Refutation of All Heresies 4.14.13

Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.

Summary: Rules for deciding which name "wins" a contest, illustrated by Sarpedon and Patroclus.

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Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 76–78

Ὁμοίως Σαρπηδὼν ψηφισθεὶς ποιεῖ μονάδας κατὰ τὸν ἐννεαδικὸν δύο πυθμένα, Πάτροκλος δὲ ποιεῖ μονάδας (??)· νικᾷ Πάτροκλος. Ὅταν γὰρ ᾖ ὁ μὲν εἷς περισσός, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ἄρτιος, ὁ περισσὸς νικᾷ, ἐὰν μείζων ᾖ. Πάλιν δὲ ἐὰν ᾖ ὀκτὼ ἄρτιος καὶ πέντε περισσός, ὁ ὀκτὼ νικᾷ, μείζων γάρ ἐστιν. Εἰ δὲ εἰσὶν ἀριθμοὶ δύο οἷον ἀμφότεροι ἄρτιοι ἢ ἀμφότεροι περισσοί, ὁ ἐλάσσων νικᾷ. Πῶς δὲ ὁ Σαρπηδὼν κατὰ τὸν ἐννεαδικὸν ποιεῖ μονάδας δύο;

English · Claude translation

Likewise Sarpedon, when reckoned, makes two units as root by the rule of nine, and Patroclus makes … units: Patroclus wins. For when one is odd and the other even, the odd wins if it is greater. Again, if eight is even and five odd, the eight wins, for it is greater. But if there are two numbers both even or both odd, the smaller wins. But how does Sarpedon make two units by the rule of nine?

About this passage

Source
Duncker–Schneidewin, 76–78 · Ludwig Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, eds., S. Hippolyti episcopi et martyris Refutationis omnium haeresium librorum decem quae supersunt (Göttingen: Dieterich, 1859); section divisions from Paul Wendland, ed., Hippolytus Werke 3: Refutatio omnium haeresium, GCS 26 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1916) · Greek text: L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, Refutationis omnium haeresium (Göttingen, 1859), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library; section divisions from P. Wendland (GCS 26, 1916), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin); both CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Duncker–Schneidewin. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Its chapter numbers differ from the standard (Wendland) numbering used here.

Notes

Translation notes

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Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 4.14.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/4/14/13/).

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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 4.14.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/4/14/13/).

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