# Discourse to the Greeks - Author: Anonymous - Latin title: *Oratio ad Graecos* - Date: 2nd–3rd century (disputed) (disputed) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 6 (Paris: Migne, 1857), cols. 229–240 - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: Miroslav Marcovich, ed., Pseudo-Iustinus: Cohortatio ad Graecos; De monarchia; Oratio ad Graecos, PTS 32 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1990) - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/ - Passages: 5 ## Discourse to the Greeks 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-1 - Source: PG 6:229a–232a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The author left Greek ways because Homer's heroes are slaves of lust, deceit, and madness. ### Greek text Μὴ ὑπολάβητε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ἄλογον ἢ ἀνεπίκριτον εἶναί μου τὸν ἐκ τῶν ὑμετέρων ἐθῶν χωρισμόν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν αὐτοῖς εὖρον ὅσιον ἦ θεοφιλές, Αὖτὰ γὰρ τὰ τῶν ποιητῶν ὑμῶν συνθέματα, μανίας καὶ ἀκρασίας ἐστὶ μνημεῖα. Τῷ γὰρ ἓν παιδείᾳ παρʼ ὑμῖν προῦχοντι φοιτῶν τις, πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν ἀργαλεώτατος. Πρῶτα μὲν γὰρ φασι τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα τοῦ ἆδελφοῦ ἀκρασίᾳ ἐπιτεταμένῃ, λύσσῃ, καὶ ἀκατασχέτῳ ἐπιθυμίᾳ συνεργοῦντα, καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα πρὸς θυσίαν ἐκδόντα, καὶ πᾶσαν ταράξαι τὴν Ἐλλάδα, ’ἱνα ῥύσηται τὴν Ἑλένην, ἀπὸ λέπρου ποιμένος ἡρπασμένην, Ὁπότε δὲ καὶ τοῦ πολέμου κατασχόντος αἰχμαλώτους ἤγαγον, αὐτὸς Ἀγαμέμνων ὑπὸ Χρυσηίδος … Βρισηίδος ἕνεκεν ἔχθραν ἤρατο. Αὒτὸς δὲ Πηληϊάδης, χειρωσάμενος, Πολυξένης ὁ ἥρως ὑμῶν δοῦλος ἦν, ὑπὸ Ἀμαζόνος νεκρᾶς νενίκητο· τὰ θεότευκτα ὅπλα ἀποδυσάμενος, νυμφικὴν στολὴν ἐνδυσάμενος, φίλτρων θῦμα ἐγίνετο ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος νηῷ. Ὀ γὰρ Ἰθακὴσιος Λαερτιάδης ὲκ κακίας ἀρετὴν ἐνεπορεύσατο. Ὅτι δὲ ἀγαθῆς φρονήσεως ἄμοιρος ἦν, ὁ κατὰ [τὰς] Σειρῆνας διάπλους ἐδήλωσεν, ὃτι μὴ ἠδυνήθη φρονῆσαι ἐμφράξαι τὴν ἀκοὴν. ’0 Τελαμώνιος Αἴας, ὃ τὸ ἑπταβόειον φέρων σάκος, διὰ τὴν πρὸς Ὀδυσσέα περὶ τῶν ὅπλων κρίσιν ἡττηθεὶς ὑπὸ μανίας ἡλίσκετο, Ταῦτα παιδεύεσθαι οὐ θέλω. Ου γὰρ τοιαύτης ἀρετῆς ἐπιδικάζομαι, ἵνα τοῖς Ὀμήρου μύθοις πείθωμαι. ’Ἔστι γὰρ ἠ πᾶσα ῥαψῳδία, Ἰλιάδος τε καὶ Ὀδυσσείας ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος, γυνή- ### English translation (Claude) Do not suppose, men of Greece, that my separation from your customs is unreasoning or undiscerning. For I found nothing in them holy or pleasing to God. For the very compositions of your poets are memorials of madness and incontinence. Whoever goes to school with the one most eminent in education among you is the most troubled of all men. For first they say that Agamemnon, aiding his brother's licentiousness, madness, and unrestrained desire, gave even his daughter readily to be sacrificed, and threw all Greece into turmoil to rescue Helen, carried off by a leprous shepherd. And when, in the course of the war, they had brought back captives, Agamemnon himself (was overcome) by Chryseis, … and took up enmity for Briseis's sake. And the son of Peleus