# Exhortation to the Greeks - Author: [Clement of Alexandria](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/clement-of-alexandria/) - Latin title: *Protrepticus* - Date: ca. 190–200 (approximate) - Source: Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) (Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text; each passage below gives the model and date - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/ - Passages: 124 ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/1/ - Source: Stählin 1:3 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement opens with the Greek myths of singers who charmed beasts, stones, and trees, such as Orpheus and Eunomus and the cicada. ### Greek text Ἀμφίων ὁ Θηβαῖος καὶ Ἀρίων ὁ Μηθυμναῖος ἄμφω μὲν ἤστην ᾠδικώ (μῦθος δὲ ἄμφω· καὶ τὸ ᾆσμα εἰσέτι τοῦτο Ἑλλήνων ᾄδεται χορῷ), τέχνῃ τῇ μουσικῇ ὃ μὲν ἰχθὺν δελεάσας, ὃ δὲ Θήβας τειχίσας. Θρᾴκιος δὲ ἄλλος σοφιστὴς (ἄλλος οὗτος μῦθος Ἑλληνικός) ἐτιθάσευε τὰ θηρία γυμνῇ τῇ ᾠδῇ καὶ δὴ τὰ δένδρα, τὰς φηγούς, μετεφύτευε τῇ μουσικῇ. ἔχοιμʼ ἄν σοι καὶ ἄλλον τούτοις ἀδελφὸν διηγήσασθαι μῦθον καὶ ᾠδόν, Εὔνομον τὸν Λοκρὸν καὶ τέττιγα τὸν Πυθικόν. πανήγυρις Ἑλληνικὴ ἐπὶ νεκρῷ δράκοντι συνεκροτεῖτο Πυθοῖ, ἐπιτάφιον ἑρπετοῦ ᾄδοντος Εὐνόμου· ὕμνος ἢ θρῆνος ὄφεως ἦν ἡ ᾠδή, οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν· ἀγὼν δὲ ἦν καὶ ἐκιθάριζεν ὥρᾳ καύματος Εὔνομος, ὁπηνίκα οἱ τέττιγες ὑπὸ τοῖς πετάλοις ᾖδον ἀνὰ τὰ ὄρη θερόμενοι ἡλίῳ. ᾖδον δὲ ἄρα οὐ τῷ δράκοντι τῷ νεκρῷ, τῷ Πυθικῷ, ἀλλὰ τῷ θεῷ τῷ πανσόφῳ αὐτόνομον ᾠδήν, τῶν Εὐνόμου βελτίονα νόμων· ῥήγνυται χορδὴ τῷ Λοκρῷ· ἐφίπταται ὁ τέττιξ τῷ ζυγῷ· ἐτερέτιζεν ὡς ἐπὶ κλάδῳ τῷ ὀργάνῳ· καὶ τοῦ τέττιγος τῷ ᾄσματι ἁρμοσάμενος ὁ ᾠδὸς τὴν λείπουσαν ἀνεπλήρωσε χορδήν. οὔκουν ᾠδῇ τῇ Εὐνόμου ἄγεται ὁ τέττιξ, ὡς ὁ μῦθος βούλεται, χαλκοῦν ἀναστήσας Πυθοῖ τὸν Εὔνομον αὐτῇ τῇ κιθάρᾳ καὶ τὸν συναγωνιστὴν τοῦ Λοκροῦ· ὃ δὲ ἑκὼν ἐφίπταται καὶ ᾄδει ἑκών, Ἕλλησι δὲ δοκεῖ ὑποκριτὴς γεγονέναι μουσικῆς. ### English translation (Claude) Amphion of Thebes and Arion of Methymna were both singers (both are myths, and the song is still sung by a chorus of Greeks): by their musical art the one lured a fish, and the other built the walls of Thebes. Another sophist, a Thracian (another Greek myth, this), tamed wild beasts by his song alone, and even moved trees, the oaks, by music. I could tell you another myth too, and another singer, brother to these: Eunomus the Locrian and the Pythian cicada. A Greek festival was being held at Pytho over a dead serpent, and Eunomus was singing the reptile's funeral ode. Whether his song was a hymn or a dirge for the serpent, I cannot say; but there was a contest, and Eunomus was playing the lyre in the heat of the day, when the cicadas were singing under the leaves on the hills, warmed by the sun. They were singing, of course, not to the dead serpent of Pytho, but to the all-wise God, a song of their own making, better than the tunes of Eunomus. A string breaks for the Locrian; the cicada flies onto the crossbar of the lyre and chirps on the instrument as if on a branch; and the singer, fitting himself to the cicada's song, made up for the missing string. So the cicada was not drawn by the song of Eunomus, as the myth would have it, which set up at Pytho a bronze statue of Eunomus with his lyre and the Locrian's fellow competitor. It flew there of its own accord and sang of its own accord; yet to the Greeks it seems to have been a performer of music. ### Translation notes - The “Thracian sophist” is Orpheus. The Protrepticus (“Exhortation”) is addressed to pagan Greeks, urging them to turn from myth and idolatry to the Word of God. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/1/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/2/ - Source: Stählin 1:3–4 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Leave the mountains of the pagan mysteries for Zion: the Word of God sings a new song that heals grief. ### Greek text Πῇ δὴ οὖν μύθοις κενοῖς πεπιστεύκατε, θέλγεσθαι μουσικῇ τὰ ζῷα ὑπολαμβάνοντες; ἀληθείας δὲ ὑμῖν τὸ πρόσωπον τὸ φαιδρὸν μόνον, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐπίπλαστον εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἀπιστίας ὑποπέπτωκεν ὀφθαλμοῖς. Κιθαιρὼν δὲ ἄρα καὶ Ἑλικὼν καὶ τὰ Ὀδρυσῶν ὄρη καὶ Θρᾳκῶν, τελεστήρια τῆς πλάνης, διὰ τὰ μυστήρια τεθείασται καὶ καθύμνηται. ἐγὼ μέν, εἰ καὶ μῦθός εἰσι, δυσανασχετῶ τοσαύταις ἐκτραγῳδουμέναις συμφοραῖς· ὑμῖν δὲ καὶ τῶν κακῶν αἱ ἀναγραφαὶ γεγόνασι δράματα καὶ τῶν δραμάτων οἱ ὑποκριταὶ θυμηδίας θεάματα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ τὰ μὲν δράματα καὶ τοὺς ληναΐζοντας ποιητάς, τέλεον ἤδη παροινοῦντας, κιττῷ που ἀναδήσαντες, ἀφραίνοντας ἐκτόπως τελετῇ βακχικῇ, αὐτοῖς σατύροις καὶ θιάσῳ μαινόλῃ, σὺν καὶ τῷ ἄλλῳ δαιμόνων χορῷ, Ἑλικῶνι καὶ Κιθαιρῶνι κατακλείσωμεν γεγηρακόσιν, κατάγωμεν δὲ ἄνωθεν ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἀλήθειαν ἅμα φανοτάτῃ φρονήσει εἰς ὄρος ἅγιον θεοῦ καὶ χορὸν [τὸν] ἅγιον τὸν προφητικόν. ἣ δὲ ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα τηλαυγὲς ἀποστίλβουσα φῶς καταυγαζέτω πάντῃ τοὺς ἐν σκότει κυλινδουμένους καὶ τῆς πλάνης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπαλλαττέτω, τὴν ὑπερτάτην ὀρέγουσα δεξιάν, τὴν σύνεσιν, εἰς σωτηρίαν. οἳ δὲ ἀνανεύσαντες καὶ ἀνακύψαντες Ἑλικῶνα μὲν καὶ Κιθαιρῶνα καταλειπόντων, οἰκούντων δὲ Σιών· »ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ«, λόγος οὐράνιος, ὁ γνήσιος ἀγωνιστὴς ἐπὶ τῷ παντὸς κόσμου θεάτρῳ στεφανούμενος. ᾄδει δέ γε ὁ Εὔνομος ὁ ἐμὸς οὐ τὸν Τερπάνδρου νόμον οὐδὲ τὸν Καπίωνος, οὐδὲ μὴν Φρύγιον ἢ Λύδιον ἢ Δώριον, ἀλλὰ τῆς καινῆς ἁρμονίας τὸν ἀίδιον νόμον, τὸν φερώνυμον τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ καινόν, τὸ Λευιτικόν, »νηπενθές τʼ ἄχολόν τε, κακῶν ἐπίληθες ἁπάντων«, γλυκύ τι καὶ ἀληθινὸν φάρμακον πένθους, ἐγκέκραται τῷ ᾄσματι. ### English translation (Claude) How is it, then, that you have believed empty myths, supposing that animals are charmed by music, while the bright face of truth alone, it seems, looks to you like a mask and falls under the eyes of unbelief? Cithaeron and Helicon, and the mountains of the Odrysians and the Thracians, the initiation halls of error, have been made divine and celebrated in hymns because of the mysteries. For my part, even if they are myths, I cannot bear so many calamities turned into tragedy; but for you even the records of evils have become dramas, and the actors of the dramas a delightful spectacle. But let us shut up the dramas and the poets of the Lenaean festival, who are by now quite drunk, crowned with ivy, raving wildly in Bacchic rites, satyrs and frenzied throng and the rest of the chorus of demons, on Helicon and Cithaeron, which have grown old; and let us bring truth down from heaven above, together with most radiant wisdom, to the holy mountain of God and to the holy chorus of the prophets. Let truth, shining out her far-flashing light, illumine on every side those who wallow in darkness, and set people free from error, stretching out her right hand, understanding, which is supreme, for their salvation. And let them look up and lift their heads, and leave Helicon and Cithaeron and dwell in Zion: “for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem,” the heavenly Word, the true contestant, crowned on the stage of the whole world. My Eunomus sings neither the tune of Terpander nor that of Capion, nor the Phrygian or Lydian or Dorian mode, but the eternal tune of the new harmony, which bears the name of God, the new song, the song of the Levites. “Soothing grief and anger, bringing forgetfulness of all ills,” a sweet and true remedy for sorrow is blended with this song. ### Scripture references - Isa 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Mic 4:2: quotation, medium confidence - Ps 96:1 (95:1 LXX): echo, medium confidence - Isa 9:2: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 4.221 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “For out of Zion …” is Isa 2:3 (Mic 4:2). The line about forgetfulness of ills is Homer, Odyssey 4.221 (said of Helen's drug). - “Tune” renders νόμος, which means both “law” and a musical mode or melody; Clement plays on both senses. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/2/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/3/ - Source: Stählin 1:4–5 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 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 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 translation (Claude) 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. ### Scripture references - Matt 11:29: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The bracketed name is marked by the editor as a later addition. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/3/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/4/ - Source: Stählin 1:5 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Word has tamed human “beasts” and turned stony hearts into children of Abraham, as Scripture says. ### Greek text μόνος γοῦν τῶν πώποτε τὰ ἀργαλεώτατα θηρία, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἐτιθάσευεν, πτηνὰ μὲν τοὺς κούφους αὐτῶν, ἑρπετὰ δὲ τοὺς ἀπατεῶνας, καὶ λέοντας μὲν τοὺς θυμικούς, σύας δὲ τοὺς ἡδονικούς, λύκους δὲ τοὺς ἁρπακτικούς. λίθοι δὲ καὶ ξύλα οἱ ἄφρονες· πρὸς δὲ καὶ λίθων ἀναισθητότερος ἄνθρωπος ἀγνοίᾳ βεβαπτισμένος. μάρτυς ἡμῖν προφητικὴ παρίτω φωνή, συνῳδὸς ἀληθείας, τοὺς ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ καὶ ἀνοίᾳ κατατετριμμένους οἰκτείρουσα· »δυνατὸς γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῶν λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέκνα τῷ Ἀβραάμ«. ὃς κατελεήσας τὴν ἀμαθίαν τὴν πολλὴν καὶ τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν τῶν εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν λελιθωμένων ἤγειρεν θεοσεβείας σπέρμα ἀρετῆς αἰσθόμενον ἐκ λίθων ἐκείνων, τῶν λίθοις πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν. αὖθις οὖν ἰοβόλους τινὰς καὶ παλιμβόλους ὑποκριτὰς ἐφοδεύοντας δικαιοσύνῃ »γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν« κέκληκέ που· ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων εἴ τις τῶν ὄφεων μετανοήσαι ἑκών, ἑπόμενος δὴ τῷ λόγῳ »ἄνθρωπος« γίνεται »θεοῦ«. »λύκους« δὲ ἄλλους ἀλληγορεῖ προβάτων κῳδίοις ἠμφιεσμένους, τοὺς ἐν ἀνθρώπων μορφαῖς ἁρπακτικοὺς αἰνιττόμενος. καὶ πάντα ἄρα ταῦτα τὰ ἀγριώτατα θηρία καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους λίθους ἡ οὐράνιος ᾠδὴ αὐτὴ μετεμόρφωσεν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἡμέρους. »ἦμεν γάρ, ἦμέν ποτε καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀνόητοι, ἀπειθεῖς, πλανώμενοι, δουλεύοντες ἡδοναῖς καὶ ἐπιθυμίαις ποικίλαις, ἐν κακίᾳ καὶ φθόνῳ διάγοντες, στυγητοί, μισοῦντες ἀλλήλους«, ᾗ φησιν ἡ ἀποστολικὴ γραφή· »ὅτε δὲ ἡ χρηστότης καὶ ἡ φιλανθρωπία ἐπεφάνη τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς.« ὅρα τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ καινὸν ὅσον ἴσχυσεν· ἀνθρώπους ἐκ λίθων καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἐκ θηρίων πεποίηκεν. ### English translation (Claude) He alone of all who ever lived has tamed the most intractable of wild beasts, human beings: birds, the flighty among them; reptiles, the deceivers; lions, the passionate; swine, the lovers of pleasure; wolves, the rapacious. Stones and wood are the senseless; indeed a human being steeped in ignorance is more insensible than stones. Let the prophetic voice come forward as our witness, singing in harmony with the truth and pitying those who are worn down by ignorance and folly: “For God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” He, taking pity on the great ignorance and hardness of heart of those who had been turned to stone against the truth, raised up from those stones, the nations who had trusted in stones, a seed of godliness, responsive to virtue. Again, he somewhere called certain venomous and treacherous hypocrites, who lie in wait for righteousness, a “brood of vipers”; yet if even one of these serpents repents of his own accord and follows the Word, he becomes “a man of God.” Others he calls, figuratively, “wolves” clothed in sheepskins, hinting at those who are rapacious in human form. And all these most savage beasts, and such stones as these, the heavenly song itself has transformed into gentle human beings. “For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, slaves to various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another,” as the apostolic writing says; “but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” See how powerful the new song is! It has made human beings out of stones and human beings out of beasts. ### Scripture references - Matt 3:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:11: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 7:15: allusion, high confidence - Titus 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Titus 3:4: quotation, high confidence - Titus 3:5: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/4/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/5/ - Source: Stählin 1:5–6 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Word of God, who ordered the universe like a harmony, makes music to God on the instrument of the human being, soul and body. ### Greek text οἱ δὲ τηνάλλως νεκροί, οἱ τῆς ὄντως οὔσης ἀμέτοχοι ζωῆς, ἀκροαταὶ μόνον γενόμενοι τοῦ ᾄσματος ἀνεβίωσαν. τοῦτό τοι καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἐκόσμησεν ἐμμελῶς καὶ τῶν στοιχείων τὴν διαφωνίαν εἰς τάξιν ἐνέτεινε συμφωνίας, ἵνα δὴ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος αὐτῷ ἁρμονία γένηται· καὶ θάλατταν μὲν ἀνῆκεν λελυμένην, γῆς δὲ ἐπιβαίνειν κεκώλυκεν αὐτήν, γῆν δʼ ἔμπαλιν ἐστερέωσεν φερομένην καὶ ὅρον αὐτὴν ἔπηξεν θαλάττης· ναὶ μὴν καὶ πυρὸς ὁρμὴν ἐμάλαξεν ἀέρι, οἱονεὶ Δώριον ἁρμονίαν κεράσας Λυδίῳ· καὶ τὴν ἀέρος ἀπηνῆ ψυχρότητα τῇ παραπλοκῇ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐτιθάσευεν, τοὺς νεάτους τῶν ὅλων φθόγγους τούτους κιρνὰς ἐμμελῶς. καὶ δὴ τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ ἀκήρατον, ἔρεισμα τῶν ὅλων καὶ ἁρμονία τῶν πάντων, ἀπὸ τῶν μέσων ἐπὶ τὰ πέρατα καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων ἐπὶ τὰ μέσα διαταθέν, ἡρμόσατο τόδε τὸ πᾶν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν Θρᾴκιον μουσικήν, τὴν παραπλήσιον Ἰουβάλ, κατὰ δὲ τὴν πάτριον τοῦ θεοῦ βούλησιν, ἣν ἐζήλωσε Δαυίδ. ὁ δὲ ἐκ Δαυὶδ καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, λύραν μὲν καὶ κιθάραν, τὰ ἄψυχα ὄργανα, ὑπεριδών, κόσμον δὲ τόνδε καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν σμικρὸν κόσμον, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ψυχήν τε καὶ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, ἁγίῳ πνεύματι ἁρμοσάμενος, ψάλλει τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ πολυφώνου ὀργάνου καὶ προσᾴδει τῷ ὀργάνῳ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. »σὺ γὰρ εἶ κιθάρα καὶ αὐλὸς καὶ ναὸς ἐμοί·« κιθάρα διὰ τὴν ἁρμονίαν, αὐλὸς διὰ τὸ πνεῦμα, ναὸς διὰ τὸν λόγον, ἵνʼ ἣ μὲν κρέκῃ, τὸ δὲ ἐμπνέῃ, ὃ δὲ χωρήσῃ τὸν κύριον. ναὶ μὴν ὁ Δαυὶδ ὁ βασιλεύς, ὁ κιθαριστής, οὗ μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθημεν, προὔτρεπεν ὡς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀπέτρεπε δὲ εἰδώλων, πολλοῦ γε ἔδει ὑμνεῖν αὐτὸν τοὺς δαίμονας ἀληθεῖ πρὸς αὐτοῦ διωκομένους μουσικῇ, ᾗ τοῦ Σαοὺλ ἐνεργουμένου ἐκείνοις ᾄδων μόνον αὐτὸν ἰάσατο. καλὸν ὁ κύριος ὄργανον ἔμπνουν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐξειργάσατο κατʼ εἰκόνα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ· ἀμέλει καὶ αὐτὸς ὄργανόν ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ παναρμόνιον, ἐμμελὲς καὶ ἅγιον, σοφία ὑπερκόσμιος, οὐράνιος λόγος. ### English translation (Claude) Those who were otherwise dead, having no share in the life that truly is, came back to life just by becoming hearers of the song. It is this song that set the universe in harmonious order and tuned the discord of the elements into an ordered concord, so that the whole world might become a harmony to him. He let the sea go free, yet kept it from encroaching on the land; and the land, which was being swept away, he made firm and fixed as a boundary for the sea. He softened the rush of fire with air, as if blending the Dorian mode with the Lydian; and he tamed the harsh cold of air by interweaving it with fire, blending harmoniously these extreme notes of the universe. And this pure song, the support of the universe and the harmony of all things, stretching from the center to the ends and from the ends to the center, tuned this whole universe, not according to Thracian music, which is like that of Jubal, but according to the ancestral will of God, which David sought after with zeal. He who is from David and yet before him, the Word of God, disdaining lyre and harp, which are lifeless instruments, has tuned by the Holy Spirit this world, and especially the small world, the human being, soul and body; and on this many-voiced instrument he makes music to God, and sings to the instrument, the human being. “For you are my harp and flute and temple”: a harp because of its harmony, a flute because of its breath, a temple because of the Word; so that the one may resound, the second breathe, and the third contain the Lord. And King David, the harpist whom we mentioned a little earlier, urged people toward the truth and away from idols. So far was he from hymning the demons that they were driven away by his true music; when Saul was possessed by them, David cured him simply by singing. The Lord fashioned the human being as a beautiful instrument that breathes, after his own image; and he himself is surely God's all-harmonious instrument, melodious and holy, the Wisdom above the world, the heavenly Word. ### Scripture references - Jer 5:22: echo, medium confidence - Gen 4:21: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 1:3: echo, medium confidence - 1 Sam 16:23: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “For you are my harp and flute and temple” is from an unknown source, perhaps an early Christian hymn. - “Breath” renders πνεῦμα, which also means “spirit.” ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/5/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/6/ - Source: Stählin 1:6–7 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Word, the new song, heals and saves; though it seems new, it is older than all things, for “in the beginning was the Word.” ### Greek text Τί δὴ οὖν τὸ ὄργανον, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, ὁ κύριος, καὶ τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ καινὸν βούλεται; ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀναπετάσαι τυφλῶν καὶ ὦτα ἀνοῖξαι κωφῶν καὶ σκάζοντας τὼ πόδε ἢ πλανωμένους εἰς δικαιοσύνην χειραγωγῆσαι, θεὸν ἀνθρώποις ἀφραίνουσιν ἐπιδεῖξαι, παῦσαι φθοράν, νικῆσαι θάνατον, υἱοὺς ἀπειθεῖς διαλλάξαι πατρί. φιλάνθρωπον τὸ ὄργανον τοῦ θεοῦ· ὁ κύριος ἐλεεῖ, παιδεύει, προτρέπει, νουθετεῖ, σῴζει, φυλάττει καὶ μισθὸν ἡμῖν τῆς μαθήσεως ἐκ περιουσίας βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν ἐπαγγέλλεται, τοῦτο μόνον ἀπολαύων ἡμῶν, ὃ σῳζόμεθα. κακία μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβόσκεται φθοράν, ἡ δὲ ἀλήθεια ὥσπερ ἡ μέλιττα, λυμαινομένη τῶν ὄντων οὐδέν, ἐπὶ μόνης τῆς ἀνθρώπων ἀγάλλεται σωτηρίας. ἔχεις οὖν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, ἔχεις τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν· τῆς χάριτος μεταλάμβανε. καί μου τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ σωτήριον μὴ καινὸν οὕτως ὑπολάβῃς ὡς σκεῦος ἢ ὡς οἰκίαν· »πρὸ ἑωσφόρου« γὰρ ἦν, καὶ »ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος·« παλαιὰ δὲ ἡ πλάνη, καινὸν δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια φαίνεται. εἴτʼ οὖν ἀρχαίους τοὺς Φρύγας διδάσκουσιν αἶγες μυθικαί, εἴτε αὖ τοὺς Ἀρκάδας οἱ προσελήνους ἀναγράφοντες ποιηταί, εἴτε μὴν αὖ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους οἱ καὶ πρώτην ταύτην ἀναφῆναι τὴν γῆν θεούς τε καὶ ἀνθρώπους ὀνειρώσσοντες· ἀλλʼ οὐ πρὸ γε τοῦ κόσμου τοῦδε τούτων οὐδὲ εἷς, πρὸ δὲ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου καταβολῆς ἡμεῖς, οἱ τῷ δεῖν ἔσεσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ πρότερον γεγεννημένοι τῷ θεῷ, τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου τὰ λογικὰ πλάσματα ἡμεῖς, διʼ ὃν ἀρχαΐζομεν, ὅτι »ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ λόγος ἦν.« ### English translation (Claude) What, then, does the instrument, the Word of God, the Lord, and the new song desire? To open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf, to lead by the hand into righteousness those who limp or go astray, to show God to foolish people, to put an end to corruption, to conquer death, to reconcile disobedient sons to their Father. God's instrument loves humankind. The Lord pities, disciplines, exhorts, admonishes, saves, and guards, and he promises us, abundantly, the kingdom of heaven as the reward for our learning, taking from us only this benefit: that we are saved. For wickedness feeds on the corruption of human beings; but truth, like the bee, harming nothing that exists, delights only in the salvation of human beings. You have the promise, then; you have his love for humankind; take your share of the grace. And do not suppose that my song of salvation is new in the way that a vessel or a house is new. For it was “before the morning star,” and “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Error is old, but truth appears new. Let the mythical goats teach that the Phrygians are ancient, or the poets who record the Arcadians as older than the moon, or those who dream that the Egyptians were the first people, gods and men alike, that this earth brought to light. Yet not one of these existed before this world. But we existed before the foundation of the world: we who, since we were destined to be in him, were begotten beforehand by God. We are the rational creatures of God's Word, and because of him we are older than all, for “in the beginning was the Word.” ### Scripture references - Isa 35:5: allusion, high confidence - Luke 15:21: echo, low confidence - Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Eph 1:4: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 2.2 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The mythical goats” refers to Herodotus's story (2.2) of children raised by goats, used to show that the Phrygians were the oldest people; the Arcadians claimed to be older than the moon. - “Before the morning star” is Ps 110:3 in the Septuagint (109:3). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/6/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/7/ - Source: Stählin 1:7–8 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Word, God and man, who gave us being, has now appeared as teacher to give eternal life and to rescue us from the serpent, who binds people to lifeless idols. ### Greek text ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὲν ἦν ὁ λόγος ἄνωθεν, ἀρχὴ θεία τῶν πάντων ἦν τε καὶ ἔστιν· ὅτι δὲ νῦν ὄνομα ἔλαβεν τὸ πάλαι καθωσιωμένον, καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως ἄξιον, ὁ Χριστός, καινὸν ᾆσμά μοι κέκληται. αἴτιος γοῦν ὁ λόγος, ὁ Χριστός, καὶ τοῦ εἶναι πάλαι ἡμᾶς (ἦν γὰρ ἐν θεῷ), καὶ τοῦ εὖ εἶναι· νῦν δὴ ἐπεφάνη ἀνθρώποις αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ὁ μόνος ἄμφω, θεός τε καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ἁπάντων ἡμῖν αἴτιος ἀγαθῶν· παρʼ οὗ τὸ εὖ ζῆν ἐκδιδασκόμενοι εἰς ἀίδιον ζωὴν παραπεμπόμεθα. κατὰ γὰρ τὸν θεσπέσιον ἐκεῖνον τοῦ κυρίου ἀπόστολον »ἡ χάρις ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ σωτήριος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπεφάνη, παιδεύουσα ἡμᾶς, ἵνα ἀρνησάμενοι τὴν ἀσέβειαν καὶ τὰς κοσμικὰς ἐπιθυμίας σωφρόνως καὶ δικαίως καὶ εὐσεβῶς ζήσωμεν ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι, προσδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.« τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ καινόν, ἡ ἐπιφάνεια ἡ νῦν ἐκλάμψασα ἐν ἡμῖν τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ ὄντος καὶ προόντος λόγου· ἐπεφάνη δὲ ἔναγχος ὁ προὼν σωτήρ, ἐπεφάνη ὁ ἐν τῷ ὄντι ὤν, ὅτι »ὁ λόγος [ὃς] ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν,« διδάσκαλος, ἐπεφάνη ᾧ τὰ πάντα δεδημιούργηται λόγος, καὶ τὸ ζῆν ἐν ἀρχῇ μετὰ τοῦ πλάσαι παρασχὼν ὡς δημιουργός, τὸ εὖ ζῆν ἐδίδαξεν ἐπιφανεὶς ὡς διδάσκαλος, ἵνα τὸ ἀεὶ ζῆν ὕστερον ὡς θεὸς χορηγήσῃ. ὃ δὲ οὐ νῦν γε πρῶτον ᾤκτειρεν ἡμᾶς τῆς πλάνης, ἀλλʼ ἄνωθεν ἀρχῆθεν, νῦν δὲ ἤδη ἀπολλυμένους ἐπιφανεὶς περισέσωκεν. τὸ γὰρ πονηρὸν καὶ ἑρπηστικὸν θηρίον γοητεῦον καταδουλοῦται καὶ αἰκίζεται εἰσέτι νῦν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, βαρβαρικῶς τιμωρούμενον, οἳ νεκροῖς τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους συνδεῖν λέγονται σώμασιν, ἔστʼ ἂν αὐτοῖς καὶ συσσαπῶσιν. ὁ γοῦν πονηρὸς οὑτοσὶ τύραννος καὶ δράκων, οὓς ἂν οἷός τε ᾖ ἐκ γενετῆς σφετερίσασθαι, λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις καὶ ἀγάλμασιν καὶ τοιούτοις τισὶν εἰδώλοις προσσφίγξας τῷ δεισιδαιμονίας ἀθλίῳ δεσμῷ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον, ζῶντας ἐπιφέρων συνέθαψεν αὐτούς, ἔστʼ ἂν καὶ συμφθαρῶσιν. οὗ δὴ χάριν (εἷς γὰρ ὁ ἀπατεὼν ἄνωθεν μὲν τὴν Εὔαν, νῦν δὲ ἤδη καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους εἰς θάνατον ὑποφέρων) εἷς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπίκουρος καὶ βοηθὸς ἡμῖν ὁ κύριος, προμηνύων ἀρχῆθεν προφητικῶς, νῦν δὲ ἤδη καὶ ### English translation (Claude) But because the Word existed from above, he was and is the divine beginning of all things; and because he has now taken the name hallowed of old and worthy of his power, the Christ, I have called him a new song. The Word, the Christ, is the cause both of our being long ago (for he was in God) and of our well-being. Now this same Word has appeared to human beings, he who alone is both, God and man, the cause of all good things for us; learning from him how to live well, we are sent on our way to eternal life. For, as that inspired apostle of the Lord says, “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This is the new song: the appearing, which has now shone out among us, of the Word who was in the beginning and existed before all things. The Savior who existed before has recently appeared; he who is in the One who is has appeared, because “the Word was with God” as teacher; the Word by whom all things were made has appeared. He who, as Creator, gave us life in the beginning when he formed us, taught us to live well when he appeared as teacher, so that afterward, as God, he might supply eternal life. It was not now for the first time that he pitied us for our error; he pitied us from the very beginning; but now, by appearing, he has saved us when we were already perishing. For that wicked, creeping beast enslaves human beings by sorcery and torments them even now, taking vengeance, it seems to me, in the manner of the barbarians, who are said to bind their captives to corpses until they rot together. This wicked tyrant and dragon, then, takes those he can claim from birth, binds them by the wretched bond of superstition to stones and wood and statues and such idols, and carries them off, as the saying goes, and buries them alive, until they perish together. For this reason, since the deceiver is one, who from the beginning brought Eve, and now also the rest of humankind, down to death, our helper and defender, the Lord, is also one; he foretold it prophetically from the beginning, and now also … ### Scripture references - Titus 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Titus 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Titus 2:13: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Rev 12:9: echo, medium confidence - 2 Cor 11:3: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Titus 2:11–13. - The sentence continues in the next section; the digitization marks the section boundary in the middle of it. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/7/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/8/ - Source: Stählin 1:8–9 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Lord has always called humanity to salvation in many ways, through signs, the prophets, and at last by becoming a human being himself. ### Greek text ἐναργῶς εἰς σωτηρίαν παρακαλῶν. φύγωμεν οὖν ἀποστολικῇ πειθόμενοι παραγγελίᾳ »τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας,« καὶ τῷ σωτῆρι τῷ κυρίῳ προσδράμωμεν, ὃς καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ προὔτρεπεν εἰς σωτηρίαν, διὰ τεράτων καὶ σημείων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἐν ἐρήμῳ δὲ διά τε τῆς βάτου καὶ τῆς ἀκολουθούσης χάριτι φιλανθρωπίας θεραπαίνης δίκην Ἑβραίοις νεφέλης. τούτων μὲν δὴ τῷ φόβῳ τούς σκληροκαρδίους προὔτρεπεν· ἤδη δὲ καὶ διὰ Μωσέως τοῦ πανσόφου καὶ τοῦ φιλαλήθους Ἡσαΐα καὶ παντὸς τοῦ προφητικοῦ χοροῦ λογικώτερον ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον ἐπιστρέφει τοὺς [τὰ] ὦτα κεκτημένους· καὶ ἔσθʼ ὅπῃ μὲν λοιδορεῖται, ἔστιν δʼ οὗ καὶ ἀπειλεῖ· τοὺς δὲ καὶ θρηνεῖ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ᾄδει δὲ ἄλλοις, καθάπερ ἰατρὸς ἀγαθὸς τῶν νοσούντων σωμάτων τὰ μὲν καταπλάττων, τὰ δὲ καταλεαίνων, τὰ δὲ καταντλῶν, τὰ δὲ καὶ σιδήρῳ διαιρῶν, ἐπικαίων δὲ ἄλλα, ἔστι δʼ οὗ καὶ ἀποπρίων, εἴ πως οἷόν τε κἂν παρὰ μέρος ἢ μέλος τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὑγιᾶναι. πολύφωνός γε ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ πολύτροπος εἰς ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν· ἀπειλῶν νουθετεῖ, λοιδορούμενος ἐπιστρέφει, θρηνῶν ἐλεεῖ, ψάλλων παρακαλεῖ, διὰ βάτου λαλεῖ (σημείων ἐκεῖνοι καὶ τεράτων ἔχρῃζον) καὶ τῷ πυρὶ δεδίττεται τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἀνάπτων ἐκ κίονος τὴν φλόγα, δεῖγμα ὁμοῦ χάριτος καὶ φόβου· ἐὰν ὑπακούσῃς, τὸ φῶς, ἐὰν παρακούσῃς, τὸ πῦρ. ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ κίονος καὶ βάτου ἡ σὰρξ τιμιωτέρα, προφῆται μετʼ ἐκεῖνα φθέγγονται, αὐτὸς ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ ὁ κύριος λαλῶν, αὐτὸς ἐν Ἡλίᾳ, ἐν στόματι προφητῶν αὐτός· σὺ δὲ ἀλλʼ εἰ προφήταις μὴ πιστεύεις, μῦθον δʼ ὑπολαμβάνεις καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ τὸ πῦρ, αὐτός σοι λαλήσει ὁ κύριος, »ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ· ἐκένωσεν δὲ ἑαυτόν« ὁ φιλοικτίρμων θεός, σῶσαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον γλιχόμενος· καὶ αὐτὸς ἤδη σοὶ ἐναργῶς ὁ λόγος λαλεῖ, δυσωπῶν τὴν ἀπιστίαν, ναί φημι, ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος, ἵνα δὴ καὶ σὺ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου μάθῃς, πῇ ποτε ἄρα ἄνθρωπος γένηται ### English translation (Claude) … plainly calls us to salvation. Let us flee, then, obeying the apostle's command, from “the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience,” and let us run to our Savior, the Lord, who both now and always has urged us toward salvation: through wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the desert through the bush and through the cloud that, by the grace of his love for humankind, followed the Hebrews like a handmaid. By the fear these inspired he urged the hard-hearted; and now, through Moses the all-wise, Isaiah the lover of truth, and the whole chorus of prophets, he turns to the Word, in a more reasonable way, those who have ears. Sometimes he rebukes, sometimes he threatens; some people he mourns over; to others he sings, like a good physician who, for diseased bodies, puts poultices on some parts, soothes others, bathes others, cuts others with the knife, cauterizes others, and in some cases amputates, if in any way he can make the patient healthy, even at the cost of a part or a limb. The Savior has many voices and many ways for the salvation of human beings. He threatens in order to admonish; he rebukes in order to convert; he mourns in order to show pity; he sings in order to encourage. He speaks through the bush (those people needed signs and wonders), and he frightens human beings with fire, kindling the flame from the pillar, a token of grace and of fear together: if you obey, the light; if you disobey, the fire. But since the flesh is more honorable than the pillar and the bush, after those things the prophets speak: the Lord himself speaking in Isaiah, himself in Elijah, himself in the mouth of the prophets. But if you do not believe the prophets, and take both the men and the fire for a myth, the Lord himself will speak to you, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself,” the compassionate God, longing to save the human being. And the Word himself now speaks to you plainly, putting your unbelief to shame; yes, I say, the Word of God became a human being, so that you too may learn from a human being how a human being may become … ### Scripture references - Eph 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Exod 7:3: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 3:2: allusion, high confidence - Exod 13:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:15: echo, low confidence - Phil 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:7: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The famous sentence “the Word of God became a human being, so that you too may learn from a human being how a human being may become God” is split between this section and the next by the digitization's section marker. - The quotations are Eph 2:2 and Phil 2:6–7. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/8/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/9/ - Source: Stählin 1:9–10 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: John the Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness, and the angel who announced his birth to barren Elizabeth, foreshadow the fruitfulness the Word brings to the barren nations. ### Greek text θεός. εἶτʼ οὐκ ἄτοπον, ὦ φίλοι, τὸν μὲν θεὸν ἀεὶ προτρέπειν ἡμᾶς ἐπʼ ἀρετήν, ἡμᾶς δὲ ἀναδύεσθαι τὴν ὠφέλειαν καὶ ἀναβάλλεσθαι τὴν σωτηρίαν; ἦ γὰρ οὐχὶ καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐπὶ σωτηρίαν παρακαλεῖ καὶ τὸ πᾶν γίνεται φωνὴ προτρεπτική; πυθώμεθα τοίνυν αὐτοῦ· »τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν;« Ἡλίας μὲν οὐκ ἐρεῖ, Χριστὸς δὲ εἶναι ἀρνήσεται· φωνὴ δὲ ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐρήμῳ βοῶσα. τίς οὖν ἔστιν Ἰωάννης; ὡς τύπῳ λαβεῖν, ἐξέστω εἰπεῖν, φωνὴ τοῦ λόγου προτρεπτικὴ ἐν ἐρήμῳ βοῶσα. τί βοᾷς, ὦ φωνή; »εἰπὲ καὶ ἡμῖν.« »Εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς ὁδοὺς κυρίου.« πρόδρομος Ἰωάννης καὶ ἡ φωνὴ πρόδρομος τοῦ λόγου, φωνὴ παρακλητική, προετοιμάζουσα εἰς σωτηρίαν, φωνὴ προτρέπουσα εἰς κληρονομίαν οὐρανῶν· διʼ ἣν ἡ στεῖρα καὶ ἔρημος ἄγονος οὐκέτι. ταύτην μοι τὴν κυοφορίαν προεθέσπισεν ἀγγέλου φωνή· πρόδρομος ἦν κἀκείνη τοῦ κυρίου, στεῖραν εὐαγγελιζομένη γυναῖκα, ὡς Ἰωάννης τὴν ἔρημον. διὰ ταύτην τοίνυν τοῦ λόγου τὴν φωνὴν ἡ στεῖρα εὐτεκνεῖ καὶ ἡ ἔρημος καρποφορεῖ· αἱ πρόδρομοι τοῦ κυρίου φωναὶ δύο, ἀγγέλου καὶ Ἰωάννου, αἰνίσσονταί μοι τὴν ἐναποκειμένην σωτηρίαν, ὡς ἐπιφανέντος τοῦ λόγου τοῦδε εὐτεκνίας ἡμᾶς καρπὸν ἀπενέγκασθαι, ζωὴν ἀίδιον. ἄμφω γοῦν ἐς ταὐτὸν ἀγαγοῦσα τὰ φωνὰ ἡ γραφὴ σαφηνίζει τὸ πᾶν· »ἀκουσάτω ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα· ῥηξάτω φωνὴν ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα, ὅτι πλείονα τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα.« ἡμῖν εὐηγγελίζετο ἄγγελος, ἡμᾶς προὔτρεπεν Ἰωάννης νοῆσαι τὸν γεωργόν, ζητῆσαι τὸν ἄνδρα. εἷς γὰρ καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος, ὁ τῆς στείρας ἀνήρ, ὁ τῆς ἐρήμου γεωργός, ὁ τῆς θείας ἐμπλήσας δυνάμεως καὶ τὴν στεῖραν καὶ τὴν ἔρημον. ἐπεὶ γὰρ πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς εὐγενοῦς, ἄπαις δὲ ἦν διὰ ἀπείθειαν ἡ πολύπαις ἀνέκαθεν Ἑβραία γυνή, ἡ στεῖρα τὸν ἄνδρα λαμβάνει καὶ ἡ ἔρημος τὸν γεωργόν· εἶτα ἣ μὲν καρπῶν, ἣ δὲ πιστῶν, ἄμφω δὲ μητέρες διὰ τὸν λόγον· ἀπίστοις δὲ εἰσέτι νῦν καὶ στεῖρα καὶ ἔρημος περιλείπεται. ### English translation (Claude) … God. Is it not absurd, then, my friends, that God should always be urging us toward virtue, while we shrink from the benefit and put off our salvation? Does not John too call us to salvation, and become wholly a voice of exhortation? Let us ask him, then: “Who are you, and where are you from?” He will not say that he is Elijah, and he will deny that he is the Christ; but he will confess that he is “a voice crying in the wilderness.” Who, then, is John? To put it figuratively, let us say: the exhorting voice of the Word, crying in the wilderness. What do you cry, O voice? “Tell us too.” “Make straight the ways of the Lord.” John is the forerunner, and the voice is the forerunner of the Word: an encouraging voice, preparing for salvation, a voice urging us toward the inheritance of heaven; through it the barren and desert land is no longer childless. This pregnancy was foretold to me by the voice of an angel, which was also a forerunner of the Lord, bringing good news to a barren woman, as John did to the desert. Because of this voice of the Word, then, the barren woman is blessed with children and the desert bears fruit. The two voices that went before the Lord, the angel's and John's, hint to me at the salvation laid up for us: that when this Word has appeared, we reap the fruit of fruitfulness, eternal life. Scripture brings both voices together and makes everything clear: “Let her hear who does not bear; let her break into a cry who is not in labor; for the children of the desolate one are more than those of her who has a husband.” To us the angel brought good news; us John urged to recognize the farmer and to seek the husband. For he is one and the same, the husband of the barren woman and the farmer of the desert, who filled both the barren woman and the desert with divine power. The noble woman had many children, but the Hebrew woman, once the mother of many, had become childless through disobedience; so the barren woman receives the husband and the desert the farmer. Then the one becomes a mother of fruits, the other of believers, both through the Word; but for unbelievers the barren woman and the desert remain barren even now. ### Scripture references - John 1:21: allusion, high confidence - John 1:20: allusion, high confidence - John 1:23: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:3: quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Isa 54:1: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:27: quotation, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 1.170 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Who are you, and where are you from?” is a Homeric formula (Odyssey 1.170). The quotations are John 1:20–23, Isa 40:3, and Isa 54:1 (quoted in Gal 4:27). - The “barren woman” is Elizabeth (Luke 1), taken as a figure of the church of the Gentiles. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/9/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 1.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/10/ - Source: Stählin 1:10 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Zechariah's silence ended with John's birth, as the prophets' riddles end in the Gospel; Christ is the door through which alone God is known. ### Greek text ὁ μὲν Ἰωάννης, ὁ κῆρυξ τοῦ λόγου, ταύτῃ πῃ παρεκάλει ἑτοίμους γίνεσθαι εἰς θεοῦ, τοῦ Χριστοῦ, παρουσίαν, καὶ τοῦτο ἦν ὃ ᾐνίσσετο ἡ Ζαχαρίου σιωπή, ἀναμένουσα τὸν πρόδρομον τοῦ Χριστοῦ καρπόν, ἵνα τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ φῶς, ὁ λόγος, τῶν προφητικῶν αἰνιγμάτων τὴν μυστικὴν ἀπολύσηται σιωπήν, εὐαγγέλιον γενόμενος· σὺ δὲ εἰ ποθεῖς ἰδεῖν ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸν θεόν, καθαρσίων μεταλάμβανε θεοπρεπῶν, οὐ δάφνης πετάλων καὶ ταινιῶν τινων ἐρίῳ καὶ πορφύρᾳ πεποικιλμένων, δικαιοσύνην δὲ ἀναδησάμενος καὶ τῆς ἐγκρατείας τὰ πέταλα περιθέμενος· πολυπραγμόνει Χριστόν· »ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ἡ θύρα,« φησί που· ἣν ἐκμαθεῖν δεῖ νοῆσαι θελήσασι τὸν θεόν, ὅπως ἡμῖν ἀθρόας τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀναπετάσῃ τὰς πύλας· λογικαὶ γὰρ αἱ τοῦ λόγου πύλαι, πίστεως ἀνοιγνύμεναι κλειδί· »θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἔγνω, εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ.« θύραν δὲ εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι τὴν ἀποκεκλεισμένην τέως ὁ ἀνοιγνὺς ὕστερον ἀποκαλύπτει τἄνδον καὶ δείκνυσιν ἃ μηδὲ γνῶναι οἷόν τε ἦν πρότερον, εἰ μὴ διὰ Χριστοῦ πεπορευμένοις, διʼ οὗ μόνου θεὸς ἐποπτεύεται. ### English translation (Claude) John, the herald of the Word, exhorted people in this way to be ready for the coming of God, the Christ; and this was what the silence of Zechariah hinted at, as it waited for the fruit that would go before Christ, so that the light of truth, the Word, might break the mystic silence of the prophetic riddles by becoming the Gospel. But you, if you long to see God truly, take part in purifications worthy of God: not with laurel leaves and fillets embroidered with wool and purple, but crowning yourself with righteousness and wreathing your head with the leaves of self-control; and seek out Christ. “For I am the door,” he says somewhere. Those who wish to know God must learn to know this door, so that he may throw open for us all at once the gates of heaven; for the gates of the Word are gates of reason, opened by the key of faith. “No one knows God except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son reveals him.” And I know well that he who opens the door that has been shut until now afterward reveals what is inside, and shows what could not be known before, except by those who have made their way through Christ, through whom alone God is beheld. ### Scripture references - Luke 1:20: allusion, high confidence - Luke 1:64: allusion, medium confidence - John 10:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:27: quotation, high confidence - John 14:6: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Laurel leaves and woolen fillets were used in pagan purification rites. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/10/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/11/ - Source: Stählin 1:10–11 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The famous oracles (Delphi, Dodona, Ammon, and others) have fallen silent; all divination is madness and deceit. ### Greek text Ἄδυτα τοίνυν ἄθεα μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖτε μηδὲ βαράθρων στόματα τερατείας ἔμπλεα ἢ λέβητα Θεσπρώτιον ἢ τρίποδα Κιρραῖον ἢ Δωδωναῖον χαλκεῖον· γεράνδρυον δὲ ψάμμοις ἐρήμαις τετιμημένον καὶ τὸ αὐτόθι μαντεῖον αὐτῇ δρυῒ μεμαρασμένον μύθοις γεγηρακόσι καταλείψατε. σεσίγηται γοῦν ἡ Κασταλίας πηγὴ καὶ Κολοφῶνος ἄλλη πηγή, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁμοίως τέθνηκε νάματα μαντικὰ καὶ δὴ τοῦ τύφου κενὰ ὀψὲ μέν, ὅμως δʼ οὖν διελήλεγκται τοῖς ἰδίοις συνεκρεύσαντα μύθοις. διήγησαι ἡμῖν καὶ τῆς ἄλλης μαντικῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ μανικῆς, τὰ ἄχρηστα χρηστήρια, τὸν Κλάριον, τὸν Πύθιον, τὸν Διδυμέα, τὸν Ἀμφιάρεω, τὸν † Ἀπόλλω, τὸν Ἀμφίλοχον, εἰ δὲ βούλει, καὶ τερατοσκόπους καὶ οἰωνοσκόπους καὶ τοὺς ὀνείρων κριτὰς ἀνιέρου σὺν αὐτοῖς· στῆσον δὲ ὁμοῦ παρὰ τὸν Πύθιον τοὺς ἀλευρομάντεις ἄγων καὶ κριθομάντεις καὶ τοὺς εἰσέτι παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τετιμημένους ἐγγαστριμύθους· ναὶ μὴν ἄδυτα Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Τυρρηνῶν νεκυομαντεῖαι σκότῳ παραδιδόσθων. μανικὰ ταῦτα ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀνθρώπων ἀπίστων σοφιστήρια καὶ πλάνης ἀκράτου κυβευτήρια· συνέμποροι τῆσδε τῆς γοητείας αἶγες [αἱ] ἐπὶ μαντικὴν ἠσκημέναι καὶ κόρακες ἀνθρώποις χρᾶν ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων διδασκόμενοι. ### English translation (Claude) Do not, then, pry into godless sanctuaries, or into the mouths of chasms full of marvels, or the Thesprotian cauldron, or the Cirrhaean tripod, or the bronze gong of Dodona. Leave the old oak honored in the desert sands, and the oracle there, withered along with the oak itself, to the myths that have grown old. The Castalian spring has fallen silent, and so has the other spring, at Colophon; the other prophetic streams too have died, and, empty of their pretension, have at last, though late, been shown up as having dried up together with their own myths. Tell us of the useless oracles of the rest of that divination, or rather madness: the Clarian, the Pythian, the Didymaean, the oracles of Amphiaraus, of † Apollo, of Amphilochus; and, if you like, put in the same unholy company the readers of portents and the watchers of birds and the interpreters of dreams. Set beside the Pythian those who divine by flour and by barley, and the ventriloquists who are still honored by the many. Yes, let the sanctuaries of the Egyptians and the necromancies of the Etruscans be consigned to darkness. These are truly the mad schools of unbelieving men and the gambling dens of undiluted error. Partners in this sorcery are goats trained for divination, and ravens taught by men to give oracles to men. ### Translation notes - “The old oak in the desert sands” is the oracle of Ammon in the Libyan desert. The dagger (†) marks a word the editor considers corrupt. - “Put in the same unholy company” renders an uncertain phrase (ἀνιέρου σὺν αὐτοῖς). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/11/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/12/ - Source: Stählin 1:11 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement exposes the mysteries: the Bacchic rites with their raw flesh and serpents, and the Eleusinian drama of Demeter and Kore. ### Greek text Τί δʼ εἴ σοι καταλέγοιμι τὰ μυστήρια; οὐκ ἐξορχήσομαι μέν, ὥσπερ Ἀλκιβιάδην λέγουσιν, ἀπογυμνώσω δὲ εὖ μάλα ἀνὰ τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας λόγον τὴν γοητείαν τὴν ἐγκεκρυμμένην αὐτοῖς καὶ αὐτούς γε τοὺς καλουμένους ὑμῶν θεούς, ὧν αἱ τελεταὶ αἱ μυστικαί, οἷον ἐπὶ σκηνῆς τοῦ βίου τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκκυκλήσω θεαταῖς. Διόνυσον μαινόλην ὀργιάζουσι Βάκχοι ὠμοφαγίᾳ τὴν ἱερομανίαν ἄγοντες καὶ τελίσκουσι τὰς κρεονομίας τῶν φόνων ἀνεστεμμένοι τοῖς ὄφεσιν, ἐπολολύζοντες Εὐάν, Εὔαν ἐκείνην, διʼ ἣν ἡ πλάνη παρηκολούθησεν· καὶ σημεῖον ὀργίων βακχικῶν ὄφις ἐστὶ τετελεσμένος. αὐτίκα γοῦν κατὰ τὴν ἀκριβῆ τῶν Ἑβραίων φωνὴν τὸ ὄνομα τὸ Ἕυια δασυνόμενον ἑρμηνεύεται ὄφις ἡ θήλεια· Δηὼ δὲ καὶ Κόρη δρᾶμα ἤδη ἐγενέσθην μυστικόν, καὶ τὴν πλάνην καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν καὶ τὸ πένθος αὐταῖν Ἐλευσὶς δᾳδουχεῖ. ### English translation (Claude) What if I were to go through the mysteries for you? I will not mock them by dancing them out in public, as they say Alcibiades did; but I will strip bare, according to the word of truth, the sorcery hidden in them, and I will wheel out your so-called gods themselves, whose mystic rites these are, as on the stage of life, before the spectators of truth. The Bacchants hold orgies in honor of the frenzied Dionysus, celebrating their sacred madness by eating raw flesh; wreathed with snakes, they complete the sharing out of the flesh of their slaughtered victims, shrieking out “Eua!”, the Eve through whom error came in; and the emblem of the Bacchic orgies is a consecrated serpent. Indeed, according to the precise Hebrew pronunciation, the name “Hevia,” with a rough breathing, means “the female serpent.” Demeter and Kore have become a mystic drama, and Eleusis celebrates with torches their wandering, the abduction, and their grief. ### Translation notes - On the Bacchic cry and the name of Eve, compare Theophilus, Autol. 2.28. The name Eve (Hebrew Ḥawwah) was linked with the Aramaic word for serpent (ḥewya). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/12/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/13/ - Source: Stählin 1:11–12 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement derives “orgies” and “mysteries” from wrath and pollution, and curses the founders of the mystery cults. ### Greek text Καί μοι δοκεῖ τὰ ὄργια καὶ τὰ μυστήρια δεῖν ἐτυμολογεῖν, τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς Δηοῦς τῆς πρὸς Δία γεγενημένης, τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μύσους τοῦ συμβεβηκότος περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ Μυοῦντός τινος Ἀττικοῦ, ὃν ἐν κυνηγίᾳ διαφθαρῆναι Ἀπολλόδωρος λέγει, οὐ φθόνος· ὑμῶν δεδόξασται τὰ μυστήρια ἐπιτυμβίῳ τιμῇ. πάρεστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλως μυθήριά σοι νοεῖν ἀντιστοιχούντων τῶν γραμμάτων τὰ μυστήρια· θηρεύουσι γὰρ εἰ καὶ ἄλλοι τινές, ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ οἱ μῦθοι οἱ τοιοίδε Θρᾳκῶν τοὺς βαρβαρικωτάτους, Φρυγῶν τοὺς ἀνοητοτάτους, Ἑλλήνων τοὺς δεισιδαίμονας. ὄλοιτο οὖν ὁ τῆσδε ἄρξας τῆς ἀπάτης ἀνθρώποις, εἴτε ὁ Δάρδανος, ὁ Μητρὸς θεῶν καταδείξας τὰ μυστήρια, εἴτε Ἠετίων, ὁ τὰ Σαμοθρᾴκων ὄργια καὶ τελετὰς ὑποστησάμενος, εἴτε ὁ Φρὺξ ἐκεῖνος ὁ Μίδας, ὁ παρὰ τοῦ Ὀδρύσου μαθών, ἔπειτα διαδοὺς τοῖς ὑποτεταγμένοις ἔντεχνον ἀπάτην. οὐ γάρ με ὁ Κύπριος ὁ νησιώτης Κινύρας παραπείσαι ποτʼ ἄν, τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην μαχλῶντα ὄργια ἐκ νυκτὸς ἡμέρᾳ παραδοῦναι τολμήσας, φιλοτιμούμενος θειάσαι πόρνην πολίτιδα. Μελάμποδα δὲ τὸν Ἀμυθάονος ἄλλοι φασὶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετακομίσαι τῇ Ἑλλάδι τὰς Δηοῦς ἑορτάς, πένθος ὑμνούμενον. τούτους ἔγωγʼ ἂν ἀρχεκάκους φήσαιμι μύθων ἀθέων καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας ὀλεθρίου πατέρας, σπέρμα κακίας καὶ φθορᾶς ἐγκαταφυτεύσαντας τῷ βίῳ τὰ μυστήρια. ### English translation (Claude) And it seems to me that the orgies and the mysteries should be explained by their derivation: the “orgies” (ὄργια) from the wrath (ὀργή) of Demeter against Zeus, and the “mysteries” (μυστήρια) from the pollution (μύσος) that took place in connection with Dionysus. And if they come from a certain Myous of Attica, who, Apollodorus says, was killed while hunting, I do not grudge you that: your mysteries have been glorified with the honors of a funeral. You may also understand them in another way, as “myth-hunts” (μυθήρια), since the letters correspond; for such myths, if anything does, hunt down the most barbarous of the Thracians, the most senseless of the Phrygians, and the superstitious among the Greeks. Perish, then, whoever began this deceit among human beings: whether Dardanus, who introduced the mysteries of the Mother of the gods, or Eetion, who founded the orgies and rites of the Samothracians, or that Phrygian Midas, who learned the artful deceit from the Odrysian and then passed it on to his subjects. Nor would Cinyras, the Cypriot islander, ever persuade me, who dared to bring the lewd orgies of Aphrodite out of the night into the daylight, in his ambition to make a goddess of a harlot of his own city. Others say that Melampus son of Amythaon brought the festivals of Demeter, a grief celebrated in song, from Egypt to Greece. These I would call the authors of evil, the fathers of godless myths and of deadly superstition, who planted the mysteries in human life as a seed of wickedness and corruption. ### Translation notes - These derivations are word-play, not real etymology. “The Odrysian” is Orpheus. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/13/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/14/ - Source: Stählin 1:12–13 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The rites of Aphrodite, born from the severed genitals of Uranus, give initiates salt and a phallus and take their money like a courtesan. ### Greek text Ἤδη δέ, καὶ γὰρ καιρός, αὐτὰ ὑμῶν τὰ ὄργια ἐξελέγξω ἀπάτης καὶ τερατείας ἔμπλεα. καὶ εἰ μεμύησθε, ἐπιγελάσεσθε μᾶλλον τοῖς μύθοις ὑμῶν τούτοις τοῖς τιμωμένοις. ἀγορεύσω δὲ ἀναφανδὸν τὰ κεκρυμμένα, οὐκ αἰδούμενος λέγειν ἃ προσκυνεῖν οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε. ἡ μὲν οὖν »ἀφρογενής« τε καὶ »κυπρογενής«, ἡ Κινύρᾳ φίλη (τὴν Ἀφροδίτην λέγω, τὴν »φιλομηδέα, ὅτι μηδέων ἐξεφαάνθη,« μηδέων ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποκεκομμένων Οὐρανοῦ, τῶν λάγνων, τῶν μετὰ τὴν τομὴν τὸ κῦμα βεβιασμένων), ὡς ἀσελγῶν ὑμῖν μορίων ἄξιος [Ἀφροδίτη] γίνεται καρπός, ἐν ταῖς τελεταῖς ταύτης τῆς πελαγίας ἡδονῆς τεκμήριον τῆς γονῆς ἁλῶν χόνδρος καὶ φαλλὸς τοῖς μυουμένοις τὴν τέχνην τὴν μοιχικὴν ἐπιδίδοται· νόμισμα δὲ εἰσφέρουσιν αὐτῇ οἱ ### English translation (Claude) Now, for it is time, I will prove that your orgies themselves are full of deceit and marvels. And if you have been initiated, you will laugh all the more at these myths of yours that are held in honor. I will proclaim openly what is hidden, not ashamed to say what you are not ashamed to worship. The “foam-born,” the “Cyprus-born,” the darling of Cinyras (I mean Aphrodite, “lover of genitals, because she sprang from the genitals,” those genitals cut off from Uranus, the lustful ones that, after the cutting, violated the wave): see how fitting a fruit of lewd members [Aphrodite] is born to you! In the rites of this pleasure born of the sea, as a token of her birth, a lump of salt and a phallus are given to those initiated into the art of adultery; and the initiates bring her a coin … ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Theog. 195–200 (Hesiod, Theogony): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The epithets are from Hesiod, Theogony 195–200. The bracketed name is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). - The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/14/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/15/ - Source: Stählin 1:13 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The mysteries of Demeter and of Cybele celebrate incest, bloodshed, and obscenity, as their own secret formulas show. ### Greek text μυούμενοι, ὡς ἑταίρᾳ ἐρασταί. Δηοῦς δὲ μυστήρια [καὶ] Διὸς πρὸς μητέρα Δήμητρα ἀφροδίσιοι συμπλοκαὶ καὶ μῆνις (οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅ τι φῶ λοιπόν, μητρὸς ἢ γυναικός) τῆς Δηοῦς, ἧς δὴ χάριν Βριμὼ προσαγορευθῆναι λέγεται, καὶ ἱκετηρίαι Διὸς καὶ πόμα χολῆς καὶ καρδιουλκίαι καὶ ἀρρητουργίαι· ταὐτὰ οἱ Φρύγες τελίσκουσιν Ἄττιδι καὶ Κυβέλῃ καὶ Κορύβασιν· τεθρυλήκασιν δὲ ὡς ἄρα ἀποσπάσας ὁ Ζεὺς τοῦ κριοῦ τοὺς διδύμους φέρων ἐν μέσοις ἔρριψε τοῖς κόλποις τῆς Δηοῦς, τιμωρίαν ψευδῆ τῆς βιαίας συμπλοκῆς ἐκτιννύων, ὡς ἑαυτὸν δῆθεν ἐκτεμών. τὰ σύμβολα τῆς μυήσεως ταύτης ἐκ περιουσίας παρατεθέντα οἶδʼ ὅτι κινήσει γέλωτα καὶ μὴ γελασείουσιν ὑμῖν διὰ τοὺς ἐλέγχους· »ἐκ τυμπάνου ἔφαγον· ἐκ κυμβάλου ἔπιον· ἐκερνοφόρησα· ὑπὸ τὸν παστὸν ὑπέδυν.« ταῦτα οὐχ ὕβρις τὰ σύμβολα; ### English translation (Claude) … as lovers do to a courtesan. The mysteries of Demeter are Zeus's amorous embraces with his mother Demeter, and the wrath of Demeter (I do not know what else to call her, his mother or his wife), because of which she is said to have been called Brimo; and the supplications of Zeus, and the drink of bile, and the tearing out of hearts, and unspeakable deeds. The Phrygians perform the same rites for Attis and Cybele and the Corybantes. They have spread the tale that Zeus tore off the testicles of a ram and brought them and threw them into Demeter's lap, paying a sham penalty for his violent embrace, as though he had castrated himself. The tokens of this initiation, set out here for good measure, will, I know, move you to laughter even if you are not inclined to laugh, since they expose you: “I ate from the drum; I drank from the cymbal; I carried the sacred dish; I slipped into the bridal chamber.” Are not these tokens an outrage? ### Translation notes - The initiation formula (“I ate from the drum …”) is one of the few surviving passwords of the mysteries; it belongs to the cult of Cybele (or of Demeter as Mother). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/15/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/16/ - Source: Stählin 1:13–14 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The myths behind the mysteries tell of Zeus's incest with Demeter and Persephone in the form of a serpent, recalled in the Sabazian rites. ### Greek text οὐ χλεύη τὰ μυστήρια; τί δʼ εἰ καὶ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα προσθείην; κυεῖ μὲν ἡ Δημήτηρ, ἀνατρέφεται δὲ ἡ Κόρη, μίγνυται δʼ αὖθις ὁ γεννήσας οὑτοσὶ Ζεὺς τῇ Φερεφάττῃ, τῇ ἰδίᾳ θυγατρί, μετὰ τὴν μητέρα τὴν Δηώ, ἐκλαθόμενος τοῦ προτέρου μύσους [πατὴρ καὶ φθορεὺς κόρης ὁ Ζεύς] καὶ μίγνυται δράκων γενόμενος, ὅς ἦν, ἐλεγχθείς. Σαβαζίων γοῦν μυστηρίων σύμβολον τοῖς μυουμένοις ὁ διὰ κόλπου θεός· δράκων δέ ἐστιν οὗτος, διελκόμενος τοῦ κόλπου τῶν τελουμένων, ἔλεγχος ἀκρασίας Διός. κυεῖ καὶ ἡ Φερέφαττα παῖδα ταυρόμορφον· ἀμέλει, φησί τις ποιητὴς εἰδωλικός, ταῦρος δράκοντος καὶ πατὴρ ταύρου δράκων, ἐν ὄρει τὸ κρύφιον, βουκόλος, τὸ κέντρον, βουκολικόν, οἶμαι, κέντρον τὸν νάρθηκα ἐπικαλῶν, ὃν δὴ ἀναστέφουσιν ### English translation (Claude) Are not the mysteries a mockery? What if I were to add the rest? Demeter conceives, Kore is reared, and this same Zeus who fathered her has intercourse again, with Persephone, his own daughter, after her mother Demeter, forgetting his earlier pollution [Zeus, the father and seducer of the girl]; and he has intercourse with her in the form of a serpent, exposed as what he really was. So in the Sabazian mysteries the token given to the initiates is “the god through the bosom”: this is a serpent, drawn through the bosom of the initiates, a proof of the incontinence of Zeus. Persephone too bears a child in the shape of a bull. Indeed, as a certain idolatrous poet says: “The bull is father of the serpent, and the serpent father of the bull; on the mountain the hidden thing, the herdsman's goad”; by the herdsman's goad, I think, he means the fennel stalk that the Bacchants wreathe. ### Translation notes - The bracketed words are marked by the editor as a gloss. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/16/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/17/ - Source: Stählin 1:14 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Eleusinian festivals re-enact the abduction of Persephone; the Dionysian mysteries recall the infant Dionysus torn apart by the Titans. ### Greek text οἱ βάκχοι. βούλει καὶ τὰ Φερεφάττης ἀνθολόγια διηγήσωμαί σοι καὶ τὸν κάλαθον καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τὴν ὑπὸ Ἀιδωνέως καὶ τὸ χάσμα τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰς ὗς τὰς Εὐβουλέως τὰς συγκαταποθείσας ταῖν θεαῖν, διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν ἐν τοῖς Θεσμοφορίοις μεγαρίζοντες χοίρους ἐμβάλλουσιν; ταύτην τὴν μυθολογίαν αἱ γυναῖκες ποικίλως κατὰ πόλιν ἑορτάζουσι, Θεσμοφόρια, Σκιροφόρια, Ἀρρητοφόρια, πολυτρόπως τὴν Φερεφάττης ἐκτραγῳδοῦσαι ἁρπαγήν. τὰ γὰρ Διονύσου μυστήρια τέλεον ἀπάνθρωπα· ὃν εἰσέτι παῖδα ὄντα ἐνόπλῳ κινήσει περιχορευόντων Κουρήτων, δόλῳ δὲ ὑποδύντων Τιτάνων, ἀπατήσαντες παιδαριώδεσιν ἀθύρμασιν, οὗτοι δὴ οἱ Τιτᾶνες διέσπασαν, ἔτι νηπίαχον ὄντα, ὡς ὁ τῆς Τελετῆς ποιητὴς Ὀρφεύς φησιν ὁ Θρᾴκιος· κῶνος καὶ ῥόμβος καὶ παίγνια καμπεσίγυια, μῆλά τε χρύσεα καλὰ παρʼ Ἑσπερίδων λιγυφώνων. ### English translation (Claude) Shall I tell you of Persephone's flower-gathering, and the basket, and the abduction by Aidoneus, and the chasm in the earth, and the swine of Eubuleus that were swallowed up with the two goddesses, the reason why at the Thesmophoria the women throw pigs into the sacred pits? The women celebrate this myth in various ways in the different cities, in the Thesmophoria, the Scirophoria, and the Arrhetophoria, turning the abduction of Persephone into tragedy in many forms. And the mysteries of Dionysus are utterly inhuman. When he was still a child, the Curetes were dancing around him in armed motion, but the Titans crept in by guile, deceived him with childish toys, and tore him apart while he was still an infant, as the poet of the Initiation, Orpheus the Thracian, says: “Top, and bull-roarer, and dolls with jointed limbs, and fair golden apples from the clear-voiced Hesperides.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The lines are from the Orphic poems (fragment 34 Kern). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/17/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/18/ - Source: Stählin 1:14–15 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The tokens of the Dionysian rite recall how the Titans boiled and roasted the infant god, and how Zeus had Apollo bury his remains. ### Greek text καὶ τῆσδε ὑμῖν τῆς τελετῆς τὰ ἀχρεῖα σύμβολα οὐκ ἀχρεῖον εἰς κατάγνωσιν παραθέσθαι· ἀστράγαλος, σφαῖρα, στρόβιλος, μῆλα, ῥόμβος, ἔσοπτρον, πόκος. Ἀθηνᾶ μὲν οὖν τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ Διονύσου ὑφελομένη Παλλὰς ἐκ τοῦ πάλλειν τὴν καρδίαν προσηγορεύθη· οἱ δὲ Τιτᾶνες, οἱ καὶ διασπάσαντες αὐτόν, λέβητά τινα τρίποδι ἐπιθέντες καὶ τοῦ Διονύσου ἐμβαλόντες τὰ μέλη, καθήψουν πρότερον· ἔπειτα ὀβελίσκοις περιπείραντες »ὑπείρεχον Ἡφαίστοιο.« Ζεὺς δὲ ὕστερον ἐπιφανείς (εἰ θεὸς ἦν, τάχα που τῆς κνίσης τῶν ὀπτωμένων κρεῶν μεταλαβών, ἧς δὴ τὸ »γέρας λαχεῖν« ὁμολογοῦσιν ὑμῶν οἱ θεοί) κεραυνῷ τοὺς Τιτᾶνας αἰκίζεται καὶ τὰ μέλη τοῦ Διονύσου Ἀπόλλωνι τῷ παιδὶ παρακατατίθεται καταθάψαι. ὃ δέ, οὐ γὰρ ἠπείθησε Διί, εἰς τὸν Παρνασσὸν φέρων κατατίθεται διεσπασμένον τὸν νεκρόν. ### English translation (Claude) And it is not useless to set before you, for your condemnation, the useless tokens of this rite: a knucklebone, a ball, a spinning top, apples, a bull-roarer, a mirror, a fleece. Athena stole away the heart of Dionysus and was called Pallas from the throbbing (πάλλειν) of the heart. The Titans, who had torn him apart, set a cauldron on a tripod, threw in the limbs of Dionysus, and first boiled them; then they pierced them with spits and “held them over Hephaestus.” Later Zeus appeared (if he was a god, no doubt he had his share of the smell of the roasting flesh, which your gods admit is “the privilege allotted” to them), struck the Titans with the thunderbolt, and entrusted the limbs of Dionysus to his son Apollo to bury. Apollo, not disobeying Zeus, carried the dismembered corpse to Parnassus and laid it there. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 2.426 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 4.49 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Held them over Hephaestus” (the fire) is a Homeric phrase (Iliad 2.426); “the privilege allotted” echoes Iliad 4.49. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/18/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/19/ - Source: Stählin 1:15 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Corybantic and Cabiric mysteries commemorate a fratricide and the worship of Dionysus's severed genitals. ### Greek text Εἰ θέλεις δʼ ἐποπτεῦσαι καὶ Κορυβάντων ὄργια, τὸν τρίτον ἀδελφὸν ἀποκτείναντες οὗτοι τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ νεκροῦ φοινικίδι ἐπεκαλυψάτην καὶ καταστέψαντε ἐθαψάτην, φέροντες ἐπὶ χαλκῆς ἀσπίδος ὑπὸ τὰς ὑπωρείας τοῦ Ὀλύμπου. καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔστι τὰ μυστήρια, συνελόντι φάναι, φόνοι καὶ τάφοι· οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς οἱ τῶνδε, οὓς Ἀνακτοτελεστὰς οἷς μέλον καλεῖν καλοῦσι, προσεπιτερατεύονται τῇ συμφορᾷ, ὁλόριζον ἀπαγορεύοντες σέλινον ἐπὶ τραπέζης τιθέναι· οἴονται γὰρ δὴ ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἀπορρυέντος τοῦ Κορυβαντικοῦ τὸ σέλινον ἐκπεφυκέναι· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ αἱ θεσμοφοριάζουσαι τῆς ῥοιᾶς τοὺς κόκκους παραφυλάττουσιν ἐσθίειν τοὺς ἀποπεπτωκότας χαμαί, ἐκ τῶν τοῦ Διονύσου αἵματος σταγόνων βεβλαστηκέναι νομίζουσαι τὰς ῥοιάς. Καβείρους δὲ τοὺς Κορύβαντας καλοῦντες καὶ τελετὴν Καβειρικὴν καταγγέλλουσιν· αὐτὼ γὰρ δὴ τούτω τὼ ἀδελφοκτόνω τὴν κίστην ἀνελομένω, ἐν ᾗ τὸ τοῦ Διονύσου αἰδοῖον ἀπέκειτο, εἰς Τυρρηνίαν κατήγαγον, εὐκλεοῦς ἔμποροι φορτίου· κἀνταῦθα διετριβέτην, φυγάδε ὄντε, τὴν πολυτίμητον εὐσεβείας διδασκαλίαν, αἰδοῖα καὶ κίστην, θρῃσκεύειν παραθεμένω Τυρρηνοῖς. διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἀπεικότως τὸν Διόνυσόν τινες Ἄττιν προσαγορεύεσθαι θέλουσιν, αἰδοίων ἐστερημένον. ### English translation (Claude) If you wish to look also on the orgies of the Corybantes: two of them killed their third brother, covered the head of the corpse with a purple cloth, crowned it, and buried it, carrying it on a bronze shield to the foot of Mount Olympus. And these, in short, are the mysteries: murders and tombs. Their priests, whom those who care to call them so call “Anactotelestae,” add a further marvel to the calamity by forbidding parsley with its root to be put on the table; for they believe that parsley grew from the blood that flowed from the Corybant, just as the women celebrating the Thesmophoria take care not to eat pomegranate seeds that have fallen to the ground, believing that pomegranates sprang from the drops of the blood of Dionysus. They also call the Corybantes Cabiri and proclaim a Cabiric rite. For these two fratricides took up the chest in which the genitals of Dionysus were kept and brought it to Etruria, merchants of a glorious cargo; and there they lived as exiles, handing on to the Etruscans the precious teaching of piety, genitals and a chest, to be worshiped. For this reason some, not unreasonably, would have Dionysus called Attis, since he was deprived of his genitals. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/19/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/20/ - Source: Stählin 1:15–16 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Eleusinian myth tells how the grieving Demeter was received at Eleusis and cheered by Baubo's obscene gesture. ### Greek text Καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ Τυρρηνοὶ οἱ βάρβαροι αἰσχροῖς οὕτως τελίσκονται παθήμασιν, ὅπου γε Ἀθηναίοις καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ Ἑλλάδι, αἰδοῦμαι καὶ λέγειν, αἰσχύνης ἔμπλεως ἡ περὶ τὴν Δηὼ μυθολογία; ἀλωμένη γὰρ ἡ Δηὼ κατὰ ζήτησιν τῆς θυγατρὸς τῆς Κόρης περὶ τὴν Ἐλευσῖνα (τῆς Ἀττικῆς δέ ἐστι τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον) ἀποκάμνει καὶ φρέατι ἐπικαθίζει λυπουμένη. τοῦτο τοῖς μυουμένοις ἀπαγορεύεται εἰσέτι νῦν, ἵνα μὴ δοκοῖεν οἱ τετελεσμένοι μιμεῖσθαι τὴν ὀδυρομένην. ᾤκουν δὲ τηνικάδε τὴν Ἐλευσῖνα οἱ γηγενεῖς· ὀνόματα αὐτοῖς Βαυβὼ καὶ Δυσαύλης καὶ Τριπτόλεμος, ἔτι δὲ Εὔμολπός τε καὶ Εὐβουλεύς· βουκόλος ὁ Τριπτόλεμος ἦν, ποιμὴν δὲ ὁ Εὔμολπος, συβώτης δὲ ὁ Εὐβουλεύς· ἀφʼ ὧν τὸ Εὐμολπιδῶν καὶ τὸ Κηρύκων τὸ ἱεροφαντικὸν δὴ τοῦτο Ἀθήνησι γένος ἤνθησεν. καὶ δὴ (οὐ γὰρ ἀνήσω μὴ οὐχὶ εἰπεῖν) ξενίσασα ἡ Βαυβὼ τὴν Δηὼ ὀρέγει κυκεῶνα αὐτῇ· τῆς δὲ ἀναινομένης λαβεῖν καὶ πιεῖν οὐκ ἐθελούσης (πενθήρης γὰρ ἦν) περιαλγὴς ἡ Βαυβὼ γενομένη, ὡς ὑπεροραθεῖσα δῆθεν, ἀναστέλλεται τὰ αἰδοῖα καὶ ἐπιδεικνύει τῇ θεῷ· ἣ δὲ τέρπεται τῇ ὄψει ἡ Δηὼ καὶ ### English translation (Claude) And what wonder is it if the barbarian Etruscans are initiated into such shameful sufferings, when among the Athenians and the rest of Greece (I am ashamed even to say it) the myth of Demeter is full of shame? Demeter, wandering around Eleusis (this place is in Attica) in search of her daughter Kore, grows weary and sits down by a well in her grief. This is forbidden to the initiates even now, so that those who have been initiated may not seem to imitate the mourning goddess. At that time the earthborn lived at Eleusis; their names were Baubo and Dysaules and Triptolemus, and also Eumolpus and Eubuleus. Triptolemus was a cowherd, Eumolpus a shepherd, and Eubuleus a swineherd; from them sprang the hierophantic clans of the Eumolpidae and the Ceryces at Athens. And (for I will not refrain from saying it) Baubo, having received Demeter as her guest, offers her a potion; when she refuses to take it and will not drink (for she was in mourning), Baubo, deeply hurt, as though she had been slighted, uncovers her private parts and shows them to the goddess; and Demeter is delighted at the sight and … ### Translation notes - The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/20/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/21/ - Source: Stählin 1:16 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Orpheus's own verses and the Eleusinian password bear witness to the obscenity of the Athenian mysteries. ### Greek text μόλις ποτὲ δέχεται τὸ ποτόν, ἡσθεῖσα τῷ θεάματι. ταῦτʼ ἔστι τὰ κρύφια τῶν Ἀθηναίων μυστήρια. ταῦτά τοι καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ἀναγράφει. παραθήσομαι δέ σοι αὐτὰ τοῦ Ὀρφέως τὰ ἔπη, ἵνʼ ἔχῃς μάρτυρα τῆς ἀναισχυντίας τὸν μυσταγωγόν· ὣς εἰποῦσα πέπλους ἀνεσύρετο, δεῖξε δὲ πάντα σώματος οὐδὲ πρέποντα τύπον· παῖς δʼ ἦεν Ἴακχος, χειρί τέ μιν ῥίπτασκε γελῶν Βαυβοῦς ὑπὸ κόλποις· ἡ δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν μείδησε θεά, μείδησʼ ἐνὶ θυμῷ, δέξατο δʼ αἰόλον ἄγγος, ἐν ᾧ κυκεὼν ἐνέκειτο. κἄστι τὸ σύνθημα Ἐλευσινίων μυστηρίων· »ἐνήστευσα, ἔπιον τὸν κυκεῶνα, ἔλαβον ἐκ κίστης, ἐργασάμενος ἀπεθέμην εἰς κάλαθον καὶ ἐκ καλάθου εἰς κίστην.« καλά γε τὰ θεάματα καὶ θεᾷ πρέποντα. ### English translation (Claude) … at last accepts the drink, pleased by the spectacle. These are the secret mysteries of the Athenians. Orpheus too records them, and I will set before you the very verses of Orpheus, so that you may have the leader of the mysteries himself as witness to their shamelessness: “So saying, she drew up her robes and showed all her body, a shape unseemly; the child Iacchus was there, and laughing he kept tossing his hand beneath Baubo's bosom. And when the goddess smiled, she smiled in her heart, and accepted the gleaming cup in which the potion lay.” And the password of the Eleusinian mysteries is this: “I fasted, I drank the potion, I took from the chest, and having done the work I put it into the basket, and from the basket into the chest.” Fine sights indeed, and fit for a goddess! ### Extrabiblical texts - Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Eleusinian password (σύνθημα) is preserved only here; its exact meaning is still debated. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/21/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/22/ - Source: Stählin 1:16–17 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Heraclitus threatened the initiates with fire; the contents of the mystic chests and the torch-lit night rites show their shamelessness. ### Greek text ἄξια μὲν οὖν νυκτὸς τὰ τελέσματα καὶ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ »μεγαλήτορος«, μᾶλλον δὲ ματαιόφρονος Ἐρεχθειδῶν δήμου, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων, οὕστινας »μένει τελευτήσαντας ἅσσα οὐδὲ ἔλπονται.« τίσι δὴ μαντεύεται Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἐφέσιος; »νυκτιπόλοις, μάγοις, βάκχοις, λήναις, μύσταις,« τούτοις ἀπειλεῖ τὰ μετὰ θάνατον, τούτοις μαντεύεται τὸ πῦρ· »τὰ γὰρ νομιζόμενα κατὰ ἀνθρώπους μυστήρια ἀνιερωστὶ μυοῦνται.« νόμος οὖν καὶ ὑπόληψις κενὴ τὰ μυστήρια καὶ τοῦ δράκοντος ἀπάτη τίς ἐστιν θρῃσκευομένη, τὰς ἀμυήτους ὄντως μυήσεις καὶ τὰς ἀνοργιάστους τελετὰς εὐσεβείᾳ νόθῳ προστρεπομένων. οἷαι δὲ καὶ αἱ κίσται αἱ μυστικαί· δεῖ γὰρ ἀπογυμνῶσαι τὰ ἅγια αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἄρρητα ἐξειπεῖν. οὐ σησαμαῖ ταῦτα καὶ πυραμίδες καὶ τολύπαι καὶ πόπανα πολυόμφαλα χόνδροι τε ἁλῶν καὶ δράκων, ὄργιον Διονύσου Βασσάρου; οὐχὶ δὲ ῥοιαὶ πρὸς τοῖσδε καὶ κράδαι νάρθηκές τε καὶ κιττοί, πρὸς δὲ καὶ φθοῖς καὶ μήκωνες; ταῦτʼ ἔστιν αὐτῶν τὰ ἅγια. καὶ προσέτι Γῆς Θέμιδος τὰ ἀπόρρητα σύμβολα ὀρίγανον, λύχνος, ξίφος, κτεὶς γυναικεῖος, ὅς ἐστιν, εὐφήμως καὶ μυστικῶς εἰπεῖν, μόριον γυναικεῖον. ὢ τῆς ἐμφανοῦς ἀναισχυντίας. πάλαι μὲν ἀνθρώποις σωφρονοῦσιν ἐπικάλυμμα ἡδονῆς νὺξ ἦν σιωπωμένη· νυνὶ δὲ τοῖς μυουμένοις πεῖρα τῆς ἀκρασίας νύξ ἐστι λαλουμένη, καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐλέγχει τὰ πάθη δᾳδουχούμενον. ἀπόσβεσον, ὦ ἱεροφάντα, τὸ πῦρ· αἰδέσθητι, δᾳδοῦχε, τὰς λαμπάδας· ἐλέγχει σου τὸν Ἴακχον τὸ φῶς· ἐπίτρεψον ἀποκρύψαι τῇ νυκτὶ τὰ μυστήρια· σκότει τετιμήσθω τὰ ὄργια· τὸ πῦρ οὐχ ὑποκρίνεται. ἐλέγχειν καὶ κολάζειν κελεύεται. ### English translation (Claude) These rites, then, are worthy of night and fire, and of the “great-hearted,” or rather empty-headed, people of the Erechtheids, and of the other Greeks too, “for whom there wait, when they die, things they do not expect.” Against whom does Heraclitus of Ephesus prophesy? “Night-roamers, magi, Bacchants, Lenaean women, initiates”: these he threatens with what comes after death, to these he prophesies the fire; “for the mysteries that are customary among men are celebrated in an unholy way.” The mysteries, then, are mere custom and empty opinion, and a deceit of the serpent that is worshiped, when people turn with a counterfeit piety to initiations that are really no initiations and rites that are no rites. And what are the mystic chests like? For I must strip bare their holy things and speak out what is not to be spoken. Are they not sesame cakes, pyramids, balls of wool, cakes with many knobs, lumps of salt, and a serpent, the sacred emblem of Dionysus Bassareus? And besides these, pomegranates, fig branches, fennel stalks, ivy, and also round cakes and poppies? These are their holy things. And further, the secret emblems of Themis, the Earth: marjoram, a lamp, a sword, and a woman's comb, which is, to put it euphemistically and in the language of the mysteries, a woman's private part. What open shamelessness! Once night was a silent veil for the pleasures of the self-controlled; now for the initiates night is a much-talked-of trial of incontinence, and the fire, carried in torches, exposes their passions. Put out the fire, hierophant; torchbearer, have some respect for the torches; the light exposes your Iacchus. Let night hide the mysteries; let the orgies be honored in darkness. The fire does not play a part; it is ordered to convict and to punish. ### Translation notes - The Heraclitus quotations are fragments 27 and 14 (Diels–Kranz). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/22/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/23/ - Source: Stählin 1:17–18 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Those who worship such gods are doubly godless: they do not know the true God and they worship beings that do not exist. ### Greek text Ταῦτα τῶν ἀθέων τὰ μυστήρια· ἀθέους δὲ εἰκότως ἀποκαλῶ τούτους, οἳ τὸν ὄντως ὄντα θεὸν ἠγνοήκασιν, παιδίον δὲ ὑπὸ Τιτάνων διασπώμενον καὶ γύναιον πενθοῦν καὶ μόρια ἄρρητα ὡς ἀληθῶς ὑπʼ αἰσχύνης ἀναισχύντως σέβουσιν, διττῇ ἐνεσχημένοι τῇ ἀθεότητι, προτέρᾳ μέν, καθʼ ἣν ἀγνοοῦσι τὸν θεόν, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα μὴ γνωρίζοντες θεόν, ἑτέρᾳ δὲ καὶ δευτέρᾳ δὴ ταύτῃ τῇ πλάνῃ τοὺς οὐκ ὄντας ὡς ὄντας νομίζοντες καὶ θεοὺς τούτους ὀνομάζοντες τοὺς οὐκ ὄντως ὄντας, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ὄντας, μόνου δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τετυχηκότας. διὰ τοῦτό τοι καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος διελέγχει ἡμᾶς »καὶ ἦτε ξένοι« λέγων »τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ.« ### English translation (Claude) These are the mysteries of the godless. And I rightly call godless those who do not know the God who truly is, but shamelessly worship a child torn apart by Titans, a grieving woman, and parts that are truly unspeakable for shame. They are caught in a double godlessness: first, that they do not know God, failing to recognize the God who truly is; and second, this further error, that they consider as existing beings that do not exist, and call gods those who do not truly exist, or rather do not exist at all, but have received only the name. That is why the apostle convicts us too, saying: “You were strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” ### Scripture references - Eph 2:12: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/23/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/24/ - Source: Stählin 1:18 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The so-called atheists of Greece, like Diagoras, at least saw through the error of the pagan gods, a first spark of wisdom. ### Greek text Πολλὰ κἀγαθὰ γένοιτο τῷ τῶν Σκυθῶν βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ποτὲ ἦν [Ἀνάχαρσις]. οὗτος τὸν πολίτην τὸν ἑαυτοῦ, τὴν παρὰ Κυζικηνοῖς μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν τελετὴν ἀπομιμούμενον παρὰ Σκύθαις τύμπανόν τε ἐπικτυποῦντα καὶ κύμβαλον ἐπηχοῦντα καὶ τοῦ τραχήλου τινὰ μηναγύρτην ἐξηρτημένον, κατετόξευσεν, ὡς ἄνανδρον αὐτόν τε παρʼ Ἕλλησι γεγενημένον καὶ τῆς θηλείας τοῖς ἄλλοις Σκυθῶν διδάσκαλον νόσου. ὧν δὴ χάριν (οὐ γὰρ οὐδαμῶς ἀποκρυπτέον) θαυμάζειν ἔπεισί μοι ὅτῳ τρόπῳ Εὐήμερον τὸν Ἀκραγαντῖνον καὶ Νικάνορα τὸν Κύπριον καὶ Διαγόραν καὶ Ἵππωνα τὼ Μηλίω τόν τε Κυρηναῖον ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐκεῖνον ([ὁ] Θεόδωρος ὄνομα αὐτῷ) καί τινας ἄλλους συχνούς, σωφρόνως βεβιωκότας καὶ καθεωρακότας ὀξύτερόν που τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἀμφὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους πλάνην, ἀθέους ἐπικεκλήκασιν, εἰ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐτὴν μὴ νενοηκότας, ἀλλὰ τὴν πλάνην γε ὑπωπτευκότας, ὅπερ οὐ σμικρὸν εἰς ἀλήθειαν φρονήσεως ζώπυρον ἀναφύεται σπέρμα· ὧν ὃ μέν τις παρεγγυᾷ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, »εἰ θεοὺς νομίζετε, μὴ θρηνεῖτε αὐτοὺς μηδὲ κόπτεσθε· εἰ δὲ πενθεῖτε αὐτούς, μηκέτι τούτους ἡγεῖσθε εἶναι θεούς,« ὃ δʼ Ἡρακλέα ἐκ ξύλου λαβὼν κατεσκευασμένον (ἔτυχε δὲ ἕψων τι οἴκοι, οἷα εἰκός) »εἶα δή, ὦ Ἡράκλεις«, εἶπεν· »νῦν σοι ἤδη καιρός, ὥσπερ Εὐρυσθεῖ, ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ ἡμῖν ὑπουργῆσαι τὸν τρισκαιδέκατον τοῦτον ἆθλον καὶ Διαγόρᾳ τοὔψον παρασκευάσαι«, »κἆτʼ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐνέθηκεν ὡς ξύλον.« ### English translation (Claude) May many blessings come to the king of the Scythians, whoever he was [Anacharsis]! When one of his fellow citizens was imitating among the Scythians the rite of the Mother of the gods practiced at Cyzicus, beating a drum, clanging a cymbal, and hung about the neck with images like a begging priest of the goddess, the king shot him dead with arrows, as one who had become unmanly among the Greeks and was teaching the other Scythians the effeminate disease. For this reason (it must not be concealed) I am led to wonder how Euhemerus of Acragas, Nicanor of Cyprus, Diagoras and Hippo of Melos, and besides these that Cyrenian (Theodorus was his name), and many others, came to be called atheists. They lived temperate lives and saw more sharply than the rest of humankind the error about these gods; and even if they did not perceive the truth itself, they at least suspected the error, which is no small seed, springing up as a living spark of wisdom toward the truth. One of them charges the Egyptians: “If you believe they are gods, do not lament them or beat your breasts for them; but if you mourn them, stop thinking them gods.” Another took a Heracles made of wood (he happened to be cooking something at home, as one does) and said: “Come now, Heracles: now is your chance to perform for us, as you did for Eurystheus, this thirteenth labor, and cook Diagoras's dinner”; and then he put him into the fire like a piece of wood. ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.76 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The story of the Scythian king is in Herodotus 4.76 (where the offender is Anacharsis himself; the bracketed name is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted)). The saying to the Egyptians was attributed to Xenophanes. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/24/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/25/ - Source: Stählin 1:18–19 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Atheism and superstition are both ignorance; yet an innate kinship with heaven breaks through in some of the poets. ### Greek text Ἀκρότητες ἄρα ἀμαθίας ἀθεότης καὶ δεισιδαιμονία, ὧν ἐκτὸς μένειν σπουδαστέον. οὐχ ὁρᾷς τὸν ἱεροφάντην τῆς ἀληθείας Μωσέα προστάττοντα θλαδίαν καὶ ἀποκεκομμένον μὴ ἐκκλησιάζειν, καὶ προσέτι τὸν ἐκ πόρνης; αἰνίττεται δὲ διὰ μὲν τῶν προτέρων τὸν ἄθεον τρόπον τὸν τῆς θείας καὶ γονίμου δυνάμεως ἐστερημένον, διὰ δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ τοῦ τρίτου τὸν πολλοὺς ἐπιγραφόμενον ψευδωνύμους θεοὺς ἀντὶ τοῦ μόνου ὄντος θεοῦ, ὥσπερ ὁ ἐκ τῆς πόρνης τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπιγράφεται πατέρας ἀγνοίᾳ τοῦ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν πατρός. ἦν δέ τις ἔμφυτος ἀρχαία πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνθρώποις κοινωνία, ἀγνοίᾳ μὲν ἐσκοτισμένη, ἄφνω δέ που διεκθρῴσκουσα τοῦ σκότους καὶ ἀναλάμπουσα, οἷον δὴ ἐκεῖνο λέλεκταί τινι τὸ ὁρᾷς τὸν ὑψοῦ τόνδʼ ἄπειρον αἰθέρα καὶ γῆν πέριξ ἔχονθʼ ὑγραῖς ἐν ἀγκάλαις; καὶ τὸ ὦ γῆς ὄχημα κἀπὶ γῆς ἔχων ἕδραν, ὅστις ποτʼ εἶ σύ, δυστόπαστος εἰσιδεῖν, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ποιητῶν ᾄδουσι παῖδες. ### English translation (Claude) Atheism and superstition, then, are the two extremes of ignorance, and we must make every effort to keep clear of both. Do you not see Moses, the hierophant of the truth, commanding that one who is crushed or castrated shall not enter the assembly, nor the son of a harlot? By the first two he hints at the godless way of life, deprived of divine and fruitful power; and by the third, the one who claims many falsely named gods instead of the only God who is, just as the son of a harlot claims many fathers because he does not know his true father. Yet there was in human beings an innate and ancient fellowship with heaven, darkened by ignorance, but at times suddenly leaping out of the darkness and shining forth, as in the saying of one poet: “Do you see this boundless ether on high, which holds the earth around in its moist embrace?” and “O you who carry the earth and have your seat upon the earth, whoever you are, hard to guess and to behold,” and all the other sayings of this kind that the sons of the poets sing. ### Scripture references - Deut 23:1: allusion, high confidence - Deut 23:2: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Tro. 884–886 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Moses's law is Deut 23:1–2 (in the Septuagint). The verses are from Euripides (fragment 941; Trojan Women 884–886). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/25/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/26/ - Source: Stählin 1:19–20 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement lists seven ways in which the gods were invented: from the stars, crops, punishments, passions, abstractions, the poets' genealogies, and benefactors. ### Greek text ἔννοιαι δὲ ἡμαρτημέναι καὶ παρηγμέναι τῆς εὐθείας, ὀλέθριαι ὡς ἀληθῶς, τὸ οὐράνιον φυτόν, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐρανίου ἐξέτρεψαν διαίτης καὶ ἐξετάνυσαν ἐπὶ γῆς, γηΐνοις προσανέχειν ἀναπείσασαι πλάσμασιν. οἳ μὲν γὰρ εὐθέως ἀμφὶ τὴν οὐρανοῦ θέαν ἀπατώμενοι καὶ ὄψει μόνῃ πεπιστευκότες τῶν ἀστέρων τὰς κινήσεις ἐπιθεώμενοι ἐθαύμασάν τε καὶ ἐξεθείασαν, θεοὺς ἐκ τοῦ θεῖν ὀνομάσαντες τοὺς ἀστέρας, καὶ προσεκύνησαν ἥλιον, ὡς Ἰνδοί, καὶ σελήνην, ὡς Φρύγες· οἳ δὲ τῶν ἐκ γῆς φυομένων τοὺς ἡμέρους δρεπόμενοι καρποὺς Δηὼ τὸν σῖτον, ὡς Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ Διόνυσον τὴν ἄμπελον, ὡς Θηβαῖοι, προσηγόρευσαν. ἄλλοι τὰς ἀμοιβὰς τῆς κακίας ἐπισκοπήσαντες θεοποιοῦσι τὰς ἀντιδόσεις προσκυνοῦντες καὶ τὰς συμφοράς. ἐντεῦθεν τὰς Ἐρινύας καὶ τὰς Εὐμενίδας Παλαμναίους τε καὶ Προστροπαίους, ἔτι δὲ Ἀλάστορας ἀναπεπλάκασιν οἱ ἀμφὶ τὴν σκηνὴν ποιηταί. φιλοσόφων δὲ ἤδη τινὲς καὶ αὐτοὶ μετὰ τοὺς ποιητικοὺς τῶν ἐν ὑμῖν παθῶν ἀνειδωλοποιοῦσι τύπους τὸν Φόβον καὶ τὸν Ἔρωτα καὶ τὴν Χαρὰν καὶ τὴν Ἐλπίδα, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ Ἐπιμενίδης ὁ παλαιὸς Ὕβρεως καὶ Ἀναιδείας Ἀθήνησιν ἀναστήσας βωμούς· οἳ δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁρμώμενοι τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκθεοῦνται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ σωματικῶς ἀναπλάττονται, Δίκη τις καὶ Κλωθὼ καὶ Λάχεσις καὶ Ἄτροπος καὶ Εἱμαρμένη, Αὐξώ τε καὶ Θαλλώ, αἱ Ἀττικαί. ἕκτος ἐστὶν εἰσηγητικὸς τρόπος ἀπάτης θεῶν περιποιητικός, καθʼ ὃν ἀριθμοῦσι θεοὺς τοὺς δώδεκα· ὧν καὶ θεογονίαν Ἡσίοδος ᾄδει τὴν αὑτοῦ, καὶ ὅσα θεολογεῖ Ὅμηρος. τελευταῖος δὲ ὑπολείπεται (ἑπτὰ γὰρ οἱ ἅπαντες οὗτοι τρόποι) ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς θείας εὐεργεσίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταγινομένης ὁρμώμενος. τὸν γὰρ εὐεργετοῦντα μὴ συνιέντες θεὸν ἀνέπλασάν τινας σωτῆρας Διοσκούρους καὶ Ἡρακλέα ἀλεξίκακον καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν ἰατρόν. ### English translation (Claude) But ideas that went astray and turned aside from the straight path, truly deadly ideas, turned the heavenly plant, the human being, away from his heavenly way of life and stretched him out on the ground, persuading him to cling to earthly figments. Some, deceived at once by the sight of the heavens and trusting in sight alone, watched the movements of the stars, admired them and made gods of them, calling the stars gods (θεοί) from their running (θεῖν); and they worshiped the sun, as the Indians do, and the moon, as the Phrygians do. Others, gathering the cultivated fruits of what grows from the earth, called the grain Demeter, as the Athenians do, and the vine Dionysus, as the Thebans do. Others, observing the requitals of wickedness, make gods of retributions and worship calamities. Hence the poets of the stage have invented the Erinyes and the Eumenides, the Avengers of blood and the Avengers of suppliants, and also the Alastores. Some of the philosophers too, following the poets, make idols of the forms of your passions, Fear and Love and Joy and Hope; just as old Epimenides set up altars at Athens to Insolence and Shamelessness. Others, starting from actual things, are made gods for human beings and fashioned in bodily form: a certain Justice, and Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and Fate, and Auxo and Thallo of Attica. A sixth way of introducing deceit and producing gods is the one by which they count the twelve gods; Hesiod sings their theogony in his own way, and Homer tells what he tells about the gods. The last remains (for there are seven ways in all): the one that starts from the divine benefits bestowed on human beings. For not understanding the God who is their benefactor, they invented certain saviors, the Dioscuri, Heracles the averter of evils, and Asclepius the physician. ### Translation notes - The derivation of θεοί (“gods”) from θεῖν (“to run”) comes from Plato, Cratylus 397c–d (cf. Theophilus, Autol. 1.4). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/26/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/27/ - Source: Stählin 1:20 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Once children of wrath, Christians have become children of God; the pagan gods, stripped of their masks, turn out to be myths or men. ### Greek text αὗται μὲν αἱ ὀλισθηραί τε καὶ ἐπιβλαβεῖς παρεκβάσεις τῆς ἀληθείας, καθέλκουσαι οὐρανόθεν τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ εἰς βάραθρον περιτρέπουσαι. ἐθέλω δὲ ὑμῖν ἐν χρῷ τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπιδεῖξαι ὁποῖοί τινες καὶ εἴ τινες, ἵνʼ ἤδη ποτὲ τῆς πλάνης λήξητε, αὖθις δὲ παλινδρομήσητε εἰς οὐρανόν. »ἦμεν γάρ που καὶ ἡμεῖς τέκνα ὀργῆς, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί· ὁ δὲ θεὸς πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει, διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, ὄντας ἤδη νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ.« ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ συνταφεὶς Χριστῷ συνυψοῦται θεῷ. οἱ δὲ ἔτι ἄπιστοι »τέκνα ὀργῆς« ὀνομάζονται, τρεφόμενα ὀργῇ· ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ὀργῆς θρέμματα ἔτι, οἱ τῆς πλάνης ἀπεσπασμένοι, ᾄσσοντες δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ταύτῃ τοι ἡμεῖς οἱ τῆς ἀνομίας υἱοί ποτε διὰ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν τοῦ λόγου νῦν υἱοὶ γεγόναμεν τοῦ θεοῦ· ὑμῖν δὲ καὶ ὁ ὑμέτερος ὑποδύεται ποιητὴς ὁ Ἀκραγαντῖνος Ἐμπεδοκλῆς· τοιγάρτοι χαλεπῇσιν ἀλύοντες κακότησιν οὔ ποτε δειλαίων ἀχέων λωφήσετε θυμόν. τὰ μὲν δὴ πλεῖστα μεμύθευται καὶ πέπλασται περὶ θεῶν ὑμῖν· τὰ δὲ [καὶ] ὅσα γεγενῆσθαι ὑπείληπται, ταῦτα δὲ περὶ ἀνθρώπων αἰσχρῶν καὶ ἀσελγῶς βεβιωκότων ἀναγέγραπται· τύφῳ καὶ μανίῃ δὲ βαδίζετε καὶ τρίβον ὀρθὴν εὐθεῖαν προλιπόντες ἀπήλθετε τὴν διʼ ἀκανθῶν καὶ σκολόπων. τί πλανᾶσθε, βροτοί; παύσασθε, μάταιοι, καλλίπετε σκοτίην νυκτός, φωτὸς δὲ λάβεσθε. ταῦτα ἡμῖν ἡ προφητικὴ παρεγγυᾷ καὶ ποιητικὴ Σίβυλλα· παρεγγυᾷ δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, γυμνοῦσα τῶν καταπληκτικῶν τουτωνὶ καὶ ἐκπληκτικῶν προσωπείων τὸν ὄχλον τῶν θεῶν, συνωνυμίαις τισὶ τὰς δοξοποιίας διελέγχουσα. ### English translation (Claude) These are the slippery and harmful deviations from the truth, which drag the human being down from heaven and tip him into the pit. I want to show you the gods themselves at close quarters, what they are like and whether they exist at all, so that at last you may cease from your error and run back again to heaven. “For we too were once children of wrath, like the rest; but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, when we were already dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” For the Word is living, and whoever has been buried with Christ is raised up with God. Those who are still unbelieving are called “children of wrath,” reared for wrath; but we are no longer the nurslings of wrath, since we have been torn away from error and are rushing toward the truth. So we, who were once sons of lawlessness, have now, through the Word's love for humankind, become sons of God. But to you your own poet, Empedocles of Acragas, says: “Therefore, distraught with grievous evils, you will never relieve your heart of wretched sorrows.” Most of what you say about the gods is myth and fiction; and what is supposed to have really happened is recorded about shameful men who lived licentiously. “You walk in conceit and madness; you have left the right and straight path and gone off by the way of thorns and stakes. Why do you wander, mortals? Stop, you fools; leave the darkness of night, and lay hold of the light.” So the prophetic and poetic Sibyl urges us; and so the truth urges us too, stripping the crowd of gods of these terrifying and bewildering masks, and exposing the reputations made for them by showing how many share the same names. ### Scripture references - Eph 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:12: echo, medium confidence - Gal 4:5: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Empedocles (Empedocles (fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Sib. Or. frag. 1 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Eph 2:3–5, Empedocles fragment 145, and the Sibylline fragment 1 (cf. Theophilus, Autol. 2.36). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/27/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/28/ - Source: Stählin 1:20–21 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The mythographers count several Zeuses, Athenas, and Apollos, which shows they were many different men. ### Greek text Αὐτίκα γοῦν εἰσὶν οἳ τρεῖς τοὺς Ζῆνας ἀναγράφουσιν, τὸν μὲν Αἰθέρος ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ, τὼ δὲ λοιπὼ τοῦ Κρόνου παῖδε, τούτοιν τὸν μὲν ἐν Κρήτῃ, θάτερον δὲ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ πάλιν. εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ πέντε Ἀθηνᾶς ὑποτίθενται, τὴν μὲν Ἡφαίστου, τὴν Ἀθηναίαν· τὴν δὲ Νείλου, τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν· τρίτην τὴν τοῦ Κρόνου, τὴν πολέμου εὑρέτιν· τετάρτην τὴν Διός, ἣν Μεσσήνιοι Κορυφασίαν ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς ἐπικεκλήκασιν· ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὴν Πάλλαντος καὶ Τιτανίδος τῆς Ὠκεανοῦ, ἣ τὸν πατέρα δυσσεβῶς καταθύσασα τῷ πατρῴῳ κεκόσμηται δέρματι ὥσπερ κῳδίῳ. ναὶ μὴν Ἀπόλλωνα ὁ μὲν Ἀριστοτέλης πρῶτον Ἡφαίστου καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς (ἐνταῦθα δὴ οὐκέτι παρθένος ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ), δεύτερον ἐν Κρήτῃ τὸν Κύρβαντος, τρίτον τὸν Διὸς καὶ τέταρτον τὸν Ἀρκάδα τὸν Σιληνοῦ· Νόμιος οὗτος κέκληται παρὰ Ἀρκάσιν· ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸν Λίβυν καταλέγει τὸν Ἄμμωνος· ὁ δὲ Δίδυμος ὁ γραμματικὸς τούτοις ἕκτον ἐπιφέρει τὸν Μάγνητος. ### English translation (Claude) For example, there are those who record three Zeuses: one the son of Aether in Arcadia, and two sons of Kronos, one of them in Crete and the other, again, in Arcadia. Some suppose there are five Athenas: one the daughter of Hephaestus, the Athenian; one the daughter of the Nile, the Egyptian; a third, the daughter of Kronos, the inventor of war; a fourth, the daughter of Zeus, whom the Messenians call Coryphasia after her mother; and last of all the daughter of Pallas and Titanis, the daughter of Ocean, who impiously sacrificed her father and adorned herself with her father's skin as with a fleece. Aristotle counts first an Apollo who was the son of Hephaestus and Athena (so here Athena is no longer a virgin); second, the son of Cyrbas in Crete; third, the son of Zeus; and fourth, the Arcadian, the son of Silenus, who is called Nomius among the Arcadians; besides these he lists the Libyan, the son of Ammon; and Didymus the grammarian adds a sixth, the son of Magnes. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/28/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/29/ - Source: Stählin 1:21–22 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The gods' native lands, crafts, lives, and tombs show that they were human; Ares was even imprisoned in a jar. ### Greek text πόσοι δὲ καὶ νῦν Ἀπόλλωνες, ἀναρίθμητοι θνητοὶ καὶ ἐπίκηροί τινες ἄνθρωποι, εἰσίν, οἱ παραπλησίως τοῖς προειρημένοις ἐκείνοις κεκλημένοι; τί δʼ εἴ σοι τοὺς πολλοὺς εἴποιμι Ἀσκληπιοὺς ἢ τοὺς Ἑρμᾶς τοὺς ἀριθμουμένους ἢ τοὺς Ἡφαίστους τοὺς μυθολογουμένους; μὴ καὶ περιττὸς εἶναι δόξω τὰς ἀκοὰς ὑμῶν τοῖς πολλοῖς τούτοις ἐπικλύζων ὀνόμασιν; ἀλλʼ αἵ γε πατρίδες αὐτοὺς καὶ αἱ τέχναι καὶ οἱ βίοι, πρὸς δέ γε καὶ οἱ τάφοι ἀνθρώπους γεγονότας διελέγχουσιν. Ἄρης γοῦν ὁ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ποιηταῖς, ὡς οἷόν τε, τετιμημένος, Ἆρες, Ἄρες, βροτολοιγέ, μιαιφόνε, τειχεσιπλῆτα, ὁ ἀλλοπρόσαλλος οὗτος καὶ ἀνάρσιος, ὡς μὲν Ἐπίχαρμός φησι, Σπαρτιάτης ἦν· Σοφοκλῆς δὲ Θρᾷκα οἶδεν αὐτόν· ἄλλοι δὲ Ἀρκάδα. τοῦτον δὲ Ὅμηρος δεδέσθαι φησὶν ἐπὶ μῆνας τρισκαίδεκα· τλῆ μὲν Ἄρης, ὅτε μιν Ὦτος κρατερός τʼ Ἐπιάλτης, παῖδες Ἀλωῆος, δῆσαν κρατερῷ ἐνὶ δεσμῷ· χαλκέῳ δʼ ἐν κεράμῳ δέδετο τρισκαίδεκα μῆνας. πολλὰ κἀγαθὰ Κᾶρες σχοῖεν, οἳ καταθύουσιν αὐτῷ τοὺς κύνας. Σκύθαι δὲ τοὺς ὄνους ἱερεύοντες μὴ παυέσθων, ὡς Ἀπολλόδωρός φησι καὶ Καλλίμαχος, Φοῖβος Ὑπερβορέοισιν ὄνων ἐπιτέλλεται ἱροῖς. ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ ἀλλαχοῦ τέρπουσιν λιπαραὶ Φοῖβον ὀνοσφαγίαι. ### English translation (Claude) And how many Apollos are there even now, countless mortal and perishable human beings, named like the ones just mentioned? What if I were to tell you of the many Asclepiuses, or of the Hermeses that are counted, or of the Hephaestuses of mythology? Would I not seem excessive, flooding your ears with so many names? But their native countries, their crafts, their lives, and above all their tombs prove that they were human beings. Ares, for example, whom the poets honor as much as they can, “Ares, Ares, bane of mortals, bloodstained, stormer of walls,” this fickle and hostile god, was, as Epicharmus says, a Spartan; Sophocles knows him as a Thracian; others make him an Arcadian. Homer says he was bound for thirteen months: “Ares endured it, when Otus and mighty Ephialtes, the sons of Aloeus, bound him in a strong bond; he lay bound in a bronze jar for thirteen months.” Many blessings on the Carians, who sacrifice dogs to him! And let the Scythians not stop sacrificing asses, as Apollodorus says, and Callimachus: “Phoebus is honored among the Hyperboreans with sacrifices of asses.” The same poet says elsewhere: “Rich slaughterings of asses delight Phoebus.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 5.31 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 5.385–387 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Callimachus (Callimachus (hymns and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Homer, Iliad 5.31 and 5.385–387; Callimachus, fragments 186 and 492 (Pfeiffer). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/29/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/30/ - Source: Stählin 1:22–23 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Hephaestus, Asclepius, the Dioscuri, and Heracles were mortals; even the poets say so, and their tombs and appearance are recorded. ### Greek text Ἥφαιστος δέ, ὃν ἔρριψεν ἐξ Ὀλύμπου Ζεὺς »βηλοῦ ἀπὸ θεσπεσίοιο«, ἐν Λήμνῳ καταπεσὼν ἐχάλκευε, πηρωθεὶς τὼ πόδε, »ὑπὸ δὲ κνῆμαι ῥώοντο ἀραιαί.« ἔχεις καὶ ἰατρόν, οὐχὶ χαλκέα μόνον ἐν θεοῖς· ὁ δὲ ἰατρὸς φιλάργυρος ἦν, Ἀσκληπιὸς ὄνομα αὐτῷ. καί σοι τὸν σὸν παραθήσομαι ποιητήν, τὸν Βοιώτιον Πίνδαρον· ἔτραπε κἀκεῖνον ἀγάνορι μισθῷ χρυσὸς ἐν χερσὶ φανείς· χερσὶ δʼ ἄρα Κρονίων ῥίψας διʼ ἀμφοῖν ἀμπνοὰν στέρνων καθεῖλεν ὠκέως, αἴθων δὲ κεραυνὸς ἐνέσκηψε μόρον, καὶ Εὐριπίδης Ζεὺς γὰρ κατακτὰς παῖδα τὸν ἐμὸν αἴτιος Ἀσκληπιόν, στέρνοισιν ἐμβαλὼν φλόγα. οὗτος μὲν οὖν κεῖται κεραυνωθεὶς ἐν τοῖς Κυνοσουρίδος ὁρίοις. Φιλόχορος δὲ ἐν Τήνῳ Ποσειδῶνά φησι τιμᾶσθαι ἰατρόν, Κρόνῳ δὲ ἐπικεῖσθαι Σικελίαν καὶ ἐνταῦθα αὐτὸν τεθάφθαι. Πατροκλῆς τε ὁ Θούριος καὶ Σοφοκλῆς ὁ νεώτερος ἔν τισι τραγῳδίαις ἱστορεῖτον τοῖν Διοσκούροιν πέρι· ἀνθρώπω τινὲ τούτω τὼ Διοσκούρω ἐπικήρω ἐγενέσθην, εἴ τῳ ἱκανὸς πιστώσασθαι Ὅμηρος τὸ λελεγμένον τοὺς δʼ ἤδη κάτεχεν φυσίζοος αἶα ἐν Λακεδαίμονι αὖθι, φίλῃ ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ. προσίτω δὲ καὶ ὁ τὰ Κυπριακὰ ποιήματα γράψας Κάστωρ μὲν θνητός, θανάτου δέ οἱ αἶσα πέπρωται· αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ ἀθάνατος Πολυδεύκης, ὄζος Ἄρηος. τοῦτο μὲν ποιητικῶς ἐψεύσατο· Ὅμηρος δὲ ἀξιοπιστότερος αὐτοῦ εἰπὼν περὶ ἀμφοῖν τοῖν Διοσκούροιν, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα εἴδωλον ἐλέγξας· »φῶτα« γὰρ »Ἡρακλῆα, μεγάλων ἐπιίστορα ἔργων«. Ἡρακλέα οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς Ὅμηρος θνητὸν οἶδεν ἄνθρωπον, Ἱερώνυμος δὲ ὁ φιλόσοφος καὶ τὴν σχέσιν αὐτοῦ ὑφηγεῖται τοῦ σώματος, μικρόν, φριξότριχα, ῥωστικόν· Δικαίαρχος δὲ σχιζίαν, νευρώδη, μέλανα, γρυπόν, ὑποχαροπόν, τετανότριχα. οὗτος οὖν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς δύο πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα ἔτη βεβιωκὼς κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον διὰ τῆς ἐν Οἴτῃ πυρᾶς κεκηδευμένος. ### English translation (Claude) Hephaestus, whom Zeus threw out of Olympus “from the divine threshold,” fell on Lemnos and worked as a smith, lame in both feet, “and his slender shins moved nimbly beneath him.” You have a physician among the gods too, not only a smith; but the physician was a lover of money, and his name was Asclepius. I will set before you your own poet, the Boeotian Pindar: “Gold, shown in his hands, turned even him with a lordly fee; and so the son of Kronos, hurling with his hands through both of them, swiftly took the breath from their breasts, and the blazing thunderbolt struck them dead.” And Euripides: “For Zeus is to blame, who killed my son Asclepius, casting fire into his breast.” He lies, then, thunderstruck, in the territory of Cynosuris. Philochorus says that at Tenos Poseidon is honored as a physician, and that Sicily lies on top of Kronos, who was buried there. Patrocles of Thurii and Sophocles the Younger, in some of their tragedies, tell the story of the Dioscuri: these two Dioscuri were mortal men, if Homer is enough to confirm what is said: “But them the life-giving earth already held, in Lacedaemon, there in their own dear native land.” Let the author of the Cypria come forward too: “Castor was mortal, and the lot of death was fated for him; but Polydeuces was immortal, offshoot of Ares.” This was a poet's lie; Homer is more trustworthy than he, when he speaks of both the Dioscuri, and moreover shows Heracles to be a mere phantom, for he calls him “a mortal, Heracles, well versed in great deeds.” So Homer himself knows Heracles as a mortal man; and Hieronymus the philosopher even describes the build of his body: small, bristly-haired, and strong; while Dicaearchus says he was lean, sinewy, dark, hook-nosed, with bright eyes and straight hair. This Heracles lived fifty-two years and ended his life cremated on the pyre on Oeta. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 1.591 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 18.411 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Euripides, Alc. 3–4 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 3.243–244 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 21.26 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Homer, Iliad 1.591 and 18.411; Pindar, Pythian 3.54–58 (quoted also in Athenagoras, Leg. 29); Euripides, Alcestis 3–4; Iliad 3.243–244; the Cypria (fragment 8); and Odyssey 21.26. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/30/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/31/ - Source: Stählin 1:23 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Muses, Clement says, were in origin Mysian slave girls who sang to calm the king of Lesbos. ### Greek text Τὰς δὲ Μούσας, ἃς Ἀλκμὰν Διὸς καὶ Μνημοσύνης γενεαλογεῖ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ποιηταὶ καὶ συγγραφεῖς ἐκθειάζουσιν καὶ σέβουσιν, ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὅλαι πόλεις μουσεῖα τεμενίζουσιν αὐταῖς, Μυσὰς οὔσας θεραπαινίδας ταύτας ἐώνηται Μεγακλὼ ἡ θυγάτηρ ἡ Μάκαρος. ὁ δὲ Μάκαρ Λεσβίων μὲν ἐβασίλευεν, διεφέρετο δὲ ἀεὶ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα, ἠγανάκτει δὲ ἡ Μεγακλὼ ὑπὲρ τῆς μητρός· τί δʼ οὐκ ἔμελλε; καὶ Μυσὰς θεραπαινίδας ταύτας τοσαύτας τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὠνεῖται καὶ καλεῖ Μοίσας κατὰ τὴν διάλεκτον τὴν Αἰολέων. ταύτας ἐδιδάξατο ᾄδειν καὶ κιθαρίζειν τὰς πράξεις τὰς παλαιὰς ἐμμελῶς. αἳ δὲ συνεχῶς κιθαρίζουσαι καὶ καλῶς κατεπᾴδουσαι τὸν Μάκαρα ἔθελγον καὶ κατέπαυον τῆς ὀργῆς. οὗ δὴ χάριν ἡ Μεγακλὼ χαριστήριον αὐτὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς μητρὸς ἀνέθηκε χαλκᾶς καὶ ἀνὰ πάντα ἐκέλευσε τιμᾶσθαι τὰ ἱερά. καὶ αἱ μὲν Μοῦσαι τοιαίδε· ἡ δὲ ἱστορία παρὰ Μυρσίλῳ τῷ Λεσβίῳ. ### English translation (Claude) The Muses, whom Alcman makes daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and whom the other poets and historians make divine and worship (indeed whole cities now dedicate shrines of the Muses to them), were Mysian slave women, bought by Megaclo, the daughter of Macar. Macar was king of the Lesbians, but he was always quarreling with his wife, and Megaclo was indignant on her mother's behalf; and why should she not be? So she bought these Mysian slave women, the same number as the Muses, and called them Moisai, in the Aeolic dialect. She had them taught to sing and to play the lyre, recounting the deeds of old in melody. By constantly playing and singing beautifully they charmed Macar and stopped his anger. For this reason Megaclo set them up in bronze as a thank offering for her mother's sake and ordered them to be honored in all the temples. Such, then, are the Muses; the story is told by Myrsilus of Lesbos. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/31/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/32/ - Source: Stählin 1:23–24 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The gods' love affairs: Poseidon's many conquests, Apollo's seductions, and Zeus's insatiable lust. ### Greek text Ἀκούετε δὴ οὖν τῶν παρʼ ὑμῖν θεῶν τοὺς ἔρωτας καὶ τὰς παραδόξους τῆς ἀκρασίας μυθολογίας καὶ τραύματα αὐτῶν καὶ δεσμὰ καὶ γέλωτας καὶ μάχας δουλείας τε ἔτι καὶ συμπόσια συμπλοκάς τʼ αὖ καὶ δάκρυα καὶ πάθη καὶ μαχλώσας ἡδονάς. κάλει μοι τὸν Ποσειδῶ καὶ τὸν χορὸν τῶν διεφθαρμένων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, τὴν Ἀμφιτρίτην, τὴν Ἀμυμώνην, τὴν Ἀλόπην, τὴν Μελανίππην, τὴν Ἀλκυόνην, τὴν Ἱπποθόην, τὴν Χιόνην, τὰς ἄλλας τὰς μυρίας· ἐν αἷς δὴ καὶ τοσαύταις οὔσαις ἔτι τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ὑμῶν ἐστενοχωρεῖτο τὰ πάθη. κάλει μοι καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω· Φοῖβός ἐστιν οὗτος καὶ μάντις ἁγνὸς καὶ σύμβουλος ἀγαθός· ἀλλʼ οὐ ταῦτα ἡ Στερόπη λέγει οὐδὲ ἡ Αἴθουσα οὐδὲ ἡ Ἀρσινόη οὐδὲ ἡ Ζευξίππη οὐδὲ ἡ Προθόη οὐδὲ ἡ Μάρπησσα οὐδὲ ἡ Ὑψιπύλη· Δάφνη γὰρ ἐξέφυγε μόνη καὶ τὸν μάντιν καὶ τὴν φθοράν. αὐτός τε ὁ Ζεὺς ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἡκέτω, ὁ »πατὴρ« καθʼ ὑμᾶς »ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε«· τοσοῦτος περὶ τὰ ἀφροδίσια ἐξεχύθη, ὡς ἐπιθυμεῖν μὲν πασῶν, ἐκπληροῦν δὲ εἰς πάσας τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Listen, then, to the love affairs of your gods, and the extraordinary tales of their incontinence, their wounds and bonds, their laughter and battles, their slavery too, and their banquets, embraces, tears, passions, and lewd pleasures. Call me Poseidon and the chorus of those he seduced: Amphitrite, Amymone, Alope, Melanippe, Alcyone, Hippothoe, Chione, and the countless others, among whom, many as they were, the passions of your Poseidon still felt cramped. Call me Apollo too: this is Phoebus, a pure prophet and a good counselor. But Sterope does not say so, nor Aethusa, nor Arsinoe, nor Zeuxippe, nor Prothoe, nor Marpessa, nor Hypsipyle; Daphne alone escaped both the prophet and her ruin. And let Zeus himself come, above all the rest, the “father of men and gods,” as you call him. He was so given to love affairs that he desired all women and satisfied his desire on them all. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 1.544 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, medium confidence ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/32/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/33/ - Source: Stählin 1:24–25 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Homer's majestic Zeus was an adulterer, Heracles a seducer, and the goddesses too were adulteresses; such gods make immorality a model. ### Greek text ἐνεπίμπλατο γοῦν γυναικῶν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ αἰγῶν ὁ Θμουιτῶν τράγος. καὶ σοῦ, ὦ Ὅμηρε, τεθαύμακα τὰ ποιήματα· ἦ, καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπʼ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων· ἀμβρόσιαι δʼ ἄρα χαῖται ἐπερρώσαντο ἄνακτος κρατὸς ἀπʼ ἀθανάτοιο· μέγαν δʼ ἐλέλιξεν Ὄλυμπον. σεμνὸν ἀναπλάττεις, Ὅμηρε, τὸν Δία καὶ νεῦμα περιάπτεις αὐτῷ τετιμημένον. ἀλλʼ ἐὰν ἐπιδείξῃς μόνον, ἄνθρωπε, τὸν κεστόν ἐξελέγχεται [καὶ] ὁ Ζεὺς καὶ ἡ κόμη καταισχύνεται. εἰς ὅσον δʼ ἐλήλακεν ἀσελγείας ὁ Ζεὺς ἐκεῖνος ὁ μετʼ Ἀλκμήνης τοσαύτας ἡδυπαθήσας νύκτας· οὐδὲ γὰρ αἱ νύκτες αἱ ἐννέα τῷ ἀκολάστῳ μακραί (ἅπας δὲ ἔμπαλιν ὁ βίος ἀκρασίᾳ βραχὺς ἦν), ἵνα δὴ ἡμῖν τὸν ἀλεξίκακον σπείρῃ θεόν. Διὸς υἱὸς Ἡρακλῆς, Διὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς, ὁ ἐκ μακρᾶς γεννώμενος νυκτός, τοὺς μὲν ἄθλους τοὺς δώδεκα πολλῷ ταλαιπωρησάμενος χρόνῳ, τὰς δὲ πεντήκοντα Θεστίου θυγατέρας νυκτὶ διαφθείρας μιᾷ, μοιχὸς ὁμοῦ καὶ νυμφίος τοσούτων γενόμενος παρθένων. οὔκουν ἀπεικότως οἱ ποιηταὶ »σχέτλιον« τοῦτον »καὶ αἰσυλοεργὸν« ἀποκαλοῦσιν. μακρὸν δʼ ἂν εἴη μοιχείας αὐτοῦ παντοδαπὰς καὶ παίδων διηγεῖσθαι φθοράς. οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ παίδων ἀπέσχοντο οἱ παρʼ ὑμῖν θεοί, ὃ μέν τις Ὕλα, ὃ δὲ Ὑακίνθου, ὃ δὲ Πέλοπος, ὃ δὲ Χρυσίππου, ὃ δὲ Γανυμήδους ἐρῶντες. τούτους ὑμῶν αἱ γυναῖκες προσκυνούντων τοὺς θεούς, τοιούτους δὲ εὐχέσθων εἶναι τοὺς ἄνδρας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν, οὕτω σώφρονας, ἵνʼ ὦσιν ὅμοιοι τοῖς θεοῖς τὰ ἴσα ἐζηλωκότες· τούτους ἐθιζόντων οἱ παῖδες ὑμῶν σέβειν, ἵνα καὶ ἄνδρες γένωνται εἰκόνα πορνείας ἐναργῆ τοὺς θεοὺς παραλαμβάνοντες. ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν ἄρρενες αὐτοῖς τῶν θεῶν ἴσως μόνοι ᾄττουσι περὶ τὰ ἀφροδίσια· θηλύτεραι δὲ θεαὶ μένον αἰδοῖ οἴκοι ἑκάστη, φησὶν Ὅμηρος, αἰδούμεναι [αἱ θεαὶ] διὰ σεμνότητα Ἀφροδίτην ἰδεῖν μεμοιχευμένην. αἳ δὲ ἀκολασταίνουσιν ἐμπαθέστερον ἐν τῇ μοιχείᾳ δεδεμέναι, Ἠὼς ἐπὶ Τιθωνῷ, Σελήνη δʼ ἐπὶ Ἐνδυμίωνι, Νηρηῒς ἐπὶ Αἰακῷ καὶ ἐπὶ Πηλεῖ Θέτις, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἰασίωνι Δημήτηρ καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀδώνιδι Φερέφαττα. Ἀφροδίτη δὲ ἐπʼ Ἄρει κατῃσχυμμένη μετῆλθεν ἐπὶ Κινύραν καὶ Ἀγχίσην ἔγημεν καὶ Φαέθοντα ἐλόχα καὶ ἤρα Ἀδώνιδος, ἐφιλονείκει δὲ τῇ βοώπιδι καὶ ἀποδυσάμεναι διὰ μῆλον αἱ θεαὶ γυμναὶ προσεῖχον τῷ ποιμένι, εἴ τις αὐτῷ δόξει καλή. ### English translation (Claude) He had his fill of women no less than the he-goat of Thmuis had of she-goats. And I have admired your poems, Homer: “He spoke, and the son of Kronos nodded with his dark brows, and the ambrosial locks flowed down from the lord's immortal head, and he made great Olympus quake.” You portray Zeus as majestic, Homer, and give him a revered nod. But only show him the girdle, my friend, and Zeus is exposed and his locks disgraced. To what licentiousness did that Zeus come, who spent so many nights of pleasure with Alcmene! For not even nine nights were long enough for the incontinent god (on the contrary, a whole lifetime was too short for his lust), so that he might father for us the god who wards off evils. Heracles, the son of Zeus, truly Zeus's son, begotten in a long night, toiled a long time over the twelve labors, but corrupted the fifty daughters of Thestius in one night, becoming at once the adulterer and the bridegroom of so many virgins. Not without reason do the poets call him “wretch” and “doer of wicked deeds.” It would take long to tell of his adulteries of every kind and his corruption of boys. For your gods did not keep away even from boys: one loved Hylas, another Hyacinthus, another Pelops, another Chrysippus, another Ganymede. Let your wives worship these gods, and pray that their husbands may be like them, so “self-controlled,” so that they may be like the gods by imitating the same things; let your children get used to revering them, so that they too may grow into men who take the gods as a vivid model of sexual immorality. But perhaps it is only the male gods among them who rush after love affairs; “the goddesses, being female, stayed each at home for shame,” says Homer, being ashamed, [the goddesses,] out of modesty, to see Aphrodite caught in adultery. Yet the goddesses are still more passionately licentious, bound in adultery: Eos with Tithonus, Selene with Endymion, the Nereid with Aeacus and Thetis with Peleus, Demeter with Iasion and Persephone with Adonis. Aphrodite, disgraced with Ares, went on to Cinyras, married Anchises, lay in wait for Phaethon, and loved Adonis; she competed with the ox-eyed goddess, and the goddesses stripped for an apple and presented themselves naked to the shepherd, to see which of them he would judge beautiful. