Exhortation to the Greeks 1.3
Summary: The mythical singers led humanity into idolatry and slavery to demons; Clement's singer, the Word, frees people and calls them back to heaven.
Greek text · Stählin 1:4–5
Ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν δοκοῦσιν ὁ Θρᾴκιος ἐκεῖνος [Ὀρφεὺς] καὶ ὁ Θηβαῖος καὶ ὁ Μηθυμναῖος, ἄνδρες τινὲς οὐκ ἄνδρες, ἀπατηλοὶ γεγονέναι, προσχήματί τε μουσικῆς λυμηνάμενοι τὸν βίον, ἐντέχνῳ τινὶ γοητείᾳ δαιμονῶντες εἰς διαφθοράς, ὕβρεις ὀργιάζοντες, πένθη ἐκθειάζοντες, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰ εἴδωλα χειραγωγῆσαι πρῶτοι, ναὶ μὴν λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις, τουτέστιν ἀγάλμασι καὶ σκιαγραφίαις, ἀνοικοδομῆσαι τὴν σκαιότητα τοῦ ἔθους, τὴν καλὴν ὄντως ἐκείνην ἐλευθερίαν τῶν ὑπʼ οὐρανὸν πεπολιτευμένων ᾠδαῖς καὶ ἐπῳδαῖς ἐσχάτῃ δουλείᾳ καταζεύξαντες. Ἀλλʼ οὐ τοιόσδε ὁ ᾠδὸς ὁ ἐμὸς οὐδʼ εἰς μακρὰν καταλύσων ἀφῖκται τὴν δουλείαν τὴν πικρὰν τῶν τυραννούντων δαιμόνων, ὡς δὲ τὸν πρᾶον καὶ φιλάνθρωπον τῆς θεοσεβείας μετάγων ἡμᾶς ζυγὸν αὖθις εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνακαλεῖται τοὺς εἰς γῆν ἐρριμμένους.
English · Claude translation
It seems to me, then, that the Thracian [Orpheus], the Theban, and the Methymnaean, men and yet not men, were deceivers. Under the pretext of music they ruined human life; possessed by demons, with a kind of artful sorcery, they led people to corruption, celebrating outrages as sacred rites and making gods of sorrows. They were the first to lead human beings by the hand to idols, and indeed to build up, with stones and wood, that is, with statues and paintings, the stupidity of custom; with songs and incantations they yoked that truly noble freedom of those who live as citizens under heaven to the most abject slavery. But my singer is not of that kind: he has come to put an end, and that without delay, to the bitter slavery of the tyrant demons; and bringing us over to the gentle and kindly yoke of godliness, he calls back to heaven those who had been cast down to the earth.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The bracketed name is marked by the editor as a later addition.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/3/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/3/).
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