to what is plain to all lovers of learning, and to examine the most ancient oracles, sung on the lips of all the Greeks and handed down in the schools of the cities to those who attend for education.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius turns to the ancient oracles known to all educated Greeks.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): πρό- δηλα → πρόδηλα.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.18.1 (Dindorf 1:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-18-1). (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.
5.18.2Dindorf 1:240–241
ἄνωθεν τοίνυν ἀναλαβὼν τὰς παλαιὰς ἱστορίας ἐπίσκεψαι οἷα ὁ Πύθιος Ἀθηναίοις χρᾷ λοιμῷ πιεσθεῖσι διὰ τὴν Ἀνδρόγεω τελευτήν. ἐλοίμωσσον δὲ πάντες Ἀθηναῖοι διʼ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς θάνατον, τῆς δʼ ἐκ τῶν θεῶν ἐπικουρίας τυχεῖν ἠξίουν.
anōthen toinyn analabōn tas palaias historias episkepsai hoia ho Pythios Athēnaiois chrą loimǭ piestheisi dia tēn Androgeō teleutēn. eloimōsson de pantes Athēnaioi diʼ henos andros thanaton, tēs dʼ ek tōn theōn epikourias tychein ēxioun.
Taking up, then, the ancient histories from the beginning, consider what the Pythian god declared to the Athenians when they were oppressed by plague on account of the death of Androgeos. All the Athenians were stricken with plague because of the death of one man, and they asked to obtain help from the gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Apollo's oracle to the plague-stricken Athenians after Androgeos' death.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; accent corrected): Ἀθη- ναίοι → Ἀθηναῖοι.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.18.2 (Dindorf 1:240–241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-18-2). (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.
5.18.3Dindorf 1:241
τί ποτʼ οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ θεὸς παραινεῖ; τάχα πού τις οἰήσεται δικαιοσύνης τοῦ λοιποῦ καὶ φιλανθρωπίας ἐπιμέλεσθαι καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς, ἢ μετανοεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ πλημμελήματι, καί τι τῶν ὁσίων καὶ εὐσεβῶν ἐκτελεῖν, ὡς ἂν τῶν θεῶν τούτοις ἱλασκομένων. ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν ἦν οὐδέν.
ti potʼ oun autois ho sōtēr kai theos parainei? tacha pou tis oiēsetai dikaiosynēs tou loipou kai philanthrōpias epimelesthai kai tēs allēs aretēs, ē metanoein epi tǭ plēmmelēmati, kai ti tōn hosiōn kai eusebōn ektelein, hōs an tōn theōn toutois hilaskomenōn. alla toutōn men ēn ouden.
What, then, did the savior and god advise them? Perhaps someone will suppose: to care for justice and kindness and the rest of virtue for the future, or to repent of the offense and to perform some holy and pious act, so that the gods might be appeased by these. But it was none of these.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo did not counsel the Athenians to repentance or virtue.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.18.3 (Dindorf 1:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-18-3). (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.
5.18.4Dindorf 1:241
τί γὰρ δὴ καὶ μέλον ἦν τούτων τοῖς θαυμασίοις θεοῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῖς παμπονήροις δαίμοσι; πάλιν οὖν τὰ αὐτοῖς συγγενῆ καὶ οἰκεῖα, τὰ ἀνηλεῆ καὶ ὠμὰ καὶ ἀπάνθρωπα, λοιμὸν ἐπὶ λοιμῷ φασι καὶ θανάτους ἐπὶ θανάτῳ.
ti gar dē kai melon ēn toutōn tois thaumasiois theois, mallon de tois pamponērois daimosi? palin oun ta autois syngenē kai oikeia, ta anēleē kai ōma kai apanthrōpa, loimon epi loimǭ phasi kai thanatous epi thanatǭ.
For what concern had the wonderful gods, or rather the utterly wicked demons, for these things? Again, then, they speak what is akin and proper to them, things pitiless, savage, and inhuman: plague upon plague and deaths for a death.
Notes and citation
Summary: The demons prescribed only cruelty.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): μέλον ἢν → μέλον ἦν; δαἰμοσι → δαίμοσι.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.18.4 (Dindorf 1:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-18-4). (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.
5.18.5Dindorf 1:241
κελεύει γοῦν ὁ Ἀπόλλων ἔτους ἑκάστου πέμπειν αὐτοὺς τῶν ἰδίων παίδων ἄρρενας ἐνήβους ἑπτὰ καὶ θηλειῶν ἰσαρίθμους παρθένους, ἀνθʼ ἑνὸς δέκα καὶ τέσσαρας ἀναιτίους καὶ ἀπράγμονας, οὐκ εἰς ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ, καὶ κατὰ πᾶν ἔτος τυθησομένους ἐν Κρήτῃ παρὰ τῷ Μίνωϊ· ὥστε καὶ μέχρι τῶν τοῦ Σωκράτους χρόνων πλέον ἢ πεντακοσίοις ὕστερον ἔτεσιν ὁ δεινὸς οὗτος καὶ ἀπανθρωπότατος δασμὸς μνήμην παρʼ Ἀθηναίοις διεφύλαττε. τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ἄρα τὸ καὶ Σωκράτει τὴν ἀναβολὴν τοῦ θανάτου πεποιημένον.
keleuei goun ho Apollōn etous hekastou pempein autous tōn idiōn paidōn arrenas enēbous hepta kai thēleiōn isarithmous parthenous, anthʼ henos deka kai tessaras anaitious kai apragmonas, ouk eis hapax, alla, kai kata pan etos tythēsomenous en Krētę̄ para tǭ Minōï; hōste kai mechri tōn tou Sōkratous chronōn pleon ē pentakosiois hysteron etesin ho deinos houtos kai apanthrōpotatos dasmos mnēmēn parʼ Athēnaiois diephylatte. touto de ēn ara to kai Sōkratei tēn anabolēn tou thanatou pepoiēmenon.
Apollo, at any rate, commands them to send every year seven of their own sons in the bloom of youth and as many maiden daughters, fourteen innocent and harmless persons for one, not once only but every year, to be put to death in Crete by Minos; so that even down to the times of Socrates, more than five hundred years later, this terrible and most inhuman tribute kept its memory among the Athenians. This, it seems, was what caused the postponement of Socrates' death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo ordered the yearly tribute of fourteen youths and maidens to Minos.
- The sacred ship sent to Delos in memory of this tribute delayed Socrates' execution (Plato, Phaedo 58a–c).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letters lost in digitization): άπανθωπότατος → ἀπανθρωπότατος.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 58a–c (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.18.5 (Dindorf 1:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-18-5). (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.
5.18.6Dindorf 1:241
τίθησι γοῦν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀπελέγχει τὸν χρησμὸν εὖ μάλα τις τῶν νέων ἀνδρικῷ λογισμῷ γοήτων φωρὰν ἐν οἰκείῳ συγγραμματι πεποιημένος οὗ καὶ αὐτοῦ τῶν φωνῶν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τῶν ἐμῶν ἄκουε, πρὸς τὸν χρησμῳδὸν ὧδέ πως ἀποτεινομένου·
tithēsi goun homou kai apelenchei ton chrēsmon eu mala tis tōn neōn andrikǭ logismǭ goētōn phōran en oikeiǭ syngrammati pepoiēmenos hou kai autou tōn phōnōn, alla mē tōn emōn akoue, pros ton chrēsmǭdon hōde pōs apoteinomenou;
One of the more recent writers, at any rate, who made a Detection of Impostors in a treatise of his own, sets out the oracle and very well refutes it with manly reasoning. Hear his words, not mine, as he addresses the oracle-giver somewhat as follows:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Oenomaus's attack on the oracle.