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 1.528–530 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 21.28 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, medium confidence - Homer, Od. 8.324 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 14.214 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Homeric quotations are Iliad 1.528–530, Odyssey 21.28 (“wretch”), and Odyssey 8.324 (the goddesses staying at home). The girdle (κεστός) of Aphrodite, with which Hera seduces Zeus, is in Iliad 14.214. - The he-goat of Thmuis (Mendes) in Egypt was worshiped, and was notorious for its lust. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/33/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/34/ - Source: Stählin 1:25–26 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The great Greek games are funeral rites for dead men and a serpent, and the phallic processions of Dionysus commemorate an obscene myth. ### Greek text Ἴθι δὴ καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐν βραχεῖ περιοδεύσωμεν καὶ τὰς ἐπιτυμβίους ταυτασὶ πανηγύρεις καταλύσωμεν, Ἰσθμιά τε καὶ Νέμεα καὶ Πύθια καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις Ὀλύμπια. Πυθοῖ μὲν οὖν ὁ δράκων ὁ Πύθιος θρῃσκεύεται καὶ τοῦ ὄφεως ἡ πανήγυρις καταγγέλλεται Πύθια· Ἰσθμοῖ δὲ σκύβαλον προσέπτυσεν ἐλεεινὸν ἡ θάλαττα καὶ Μελικέρτην ὀδύρεται τὰ Ἴσθμια· Νεμέασι δὲ ἄλλο παιδίον Ἀρχέμορος κεκήδευται καὶ τοῦ παιδίου ὁ ἐπιτάφιος προσαγορεύεται Νέμεα· Πῖσα δὲ ὑμῖν τάφος ἐστίν, ὦ Πανέλληνες, ἡνιόχου Φρυγός, καὶ τοῦ Πέλοπος τὰς χοάς, τὰ Ὀλύμπια, ὁ Φειδίου σφετερίζεται Ζεύς. μυστήρια ἦσαν ἄρα, ὡς ἔοικεν, οἱ ἀγῶνες ἐπὶ νεκροῖς διαθλούμενοι, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ λόγια, καὶ δεδήμευνται ἄμφω. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ Ἄγρᾳ μυστήρια καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἁλιμοῦντι τῆς Ἀττικῆς Ἀθήνησι περιώρισται· αἶσχος δὲ ἤδη κοσμικὸν οἵ τε ἀγῶνες καὶ οἱ φαλλοὶ οἱ Διονύσῳ ἐπιτελούμενοι, κακῶς ἐπινενεμημένοι τὸν βίον. Διόνυσος γὰρ κατελθεῖν εἰς Ἅιδου γλιχόμενος ἠγνόει τὴν ὁδόν, ὑπισχνεῖται δʼ αὐτῷ φράσειν τις, Πρόσυμνος τοὔνομα, οὐκ ἀμισθί· ὁ δὲ μισθὸς οὐ καλός, ἀλλὰ Διονύσῳ καλός· καὶ ἀφροδίσιος ἦν ἡ χάρις, ὁ μισθός, ὃν ᾐτεῖτο, Διόνυσος· βουλομένῳ δὲ τῷ θεῷ γέγονεν ἡ αἴτησις, καὶ δὴ ὑπισχνεῖται παρέξειν αὐτῷ, εἰ ἀναζεύξοι, ὅρκῳ πιστωσάμενος τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν. μαθὼν ἀπῆρεν· ἐπανῆλθεν αὖθις· οὐ καταλαμβάνει τὸν Πρόσυμνον (ἐτεθνήκει γάρ)· ἀφοσιούμενος τῷ ἐραστῇ ὁ Διόνυσος ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον ὁρμᾷ καὶ πασχητιᾷ. κλάδον οὖν συκῆς, ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἐκτεμὼν ἀνδρείου μορίου σκευάζεται τρόπον ἐφέζεταί τε τῷ κλάδῳ, τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἐκτελῶν τῷ νεκρῷ. ὑπόμνημα τοῦ πάθους τούτου μυστικὸν φαλλοὶ κατὰ πόλεις ἀνίστανται Διονύσῳ· »εἰ μὴ γὰρ Διονύσῳ πομπὴν ἐποιοῦντο καὶ ὕμνεον ᾄσματα αἰδοίοισιν ἀναιδέστατα, εἴργασται«, φησὶν Ἡράκλειτος, »ωὐτὸς δὲ Ἅιδης καὶ Διόνυσος, ὅτεῳ μαίνονται καὶ ληναΐζουσιν«, οὐ διὰ τὴν μέθην τοῦ σώματος, ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, τοσοῦτον ὅσον διὰ τὴν ἐπονείδιστον τῆς ἀσελγείας ἱεροφαντίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Come now, let us also survey the games briefly, and put an end to these funeral festivals, the Isthmian, the Nemean, the Pythian, and besides these the Olympian. At Pytho the Pythian serpent is worshiped, and the festival of the snake is proclaimed as the Pythian games. At the Isthmus the sea spat out a pitiful piece of refuse, and the Isthmian games lament Melicertes. At Nemea another child, Archemorus, was buried, and the child's funeral rite is called the Nemean games. And Pisa, you Panhellenes, is the tomb of a Phrygian charioteer, and the Zeus of Phidias claims for himself the libations for Pelops, the Olympian games. The games, then, it seems, were mysteries celebrated over the dead, like the oracles, and both have been made public. The mysteries at Agra and at Halimus in Attica are confined to Athens; but the games, and the phalluses carried in procession for Dionysus, have become a disgrace to the whole world, wickedly spread through human life. For Dionysus, eager to go down to Hades, did not know the way; a man named Prosymnus promised to tell him, but not without payment. The payment was not a decent one, though decent enough to Dionysus: the favor was a sexual one, and the payment he asked for was Dionysus himself. The god was willing, and promised to grant it if he came back, confirming the promise with an oath. Having learned the way, he went off, and then came back again; he did not find Prosymnus, for he had died. To discharge his debt to his lover, Dionysus rushed to the tomb in his lust; and cutting a fig branch that was at hand, he shaped it like the male member and sat on it, fulfilling his promise to the dead man. As a mystic memorial of this passion, phalluses are set up in the cities to Dionysus. “For if it were not for Dionysus that they held the procession and sang the hymn to the shameful parts, it would be a most shameless deed,” says Heraclitus; “but Hades and Dionysus are the same, for whom they rave and keep the Lenaea”; not so much, I think, because of the body's drunkenness as because of the disgraceful priestly display of licentiousness. ### Translation notes - Heraclitus, fragment 15 (Diels–Kranz). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/34/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/35/ - Source: Stählin 1:26–27 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The gods of myth served men as slaves and servants, even as go-betweens in adultery. ### Greek text Εἰκότως ἄρα οἱ τοιοίδε ὑμῶν θεοὶ δοῦλοι, δοῦλοι παθῶν γεγονότες, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τῶν Εἱλώτων καλουμένων τῶν παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίοις δούλειον ὑπεισῆλθεν ζυγὸν Ἀπόλλων Ἀδμήτῳ ἐν Φεραῖς, Ἡρακλῆς ἐν Σάρδεσιν Ὀμφάλῃ, Λαομέδοντι δʼ ἐθήτευε Ποσειδῶν καὶ Ἀπόλλων, καθάπερ ἀχρεῖος οἰκέτης, μηδὲ ἐλευθερίας δήπουθεν δυνηθεὶς τυχεῖν παρὰ τοῦ προτέρου δεσπότου· τότε καὶ τὰ Ἰλίου τείχη ἀνῳκοδομησάτην τῷ Φρυγί. Ὅμηρος δὲ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν οὐκ αἰσχύνεται παραφαίνειν λέγων τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ »χρύσεον λύχνον ἔχουσαν« ἐν χεροῖν· τὴν δὲ Ἀφροδίτην ἀνέγνωμεν, οἷον ἀκόλαστόν τι θεραπαινίδιον, παραθεῖναι φέρουσαν τῇ Ἑλένῃ τὸν δίφρον τοῦ μοιχοῦ κατὰ πρόσωπον, ὅπως αὐτὸν εἰς συνουσίαν ὑπαγάγηται. Πανύασσις γὰρ πρὸς τούτοις καὶ ἄλλους παμπόλλους ἀνθρώποις λατρεῦσαι θεοὺς ἱστορεῖ ὧδέ πως γράφων· τλῆ μὲν Δημήτηρ, τλῆ δὲ κλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις, τλῆ δὲ Ποσειδάων, τλῆ δʼ ἀργυρότοξος Ἀπόλλων ἀνδρὶ παρὰ θνητῷ θητευέμεν εἰς ἐνιαυτόν· τλῆ δὲ καὶ ὀβριμόθυμος Ἄρης ὑπὸ πατρὸς ἀνάγκης, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. ### English translation (Claude) Naturally, then, such gods of yours became slaves, slaves to their passions. Even before the so-called Helots of the Spartans, Apollo came under the yoke of slavery to Admetus at Pherae, and Heracles to Omphale at Sardis; Poseidon and Apollo worked for hire for Laomedon, like a worthless servant who could not even obtain his freedom from his former master; it was then that the two of them built the walls of Troy for the Phrygian king. Homer is not ashamed to show Athena “holding a golden lamp” in her hands for Odysseus; and we have read how Aphrodite, like some wanton maidservant, brought and set before Helen, face to face, the chair of her adulterous lover, to draw her into intercourse with him. Panyassis, moreover, records that very many other gods served human beings, writing somewhat as follows: “Demeter endured it, the famous lame god endured it, Poseidon endured it, Apollo of the silver bow endured it, to serve a mortal man for a year; and mighty-hearted Ares endured it too, under his father's compulsion,” and so on. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 19.34 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 3.424–425 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Homer, Odyssey 19.34 and Iliad 3.424–425. Panyassis was an epic poet of the fifth century BC. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/35/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/36/ - Source: Stählin 1:27 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The gods of the poets are wounded, bleed, eat, sleep, and beget children, which shows they are human. ### Greek text Τούτοις οὖν εἰκότως ἕπεται τοὺς ἐρωτικοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ παθητικοὺς τούτους θεοὺς ἀνθρωποπαθεῖς ἐκ παντὸς εἰσάγειν τρόπου. »καὶ γάρ θην κείνοις θνητὸς χρώς.« τεκμηριοῖ δὲ Ὅμηρος, μάλα ἀκριβῶς Ἀφροδίτην ἐπὶ τῷ τραύματι παρεισάγων ὀξὺ καὶ μέγα ἰάχουσαν αὐτόν τε τὸν πολεμικώτατον Ἄρη ὑπὸ τοῦ Διομήδους κατὰ τοῦ κενεῶνος οὐτασμένον διηγούμενος. Πολέμων δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν ὑπὸ Ὀρνύτου τρωθῆναι λέγει· ναὶ μὴν καὶ τὸν Ἀιδωνέα ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους τοξευθῆναι Ὅμηρος λέγει καὶ τὸν Ἥλιον [Αὐγέαν] Πανύασσις ἱστορεῖ. ἤδη δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἥραν τὴν ζυγίαν ἱστορεῖ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἡρακλέους ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος Πανύασσις »ἐν Πύλῳ ἠμαθόεντι«. Σωσίβιος δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα πρὸς τῶν Ἱπποκοωντιδῶν κατὰ τῆς χειρὸς οὐτασθῆναι λέγει. εἰ δὲ τραύματα, καὶ αἵματα· οἱ γὰρ ἰχῶρες οἱ ποιητικοὶ εἰδεχθέστεροι καὶ τῶν αἱμάτων, σῆψις γὰρ αἵματος ἰχὼρ νοεῖται. ἀνάγκη τοίνυν θεραπείας καὶ τροφὰς παρεισάγειν αὐτοῖς, ὧν εἰσιν ἐνδεεῖς. διὸ τράπεζαι καὶ μέθαι καὶ γέλωτες καὶ συνουσίαι, οὐκ ἂν ἀφροδισίοις χρωμένων ἀνθρωπίνοις οὐδὲ παιδοποιουμένων οὐδὲ μὴν ὑπνωσσόντων, εἰ ἀθάνατοι καὶ ἀνενδεεῖς καὶ ἀγήρῳ ὑπῆρχον. μετέλαβεν δὲ καὶ τραπέζης ἀνθρωπίνης παρὰ τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, ἀπανθρώπου δὲ καὶ ἀθέσμου αὐτὸς ὁ Ζεὺς παρὰ Λυκάονι τῷ Ἀρκάδι ἑστιώμενος· ἀνθρωπείων γοῦν ἐνεφορεῖτο σαρκῶν οὐχ ἑκών. ### English translation (Claude) It follows naturally from this that these amorous and passionate gods of yours are portrayed in every way as having human feelings. “For surely their skin too is mortal.” Homer bears witness to this when he portrays, very precisely, Aphrodite crying out loud and shrill at her wound, and tells of Ares himself, the most warlike of all, wounded in the flank by Diomedes. Polemon says that Athena too was wounded, by Ornytus; yes, and Homer says that Aidoneus was shot with an arrow by Heracles, and Panyassis records the same of Helios [Augeas]. This same Panyassis records that Hera, the goddess of marriage, was also wounded by the same Heracles, “in sandy Pylos.” And Sosibius says that Heracles himself was wounded in the hand by the sons of Hippocoon. If there are wounds, there is blood; for the poets' “ichor” is even more repulsive than blood, since ichor is understood to be decayed blood. So they have to be provided with treatments and food, which they need. Hence tables and drinking bouts and laughter and intercourse; yet they would not indulge in human sexual pleasures, nor beget children, nor even sleep, if they were immortal and without needs and ageless. Zeus himself shared a human table among the Ethiopians, and an inhuman and lawless one when he was feasted by Lycaon the Arcadian: he gorged himself on human flesh, though unwillingly. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 21.569 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 5.343 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence - Homer, Il. 5.857 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence - Homer, Il. 5.395–397 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The line quoted first is from Homer, Iliad 21.568–569 (of Achilles). Aphrodite's wound is in Iliad 5.343, Ares's in 5.857, Hades's in 5.395–397. The bracketed name is marked by the editor as an intrusion. Homer's gods have ichor instead of blood (Iliad 5.340). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/36/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/37/ - Source: Stählin 1:27–28 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Zeus, once a lover in many disguises, no longer acts at all; he is dead, and the Cretans show his tomb. ### Greek text ἠγνόει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ὡς ἄρα Λυκάων ὁ Ἀρκὰς ὁ ἑστιάτωρ αὐτοῦ τὸν παῖδα κατασφάξας τὸν αὑτοῦ (Νύκτιμος ὄνομα αὐτῷ) παραθείη ὄψον τῷ Διί. καλός γε ὁ Ζεὺς ὁ μαντικός, ὁ ξένιος, ὁ ἱκέσιος, ὁ μειλίχιος, ὁ πανομφαῖος, ὁ προστροπαῖος· μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ ἄδικος, ὁ ἄθεσμος, ὁ ἄνομος, ὁ ἀνόσιος, ὁ ἀπάνθρωπος, ὁ βίαιος, ὁ φθορεύς, ὁ μοιχός, ὁ ἐρωτικός. ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ἦν, ὅτε τοιοῦτος ἦν, ὅτε ἄνθρωπος ἦν, νῦν δὲ ἤδη μοι δοκοῦσι καὶ οἱ μῦθοι ὑμῖν γεγηρακέναι. δράκων ὁ Ζεὺς οὐκέτι, οὐ κύκνος ἐστίν, οὐκ ἀετός, οὐκ ἄνθρωπος ἐρωτικός· οὐχ ἵπταται θεός, οὐ παιδεραστεῖ, οὐ φιλεῖ, οὐ βιάζεται, καίτοι πολλαὶ καὶ καλαὶ καὶ νῦν ἔτι γυναῖκες καὶ Λήδας εὐπρεπέστεραι καὶ Σεμέλης ἀκμαιότεραι, μειράκια δὲ ὡραιότερα καὶ πολιτικώτερα τοῦ Φρυγίου βουκόλου. ποῦ νῦν ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀετός; ποῦ δὲ ὁ κύκνος; ποῦ δὲ αὐτὸς ὁ Ζεύς; γεγήρακε μετὰ τοῦ πτεροῦ· οὐ γὰρ δήπου μετανοεῖ τοῖς ἐρωτικοῖς οὐδὲ παιδεύεται σωφρονεῖν. γυμνοῦται δὲ ὑμῖν ὁ μῦθος· ἀπέθανεν ἡ Λήδα, ἀπέθανεν ὁ κύκνος, ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀετός. ζήτει σου τὸν Δία· μὴ τὸν οὐρανόν, ἀλλὰ τὴν γῆν πολυπραγμόνει. ὁ Κρής σοι διηγήσεται, παρʼ ᾧ καὶ τέθαπται· Καλλίμαχος ἐν ὕμνοις καὶ γὰρ τάφον, ὦ ἄνα, σεῖο Κρῆτες ἐτεκτήναντο. τέθνηκε γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς (μὴ δυσφόρει) ὡς Λήδα, ὡς κύκνος, ὡς ἀετός, ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐρωτικός, ὡς δράκων. ### English translation (Claude) For the god did not know that Lycaon the Arcadian, his host, had slaughtered his own son (Nyctimus was his name) and set him before Zeus as a dish. A fine god indeed is Zeus: the prophet, the protector of guests, the protector of suppliants, the gracious, the author of all oracles, the avenger; or rather the unjust, the lawless, the unrighteous, the unholy, the inhuman, the violent, the seducer, the adulterer, the lover. But that was when he was such, when he was a man; now, it seems to me, even your myths have grown old. Zeus is no longer a serpent, nor a swan, nor an eagle, nor an amorous man; the god does not fly, does not love boys, does not kiss, does not rape; and yet there are still many beautiful women even now, more comely than Leda and more blooming than Semele, and boys more lovely and more refined than the Phrygian herdsman. Where now is that eagle? Where is the swan? Where is Zeus himself? He has grown old, feathers and all; for surely he does not repent of his love affairs, nor is he being taught self-control. Your myth is laid bare: Leda is dead, the swan is dead, the eagle is dead. Look for your Zeus; do not search heaven, but the earth. The Cretan, in whose land he is also buried, will tell you; Callimachus in his hymns: “For the Cretans, O lord, even built your tomb.” For Zeus is dead (do not take it hard), like Leda, like the swan, like the eagle, like the amorous man, like the serpent. ### Extrabiblical texts - Callimachus, Hymn. Jov. 8–9 (Callimachus (hymns and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Callimachus, Hymn to Zeus 8–9. Clement's point is that the Cretans' claim, which Callimachus rejects, is true: Zeus was a man and died. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/37/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/38/ - Source: Stählin 1:28–29 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The pagans' own cult titles betray the human and ridiculous origin of their gods: a Zeus Agamemnon, a “Strangled” Artemis, a “Gaping” Apollo. ### Greek text Ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ φαίνονται οἱ δεισιδαίμονες ἄκοντες μέν, ὅμως δʼ οὖν συνιέντες τὴν πλάνην τὴν περὶ τοὺς θεούς· οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ δρυός εἰσι παλαιφάτου οὐδʼ ἀπὸ πέτρης, ἀλλʼ ἀνδρῶν γένος εἰσί, μικρὸν δὲ ὕστερον καὶ δρύες ὄντες εὑρεθήσονται καὶ πέτραι. Ἀγαμέμνονα γοῦν τινα Δία ἐν Σπάρτῃ τιμᾶσθαι Στάφυλος ἱστορεῖ· Φανοκλῆς δὲ ἐν Ἔρωσιν ἢ Καλοῖς Ἀγαμέμνονα τὸν Ἑλλήνων βασιλέα Ἀργύννου νεὼν Ἀφροδίτης ἵστασθαι ἐπʼ Ἀργύννῳ τῷ ἐρωμένῳ. Ἄρτεμιν δὲ Ἀρκάδες Ἀπαγχομένην καλουμένην προστρέπονται, ὥς φησι Καλλίμαχος ἐν Αἰτίοις. καὶ Κονδυλῖτις ἐν Μηθύμνῃ ἑτέρα τετίμηται Ἄρτεμις. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ποδάγρας ἄλλης Ἀρτέμιδος ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ ἱερόν, ὥς φησι Σωσίβιος. Πολέμων δὲ Κεχηνότος Ἀπόλλωνος οἶδεν ἄγαλμα, καὶ Ὀψοφάγου πάλιν Ἀπόλλωνος ἄλλο ἐν Ἤλιδι τιμώμενον. ἐνταῦθα Ἀπομυίῳ Διὶ θύουσιν Ἠλεῖοι· Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ Ἀπομυίῳ Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ Πυρετῷ δὲ καὶ Φόβῳ θύουσιν, οὓς καὶ αὐτοὺς μετὰ τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐγγράφουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) And now even the superstitious themselves appear to understand, unwillingly but nonetheless, the error about the gods; for they are not “from an oak of ancient story, nor from a rock,” but “are of the race of men,” and a little later they will be found to be oaks and rocks as well. Staphylus records, for example, that a certain Zeus Agamemnon is honored in Sparta; and Phanocles, in his Loves or Beautiful Boys, says that Agamemnon, the king of the Greeks, founded a temple of Aphrodite Argynnis for Argynnus, his beloved. The Arcadians pray to an Artemis called “the Strangled,” as Callimachus says in the Causes; and at Methymna another Artemis is honored, Condylitis (“of the Knuckle”). There is also in Laconia a temple of yet another Artemis, “Gout,” as Sosibius says. Polemon knows of a statue of “Gaping” Apollo, and another of Apollo “the Glutton,” honored in Elis. There the Eleans sacrifice to Zeus “Averter of Flies”; and the Romans sacrifice to Heracles “Averter of Flies,” and to Fever and to Fear, whom they also enroll among Heracles's companions. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 19.163 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Callimachus (Callimachus (hymns and fragments)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The poetic phrases are from Homer, Odyssey 19.163. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/38/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/39/ - Source: Stählin 1:29–30 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Greek cult titles are obscene or absurd, and the Greeks who mock Egyptian animal worship honor storks, weasels, ants, mice, and flies themselves. ### Greek text ἐῶ δὲ Ἀργείους καὶ Λάκωνας· Ἀφροδίτην Τυμβωρύχον θρῃσκεύουσιν Ἀργεῖοι [καὶ Λάκωνες], καὶ Χελύτιδα δὲ Ἄρτεμιν Σπαρτιᾶται σέβουσιν· ἐπεὶ τὸ βήττειν χελύττειν καλοῦσιν. οἴει ποθὲν παρέγγραπτα ταῦτά σοι κομίζεσθαι τὰ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν παρατιθέμενα; οὐδὲ τοὺς σοὺς γνωρίζειν ἔοικας συγγραφεῖς, οὓς ἐγὼ μάρτυρας ἐπὶ τὴν σὴν ἀπιστίαν καλῶ, ἀθέου χλεύης, ὦ δείλαιοι, τὸν πάντα ὑμῶν ἀβίωτον ὄντως βίον ἐμπεπληκότας. οὐχὶ μέντοι Ζεὺς φαλακρὸς ἐν Ἄργει, τιμωρὸς δὲ ἄλλος ἐν Κύπρῳ τετίμησθον; οὐχὶ δὲ Ἀφροδίτῃ περιβασοῖ μὲν Ἀργεῖοι, ἑταίρᾳ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ καλλιπύγῳ θύουσιν Συρακούσσιοι, ἣν Νίκανδρος ὁ ποιητὴς »καλλίγλουτόν« που κέκληκεν; Διόνυσον δὲ ἤδη σιωπῶ τὸν χοιροψάλαν· Σικυώνιοι τοῦτον προσκυνοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν γυναικείων τάξαντες τὸν Διόνυσον μορίων, ἔφορον αἴσχους τὸν ὕβρεως σεβάζοντες ἀρχηγόν. τοιοίδε μὲν αὐτοῖς οἱ θεοί, τοιοίδε καὶ αὐτοί, παίζοντες ἐν θεοῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐμπαίζοντες καὶ ἐνυβρίζοντες σφίσιν αὐτοῖς. καὶ πόσῳ βελτίους Αἰγύπτιοι κωμηδὸν καὶ κατὰ πόλεις τὰ ἄλογα τῶν ζῴων ἐκτετιμηκότες ἤπερ Ἕλληνες τοιούτους προσκυνοῦντες θεούς; τὰ μὲν γὰρ εἰ καὶ θηρία, ἀλλʼ οὐ μοιχικά, ἀλλʼ οὐ μάχλα, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ θηρεύει ἡδονὴν οὐδὲ ἕν. οἳ δὲ ὁποῖοι, τί καὶ χρὴ λέγειν ἔτι, ἀποχρώντως αὐτῶν διεληλεγμένων; ἀλλʼ οὖν γε Αἰγύπτιοι, ὧν νῦν δὴ ἐμνήσθην, κατὰ τὰς θρῃσκείας τὰς σφῶν ἐσκέδανται· σέβουσι δὲ αὐτῶν Συηνῖται φάγρον τὸν ἰχθύν, μαιώτην δὲ (ἄλλος οὗτος ἰχθύς) οἱ τὴν Ἐλεφαντίνην οἰκοῦντες, Ὀξυρυγχῖται τὸν φερώνυμον τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν ὁμοίως ἰχθύν, ἔτι γε μὴν Ἡρακλεοπολῖται ἰχνεύμονα, Σαϊται δὲ καὶ Θηβαῖοι πρόβατον, Λυκοπολῖται δὲ λύκον, Κυνοπολῖται δὲ κύνα, τὸν Ἆπιν Μεμφῖται, Μενδήσιοι τὸν τράγον. ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ πάντʼ ἀμείνους Αἰγυπτίων (ὀκνῶ δὲ εἰπεῖν χείρους), οἳ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὁσημέραι γελῶντες οὐ παύεσθε, ποῖοί τινες καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα; Θεσσαλοὶ μὲν ὑμῶν τοὺς πελαργοὺς τετιμήκασι διὰ τὴν συνήθειαν, Θηβαῖοι δὲ τὰς γαλᾶς διὰ τὴν Ἡρακλέους γένεσιν. τί δὲ πάλιν Θετταλοί; μύρμηκας ἱστοροῦνται σέβειν, ἐπεὶ τὸν Δία μεμαθήκασιν ὁμοιωθέντα μύρμηκι τῇ Κλήτορος θυγατρὶ Εὐρυμεδούσῃ μιγῆναι καὶ Μυρμιδόνα γεννῆσαι· Πολέμων δὲ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὴν Τρωάδα κατοικοῦντας ἱστορεῖ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους μῦς σέβειν, οὓς σμίνθους καλοῦσιν, ὅτι τὰς νευρὰς τῶν πολεμίων διέτρωγον τῶν τόξων· καὶ Σμίνθιον Ἀπόλλωνα ἀπὸ τῶν μυῶν ἐκείνων ἐπεφήμισαν. Ἡρακλείδης δὲ ἐν Κτίσεσιν ἱερῶν περὶ τὴν Ἀκαρνανίαν φησίν, ἔνθα τὸ Ἄκτιόν ἐστιν ἀκρωτήριον καὶ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ Ἀκτίου τὸ ἱερόν, ταῖς μυίαις προθύεσθαι βοῦν. οὐδὲ μὴν Σαμίων ἐκλήσομαι (πρόβατον, ὥς φησιν Εὐφορίων, σέβουσι Σάμιοι) οὐδέ γε τῶν τὴν Φοινίκην Σύρων κατοικούντων, ὧν οἳ μὲν τὰς περιστεράς, οἳ δὲ τοὺς ἰχθῦς οὕτω σέβουσι περιττῶς ὡς Ἠλεῖοι τὸν Δία. ### English translation (Claude) I pass over the Argives and Spartans: the Argives worship Aphrodite “the Grave-robber,” and the Spartiates revere Artemis Chelytis (“of the Cough”), since they call coughing chelyttein. Do you think that these things we set before you are brought from some spurious source? You seem not even to know your own historians, whom I call as witnesses against your unbelief; poor wretches, they have filled your whole life, a life truly not worth living, with godless mockery. Is not a Zeus “the Bald” honored in Argos, and another Zeus, “the Avenger,” in Cyprus? Do not the Argives sacrifice to Aphrodite “the Straddler,” the Athenians to Aphrodite “the Courtesan,” and the Syracusans to Aphrodite “of the beautiful buttocks,” whom the poet Nicander somewhere called “fair-bottomed”? I say nothing of Dionysus “the Pig-plucker”: the Sicyonians worship this Dionysus, placing him in charge of women's private parts, revering the author of outrage as overseer of shame. Such are their gods, and such are they themselves, playing with the gods, or rather mocking and insulting themselves. And how much better are the Egyptians, who by villages and cities have honored the irrational animals, than the Greeks who worship such gods! For those, even if they are beasts, are not adulterous nor lewd, and not one of them hunts after pleasure contrary to nature. What the others are like, why need I say any more, when they have been sufficiently refuted? The Egyptians, however, whom I have just mentioned, are divided in their cults: the people of Syene worship the fish called phagrus; those who live on Elephantine, the maeotes (another fish); the people of Oxyrhynchus, likewise, the fish that gives its name to their country; the people of Heracleopolis, the ichneumon; those of Sais and of Thebes, the sheep; those of Lycopolis, the wolf; those of Cynopolis, the dog; the people of Memphis, Apis; those of Mendes, the goat. But you, who are in every way better than the Egyptians (I shrink from saying worse), who never stop laughing at the Egyptians every day, what are you like in regard to irrational animals? The Thessalians among you have honored storks, because they are familiar birds, and the Thebans weasels, because of the birth of Heracles. And what of the Thessalians again? They are said to worship ants, because they have learned that Zeus took the form of an ant and lay with Eurymedusa, the daughter of Cleitor, and fathered Myrmidon. Polemon records that the people living in the Troad worship the local mice, which they call sminthoi, because they gnawed through the bowstrings of their enemies; and from those mice they named Apollo Smintheus. Heraclides, in his Foundations of Temples, says that in Acarnania, where the promontory of Actium is and the temple of Actian Apollo, an ox is sacrificed beforehand to the flies. Nor will I forget the Samians (the Samians worship a sheep, as Euphorion says), nor the Syrians who live in Phoenicia, some of whom revere doves and others fish, as extravagantly as the Eleans revere Zeus. ### Translation notes - The Thebans' weasel: in the myth, Galinthias (turned into a weasel) tricked the goddesses delaying Heracles's birth. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/39/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/40/ - Source: Stählin 1:30 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: If the pagan gods are not gods, perhaps they are daemons; but then they are greedy and foul, and many are simply local heroes. ### Greek text Εἶεν δή· ἐπειδὴ οὐ θεοί, οὓς θρῃσκεύετε, αὖθις ἐπισκέψασθαί μοι δοκεῖ εἰ ὄντως εἶεν δαίμονες, δευτέρᾳ ταύτῃ, ὡς ὑμεῖς φατέ, ἐγκαταλεγόμενοι τάξει. εἰ γὰρ οὖν δαίμονες, λίχνοι τε καὶ μιαροί. ἔστι μὲν ἐφευρεῖν καὶ ἀναφανδὸν οὕτω κατὰ πόλεις δαίμονας ἐπιχωρίους τιμὴν ἐπιδρεπομένους, παρὰ Κυθνίοις Μενέδημον, παρὰ Τηνίοις Καλλισταγόραν, παρὰ Δηλίοις Ἄνιον, παρὰ Λάκωσιν Ἀστράβακον. ### English translation (Claude) Well then, since those whom you worship are not gods, it seems to me that we should consider next whether they are really daemons, enrolled, as you say, in this second rank. For if they are daemons, they are greedy and foul. One can even find local daemons openly receiving honor in the various cities: among the Cythnians Menedemus, among the Tenians Callistagoras, among the Delians Anius, among the Spartans Astrabacus. ### Translation notes - In Greek usage a δαίμων could be any lesser divine being, not necessarily evil; Clement exploits the word's range. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/40/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 2.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/41/ - Source: Stählin 1:30–31 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Hesiod's “guardian daemons” are the Greek gods themselves, who by their own admission are greedy for the smoke of sacrifice. ### Greek text τιμᾶται δέ τις καὶ Φαληροῖ κατὰ πρύμναν ἥρως· καὶ ἡ Πυθία συνέταξε θύειν Πλαταιεῦσιν Ἀνδροκράτει καὶ Δημοκράτει καὶ Κυκλαίῳ καὶ Λεύκωνι τῶν Μηδικῶν ἀκμαζόντων ἀγώνων. ἔστι καὶ ἄλλους παμπόλλους συνιδεῖν δαίμονας τῷ γε καὶ σμικρὸν διαθρεῖν δυναμένῳ· τρὶς γὰρ μύριοί εἰσιν ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ δαίμονες ἀθάνατοι, φύλακες μερόπων ἀνθρώπων. τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ φύλακες, ὦ Βοιώτιε, μὴ φθονέσῃς λέγειν. ἢ δῆλον ὡς οὗτοι καὶ οἱ τούτων ἐπιτιμότεροι, οἱ μεγάλοι δαίμονες, ὁ Ἀπόλλων, ἡ Ἄρτεμις, ἡ Λητώ, ἡ Δημήτηρ, ἡ Κόρη, ὁ Πλούτων, ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, αὐτὸς ὁ Ζεύς. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀποδρᾶναι ἡμᾶς φυλάττουσιν, Ἀσκραῖε, μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν δὲ ἴσως, οἱ ἁμαρτιῶν δῆτα οὐ πεπειραμένοι. ἐνταῦθα δὴ τὸ παροιμιῶδες ἐπιφθέγξασθαι ἁρμόττει »πατὴρ ἀνουθέτητα παῖδα νουθετεῖ.« εἰ δʼ ἄρα καὶ εἰσὶ φύλακες οὗτοι, οὐκ εὐνοίᾳ τῇ πρὸς ἡμᾶς περιπαθεῖς, τῆς δὲ ὑμεδαπῆς ἀπωλείας ἐχόμενοι, κολάκων δίκην ἐγχρίμπτονται τῷ βίῳ, δελεαζόμενοι καπνῷ. αὐτοί που ἐξομολογοῦνται οἱ δαίμονες τὴν γαστριμαργίαν τὴν αὑτῶν, λοιβῆς τε κνίσης τε· τὸ γὰρ λάχομεν γέρας ἡμεῖς, λέγοντες. τίνα δʼ ἂν φωνὴν ἄλλην, εἰ φωνὴν λάβοιεν Αἰγυπτίων θεοί, οἷα αἴλουροι καὶ γαλαῖ, προήσονται ἢ τὴν Ὁμηρικήν τε καὶ ποιητικήν, τῆς κνίσης τε καὶ ὀψαρτυτικῆς φίλην; τοιοίδε μέντοι παρʼ ὑμῖν οἵ τε δαίμονες καὶ οἱ θεοὶ καὶ εἴ τινες ἡμίθεοι ὥσπερ ἡμίονοι κέκληνται· οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ ὀνομάτων ὑμῖν πενία πρὸς τὰς τῆς ἀσεβείας συνθέσεις. ### English translation (Claude) At Phalerum, too, a certain hero “at the stern” is honored; and the Pythia ordered the Plataeans to sacrifice to Androcrates, Democrates, Cyclaeus, and Leucon, when the Persian wars were at their height. Anyone who can look even a little more closely can see a great many other daemons too: “For thrice ten thousand are there on the much-nourishing earth, immortal daemons, guardians of mortal men.” Who are these guardians, Boeotian? Do not grudge to tell us. Or is it clear that they are these, and those more honored than these, the great daemons: Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Demeter, Kore, Pluto, Heracles, and Zeus himself? But, poet of Ascra, they do not guard us to keep us from running away, nor perhaps from sinning, since they certainly have no lack of experience of sins themselves. Here it is fitting to repeat the proverb: “A father who is himself unadmonished admonishes his son.” And if these really are guardians, they are not moved by goodwill toward us; bent on your destruction, they fasten themselves on human life like flatterers, lured by smoke. The daemons themselves somewhere confess their own gluttony, saying: “Of libation and the savor of burnt flesh; for this is the honor that is our portion.” What other voice would the gods of the Egyptians, cats and weasels, utter, if they were given a voice, than the Homeric and poetic one, the voice of lovers of savor and of cookery? Such are your daemons and your gods, and any demigods, called so as if they were half-asses (hemionoi); for you have no lack even of names for the combinations of your impiety. ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Op. 252–253 (Hesiod, Works and Days): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 4.49 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Hesiod, Works and Days 252–253, and Homer, Iliad 4.49 (the gods' portion). The pun is on ἡμίθεοι (“demigods”) and ἡμίονοι (“mules,” literally “half-asses”). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/41/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 3.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/42/ - Source: Stählin 1:31–32 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The gods are man-hating daemons who delight in bloodshed; Clement lists the human sacrifices offered to them across the Greek and Roman world. ### Greek text Φέρε δὴ οὖν καὶ τοῦτο προσθῶμεν, ὡς ἀπάνθρωποι καὶ μισάνθρωποι δαίμονες εἶεν ὑμῶν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ οὐχὶ μόνον ἐπιχαίροντες τῇ φρενοβλαβείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἀνθρωποκτονίας ἀπολαύοντες· νυνὶ μὲν τὰς ἐν σταδίοις ἐνόπλους φιλονεικίας, νυνὶ δὲ τὰς ἐν πολέμοις ἀναρίθμους φιλοτιμίας ἀφορμὰς σφίσιν ἡδονῆς ποριζόμενοι, ὅπως ὅτι μάλιστα ἔχοιεν ἀνθρωπείων ἀνέδην ἐμφορεῖσθαι φόνων· ἤδη δὲ κατὰ πόλεις καὶ ἔθνη, οἱονεὶ λοιμοὶ ἐπισκήψαντες, σπονδὰς ἀπῄτησαν ἀνημέρους. Ἀριστομένης γοῦν ὁ Μεσσήνιος τῷ Ἰθωμήτῃ Διὶ τριακοσίους ἀπέσφαξεν, τοσαύτας ὁμοῦ καὶ τοιαύτας καλλιερεῖν οἰόμενος ἑκατόμβας· ἐν οἷς καὶ Θεόπομπος ἦν ὁ Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλεύς, ἱερεῖον εὐγενές. Ταῦροι δὲ τὸ ἔθνος, οἱ περὶ τὴν Ταυρικὴν Χερρόνησον κατοικοῦντες, οὓς ἂν τῶν ξένων παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἕλωσι, τούτων δὴ τῶν κατὰ θάλατταν ἐπταικότων, αὐτίκα μάλα τῇ Ταυρικῇ καταθύουσιν Ἀρτέμιδι· ταύτας σου τὰς θυσίας Εὐριπίδης ἐπὶ σκηνῆς τραγῳδεῖ. Μόνιμος δʼ ἱστορεῖ ἐν τῇ τῶν θαυμασίων συναγωγῇ ἐν Πέλλῃ τῆς Θετταλίας Ἀχαιὸν ἄνθρωπον Πηλεῖ καὶ Χείρωνι καταθύεσθαι· Λυκτίους γὰρ (Κρητῶν δὲ ἔθνος εἰσὶν οὗτοι) Ἀντικλείδης ἐν Νόστοις ἀποφαίνεται ἀνθρώπους ἀποσφάττειν τῷ Διί, καὶ Λεσβίους Διονύσῳ τὴν ὁμοίαν προσάγειν θυσίαν Δωσίδας λέγει· Φωκαεῖς δέ (οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτοὺς παραπέμψομαι) — τούτους Πυθοκλῆς ἐν τρίτῳ Περὶ ὁμονοίας τῇ Ταυροπόλῳ Ἀρτέμιδι ἄνθρωπον ὁλοκαυτεῖν ἱστορεῖ. Ἐρεχθεὺς δὲ ὁ Ἀττικὸς καὶ Μάριος ὁ Ῥωμαῖος τὰς αὑτῶν ἐθυσάτην θυγατέρας· ὧν ὃ μὲν τῇ Φερεφάττῃ, ὡς Δημάρατος ἐν πρώτῃ Τραγῳδουμένων, ὃ δὲ τοῖς Ἀποτροπαίοις, ὁ Μάριος, ὡς Δωρόθεος ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ Ἰταλικῶν ἱστορεῖ. φιλάνθρωποί γε ἐκ τούτων καταφαίνονται οἱ δαίμονες· πῶς δὲ οὐχ ὅσιοι ἀναλόγως οἱ δεισιδαίμονες; οἳ μὲν σωτῆρες εὐφημούμενοι, οἳ δὲ σωτηρίαν αἰτούμενοι παρὰ τῶν ἐπιβούλων σωτηρίας. καλλιερεῖν γοῦν τοπάζοντες αὐτοῖς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς λελήθασιν ἀποσφάττοντες ἀνθρώπους. οὐ γὰρ οὖν παρὰ τὸν τόπον ἱερεῖον γίνεται ὁ φόνος, οὐδʼ εἰ Ἀρτέμιδί τις καὶ Διὶ ἐν ### English translation (Claude) Come, then, let us add this too: that your gods are inhuman daemons who hate humankind, not only rejoicing in human madness but also enjoying human slaughter. Now in the armed contests in the stadiums, now in the countless ambitions of war, they procure occasions of pleasure for themselves, so that they may have the fullest opportunity to glut themselves unrestrained on human bloodshed. And by now, falling on cities and nations like plagues, they have demanded savage offerings. Aristomenes the Messenian, for example, slaughtered three hundred men to Zeus of Ithome, thinking to offer so many hecatombs of such a kind with good omens; among them was Theopompus, the king of the Spartans, a noble victim. The Taurians, the nation living around the Tauric Chersonese, at once sacrifice to the Tauric Artemis any strangers they catch among them, that is, those shipwrecked at sea; these are your sacrifices that Euripides puts on the tragic stage. Monimus records, in his Collection of Marvels, that at Pella in Thessaly an Achaean man is sacrificed to Peleus and Chiron. Anticlides, in his Returns, declares that the Lyctians (these are a Cretan people) slaughter human beings to Zeus; and Dosiadas says that the Lesbians offer a similar sacrifice to Dionysus. As for the Phocaeans (for I will not pass them over either), Pythocles, in the third book of On Concord, records that they burn a human being as a whole burnt offering to Artemis Tauropolus. Erechtheus of Attica and Marius the Roman sacrificed their own daughters: the one to Persephone, as Demaratus says in the first book of his Tragic Subjects; the other, Marius, to the Averting Deities, as Dorotheus records in the fourth book of his Italian History. From these examples the daemons plainly appear to be lovers of humankind! And how could the superstitious not be correspondingly holy? The one are praised as saviors, the others ask salvation from those who plot against salvation. Supposing that they offer auspicious sacrifices to them, they have failed to notice that they are slaughtering human beings. For murder does not become a sacrifice because of the place, not even if someone slaughters a human being to Artemis or Zeus in a … ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Iph. taur. (Euripides (plays and fragments)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The sentence continues in the next section. - Euripides's play is Iphigenia among the Taurians. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 3.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/42/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 3.