To Autolycus 2.30
Summary: The line of Cain founded the first cities, polygamy, music, and metalwork before the flood; the Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are older and truer than the Greek writers.
Greek text · Otto 8:140–144
Ὁ οὖν Κάϊν καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσχεν υἱόν, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἐνώχ. Καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν πόλιν, ἣν ἐπωνόμασεν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἐνώχ. Ἀπὸ τότε ἀρχὴ ἐγένετο τοῦ οἰκοδομεῖσθαι πόλεις, καὶ τοῦτο πρὸ κατακλυσμοῦ· οὐχ ὡς Ὅμηρος ψεύδεται λέγων· Οὐ γάρ πω πεπόλιστο πόλις μερόπων ἀνθρώπων. Τῷ δὲ Ἐνὼχ ἐγενήθη υἱὸς ὀνόματι Γαϊδάδ· ἐγέννησεν τὸν καλούμενον Μεήλ, καὶ Μεὴλ τὸν Μαθουσάλα, καὶ Μαθουσάλα τὸν Λάμεχ. Ὁ δὲ Λάμεχ ἔλαβεν ἑαυτῷ δύο γυναῖκας, αἷς ὀνόματα Ἀδᾶ καὶ Σελᾶ. Ἔκτοτε ἀρχὴ ἐγένετο τῆς πολυμιξίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς μουσικῆς. Τῷ γὰρ Λάμεχ ἐγένοντο τρεῖς υἱοί, Ὠβὴλ Ἰουβὰλ Θοβέλ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Ὠβὴλ ἐγένετο ἀνὴρ ἐν σκηναῖς κτηνοτροφῶν, Ἰουβὰλ δέ ἐστιν ὁ καταδείξας ψαλτήριον καὶ κιθάραν, Θοβὲλ δὲ ἐγένετο σφυροκόπος χαλκεὺς χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου. Ἕως μὲν οὖν τούτου ἔσχεν τὸν κατάλογον τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ Κάϊν· καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν εἰς λήθην αὐτοῦ γέγονεν τὸ σπέρμα τῆς γενεαλογίας, διὰ τὸ ἀδελφοκτονῆσαι αὐτὸν τὸν ἀδελφόν. Εἰς τὸν τόπον δὲ τοῦ Ἄβελ ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς συλλαβεῖν τὴν Εὔαν καὶ τεκεῖν υἱόν, ὃς κέκληται Σήθ· ἀφʼ οὗ τὸ λοιπὸν γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὁδεύει μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο. Τοῖς δὲ βουλομένοις καὶ φιλομαθέσιν καὶ περὶ πασῶν τῶν γενεῶν εὔκολόν ἐστιν ἐπιδεῖξαι διὰ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκ μέρους ἡμῖν γεγένηται ἤδη λόγος ἐν ἑτέρῳ λόγῳ, ὡς ἐπάνω προειρήκαμεν, τῆς γενεαλογίας ἡ τάξις ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ βίβλῳ τῇ περὶ ἱστοριῶν. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἡμᾶς διδάσκει τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τὸ διὰ Μωσέως καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν προφητῶν, ὥστε τὰ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τοὺς θεοσεβεῖς ἀρχαιότερα γράμματα τυγχάνει, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀληθέστερα πάντων συγγραφέων καὶ ποιητῶν δείκνυται ὄντα. Ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς μουσικῆς ἐφλυάρησάν τινες εὑρετὴν Ἀπόλλωνα γεγενῆσθαι· ἄλλοι δὲ Ὄρφεα ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ὀρνέων ἡδυφωνίας φασὶν ἐξευρηκέναι τὴν μουσικήν. Κενὸς δὲ καὶ μάταιος ὁ λόγος αὐτῶν δείκνυται· μετὰ γὰρ πολλὰ ἔτη τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ οὗτοι ἐγένοντο. Τὰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ Νῶε, ὃς κέκληται ὑπὸ ἐνίων Δευκαλίων, ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ ᾗ προειρήκαμεν ἡ διήγησις ἡμῖν γεγένηται· ᾗ, εἰ βούλει, καὶ σὺ δύνασαι ἐντυχεῖν.
English · Claude translation
Cain too had a son, named Enoch. And he built a city, which he named after his son Enoch. From then began the building of cities, and this before the flood; not as Homer falsely says: “For not yet had a city of mortal men been founded.” To Enoch was born a son named Gaidad, who begot the one called Meel; and Meel begot Mathousala, and Mathousala Lamech. And Lamech took two wives, named Ada and Sela. From then began polygamy, and music as well. For Lamech had three sons, Obel, Joubal, and Thobel. Obel became a man living in tents and raising cattle; Joubal is the one who invented the harp and the lyre; and Thobel became a hammer-smith, a worker in bronze and iron. This is as far as the line of Cain is recorded; the rest of his descendants have been left out of the genealogy and forgotten, because he murdered his brother. In place of Abel, God granted Eve to conceive and bear a son, who is called Seth; from him the rest of the human race has come down to this day. For those who wish to learn and love learning, it is easy to set out all the generations from the holy Scriptures. We have already given a partial account in another work, as we mentioned above: the order of the genealogy in the first book On Histories. All these things the Holy Spirit teaches us, who spoke through Moses and the other prophets; so that the writings of us who worship God are more ancient, and are shown to be truer, than those of all the historians and poets. As for music, some have talked nonsense, saying that Apollo invented it; others say that Orpheus discovered music from the sweet singing of birds. Their account is shown to be empty and vain, for these lived many years after the flood. We have given the account of Noah, whom some call Deucalion, in the book we mentioned; you too can read it if you wish.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Homer, Iliad 20.217.
- The names follow the Septuagint forms of Gen 4:17–22 (Gaidad = Irad, Meel = Mehujael, Ada and Sela = Adah and Zillah, Obel = Jabal, Joubal = Jubal, Thobel = Tubal-cain).
- The work On Histories, which Theophilus refers to several times, is lost.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: acute on υἱόν before a comma; accent: grave on ὃς before a following word): τεκεῖν υἱὸν, ὃς κέκληται Σήθ → τεκεῖν υἱόν, ὃς κέκληται Σήθ; ὅς κέκληται ὑπὸ ἐνίων → ὃς κέκληται ὑπὸ ἐνίων.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 2.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/30/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 2.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/30/).
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