Exhortation to the Greeks 10.102
Summary: Stones, natural phenomena, abstractions, and passions are not gods; to worship them is absurd.
Greek text · Stählin 1:73–74
τί γὰρ ἡγεῖσθε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, τὸν Τύχωνα Ἑρμῆν καὶ τὸν Ἀνδοκίδου καὶ τὸν Ἀμύητον; ἦ παντί τῳ δῆλον ὅτι λίθους, ὥσπερ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἑρμῆν. ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἡ ἅλως καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἡ ἶρις, ἀλλὰ πάθη ἀέρος καὶ νεφῶν, καὶ ὃν τρόπον οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμέρα θεός, οὐδὲ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐνιαυτὸς οὐδὲ χρόνος ὁ ἐκ τούτων συμπληρούμενος, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἥλιος οὐδὲ σελήνη, οἷς ἕκαστον τῶν προειρημένων διορίζεται. τίς ἂν οὖν τὴν εὔθυναν καὶ τὴν κόλασιν καὶ τὴν δίκην καὶ τὴν νέμεσιν εὖ φρονῶν ὑπολάβοι θεούς; οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἐρινῦς οὐδὲ μοῖραι οὐδὲ εἱμαρμένη, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ πολιτεία μηδὲ δόξα μηδὲ πλοῦτος θεοί, ὃν καὶ ζωγράφοι τυφλὸν ἐπιδεικνύουσιν· εἰ δὲ αἰδῶ καὶ ἔρωτα καὶ ἀφροδίτην ἐκθειάζετε, ἀκολουθούντων αὐτοῖς αἰσχύνη καὶ ὁρμὴ καὶ κάλλος καὶ συνουσία. οὔκουν ἔτʼ ἂν εἰκότως ὕπνος καὶ θάνατος θεὼ διδυμάονε παρʼ ὑμῖν νομίζοιντο, πάθη ταῦτα περὶ τὰ ζῷα συμβαίνοντα φυσικῶς· οὐδὲ μὴν κῆρα οὐδὲ εἱμαρμένην οὐδὲ μοίρας θεὰς ἐνδίκως ἐρεῖτε. εἰ δὲ ἔρις καὶ μάχη οὐ θεοί, οὐδὲ Ἄρης οὐδὲ Ἐνυώ. ἔτι τε εἰ αἱ ἀστραπαὶ καὶ οἱ κεραυνοὶ καὶ οἱ ὄμβροι οὐ θεοί, πῶς τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ θεοί; πῶς δὲ καὶ οἱ διᾴσσοντες καὶ οἱ κομῆται διὰ πάθος ἀέρος γεγενημένοι;
English · Claude translation
What, you people, do you think the Hermes Tychon is, and the Hermes of Andocides, and the Hermes Amyetus? Surely it is clear to everyone that they are stones, just like Hermes himself. And just as the halo around the moon is not a god, and the rainbow is not a god, but conditions of air and clouds; and as the day is not a god, nor the year, nor the time made up of these; so neither are the sun and moon, by which each of these is marked out. Who in his right mind, then, would suppose that correction, punishment, justice, and retribution are gods? Nor are the Furies, nor the Fates, nor Destiny, since neither the state nor glory nor wealth are gods, wealth, which painters even show as blind. If you deify shame and love and sexual desire, let disgrace, impulse, beauty, and intercourse follow them. Then sleep and death could no longer reasonably be considered among you “twin gods,” since these are conditions that happen naturally to living things; nor will you rightly call doom or destiny or the Fates goddesses. If strife and battle are not gods, neither are Ares and Enyo. Further, if lightning and thunderbolts and rainstorms are not gods, how are fire and water gods? And how are shooting stars and comets, which come into being through a condition of the air?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The Hermes statues named were famous landmarks at Athens. “Twin gods” is from Homer, Iliad 16.672.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent): οὐδὲ μὴν κῆρα οὐδε εἱμαρμένην → οὐδὲ μὴν κῆρα οὐδὲ εἱμαρμένην.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.102 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/102/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.102 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/102/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text