himself, having subdued …, your hero, was the slave of Polyxena and was conquered by a dead Amazon; putting off the god-made armour and putting on a bridal robe, he became a sacrifice of love-charms in the temple of Apollo. And the Ithacan son of Laertes made a trade of virtue out of vice. That he was without good sense his voyage past the Sirens showed, because he could not use his sense to stop his ears. Ajax son of Telamon, who carried the shield of seven ox-hides, was seized by madness when defeated in the judgment against Odysseus over the armour. In these things I do not wish to be educated. For I do not aspire to such virtue as to believe the myths of Homer. For the whole rhapsody, the beginning and the end of the Iliad and the Odyssey, is a woman. ### Translation notes - The scan is damaged in the sentences on Agamemnon and Achilles; lost words are shown as "…" (the sense: Agamemnon was overcome by Chryseis and quarrelled with Thetis's son over Briseis; Achilles, who had crossed the river, overthrown Troy and subdued Hector). The leprous shepherd is Paris. ### Citation (SBL) Ps.-Justin, Or. Graec. 1 (PG 6:229a–232a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-1). ## Discourse to the Greeks 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-2 - Source: PG 6:232a–233d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Hesiod's gods commit parricide, rape, adultery, and pederasty, and their roles are absurdly confused. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ Ἡσίοδος μεθʼ ’Όμηρον ’Ἔργα τε καὶ Ἡμέρας συνέγραψε, τις αὔτοῦ τῇ ληρώδει θεογονίᾳ συμβήσεται; Φασὶ [γὰρ] Κρόνον τὸν Οὐρανοῦ παῖδα, τῆς ἀρχῆς καθελεῖν τὸν πατέρα, καὶ τῶν σκήπτρων λαβέσθαι· καὶ διευλαβηθέντα τὸ ὅμοιον παθεῖν, τεκνοφαγεῖν ἑλέσθαι· τῇ δὲ τῶν Κουρήτων ἐπινοίᾳ τὸν Δία κλαπέντα καὶ λαθόντα, δεσμοῖς καθεῖρξαι τὸν πατέρα, καὶ διανείμασθαι, ὡς λόγος, Πλουτέα τὴν καθʼ ᾅδου μοῖραν λαχεῖν, Ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν Πλουτεύς τὴν Κόρην ἥρπασε καὶ ἡ Δήμητρα ἀλωμένη κατὰ τὰς ἐρήμους, τὸ τέκνον ἐζήτει, Καὶ τοῦτον τὸν μῦθον εἰς ὕψος ἤγαγε τὸ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι πῦρ. Πάλιν ὁ Ποσειδῶν Μελανίππην μὲν ᾔσχυνεν ὑδρευομένην, ὄχλῳ δὲ Νηρηίδων οὐκ ὀλίγων (Η) κατεχρήσατο · ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ἐὰν διηγώμεθα, πολὺ πλῆθος λόγων κατατρίψομεν, ’0 μὶν οὖν Ζεὺς,, μοιχὸς πολλαχῆ, ἐπʼ Ἀντιόπῃ μὲν ὡς σάτυρος, καὶ Δανάῃ χρυσὸς, καὶ ἔπʼ Εὐρώπῃ ταῦρος ἦν · ἐπτεροῡτο δὲ παρὰ Λήδᾳ, ’0 γὰρ Σεμέλης ἔρως, καὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀκρασίαν ἤλεγξε, καὶ τῆς Σεμέλης τὸν ζῆλον. Τὸν γὰρ Φρύγα Γανυμήδην, φασὶν, εἰς τὸ οἰνοχοεῖν ἀνήρπασε, Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οἱ Κρονίδαι ἐποίησαν, Ὀ γᾶρ μεγαλώνυμος ὑμὼν ὸ Λητοΐδης, ὁ μαντικὴν ἐπαγγειλάμενος, ἑαυτὸν ἤλεγξεν ὅτι ψεύδεται, Δάφνην ἐδίωκεν, ἣν οὗ κατέλαβε · καὶ τῷ ερομένῳ uinci: Αἰακίδῃ σκεύοντι τὸν αὐτοῦ θάνατον οὒκ ἐμαντεύσατο. Ἀθηνᾶς γὰρ τὸ ἀνδρικὸν σιγῶ, καὶ Διονύσου τὸ θηλυκὸν, καὶ Ἀφροδίτης τὸ πορνικόν, Ἀνάγνωτε τῷ Διῒ, ἄνδρες ’Ελληνες, τὸν κατὰ πατραλοιῶν νόμον, καὶ τὸ μοιχείας πρόστιμον, καὶ τὴν παιδεριστίας αἰσχρότητα. Διδάξατε Ἀθηνᾶν καὶ ’Ἀρτεμιν τὰ τῶν γυναικῶν