- The writer is Oenomaus of Gadara, a Cynic of the early second century, whose Detection of Impostors (Γοήτων φωρά) Eusebius quotes in 5.19–5.36.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip): οὐ καὶ αὐτοῦ τῶν φωνωι·, → οὗ καὶ αὐτοῦ τῶν φωνῶν,.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.18.6 (Dindorf 1:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-18-6). (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 5, chapter 19
5.19.1Dindorf 1:241–242
“ Τί δʼ; οὐκ Ἀθηναῖοι τὸν Ἀνδρόγεων ἀποκτείναντες, καὶ λοιμώξαντες ἐπὶ τούτῳ, εἶπον ἂν μετανοεῖν; ἢ μὴ λεγόντων, οὐ σὲ προσῆκον ἦν εἰπεῖν μετανοεῖτέ μᾶλλον ἢ λοιμοῦ καὶ λιμοῦ τέλος ἔσσεται, ἤνπερ ἑαυτῶν σώματʼ ἀπὸ κλήρου ἄρρεν καὶ θῆλυ νέμητε Μίνωι, εἰς ἅλα δῖαν ἀποστέλλοντες, ἀμοιβὴν τῶν ἀδίκων ἔργων· οὕτω θεὸς ἴλαος ἔσται.
“ Ti dʼ? ouk Athēnaioi ton Androgeōn apokteinantes, kai loimōxantes epi toutǭ, eipon an metanoein? ē mē legontōn, ou se prosēkon ēn eipein metanoeite mallon ē loimou kai limou telos essetai, ēnper heautōn sōmatʼ apo klērou arren kai thēly nemēte Minōi, eis hala dian apostellontes, amoibēn tōn adikōn ergōn; houtō theos ilaos estai.
"What? Would not the Athenians, after killing Androgeos and suffering plague because of it, have said they repented? Or, if they did not say so, was it not fitting for you to say, 'Repent,' rather than: 'There will be an end of plague and famine if you allot by lot bodies of your own, male and female, to Minos, sending them over the divine sea as recompense for your unjust deeds; so the god will be gracious'?
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus asks why Apollo demanded victims instead of repentance.
- Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors, quoted through 5.19.3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip and repeated syllables): ἀποχτείναντες, κτείναντες, → ἀποκτείναντες,.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.19.1 (Dindorf 1:241–242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-19-1). (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.
5.19.2Dindorf 1:242
ἐῶ γὰρ τὸ Ἀνδρόγεω μὲν Ἀθήνησιν ἀποθανόντος ὑμᾶς ἀγανακτεῖν, τῶν δὲ τοσούτων καὶ πανταχόθι καὶ πάντοτε καθεύδειν. καίτοι εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐθαλασσοκράτει τότε ὁ Μίνως, καὶ μέγα ἐδύνατο, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ Ἑλλὰς αὐτὸν ἐθεράπευε, καὶ ἦν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δικαιότατος, καὶ νομοθέτης ἀγαθὸς, καὶ Ὁμήρῳ ἐδόκει Δῖός μεγάλου εἶναι ὀαριστὴς, καὶ ἀποθανὼν ἐν Ἅιδου δικαστὴς, καὶ σὺ διὰ τοῦθʼ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὰς δίκας ταύτας εἰσεπράττου.
eō gar to Androgeō men Athēnēsin apothanontos hymas aganaktein, tōn de tosoutōn kai pantachothi kai pantote katheudein. kaitoi eidōs hoti ethalassokratei tote ho Minōs, kai mega edynato, kai pasa hē Hellas auton etherapeue, kai ēn kai dia touto dikaiotatos, kai nomothetēs agathos, kai Homērǭ edokei Dios megalou einai oaristēs, kai apothanōn en Haidou dikastēs, kai sy dia touthʼ hyper autou tas dikas tautas eiseprattou.
For I pass over the fact that you gods were indignant when Androgeos died at Athens, but sleep when so many died everywhere and always. And yet you knew that Minos was then master of the sea and very powerful, and all Greece courted him; and for this reason he was also most just, and a good lawgiver, and in Homer's view 'the familiar friend of great Zeus,' and after death a judge in Hades; and you, for this reason, exacted these penalties on his behalf.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo favored Minos because he was powerful.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip): ἐδαλασσοκράτει → ἐθαλασσοκράτει; τἀς δίκας → τὰς δίκας.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Od. 19.179 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.19.2 (Dindorf 1:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-19-2). (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.
5.19.3Dindorf 1:242
ἀλλὰ παραλείπω γε οὐδὲν ταῦτα ὑμῶν, καὶ ὅτι τοὺς φονεῖς ἐάσαντες τοὺς οὐδὲν αἰτίους πέμπειν ἐκελεύετε ἀποθανουμένους, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐπʼ ἄνδρα, ὃν ἀναδεικνύναι ἐμέλλετε κοινὸν ἀνθρώπων δικαστὴν, ὃς οὐδʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἠπίστατο δικάσαι. καίτοι πόσους ὑμεῖς οἱ θεοὶ ἀντὶ τούτων τῶν κορῶν δίκαιοι πέμπειν ἐστὲ Ἀθηναίοις, οὓς ἀδίκως Ἀνδρόγεω ἀπεκτείνατε;”
alla paraleipō ge ouden tauta hymōn, kai hoti tous phoneis easantes tous ouden aitious pempein ekeleuete apothanoumenous, kai toutʼ epʼ andra, hon anadeiknynai emellete koinon anthrōpōn dikastēn, hos oudʼ auto touto ēpistato dikasai. kaitoi posous hymeis hoi theoi anti toutōn tōn korōn dikaioi pempein este Athēnaiois, hous adikōs Androgeō apekteinate?”
But I pass over this of yours too, that letting the murderers go you ordered the guiltless to be sent to die, and that to a man whom you were about to proclaim a common judge of mankind, who did not know how to judge even this. And yet how many of you gods would justly be sent to the Athenians instead of these young people, whom you unjustly killed for Androgeos?"
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus says the gods deserved punishment rather than the innocent children.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accents and letter misread in digitization; breathing misread in digitization; digitization slip): ἠπίατατο → ἠπίστατο; οἶ θεοὶ ἀντὶ → οἱ θεοὶ ἀντὶ; οὖς ἀδίκως Αυδρόγεω → οὓς ἀδίκως Ἀνδρόγεω.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.19.3 (Dindorf 1:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-19-3). (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.
5.19.4Dindorf 1:242
Ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς οὗτος συγγραφεὺς ὁπόσοις ὁ Ἀπόλλων διὰ τῆς τῶν χρησμῶν ἀμφιβολίας θανάτου αἴτιος γέγονε, τὴν ἀμφὶ τοὺς Ἡρακλείδας ἀναλαβὼν ἱστορίαν, εὐθύνει λέγων οὕτως
Ho dʼ autos houtos syngrapheus hoposois ho Apollōn dia tēs tōn chrēsmōn amphibolias thanatou aitios gegone, tēn amphi tous Hērakleidas analabōn historian, euthynei legōn houtōs
This same writer, taking up the story of the Heraclidae, calls Apollo to account for how many deaths he has caused through the ambiguity of his oracles, speaking thus:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Oenomaus on the oracles to the Heraclidae.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization; repeated syllables in digitization): Ἀπόλων → Ἀπόλλων; αἴτιος τιος → αἴτιος.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.19.4 (Dindorf 1:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-19-4). (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 5, chapter 20
5.20.1Dindorf 1:242
" Ἐπεὶ δέ πως ἐπεμνήσθην τοῦδε τοῦ λόγου, φέρε τὰ καθήκοντα διέλθω τοῦ κατὰ τοὺς Ἡρακλείδας διηγήματος. οὗτοι γάρ ποθʼ ὡρμημένοι κατὰ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν εἰσβαλεῖν εἰς Πελοπόννησον ἐσφάλησαν. Ἀριστόμαχος οὖν ὁ Ἀριδαίου, ἐπειδὴ ὁ Ἀριδαῖος ἀποτεθνήκει ἐν τῇ εἰσβολῇ, ἔρχεται ἀκουσόμενος παρὰ σοῦ περὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ· ἐπεθύμει δὲ ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ πατήρ.
" Epei de pōs epemnēsthēn toude tou logou, phere ta kathēkonta dielthō tou kata tous Hērakleidas diēgēmatos. houtoi gar pothʼ hōrmēmenoi kata ton Isthmon eisbalein eis Peloponnēson esphalēsan. Aristomachos oun ho Aridaiou, epeidē ho Aridaios apotethnēkei en tę̄ eisbolę̄, erchetai akousomenos para sou peri tēs hodou; epethymei de hōsper kai ho patēr.
"But since I have somehow come to mention this account, come, let me go through the relevant parts of the story of the Heraclidae. They once set out to invade the Peloponnese by the Isthmus and failed. Aristomachus, son of Aridaeus, since Aridaeus had died in the invasion, comes to hear from you about the way; for he desired it as his father had.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus begins the story of the Heraclidae's attempts to invade the Peloponnese.