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/43/ - Source: Stählin 1:32–33 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Human sacrifice is murder; human beings like Solon and Cyrus were better than Apollo, whose oracle led Croesus to the pyre. ### Greek text ἱερῷ δῆθεν χωρίῳ μᾶλλον ἢ ὀργῇ καὶ φιλαργυρίᾳ, ἄλλοις ὁμοίοις δαίμοσιν, ἐπὶ βωμοῖς ἢ ἐν ὁδοῖς ἀποσφάττοι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, [ἱερὸν] ἱερεῖον ἐπιφημίσας, ἀλλὰ φόνος ἐστὶ καὶ ἀνδροκτασία ἡ τοιαύτη θυσία. τί δὴ οὖν, ὦ σοφώτατοι τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἄνθρωποι, τὰ μὲν θηρία περιφεύγομεν τὰ ἀνήμερα, κἄν που περιτύχωμεν ἄρκῳ ἢ λέοντι, ἐκτρεπόμεθα, ὡς δʼ ὅτε τίς τε δράκοντα ἰδὼν παλίνορσος ἀπέστη οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃς, ὑπό τε τρόμος ἔλλαβε γυῖα, ἄψ τʼ ἀνεχώρησεν· δαίμονας δὲ ὀλεθρίους καὶ ἀλιτηρίους ἐπιβούλους τε καὶ μισανθρώπους καὶ λυμεῶνας ὄντας προαισθόμενοι καὶ συνιέντες οὐκ ἐκτρέπεσθε οὐδὲ ἀποστρέφεσθε; τί δʼ ἂν καὶ ἀληθεύσαιεν οἱ κακοί, ἢ τίνα ἂν ὠφελήσαιεν; αὐτίκα γοῦν ἔχω σοι βελτίονα τῶν ὑμεδαπῶν τούτων θεῶν, τῶν δαιμόνων, ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ μαντικοῦ τὸν Κῦρον καὶ τὸν Σόλωνα. φιλόδωρος ὑμῶν ὁ Φοῖβος, ἀλλʼ οὐ φιλάνθρωπος. προὔδωκε τὸν Κροῖσον τὸν φίλον καὶ τοῦ μισθοῦ ἐκλαθόμενος (οὕτω φιλόδοξος ἦν) ἀνήγαγε τὸν Κροῖσον διὰ τοῦ Ἅλυος ἐπὶ τὴν πυράν. οὕτω φιλοῦντες οἱ δαίμονες ὁδηγοῦσιν εἰς τὸ πῦρ. ἀλλʼ, ὦ φιλανθρωπότερε καὶ ἀληθέστερε τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἄνθρωπε, τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς πυρᾶς οἴκτειρον δεδεμένον, καὶ σὺ μέν, ὦ Σόλων, μάντευσαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, σὺ δέ, ὦ Κῦρε, κέλευσον ἀποσβεσθῆναι τὴν πυράν. σωφρόνησον ὕστατον γοῦν, ὦ Κροῖσε, τῷ πάθει μεταμαθών· ἀχάριστός ἐστιν ὃν προσκυνεῖς, λαμβάνει τὸν μισθὸν καὶ μετὰ τὸ χρυσίον ψεύδεται πάλιν. τέλος ἄρα οὐχ ὁ δαίμων, ἀλλὰ ὁ ἄνθρωπός σοι λέγει. οὐ λοξὰ μαντεύεται Σόλων· τοῦτον εὑρήσεις ἀληθῆ μόνον, ὦ βάρβαρε, τὸν χρησμόν· τοῦτον ἐπὶ τῆς πυρᾶς δοκιμάσεις. ### English translation (Claude) … supposedly sacred place, rather than to anger and love of money, other daemons like them, on altars or in the streets, calling it a sacred victim; such a sacrifice is murder and manslaughter. Why then, you humans, wisest of the animals, do we flee from savage beasts, and turn aside if we happen to meet a bear or a lion, “as when a man sees a serpent in the mountain glens and starts back, and trembling seizes his limbs, and he retreats,” and yet, though you perceive and understand that daemons are destructive and accursed, plotters, haters of humankind, and ravagers, you do not turn aside or turn away from them? What truth could the wicked speak, or whom could they help? Here and now I can show you that a human being is better than these gods of yours, the daemons: that Cyrus and Solon are better than Apollo the prophet. Your Phoebus loves gifts, but does not love human beings. He betrayed his friend Croesus and, forgetting the payment (so fond of glory was he), led Croesus across the Halys to the pyre. So do the daemons lead to the fire those they love! But you, O man, more humane and more truthful than Apollo, pity the one bound on the pyre; and you, Solon, prophesy the truth; and you, Cyrus, order the pyre to be put out. Be wise at last, at least, Croesus, having learned by suffering: the one you worship is ungrateful; he takes the payment, and after the gold he lies again. It is not the daemon but the man who says to you, “Consider the end.” Solon does not prophesy crooked oracles; this is the only oracle, barbarian, that you will find true; you will prove it on the pyre. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 3.33–35 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 1.86 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The simile is Homer, Iliad 3.33–35. Solon's advice to Croesus, “consider the end” (of a life before calling it happy), is in Herodotus 1.32, 1.86; Apollo's ambiguous oracle about the Halys in Herodotus 1.53. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 3.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/43/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 3.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/44/ - Source: Stählin 1:33–34 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Superstition began with a few men and grew into the worship of many daemons; even Eros and Pan are late inventions, and the temples are really tombs. ### Greek text Ὅθεν ἔπεισί μοι θαυμάζειν τίσι ποτὲ φαντασίαις ἀπαχθέντες οἱ πρῶτοι πεπλανημένοι δεισιδαιμονίαν ἀνθρώποις κατήγγειλαν, δαίμονας ἀλιτηρίους νομοθετοῦντες σέβειν, εἴτε Φορωνεὺς ἐκεῖνος ἦν εἴτε Μέροψ εἴτε ἄλλος τις, οἳ νεὼς καὶ βωμοὺς ἀνέστησαν αὐτοῖς, πρὸς δὲ καὶ θυσίας παραστῆσαι πρῶτοι μεμύθευνται. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ κατὰ χρόνους ὕστερον ἀνέπλαττον θεούς, οἷς προσκυνοῖεν. ἀμέλει τὸν Ἔρωτα τοῦτον τὸν ἐν τοῖς πρεσβυτάτοις τῶν θεῶν εἶναι λεγόμενον ἐτίμα πρότερον οὐδὲ εἷς πρὶν ἢ Χάρμον μειράκιόν τι ἑλεῖν καὶ βωμὸν ἱδρύσασθαι ἐν Ἀκαδημίᾳ χαριστήριον ἐπιτελοῦς γενομένης ἐπιθυμίας· καὶ τῆς νόσου τὴν ἀσέλγειαν Ἔρωτα κεκλήκασι, θεοποιοῦντες ἀκόλαστον ἐπιθυμίαν. Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ οὐδὲ τὸν Πᾶνα ᾔδεσαν ὅστις ἦν, πρὶν ἢ Φιλιππίδην εἰπεῖν αὐτοῖς. εἰκότως ἄρα ἀρχήν ποθεν ἡ δεισιδαιμονία λαβοῦσα κακίας ἀνοήτου γέγονε πηγή· εἶτα δὲ μὴ ἀνακοπεῖσα, ἀλλʼ εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ἐλθοῦσα καὶ πολλὴ δὴ ῥυεῖσα, δημιουργὸς πολλῶν καθίσταται δαιμόνων, ἑκατόμβας θύουσα καὶ πανηγύρεις ἐπιτελοῦσα καὶ ἀγάλματα ἀνιστᾶσα καὶ νεὼς ἀνοικοδομοῦσα, τοὺς δή — οὐ γὰρ οὐδὲ τούτους σιωπήσομαι, πρὸς δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐξελέγξω — νεὼς μὲν εὐφήμως ὀνομαζομένους, τάφους δὲ γενομένους [τουτέστι τοὺς τάφους νεὼς ἐπικεκλημένους]. ### English translation (Claude) So I am led to wonder by what fantasies those who first went astray were carried off when they proclaimed superstition to human beings, laying down the law that accursed daemons should be worshiped: whether it was the famous Phoroneus, or Merops, or someone else, who set up temples and altars to them and, as the myth goes, were the first to offer sacrifices to them. And indeed, as time went on, they kept inventing gods to worship. Certainly no one used to honor this Eros, who is said to be among the oldest of the gods, until Charmus seduced a certain youth and set up an altar in the Academy as a thank offering for the fulfillment of his desire; and they have called the licentiousness of this disease Eros, making a god of unbridled desire. The Athenians did not even know who Pan was until Philippides told them. Naturally, then, superstition, having taken its beginning from somewhere, has become a fountain of senseless wickedness; and then, not checked but growing and flowing in abundance, it has become the maker of many daemons, sacrificing hecatombs, celebrating festivals, setting up statues, and building temples. These (for I will not keep silent about them either, but will expose them too) are called temples as a euphemism, but in fact are tombs [that is, tombs called temples]. ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 6.105 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The bracketed words are marked by the editor as a gloss. Philippides (Pheidippides) met Pan on his run to Sparta before Marathon (Herodotus 6.105). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 3.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/44/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 3.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/45/ - Source: Stählin 1:34–35 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Famous Greek temples contain the tombs of mortal men and women; those who worship there have trusted in the dead. ### Greek text ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀλλὰ κἂν νῦν δεισιδαιμονίας ἐκλάθεσθε, τοὺς τάφους τιμᾶν αἰσχυνόμενοι. ἐν τῷ νεῲ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐν Λαρίσῃ ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει τάφος ἐστὶν Ἀκρισίου, Ἀθήνησιν δὲ ἐν ἀκροπόλει Κέκροπος, ὥς φησιν Ἀντίοχος ἐν τῷ ἐνάτῳ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν. τί δὲ Ἐριχθόνιος; οὐχὶ ἐν τῷ νεῲ τῆς Πολιάδος κεκήδευται; Ἰμμάραδος δὲ ὁ Εὐμόλπου καὶ Δαείρας οὐχὶ ἐν τῷ περιβόλῳ τοῦ Ἐλευσινίου τοῦ ὑπὸ τῇ ἀκροπόλει; αἱ δὲ Κελεοῦ θυγατέρες οὐχὶ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι τετάφαται; τί σοι καταλέγω τὰς ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων γυναῖκας; Ὑπερόχη καὶ Λαοδίκη κέκλησθον, ἐν τῷ Ἀρτεμισίῳ ἐν Δήλῳ κεκήδευσθον, τὸ δὲ ἐν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ Δηλίου ἐστὶν ἱερῷ. Λεάνδριος δὲ Κλέοχον ἐν Μιλήτῳ τεθάφθαι ἐν τῷ Διδυμαίῳ φησίν. ἐνταῦθα τῆς Λευκοφρύνης τὸ μνημεῖον οὐκ ἄξιον παρελθεῖν ἑπομένους Ζήνωνι τῷ Μυνδίῳ, ἣ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἐν Μαγνησίᾳ κεκήδευται, οὐδὲ μὴν τὸν ἐν Τελμησσῷ βωμὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος· μνῆμα εἶναι καὶ τοῦτον Τελμησσοῦ τοῦ μάντεως ἱστοροῦσιν. Πτολεμαῖος δὲ ὁ τοῦ Ἀγησάρχου ἐν τῷ α΄ τῶν περὶ τὸν Φιλοπάτορα ἐν Πάφῳ λέγει ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερῷ Κινύραν τε καὶ τοὺς Κινύρου ἀπογόνους κεκηδεῦσθαι. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπιόντι μοι τοὺς προσκυνουμένους ὑμῖν τάφους ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδʼ ὁ πᾶς ἂν ἀρκέσαι χρόνος· ὑμᾶς δὲ εἰ μὴ ὑπεισέρχεταί τις αἰσχύνη τῶν τολμωμένων, νεκροὶ ἄρα τέλεον ὄντες νεκροῖς [ὄντως] πεπιστευκότες περιέρχεσθε· ἆ δειλοί, τί κακὸν τόδε πάσχετε; νυκτὶ μὲν ὑμῶν εἰλύαται κεφαλαί. ### English translation (Claude) But you, even now at least, forget your superstition, ashamed to honor tombs. In the temple of Athena on the acropolis at Larisa there is the tomb of Acrisius, and at Athens on the acropolis that of Cecrops, as Antiochus says in the ninth book of his Histories. What of Erichthonius? Was he not buried in the temple of Athena Polias? And Immaradus, the son of Eumolpus and Daeira, was he not buried in the precinct of the Eleusinium below the acropolis? Are not the daughters of Celeus buried at Eleusis? Why should I list for you the women from the Hyperboreans? They were called Hyperoche and Laodice; they are buried in the temple of Artemis on Delos, which is in the sanctuary of Delian Apollo. Leandrius says that Cleochus is buried at Miletus in the Didymaeum. Here, following Zeno of Myndus, it is not right to pass over the monument of Leucophryne, who is buried in the temple of Artemis at Magnesia; nor the altar of Apollo at Telmessus, which too, they record, is the tomb of Telmessus the seer. Ptolemy, the son of Agesarchus, in the first book of his work on Philopator, says that Cinyras and the descendants of Cinyras are buried in the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos. But if I were to go through the tombs you worship, all time would not suffice me. As for you, if no shame at these audacities steals over you, then you go about altogether dead, having put your faith in the dead: “Ah, wretches, what evil is this you suffer? Your heads are wrapped in night.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 20.351–352 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The closing quotation is Homer, Odyssey 20.351–352 (Theoclymenus to the suitors). The bracketed word ὄντως is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 3.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/3/45/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/46/ - Source: Stählin 1:35 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The first idols were plain wood and stone; only later were they shaped like human beings. ### Greek text Εἰ δʼ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις φέρων ὑμῖν τὰ ἀγάλματα αὐτὰ ἐπισκοπεῖν παραθείην, ἐπιόντες ὡς ἀληθῶς λῆρον εὑρήσετε τὴν συνήθειαν, »ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων« ἀναίσθητα προστρεπόμενοι. πάλαι μὲν οὖν οἱ Σκύθαι τὸν ἀκινάκην, οἱ Ἄραβες τὸν λίθον, οἱ Πέρσαι τὸν ποταμὸν προσεκύνουν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων οἱ ἔτι παλαιότεροι ξύλα ἱδρύοντο περιφανῆ καὶ κίονας ἵστων ἐκ λίθων· ἃ δὴ καὶ ξόανα προσηγορεύετο διὰ τὸ ἀπεξέσθαι τῆς ὕλης. ἀμέλει ἐν Ἰκάρῳ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος τὸ ἄγαλμα ξύλον ἦν οὐκ εἰργασμένον, καὶ τῆς Κιθαιρωνίας Ἥρας ἐν Θεσπείᾳ πρέμνον ἐκκεκομμένον· καὶ τὸ τῆς Σαμίας Ἥρας, ὥς φησιν Ἀέθλιος, πρότερον μὲν ἦν σανίς, ὕστερον δὲ ἐπὶ Προκλέους ἄρχοντος ἀνδριαντοειδὲς ἐγένετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀνθρώποις ἀπεικονίζεσθαι τὰ ξόανα ἤρξατο, βρέτη τὴν ἐκ βροτῶν ἐπωνυμίαν ἐκαρπώσατο. ἐν Ῥώμῃ δὲ τὸ παλαιὸν δόρυ φησὶ γεγονέναι τοῦ Ἄρεως τὸ ξόανον Οὐάρρων ὁ συγγραφεύς, οὐδέπω τῶν τεχνιτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν εὐπρόσωπον ταύτην κακοτεχνίαν ὡρμηκότων. ### English translation (Claude) If, besides this, I were to bring the statues themselves and set them before you to examine, you would go through them and find that your custom is truly nonsense, since you pray to senseless “works of human hands.” In ancient times the Scythians worshiped the dagger, the Arabs the stone, the Persians the river; and among other peoples those still more ancient set up conspicuous pieces of wood and erected pillars of stone. These were called xoana, because they had been scraped (apexesthai) from the raw material. The image of Artemis on Icarus, for example, was an unworked piece of wood, and that of Cithaeronian Hera at Thespiae a felled tree trunk; and the image of Samian Hera, as Aethlius says, was at first a plank, and later, when Procles was archon, it became human-shaped. When the xoana began to be made in human likeness, they took the name brete, from brotoi (“mortals”). At Rome in ancient times, says the historian Varro, the image of Mars was a spear, since the craftsmen had not yet launched into this handsome but evil art. ### Scripture references - Ps 115:4 (113:12 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 135:15 (134:15 LXX): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Works of human hands” is the language of Ps 115:4 (113:12 LXX) and Ps 135:15. The derivations of ξόανον and βρέτας are ancient word-play. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/46/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/47/ - Source: Stählin 1:35–37 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The most famous statues of the gods have known makers and materials; even the “heaven-fallen” Palladium was made from bones. ### Greek text ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἤνθησεν ἡ τέχνη, ηὔξησεν ἡ πλάνη. ὡς μὲν οὖν τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὰ ξύλα καὶ συνελόντι φάναι τὴν ὕλην ἀγάλματα ἀνδρείκελα ἐποιήσαντο, οἷς ἐπιμορφάζετε εὐσέβειαν συκοφαντοῦντες τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἤδη μὲν αὐτόθεν δῆλον· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποδείξεως ποσῆς ἐπιδεομένου τοῦ τόπου οὐ παραιτητέον. τὸν μὲν οὖν Ὀλυμπίασι Δία καὶ τὴν Ἀθήνησι Πολιάδα ἐκ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἐλέφαντος κατασκευάσαι Φειδίαν παντί που σαφές· τὸ δὲ ἐν Σάμῳ τῆς Ἥρας ξόανον Σμίλιδι τῷ Εὐκλείδου πεποιῆσθαι Ὀλύμπιχος ἐν Σαμιακοῖς ἱστορεῖ. μὴ οὖν ἀμφιβάλλετε, εἰ τῶν Σεμνῶν Ἀθήνησι καλουμένων θεῶν τὰς μὲν δύο Σκόπας ἐποίησεν ἐκ τοῦ καλουμένου λυχνέως λίθου, Κάλως δὲ τὴν μέσην αὐταῖν· ἱστοροῦντα ἔχω σοι Πολέμωνα δεικνύναι ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν πρὸς Τίμαιον· μηδʼ εἰ τὰ ἐν Πατάροις τῆς Λυκίας ἀγάλματα Διὸς καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος Φειδίας πάλιν ἐκεῖνος [τὰ ἀγάλματα] καθάπερ τοὺς λέοντας τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀνακειμένους εἴργασται· εἰ δέ, ὥς φασί τινες, Βρυάξιος ἡ τέχνη, οὐ διαφέρομαι· ἔχεις καὶ τοῦτον ἀγαλματουργόν· ὁπότερον αὐτοῖν βούλει ἐπίγραφε. καὶ μὴν Τελεσίου τοῦ Ἀθηναίου, ὥς φησι Φιλόχορος, ἔργον εἰσὶν ἀγάλματα ἐννεαπήχη Ποσειδῶνος καὶ Ἀμφιτρίτης ἐν Τήνῳ προσκυνούμενα. Δημήτριος γὰρ ἐν δευτέρῳ τῶν Ἀργολικῶν τοῦ ἐν Τίρυνθι τῆς Ἥρας ξοάνου καὶ τὴν ὕλην ὄγχνην καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν Ἄργον ἀναγράφει. πολλοὶ δʼ ἂν τάχα που θαυμάσειαν, εἰ μάθοιεν τὸ Παλλάδιον τὸ διοπετὲς καλούμενον, ὃ Διομήδης καὶ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἱστοροῦνται μὲν ὑφελέσθαι ἀπὸ Ἰλίου, παρακαταθέσθαι δὲ Δημοφῶντι, ἐκ τῶν Πέλοπος ὀστῶν κατεσκευάσθαι, καθάπερ τὸν Ὀλύμπιον ἐξ ἄλλων ὀστῶν Ἰνδικοῦ θηρίου. καὶ δὴ τὸν ἱστοροῦντα Διονύσιον ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ μέρει τοῦ Κύκλου παρίστημι. Ἀπελλᾶς δὲ ἐν τοῖς Δελφικοῖς δύο φησὶ γεγονέναι τὰ Παλλάδια, ἄμφω δʼ ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων δεδημιουργῆσθαι. ἀλλʼ ὅπως μηδεὶς ὑπολάβῃ καὶ ταῦτά με ἀγνοίᾳ παρεικέναι, παραθήσομαι τοῦ Μορύχου Διονύσου τὸ ἄγαλμα Ἀθήνησι γεγονέναι μὲν ἐκ τοῦ φελλάτα καλουμένου λίθου, ἔργον δὲ εἶναι Σίκωνος τοῦ Εὐπαλάμου, ὥς φησι Πολέμων ἔν τινι ἐπιστολῇ. ἐγενέσθην δὲ καὶ ἄλλω τινὲ δύω Κρητικὼ οἶμαι ἀνδριαντοποιὼ (Σκύλλις καὶ Δίποινος ὠνομαζέσθην)· τούτων δὲ τὰ ἐν Ἄργει τοῖς Διοσκούροιν ἀγάλματα κατεσκευασάτην καὶ τὸν ἐν Τίρυνθι Ἡρακλέους ἀνδριάντα καὶ τὸ τῆς Μουνυχίας Ἀρτέμιδος ξόανον ἐν Σικυῶνι. ### English translation (Claude) But when art flourished, error grew. That they made statues in human form out of stones and wood and, in a word, out of matter, statues on which you put a show of piety while slandering the truth, is already clear in itself; but since the subject needs some proof, I must not decline to give it. That Phidias made the Zeus at Olympia and the Athena Polias at Athens of gold and ivory is surely plain to everyone; and Olympichus records in his Samian History that the xoanon of Hera in Samos was made by Smilis the son of Eucleides. So do not doubt that of the goddesses at Athens called the Venerable Ones, Scopas made two of the so-called lychnite stone, and Calos the one between them; I can show you Polemon recording it in the fourth book of his Reply to Timaeus. Nor doubt that the statues of Zeus and Apollo at Patara in Lycia were again the work of that same Phidias, like the lions set up with them; but if, as some say, they are the work of Bryaxis, I do not dispute it: you have him too as a statue-maker; ascribe them to whichever of the two you like. Further, the nine-cubit statues of Poseidon and Amphitrite worshiped on Tenos are the work of Telesius of Athens, as Philochorus says. Demetrius, in the second book of his Argolica, records both the material of the xoanon of Hera at Tiryns, pear wood, and its maker, Argus. Many would perhaps be amazed to learn that the Palladium, the one called “fallen from heaven,” which Diomedes and Odysseus are said to have stolen from Troy and entrusted to Demophon, was made from the bones of Pelops, just as the Olympian Zeus was made from the bones of another animal, an Indian one. I bring forward Dionysius as my authority, in the fifth part of his Cycle. Apellas, in his Delphica, says that there were two Palladia, and that both were made by human beings. And so that no one may suppose that I have passed over these things out of ignorance, I will add that the statue of Dionysus Morychus at Athens was made of the stone called phellatas and is the work of Sicon the son of Eupalamus, as Polemon says in one of his letters. There were also two other sculptors, Cretans, I think (Scyllis and Dipoenus were their names); they made the statues of the Dioscuri at Argos, the statue of Heracles at Tiryns, and the xoanon of Artemis Munychia at Sicyon. ### Translation notes - The “bones of an Indian animal” are ivory. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/47/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/48/ - Source: Stählin 1:37–38 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The great Egyptian god Sarapis, called “not made by hands,” was a statue with a known history, made of ground metals and stones. ### Greek text Καὶ τί περὶ ταῦτα διατρίβω, ἐξὸν αὐτὸν τὸν μεγαλοδαίμονα ὑμῖν ἐπιδεῖξαι ὅστις ἦν, ὃν δὴ κατʼ ἐξοχὴν πρὸς πάντων σεβασμοῦ κατηξιωμένον ἀκούομεν, τοῦτον ὃν ἀχειροποίητον εἰπεῖν τετολμήκασιν, τὸν Αἰγύπτιον Σάραπιν; οἳ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἱστοροῦσιν χαριστήριον ὑπὸ Σινωπέων Πτολεμαίῳ τῷ Φιλαδέλφῳ τῷ Αἰγυπτίων πεμφθῆναι βασιλεῖ, ὃς λιμῷ τρυχομένους αὐτοὺς ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου μεταπεμψαμένους σῖτον [ὁ Πτολεμαῖος] ἀνεκτήσατο, εἶναι δὲ τὸ ξόανον τοῦτο ἄγαλμα Πλούτωνος· ὃ δὲ δεξάμενος τὸν ἀνδριάντα καθίδρυσεν ἐπὶ τῆς ἄκρας, ἣν νῦν Ῥακῶτιν καλοῦσιν, ἔνθα καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τετίμηται τοῦ Σαράπιδος, γειτνιᾷ δὲ τοῖς τόποις τὸ χωρίον. Βλιστίχην δὲ τὴν παλλακίδα τελευτήσασαν ἐν Κανώβῳ μεταγαγὼν ὁ Πτολεμαῖος ἔθαψεν ὑπὸ τὸν προδεδηλωμένον σηκόν. ἄλλοι δέ φασι Ποντικὸν εἶναι βρέτας τὸν Σάραπιν, μετῆχθαι δὲ εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν μετὰ τιμῆς πανηγυρικῆς. Ἰσίδωρος μόνος παρὰ Σελευκέων τῶν πρὸς Ἀντιοχείᾳ τὸ ἄγαλμα μεταχθῆναι λέγει, ἐν σιτοδείᾳ καὶ αὐτῶν γενομένων καὶ ὑπὸ Πτολεμαίου διατραφέντων. ἀλλʼ ὅ γε Ἀθηνόδωρος ὁ τοῦ Σάνδωνος ἀρχαΐζειν τὸν Σάραπιν βουληθεὶς οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅτῳ περιέπεσεν, ἐλέγξας αὐτὸν ἄγαλμα εἶναι γενητόν· Σέσωστρίν φησι τὸν Αἰγύπτιον βασιλέα, τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι παραστησάμενον, ἐθνῶν ἐπανελθόντα εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐπαγαγέσθαι τεχνίτας ἱκανούς· τὸν οὖν Ὄσιριν τὸν προπάτορα τὸν αὑτοῦ δαιδαλθῆναι ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοῖς πολυτελῶς, κατασκευάζει δὲ αὐτὸν Βρύαξις ὁ δημιουργός, οὐχ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ἄλλος δέ τις ὁμώνυμος ἐκείνῳ τῷ Βρυάξιδι· ὃς ὕλῃ κατακέχρηται εἰς δημιουργίαν μικτῇ καὶ ποικίλῃ. ῥίνημα γὰρ χρυσοῦ ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀργύρου χαλκοῦ τε καὶ σιδήρου καὶ μολίβδου, πρὸς δὲ καὶ κασσιτέρου, λίθων δὲ Αἰγυπτίων ἐνέδει οὐδὲ εἷς, σαπφείρου καὶ αἱματίτου θραύσματα σμαράγδου τε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοπαζίου. λεάνας οὖν τὰ πάντα καὶ ἀναμίξας ἔχρωσε κυάνῳ, οὗ δὴ χάριν μελάντερον τὸ χρῶμα τοῦ ἀγάλματος, καὶ τῷ ἐκ τῆς Ὀσίριδος καὶ τοῦ Ἄπιος κηδείας ὑπολελειμμένῳ φαρμάκῳ φυράσας τὰ πάντα διέπλασεν τὸν Σάραπιν· οὗ καὶ τοὔνομα αἰνίττεται τὴν κοινωνίαν τῆς κηδείας καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ταφῆς δημιουργίαν, σύνθετον ἀπό τε Ὀσίριδος καὶ Ἄπιος γενόμενον Ὀσίραπις. ### English translation (Claude) But why do I dwell on these, when I can show you the great daemon himself, who he was, the one whom we hear was pre-eminently deemed worthy of reverence by all, the one whom they have dared to call “not made by hands,” the Egyptian Sarapis? Some record that he was sent as a thank offering by the people of Sinope to Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of the Egyptians, who had won their favor when, worn down by famine, they sent for grain from Egypt; and that this xoanon was a statue of Pluto. Ptolemy received the statue and set it up on the promontory now called Rhacotis, where the temple of Sarapis is honored, and the place is near those parts. Ptolemy brought his concubine Blistiche, who had died at Canopus, and buried her beneath the shrine just mentioned. Others say that Sarapis was an image from Pontus, and was brought to Alexandria with festal honors. Isidorus alone says the statue was brought from the people of Seleucia near Antioch, when they too were in a famine and were fed by Ptolemy. But Athenodorus the son of Sandon, wishing to make Sarapis ancient, fell somehow into refuting himself, proving that it was a manufactured statue. He says that Sesostris, the Egyptian king, having subdued most of the nations among the Greeks, returned to Egypt and brought with him skilled craftsmen. He ordered them to fashion his forefather Osiris lavishly; and the craftsman Bryaxis made it, not the Athenian, but another of the same name as that Bryaxis. He used for the work a mixed and varied material: he had filings of gold and silver, of bronze and iron and lead, and of tin as well; not one of the Egyptian stones was lacking: fragments of sapphire and hematite, of emerald, and of topaz too. He ground them all fine, mixed them, and colored them with dark blue, which is why the color of the statue is rather dark; and kneading it all with the drug left over from the funeral of Osiris and Apis, he molded Sarapis. His name too hints at the shared funeral and at his fashioning from the burial, being compounded from Osiris and Apis: Osirapis. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/48/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/49/ - Source: Stählin 1:38 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Hadrian made a god of his beloved Antinous; true beauty is kept pure, not violated. ### Greek text Καινὸν δὲ ἄλλον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ὀλίγου δεῖν καὶ παρʼ Ἕλλησι, σεβασμίως τεθείακεν θεὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ Ῥωμαίων τὸν ἐρώμενον ὡραιότατον σφόδρα γενόμενον· Ἀντίνοον [ὃν] ἀνιέρωσεν οὕτως ὡς Γανυμήδην ὁ Ζεύς· οὐ γὰρ κωλύεται ῥᾳδίως ἐπιθυμία φόβον οὐκ ἔχουσα· καὶ νύκτας ἱερὰς τὰς Ἀντινόου προσκυνοῦσιν ἄνθρωποι νῦν, ἃς αἰσχρὰς ἠπίστατο ὁ συναγρυπνήσας ἐραστής. τί μοι θεὸν καταλέγεις τὸν πορνείᾳ τετιμημένον; τί δὲ καὶ ὡς υἱὸν θρηνεῖσθαι προσέταξας; τί δὲ καὶ τὸ κάλλος αὐτοῦ διηγῇ; αἰσχρόν ἐστι τὸ κάλλος ὕβρει μεμαραμμένον. μὴ τυραννήσῃς, ἄνθρωπε, τοῦ κάλλους μηδὲ ἐνυβρίσῃς ἀνθοῦντι τῷ νέῳ· τήρησον αὐτὸ καθαρόν, ἵνα ᾖ καλόν. βασιλεὺς τοῦ κάλλους γενοῦ, μὴ τύραννος· ἐλεύθερον μεινάτω· τότε σου γνωρίσω τὸ κάλλος, ὅτε καθαρὰν τετήρηκας τὴν εἰκόνα· τότε προσκυνήσω τὸ κάλλος, ὅτε ἀληθινὸν ἀρχέτυπόν ἐστι τῶν καλῶν. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor of the Romans has reverently deified another new god in Egypt, and nearly among the Greeks as well: his beloved, a youth of great beauty. He consecrated Antinous as Zeus did Ganymede; for desire that has no fear is not easily restrained. And now people worship the sacred nights of Antinous, which the lover who kept vigil with him knew to be shameful. Why do you count as a god for me one who is honored for sexual immorality? Why did you order him to be mourned as a son? Why do you tell of his beauty? Beauty withered by outrage is shameful. Do not play the tyrant over beauty, man, nor outrage the young man in his bloom; keep it pure, that it may be beautiful. Be a king of beauty, not a tyrant; let it remain free. Then I will recognize your beauty, when you have kept the image pure; then I will worship beauty, when it is the true archetype of beautiful things. ### Translation notes - The emperor is Hadrian (reigned 117–138), whose favorite Antinous drowned in the Nile in 130; Hadrian founded the city of Antinoopolis in his honor. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/49/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/50/ - Source: Stählin 1:38–39 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Temples are tombs; the Sibyl foretold the ruin of the temples of Artemis and Sarapis, and Heraclitus mocked prayer to statues. ### Greek text ἤδη δὲ τάφος ἐστὶ τοῦ ἐρωμένου, νεώς ἐστιν Ἀντινόου καὶ πόλις· καθάπερ δέ, οἶμαι, οἱ ναοί, οὕτω δὲ καὶ οἱ τάφοι θαυμάζονται, πυραμίδες καὶ μαυσώλεια καὶ λαβύρινθοι, ἄλλοι ναοὶ τῶν νεκρῶν, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι τάφοι τῶν θεῶν. διδάσκαλον δὲ ὑμῖν παραθήσομαι τὴν προφῆτιν Σίβυλλαν οὐ ψευδοῦς Φοίβου χρησμηγόρον, ὅν τε μάταιοι ἄνθρωποι θεὸν εἶπον, ἐπεψεύσαντο δὲ μάντιν, ἀλλὰ θεοῦ μεγάλοιο, τὸν οὐ χέρες ἔπλασαν ἀνδρῶν εἰδώλοις ἀλάλοισι λιθοξέστοισιν ὅμοιον. αὕτη μέντοι ἐρείπια τοὺς νεὼς προσαγορεύει, τὸν μὲν τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος »χάσμασι καὶ σεισμοῖς« καταποθήσεσθαι προμηνύουσα οὕτως, ὕπτια δʼ οἰμῴξει Ἔφεσος κλαίουσα παρʼ ὄχθαις καὶ νηὸν ζητοῦσα τὸν οὐκέτι ναιετάοντα· τὸν δὲ Ἴσιδος καὶ Σαράπιδος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ κατενεχθήσεσθαί φησι καὶ ἐμπρησθήσεσθαι· Ἶσι, θεὰ τριτάλαινα, μένεις ἐπὶ χεύματα Νείλου μούνη, μαινὰς ἄναυδος ἐπὶ ψαμάθοις Ἀχέροντος, εἶτα ὑποβᾶσα· καὶ σύ, Σάραπι λίθους ἀργοὺς ἐπικείμενε πολλούς, κεῖσαι πτῶμα μέγιστον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τριταλαίνῃ. σὺ δὲ ἀλλʼ εἰ μὴ προφήτιδος ἐπακούεις, τοῦ γε σοῦ ἄκουσον φιλοσόφου, τοῦ Ἐφεσίου Ἡρακλείτου, τὴν ἀναισθησίαν ὀνειδίζοντος τοῖς ἀγάλμασι· »καὶ τοῖς ἀγάλμασι τουτέοισιν εὔχονται, ὁκοῖον εἴ τις τοῖς δόμοις λεσχηνεύοιτο.« ἦ γὰρ οὐχὶ τερατώδεις οἱ λίθους προστρεπόμενοι, εἶτα μέντοι καὶ πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν ἱστάντες αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐνεργεῖς, Ἑρμῆν προσκυνοῦντες ὡς θεὸν καὶ τὸν Ἀγυιέα θυρωρὸν ἱστάντες; εἰ γὰρ ὡς ἀναισθήτους ὑβρίζουσιν, τί προσκυνοῦσιν ὡς θεούς; ### English translation (Claude) Now there is a tomb of the beloved, a temple of Antinous, and a city. Just as temples, I think, so tombs too are admired: pyramids, mausoleums, and labyrinths, other temples of the dead, as those are tombs of the gods. I will set before you as teacher the prophetess Sibyl: “not an oracle-speaker of lying Phoebus, whom vain men called a god and falsely named a seer, but of the great God, whom the hands of men did not fashion, like speechless idols of polished stone.” She calls the temples ruins, foretelling that the temple of Ephesian Artemis will be swallowed up “by chasms and earthquakes,” thus: “Ephesus, laid low, will wail, weeping by her banks, and seeking a temple that no longer has a dweller.” And she says that the temple of Isis and Sarapis in Egypt will be thrown down and burned: “Isis, thrice-wretched goddess, you remain by the streams of the Nile, alone, a speechless maenad on the sands of Acheron”; and then, further on: “And you, Sarapis, lying on many idle stones, you lie, a mighty ruin, in thrice-wretched Egypt.” But if you will not listen to the prophetess, hear at least your own philosopher, Heraclitus of Ephesus, reproaching the statues for their lack of sense: “And they pray to these statues, as if one were to chat with houses.” Are they not monstrous who pray to stones, and then set them up before their gates as if they were active, worshiping Hermes as a god and setting up Agyieus as doorkeeper? If they insult them as senseless, why do they worship them as gods? ### Extrabiblical texts - Sib. Or. 4.4–7 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence - Sib. Or. 5.296–297 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence - Sib. Or. 5.484–487 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Sibylline verses are Sibylline Oracles 4.4–7 and 5.296–297, 484–487; the Heraclitus saying is fragment 5 (Diels–Kranz). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/50/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/51/ - Source: Stählin 1:39–40 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Statues have less sense than the lowest animals; they are dead matter shaped by craftsmen, while the true God is known by the mind. ### Greek text εἰ δὲ αἰσθήσεως αὐτοὺς μετέχειν οἴονται, τί τούτους ἱστᾶσι θυρωρούς; Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ τὰ μέγιστα κατορθώματα τῇ Τύχῃ ἀνατιθέντες καὶ ταύτην μεγίστην οἰόμενοι θεόν, φέροντες εἰς τὸν κοπρῶνα ἀνέθηκαν αὐτήν, ἄξιον νεὼν τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα νείμαντες τῇ θεῷ. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀναισθήτῳ λίθῳ καὶ ξύλῳ καὶ χρυσίῳ πλουσίῳ οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν μέλει, οὐ κνίσης, οὐχ αἵματος, οὐ καπνοῦ, ᾧ δὴ τιμώμενοι καὶ τυφόμενοι ἐκμελαίνονται· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τιμῆς, οὐχ ὕβρεως· τὰ δὲ καὶ παντός ἐστιν ἀτιμότερα ζῴου, τὰ ἀγάλματα. καὶ ὅπως γε τεθείασται τὰ ἀναίσθητα, ἀπορεῖν ἔπεισί μοι καὶ κατελεεῖν τοὺς πλανωμένους τῆς ἀνοίας ὡς δειλαίους· εἰ γὰρ καί τινα τῶν ζῴων οὐχὶ πάσας ἔχει τὰς αἰσθήσεις, ὥσπερ εὐλαὶ καὶ κάμπαι καὶ ὅσα διὰ τῆς πρώτης γενέσεως εὐθὺς ἀνάπηρα φαίνεται, καθάπερ οἱ σπάλακες καὶ ἡ μυγαλῆ, ἥν φησιν ὁ Νίκανδρος »τυφλήν τε σμερδνήν τε«· ἀλλά γε ἀμείνους εἰσὶ τῶν ξοάνων τούτων καὶ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων τέλεον ὄντων κωφῶν· ἔχουσιν γὰρ αἴσθησιν μίαν γέ τινα, φέρε εἰπεῖν ἀκουστικὴν ἢ ἁπτικὴν ἢ τὴν ἀναλογοῦσαν τῇ ὀσφρήσει ἢ τῇ γεύσει· τὰ δὲ οὐδὲ μιᾶς αἰσθήσεως μετέχει, τὰ ἀγάλματα. πολλὰ δέ ἐστι τῶν ζῴων, ὅσα οὔτε ὅρασιν ἔχει οὔτε ἀκοὴν οὐδὲ μὴν φωνήν, οἷον καὶ τὸ τῶν ὀστρέων γένος, ἀλλὰ ζῇ γε καὶ αὔξεται, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῇ σελήνῃ συμπάσχει τὰ δὲ ἀγάλματα ἀργά, ἄπρακτα, ἀναίσθητα, προσδεῖται καὶ προσκαθηλοῦται καὶ προσπήγνυται, χωνεύεται, ῥινᾶται, πρίεται, περιξέεται, γλύφεται. κωφὴν μὲν δὴ γαῖαν ἀεικίζουσιν οἱ ἀγαλματοποιοί, τῆς οἰκείας ἐξιστάντες φύσεως, ὑπὸ τῆς τέχνης προσκυνεῖν ἀναπείθοντες· προσκυνοῦσιν δὲ οἱ θεοποιοὶ οὐ θεοὺς καὶ δαίμονας κατά γε αἴσθησιν τὴν ἐμήν, γῆν δὲ καὶ τέχνην, τὰ ἀγάλματα ὅπερ ἐστίν. ἔστιν γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ἄγαλμα ὕλη νεκρὰ τεχνίτου χειρὶ μεμορφωμένη· ἡμῖν δὲ οὐχ ὕλης αἰσθητῆς αἰσθητόν, νοητὸν δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν. νοητόν, οὐκ αἰσθητόν ἐστι [τὸ ἄγαλμα] ὁ θεός, ὁ μόνος ὄντως θεός. ### English translation (Claude) And if they think the statues have sense, why do they set them up as doorkeepers? The Romans, who ascribe their greatest successes to Fortune and think her the greatest goddess, carried her into a latrine and set her up there, assigning the privy to the goddess as a worthy temple. But senseless stone and wood and precious gold care nothing at all for the savor of burnt flesh, nor for blood, nor for smoke, by which they are honored and smoked and blackened; nor for honor, nor for insult. The statues are more worthless than any animal. How senseless things have come to be deified leaves me at a loss, and I pity those who wander in this folly as wretched. For even if some animals do not have all the senses, such as worms and caterpillars, and those that appear maimed from their very birth, like moles and the shrew-mouse, which Nicander calls “blind and dreadful,” yet they are better than these xoana and statues, which are completely dumb; for they have at least one sense, hearing, say, or touch, or one corresponding to smell or taste; but the statues share in not a single sense. There are many animals that have neither sight nor hearing nor even a voice, such as the race of oysters; yet they live and grow, and are even affected by the moon. But the statues are idle, inactive, and senseless; they are bound, nailed, and fastened on; they are cast, filed, sawed, polished, and carved. The sculptors dishonor the dumb earth, changing it from its proper nature and by their art persuading people to worship it; and the god-makers worship, to my mind at least, not gods and daemons, but earth and art, which is what statues are. For a statue is truly dead matter shaped by a craftsman's hand; but for us the image is not something perceptible made of perceptible matter, but something perceived by the mind. God, the only true God, is perceived by the mind, not by the senses. ### Translation notes - Clement plays on ἄγαλμα (“statue,” “image”): the Christian's “image” of God is spiritual, not material. The bracketed words are marked by the editor as a gloss. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/51/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/52/ - Source: Stählin 1:40–41 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Tyrants who robbed their gods of gold, and birds that foul the statues, show that the images have no sense. ### Greek text 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 translation (Claude) 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. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/52/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/53/ - Source: Stählin 1:41–42 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Fire has destroyed famous temples, a foretaste of judgment; and the sculptors modeled their gods on their lovers and on courtesans. ### Greek text καὶ εἰ Καμβύσης τις ἢ Δαρεῖος ἢ ἄλλος μαινόμενος τοιαῦτα ἄττα ἐπεχείρησεν καὶ εἰ τὸν Αἰγύπτιόν τις ἀπέκτεινεν Ἆπιν, γελῶ μὲν ὅτι τὸν θεὸν ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτῶν, ἀγανακτῶ δὲ εἰ κέρδους χάριν ἐπλημμέλει. ἑκὼν οὖν ἐκλήσομαι τῆσδε τῆς κακουργίας, πλεονεξίας ἔργα, οὐχὶ δὲ ἀδρανείας τῶν εἰδώλων ἔλεγχον νομίζων. ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε τὸ πῦρ καὶ οἱ σεισμοὶ κερδαλέοι, οὐδὲ μὴν φοβοῦνται ἢ δυσωποῦνται οὐ τοὺς δαίμονας, οὐ τὰ ἀγάλματα, οὐ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς ψηφῖδας τὰς παρὰ τοῖς αἰγιαλοῖς σεσωρευμένας τὰ κύματα. οἶδα ἐγὼ πῦρ ἐλεγκτικὸν καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας ἰατικόν· εἰ βούλει παύσασθαι τῆς ἀνοίας, φωταγωγήσει σε τὸ πῦρ. τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἄργει νεὼν σὺν καὶ τῇ ἱερείᾳ κατέφλεξεν Χρυσίδι, καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος δεύτερον μετὰ Ἀμαζόνας καὶ τὸ ἐν Ῥώμῃ Καπιτώλιον ἐπινενέμηται πολλάκις· οὐκ ἀπέσχετο δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρέων πόλει Σαράπιδος ἱεροῦ. Ἀθήνησι γὰρ τοῦ Διονύσου τοῦ Ἐλευθερέως κατήρειψε τὸν νεών, καὶ τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος πρότερον ἥρπασεν θύελλα, ἔπειτα ἠφάνισε πῦρ σωφρονοῦν. τοῦτό σοι προοίμιον ἐπιδείκνυται ὧν ὑπισχνεῖται τὸ πῦρ. Οἱ δὲ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων δημιουργοὶ οὐ δυσωποῦσιν ὑμῶν τοὺς ἔμφρονας τῆς ὕλης καταφρονεῖν; ὁ μὲν Ἀθηναῖος Φειδίας ἐπὶ τῷ δακτύλῳ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου ἐπιγράψας »Παντάρκης καλός«· οὐ γὰρ καλὸς αὐτῷ ὁ Ζεύς, ἀλλʼ ὁ ἐρώμενος ἦν· ὁ Πραξιτέλης δέ, ὡς Ποσείδιππος ἐν τῷ περὶ Κνίδου διασαφεῖ, τὸ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἄγαλμα τῆς Κνιδίας κατασκευάζων τῷ Κρατίνης τῆς ἐρωμένης εἴδει παραπλήσιον πεποίηκεν αὐτήν, ἵνʼ ἔχοιεν οἱ δείλαιοι τὴν Πραξιτέλους ἐρωμένην προσκυνεῖν. Φρύνη δὲ ὁπηνίκα ἤνθει ἡ ἑταίρα ἡ Θεσπιακή, οἱ ζωγράφοι πάντες τὰς τῆς Ἀφροδίτης εἰκόνας πρὸς τὸ κάλλος ἀπεμιμοῦντο Φρύνης, ὥσπερ αὖ καὶ οἱ λιθοξόοι τοὺς Ἑρμᾶς Ἀθήνησι πρὸς Ἀλκιβιάδην ἀπείκαζον. ὑπολείπεται τῆς σῆς κρίσεως τὸ ἔργον ἐπάξαι, εἰ βούλει καὶ τὰς ἑταίρας προσκυνεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) And if some Cambyses or Darius or other madman attempted something of the kind, and if someone killed the Egyptian Apis, I laugh because he killed their god, but I am indignant if he did wrong for the sake of gain. So I will willingly pass over this kind of crime, considering it the work of greed and not a proof of the powerlessness of idols. But fire and earthquakes, at least, are not greedy for gain, and they are no more afraid of or abashed by the daemons and the statues than the waves are by the pebbles heaped on the beaches. I know a fire that convicts and heals superstition; if you are willing to cease from your folly, the fire will light your way. This fire burned down the temple at Argos together with its priestess Chrysis, and the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the second time after the Amazons; it has often consumed the Capitol at Rome; nor did it spare the temple of Sarapis in the city of the Alexandrians. At Athens it threw down the temple of Dionysus Eleuthereus; and the temple of Apollo at Delphi was first carried off by a storm and then destroyed by a discerning fire. This is shown to you as a prelude to what the fire promises. And do not the makers of statues shame the sensible among you into despising matter? Phidias the Athenian wrote on the finger of Olympian Zeus, “Pantarkes is beautiful”; for to him it was not Zeus who was beautiful, but his beloved. Praxiteles, as Posidippus makes clear in his book on Cnidus, when he was making the statue of the Cnidian Aphrodite, made her resemble the form of Cratina, his mistress, so that the wretched people might worship Praxiteles's mistress. When Phryne, the courtesan of Thespiae, was in her bloom, all the painters copied their images of Aphrodite from the beauty of Phryne, just as the stonecutters at Athens modeled their Hermes statues on Alcibiades. It remains for your judgment to decide whether you want to worship courtesans too. ### Translation notes - “A fire that convicts” is Clement's allusion to the judgment by fire (compare 1 Cor 3:13), but no specific verse is quoted. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/53/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/54/ - Source: Stählin 1:42–43 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Kings and even private men declared themselves gods; the Athenians worshiped Philip and Demetrius, who defiled Athena's temple with a courtesan. ### Greek text Ἐντεῦθεν, οἶμαι, κινηθέντες οἱ βασιλεῖς οἱ παλαιοί, καταφρονοῦντες τῶν μύθων τούτων, ἀνέδην διὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀκίνδυνον σφᾶς αὐτοὺς θεοὺς ἀνηγόρευον, ταύτῃ κἀκείνους διὰ τὴν δόξαν ἀπηθανατίσθαι διδάσκοντες· Κῆυξ μὲν ὁ Αἰόλου Ζεὺς ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀλκυόνης τῆς γυναικός, Ἀλκυόνη δὲ αὖθις τοῦ ἀνδρὸς Ἥρα προσαγορευομένη. Πτολεμαῖος δὲ ὁ τέταρτος Διόνυσος ἐκαλεῖτο· καὶ Μιθριδάτης ὁ Ποντικὸς Διόνυσος καὶ αὐτός· ἐβούλετο δὲ καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος Ἄμμωνος υἱὸς εἶναι δοκεῖν καὶ κερασφόρος ἀναπλάττεσθαι πρὸς τῶν ἀγαλματοποιῶν, τὸ καλὸν ἀνθρώπου πρόσωπον ὑβρίσαι σπεύδων κέρατι. καὶ οὔτι γε βασιλεῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἰδιῶται θείαις προσηγορίαις σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐσέμνυνον, ὡς Μενεκράτης ὁ ἰατρός, Ζεὺς οὗτος ἐπικεκλημένος. τί με δεῖ καταλέγειν Ἀλέξαρχον (γραμματικὸς οὗτος τὴν ἐπιστήμην γεγονώς, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Ἄριστος ὁ Σαλαμίνιος, αὑτὸν κατεσχημάτιζεν εἰς Ἥλιον); τί δεῖ καὶ Νικαγόρου μεμνῆσθαι (Ζελείτης τὸ γένος ἦν κατὰ τοὺς Ἀλεξάνδρου γεγονὼς χρόνους· Ἑρμῆς προσηγορεύετο ὁ Νικαγόρας καὶ τῇ στολῇ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ ἐκέχρητο, ὡς αὐτὸς μαρτυρεῖ); ὅπου γε καὶ ὅλα ἔθνη καὶ πόλεις αὔτανδροι, κολακείαν ὑποδυόμεναι, ἐξευτελίζουσιν τοὺς μύθους τοὺς περὶ τῶν θεῶν, ἰσοθέους ἄνθρωποι κατασχηματίζοντες ἑαυτούς, ὑπὸ δόξης πεφυσημένοι, ἐπιψηφιζόμενοι τιμὰς ἑαυτοῖς ὑπερόγκους· νῦν μὲν τὸν Μακεδόνα τὸν ἐκ Πέλλης τὸν Ἀμύντου Φίλιππον ἐν Κυνοσάργει νομοθετοῦντες προσκυνεῖν, τὸν »τὴν κλεῖν κατεαγότα καὶ τὸ σκέλος πεπηρωμένον«, ὃς ἐξεκόπη τὸν ὀφθαλμόν· αὖθις δὲ τὸν Δημήτριον θεὸν καὶ αὐτὸν ἀναγορεύοντες· καὶ ἔνθα μὲν ἀπέβη τοῦ ἵππου Ἀθήναζε εἰσιών, Καταιβάτου ἱερόν ἐστι Δημητρίου, βωμοὶ δὲ πανταχοῦ· καὶ γάμος ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων αὐτῷ ὁ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ηὐτρεπίζετο· ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν θεὸν ὑπερηφάνει, τὸ ἄγαλμα γῆμαι μὴ δυνάμενος· Λάμιαν δὲ τὴν ἑταίραν ἔχων εἰς ἀκρόπολιν ἀνῄει καὶ τῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐνεφυρᾶτο παστῷ, τῇ παλαιᾷ παρθένῳ ### English translation (Claude) Moved by this, I think, the ancient kings, despising these myths, since there was no danger from human beings, openly proclaimed themselves gods, teaching by this that the earlier gods too had been made immortal because of their fame. Ceyx the son of Aeolus was called Zeus by his wife Alcyone, and Alcyone in turn was called Hera by her husband. Ptolemy the Fourth was called Dionysus; Mithridates of Pontus was also called Dionysus; and Alexander wished to be thought the son of Ammon and to be represented by the sculptors with horns, eager to outrage the beautiful face of a man with a horn. And not only kings, but private persons too exalted themselves with divine titles, like Menecrates the physician, who was called Zeus. Why need I list Alexarchus (he was a grammarian by profession, and, as Aristus of Salamis records, he dressed himself up as the Sun)? Why need I mention Nicagoras (he was from Zeleia by birth and lived in the time of Alexander; Nicagoras was called Hermes and used the dress of Hermes, as he himself testifies)? For whole nations and cities with all their people, putting on flattery, make the myths about the gods cheap, as men dress themselves up as equal to the gods, puffed up with vainglory, and vote themselves extravagant honors. At one time they decreed that Philip of Macedon, from Pella, the son of Amyntas, should be worshiped in the Cynosarges, the one “with the broken collarbone and the maimed leg,” who had lost an eye; at another they proclaimed Demetrius too a god. Where he dismounted from his horse on entering Athens, there is a temple of Demetrius the Descender, and there are altars to him everywhere; and a marriage with Athena was prepared for him by the Athenians. But he disdained the goddess, being unable to marry the statue; he went up to the acropolis with Lamia the courtesan and defiled the bridal chamber of Athena, showing the old virgin … ### Translation notes - The sentence continues in the next section. The description of Philip is from Demosthenes, On the Crown 67. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/54/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/55/ - Source: Stählin 1:43 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The gods were once men honored after death, as Hippo's epitaph shows; Homer's weeping Zeus and his calling the gods “daemons” betray them. ### Greek text τὰ τῆς νέας ἐπιδεικνὺς ἑταίρας σχήματα. οὐ νέμεσις τοίνυν οὐδὲ Ἵππωνι ἀπαθανατίζοντι τὸν θάνατον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ· ὁ Ἵππων οὗτος ἐπιγραφῆναι ἐκέλευσεν τῷ μνήματι τῷ ἑαυτοῦ τόδε τὸ ἐλεγεῖον· Ἵππωνος τόδε σῆμα, τὸν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν ἶσον ἐποίησεν Μοῖρα καταφθίμενον. εὖ γε, Ἵππων, ἐπιδεικνύεις ἡμῖν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην πλάνην. εἰ γὰρ καὶ λαλοῦντί σοι μὴ πεπιστεύκασι, νεκροῦ γενέσθωσαν μαθηταί. χρησμὸς οὗτός ἐστιν Ἵππωνος· νοήσωμεν αὐτόν. οἱ προσκυνούμενοι παρʼ ὑμῖν, ἄνθρωποι γενόμενοί ποτε, εἶτα μέντοι τεθνᾶσιν· τετίμηκεν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁ μῦθος καὶ ὁ χρόνος. φιλεῖ γάρ πως τὰ μὲν παρόντα συνηθείᾳ καταφρονεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ παρῳχηκότα τοῦ παραυτίκα ἐλέγχου κεχωρισμένα χρόνων ἀδηλίᾳ τετιμῆσθαι τῷ πλάσματι, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀπιστεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι. αὐτίκα γοῦν οἱ παλαιοὶ νεκροὶ τῷ πολλῷ τῆς πλάνης χρόνῳ σεμνυνόμενοι τοῖς ἔπειτα νομίζονται θεοί. πίστις ὑμῖν τῶνδε αὐτὰ ὑμῶν τὰ μυστήρια, αἱ πανηγύρεις, δεσμὰ καὶ τραύματα καὶ δακρύοντες θεοί· ὤ μοι ἐγώ, ὅτε μοι Σαρπηδόνα φίλτατον ἀνδρῶν μοῖρʼ ὑπὸ Πατρόκλοιο Μενοιτιάδαο δαμῆναι. κεκράτηται τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Διὸς καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς ὑμῖν διὰ Σαρπηδόνα οἰμῴζει νενικημένος. εἴδωλα γοῦν εἰκότως αὐτοὺς καὶ δαίμονας ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ κεκλήκατε, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν αὐτὴν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς κακίᾳ τιμήσας Ὅμηρος δαίμονας προσηγόρευσεν· ἡ δʼ Οὐλυμπόνδε βεβήκει δώματʼ ἐς αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους. ### English translation (Claude) … the postures of the young courtesan. There is nothing to resent, then, even in Hippo, who immortalized his own death. This Hippo ordered the following elegiac couplet to be inscribed on his tomb: “This is the tomb of Hippo, whom Fate made equal to the immortal gods when he had perished.” Well done, Hippo! You show us the error of humankind. For if they did not believe you when you were speaking, let them become the disciples of a dead man. This is Hippo's oracle; let us understand it. Those whom you worship were once men, and then they died; but myth and time have honored them. For somehow what is present tends to be despised through familiarity, while what is past, being removed from immediate testing by the obscurity of time, is honored through fiction; the one is disbelieved, the other even admired. So, for example, the dead of long ago, magnified by the long duration of error, are thought gods by later generations. The proof of this for you is your very mysteries, your festivals, the bonds and wounds and weeping gods: “Ah me, that it is fated for Sarpedon, dearest of men to me, to be overcome by Patroclus son of Menoetius.” The will of Zeus has been overpowered, and your Zeus, defeated, wails for Sarpedon. So you yourselves have rightly called them idols and daemons, since Homer, honoring Athena herself and the other gods with a bad name, called them daemons: “And she went to Olympus, to the house of aegis-bearing Zeus, among the other daemons.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 16.433–434 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 1.221–222 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Homeric quotations are Iliad 16.433–434 and 1.221–222. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/55/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/56/ - Source: Stählin 1:43–44 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Idols and daemons are earthbound spirits; statues are only earth given shape, and the soul's hopes must not rest on lifeless things. ### Greek text πῶς οὖν ἔτι θεοὶ τὰ εἴδωλα καὶ οἱ δαίμονες, βδελυρὰ ὄντως καὶ ἀκάθαρτα πνεύματα, πρὸς πάντων ὁμολογούμενα γήινα καὶ δεισαλέα, κάτω βρίθοντα, »περὶ τοὺς τάφους καὶ τὰ μνημεῖα καλινδούμενα«, περὶ ἃ δὴ καὶ ὑποφαίνονται ἀμυδρῶς »σκιοειδῆ φαντάσματα«; ταῦθʼ ὑμῶν οἱ θεοὶ τὰ εἴδωλα, αἱ σκιαὶ καὶ πρὸς τούτοις αἱ »χωλαὶ« ἐκεῖναι καὶ »ῥυσαί, παραβλῶπες ὀφθαλμώ«, αἱ Λιταὶ αἱ Θερσίτου μᾶλλον ἢ Διὸς θυγατέρες, ὥστε μοι δοκεῖν χαριέντως φάναι τὸν Βίωνα, πῶς ἂν ἐνδίκως οἱ ἄνθρωποι παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς αἰτήσονται τὴν εὐτεκνίαν, ἣν οὐδʼ αὑτῷ παρασχεῖν ἴσχυσεν; οἴμοι τῆς ἀθεότητος· τὴν ἀκήρατον οὐσίαν, τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ὑμῖν, κατορύττετε καὶ τὸ ἄχραντον ἐκεῖνο καὶ τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς τάφοις ἐπικεχώκατε, τῆς ἀληθῶς ὄντως οὐσίας συλήσαντες τὸ θεῖον. τί δὴ οὖν τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς οὐ θεοῖς προσενείματε γέρα; τί δὲ καταλιπόντες τὸν οὐρανὸν τὴν γῆν τετιμήκατε; τί δʼ ἄλλο χρυσὸς ἢ ἄργυρος ἢ ἀδάμας ἢ σίδηρος ἢ χαλκὸς ἢ ἐλέφας ἢ λίθοι τίμιοι; οὐχὶ γῆ τε καὶ ἐκ γῆς; οὐχὶ δὲ μιᾶς μητρὸς ἔκγονα, τῆς γῆς, τὰ πάντα ταῦτα ὅσα ὁρᾷς; τί δὴ οὖν, ὦ μάταιοι καὶ κενόφρονες (πάλιν γὰρ δὴ ἐπαναλήψομαι), τὸν ὑπερουράνιον βλασφημήσαντες τόπον εἰς τοὔδαφος κατεσύρατε τὴν εὐσέβειαν, χθονίους ὑμῖν ἀναπλάττοντες θεοὺς καὶ τὰ γενητὰ ταῦτα πρὸ τοῦ ἀγενήτου μετιόντες θεοῦ βαθυτέρῳ περιπεπτώκατε ζόφῳ; καλὸς ὁ Πάριος λίθος, ἀλλʼ οὐδέπω Ποσειδῶν· καλὸς ὁ ἐλέφας, ἀλλʼ οὐδέπω Ὀλύμπιος· ἐνδεὴς ἀεί ποτε ἡ ὕλη τῆς τέχνης, ὁ θεὸς δὲ ἀνενδεής. προῆλθεν ἡ τέχνη, περιβέβληται τὸ σχῆμα ἡ ὕλη, καὶ τὸ πλούσιον τῆς οὐσίας πρὸς μὲν τὸ κέρδος ἀγώγιμον, μόνῳ δὲ τῷ σχήματι γίνεται σεβάσμιον. χρυσός ἐστι τὸ ἄγαλμά σου, ξύλον ἐστίν, λίθος ἐστίν, γῆ ἐστιν, ἐὰν ἄνωθεν νοήσῃς, μορφὴν παρὰ τοῦ τεχνίτου προσλαβοῦσα. γῆν δὲ ἐγὼ πατεῖν, οὐ προσκυνεῖν μεμελέτηκα· οὐ γάρ μοι θέμις ἐμπιστεῦσαί ποτε τοῖς ἀψύχοις τὰς τῆς ψυχῆς ἐλπίδας. ### English translation (Claude) How then can idols and daemons still be gods, when they are truly abominable and unclean spirits, admitted by all to be earthly and filthy, weighed down below, “rolling about tombs and monuments,” where they appear dimly as “shadowy phantoms”? These are your gods: idols, shades, and besides these those “lame and wrinkled, squinting-eyed” Prayers, daughters of Thersites rather than of Zeus; so that Bion, it seems to me, put it wittily: how could people rightly ask Zeus for fine children, which he was not able to provide even for himself? Alas for such godlessness! You bury, as far as in you lies, the pure being, and you have heaped up in tombs what is undefiled and holy, robbing the truly existing being of its divinity. Why have you assigned the privileges of God to those who are not gods? Why have you left heaven and honored earth? What else is gold or silver or adamant or iron or bronze or ivory or precious stones? Are they not earth and from earth? Are not all these things you see the offspring of one mother, the earth? Why then, you foolish and empty-minded (for I will repeat myself), have you blasphemed the place above the heavens and dragged piety down to the ground, fashioning earthly gods for yourselves, and, by pursuing these created things instead of the uncreated God, fallen into deeper darkness? Parian marble is beautiful, but it is not yet Poseidon; ivory is beautiful, but it is not yet the Olympian. Matter always needs art, but God needs nothing. Art has advanced, matter has been clothed with a shape; and the richness of the substance makes it worth carrying off for gain, but it becomes worthy of reverence only by its shape. Your statue is gold, it is wood, it is stone; if you think of it from the beginning, it is earth, which has received its form from the craftsman. But I have practiced treading on earth, not worshiping it; for it is not right for me ever to entrust the hopes of the soul to soulless things. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaed. 81c–d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 9.502–503 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The phrases about spirits haunting tombs echo Plato, Phaedo 81c–d; the lame Prayers are from Homer, Iliad 9.502–503. Bion of Borysthenes was a Cynic moralist of the third century BC. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/56/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/57/ - Source: Stählin 1:44–45 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The statues display the gods' disgraceful characters, and art has even led men to fall in love with stone; admire the art, but do not mistake it for truth. ### Greek text Ἰτέον οὖν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἐγγυτάτω τῶν ἀγαλμάτων, ὡς οἰκεία ἡ πλάνη κἀκ τῆς προσόψεως ἐλέγχηται· ἐναπομέμακται γὰρ πάνυ δὴ σαφῶς τὰ εἴδη τῶν ἀγαλμάτων τὴν διάθεσιν τῶν δαιμόνων. εἰ γοῦν τις τὰς γραφὰς καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα περινοστῶν θεῷτο, γνωριεῖ ὑμῶν παραυτίκα τοὺς θεοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐπονειδίστων σχημάτων, τὸν Διόνυσον ἀπὸ τῆς στολῆς, τὸν Ἥφαιστον ἀπὸ τῆς τέχνης, τὴν Δηὼ ἀπὸ τῆς συμφορᾶς, ἀπὸ τοῦ κρηδέμνου τὴν Ἰνώ, ἀπὸ τῆς τριαίνης τὸν Ποσειδῶ, ἀπὸ τοῦ κύκνου τὸν Δία· τὸν δὲ Ἡρακλέα δείκνυσιν ἡ πυρά, κἂν γυμνὴν ἴδῃ τις ἀνάγραπτον γυναῖκα, τὴν »χρυσῆν« Ἀφροδίτην νοεῖ. οὕτως ὁ Κύπριος ὁ Πυγμαλίων ἐκεῖνος ἐλεφαντίνου ἠράσθη ἀγάλματος· τὸ ἄγαλμα Ἀφροδίτης ἦν καὶ γυμνὴ ἦν· νικᾶται ὁ Κύπριος τῷ σχήματι καὶ συνέρχεται τῷ ἀγάλματι, καὶ τοῦτο Φιλοστέφανος ἱστορεῖ· Ἀφροδίτη δὲ ἄλλη ἐν Κνίδῳ λίθος ἦν καὶ καλὴ ἦν, ἕτερος ἠράσθη ταύτης καὶ μίγνυται τῇ λίθῳ· Ποσείδιππος ἱστορεῖ, ὁ μὲν πρότερος ἐν τῷ περὶ Κύπρου, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ἐν τῷ περὶ Κνίδου. τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν ἀπατῆσαι τέχνη προαγωγὸς ἀνθρώποις ἐρωτικοῖς εἰς βάραθρον γενομένη. δραστήριος μὲν ἡ δημιουργική, ἀλλʼ οὐχ οἵα τε ἀπατῆσαι λογικὸν οὐδὲ μὴν τοὺς κατὰ λόγον βεβιωκότας· ζωγραφίας μὲν γὰρ διʼ ὁμοιότητα σκιαγραφήταις περιστεραῖς προσέπτησαν πελειάδες καὶ ἵπποις καλῶς γεγραμμέναις προσεχρεμέτισαν ἵπποι. ἐρασθῆναι κόρην εἰκόνος λέγουσιν καὶ νέον καλὸν Κνιδίου ἀγάλματος, ἀλλʼ ἦσαν τῶν θεατῶν αἱ ὄψεις ἠπατημέναι ὑπὸ τῆς τέχνης. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν θεᾷ τις συνεπλάκη, οὐδʼ ἂν νεκρᾷ τις συνετάφη, οὐδʼ ἂν ἠράσθη δαίμονος καὶ λίθου ἄνθρωπος σωφρονῶν. ὑμᾶς δὲ ἄλλῃ γοητείᾳ ἀπατᾷ ἡ τέχνη, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐπὶ τὸ ἐρᾶν προσάγουσα, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ τιμᾶν καὶ προσκυνεῖν τά τε ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰς γραφάς. ὁμοία γε ἡ γραφή· ἐπαινείσθω μὲν ἡ τέχνη. μὴ ἀπατάτω δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὡς ἀλήθεια. ### English translation (Claude) We must go, then, as close as possible to the statues, so that the error may be exposed as familiar from their very appearance; for the forms of the statues are very clearly stamped with the character of the daemons. If anyone goes around and looks at the paintings and statues, he will at once recognize your gods from their disgraceful figures: Dionysus by his dress, Hephaestus by his craft, Deo by her misfortune, Ino by her veil, Poseidon by his trident, Zeus by the swan; the pyre points out Heracles; and if one sees a naked woman painted, he understands “golden” Aphrodite. So that famous Pygmalion of Cyprus fell in love with an ivory statue; the statue was of Aphrodite, and it was naked. The Cypriot is conquered by its form and has intercourse with the statue; Philostephanus records this. Another Aphrodite, at Cnidus, was of stone and was beautiful; another man fell in love with her and had intercourse with the stone. Posidippus records it: the first in his book on Cyprus, the second in his book on Cnidus. So powerful was art to deceive, becoming a procurer that led amorous men into the pit. The craftsman's art is effective, but it cannot deceive a rational being, nor those who have lived according to reason. Doves, indeed, have flown to painted doves because of the likeness, and horses have neighed at well-painted mares. They say a girl fell in love with an image, and a handsome youth with the Cnidian statue; but the eyes of the spectators had been deceived by the art. For no one in his right mind would have embraced a goddess, or been buried with a dead woman, or fallen in love with a daemon and a stone. But art deceives you with another kind of sorcery: if not by leading you to love the statues and paintings, then to honor and worship them. The painting is a likeness: let the art be praised, but let it not deceive the human being as if it were the truth. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/57/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/58/ - Source: Stählin 1:45–46 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Art has deceived even animals; the poets and craftsmen have filled the world with gods and made heaven a stage for comedy. ### Greek text ἕστηκεν ὁ ἵππος ἡσυχῇ, ἡ πελειὰς ἀτρεμής, ἀργὸν τὸ πτερόν, ἡ δὲ βοῦς ἡ Δαιδάλου ἡ ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου πεποιημένη ταῦρον εἷλεν ἄγριον καὶ κατηνάγκασεν τὸ θηρίον ἡ τέχνη πλανήσασα ἐρώσης ἐπιβῆναι γυναικός. τοσοῦτον οἶστρον αἱ τέχναι κακοτεχνοῦσαι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις ἐνεποίησαν. ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν πιθήκους οἱ τούτων τροφεῖς καὶ μελεδωνοὶ τεθαυμάκασιν, ὅτι τῶν κηρίνων ἢ πηλίνων ὁμοιωμάτων καὶ κοροκοσμίων ἀπατᾷ τούτους οὐδέν· ὑμεῖς δὲ ἄρα καὶ πιθήκων χείρους γενήσεσθε λιθίνοις καὶ ξυλίνοις καὶ χρυσέοις καὶ ἐλεφαντίνοις ἀγαλματίοις καὶ γραφαῖς προσανέχοντες. τοιούτων ὑμῖν [οἱ] δημιουργοὶ ἀθυρμάτων ὀλεθρίων οἱ λιθοξόοι καὶ οἱ ἀνδριαντοποιοὶ γραφεῖς τε αὖ καὶ τέκτονες καὶ ποιηταί, πολύν τινα καὶ τοιοῦτον ὄχλον παρεισάγοντες. κατʼ ἀγροὺς μὲν Σατύρους καὶ Πᾶνας, ἀνὰ δὲ τὰς ὕλας Νύμφας τὰς ὀρειάδας καὶ τὰς ἁμαδρυάδας, ναὶ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὰ ὕδατα καὶ περὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς καὶ τὰς πηγὰς τὰς Ναΐδας καὶ περὶ τὴν θάλατταν τὰς Νηρεΐδας. μάγοι δὲ ἤδη ἀσεβείας τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν ὑπηρέτας δαίμονας αὐχοῦσιν, οἰκέτας αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοῖς καταγράψαντες, τοὺς κατηναγκασμένους δούλους ταῖς ἐπαοιδαῖς πεποιηκότες. γάμοι τε οὖν ἔτι καὶ παιδοποιίαι καὶ λοχεῖαι θεῶν μνημονευόμεναι καὶ μοιχεῖαι ᾀδόμεναι καὶ εὐωχίαι κωμῳδούμεναι καὶ γέλωτες παρὰ πότον εἰσαγόμενοι προτρέπουσι δή με ἀνακραγεῖν, κἂν σιωπῆσαι θέλω. οἴμοι τῆς ἀθεότητος· σκηνὴν πεποιήκατε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸ θεῖον ὑμῖν δρᾶμα γεγένηται καὶ τὸ ἅγιον προσωπείοις δαιμονίων κεκωμῳδήκατε, τὴν ἀληθῆ θεοσέβειαν δεισιδαιμονίᾳ σατυρίσαντες. ### English translation (Claude) The horse stands quiet, the dove is motionless, its wing idle; but the cow of Daedalus, made of wood, caught a wild bull, and art, deceiving the beast, compelled it to mount a woman in love. Such frenzy have the arts, practicing their evil craft, produced in the foolish. The keepers and trainers of monkeys have admired them because none of the wax or clay figures and girls' dolls deceives them; but you will turn out to be worse even than monkeys, devoting yourselves to little statues of stone, wood, gold, and ivory, and to paintings. The makers of such deadly playthings for you are the stonecutters and sculptors, and the painters, carpenters, and poets, who bring in a great crowd of this kind: in the fields Satyrs and Pans, in the woods the mountain Nymphs and the Hamadryads, and indeed around the waters and rivers and springs the Naiads, and around the sea the Nereids. The magi, moreover, boast of daemons as servants of their own impiety, enrolling them as their household slaves, having made them slaves by the compulsion of their incantations. So the marriages, begettings, and childbirths of the gods that are recorded, the adulteries that are sung, the feasts presented in comedy, and the laughter brought in at drinking parties urge me to cry out, even if I wish to keep silent. Alas for such godlessness! You have made heaven a stage, the divine has become a drama for you, and you have made a comedy of what is holy with the masks of daemons, turning true religion into a satyr play through superstition. ### Translation notes - The cow of Daedalus is the one made for Pasiphae, mother of the Minotaur. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/58/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/59/ - Source: Stählin 1:46 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Christians refuse even to hear songs of the gods' adultery, for they carry God's image in themselves and are God's chosen people. ### Greek text Αὐτὰρ ὃ φορμίζων ἀνεβάλλετο καλὸν ἀείδειν, ᾆσον ἡμῖν, Ὅμηρε, τὴν φωνὴν τὴν καλήν, ἀμφʼ Ἄρεως φιλότητος ἐυστεφάνου τʼ Ἀφροδίτης· ὡς τὰ πρῶτα μίγησαν ἐν Ἡφαίστοιο δόμοισι λάθρῃ· πολλὰ δʼ ἔδωκε, λέχος δʼ ᾔσχυνε καὶ εὐνὴν Ἡφαίστοιο ἄνακτος. κατάπαυσον, Ὅμηρε, τὴν ᾠδήν· οὐκ ἔστι καλή, μοιχείαν διδάσκει· πορνεύειν δὲ ἡμεῖς καὶ τὰ ὦτα παρῃτήμεθα· ἡμεῖς γάρ, ἡμεῖς ἐσμὲν οἱ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ θεοῦ περιφέροντες ἐν τῷ ζῶντι καὶ κινουμένῳ τούτῳ ἀγάλματι, τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, σύνοικον εἰκόνα, σύμβουλον, συνόμιλον, συνέστιον, συμπαθῆ, ὑπερπαθῆ· ἀνάθημα γεγόναμεν τῷ θεῷ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ· »ἡμεῖς τὸ γένος τὸ ἐκλεκτόν, τὸ βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον, λαὸς περιούσιος, οἱ ποτὲ οὐ λαός, νῦν δὲ λαὸς τοῦ θεοῦ·« οἱ κατὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην οὐκ ὄντες »ἐκ τῶν κάτω«, παρὰ δὲ τοῦ ἄνωθεν ἐλθόντος τὸ πᾶν μεμαθηκότες, οἱ τὴν οἰκονομίαν τοῦ θεοῦ κατανενοηκότες, οἱ »ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατεῖν« μεμελετηκότες. ### English translation (Claude) “But he, playing the lyre, struck up a beautiful song.” Sing us, Homer, that beautiful voice: “of the love of Ares and fair-crowned Aphrodite, how they first lay together in the house of Hephaestus in secret; and he gave many gifts, and shamed the bed and couch of lord Hephaestus.” Stop the song, Homer! It is not beautiful; it teaches adultery. We have declined to commit sexual immorality even with our ears. For we, we are the ones who carry about the image of God in this living and moving statue, the human being: an image that dwells with us, counsels us, converses with us, shares our hearth, suffers with us, suffers for us. We have been made an offering to God for Christ's sake: “We are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, a holy nation, a special people, who once were not a people but are now the people of God”; we who, as John says, are not “from below,” but have learned everything from him who came from above; we who have understood the plan of God; we who have practiced “walking in newness of life.” ### Scripture references - Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Pet 2:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:10: quotation, high confidence - John 8:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:4: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 8.266–270 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Homeric lines are Odyssey 8.266–270. “Suffers with us, suffers for us” renders συμπαθῆ, ὑπερπαθῆ; the second word is rare and its sense uncertain (perhaps “deeply feeling”). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/59/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/60/ - Source: Stählin 1:46–47 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Many decorate their bedrooms and signet rings with pictures of the gods' sexual escapades. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ οὐ ταῦτα φρονοῦσιν οἱ πολλοί· ἀπορρίψαντες δὲ τὴν αἰδῶ καὶ τὸν φόβον οἴκοι τοὺς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐγγράφονται πασχητιασμούς. πινακίοις γοῦν τισὶ καταγράφοις μετεωρότερον ἀνακειμένοις προσεσχηκότες ἀσελγείᾳ τοὺς θαλάμους κεκοσμήκασι, τὴν ἀκολασίαν εὐσέβειαν νομίζοντες· κἀπὶ τοῦ σκίμποδος κατακείμενοι παρʼ αὐτὰς ἔτι τὰς περιπλοκὰς ἀφορῶσιν εἰς τὴν Ἀφροδίτην ἐκείνην τὴν γυμνήν, τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ συμπλοκῇ δεδεμένην, καὶ τῇ Λήδᾳ περιποτώμενον τὸν ὄρνιν τὸν ἐρωτικόν, τῆς θηλύτητος ἀποδεχόμενοι τὴν γραφήν, ἀποτυποῦσι ταῖς σφενδόναις, σφραγῖδι χρώμενοι καταλλήλῳ ### English translation (Claude) But most people do not think so. Casting off shame and fear, they paint the perversions of the daemons in their homes. Devoted to certain painted panels hung up high, they have decorated their bedrooms with licentiousness, thinking lewdness piety; and lying on the couch, even in the midst of their embraces, they gaze at that naked Aphrodite, bound in the act of intercourse, and at the amorous bird fluttering around Leda. Delighting in the depiction of effeminacy, they engrave it on their signet rings, using a seal that matches … ### Translation notes - The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/60/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/61/ - Source: Stählin 1:47 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Lewd images are the theology of the pagans; Christians renounce even seeing and hearing such things, for the eyes and ears can commit adultery. ### Greek text τῇ Διὸς ἀκολασίᾳ. ταῦτα ὑμῶν τῆς ἡδυπαθείας τὰ ἀρχέτυπα, αὗται τῆς ὕβρεως αἱ θεολογίαι, αὗται τῶν συμπορνευόντων ὑμῖν θεῶν αἱ διδασκαλίαι· »ὃ γὰρ βούλεται, τοῦθʼ ἕκαστος καὶ οἴεται« κατὰ τὸν Ἀθηναῖον ῥήτορα. οἷαι δὲ αὖ καὶ ἄλλαι ὑμῶν εἰκόνες, πανίσκοι τινὲς καὶ γυμναὶ κόραι καὶ σάτυροι μεθύοντες καὶ μορίων ἐντάσεις, ταῖς γραφαῖς ἀπογυμνούμεναι, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκρασίας ἐλεγχόμεναι. ἤδη δὲ ἀναφανδὸν τῆς ἀκολασίας ὅλης τὰ σχήματα ἀνάγραπτα πανδημεὶ θεώμενοι οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε, φυλάττετε δὲ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἀνακείμενα, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει τῶν θεῶν ὑμῶν τὰς εἰκόνας, στήλας ἀναισχυντίας καθιερώσαντες οἴκοι, ἐπʼ ἴσης ἐγγραφόμενοι τὰ Φιλαινίδος σχήματα ὡς τὰ Ἡρακλέους ἀθλήματα. τούτων οὐ μόνον τῆς χρήσεως, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῆς ὄψεως καὶ τῆς ἀκοῆς αὐτῆς ἀμνηστίαν καταγγέλλομεν. ἡταίρηκεν ὑμῖν τὰ ὦτα, πεπορνεύκασιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ τὸ καινότατον πρὸ τῆς συμπλοκῆς αἱ ὄψεις ὑμῖν μεμοιχεύκασιν. ὦ βιασάμενοι τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ τὸ ἔνθεον τοῦ πλάσματος ἐλέγχει ἀπαράξαντες, πάντα ἀπιστεῖτε, ἵνα ἐκπαθαίνησθε· καὶ πιστεύετε μὲν τοῖς εἰδώλοις ζηλοῦντες αὐτῶν τὴν ἀκρασίαν, ἀπιστεῖτε δὲ τῷ θεῷ σωφροσύνην μὴ φέροντες· καὶ τὰ μὲν κρείττω μεμισήκατε, τὰ δὲ ἥττω τετιμήκατε, ἀρετῆς μὲν θεαταί, κακίας δὲ ἀγωνισταὶ γεγενημένοι. ### English translation (Claude) … the licentiousness of Zeus. These are the models of your self-indulgence, these are the theologies of your outrage, these are the teachings of gods who join you in sexual immorality: “for what each wishes, that he also believes,” as the Athenian orator says. And what are your other images like: little Pans, naked girls, drunken satyrs, and erect members, laid bare in paintings and convicted by their own incontinence! Now you look openly, as a public spectacle, at the depicted postures of every licentiousness and are not ashamed; still more, you keep them set up, like the images of your gods, dedicating pillars of shamelessness at home, painting the postures of Philaenis just as you do the labors of Heracles. We proclaim that not only the use of these things, but the very sight and hearing of them, must be forgotten. Your ears have become harlots, your eyes have committed sexual immorality, and, strangest of all, your gaze has committed adultery before the embrace. You who have done violence to the human being and have shamefully broken off what is divine in God's handiwork, you disbelieve everything so that you may give yourselves up to passion: you believe the idols, emulating their incontinence, but you disbelieve God, because you cannot bear self-control. You have hated what is better and honored what is worse, becoming spectators of virtue but competitors in vice. ### Scripture references - Matt 5:28: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The saying is from Demosthenes, Olynthiac 3.19. Philaenis was the reputed author of an erotic manual. - “Shamefully” renders ἐλέγχει, taken as the dative of ἔλεγχος (“disgrace”); the phrase is difficult and the text may be corrupt. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/61/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/62/ - Source: Stählin 1:47–48 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Sibyl calls blessed those who reject temples and idols; the law forbids images, and the prophet calls the gods of the nations images of daemons. ### Greek text »Ὄλβιοι« μόνοι τοίνυν, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐκεῖνοι πάντες κατὰ τὴν Σίβυλλαν οἳ ναοὺς μὲν πάντας ἀπαρνήσονται ἰδόντες καὶ βωμούς, εἰκαῖα λίθων ἱδρύματα κωφῶν, καὶ λίθινα ξόανα καὶ ἀγάλματα χειροποίητα, αἵματι ἐμψύχῳ μεμιασμένα καὶ θυσίαισι τετραπόδων, διπόδων, πτηνῶν θηρῶν τε φόνοισιν. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἀπηγόρευται ἡμῖν ἀναφανδὸν ἀπατηλὸν ἐργάζεσθαι τέχνην. »οὐ γὰρ ποιήσεις,« φησὶν ὁ προφήτης, »παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω.« ἦ πού γʼ ἂν ἔτι τὴν Πραξιτέλους Δήμητρα καὶ Κόρην καὶ τὸν Ἴακχον τὸν μυστικὸν θεοὺς ὑπολάβοιμεν ἢ τὰς Λυσίππου τέχνας ἢ τὰς χεῖρας, τὰς Ἀπελλικάς, αἳ δὴ τῆς θεοδοξίας τὸ σχῆμα τῇ ὕλῃ περιτεθείκασιν; ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς μὲν ὅπως ποτὲ ὁ ἀνδριὰς ὅτι μάλιστα ὡραιότατος τεκταίνηται, προσκαρτερεῖτε, ὅπως δὲ αὐτοὶ μὴ ὅμοιοι διʼ ἀναισθησίαν τοῖς ἀνδριᾶσιν ἀποτελεσθῆτε, οὐ φροντίζετε· πάνυ γοῦν ἐμφανῶς καὶ συντόμως ὁ προφητικὸς ἐλέγχει τὴν συνήθειαν λόγος ὅτι »πάντες οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμονίων εἰσὶν εἴδωλα· ὁ δὲ θεὸς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ### English translation (Claude) “Blessed,” then, in a word, are all those alone, with one accord, as the Sibyl says, “who, when they see them, will reject all temples and altars, vain foundations of dumb stones, and stone xoana and statues made by hands, defiled with the blood of living creatures and with sacrifices of four-footed and two-footed beasts, of birds, and slaughterings of wild animals.” Indeed, we are openly forbidden to practice a deceptive art. “For you shall not make,” says the prophet, “the likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below.” Could we still suppose the Demeter and Kore and the mystic Iacchus of Praxiteles to be gods, or the works of Lysippus, or the hands of Apelles, which have clothed matter with the form of divine glory? But while you take pains that the statue may be made as beautiful as possible, you give no thought that you yourselves may not, through your senselessness, be made like the statues. Very clearly and concisely the prophetic word convicts this custom: “All the gods of the nations are images of daemons; but God made the heavens …” ### Scripture references - Exod 20:4: quotation, high confidence - Deut 5:8: quotation, medium confidence - Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 115:8 (113:16 LXX): echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sib. Or. 4.24–30 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Sibylline lines are Sibylline Oracles 4.24–30. The prophetic quotation is Exod 20:4 (Deut 5:8); the last is Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX), where the Septuagint reads “the gods of the nations are daemons”; Clement's text adds “images of.” The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/62/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 4.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/63/ - Source: Stählin 1:48 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Sun, moon, and stars are God's works made for human beings; worship their maker, and find refuge in divine wisdom. ### Greek text ἐποίησεν« καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. πλανώμενοι γοῦν τινες ἐντεῦθεν οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως θείαν μὲν τέχνην, πλὴν ἀλλʼ οὐ θεὸν προσκυνοῦσιν ἥλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὸν ἄλλον τῶν ἀστέρων χορόν, παραλόγως τούτους θεοὺς ὑπολαμβάνοντες, τὰ ὄργανα τοῦ χρόνου. »τῷ γὰρ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ ἐστερεώθησαν καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν.« ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν ἀνθρωπεία τέχνη οἰκίας τε καὶ ναῦς καὶ πόλεις καὶ γραφὰς δημιουργεῖ, θεὸς δὲ πῶς ἂν εἴποιμι ὅσα ποιεῖ; ὅλον ἴδε τὸν κόσμον, ἐκείνου ἔργον ἐστίν· καὶ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἥλιος καὶ ἄγγελοι καὶ ἄνθρωποι »ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων αὐτοῦ.