ἔργα, καὶ Διόνυσον τὰ ἆνδρῶν. Τί σεμνὸν ἐπιδείκνυται γυνὴ ὅπλοις κεκοσμημένη. ἀνὴρ δὲ κυμβάλοις καὶ στέμμασι καὶ ἐσθῆτι γυναικείᾳ καλλωπιζόμενος, καὶ ὀργιῶν σὺν ἀγέλη γυναικῶν ; ### English translation (Claude) But since Hesiod after Homer wrote the Works and Days, who will agree with his drivelling theogony? For they say that Cronus, the son of Uranus, cast his father down from his rule and seized the sceptre; and that, being on his guard against suffering the same, he chose to eat his children; but that Zeus, stolen away and hidden by the device of the Curetes, bound his father in chains and divided (the rule), as the story goes, Pluto obtaining the portion of Hades. But Pluto carried off the Maiden, and Demeter, wandering through the deserts, searched for her child. And this myth the fire at Eleusis raised to great heights. Again, Poseidon disgraced Melanippe as she drew water, and abused a crowd of Nereids, not a few, whose names, if we were to recount them, would waste a great quantity of words. Zeus was an adulterer in many ways: with Antiope as a satyr, with Danaë as gold, and with Europa a bull; and he grew wings for Leda. The love of Semele convicted both his incontinence and Semele's jealousy. And they say he carried off the Phrygian Ganymede to pour his wine. These things the sons of Cronus did. And your far-famed son of Leto, who professed prophecy, convicted himself of lying: he pursued Daphne and did not catch her, and to his beloved … he did not foretell his death. I pass over in silence the manliness of Athena, the womanishness of Dionysus, and the harlotry of Aphrodite. Read to Zeus, men of Greece, the law against parricide, and the penalty for adultery, and the shamefulness of pederasty. Teach Athena and Artemis the works of women, and Dionysus those of men. What dignity does a woman show adorned with weapons, or a man prettified with cymbals and garlands and women's clothing, and celebrating orgies with a herd of women? ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Theog. 453-506 (Hesiod, Theogony): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Hesiod, Theogony 453–506. The name of Apollo's beloved (Hyacinthus, in other editions) is garbled in the scan and shown as "…". Several words are read by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Ps.-Justin, Or. Graec. 2 (PG 6:232a–233d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-2). ## Discourse to the Greeks 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-3 - Source: PG 6:233d–236d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Heracles' labours end in shameful subjection to women, and Greek tragedy is full of crimes among gods and heroes. ### Greek text Τὸν γὰρ τριέσπερον Ἀλκείδην, τῶν ἀγώνων ἡγήτορα ᾀδόμενον, τὸν τοῦ Διὸς υἱὸν, ὃς κατέπεφνε λέοντα, καὶ πολύκρανον ὤλεσεν ὕδραν. σῦν δʼ ἄγριον ἀκάματον ὁ νεκρώσας, ὄρνιθας δʼ ἀνδροδόρους ἱπταμένας καθελεῖν ὁ δυνηθεὶς, καὶ κύνα τρικάρηνον ἐξ ᾅδου ἀναγαγὼν, Αὐγείου δʼ ὀχυρὸν τεῖχος σκυβάλων καθελεῖν ὁ δυνηθεὶς, ταύρους δὲ καὶ ἔλαφον ἀνελὼν, ὧν μυξωτῆρες ἔπνεον πῦρ, καὶ καρπὸν χρύσεον στελέχους ἔλαβεν, ἑρπετὸν ἰοβόλον ἀνελών (καὶ Ἀχελῷον τίνος ἕνεκεν ἔκτανεν, οὐ θέμις εἰπεῖν, καὶ τὸν ξενοκτόνον Βούσιριν)· καὶ ὅρη πηδήσας, ἵνα λάβῃ ὕδωρ ἔναρθρον φωνὴν ἀποδιδὸν, ὡς λόγος· ὁ τὰ τοσαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα δρᾶσαι δυνηθεὶς, ὼς νήπιος ὑπὸ σατύρων κατακυμβαλισθεὶς, καὶ ὑπὸ γυναικείου ἔρωτος ἡττηθεὶς, ὑπὸ Λυδῆς γελώσης κατὰ γλουτῶν τυπτόμενος ἥδετο. Καὶ τέλος, τὸν Νέσσειον χιτῶνα ἀποδύσασθαι μὴ δυνηθεὶς, πυρὰν αὑτοῦ αὐτὸς ποιήσας, τὲλος ἔλαβε τοῦ βίου. Θέτω τὸ ζῆλος Ἥφαιστος, καὶ μὴ φθονείτω εἰ πρεσβύτης ὢν καὶ κυλλὸς τὸν πόδα μεμίσητο, Ἄρης δὲ πεφίλητο, νέος ὢν καὶ ὡραῖος. Ἐπεὶ οὖν, ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, οἱ μὲν θεοὶ ὑμῶν ὑπὸ ἀκρασίας ἠλέγχθησαν, ἄνανδροι δὲ οἱ ἥρωες ὑμῶν, ὡς αἱ παρʼ ὑμῖν δραματουργοὶ ἱστορίαι ἐδήλωσαν, τὰ μὲν Ἀτρέως ἄγη, Θυέστου λέχη, καὶ Πελοπιδῶν μύση, καὶ Δαναὸν φθόνῳ φονεύοντα, καὶ ἀτεκνοῦντα μεμεθυσμένον· καὶ τὰ Θυέστεια δεῖπνα Ἑριννύες ἤρτυον. Καὶ Πρόκνη μέχρι νῦν ἐπτερωμένη γοᾷ, καὶ ταύτης ἀδελφὴ γλωσσότμητος τέτριγεν ἡ Κεκροπίς. Τὰ γὰρ Οἱδιπόδου κέντρα τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; καὶ τὸν Λαΐου φόνον, καὶ μητρὸς γάμον, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὑτοῦ καὶ τέκνων ἅμα ἁλληλοκτονίαν; ### English translation (Claude) For the three-nights' son of Alcmene, sung as leader in the contests, the son of Zeus, who slew the lion and destroyed the many-headed hydra; who put to death the wild, tireless boar, and was able to bring down the man-eating birds in their flight, and brought the three-headed dog up from Hades; who was able to clear the strong walls of Augeas of dung, and killed the bulls and the stag whose nostrils breathed fire; who took the golden fruit from the tree, having slain the poisonous serpent (and why he killed Achelous it is not lawful to say, and the guest-killing Busiris), and leaped over mountains to get water that gave out an articulate voice, as the story goes: he who was able to do so many such great deeds, like a child was stunned with cymbals by satyrs, and overcome by love of a woman, and delighted to be struck on the buttocks by a laughing Lydian woman. And at last, unable to put off the tunic of Nessus, he made his own pyre and so ended his life. Let Hephaestus set aside his jealousy and not begrudge it, if he was hated as old and lame of foot, while Ares was loved as young and handsome. Since, then, men of Greece, your gods have been convicted of incontinence, and your heroes are unmanly, as the histories on which your dramas are built have shown: the curse of Atreus, the bed of Thyestes, the pollution of the Pelopids, Danaus murdering out of envy and, drunk (with rage), making (Aegyptus) childless; and the Furies prepared the Thyestean banquets. And Procne, turned into a bird, laments to this day, and her sister, the daughter of Cecrops, shrills with her tongue cut out. And why should one even speak of the goads of Oedipus, the murder of Laius, the marriage with his mother, and the mutual slaughter of those who were at once his brothers and his children? ### Translation notes - "Three-nights'": Heracles was conceived in a night prolonged threefold. The sentence beginning "Since, then" is left incomplete in the Greek. Several words are garbled in the scan and read by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Ps.