- Oenomaus, quoted through 5.20.7.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; letter lost and leaked marginal letter in digitization; missing space in digitization): Ἐπεἰ → Ἐπεὶ; Ἡρακειδας c διηγήματος → Ἡρακλείδας διηγήματος; οὔτοι γάρ → οὗτοι γάρ; κατὰτὸν → κατὰ τὸν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.1 (Dindorf 1:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-1). (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.
5.20.2Dindorf 1:242–243
σὺ δʼ αὐτῷ λέγεις νίκην σοι φαίνουσι θεοὶ διʼ ὁδοῖο στενύγρων, καὶ ὃς κατὰ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ὥρμησεν ἐπιχειρεῖν καὶ μάχῃ τελευτᾷ. τούτου υἱὸς ὁ Τήμενος κακοδαίμων ἧκεν ἐκ κακοδαιμόνων τρίτος· σὺ δʼ αὐτῷ παρεγγυᾷς ἃ καὶ Ἀριστομάχῳ τῷ πατρί· καὶ ὃς, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνός σοι, ἔφη, πεισθεὶς ἀπέθανεν ἐν τῇ εἰσβολῇ.
sy dʼ autǭ legeis nikēn soi phainousi theoi diʼ hodoio stenygrōn, kai hos kata ton Isthmon hōrmēsen epicheirein kai machę̄ teleutą. toutou huios ho Tēmenos kakodaimōn hēken ek kakodaimonōn tritos; sy dʼ autǭ parengyąs ha kai Aristomachǭ tǭ patri; kai hos, alla kakeinos soi, ephē, peistheis apethanen en tę̄ eisbolę̄.
And you say to him: 'The gods show you victory by way of the narrows.' And he set out to attempt it by the Isthmus and died in battle. His son Temenus came, ill-starred third of an ill-starred line; and you charge him with the same as Aristomachus his father. And he said: 'But he too obeyed you and died in the invasion.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's oracle about 'the narrows' led Aristomachus to his death.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.2 (Dindorf 1:242–243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-2). (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.
5.20.3Dindorf 1:243
καὶ σὺ ἔφης, οὐ κατὰ γῆν λέγω στενύγρην, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν εὐρυγάστορα, ἐπειδὴ χαλεπὸν ἦν εἰπεῖν κατὰ τὴν θάλασσαν, κἀκεῖνος ᾔει κατὰ τὴν θάλασσαν, δόξαν ἐμποιήσας ὅτι κατὰ γῆν εἰσίοι, καὶ μέσον στρατοπεδεύεται Ναυάτου καὶ Τυπαίου· καὶ διακοντίζει Κάρνον ἱππότην φυλάνδρου τὸν Αἰτωλὸν, εὖ, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, ποιῶν· καὶ ἐπειδὴ συνεκύρησε νόσος πλησία καὶ ἀπέθανεν Ἀριστόδημος, πάλιν ἐπανεχώρουν, καὶ ὁ Τήμενος ἐλθὼν ἀπεμέμφετο τῇ ἀποτυχίᾳ, καὶ ἤκουσεν ὅτι ποινὴν ἀνεμάξατο τοῦ θείου ἀγγέλου, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐχῆς Ἀπόλλωνι Καρνείῳ ποίημα τὸ διὰ τοῦ χρησμοῦ λέγον ἄγγελον ἡμέτερον κτείνας ἀνεμάξαο ποινήν.
kai sy ephēs, ou kata gēn legō stenygrēn, alla kata tēn eurygastora, epeidē chalepon ēn eipein kata tēn thalassan, kakeinos ę̄ei kata tēn thalassan, doxan empoiēsas hoti kata gēn eisioi, kai meson stratopedeuetai Nauatou kai Typaiou; kai diakontizei Karnon hippotēn phylandrou ton Aitōlon, eu, emoi dokei, poiōn; kai epeidē synekyrēse nosos plēsia kai apethanen Aristodēmos, palin epanechōroun, kai ho Tēmenos elthōn apemempheto tę̄ apotychią, kai ēkousen hoti poinēn anemaxato tou theiou angelou, kai to hyper tēs euchēs Apollōni Karneiǭ poiēma to dia tou chrēsmou legon angelon hēmeteron kteinas anemaxao poinēn.
And you said: 'I do not mean the narrows by land, but the wide-bellied one,' since it was hard to say 'by the sea.' And he went by sea, having given the impression that he would invade by land, and encamps between Naupactus and Typaeum; and he spears Carnus the Aetolian, a horseman, son of Phylander, doing well, it seems to me. And when a sickness befell them close at hand and Aristodemus died, they withdrew again, and Temenus came and complained of the failure, and heard that he had brought on himself a penalty for the divine messenger, and the poem to Apollo Carneius about the prayer, which says in the oracle: 'Having killed our messenger you have brought a penalty on yourself.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo blamed the failure on the killing of the seer Carnus.
- "Naupactus": the printed text has Ναυάτου, apparently a slip for Naupactus.
- "Close at hand" renders the doubtful πλησία.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined; repeated syllable in digitization): Κάρνον νον → Κάρνον; εὑ, ἐμοὶ → εὖ, ἐμοὶ; ἤκου- σεν → ἤκουσεν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.3 (Dindorf 1:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-3). (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.
5.20.4Dindorf 1:243
τί οὖν φησιν ὁ Τήμενος; τί χρὴ ποιεῖν; καὶ πῶς ἂν ἱλασαίμην ὑμᾶς; εὔχεο Καρνείῳ τελέειν σέβας Ἀπόλλωνι. ὢ μιαρώτατε καὶ ἀναισχυντότατε μάντι· εἶτʼ οὐκ ἠπίστασο ὅτι διαμαρτήσεται τῆς στενύγρης ὁ τὴν στενύγρην ἀκούσας; ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπιστάμενος χρᾷς, ἔπειτα περιορᾷς διαμαρτάνοντα.
ti oun phēsin ho Tēmenos? ti chrē poiein? kai pōs an hilasaimēn hymas? eucheo Karneiǭ teleein sebas Apollōni. ō miarōtate kai anaischyntotate manti; eitʼ ouk ēpistaso hoti diamartēsetai tēs stenygrēs ho tēn stenygrēn akousas? allʼ ouden hētton epistamenos chrąs, epeita periorąs diamartanonta.
What then does Temenus say? 'What must I do? And how may I appease you?' 'Pray to perform worship to Apollo Carneius.' O most foul and most shameless seer! Did you not know, then, that he who heard 'the narrows' would miss the narrows? But knowing it none the less, you give oracles, and then look on while he fails.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus accuses Apollo of knowingly misleading Temenus.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.4 (Dindorf 1:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-4). (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.
5.20.5Dindorf 1:243–244
ἀλλʼ ἀμφίβολος ἡ στενύγρη, ὅπως νικήσαντι μὲν αἴτιος εἶναι δοκῆς νίκης, ἡττηθέντι δὲ μηδὲν αἴτιος εἶναι ἥττης, ἔχῃς δὲ ἀποφυγεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν εὐρυγάστορα. ἀλλʼ ἧκεν ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ τὴν εὐρυγάστορα, καὶ οὐκ ἔτυχεν. εὕρηται πάλιν εἰς ἀποφυγὴν Κάρνος ἄγγελος ἀποθανῶν.
allʼ amphibolos hē stenygrē, hopōs nikēsanti men aitios einai dokēs nikēs, hēttēthenti de mēden aitios einai hēttēs, echę̄s de apophygein epi tēn eurygastora. allʼ hēken anthrōpos epi tēn eurygastora, kai ouk etychen. heurētai palin eis apophygēn Karnos angelos apothanōn.
But 'the narrows' is ambiguous, so that if he won you might seem the cause of the victory, and if he were defeated you would be no cause of the defeat, and could escape to 'the wide-bellied.' But the man went to 'the wide-bellied,' and did not succeed. Again, as an escape, Carnus the messenger, killed, has been found.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's ambiguity gave him an escape whatever happened.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): ἀποθα- νῶν → ἀποθανῶν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.5 (Dindorf 1:243–244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-5). (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.