« ὅση γε ἡ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ. μόνον αὐτοῦ τὸ βούλημα κοσμοποιία· μόνος γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν, ἐπεὶ καὶ μόνος ὄντως ἐστὶ θεός· ψιλῷ τῷ βούλεσθαι δημιουργεῖ καὶ τῷ μόνον ἐθελῆσαι αὐτὸν ἕπεται τὸ γεγενῆσθαι. ἐνταῦθα φιλοσόφων παρατρέπεται χορὸς πρὸς μὲν τὴν οὐρανοῦ θέαν παγκάλως γεγονέναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁμολογούντων, τὰ δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ φαινόμενα καὶ ὄψει καταλαμβανόμενα προσκυνούντων. εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ ἀνθρώπινα τὰ ἔργα τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ, ἀλλὰ γοῦν ἀνθρώποις δεδημιούργηται. καὶ μὴ τὸν ἥλιόν τις ὑμῶν προσκυνείτω, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἡλίου ποιητὴν ἐπιποθείτω, μηδὲ τὸν κόσμον ἐκθειαζέτω, ἀλλὰ τὸν κόσμου δημιουργὸν ἐπιζητησάτω. μόνη ἄρα, ὡς ἔοικεν, καταφυγὴ τῷ μέλλοντι ἐπὶ τὰς σωτηρίους ἀφικνεῖσθαι θύρας ὑπολείπεται σοφία θεϊκή· ἐντεῦθεν ὥσπερ ἐξ ἱεροῦ τινος ἀσύλου οὐδενὶ οὐκέτι ἀγώγιμος τῶν δαιμόνων ὁ ἄνθρωπος γίνεται σπεύδων εἰς σωτηρίαν. ### English translation (Claude) “… made” the heavens and the things in heaven. From this some go astray, I do not know how, and worship a divine work of art, but not God: the sun and the moon and the rest of the chorus of the stars, unreasonably supposing these to be gods, though they are instruments of time. “For by his word they were established, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.” Human art makes houses and ships and cities and paintings; but how could I tell all that God makes? Look at the whole world: it is his work; heaven and sun and angels and human beings are “the works of his fingers.” How great is the power of God! His mere will is the making of the world; for God alone made it, since he alone is truly God. He creates by his bare willing, and their coming into being follows upon his merely wishing it. Here the chorus of philosophers goes astray: they agree that the human being was made, very beautifully, for the contemplation of heaven, yet they worship the things that appear in heaven and are grasped by sight. For even if the works in heaven are not made by human beings, they have at least been made for human beings. Let none of you worship the sun, but long for the maker of the sun; let him not deify the world, but seek the creator of the world. The only refuge left, it seems, for one who is going to reach the doors of salvation is divine wisdom; from there, as from a sacred sanctuary, the human being who hastens to salvation can no longer be carried off by any of the daemons. ### Scripture references - Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 33:6 (32:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 8:3 (8:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:25: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 96:5 (continued), Ps 33:6 (32:6 LXX), and Ps 8:3 (8:4 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 4.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/4/63/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 5.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/5/64/ - Source: Stählin 1:48–49 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The early philosophers made gods of the elements, which is still the worship of matter. ### Greek text Ἐπιδράμωμεν δέ, εἰ βούλει, καὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων τὰς δόξας, ὅσας αὐχοῦσι περὶ τῶν θεῶν, εἴ πως καὶ φιλοσοφίαν αὐτὴν κενοδοξίας ἕνεκεν ἀνειδωλοποιοῦσαν τὴν ὕλην ἐφεύρωμεν, ἢ καὶ δαιμόνια ἄττα ἐκθειάζουσαν κατὰ παραδρομὴν παραστῆσαι δυνηθῶμεν ὀνειρώττουσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. στοιχεῖα μὲν οὖν ἀρχὰς ἀπέλιπον ἐξυμνήσαντες Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ Ἀναξιμένης ὁ καὶ αὐτὸς Μιλήσιος τὸν ἀέρα, ᾧ Διογένης ὕστερον ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης κατηκολούθησεν. Παρμενίδης δὲ ὁ Ἐλεάτης θεοὺς εἰσηγήσατο πῦρ καὶ γῆν, θάτερον δὲ αὐτοῖν μόνον, τὸ πῦρ, θεὸν ὑπειλήφατον Ἵππασός τε ὁ Μεταποντῖνος καὶ ὁ Ἐφέσιος Ἡράκλειτος· Ἐμπεδοκλῆς γὰρ ὁ Ἀκραγαντῖνος εἰς πλῆθος ἐμπεσὼν πρὸς τοῖς τέτταρσι στοιχείοις τούτοις νεῖκος καὶ φιλίαν καταριθμεῖται. Ἄθεοι μὲν δὴ καὶ οὗτοι, σοφίᾳ τινὶ ἀσόφῳ τὴν ὕλην προσκυνήσαντες καὶ λίθους μὲν ἢ ξύλα οὐ τιμήσαντες, γῆν δὲ τὴν τούτων μητέρα ἐκθειάσαντες καὶ Ποσειδῶνα μὲν οὐκ ἀναπλάττοντες, ὕδωρ δὲ αὐτὸ προστρεπόμενοι. τί γάρ ἐστί ποτε ὁ Ποσειδῶν ἢ ὑγρά τις οὐσία ἐκ τῆς πόσεως ὀνοματοποιουμένη; ὥσπερ ἀμέλει ὁ πολέμιος Ἄρης ἀπὸ τῆς ἄρσεως καὶ ἀναιρέσεως κεκλημένος, ᾗ καὶ δοκοῦσί μοι πολλοὶ μάλιστα τὸ ξίφος μόνον πήξαντες ἐπιθύειν ὡς Ἄρει· ἔστι δὲ Σκυθῶν τὸ τοιοῦτον, καθάπερ Εὔδοξος ἐν δευτέρᾳ Γῆς περιόδου λέγει, Σκυθῶν δὲ οἱ Σαυρομάται, ὥς φησιν Ἱκέσιος ἐν τῷ περὶ μυστηρίων, ἀκινάκην σέβουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) Let us run through, if you like, the opinions of the philosophers too, which they boast of concerning the gods, to see whether we may find philosophy itself, out of vainglory, making an idol of matter, or whether we can show in passing that, while deifying certain daemons, it dreams of the truth. Some left us the elements as first principles and sang their praises: Thales of Miletus, water; Anaximenes, also of Miletus, air, and Diogenes of Apollonia later followed him. Parmenides of Elea introduced fire and earth as gods; Hippasus of Metapontum and Heraclitus of Ephesus took only one of the two, fire, to be god; and Empedocles of Acragas, falling into multiplicity, counts strife and love besides these four elements. These too are atheists, who worshiped matter with a wisdom that is no wisdom; they did not honor stones or wood, but they deified the earth, the mother of these; they did not fashion a Poseidon, but they pray to water itself. For what else is Poseidon but a liquid substance, named from drinking (posis)? Just as, of course, warlike Ares is named from lifting up (arsis) and destroying; for which reason, it seems to me, many simply fix a sword in the ground and sacrifice to it as to Ares. This is a custom of the Scythians, as Eudoxus says in the second book of his Circuit of the Earth; and among the Scythians the Sauromatae, as Hicesius says in his book on the mysteries, worship a dagger. ### Translation notes - The etymologies of Poseidon and Ares are ancient word-play. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 5.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/5/64/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 5.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/5/65/ - Source: Stählin 1:49–50 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Fire and water, worshiped by the Persians and the philosophers, are only the “weak and beggarly elements” made to serve humankind. ### Greek text τοῦτό τοι καὶ οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἡράκλειτον τὸ πῦρ ὡς ἀρχέγονον σέβοντες πεπόνθασιν· τὸ γὰρ πῦρ τοῦτο ἕτεροι Ἥφαιστον ὠνόμασαν. Περσῶν δὲ οἱ μάγοι τὸ πῦρ τετιμήκασι καὶ τῶν τὴν Ἀσίαν κατοικούντων πολλοί, πρὸς δὲ καὶ Μακεδόνες, ὥς φησι Διογένης ἐν α΄ Περσικῶν. τί μοι Σαυρομάτας καταλέγειν, οὓς Νυμφόδωρος ἐν Νομίμοις βαρβαρικοῖς τὸ πῦρ σέβειν ἱστορεῖ, ἢ τοὺς Πέρσας καὶ τοὺς Μήδους καὶ τοὺς μάγους; θύειν ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τούτους ὁ Δίνων λέγει, θεῶν ἀγάλματα μόνα τὸ πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ νομίζοντας. οὐκ ἀπεκρυψάμην οὐδὲ τὴν τούτων ἄγνοιαν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἀποφεύγειν οἴονται τῆς πλάνης, ἀλλʼ εἰς ἑτέραν κατολισθαίνουσιν ἀπάτην· ἀγάλματα μὲν θεῶν οὐ ξύλα καὶ λίθους ὑπειλήφασιν ὥσπερ Ἕλληνες οὐδὲ μὴν ἴβιδας καὶ ἰχνεύμονας καθάπερ Αἰγύπτιοι, ἀλλὰ πῦρ τε καὶ ὕδωρ ὡς φιλόσοφοι. μετὰ πολλὰς μέντοι ὕστερον περιόδους ἐτῶν ἀνθρωποειδῆ ἀγάλματα σέβειν αὐτοὺς Βήρωσσος ἐν τρίτῃ Χαλδαϊκῶν παρίστησι, τοῦτο Ἀρταξέρξου τοῦ Δαρείου τοῦ Ὤχου εἰσηγησαμένου, ὃς πρῶτος τῆς Ἀφροδίτης Ἀναΐτιδος τὸ ἄγαλμα ἀναστήσας ἐν Βαβυλῶνι καὶ Σούσοις καὶ Ἐκβατάνοις Πέρσαις καὶ Βάκτροις καὶ Δαμασκῷ καὶ Σάρδεσιν ὑπέδειξε σέβειν. ὁμολογούντων τοίνυν οἱ φιλόσοφοι τοὺς διδασκάλους τοὺς σφῶν Πέρσας ἢ Σαυρομάτας ἢ μάγους, παρʼ ὧν τὴν ἀθεότητα τῶν σεβασμίων αὐτοῖς μεμαθήκασιν ἀρχῶν, ἄρχοντα τὸν πάντων ποιητὴν καὶ τῶν ἀρχῶν αὐτῶν δημιουργὸν ἀγνοοῦντες, τὸν ἄναρχον θεόν, τὰ δὲ »πτωχὰ« ταῦτα καὶ »ἀσθενῆ,« ᾗ φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, τὰ εἰς τὴν ἀνθρώπων ὑπηρεσίαν πεποιημένα »στοιχεῖα« προστρεπόμενοι. ### English translation (Claude) The followers of Heraclitus, who revere fire as the origin of all things, have suffered the same thing; for others have named this fire Hephaestus. The magi of the Persians have honored fire, and many of those who live in Asia, and the Macedonians too, as Diogenes says in the first book of his Persian History. Why should I list for you the Sauromatae, whom Nymphodorus, in his Barbarian Customs, records as worshiping fire, or the Persians and the Medes and the magi? Dinon says that they sacrifice in the open air, considering fire and water the only images of the gods. I have not hidden their ignorance either. For even if they think they are escaping error as far as possible, they slip into another deception: they have not supposed wood and stones to be images of the gods, as the Greeks do, nor ibises and ichneumons, as the Egyptians do, but fire and water, as the philosophers do. Yet many ages later, Berossus shows in the third book of his Chaldaean History, they came to worship statues in human form; Artaxerxes, the son of Darius Ochus, introduced this: he was the first to set up the statue of Aphrodite Anaitis in Babylon, Susa, and Ecbatana, and taught the Persians and Bactrians, Damascus and Sardis, to worship it. Let the philosophers, then, acknowledge as their teachers the Persians or the Sauromatae or the magi, from whom they learned the godlessness of the first principles they revere, ignorant of the supreme Ruler, the maker of all things and the creator of the first principles themselves, God who has no beginning, and worshiping instead these “weak and beggarly elements,” as the apostle says, which were made for the service of human beings. ### Scripture references - Gal 4:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The apostle is Paul, Gal 4:9. Clement plays on ἀρχαί (“first principles”) and ἄρχων (“ruler”), and on ἄναρχος (“without beginning”). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 5.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/5/65/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 5.66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/5/66/ - Source: Stählin 1:50–51 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Other philosophers made gods of the infinite, the stars, or the world-soul; the Stoics put God in all matter, Aristotle limited providence, and Epicurus denied it. ### Greek text Τῶν δὲ ἄλλων φιλοσόφων ὅσοι τὰ στοιχεῖα ὑπερβάντες ἐπολυπραγμόνησάν τι ὑψηλότερον καὶ περιττότερον, οἳ μὲν αὐτῶν τὸ ἄπειρον καθύμνησαν, ὡς Ἀναξίμανδρος (Μιλήσιος ἦν) καὶ Ἀναξαγόρας ὁ Κλαζομένιος καὶ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος Ἀρχέλαος. τούτω μέν γε ἄμφω τὸν νοῦν ἐπεστησάτην τῇ ἀπειρίᾳ, ὁ δὲ Μιλήσιος Λεύκιππος καὶ ὁ Χῖος Μητρόδωρος διττάς, ὡς ἔοικεν, καὶ αὐτὼ ἀρχὰς ἀπελιπέτην, τὸ πλῆρες καὶ τὸ κενόν· προσέθηκε δὲ λαβὼν τούτοιν τοῖν δυεῖν τὰ εἴδωλα ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης Δημόκριτος. ὁ γάρ τοι Κροτωνιάτης Ἀλκμαίων θεοὺς ᾤετο τοὺς ἀστέρας εἶναι ἐμψύχους ὄντας. οὐ σιωπήσομαι τὴν τούτων ἀναισχυντίαν· Ξενοκράτης (Καλχηδόνιος οὗτος) ἑπτὰ μὲν θεοὺς τοὺς πλανήτας, ὄγδοον δὲ τὸν ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἀπλανῶν συνεστῶτα κόσμον αἰνίττεται. οὐδὲ μὴν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς παρελεύσομαι διὰ πάσης ὕλης, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀτιμοτάτης, τὸ θεῖον διήκειν λέγοντας, οἳ καταισχύνουσιν ἀτεχνῶς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν. οὐδὲν δὲ οἶμαι χαλεπὸν ἐνταῦθα γενόμενος καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Περιπάτου μνησθῆναι· καὶ ὅ γε τῆς αἱρέσεως πατήρ, τῶν ὅλων οὐ νοήσας τὸν πατέρα, τὸν καλούμενον »ὕπατον« ψυχὴν εἶναι τοῦ παντὸς οἴεται· τουτέστι τοῦ κόσμου τὴν ψυχὴν θεὸν ὑπολαμβάνων αὐτὸς αὑτῷ περιπείρεται. ὁ γάρ τοι μέχρι τῆς σελήνης αὐτῆς διορίζων τὴν πρόνοιαν, ἔπειτα τὸν κόσμον θεὸν ἡγούμενος περιτρέπεται, τὸν ἄμοιρον τοῦ θεοῦ θεὸν δογματίζων. ὁ δὲ Ἐρέσιος ἐκεῖνος Θεόφραστος ὁ Ἀριστοτέλους γνώριμος πῇ μὲν οὐρανόν, πῇ δὲ πνεῦμα τὸν θεὸν ὑπονοεῖ. Ἐπικούρου μὲν γὰρ μόνου καὶ ἑκὼν ἐκλήσομαι, ὃς οὐδὲν μέλειν οἴεται τῷ θεῷ, διὰ πάντων ἀσεβῶν. τί γὰρ Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός; ἔσθʼ ὅπῃ οὐκ ἐπὶ τὰ Δημοκρίτου καὶ αὐτὸς κατασύρεται εἴδωλα; ### English translation (Claude) Of the other philosophers, those who went beyond the elements and busied themselves with something loftier and more remarkable, some sang the praises of the infinite, like Anaximander (he was of Miletus), Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, and Archelaus of Athens. These two set mind over the infinite; while Leucippus of Miletus and Metrodorus of Chios also left two first principles, it seems, the full and the void; and Democritus of Abdera took these two and added the images (eidōla). Alcmaeon of Croton thought the stars were gods, being ensouled. I will not keep silent about their shamelessness: Xenocrates (he was of Chalcedon) hints that the seven planets are gods, and that the eighth is the world made up of all the fixed stars. Nor will I pass over those of the Stoa, who say that the divine pervades all matter, even the most dishonorable, and who simply disgrace philosophy. Having come this far, I think it will not be hard to mention the Peripatetics too. The father of the school, not recognizing the Father of all things, thinks that the one called “the Highest” is the soul of the universe; that is, by taking the soul of the world to be God, he impales himself on his own argument. For he limits providence to the region of the moon, and then, thinking the world to be God, he contradicts himself, declaring that to be God which has no share in God. Theophrastus of Eresus, the pupil of Aristotle, supposes God to be sometimes heaven, sometimes spirit. Epicurus alone I will willingly forget, who thinks that God cares for nothing, impious through and through. And what of Heraclides of Ponticus? Is he not somewhere dragged down to the images of Democritus too? ### Translation notes - “The father of the school” is Aristotle, who held that providence reaches only as far as the sphere of the moon (a view often ascribed to him in antiquity). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 5.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/5/66/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 6.67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/67/ - Source: Stählin 1:51 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement rejects the philosophers' theories of chance and of divine elements and planets as old wives' tales. ### Greek text Καὶ πολύς μοι ἐπιρρεῖ τοιοῦτος ὄχλος, οἱονεὶ μορμώ τινα, δαιμονίων παρεισάγων ξένων ἄτοπον σκιαγραφίαν, μυθολογῶν ὕθλῳ γραϊκῷ· πολλοῦ γε δεῖ ἀνδράσιν ἐπιτρέπειν ἀκροᾶσθαι τοιούτων λόγων, οἳ μηδὲ τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον, κλαυθμυριζομένους ἐθίζομεν παρηγορεῖσθαι μυθίζοντες, ὀρρωδοῦντες συνανατρέφειν αὐτοῖς ἀθεότητα τὴν πρὸς τῶν δοκησισόφων δὴ τούτων καταγγελλομένην, μηδέν τι νηπίων μᾶλλον τἀληθὲς εἰδότων. τί γάρ, ὢ πρὸς τῆς ἀληθείας, τοὺς σοὶ πεπιστευκότας δεικνύεις ῥύσει καὶ φορᾷ δίναις τε ἀτάκτοις ὑποβεβλημένους; τί δέ μοι εἰδώλων ἀναπίμπλης τὸν βίον, ἀνέμους τε ἢ ἀέρα ἢ πῦρ ἢ γῆν ἢ λίθους ἢ ξύλα ἢ σίδηρον, κόσμον τόνδε, θεοὺς ἀναπλάττουσα, θεοὺς δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας τοὺς πλανήτας, τοῖς ὄντως πεπλανημένοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς πολυθρυλήτου ταύτης ἀστρολογίας, οὐκ ἀστρονομίας, μετεωρολογοῦσα καὶ ἀδολεσχοῦσα; ### English translation (Claude) A great crowd of this kind streams in on me, bringing in, like some bogey, a strange and absurd sketch of foreign daemons, telling myths with old wives' nonsense. We are far from allowing men to listen to such stories, we who do not even soothe our own children, as the saying goes, with fairy tales when they cry, afraid of rearing them in the godlessness proclaimed by these men who seem wise but know the truth no better than infants. Why, in the name of truth, do you show those who have believed you subject to flux and motion and random whirls? Why do you fill my life with idols, fashioning winds or air or fire or earth or stones or wood or iron, this world, into gods, and making gods of the planets too, talking idly and prating about the heavens to those human beings who have truly wandered (planaō), through this much-vaunted astrology, not astronomy? ### Translation notes - The word-play is on πλανήτης (“planet,” literally “wanderer”) and πεπλανημένοις (“those who have wandered, gone astray”). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 6.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/67/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 6.68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/68/ - Source: Stählin 1:51–52 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Seeking God, not his works, Clement turns to Plato, who admits God is hard to find and beyond words; the Word, the sun of the soul, alone reveals him. ### Greek text τὸν κύριον τῶν πνευμάτων ποθῶ, τὸν κύριον τοῦ πυρός, τὸν κόσμου δημιουργόν, τὸν ἡλίου ἡλίου φωταγωγόν· θεὸν ἐπιζητῶ, οὐ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ. τίνα δὴ λάβω παρὰ σοῦ συνεργὸν τῆς ζητήσεως; οὐ γὰρ παντάπασιν ἀπεγνώκαμέν σε. εἰ βούλει, τὸν Πλάτωνα. πῇ δὴ οὖν ἐξιχνευτέον τὸν θεόν, ὦ Πλάτων; »τὸν γὰρ πατέρα καὶ ποιητὴν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεῖν τε ἔργον καὶ εὑρόντα εἰς ἅπαντας ἐξειπεῖν ἀδύνατον.« διὰ τί δῆτα, ὢ πρὸς αὐτοῦ; »ῥητὸν γὰρ οὐδαμῶς ἐστίν.« εὖ γε, ὦ Πλάτων, ἐπαφᾶσαι τῆς ἀληθείας· ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀποκάμῃς· ξύν μοι λαβοῦ τῆς ζητήσεως τἀγαθοῦ πέρι· πᾶσιν γὰρ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀνθρώποις, μάλιστα δὲ τοῖς περὶ λόγους ἐνδιατρίβουσιν ἐνέστακταί τις ἀπόρροια θεϊκή. οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ ἄκοντες μὲν ὁμολογοῦσιν ἕνα γε εἶναι θεόν, ἀνώλεθρον καὶ ἀγένητον τοῦτον, ἄνω που περὶ τὰ νῶτα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ καὶ οἰκείᾳ περιωπῇ ὄντως ὄντα ἀεί. θεὸν δὲ ποῖον, εἰπέ μοι, νοητέον; τὸν πάνθʼ ὁρῶντα καὐτὸν οὐχ ὁρώμενον, Εὐριπίδης λέγει. πεπλανῆσθαι γοῦν ὁ Μένανδρός μοι δοκεῖ, ἔνθα φησίν ἥλιε, σὲ γὰρ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν πρῶτον θεῶν, διʼ ὃν θεωρεῖν ἔστι τοὺς ἄλλους θεούς· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἥλιος ἐπιδείξει ποτʼ ἂν τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἀληθῆ, ὁ δὲ λόγος ὁ ὑγιής, ὅς ἐστιν ἥλιος ψυχῆς, διʼ οὗ μόνου ἔνδον ἀνατείλαντος ἐν τῷ βάθει τοῦ νοῦ αὐτῆς καταυγάζεται τὸ ὄμμα· ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπεικότως ὁ Δημόκριτος »τῶν λογίων ἀνθρώπων ὀλίγους« φησίν »ἀνατείναντας τὰς χεῖρας ἐνταῦθα ὃν νῦν ἠέρα καλέομεν οἱ Ἕλληνες, [πάντα] Δία μυθεῖσθαι· καὶ γὰρ πάντα οὗτος οἶδεν καὶ διδοῖ πάντα καὶ ἀφαιρεῖται, καὶ βασιλεὺς οὗτος τῶν πάντων«. ### English translation (Claude) I long for the Lord of the winds, the Lord of fire, the creator of the world, the one who gives light to the sun. I seek God, not the works of God. Whom shall I take from you as a helper in my search? For we have not altogether despaired of you. Plato, if you like. How then is God to be tracked down, Plato? “For to find the Father and Maker of this universe is a hard task, and having found him, it is impossible to declare him to all.” Why so, in his name? “For he cannot be expressed in words at all.” Well done, Plato, you have touched the truth. But do not grow weary; join me in the search for the Good. For in all human beings without exception, and especially in those who spend their time on words, a certain divine effluence has been instilled. For this reason, even against their will, they confess that God is one, indestructible and unbegotten, and that he is somewhere above, around the back of heaven, in his own proper place of watch, truly existing forever. “What kind of God, tell me, must we conceive? The one who sees all things and is not himself seen,” says Euripides. Menander seems to me to have gone astray where he says: “O Sun, for you must be worshiped first of the gods, through whom it is possible to see the other gods.” For the sun would never show us the true God; but the sound Word, who is the sun of the soul, can, through whom alone, when he has risen within in the depth of the mind, the soul's eye is lit up. Hence, not without reason, Democritus says that “a few of the learned, stretching out their hands toward what we Greeks now call the air, called it Zeus: for he knows all things, gives all and takes away, and he is king of all.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 28c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Ep. 7.341c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Phaedr. 247b–c (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence - Euripides (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Plato, Timaeus 28c, and Letter 7, 341c; “the back of heaven” echoes Phaedrus 247b–c. The Euripides and Menander lines are fragments; Democritus is fragment 30 (Diels–Kranz). The bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 6.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/68/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 6.69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/69/ - Source: Stählin 1:52–53 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Plato calls God the king and cause of all good things; Moses's law of just weights shows God as the true measure of all. ### Greek text ταύτῃ πῃ καὶ Πλάτων διανοούμενος τὸν θεὸν αἰνίττεται »περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα πάντʼ ἐστί, κἀκεῖνο αἴτιον ἁπάντων τῶν καλῶν.« τίς οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν πάντων; θεὸς τῆς τῶν ὄντων ἀληθείας τὸ μέτρον. ὥσπερ οὖν τῷ μέτρῳ καταληπτὰ τὰ μετρούμενα, οὑτωσὶ δὲ καὶ τῷ νοῆσαι τὸν θεὸν μετρεῖται καὶ καταλαμβάνεται ἡ ἀλήθεια. ὁ δὲ ἱερὸς ὄντως Μωυσῆς »οὐκ ἔσται«, φησίν, »ἐν τῷ μαρσίππῳ σου στάθμιον καὶ στάθμιον μέγα ἢ μικρόν, οὐδὲ ἔσται ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ σου μέτρον μέγα ἢ μικρόν, ἀλλʼ ἢ στάθμιον ἀληθινὸν καὶ δίκαιον ἔσται σοι,« στάθμιον καὶ μέτρον καὶ ἀριθμὸν τῶν ὅλων ὑπολαμβάνων τὸν θεόν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄδικα καὶ ἄνισα εἴδωλα οἴκοι ἐν τῷ μαρσίππῳ καὶ ἐν τῇ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ῥυπώσῃ ψυχῇ κατακέκρυπται· τὸ δὲ μόνον δίκαιον μέτρον, ὁ μόνος ὄντως θεός, ἴσος ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχων, μετρεῖ τε πάντα καὶ σταθμᾶται, οἱονεὶ τρυτάνῃ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τὴν τῶν ὅλων ἀρρεπῶς περιλαμβάνων καὶ ἀνέχων φύσιν. ### English translation (Claude) Plato too, thinking along these lines, hints at God: “All things are around the King of all, and he is the cause of all things beautiful.” Who then is the King of all things? God, the measure of the truth of what exists. Just as the things measured are grasped by the measure, so too truth is measured and grasped by the understanding of God. And Moses, who is truly holy, says: “There shall not be in your bag weight and weight, large or small, nor shall there be in your house a measure large or small, but you shall have a true and just weight,” taking God to be the weight and measure and number of all things. For the unjust and unequal idols are hidden at home in the bag, and in the soul that is, so to speak, filthy; but the only just measure, the only true God, always equal, remaining the same and unchanging, measures and weighs all things, encompassing and holding up the nature of the universe without leaning, as with the balance of his justice. ### Scripture references - Deut 25:13: quotation, high confidence - Deut 25:14: quotation, high confidence - Deut 25:15: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 2.312e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Wis 11:20 (Wisdom of Solomon): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Plato quotation is Letter 2, 312e. The law is Deut 25:13–15. “Measure and number and weight” echoes Wis 11:20. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 6.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/69/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 6.70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/70/ - Source: Stählin 1:53 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Plato's sayings about God and justice were learned from the Hebrews, as the Sibyl describes them: people who worship only the immortal God. ### Greek text »ὁ μὲν δὴ θεός, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς λόγος, ἀρχήν τε καὶ τελευτὴν καὶ μέσα τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων ἔχων, εὐθεῖαν περαίνει κατὰ φύσιν περιπορευόμενος· τῷ δʼ ἀεὶ ξυνέπεται δίκη τῶν ἀπολειπομένων τοῦ θείου νόμου τιμωρός.« πόθεν, ὦ Πλάτων, ἀλήθειαν αἰνίττῃ; πόθεν ἡ τῶν λόγων ἄφθονος χορηγία τὴν θεοσέβειαν μαντεύεται; σοφώτερα, φησίν, τούτων βαρβάρων τὰ γένη. οἶδά σου τοὺς διδασκάλους, κἂν ἀποκρύπτειν ἐθέλῃς· γεωμετρίαν παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων μανθάνεις, ἀστρονομίαν παρὰ Βαβυλωνίων, ἐπῳδὰς τὰς ὑγιεῖς παρὰ Θρᾳκῶν λαμβάνεις, πολλά σε καὶ Ἀσσύριοι πεπαιδεύκασι, νόμους δὲ τοὺς ὅσοι ἀληθεῖς καὶ δόξαν τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ παρʼ αὐτῶν ὠφέλησαι τῶν Ἑβραίων, οἵτινες οὐκ ἀπάτῃσι κεναῖς, οὐδὲ ἔργα ἀνθρώπων χρύσεα καὶ χάλκεια καὶ ἀργύρου ἠδʼ ἐλέφαντος καὶ ξυλίνων λιθίνων τε βροτῶν εἴδωλα θανόντων τιμῶσιν, ὅσα πέρ τε βροτοὶ κενεόφρονι βουλῇ· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀείρουσι πρὸς οὐρανὸν ὠλένας ἁγνάς, ὄρθριοι ἐξ εὐνῆς, ἀεὶ χρόα ἁγνίζοντες ὕδασι, καὶ τιμῶσι μόνον τὸν ἀεὶ μεδέοντα ἀθάνατον. ### English translation (Claude) “God, as the ancient saying has it, holding the beginning and end and middle of all things that exist, goes straight on his way, moving in accordance with nature; and Justice always follows him, the avenger of those who fall short of the divine law.” Where did you get this hint of the truth, Plato? Where did this abundant supply of words, prophesying true religion, come from? “The races of the barbarians,” he says, “are wiser than these.” I know your teachers, even if you want to hide them. You learn geometry from the Egyptians, astronomy from the Babylonians; you take healthful incantations from the Thracians; the Assyrians too have taught you much; but the laws, those that are true, and your belief about God, you have got from the Hebrews themselves, “who honor neither with empty deceits the works of men, golden and bronze, of silver and ivory, nor images of dead men of wood and stone, such as mortals honor with empty-minded counsel; but they lift up pure arms to heaven, rising early from their beds, always purifying their skin with water, and they honor only the Immortal who rules forever.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Leg. 715e–716a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Sib. Or. 3.586–594 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first quotation is Plato, Laws 4.715e–716a; “the races of the barbarians” may recall Phaedo 78a. The verses are Sibylline Oracles 3.586–590 (with 3.591–594). On Plato's debt to Moses see also 6.68–71; this was a common claim of Jewish and Christian apologists. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 6.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/70/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 6.71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/71/ - Source: Stählin 1:53–54 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Antisthenes and Xenophon, pupils of Socrates, glimpsed that God is invisible and unlike anything; Xenophon learned it from the Sibyl. ### Greek text Καί μοι μὴ μόνον, ὦ φιλοσοφία, ἕνα τοῦτον Πλάτωνα, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἄλλους παραστῆσαι σπούδασον, τὸν ἕνα ὄντως μόνον θεὸν ἀναφθεγγομένους θεὸν κατʼ ἐπίπνοιαν αὐτοῦ, εἴ που τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπιδράξαιντο. Ἀντισθένης μὲν γὰρ οὐ Κυνικὸν δὴ τοῦτο ἐνενόησεν, Σωκράτους δὲ ἅτε γνώριμος »θεὸν οὐδενὶ ἐοικέναι« φησίν· »διόπερ αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐκμαθεῖν ἐξ εἰκόνος δύναται«. Ξενοφῶν δὲ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος διαρρήδην ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγεγράφει τι μαρτυρῶν ὡς Σωκράτης, εἰ μὴ τὸ Σωκράτους ἐδεδίει φάρμακον· οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον αἰνίττεται. »ὁ« γοῦν »τὰ πάντα«, φησί, »σείων καὶ ἀτρεμίζων ὡς μὲν μέγας τις καὶ δυνατός, φανερός· ὁποῖος δὲ τὴν μορφήν, ἀφανής· οὐδὲ μὴν ὁ παμφαὴς δοκῶν εἶναι ἥλιος οὐδʼ αὐτὸς ἔοικεν ὁρᾶν αὑτὸν ἐπιτρέπειν, ἀλλʼ ἤν τις ἀναιδῶς αὐτὸν θεάσηται, τὴν ὄψιν ἀφαιρεῖται.« πόθεν ἄρα ὁ τοῦ Γρύλλου σοφίζεται ἢ δηλαδὴ παρὰ τῆς προφήτιδος τῆς Ἑβραίων θεσπιζούσης ὧδέ πως; τίς γὰρ σὰρξ δύναται τὸν ἐπουράνιον καὶ ἀληθῆ ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδεῖν θεὸν ἄμβροτον, ὃς πόλον οἰκεῖ; ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀκτίνων κατεναντίον ἠελίοιο ἄνθρωποι στῆναι δυνατοί, θνητοὶ γεγαῶτες. ### English translation (Claude) And, philosophy, hasten to bring before me not only this one man, Plato, but many others too, who proclaim the one and only true God as God by his inspiration, if they have somewhere laid hold of the truth. Antisthenes did not think this as a Cynic, but as a pupil of Socrates, when he says that “God is like no one; therefore no one can learn about him from an image.” Xenophon the Athenian would himself have written something openly about the truth, bearing witness as Socrates did, if he had not feared Socrates's poison; nonetheless he hints at it. “He who shakes all things,” he says, “and gives them rest, is manifest as someone great and mighty; but what he is like in form is not manifest. Nor does even the sun, which seems all-shining, allow itself to be seen; if anyone gazes at it shamelessly, it takes away his sight.” Where then did the son of Gryllus get his wisdom, if not plainly from the prophetess of the Hebrews, who prophesies somewhat as follows? “For what flesh can see with its eyes the heavenly and true God, the immortal, who dwells in the sky? No, human beings, born mortal, cannot even stand facing the rays of the sun.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Xenophon, Mem. 4.3.13–14 (Xenophon, Memorabilia): quotation, high confidence - Sib. Or. frag. 1.10–13 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Xenophon quotation is Memorabilia 4.3.13–14 (loosely); the Sibylline verses are fragment 1.10–13. Xenophon was the son of Gryllus. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 6.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/71/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 6.72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/72/ - Source: Stählin 1:54–55 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Cleanthes the Stoic and the Pythagoreans describe God as the one good and the mind and father of all. ### Greek text Κλεάνθης δὲ ὁ Πηδασεύς, ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς φιλόσοφος, οὐ θεογονίαν ποιητικήν, θεολογίαν δὲ ἀληθινὴν ἐνδείκνυται. οὐκ ἀπεκρύψατο τοῦ θεοῦ πέρι ὅτι περ εἶχεν φρονῶν· τἀγαθὸν ἐρωτᾷς μʼ οἷόν ἐστʼ; ἄκουε δή· τεταγμένον, δίκαιον, ὅσιον, εὐσεβές, κρατοῦν ἑαυτοῦ, χρήσιμον, καλόν, δέον, αὐστηρόν, αὐθέκαστον, ἀεὶ συμφέρον, ἄφοβον, ἄλυπον, λυσιτελές, ἀνώδυνον, ὠφέλιμον, εὐάρεστον, ἀσφαλές, φίλον, ἔντιμον, ὁμολογούμενον * * * * * εὐκλεές, ἄτυφον, ἐπιμελές, πρᾶον, σφοδρόν, χρονιζόμενον, ἄμεμπτον, ἀεὶ διαμένον. ἀνελεύθερος πᾶς ὅστις εἰς δόξαν βλέπει, ὡς δὴ παρʼ ἐκείνης τευξόμενος καλοῦ τινος. ἐνταῦθα δὴ σαφῶς, οἶμαι, διδάσκει ὁποῖός ἐστιν ὁ θεός, καὶ ὡς ἡ δόξα ἡ κοινὴ καὶ ἡ συνήθεια τοὺς ἑπομένους αὐταῖν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὸν θεὸν ἐπιζητοῦντας, ἐξανδραποδιζέσθην. οὐκ ἀποκρυπτέον οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Πυθαγόραν, οἵ φασιν »ὁ μὲν θεὸς εἷς, οὗτος δὲ οὐχ, ὥς τινες ὑπονοοῦσιν, ἐκτὸς τᾶς διακοσμήσιος, ἀλλʼ ἐν αὐτᾷ, ὅλος ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κύκλῳ, ἐπίσκοπος πάσας γενέσιος, κρᾶσις τῶν ὅλων αἰώνων καὶ ἐργάτας τῶν αὐτοῦ δυνάμιων καὶ ἔργων ἁπάντων ἐν οὐρανῷ φωστὴρ καὶ πάντων πατήρ, νοῦς καὶ ψύχωσις τῶ ὅλω κύκλω, πάντων κίνασις.« ἀπόχρη καὶ τάδε εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν θεοῦ ἐπιπνοίᾳ θεοῦ πρὸς αὐτῶν μὲν ἀναγεγραμμένα, πρὸς δὲ ἡμῶν ἐξειλεγμένα τῷ γε καὶ σμικρὸν διαθρεῖν ἀλήθειαν δυναμένῳ. ### English translation (Claude) Cleanthes of Pedasis, the Stoic philosopher, displays not a poetic theogony but a true theology. He did not hide what he thought about God: “You ask me what the good is like? Listen, then: ordered, just, holy, pious, master of itself, useful, beautiful, fitting, austere, candid, always advantageous, fearless, painless, profitable, without anguish, helpful, well-pleasing, secure, friendly, honored, consistent … glorious, without conceit, careful, gentle, vehement, enduring, blameless, ever abiding. Everyone who looks to opinion is ignoble, as though he would get something good from it.” Here, I think, he teaches clearly what God is like, and how common opinion and custom enslave those who follow them instead of seeking God. Nor must we hide the followers of Pythagoras, who say: “God is one; and he is not, as some suppose, outside the ordered world, but within it, whole in the whole circle, overseer of all coming-to-be, the blending of all the ages, and worker of his own powers and of all works, the light in heaven and Father of all, mind and ensouling of the whole circle, the movement of all things.” These words too are enough for the knowledge of God, written by them through God's inspiration and selected by us, for anyone who can examine the truth even a little. ### Translation notes - The asterisks mark a gap in the manuscript. The Pythagorean saying is in Doric Greek. Clement is quoting the philosophers selectively, as witnesses who glimpsed the truth; he does not endorse the Pythagorean view that God is within the world. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 6.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/6/72/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 7.73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/73/ - Source: Stählin 1:55–56 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Poets too bear witness: Aratus and Hesiod speak of one Father and king of all. ### Greek text Ἴτω δὲ ἡμῖν (οὐ γὰρ αὐταρκεῖ μόνον ἡ φιλοσοφία) ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ ποιητικὴ ἡ περὶ τὸ ψεῦδος τὰ πάντα ἠσχολημένη, μόλις ποτὲ ἤδη ἀλήθειαν μαρτυρήσουσα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐξομολογουμένη τῷ θεῷ τὴν μυθώδη παρέκβασιν· παρίτω δὴ ὅστις καὶ βούλεται ποιητὴς πρῶτος. Ἄρατος μὲν οὖν διὰ πάντων τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ θεοῦ διήκειν νοεῖ, ὄφρʼ ἔμπεδα πάντα φύωνται, τῷ μιν ἀεὶ πρῶτόν τε καὶ ὕστατον ἱλάσκονται· χαῖρε, πάτερ, μέγα θαῦμα, μέγʼ ἀνθρώποισιν ὄνειαρ. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ ὁ Ἀσκραῖος αἰνίττεται Ἡσίοδος τὸν θεόν· αὐτὸς γὰρ πάντων βασιλεὺς καὶ κοίρανός ἐστιν, ἀθανάτων τέο δʼ οὔτις ἐρήρισται κράτος ἄλλος. ### English translation (Claude) Let poetry too come to us (for philosophy alone is not enough), poetry, which is wholly occupied with falsehood, now at last bearing witness, however reluctantly, to the truth, or rather confessing to God its departure into myth. Let any poet who wishes come forward first. Aratus understands that the power of God pervades all things: “so that all things may grow steadfast; therefore they always propitiate him first and last: hail, Father, great wonder, great blessing to humankind.” In the same way Hesiod of Ascra too hints at God: “For he is king and lord of all; no other of the immortals has contended with his might.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Aratus, Phaen. 13–15 (Aratus, Phaenomena): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Aratus, Phaenomena 13–15 (the same poem Paul quotes in Acts 17:28). The Hesiod lines are a fragment (195 Rzach). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 7.