-Justin, Or. Graec. 3 (PG 6:233d–236d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-3). ## Discourse to the Greeks 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-4 - Source: PG 6:236d–237b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Greek festivals breed excess and licentiousness; Greeks condemn in their families what they honour in their gods. ### Greek text Καὶ τὰς πανηγύρεις ὑμῶν μεμίσηκα. Ἀμετροι γὰρ ἐκεῖ πλησμοναὶ, καὶ αὐλοὶ γλαφυροὶ, ἐκκαλούμενοι πρὸς οἰστρώδεις κινήσεις ’ καὶ μύρων περίεργοι χρίσεις, καὶ στεφάνων περιθέσεις. Καὶ [τῷ] τοσούτῳ σωρῷ τῶν κακῶν τὴν αἰδῶ περιγράφετε· καὶ νοῦν πληροῦσθε, ὑπὸ ἀκρασίας ἐκβακχευόμενοι · καὶ ταῖς ἀνοσίοις καὶ λυσσώδεσι χρᾶσθαι εἰώθατε μίξεσιν. Εἴποιμι δʼ ἂν ὑμῖν ἔτι καὶ τοῦτο· τί ἀγανακτεῖς, ’Ἕλλην ὢν, πρὸς τὸ τέκνον σου, εἰ τὸν Δία μιμούμενος ἐπιβουλεύει σοι, καί σου τὸν γάμον σεσύληκε ; Τί τοῦτον ἐχθρὸν ἡγῇ, τὸν δὲ ὅμοιον αὐτῷ σέβῃ; Τί δὲ μέμφῃ σου τὴν γυναῖκα ἀκολάστως ζῶσαν, τὴν δὲ Ἀφροδίτην ναοῖς τετίμηκας, Καὶ εὶ μὲν ταῦτα ὑφʼ ἑτέρων ἧν εἰρημένα, κατηγορία ἔδοξεν εἶνάι ψιλὴ, καὶ οὔκ ἀλήθεια. Νὖν δὲ ταῦτα οἱ ὑμέτεροι ᾅδουσι ποιηταὶ, καὶ αἱ παρʼ ὑμῖν κεκράγασιν ἱστορίαι, ### English translation (Claude) And I have come to hate your festivals. For there are immoderate surfeits there, and subtle flutes calling out to frenzied movements, and elaborate anointings with perfumes, and the putting on of garlands. With such a heap of evils you erase shame, and you are filled with it in mind, maddened by incontinence; and you are accustomed to practise unholy and frenzied unions. And I would say this further to you: why are you, a Greek, indignant with your son if, imitating Zeus, he plots against you and has despoiled your marriage? Why do you think him your enemy, yet worship the one who is like him? And why do you blame your wife for living licentiously, yet have honoured Aphrodite with temples? If these things had been said by others, it would have seemed a bare accusation and not the truth. But as it is, your own poets sing these things, and your histories cry them aloud. ### Translation notes - Migne prints "the" (τῷ) in square brackets. Several words are garbled in the scan and read by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Ps.-Justin, Or. Graec. 4 (PG 6:236d–237b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-4). ## Discourse to the Greeks 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-5 - Source: PG 6:237b–240d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Greeks should come to the divine Word, who makes mortals immortal by driving the passions from the soul and restoring it to its Maker. ### Greek text ’Ελθετε λοιπὸν, ἄνδρες ’Ελληνες, καὶ σοφίᾳ ἀπαραμιλλήτῳ κοινωνήσατε · καὶ θείῳ λὸγῳ παιδεύθητε, καὶ μάθετε, βασιλέα ἄφθαρτον · καὶ τούτους τοὺς ἥρωας ἐπίγνωτε οὐχ ὅτε λαῶν φόνον ἐργαζομένους. Αὖτὸς γὰρ ἡμῶν, οὐ βούλεται σωμάτων ἀλκὴν, καὶ τύπων εὗμορφίαν, οὐδὲ εὐγενείας φρύαγμα. ἀλλὰ ψυχήν τε καθαρὰν, ὁσιότητι τετειχισμένην, ἤδη δὲ διηνεκῶς ἐπιστατῶν ἡμῖν ὁ θεῖος Λόγος, καὶ τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἡμῶν συνθήματα, πράξεις θείας, ὡς διὰ Λόγου δυνάμεως εἰς ψυχὴν διικνουμένης, (ὡς σάλπιγξ εἰρηνικῆς ψυχῆς πολεμουμένης, ὦ παθῶν δεινῶν φυγαδευτήριον, ὢ πυρὸς ἐμψύχου σβεστικὸν διδασκάλιον) ἥτις οὗ ποιητὰς ποιεῖ, οὗ φιλοσόφους κατα. σκευάζει, οὐδὲ ῥήτορας δεινούς· ἀλλὰ, παιδεύουσα, ποιεῖ τοὺς θνητοὺς ἀθανάτους, τοὺς βροτοὺς θεοὺς, ἐκ γῆς δὲ μετοικίζει εἰς τοὺς ὑπὲρ ’Ὄλυμπον ὅρους. Ἔλθετε, παιδεύθητε · γένεσθε ὡς ἐγώ · ὅτι κὰγῶ ἥμην ὡς ὑμεῖς, Ταῦτα με εἷλε, τό τε τῆς παιδείας ἔνθεον καὶ τὸ τοῦ Λόγου δυνατόν · ὅτι καθάπερ ἐπαοιδὸς ἀγαθὸς, ἐκ φωλεοῦ ἐξερπύσαι ποιησας, φυγαδεύει δεινὸν ἑρπετόν · οὕτως ὁ Λόγος ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μυχῶν τὰ δεινὰ τῆς αἰσθήσεως ἆπελαύνει πάθη · πρῶτον ἐπιθυμίαν, διʼ ἧς πᾶν δεινὸν ' ι ν- 1 γ ι ν ὃμοια του-τοις, ιιπιθυμιις ουν απελιθείτης, ευς ἠ ulva/fi καὶ γαληνιῶσα γίνεται, Περιὶιθεῐπ τῶν περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτῆς κακῶν περιῤῥεόνν, ἆπέρχεται πρὸς τὸν ποιήσαντι αὑτήν, Δεῖ γὰρ οκατιστιθῆναι ὅθεν ἀπέστη, ὅθεν τις ἒγένετο, ἦ ### English translation (Claude) Come, then, men of Greece, and share in incomparable wisdom; be taught by the divine Word, and learn of the incorruptible King; and do not recognize as heroes those who work slaughter of nations. For our own Ruler, the divine Word, who is already continually set over us, does not wish for strength of body or beauty of form or the haughtiness of noble birth, but a pure soul, walled about with holiness, and the watchwords of our King, divine deeds; for through the Word power passes through into the soul. (O trumpet of peace for the soul at war! O place of refuge from terrible passions! O teaching that quenches the fire within the soul!) This teaching does not make poets, does not equip philosophers or clever orators; but by its instruction it makes mortals immortal, mortals gods, and carries them from earth to the regions beyond Olympus. Come, be taught; become as I am, for I too was as you are. These things conquered me: the divinity of the teaching and the power of the Word. For as a good charmer makes a terrible serpent creep out of its den and drives it off, so the Word drives out from the very recesses of the soul the terrible passions of sense: first desire, through which every terrible thing (is born), … and things like these. Desire, then, being driven out, the soul becomes calm and serene. And freed from the evils that flowed about its neck, it goes back to the one who made it. For it must be restored to the place from which it departed, from which it came to be, … ### Scripture references - Gal 4:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:17: echo, medium confidence - 2 Pet 1:4: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "Makes … mortals gods": the author's language for the soul's share in immortality. The scan is garbled in the list of passions after "every terrible thing" (the sense: hatred, strife, envy, rivalry, anger) and breaks off at the end of the chapter; both places are shown as "…". ### Citation (SBL) Ps.-Justin, Or. Graec. 5 (PG 6:237b–240d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ps-justin-oratio/1/#p-5).