5.20.6Dindorf 1:244
καίτοι πῶς, ὦ κράτιστε, ὁ κηδόμενος οὕτω τοῦ Κάρνου ἄλλοις μὲν αὐτὸν θεοφορεῖσθαι ἐκέλευες, ἑαυτῷ δὲ οὔ; καὶ δέον σώζειν ἕνα ὄντα Κάρνον, αὐτόν τε περιεῖδες καὶ ἐναποθανόντι αὐτῷ Ὁμηρικὴν νόσον ἐνέβαλες εἰς τὸ πλῆθος καὶ εὐχὰς ἐπὶ τῇ νόσῳ ἀφηγοῦ;
kaitoi pōs, ō kratiste, ho kēdomenos houtō tou Karnou allois men auton theophoreisthai ekeleues, heautǭ de ou? kai deon sōzein hena onta Karnon, auton te perieides kai enapothanonti autǭ Homērikēn noson enebales eis to plēthos kai euchas epi tę̄ nosǭ aphēgou?
And yet how was it, most excellent one, that you, caring so much for Carnus, ordered him to be inspired for others but not for himself? And when you ought to have saved Carnus, being only one man, you both neglected him and, when he had died, cast a Homeric plague upon the host, and prescribed prayers about the plague?
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo neither protected Carnus nor spared the army a plague.
- "A Homeric plague": like Apollo's plague on the Greek army in Iliad 1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin letters for ὦ in digitization; breathing and accent misread in digitization): ca κράτιστε → ὦ κράτιστε; ἴνα ὄντα → ἕνα ὄντα.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 1.43–52 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.6 (Dindorf 1:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-6). (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.
5.20.7Dindorf 1:244
εἰ δʼ εὐχόμενος οὐδὲν ἤνυεν, ἄλλο τι ἂν ἐξεύροιτο ἄκος τῷ σῷ σοφίσματι, καὶ οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ἐλήξατε, οἱ μὲν ἐρωτῶντες, σὺ δὲ σοφιζόμενος, ἵνα καὶ νικῶσι καὶ ἡττωμένοις ᾖς ἀφώρατος κακουργῶν. ἱκανὸν γὰρ τὸ πάθος καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία παραβουκολῆσαι, ὡς μηδʼ εἰ χιλιάκις σφαγεῖεν ἀπιστεῖν σοι ποιῆσαι.’
ei dʼ euchomenos ouden ēnyen, allo ti an exeuroito akos tǭ sǭ sophismati, kai oudepotʼ an elēxate, hoi men erōtōntes, sy de sophizomenos, hina kai nikōsi kai hēttōmenois ę̄s aphōratos kakourgōn. hikanon gar to pathos kai hē epithymia paraboukolēsai, hōs mēdʼ ei chiliakis sphageien apistein soi poiēsai.’
And if by praying he achieved nothing, some other remedy would be found by your trickery, and you would never have stopped, they asking and you playing the sophist, so that both for the winners and for the losers you would be undetected in your wrongdoing. For passion and desire are enough to beguile them, so that even if they were slaughtered a thousand times they would not be made to distrust you."
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's tricks are never exposed, because desire blinds his clients.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.7 (Dindorf 1:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-7). (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.
5.20.8Dindorf 1:244
Τούτοις ἄξιον ἐπισυνάψαι τὰ περὶ Κροῖσον. Λυδίας οὗτος ἐβασίλευσεν, ἄνωθεν ἐκ παλαιῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἥκουσαν παραλαβὼν τὴν ἀρχήν· εἶτά τι πλέον τῶν προγόνων κατορθώσειν ἐλπίσας τοὺς θεοὺς εὐσεβεῖν διενοήθη, καὶ διὰ πείρας ἐλθὼν ἁπάντων τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς Ἀπόλλω προκρίνει, κἄπειτα κρατῆρσι καὶ πλίνθοις χρυσαῖς ἀναθημάτων τε μυρίων πλήθει κοσμήσας τὸ ἱερὸν τῶν πανταχοῦ γῆς ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ πλουσιώτατον ἀπέφηνεν, οὐδʼ ὅσα πρὸς θυσίας ἐξήρκει παραλιπὼν τῇ μεγαλοψυχίᾳ.
Toutois axion episynapsai ta peri Kroison. Lydias houtos ebasileusen, anōthen ek palaiōn eis auton hēkousan paralabōn tēn archēn; eita ti pleon tōn progonōn katorthōsein elpisas tous theous eusebein dienoēthē, kai dia peiras elthōn hapantōn ton en Delphois Apollō prokrinei, kapeita kratērsi kai plinthois chrysais anathēmatōn te myriōn plēthei kosmēsas to hieron tōn pantachou gēs en oligǭ chronǭ plousiōtaton apephēnen, oudʼ hosa pros thysias exērkei paralipōn tę̄ megalopsychią.
To these it is worth adding the story of Croesus. He was king of Lydia, having received the kingdom that had come down to him from his ancestors of old. Then, hoping to achieve something more than his forefathers, he resolved to show reverence to the gods, and having tested them all he chose the Apollo at Delphi above the rest; and then, adorning the temple with bowls and golden bricks and a multitude of countless offerings, in a short time he made it the richest of all temples on earth, in his magnanimity not even neglecting what would supply the sacrifices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Croesus enriched Apollo's temple at Delphi.
- Compare Herodotus, Histories 1.46–51.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip): εὐδεβεῖν → εὐσεβεῖν.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 1.46–51 (Herodotus, Histories; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.8 (Dindorf 1:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-8). (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.
5.20.9Dindorf 1:244
ἐπειδὴ οὖν τὰ τοσαῦτα προδεδάνειστο τῷ θεῷ, ταῖς τῆς εὐσεβείας εἰκότως ὁ Λυδὸς ἐπιθαρσῶν μεγαλουργίαις στρατεῦσαι ἐπὶ Πέρσας διανοεῖται, αὐξῆσαι τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς μέγα τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ συμμαχίᾳ προμηθούμενος.
epeidē oun ta tosauta prodedaneisto tǭ theǭ, tais tēs eusebeias eikotōs ho Lydos epitharsōn megalourgiais strateusai epi Persas dianoeitai, auxēsai tēn archēn eis mega tę̄ tou theou symmachią promēthoumenos.
Since, then, he had paid so much to the god in advance, the Lydian, reasonably relying on the great works of his piety, resolves to make war on the Persians, planning to increase his kingdom greatly with the god's alliance.
Notes and citation
Summary: Croesus planned war on Persia, trusting Apollo's help.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated word in digitization): εἰκότως Λυδὸς ὁ Λυδὸς → εἰκότως ὁ Λυδὸς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.9 (Dindorf 1:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-9). (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.
