Exhortation to the Greeks 4.52
Summary: Tyrants who robbed their gods of gold, and birds that foul the statues, show that the images have no sense.
Greek text · Stählin 1:40–41
Καὶ δὴ ἔμπαλιν ἐν αὐταῖς που ταῖς περιστάσεσιν οἱ δεισιδαίμονες, οἱ τῶν λίθων προσκυνηταί, ἔργῳ μαθόντες ἀναίσθητον ὕλην μὴ σέβειν, αὐτῆς ἡττώμενοι τῆς χρείας ἀπόλλυνται ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας· καταφρονοῦντες δʼ ὅμως τῶν ἀγαλμάτων, φαίνεσθαι δὲ μὴ βουλόμενοι αὐτῶν ὅλως περιφρονοῦντες, ἐλέγχονται ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν θεῶν, οἷς δὴ τὰ ἀγάλματα ἐπιπεφήμισται. Διονύσιος μὲν γὰρ ὁ τύραννος ὁ νεώτερος θοιμάτιον τὸ χρύσεον περιελόμενος τοῦ Διὸς ἐν Σικελίᾳ προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ἐρεοῦν περιτεθῆναι, χαριέντως φήσας τοῦτο ἄμεινον εἶναι τοῦ χρυσέου, καὶ θέρους κουφότερον ὂν καὶ κρύους ἀλεεινότερον. Ἀντίοχος δὲ ὁ Κυζικηνὸς ἀπορούμενος χρημάτων τοῦ Διὸς τὸ ἄγαλμα τὸ χρυσοῦν, πεντεκαίδεκα πηχῶν τὸ μέγεθος ὄν, προσέταξε χωνεῦσαι καὶ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς ἀτιμοτέρας ὕλης ἄγαλμα παραπλήσιον ἐκείνῳ πετάλοις κεχρυσωμένον ἀναθεῖναι πάλιν. αἱ δὲ χελιδόνες καὶ τῶν ὀρνέων τὰ πλεῖστα κατεξερῶσιν αὐτῶν τῶν ἀγαλμάτων εἰσπετόμενα, οὐδὲν φροντίσαντα οὔτε Ὀλυμπίου Διὸς οὔτε Ἐπιδαυρίου Ἀσκληπιοῦ οὐδὲ μὴν Ἀθηνᾶς Πολιάδος ἢ Σαράπιδος Αἰγυπτίου· παρʼ ὧν οὐδὲ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀναισθησίαν τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἐκμανθάνετε. ἀλλʼ εἰσὶ μὲν καὶ κακοῦργοί τινες ἢ πολέμιοι ἐπιθέμενοι, οἳ διʼ αἰσχροκέρδειαν ἐδῄωσαν τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ τὰ ἀναθήματα ἐσύλησαν ἢ καὶ αὐτὰ ἐχώνευσαν τὰ ἀγάλματα.
English · Claude translation
And yet, in actual emergencies, the superstitious, the worshipers of stones, learning by experience not to revere senseless matter, give way to sheer necessity and are undone by their superstition. And though they despise the statues, not wishing to appear to disregard them altogether, they are convicted by the very gods to whom the statues are dedicated. Dionysius the younger, the tyrant, took off the golden cloak of Zeus in Sicily and ordered a woolen one to be put on him, saying wittily that this was better than the golden one, being lighter in summer and warmer in winter. Antiochus of Cyzicus, being short of money, ordered the golden statue of Zeus, fifteen cubits high, to be melted down and a similar statue of some other, cheaper material, covered with gold leaf, to be set up again in its place. Swallows and most birds fly into the statues and foul them, caring nothing for Olympian Zeus, or Epidaurian Asclepius, or Athena Polias, or Egyptian Sarapis; yet not even from them do you learn the senselessness of the statues. There are also evildoers or enemy invaders who, out of greed, have ravaged the temples and plundered the offerings, or even melted down the statues themselves.
About this passage
Notes
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): οἷς δὴ. τὰ ἀγάλματα → οἷς δὴ τὰ ἀγάλματα.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/52/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/52/).
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