Sophia Scriptura

Octavius 19.2

Minucius Felix · Octavius · ca. 197–250 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: Virgil speaks of a single divine spirit and mind pervading the world.

Latin text · CSEL 2:25

nonne apertius, proximius, uerius principio ait caelum ac terras et cetera mundi membra spiritus intus alit et infusa mens agitat, inde hominum pecudumque genus et quicquid aliud animalium? idem alio loco mentem istam et spiritum deum nominat. haec enim uerba sunt: deum namque ire per omnes terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum, unde homines et pecudes, unde imber et ignes.

English · Claude translation

Does he not say, more openly, more nearly, and more truly: 'In the beginning a spirit within nourishes the heaven and the lands' and the other members of the world, 'and a mind infused moves' it; 'thence the race of men and beasts' and whatever other living creatures there are? In another place he names this mind and spirit God. For these are his words: 'For God goes through all the lands and the tracts of the sea and the deep heaven, whence men and beasts, whence rain and fire.'

About this passage

Source
CSEL 2:25 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in CSEL 2. 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 Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.
Extrabiblical texts
  • Virgil, Aen. 6.724–728 (Virgil) · quotation, high confidence
  • Virgil, Georg. 4.221–222 (Virgil) · quotation, medium confidence
  • Virgil, Aen. 1.743 (Virgil) · quotation, medium confidence

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations paraphrase Virgil, Aen. 6.724–728, and combine Georg. 4.221–222 with Aen. 1.743.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 19.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/19/2/).

Plain text
Minucius Felix, Oct. 19.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/19/2/).

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