5.20.10Dindorf 1:244–245
τί οὖν ὁ θαυμάσιος χρησμῳδός; αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἐν Δελφοῖς, ὁ Πύθιος, ὁ φίλιος, τὸν ἱκέτην, τὸν εὐσεβῆ, τὸν πρόσφυγα, οὐχ ὅπως τῆς ἀλλοτρίας τυχεῖν ἀρχῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἐκπεσεῖν παρασκευάζει, οὔ τι ἑκὼν, ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ἀγνοίᾳ δὲ μᾶλλον τοῦ ἀποβησομένου· (μὴ γὰρ τὸ μέλλον εἰδὼς ὁ θεὸς, ἐπεὶ μὴ θεὸς ἦν μηδέ τις ἀνθρώπου κρείττων δύναμις, ἐπὶ θάτερα σοφιστικῶς τὸν χρησμὸν ἡρμόσατο·) καὶ μονονουχὶ φήσας Κροῖσος Ἅλυν διαβὰς μεγάλην ἀρχὴν καταλύσει, τὴν ἐκ προγόνων διαδοχῆς εἰς τὸν εὐσεβῆ κατελθοῦσαν τῆς Λυδίας ἀρχὴν, μεγάλην οὖσαν καὶ πολυχρόνιον, καταστρέφει, τῆς ἄγαν περὶ αὐτὸν σπουδῆς τοῦτον ἀποδοὺς τῷ θεοφιλεῖ τὸν καρπόν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁ συγγραφεὺς οἷα οὐκ ἀλόγως διαγανακτεῖ ἄκουε
ti oun ho thaumasios chrēsmǭdos? autos ekeinos ho en Delphois, ho Pythios, ho philios, ton hiketēn, ton eusebē, ton prosphyga, ouch hopōs tēs allotrias tychein archēs, alla kai tēs oikeias ekpesein paraskeuazei, ou ti hekōn, emoige dokei, agnoią de mallon tou apobēsomenou; (mē gar to mellon eidōs ho theos, epei mē theos ēn mēde tis anthrōpou kreittōn dynamis, epi thatera sophistikōs ton chrēsmon hērmosato;) kai mononouchi phēsas Kroisos Halyn diabas megalēn archēn katalysei, tēn ek progonōn diadochēs eis ton eusebē katelthousan tēs Lydias archēn, megalēn ousan kai polychronion, katastrephei, tēs agan peri auton spoudēs touton apodous tǭ theophilei ton karpon. Epi toutois ho syngrapheus hoia ouk alogōs diaganaktei akoue
What then did the wonderful oracle-giver do? That very one at Delphi, the Pythian, the god of friendship, brings it about that his suppliant, the pious man, the refugee, not only does not gain another's kingdom but even falls from his own; not willingly, it seems to me, but rather through ignorance of what would happen. (For the god, not knowing the future, since he was no god nor any power stronger than man, cunningly fitted the oracle to either outcome.) And all but saying, 'Croesus, crossing the Halys, will destroy a great empire,' he overthrows the kingdom of Lydia, which had come down to the pious man by succession from his ancestors, a great and long-lasting one, paying back this fruit to the god-beloved man for his great zeal toward him. On these things hear how the writer, not without reason, expresses his indignation:
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's ambiguous oracle cost Croesus his own kingdom.
- The oracle is in Herodotus, Histories 1.53, and Aristotle, Rhetoric 3.5.4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip; letter lost in digitization): μονονυχὶ → μονονουχὶ; γαῖ πολυχρόνιον → καὶ πολυχρόνιον; διαγαναχτεῖ → διαγανακτεῖ.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 1.53 (Herodotus, Histories; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.20.10 (Dindorf 1:244–245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-20-10). (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.
Preparation 5, chapter 21
5.21.1Dindorf 1:245
“Ἔοικας δὴ ὡς ἀληθῶς τὰ μὲν ὅσα ψάμμου ἄξιά ἐστιν εἰδέναι, καλὸν δὲ μηδὲν εἰδέναι. τὸ γοῦν ὀσμὴν ἐς φρένας σὰς ἐλθεῖν κραταιρίνοιο χελώνης ἑψομένης ψάμμου ἄξιον ἐπίστημά ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀληθὲς μὲν ὂν οὐδʼ αὐτὸ, ἀλλὰ προσεοικός γε ὅμως τῷ ἀλαζόνι καὶ ἀναιδεῖ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς κενοῖς εἰδήμασι τὴν ὀφρὺν ἐπαίροντι, καὶ τὸ Λύδιον ἀνδράποδον τὸν Κροῖσον πείθοντι μὴ καταφρονεῖν αὐτοῦ·
“Eoikas dē hōs alēthōs ta men hosa psammou axia estin eidenai, kalon de mēden eidenai. to goun osmēn es phrenas sas elthein kratairinoio chelōnēs hepsomenēs psammou axion epistēma estin, ouk alēthes men on oudʼ auto, alla proseoikos ge homōs tǭ alazoni kai anaidei kai epi tois kenois eidēmasi tēn ophryn epaironti, kai to Lydion andrapodon ton Kroison peithonti mē kataphronein autou;
"You seem truly to know things worth as much as sand, but to know nothing good. At any rate, that 'the smell came to your mind of a hard-shelled tortoise being boiled' is a piece of knowledge worth as much as sand, not true even itself, but still befitting a braggart, shameless, and one who raises his brows over empty pieces of knowledge, and who persuades the Lydian slave Croesus not to despise him.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus mocks Apollo's tortoise oracle to Croesus as worthless knowledge.
- Oenomaus, quoted through 5.21.5. The tortoise oracle: Herodotus, Histories 1.47.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin letter for final sigma in digitization): χελώνησ → χελώνης.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 1.47 (Herodotus, Histories; quotation); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.21.1 (Dindorf 1:245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-21-1). (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.
5.21.2Dindorf 1:245
ὃς μετʼ ὀλίγον ἐπὶ τῇ πείρᾳ ἤμελλεν ἀνερωτᾶν σε εἰ στρατεύοι ἐπὶ Πέρσας, καὶ σύμβουλον ποιεῖσθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς αὐτοῦ μανίας καὶ πλεονεξίας. ᾧ οὐκ ὤκνησας εἰπεῖν ὅτι Ἅλυν διαβὰς μεγάλην ἀρχὴν καταλύσει.
hos metʼ oligon epi tę̄ peirą ēmellen anerōtan se ei strateuoi epi Persas, kai symboulon poieisthai hyper tēs autou manias kai pleonexias. hǭ ouk ōknēsas eipein hoti Halyn diabas megalēn archēn katalysei.
He was soon, after the test, to ask you whether he should march against the Persians, and to make you counsellor of his madness and greed; and you did not hesitate to tell him that 'crossing the Halys he will destroy a great empire.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo encouraged Croesus's ambition with his oracle.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 1.53 (Herodotus, Histories; quotation); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.21.2 (Dindorf 1:245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-21-2). (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.
5.21.3Dindorf 1:245–246
ἐκεῖνο μέντοι εὖ, ὅτι σοι οὐδὲν ἔμελεν εἴ τι ἄτοπον πείσεται ὑπʼ ἀμφιβόλου χρησμοῦ ἐπαρθεὶς ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίαν ἀρχὴν, οὐδʼ εἰ πικροί τινες ἄνθρωποι καὶ δέον ἐπαινεῖν σε ἐπὶ τῷ τραχηλίσαι μαινόμενον ἄνθρωπον, καὶ προσεγκαλοῖεν ὡς οὐδὲ ἰσόρροπον φωνὴν ἀφέντα, ἵν ὀκνήσειεν καὶ βουλεύσαιτο ὁ Λυδός· ἀλλὰ ‘καταλῦσαιʼ καθʼ ἕνα τρόπον ἔστι νοεῖσθαι πρὸς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, οὐ τὸ τῆς οἰκείας ἀρχῆς ἐκπεσεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν περιποιήσασθαι.
ekeino mentoi eu, hoti soi ouden emelen ei ti atopon peisetai hypʼ amphibolou chrēsmou epartheis epʼ allotrian archēn, oudʼ ei pikroi tines anthrōpoi kai deon epainein se epi tǭ trachēlisai mainomenon anthrōpon, kai prosenkaloien hōs oude isorropon phōnēn aphenta, hin oknēseien kai bouleusaito ho Lydos; alla ‘katalysaiʼ kathʼ hena tropon esti noeisthai pros tōn Hellēnōn, ou to tēs oikeias archēs ekpesein, alla to tēn allotrian peripoiēsasthai.
This, however, was well done, that you did not care whether he would suffer something terrible, lifted up by an ambiguous oracle against another's empire; nor whether certain bitter men, when they ought to praise you for overthrowing a madman, should actually accuse you of not even uttering a balanced word, so that the Lydian might hesitate and take counsel; but 'destroy' was meant in only one way the Greeks could understand: not falling from his own empire, but acquiring another's.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus ironically 'praises' Apollo for misleading Croesus.
- The sentence is heavily ironic; the reading is somewhat uncertain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing and accent misread in digitization): καθʼ ἴνα τρόπον → καθʼ ἕνα τρόπον.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.21.3 (Dindorf 1:245–246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-21-3). (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.
5.21.4Dindorf 1:246
ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἡμίμηδος ἢ ἡμιπέρσης Κῦρος, ἢ ὁ μητρόθεν μὲν ἐκ τυραννικοῦ, πατρόθεν δὲ ἐξ ἰδιωτικοῦ γένους ἡμίονος ὢν ἐν τῷ αἰνίγματι, παρεμφαίνει μὲν τὴν ἔκτυφον μοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἄμαντιν μαντικὴν, εἴπερ οὐκ ᾔδη μὴ οὐ συνήσοντα τοῦ αἰνίγματος ὁ μάντις.
ho men gar hēmimēdos ē hēmipersēs Kyros, ē ho mētrothen men ek tyrannikou, patrothen de ex idiōtikou genous hēmionos ōn en tǭ ainigmati, paremphainei men tēn ektyphon mousan, alla kai tēn amantin mantikēn, eiper ouk ę̄dē mē ou synēsonta tou ainigmatos ho mantis.
For Cyrus, half-Mede or half-Persian, or, being on his mother's side of royal and on his father's side of common stock, the 'mule' in the riddle, shows the puffed-up muse, but also the prophecy that is no prophecy, if the prophet did not know that Croesus would not understand the riddle.
Notes and citation
Summary: The 'mule' oracle about Cyrus shows prophecy that does not prophesy.
- The 'mule' oracle: Herodotus, Histories 1.55, 1.91.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 1.55 (Herodotus, Histories; allusion); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.21.4 (Dindorf 1:246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-21-4). (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.
5.21.5Dindorf 1:246
εἰ δʼ οὐχ ὑπὸ ἀγνοίας, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τρυφῆς καὶ πονηρίας ἔπαιζε, βαβαὶ οἶα τὰ θεῖα παίγνιά ἐστιν. εἰ δʼ οὐδὲ τοῦτο, ἀλλʼ ὅτι ἐχρῆν οὕτω γενέσθαι, ἀνιερώτατος μὲν οὗτος λόγων σοφιστικῶν· τί δʼ ὅμως, εἰ οὕτως ἐχρῆν γενέσθαι, σὺ ὁ δύστηνος ἐν Δελφοῖς καθέζῃ τὰ κενὰ καὶ μάταια ᾄδων; τί δὲ σοῦ ὄφελος ἡμῖν; τί δὲ μαινόμεθα οἱ πανταχόθεν τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ σὲ διώκοντες; τί δὲ σὺ κνισιᾶς;’’
ei dʼ ouch hypo agnoias, allʼ hypo tryphēs kai ponērias epaize, babai oia ta theia paignia estin. ei dʼ oude touto, allʼ hoti echrēn houtō genesthai, anierōtatos men houtos logōn sophistikōn; ti dʼ homōs, ei houtōs echrēn genesthai, sy ho dystēnos en Delphois kathezę̄ ta kena kai mataia ądōn? ti de sou ophelos hēmin? ti de mainometha hoi pantachothen tēs gēs epi se diōkontes? ti de sy knisias?’’
But if it was not from ignorance, but from wantonness and wickedness that he was playing, alas, what games the gods play! And if not even this, but because it had to happen so, this is the most unholy of sophistical arguments. Yet, if it had to happen so, why do you, wretch, sit at Delphi singing empty and vain songs? What use are you to us? Why are we mad, we who press to you from every part of the earth? And why do you savor the smoke of sacrifice?"
Notes and citation
Summary: If all is fated, the oracle is useless.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): οἶ πανταχόθεν → οἱ πανταχόθεν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.21.5 (Dindorf 1:246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-21-5). (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.
5.21.6Dindorf 1:246
Τοιαῦτα τῆς Οἰνομάου παρρησίας τὰ τῆς τῶν γοήτων φωρᾶς, κυνικῆς οὐκ ἀπηλλαγμένα πικρίας. οὐδὲ γὰρ δαίμονος, μὴ ὅτι θεοῦ, τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς Πανέλλησι θαυμαζομένους χρησμοὺς εἶναι βούλεται, γοήτων δʼ ἀνδρῶν πλάνας καὶ σοφίσματα ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ τῶν πολλῶν ἐσκευωρημένα· ὧν ἐπείπερ ἅπαξ ἐμνήσθημεν, οὐδὲν ἂν γένοιτο ἐμποδὼν τοῦ καὶ ἑτέρων ἐλέγχων ἐπακοῦσαι, καὶ πρώτου γε διʼ οὗ φησιν ὁ αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Κλαρίου Ἀπόλλωνος ἠπατῆσθαι, γράφων ὧδε
Toiauta tēs Oinomaou parrēsias ta tēs tōn goētōn phōras, kynikēs ouk apēllagmena pikrias. oude gar daimonos, mē hoti theou, tous para tois Panellēsi thaumazomenous chrēsmous einai bouletai, goētōn dʼ andrōn planas kai sophismata epi apatę̄ tōn pollōn eskeuōrēmena; hōn epeiper hapax emnēsthēmen, ouden an genoito empodōn tou kai heterōn elenchōn epakousai, kai prōtou ge diʼ hou phēsin ho autos heauton hypo tou Klariou Apollōnos ēpatēsthai, graphōn hōde
Such is the outspokenness of Oenomaus in his Detection of Impostors, not free from Cynic bitterness. For he will not have the oracles admired among all the Greeks to be from a demon, let alone a god, but deceits and tricks of impostors contrived to delude the many. Since we have once mentioned them, nothing would prevent our hearing other refutations too, and first the one in which the same writer says that he himself was deceived by the Clarian Apollo, writing thus:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius names Oenomaus and introduces his own deception by the Clarian oracle.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.21.6 (Dindorf 1:246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-21-6). (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 5, chapter 22
5.22.1Dindorf 1:246–247
“ Ἀλλὰ δὴ ἔδει τι καὶ ἡμᾶς τῆς κωμῳδίας μετασχεῖν καὶ μὴ σεμνύνεσθαι ὡς οὐκ ἐμπεσόντας εἰς τὴν κοινήν παραπληξίαν, καὶ τὴν ἐμπορίαν εἰπεῖν, ἣν καὶ αὐτοὶ περὶ σοφίας ἐνεπορευσάμεθα ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας, ὦ Κλάριε, παρὰ σοῦ· ἔστιν ἐν Τρηχῖνος αἴῃ κῆπος Ἡρακλήιος πάντʼ ἔχων θάλλοντα, πᾶσι δρεπόμενος πανημαδὸν, οὐδʼ ὀλιζοῦται, βέβριθε δʼ ὑδάτεσιν διηνεκές.
“ Alla dē edei ti kai hēmas tēs kōmǭdias metaschein kai mē semnynesthai hōs ouk empesontas eis tēn koinēn paraplēxian, kai tēn emporian eipein, hēn kai autoi peri sophias eneporeusametha ek tēs Asias, ō Klarie, para sou; estin en Trēchinos aię̄ kēpos Hēraklēios pantʼ echōn thallonta, pasi drepomenos panēmadon, oudʼ olizoutai, bebrithe dʼ hydatesin diēnekes.
"But I too had to share in the comedy and not put on airs as if I had not fallen into the common madness, and to tell of the trade which I myself made about wisdom, coming from Asia, O Clarian, from you: 'There is in the land of Trachis a garden of Heracles, with all things blooming, plucked by all every day, nor is it lessened, but it is laden with waters continually.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus recounts the oracle he received from Clarian Apollo.
- Oenomaus, quoted through 5.22.6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; space inserted in digitization): εἰ πεῖν → εἰπεῖν; ὠ Κλάριε → ὦ Κλάριε.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.1 (Dindorf 1:246–247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-1). (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.
5.22.2Dindorf 1:247
εἶτʼ ἐγὼ ἀκούσας ὁ βάκηλος καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἐφυσήθην, καὶ τοῦ Ἡρακληίου κήπου θάλλοντος Ἡσιόδειόν τινα ὀνειροπολῶν ἱδρῶτα διὰ τὴν Τρηχῖνα, καὶ ῥηιδίην αὖθις ζωὴν διὰ τὸν θάλλοντα κῆπον.
eitʼ egō akousas ho bakēlos kai autos hypo tou Hērakleous ephysēthēn, kai tou Hēraklēiou kēpou thallontos Hēsiodeion tina oneiropolōn hidrōta dia tēn Trēchina, kai rhēidiēn authis zōēn dia ton thallonta kēpon.
Then I, the fool, hearing it, was myself puffed up by Heracles, and, because of the blooming garden of Heracles, dreaming of a sort of Hesiodic sweat because of Trachis, and again of an easy life because of the blooming garden.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus took the oracle as promising toil and then an easy life.
- Allusion to Hesiod, Works and Days 289–292 (the sweat set before virtue, and the easy road after).
Extrabiblical texts: Hesiod, Op. 289–292 (Hesiod, Works and Days; allusion); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.2 (Dindorf 1:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-2). (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.
5.22.3Dindorf 1:247
εἶτά μοι ἐπερομένῳ εἴ μοι συναίρονται οἱ θεοὶ εἷς τις ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν λέγει, ἐπομνύμενος αὐτοὺς τοὺς συναιρομένους θεοὺς, ἦ μὴν παρὰ σοῦ ἀκηκοέναι αὐτὸ τοῦτο Καλλιστράτῳ δεδομένον Ποντικῷ τινὶ ἐμπόρῳ.
eita moi eperomenǭ ei moi synairontai hoi theoi heis tis ek tōn pollōn legei, epomnymenos autous tous synairomenous theous, ē mēn para sou akēkoenai auto touto Kallistratǭ dedomenon Pontikǭ tini emporǭ.
Then, when I asked whether the gods were helping me, one of the many tells me, swearing by the very gods who help, that he had certainly heard from you this same oracle given to Callistratus, a merchant of Pontus.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus learned that the same oracle had been given to a merchant.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing misread and stray digit in digitization): οἶ θεοὶ 5 εἶς → οἱ θεοὶ εἷς; ή μὴν → ἦ μὴν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.3 (Dindorf 1:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-3). (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.
5.22.4Dindorf 1:247
ἐγὼ οὖν ὡς ἤκουσα, πῶς οἴει ἠγανάκτησα, ὡς δὴ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἀποστερούμενος; ἀλλὰ καίπερ ὅμως δυσφορῶν ἀνεσκοπούμην τὸν ἔμπορον, εἰ τι κἀκεῖνος ἐθάλφθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους· ἐφαίνετο δὴ οὖν κἀκεῖνος πόνον τινὰ πονεῖν, καὶ κέρδους ἐφίεσθαι, καὶ βίον τινὰ ἡδὺν ἐκ τοῦ κέρδους προσδοκᾶν.
egō oun hōs ēkousa, pōs oiei ēganaktēsa, hōs dē tēs aretēs hypʼ autou aposteroumenos? alla kaiper homōs dysphorōn aneskopoumēn ton emporon, ei ti kakeinos ethalphthē hypo tou Hērakleous; ephaineto dē oun kakeinos ponon tina ponein, kai kerdous ephiesthai, kai bion tina hēdyn ek tou kerdous prosdokan.
So when I heard it, how indignant do you think I was, as if robbed of my virtue by him? But though vexed I considered the merchant, whether he too had been warmed by Heracles; and he too appeared to toil at some toil, and to aim at profit, and to expect a pleasant life from the profit.
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracle fitted the merchant as well as the philosopher.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization): Ηρακλέους → Ἡρακλέους.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.4 (Dindorf 1:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-4). (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.
5.22.5Dindorf 1:247
ὡς δʼ ἐφαίνετο ὁ ἔμπορος ἐξισούμενος, οὐκέτι τὸν χρησμὸν ἐδεχόμην, οὐδὲ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, ἀλλʼ ἀπηξίουν τῶν αὐτῶν κοινωνεῖν, εἴς τε τοὺς παρόντας πόνους αὐτῶν ἀποβλέπων καὶ τὰς ἐν ἐλπίδι φάτνας.
hōs dʼ ephaineto ho emporos exisoumenos, ouketi ton chrēsmon edechomēn, oude ton Hēraklea, allʼ apēxioun tōn autōn koinōnein, eis te tous parontas ponous autōn apoblepōn kai tas en elpidi phatnas.
And when the merchant appeared to be put on an equal footing, I no longer accepted the oracle, nor Heracles, but disdained to share the same things with them, looking at their present toils and the mangers they hoped for.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus rejected the oracle once he saw it applied to anyone.
- "Mangers": the comforts they hoped to feed on.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.5 (Dindorf 1:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-5). (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.
5.22.6Dindorf 1:247
ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ λῃστὴς ἄμοιρος ἐφαίνετο τοῦ χρησμοῦ, οὐδʼ ὁ στρατιώτης, οὐδʼ ἐρῶν ἀνὴρ, οὐδʼ ἐρῶσα γυνὴ, οὐδὲ κόλαξ, οὐδὲ ῥήτωρ, οὐδὲ συκοφάντης. ἑκάστῳ γὰρ ὡς ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡγεῖσθαι μὲν τὸν πόνον, προσδοκᾶσθαι δὲ τὴν εὐφροσύνην.”
allʼ oudʼ ho lę̄stēs amoiros ephaineto tou chrēsmou, oudʼ ho stratiōtēs, oudʼ erōn anēr, oudʼ erōsa gynē, oude kolax, oude rhētōr, oude sykophantēs. hekastǭ gar hōs epithymei hēgeisthai men ton ponon, prosdokasthai de tēn euphrosynēn.”
But neither the robber appeared without a share in the oracle, nor the soldier, nor a man in love, nor a woman in love, nor the flatterer, nor the orator, nor the informer. For to each, as he desires, the toil leads the way and the good cheer is expected."
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracle suits every kind of person.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip): εὐφροσήνην → εὐφροσύνην.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.6 (Dindorf 1:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-6). (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.
5.22.7Dindorf 1:247
Ταῦτα ἐκθέμενος εὐθὺς ἐπισυνάπτει ὡς καὶ δεύτερον ἐρωτήσας καὶ τρίτον οὐδὲν εἰδότας ἔγνω τοὺς θαυμασίους, μόνῳ δὲ τῷ τῆς ἀσαφείας σκότῳ τὴν σφῶν ἄγνοιαν ἐπικρύπτοντας. λέγει δʼ οὖν
Tauta ekthemenos euthys episynaptei hōs kai deuteron erōtēsas kai triton ouden eidotas egnō tous thaumasious, monǭ de tǭ tēs asapheias skotǭ tēn sphōn agnoian epikryptontas. legei dʼ oun
Having set out these things he at once adds that, asking a second and a third time, he found the wonderful gods knowing nothing, but hiding their ignorance only in the darkness of obscurity. He says, then:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Oenomaus's further consultations.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin capital for φ in digitization): σΦῶν → σφῶν.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.22.7 (Dindorf 1:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-22-7). (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.
Preparation 5, chapter 23
5.23.1Dindorf 1:247–248
“ Ἐπεὶ δέ μοι τὰ τῆς ἐμπορίας ἤδη πρὸ ὁδοῦ ἦν, ἀνδρὸς δὲ ἔδει τοῦ ξεναγωγήσοντος ἐπὶ τὴν σοφίαν, ἄπορος δὲ ἐφαίνετο οὗτος, σὲ ἐδεόμην καὶ τούτου γενέσθαι ἐνδείκτην ἔν τε τοῖσιν εὐπελέεσσιν ἠδʼ Ἀχαιοῖσιν χρέος θήσεται, τὸ δʼ ἐκτεκμαρθὲν οὐδὲ μικρὸν ἕξεται.
“ Epei de moi ta tēs emporias ēdē pro hodou ēn, andros de edei tou xenagōgēsontos epi tēn sophian, aporos de ephaineto houtos, se edeomēn kai toutou genesthai endeiktēn en te toisin eupeleessin ēdʼ Achaioisin chreos thēsetai, to dʼ ektekmarthen oude mikron hexetai.
"When my business was already well forward, and a man was needed to guide me to wisdom, and none seemed to be found, I asked you to point him out too: 'Among the well-hulled ships and the Achaeans he will make need; and what is tracked out will hold not even a little.'
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus asked for a teacher and received an unintelligible verse.
- Oenomaus, quoted through 5.23.3. The oracle's verse is obscure, and the Greek may be corrupt; it is rendered word for word.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.1 (Dindorf 1:247–248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-1). (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.
5.23.2Dindorf 1:248
τί φῄς; εἰ δʼ ἀγαλματοποιός τις ἢ ζωγράφος ἐπεθύμουν γενέσθαι καὶ διδασκάλους ἐζήτουν, ἆρά μοι ἤρκει ἀκοῦσαι ἔν τε τοῖσιν εὐπελἐεσσινʼ, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν μαίνεσθαι εἶπον τὸν λέγοντα;
ti phę̄s? ei dʼ agalmatopoios tis ē zōgraphos epethymoun genesthai kai didaskalous ezētoun, ara moi ērkei akousai en te toisin eupeleessinʼ, allʼ ouk an mainesthai eipon ton legonta?
What do you say? If I had wished to become a sculptor or a painter and were looking for teachers, would it have been enough for me to hear 'among the well-hulled'? Would I not have said that the speaker was mad?
Notes and citation
Summary: Such an answer would be useless for any craft.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent and letter misread in digitization): τόυ λέγοντα → τὸν λέγοντα.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.2 (Dindorf 1:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-2). (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.
5.23.3Dindorf 1:248
ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἴσως οὐχ ἱκανὸς εἶ διανοῆσαι, ἀσάφειαν γὰρ ἔχει πολλὴν τὰ ἀνθρώπεια ἤθη· ὅπου δέ μοι ἐκ Κολοφῶνος ἄμεινον πορεύεσθαι, οὐκέθʼ οὕτως ἀφανὲς τῷ θεῷ, ἐκ τανυστρόφοιο λᾶας σφενδόνης ἱεὶς ἀνὴρ χῆνας ἐναρίζειν βολαῖσιν ἀσπέτους ποιηβόρους. τοὺς δὲ ἀσπέτους ποιηβόρους χῆνας τίς μοι μηνύσει ὅ τί ποτε λέγουσι; τίς δὲ τὴν τανύστροφον σφενδόνην; ὁ Ἀμφίλοχος, ἢ ὁ Δωδωναῖος, ἢ σὺ ἐν Δελφοῖς εἰ γενοίμην, οὐκ ἀπάγξῃ που ἀπελθὼν τῇ τανυστρόφῳ σφενδόνῃ μετὰ τοῦ ἀδιανοήτου ποιήματος;”
alla touto men isōs ouch hikanos ei dianoēsai, asapheian gar echei pollēn ta anthrōpeia ēthē; hopou de moi ek Kolophōnos ameinon poreuesthai, oukethʼ houtōs aphanes tǭ theǭ, ek tanystrophoio laas sphendonēs hieis anēr chēnas enarizein bolaisin aspetous poiēborous. tous de aspetous poiēborous chēnas tis moi mēnysei ho ti pote legousi? tis de tēn tanystrophon sphendonēn? ho Amphilochos, ē ho Dōdōnaios, ē sy en Delphois ei genoimēn, ouk apanxę̄ pou apelthōn tę̄ tanystrophǭ sphendonę̄ meta tou adianoētou poiēmatos?”
But perhaps you are not able to understand this, for human characters have much obscurity. But where it was better for me to travel from Colophon was no longer so hidden from the god: 'A man hurling stones from a far-whirling sling, slaying with his shots countless grass-eating geese.' Who will tell me what the countless grass-eating geese mean? And who the far-whirling sling? Amphilochus, or the god of Dodona? Or you, if I came to Delphi, will you not go off and hang yourself with the far-whirling sling along with your unintelligible poem?"
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus ridicules Apollo's riddling answer about his route.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): τοὐς δὲ → τοὺς δὲ.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.3 (Dindorf 1:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-3). (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.
5.23.4Dindorf 1:248
Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τούτων ὧδε ἐληλεγμένων ὥρα συνιδεῖν αὖθις ἄνωθεν ὅπως τοὺς παλαιτάτους χρησμοὺς τοὺς ἐν Δελφοῖς ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπελέγχει, τοὺς δὴ μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς ἱστορίαις θαυμαζομένους.
Alla gar toutōn hōde elēlegmenōn hōra synidein authis anōthen hopōs tous palaitatous chrēsmous tous en Delphois ho autos apelenchei, tous dē malista en tais Hellēnikais historiais thaumazomenous.
But now that these have been refuted in this way, it is time to see again from the beginning how the same writer refutes the most ancient oracles at Delphi, those most admired in the Greek histories.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius turns to Oenomaus on the famous Delphic oracles.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.4 (Dindorf 1:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-4). (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.
5.23.5Dindorf 1:248
‘Πολὺς ἦν ὁ Περσῶν στρατὸς ὡπλισμένος κατὰ Ἀθηναίων, οὐδʼ ἦν τις αὐτοῖς ἄλλη σωτηρίας ἐλπὶς ἢ μόνος ὁ θεός· οἳ δὴ τοῦτον ὅστις ἦν οὐκ εἰδότες τὸν πάτριον ἀρωγὸν ἐπεκαλοῦντο· ὁ ἐν Δελφοῖς Ἀπόλλων οὗτος ἦν.
‘Polys ēn ho Persōn stratos hōplismenos kata Athēnaiōn, oudʼ ēn tis autois allē sōtērias elpis ē monos ho theos; hoi dē touton hostis ēn ouk eidotes ton patrion arōgon epekalounto; ho en Delphois Apollōn houtos ēn.
"Great was the army of the Persians armed against the Athenians, and they had no other hope of safety than the god alone; and not knowing who he was, they called on their ancestral helper; this was Apollo at Delphi.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Athenians turned to Apollo against the Persians.
- Oenomaus, quoted through 5.23.7. Compare Herodotus, Histories 7.140–143.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): Δελφῖς → Δελφοῖς.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.5 (Dindorf 1:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-5). (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.
5.23.6Dindorf 1:248
τί οὖν ὁ θαυμαστὸς οὗτος; ἀρά γε τῶν οἰκείων ὑπερεμάχει; ἆρα λοιβῆς καὶ κνίσης ἐμέμνητο καὶ ὧν αὐτῷ συνήθως ἐτέλουν τὰς ἑκατόμβας ἐπιθύοντες; οὐμενοῦν. ἀλλὰ τί φησιν; φεύγειν, καὶ φεύγειν ξύλινον τεῖχος παρασκευασαμένους, οὕτω τὸ ναυτικὸν δηλῶν, διʼ οὗ μόνου φησὶν αὐτοὺς σωθήσεσθαι τῆς πόλεως ἐμπρησθείσης.
ti oun ho thaumastos houtos? ara ge tōn oikeiōn hyperemachei? ara loibēs kai knisēs ememnēto kai hōn autǭ synēthōs eteloun tas hekatombas epithyontes? oumenoun. alla ti phēsin? pheugein, kai pheugein xylinon teichos paraskeuasamenous, houtō to nautikon dēlōn, diʼ hou monou phēsin autous sōthēsesthai tēs poleōs emprēstheisēs.
What then did this wonderful god do? Did he fight for his own? Did he remember the libation and savor and the hecatombs they habitually offered him? Not at all. But what does he say? To flee, and to flee having prepared a wooden wall, thus meaning the fleet, through which alone, he says, they will be saved when the city has been burned.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo told the Athenians only to flee to the wooden wall.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread and doubled mark in digitization): οὑτος;; → οὗτος;.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 7.141 (Herodotus, Histories; allusion); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.6 (Dindorf 1:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-6). (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.
5.23.7Dindorf 1:248–249
ὢ μεγάλης θεοῦ βοηθείας. εἶτα πολιορκίαν οὐ μόνον τῶν ἄλλων κατὰ τὴν πόλιν οἰκοδομημάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν τοῖς θεοῖς ἀφιερωμένων προλέγειν δῆθεν προσποιεῖται. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ δίχα χρησμοῦ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐκ τῆς τῶν πολεμίων ἐφόδου προσδοκᾶν ἦν.” Εἰκότα δῆτα ποιῶν ὁ συγγραφεὺς διαπαίζει πάλιν τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν ἀπάτην ἐξελέγχων ἐν τούτοις
ō megalēs theou boētheias. eita poliorkian ou monon tōn allōn kata tēn polin oikodomēmatōn, alla kai autōn tōn tois theois aphierōmenōn prolegein dēthen prospoieitai. touto de kai dicha chrēsmou tois pasin ek tēs tōn polemiōn ephodou prosdokan ēn.” Eikota dēta poiōn ho syngrapheus diapaizei palin tēn Hellēnikēn apatēn exelenchōn en toutois
O great help of a god! Then he pretends, forsooth, to foretell the besieging not only of the other buildings in the city but even of those dedicated to the gods. But this, even without an oracle, all could expect from the enemy's advance." Reasonably indeed the writer mocks again, refuting the Greek deception in these words:
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracle foretold only what anyone could expect.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): ἠν.” → ἦν.”.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.23.7 (Dindorf 1:248–249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-14-1/#p-5-23-7). (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.