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/73/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 7.74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/74/ - Source: Stählin 1:56–57 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The tragedians and even Orpheus, in his late recantation, confess that there is one God who made all things. ### Greek text ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς παραγυμνοῦσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ὃ μὲν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα καὶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβλέψας »τόνδε ἡγοῦ θεόν,« φησίν, Εὐριπίδης· ὁ δὲ τοῦ Σοφίλλου Σοφοκλῆς, εἷς ταῖς ἀληθείαισιν, εἷς ἐστὶν θεός, ὃς οὐρανόν τʼ ἔτευξε καὶ γαῖαν μακρὴν πόντου τε χαροπὸν οἶδμα καὶ ἀνέμων βίας· θνητοὶ δὲ πολλοὶ καρδίᾳ πλανώμενοι ἱδρυσάμεσθα πημάτων παραψυχὴν θεῶν ἀγάλματʼ ἐκ λίθων, ἢ χαλκέων ἢ χρυσοτεύκτων ἢ ἐλεφαντίνων τύπους· θυσίας τε τούτοις καὶ κενὰς πανηγύρεις νέμοντες, οὕτως εὐσεβεῖν νομίζομεν. οὑτοσὶ μὲν ἤδη καὶ παρακεκινδυνευμένως ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῖς θεαταῖς παρεισήγαγεν. ὁ δὲ Θρᾴκιος ἱεροφάντης καὶ ποιητὴς ἅμα, ὁ τοῦ Οἰάγρου Ὀρφεύς, μετὰ τὴν τῶν ὀργίων ἱεροφαντίαν καὶ τῶν εἰδώλων τὴν θεολογίαν, παλινῳδίαν ἀληθείας εἰσάγει, τὸν ἱερὸν ὄντως ὀψέ ποτε, ὅμως δʼ οὖν ᾄδων λόγον· φθέγξομαι οἷς θέμις ἐστί· θύρας δʼ ἐπίθεσθε βέβηλοι πάντες ὁμῶς· σὺ δʼ ἄκουε, φαεσφόρου ἔκγονε Μήνης, Μουσαῖε, ἐξερέω γὰρ ἀληθέα, μηδέ σε τὰ πρὶν ἐν στήθεσσι φανέντα φίλης αἰῶνος ἀμέρσῃ. εἰς δὲ λόγον θεῖον βλέψας τούτῳ προσέδρευε, ἰθύνων κραδίης νοερὸν κύτος· εὖ δʼ ἐπίβαινε ἀτραπιτοῦ, μοῦνον δʼ ἐσόρα κόσμοιο ἄνακτα ἀθάνατον. εἶτα ὑποβὰς διαρρήδην ἐπιφέρει· εἷς ἔστʼ, αὐτογενής, ἑνὸς ἔκγονα πάντα τέτυκται· ἐν δʼ αὐτοῖς αὐτὸς περινίσσεται, οὐδέ τις αὐτὸν εἰσοράᾳ θνητῶν, αὐτὸς δέ γε πάντας ὁρᾶται. οὕτως μὲν δὴ Ὀρφεύς· χρόνῳ γέ ποτε συνῆκεν πεπλανημένος. ἀλλὰ σὺ μὴ μέλλων, βροτὲ ποικιλόμητι, βράδυνε, ἀλλὰ παλίμπλαγκτος στρέψας θεὸν ἱλάσκοιο. ### English translation (Claude) And now even on the stage they lay bare the truth. One of them, Euripides, looking up to the ether and to heaven, says: “Consider this to be God.” And Sophocles, the son of Sophillus: “One, in very truth, one is God, who made heaven and the long earth, and the bright-flashing swell of the sea, and the might of the winds; but many of us mortals, straying in our hearts, have set up for ourselves, as a consolation for our sorrows, images of gods of stone, or figures of bronze or wrought gold or ivory; and assigning them sacrifices and empty festivals, we think we are pious in this way.” This man, at some risk, brought the truth before the spectators on the stage. And the Thracian hierophant and poet in one, Orpheus the son of Oeagrus, after his hierophantic teaching of the orgies and his theology of idols, brings in a recantation of truth, singing at last, late though it was, the truly holy word: “I will speak to those for whom it is lawful; close the doors, all you profane alike. But you, Musaeus, offspring of the light-bearing Moon, listen, for I will tell the truth; and let not what appeared in your breast before rob you of your dear life. Look to the divine Word and devote yourself to it, directing the intelligent vessel of your heart; walk well on the path, and look only to the immortal ruler of the world.” And then, further on, he adds plainly: “He is one, self-begotten; all things are born the offspring of the one; and he himself goes about among them; nor does any mortal see him, but he sees all.” So Orpheus, at least; in time he understood that he had gone astray. “But you, mortal of many devices, do not delay; turn back and propitiate God.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Sophocles (Sophocles (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Sib. Or. frag. 1.27–28 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Euripides line is fragment 941; the Sophocles lines are generally thought to be a Jewish forgery attributed to him, and the Orphic lines come from the so-called Orphic Testament, a Jewish poem; Clement, like others of his time, takes them as genuine. The closing line is from the Sibylline Oracles (fragment 1.27–28). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 7.74 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/74/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 7.75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/75/ - Source: Stählin 1:57–58 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Greeks caught only sparks of the Word; even the comic poets mock the begging priests and their gods. ### Greek text εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἐναύσματά τινα τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θείου λαβόντες Ἕλληνες ὀλίγα ἄττα τῆς ἀληθείας ἐφθέγξαντο, προσμαρτυροῦσι μὲν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῆς οὐκ ἀποκεκρυμμένην, σφᾶς δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐλέγχουσιν ἀσθενεῖς, οὐκ ἐφικόμενοι τοῦ τέλους. ἤδη γὰρ οἶμαι παντί τῳ δῆλον γεγονέναι ὡς τῶν χωρὶς τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας ἐνεργούντων τι ἢ καὶ φθεγγομένων ὁμοίων ὄντων τοῖς χωρὶς βάσεως βαδίζειν βιαζομένοις. δυσωπούντων δέ σε εἰς σωτηρίαν καὶ οἱ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ὑμῶν ἔλεγχοι, οὓς διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐκβιαζόμενοι κωμῳδοῦσι ποιηταί. Μένανδρος γοῦν ὁ κωμικὸς ἐν Ἡνιόχῳ [ἐν Ὑποβολιμαίῳ] τῷ δράματι οὐδείς μʼ ἀρέσκει (φησὶ) περιπατῶν ἔξω θεὸς μετὰ γραός, οὐδʼ εἰς οἰκίας παρεισιὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ σανιδίου μητραγύρτης· τοιοῦτοι γὰρ οἱ μητραγύρται. ὅθεν εἰκότως ὁ Ἀντισθένης ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς μεταιτοῦσιν· »οὐ τρέφω τὴν μητέρα τῶν θεῶν, ἣν οἱ θεοὶ τρέφουσιν«. πάλιν δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς κωμῳδιοποιὸς ἐν Ἱερείᾳ τῷ δράματι χαλεπαίνων πρὸς τὴν συνήθειαν διελέγχειν πειρᾶται τὸν ἄθεον τῆς πλάνης τῦφον, ἐπιφθεγγόμενος ἐμφρόνως εἰ γὰρ ἕλκει τὸν θεὸν τοῖς κυμβάλοις ἄνθρωπος εἰς ὃ βούλεται, ὁ τοῦτο ποιῶν ἐστι μείζων τοῦ θεοῦ· ἀλλʼ ἔστι τόλμης καὶ βίας ταῦτʼ ὄργανα εὑρημένα ἀνθρώποισιν. ### English translation (Claude) For even if the Greeks, having received certain sparks of the divine Word, uttered a few words of truth, they bear witness that its power is not hidden, but they convict themselves of weakness, since they did not reach the goal. For by now, I think, it has become clear to everyone that those who do or say anything without the Word of truth are like those who try to walk without feet. Let the exposures of your gods also shame you into salvation, which the poets, compelled by the truth, bring on as comedy. Menander the comic poet, for example, in his play The Charioteer, says: “No god pleases me who walks about out of doors with an old woman, nor one who comes into houses on a board,” a begging priest of the Mother; for such are the begging priests of the Mother. Hence Antisthenes rightly said to them when they begged: “I do not support the Mother of the gods, whom the gods support.” Again, the same comic poet, in his play The Priestess, angry at the custom, tries to expose the godless vanity of error, saying sensibly: “For if a man draws the god wherever he wants with cymbals, the one who does this is greater than the god; but these are instruments of daring and violence, invented for human beings.” ### Translation notes - The bracketed alternative title of Menander's play is marked by the editor as a gloss. The Menander lines are fragments (Charioteer, fr. 202; Priestess, fr. 245 Kock). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 7.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/75/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 7.76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/76/ - Source: Stählin 1:58–59 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Homer and Euripides ridicule the gods: Athena, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Apollo, and Heracles are shown as base or mad. ### Greek text καὶ οὐχὶ μόνος ὁ Μένανδρος, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ὅμηρος καὶ Εὐριπίδης καὶ ἄλλοι συχνοὶ ποιηταὶ διελέγχουσιν ὑμῶν τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ λοιδορεῖσθαι οὐ δεδίασιν οὐδὲ καθʼ ὁπόσον αὐτοῖς. αὐτίκα τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν »κυνάμυιαν« καὶ τὸν Ἥφαιστον »ἀμφιγύην« καλοῦσιν, τῇ δὲ Ἀφροδίτῃ ἡ Ἑλένη φησὶ μηκέτι σοῖσι πόδεσσιν ὑποστρέψειας Ὄλυμπον. ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ Διονύσου· ἀναφανδὸν Ὅμηρος γράφει ὅς ποτε μαινομένοιο Διωνύσοιο τιθήνας σεῦε κατʼ ἠγάθεον Νυσήιον· αἳ δʼ ἅμα πᾶσαι θύσθλα χαμαὶ κατέχευαν ὑπʼ ἀνδροφόνοιο Λυκούργου. ἄξιος ὡς ἀληθῶς Σωκρατικῆς διατριβῆς ὁ Εὐριπίδης εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπιδὼν καὶ τοὺς θεατὰς ὑπεριδών, ποτὲ μὲν τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα, ὃς μεσομφάλους ἕδρας ναίει βροτοῖσι στόμα νέμων σαφέστατα, διελέγχων, κείνῳ πιθόμενος τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἔκτανον, ἐκεῖνον ἡγεῖσθʼ ἀνόσιον καὶ κτείνετε· ἐκεῖνος ἥμαρτʼ, οὐκ ἐγώ, ἀμαθέστερος ὢν τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τῆς δίκης, τοτὲ δʼ ἐμμανῆ εἰσάγων Ἡρακλέα καὶ μεθύοντα ἀλλαχόθι καὶ ἄπληστον· πῶς γὰρ οὐχί; ὃς ἑστιώμενος τοῖς κρέασι χλωρὰ σῦκα ἐπήσθιεν ἄμουσα ὑλακτῶν ὥστε βαρβάρῳ μαθεῖν. ἤδη δὲ ἐν Ἴωνι τῷ δράματι γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ ἐκκυκλεῖ τῷ θεάτρῳ τοὺς θεούς· πῶς οὖν δίκαιον τοὺς νόμους ὑμᾶς βροτοῖς γράψαντας αὐτοὺς ἀδικίας ὀφλισκάνειν; εἰ δʼ, οὐ γὰρ ἔσται, τῷ λόγῳ δὲ χρήσομαι, δίκας βιαίων δώσετʼ ἀνθρώποις γάμων, σὺ καὶ Ποσειδῶν Ζεύς θʼ, ὃς οὐρανοῦ κρατεῖ, ναοὺς τίνοντες ἀδικίας κενώσετε. ### English translation (Claude) And not Menander alone, but Homer and Euripides and many other poets expose your gods and are not afraid to revile them as much as they like. For example, they call Athena “dog-fly” and Hephaestus “lame in both feet”; and Helen says to Aphrodite, “May you never again turn your feet back to Olympus.” And of Dionysus Homer writes openly: “who once drove the nurses of raving Dionysus down over sacred Nysa; and they all at once threw their wands to the ground under the blows of man-slaying Lycurgus.” Euripides is truly worthy of the Socratic school, looking to the truth and disregarding the spectators. Now he exposes Apollo, “who dwells in the seat at the navel of the earth, dispensing to mortals the clearest speech”: “Obeying him I killed my mother; consider him unholy, and kill him; he sinned, not I,” since Apollo was more ignorant of what is good and just than he; now he brings on Heracles mad, and elsewhere drunk and insatiable. And why not? One who, while feasting on meat, ate green figs besides, “howling unmusically, so that even a barbarian would notice.” And in his play Ion he rolls the gods onto the stage bareheaded: “How then is it just that you, who have written the laws for mortals, should yourselves be guilty of injustice? If (it will not happen, but I will use the argument) you pay the penalty to human beings for your violent marriages, you and Poseidon and Zeus, who rules heaven, will empty your temples to pay for your injustice.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 21.394 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 3.407 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 6.132–134 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Euripides, Or. 591–595 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Euripides, Alc. 755–760 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Euripides, Ion 442–447 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Homer, Iliad 21.394 and 1.607, Iliad 3.407, and Iliad 6.132–134; Euripides, Orestes 591–592 and 594–595 (roughly), Alcestis 755–760, and Ion 442–447. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 7.76 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/7/76/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 8.77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/77/ - Source: Stählin 1:59 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement turns to the prophetic writings, simple and unadorned but saving; the Sibyl calls people from darkness to the light of the one God. ### Greek text Ὥρα τοίνυν τῶν ἄλλων ἡμῖν τῇ τάξει προδιηνυσμένων ἐπὶ τὰς προφητικὰς ἰέναι γραφάς· καὶ γὰρ οἱ χρησμοὶ τὰς εἰς τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἡμῖν ἀφορμὰς ἐναργέστατα προτείνοντες θεμελιοῦσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν· γραφαὶ δὲ αἱ θεῖαι, εἰ καὶ πολιτεῖαι σώφρονες σύντομοι σωτηρίας ὁδοί, γυμναὶ κομμωτικῆς καὶ τῆς ἐκτὸς καλλιφωνίας καὶ στωμυλίας καὶ κολακείας ὑπάρχουσαι ἀνιστῶσιν ἀγχόμενον ὑπὸ κακίας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὑπεριδοῦσαι τὸν ὄλισθον τὸν βιωτικόν, μιᾷ καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ φωνῇ πολλὰ θεραπεύουσαι, ἀποτρέπουσαι μὲν ἡμᾶς τῆς ἐπιζημίου ἀπάτης, προτρέπουσαι δὲ ἐμφανῶς εἰς προὖπτον σωτηρίαν. αὐτίκα γοῦν ἡ προφῆτις ἡμῖν ᾀσάτω πρώτη Σίβυλλα τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ σωτήριον· οὗτος ἰδοὺ πάντεσσι σαφὴς ἀπλάνητος ὑπάρχει· ἔλθετε, μὴ σκοτίην δὲ διώκετε καὶ ζόφον αἰεί. ἠελίου γλυκυδερκές, ἰδού, φάος ἔξοχα λάμπει. γνῶτε δὲ κατθέμενοι σοφίην ἐν στήθεσιν ὑμῶν. εἷς θεός ἐστι, βροχάς, ἀνέμους, σεισμούς τʼ ἐπιπέμπων, ἀστεροπάς, λιμούς, λοιμοὺς καὶ κήδεα λυγρὰ καὶ νιφετούς, κρύσταλλα, τί δὴ καθʼ ἓν ἐξαγορεύω; οὐρανοῦ ἡγεῖται, γαίης κρατεῖ, αὐτὸς ὑπάρχει· ἐνθέως σφόδρα τὴν μὲν ἀπάτην ἀπεικάζουσα τῷ σκότει, τὴν δὲ γνῶσιν ἡλίῳ καὶ φωτὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἄμφω δὲ παραθεμένη τῇ συγκρίσει, τὴν ἐκλογὴν διδάσκει· τὸ γὰρ ψεῦδος οὐ ψιλῇ τῇ παραθέσει τἀληθοῦς διασκεδάννυται, τῇ δὲ χρήσει τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκβιαζόμενον φυγαδεύεται. ### English translation (Claude) Now that we have gone through the other matters in order, it is time to turn to the prophetic Scriptures. For the oracles, setting before us most clearly the starting points for true religion, lay the foundation of the truth. The divine Scriptures and the wise ways of life are short roads to salvation. Bare of cosmetics and of outward beauty of speech, of chatter and flattery, they raise up the human being who is being strangled by wickedness, looking beyond the slipperiness of life; with one and the same voice they heal many ills, turning us away from harmful deceit and urging us plainly toward a salvation set before our eyes. So let the prophetess, the Sibyl, sing us first the song of salvation: “Behold, he is clear to all, free from error; come, do not always pursue darkness and gloom. Behold, the sweetly shining light of the sun shines out preeminently. Know it, and lay up wisdom in your breasts. There is one God, who sends rains, winds, and earthquakes, lightnings, famines, plagues, and grievous sorrows, and snows and ice; why should I tell them one by one? He rules heaven, he governs the earth, he himself exists.” Very inspiredly she likens deceit to darkness, and the knowledge of God to the sun and light; and setting both side by side for comparison, she teaches us to choose. For falsehood is not scattered by the mere setting beside it of what is true; it is driven out and put to flight by the practice of the truth. ### Extrabiblical texts - Sib. Or. frag. 1.28–35 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Sibylline verses are fragment 1.28–35 (and 3.8–12 in part). Clement counts the Sibyl among the prophets here, as many early Christians did. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/77/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 8.78 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/78/ - Source: Stählin 1:59–60 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Jeremiah and Isaiah show the greatness of God, who fills heaven and earth, and foretell the shameful end of idols. ### Greek text Ἱερεμίας δὲ ὁ προφήτης ὁ πάνσοφος, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐν Ἱερεμίᾳ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐπιδείκνυσι τὸν θεόν. »θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι«, φησί, »καὶ οὐχὶ θεὸς πόρρωθεν. εἰ ποιήσει τι ἄνθρωπος ἐν κρυφαίοις, καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ὄψομαι αὐτόν; οὐχὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει κύριος.« πάλιν δὲ αὖ διὰ Ἡσαΐου »τίς μετρήσει«, φησί, »τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακί;« ὅρα τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ καταπλάγηθι. τοῦτον προσκυνήσωμεν, ἐφʼ οὗ φησιν ὁ προφήτης »ἀπὸ προσώπου σου ὄρη τακήσονται, ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς τήκεται κηρός.« οὗτος, φησίν, ἐστὶν ὁ θεός, »οὗ θρόνος μέν ἐστιν ὁ οὐρανός, ὑποπόδιον δὲ ἡ γῆ«, »ὃς ἐὰν ἀνοίξῃ τὸν οὐρανόν, τρόμος σε λήψεται.« βούλει καὶ περὶ τῶν εἰδώλων ἀκοῦσαι τί φησὶν ὁ προφήτης οὗτος; »παραδειγματισθήσονται ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ ἔσται τὰ θνησιμαῖα αὐτῶν βρώματα τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς, καὶ σαπήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς σελήνης, ἃ αὐτοὶ ἠγάπησαν καὶ οἷς αὐτοὶ ἐδούλευσαν, καὶ ἐμπρησθήσεται ἡ πόλις αὐτῶν.« ### English translation (Claude) Jeremiah, the all-wise prophet, or rather the Holy Spirit in Jeremiah, shows us God. “I am a God who is near,” he says, “and not a God far off. If a man does anything in secret, shall I not see him? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says the Lord.” And again through Isaiah: “Who will measure heaven with a span, and all the earth with his hand?” See the greatness of God, and be amazed! Let us worship him of whom the prophet says: “Before your face the mountains will melt, as wax melts before the fire.” This, he says, is God, “whose throne is heaven, and the earth his footstool”; “if he opens heaven, trembling will seize you.” Do you wish to hear too what this prophet says about the idols? “They will be made a public example before the sun, and their carcasses will be food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth, and they will rot before the sun and the moon, which they loved and which they served, and their city will be burned.” ### Scripture references - Jer 23:23: quotation, high confidence - Jer 23:24: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:12: quotation, high confidence - Isa 64:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 64:2: quotation, high confidence - Isa 66:1: quotation, high confidence - Jer 8:2: quotation, medium confidence - Jer 7:33: quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Jer 23:23–24; Isa 40:12; Isa 64:1–2 (63:19–64:1 in the Hebrew numbering); Isa 66:1; and a combination of Jer 8:2 and 7:33 with other phrases. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/78/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 8.79 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/79/ - Source: Stählin 1:60–61 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The prophets proclaim that the world will pass away but the one God, the only savior, remains; idols and their worshipers will howl. ### Greek text φθαρήσεσθαι δὲ καὶ τὰ στοιχεῖα καὶ τὸν κόσμον σὺν καὶ αὐτοῖς λέγει· »ἡ γῆ«, φησί, »παλαιωθήσεται καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς παρελεύσεται«, »τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.« τί δὲ ὅταν πάλιν ἑαυτὸν δεικνύναι ὁ θεὸς βουληθῇ διὰ Μωυσέως; »ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἕτερος πλὴν ἐμοῦ. ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω· πατάξω κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου.« ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρου ἐπακοῦσαι θέλεις χρησμῳδοῦ; ἔχεις τὸν χορὸν πάντα τὸν προφητικόν, τοὺς συνθιασώτας τοῦ Μωυσέως. τί φησὶν αὐτοῖς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον διὰ Ὠσηέ; οὐκ ὀκνήσω λέγειν »ἰδού, ἐγὼ στερεῶν βροντὴν καὶ κτίζων πνεῦμα«, οὗ αἱ χεῖρες τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐθεμελίωσαν. ἔτι δὲ καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου (καὶ ταύτην ἀπομνημονεύσω σοι τὴν φωνήν) »ἐγώ εἰμι, ἐγώ εἰμι«, φησίν, »ὁ κύριος ὁ λαλῶν δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀναγγέλλων ἀλήθειαν· συνάχθητε καὶ ἥκετε· βουλεύσασθε ἅμα, οἱ σῳζόμενοι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν. οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οἱ αἴροντες τὸ ξύλον γλύμμα αὐτῶν, καὶ προσευχόμενοι θεοῖς οἳ οὐ σώσουσιν αὐτούς.« εἶθʼ ὑποβάς »ἐγώ,« φησίν, »ὁ θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν ἐμοῦ δίκαιος, καὶ σωτὴρ οὐκ ἔστι πάρεξ ἐμοῦ· ἐπιστράφητε πρός με καὶ σωθήσεσθε οἱ ἀπʼ ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος· κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνύω.« τοῖς δὲ εἰδωλολάτραις δυσχεραίνει λέγων »τίνι ὡμοιώσατε κύριον; ἢ τίνι ὁμοιώματι ὡμοιώσατε αὐτόν; μὴ εἰκόνα ἐποίησεν τέκτων, ἢ χρυσοχόος χωνεύσας χρυσίον περιεχρύσωσεν αὐτόν;« καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. μὴ οὖν ἔτι ὑμεῖς εἰδωλολάτραι; ἀλλὰ κἂν νῦν φυλάξασθε τὰς ἀπειλάς· ὀλολύξει γὰρ τὰ γλυπτὰ καὶ τὰ χειροποίητα, μᾶλλον δὲ οἱ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς πεποιθότες, ἀναίσθητος γὰρ ἡ ὕλη. ### English translation (Claude) He says that the elements too, and the world along with them, will be destroyed: “The earth,” he says, “will grow old, and heaven will pass away,” “but the word of the Lord abides forever.” And what of when God wishes to show himself again, through Moses? “See, see that I am, and there is no other god besides me. I will kill and I will make alive; I will strike and I will heal, and there is no one who will deliver out of my hands.” Do you want to hear another oracle-singer too? You have the whole chorus of the prophets, the fellow worshipers of Moses. What does the Holy Spirit say to them through Hosea? I will not hesitate to say it: “Behold, I am he who makes the thunder firm and creates the wind,” whose hands founded the host of heaven. And further, through Isaiah (this saying too I will recall to you): “I am, I am,” he says, “the Lord, who speaks righteousness and declares truth. Gather together and come; take counsel together, you who are being saved from the nations. They did not know, who carry the wood, their carved image, and pray to gods who will not save them.” Then, further on: “I am God,” he says, “and there is none righteous besides me, and there is no savior except me. Turn to me and you will be saved, you from the end of the earth. I am God, and there is no other; by myself I swear.” And he is indignant with the idolaters, saying: “To whom have you likened the Lord? Or with what likeness have you likened him? Has a carpenter made an image, or a goldsmith melted gold and overlaid it with gold?” and so on. Are you, then, still idolaters? Even now beware of the threats: for the carved images and the things made by hands will howl, or rather those who trust in them; for matter is senseless. ### Scripture references - Isa 51:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:35: echo, medium confidence - Isa 40:8: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:39: quotation, high confidence - Amos 4:13: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:19: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:20: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:21: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:22: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:23: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:18: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:19: quotation, high confidence - Isa 10:10: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 51:6 (compare Matt 24:35), Isa 40:8, Deut 32:39, Amos 4:13 (which Clement attributes to Hosea), Isa 45:19–20, Isa 45:21–23, and Isa 40:18–19. The closing threat echoes Isa 10:10–11 (LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.79 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/79/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 8.80 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/80/ - Source: Stählin 1:61 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The wisdom of Solomon and the words of Jeremiah and Moses call people back from idols to the one God, whose Wisdom is his Word. ### Greek text ἔτι φησίν· »ὁ κύριος σείσει πόλεις κατοικουμένας καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην καταλήψεται τῇ χειρὶ ὡς νοσσιάν.« τί σοι σοφίας ἀναγγέλλω μυστήρια καὶ ῥήσεις ἐκ παιδὸς Ἑβραίου σεσοφισμένου; »κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ,« καὶ »κύριος δίδωσι σοφίαν καὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ γνῶσις καὶ σύνεσις.« »ἕως πότε, ὀκνηρέ, κατάκεισαι; πότε δὲ ἐξ ὕπνου ἐγερθήσῃ; ἐὰν δὲ ἄοκνος ᾖς, ἥξει σοι ὥσπερ πηγὴ ὁ ἄμητός σου,« ὁ λόγος ὁ πατρικός, ὁ ἀγαθὸς λύχνος, ὁ κύριος ἐπάγων τὸ φῶς, τὴν πίστιν πᾶσι καὶ σωτηρίαν. »κύριος« γὰρ »ὁ ποιήσας τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι αὐτοῦ,« ὥς φησιν Ἱερεμίας, »ἀνώρθωσεν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ.« ἀποπεσόντας γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰ εἴδωλα ἡ σοφία, ἥ ἐστιν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, ἀνορθοῖ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. καὶ αὕτη πρώτη τοῦ παραπτώματος ἀνάστασις· ὅθεν ἀποτρέπων εἰδωλολατρείας ἁπάσης ὁ θεσπέσιος παγκάλως ἀνακέκραγε Μωυσῆς· »ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ· κύριος ὁ θεός σου, κύριος εἷς ἐστι,« καὶ »κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις·« νῦν δὴ οὖν σύνετε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, κατὰ τὸν μακάριον ψαλμῳδὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν Δαβίδ· »δράξασθε παιδείας, μή ποτε ὀργισθῇ κύριος, καὶ ἀπολεῖσθε ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας, ὅταν ἐκκαυθῇ ἐν τάχει ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) He says further: “The Lord will shake inhabited cities, and will seize the whole world in his hand like a nest.” Why should I declare to you the mysteries of wisdom and sayings from a Hebrew child made wise? “The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, for his works”; and “The Lord gives wisdom, and from his face come knowledge and understanding.” “How long, sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from sleep? But if you are diligent, your harvest will come to you like a spring”: the Father's Word, the good lamp, the Lord who brings light, faith and salvation to all. For “the Lord who made the earth by his strength,” as Jeremiah says, “set the world upright by his wisdom.” For when we had fallen away to idols, Wisdom, which is his Word, sets us upright again toward the truth. And this is the first resurrection from the fall. So the inspired Moses, turning us away from all idolatry, cried out most beautifully: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God, the Lord is one”; and “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.” Now therefore understand, you people, as that blessed psalmist David says: “Lay hold of instruction, lest the Lord be angry, and you perish from the righteous way, when his wrath is suddenly kindled. ### Scripture references - Isa 10:14: quotation, high confidence - Prov 8:22: quotation, high confidence - Prov 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Prov 6:9: quotation, high confidence - Prov 6:11: quotation, medium confidence - Jer 10:12: quotation, high confidence - Deut 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Deut 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:10: echo, medium confidence - Ps 2:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 10:14 (with 13:13), Prov 8:22, Prov 2:6, Prov 6:9 and 6:11a (a Septuagint addition), Jer 10:12 (51:15), Deut 6:4, Deut 6:13 (compare Matt 4:10), and Ps 2:12 in the Septuagint form (“lay hold of instruction”; the Hebrew reads “kiss the son”). The “Hebrew child made wise” is Solomon. - The quotation from the Psalm continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.80 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/80/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 8.81 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/81/ - Source: Stählin 1:61–62 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Psalms and Paul expose the vanity of worshiping creation instead of the Creator; the prophets foretell that heaven itself will pass away. ### Greek text μακάριοι πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπʼ αὐτῷ.« ἤδη δὲ ὑπεροικτείρων ἡμᾶς ὁ κύριος τὸ σωτήριον ἐνδίδωσι μέλος, οἷον ἐμβατήριον ῥυθμόν· »υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἕως πότε βαρυκάρδιοι; ἵνα τί ἀγαπᾶτε ματαιότητα καὶ ζητεῖτε ψεῦδος;« τίς οὖν ἡ ματαιότης καὶ τί τὸ ψεῦδος; ὁ ἅγιος ἀπόστολος τοῦ κυρίου τοὺς Ἕλληνας αἰτιώμενος ἐξηγήσεταί σοι· »ὅτι γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν, ἀλλʼ ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα.« καὶ μὴν ὅ γε θεὸς οὗτος, ὃς »ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν·« σὺ δὲ τὸν μὲν θεὸν οὐ νοεῖς, τὸν δὲ οὐρανὸν προσκυνεῖς, καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἀσεβεῖς; ἄκουε πάλιν προφήτου λέγοντος »ἐκλείψει μὲν ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς σκοτισθήσεται, λάμψει δὲ ὁ παντοκράτωρ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται καὶ οἱ οὐρανοὶ εἱλιγήσονται ὡς δέρρις ἐκτεινόμενοι καὶ συστελλόμενοι« (αὗται γὰρ αἱ προφητικαὶ φωναί) »καὶ ἡ γῆ φεύξεται ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου.« ### English translation (Claude) Blessed are all who trust in him.” And now the Lord, in his great compassion for us, strikes up the song of salvation, like a marching rhythm: “Sons of men, how long will you be heavy-hearted? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?” What then is the vanity, and what the falsehood? The holy apostle of the Lord, accusing the Greeks, will explain it to you: “Because, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and exchanged the glory of God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and served the creation rather than the Creator.” And indeed this is God, who “in the beginning made the heaven and the earth”; but you do not recognize God, and you worship heaven; how can you not be impious? Hear again the prophet saying: “The sun will fail and the heaven will be darkened, but the Almighty will shine forever; and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the heavens will be rolled up like a skin, stretched out and drawn together” (for these are the prophetic words), “and the earth will flee from the face of the Lord.” ### Scripture references - Ps 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 4:2 (4:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:25: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 13:10: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 34:4: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 24:29: echo, medium confidence - Ps 104:2 (103:2 LXX): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 2:12 (end), Ps 4:2 (4:3 LXX), Rom 1:21, 23, 25, and Gen 1:1. The prophetic passage is a combination of phrases from Isa 13:10, Isa 34:4, Ps 104:2 (the heavens as a skin), and Isa 2:19–21; it is not a single verse. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/81/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.82 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/82/ - Source: Stählin 1:62 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: God admonishes as a gentle father; those who become like children and are born again enter the kingdom as his firstborn church. ### Greek text Καὶ μυρίας ἂν ἔχοιμί σοι γραφὰς παραφέρειν, ὧν οὐδὲ »κεραία παρελεύσεται μία,« μὴ οὐχὶ ἐπιτελὴς γενομένη· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου, τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ἐλάλησεν ταῦτα. »μὴ τοίνυν μηκέτι,« φησίν, »υἱέ μου, ὀλιγώρει παιδείας κυρίου, μηδʼ ἐκλύου ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος.« ὢ τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης φιλανθρωπίας· οὐδʼ ὡς μαθηταῖς ὁ διδάσκαλος οὐδʼ ὡς οἰκέταις ὁ κύριος οὐδʼ ὡς θεὸς ἀνθρώποις, »πατὴρ δὲ ὣς ἤπιος« νουθετεῖ υἱούς. εἶτα Μωυσῆς μὲν ὁμολογεῖ »ἔμφοβος εἶναι καὶ ἔντρομος,« ἀκούων περὶ τοῦ λόγου, σὺ δὲ τοῦ λόγου ἀκροώμενος τοῦ θείου οὐ δέδιας; οὐκ ἀγωνιᾷς; οὐχὶ ἅμα τε εὐλαβῇ καὶ σπεύδεις ἐκμαθεῖν, τουτέστι σπεύδεις εἰς σωτηρίαν, φοβούμενος τὴν ὀργήν, ἀγαπήσας τὴν χάριν, ζηλώσας τὴν ἐλπίδα, ἵνα ἐκκλίνῃς τὴν κρίσιν; ἥκετε ἥκετε, ὦ νεολαία ἡ ἐμή· »ἢν γὰρ μὴ αὖθις ὡς τὰ παιδία γένησθε καὶ ἀναγεννηθῆτε,« ὥς φησιν ἡ γραφή, τὸν ὄντως ὄντα πατέρα οὐ μὴ ἀπολάβητε, »οὐδʼ οὐ μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθέ ποτε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.« πῶς γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν ἐπιτέτραπται τῷ ξένῳ; ἀλλʼ ὅταν, οἶμαι, ἐγγραφῇ καὶ πολιτευθῇ καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἀπολάβῃ, τότε »ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς« γενήσεται, τότε κληρονομῆσαι καταξιωθήσεται, τότε τῆς βασιλείας τῆς πατρῴας κοινωνήσει τῷ γνησίῳ, τῷ »ἠγαπημένῳ«· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ πρωτότοκος ἐκκλησία ἡ ἐκ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν συγκειμένη παιδίων· ταῦτʼ ἔστι τὰ »πρωτότοκα τὰ ἐναπογεγραμμένα ἐν οὐρανοῖς« καὶ τοσαύταις »μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων« συμπανηγυρίζοντα· πρωτότοκοι δὲ παῖδες ἡμεῖς οἱ τρόφιμοι τοῦ θεοῦ, οἱ τοῦ »πρωτοτόκου« γνήσιοι φίλοι, οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων τὸν θεὸν νενοηκότες, οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπεσπασμένοι, ### English translation (Claude) And I could bring you countless Scriptures, of which not even “one stroke will pass away” without being fulfilled; for the mouth of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, has spoken these things. “No longer, then,” he says, “my son, make light of the Lord's discipline, nor lose heart when you are reproved by him.” O surpassing love for humankind! Not as a teacher to his pupils, nor as a master to his servants, nor as God to human beings, but “as a gentle father” he admonishes his sons. Moses confesses that he is “terrified and trembling” when he hears about the Word; and do you, when you listen to the divine Word, not fear? Are you not anxious? Are you not at once cautious and eager to learn, that is, eager for salvation, fearing the wrath, loving the grace, zealous for the hope, so that you may escape the judgment? Come, come, my young people! “For unless you become again as little children and are born again,” as the Scripture says, you will not receive him who is truly Father, “nor will you ever enter the kingdom of heaven.” For how is the stranger permitted to enter? But when, I think, he is enrolled and made a citizen and receives the Father, then he will be “in the Father's house,” then he will be counted worthy to inherit, then he will share the Father's kingdom with the true Son, “the Beloved.” For this is the firstborn church, made up of many good children; these are “the firstborn enrolled in heaven,” who hold festival with so many “myriads of angels.” And we are firstborn children, the nurslings of God, the true friends of “the Firstborn,” the first of all humankind to know God, the first to be torn away from our sins, ### Scripture references - Matt 5:18: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:20: allusion, medium confidence - Prov 3:11: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:5: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 18:3: quotation, high confidence - John 3:3: allusion, high confidence - John 3:5: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 2:49: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 3:17: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 12:22: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:23: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:15: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 2.47 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations and allusions are Matt 5:18; Isa 1:20; Prov 3:11 (Heb 12:5); Homer, Odyssey 2.47 (“as a gentle father”); Heb 12:21; Matt 18:3 with John 3:3, 5; Luke 2:49; Matt 3:17; Heb 12:22–23; and Col 1:15 or Rom 8:29. The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/82/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.83 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/83/ - Source: Stählin 1:62–63 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: God wants to make slaves into sons, but many prefer slavery and death; Paul warns against the darkened mind of the Gentiles. ### Greek text οἱ πρῶτοι τοῦ διαβόλου κεχωρισμένοι. νυνὶ δὲ τοσούτῳ τινές εἰσιν ἀθεώτεροι, ὅσῳ φιλανθρωπότερος ὁ θεός· ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ δούλων υἱοὺς ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι βούλεται, οἳ δὲ καὶ υἱοὶ γενέσθαι ὑπερηφανήκασιν. ὢ τῆς ἀπονοίας τῆς πολλῆς· τὸν κύριον ἐπαισχύνεσθε. ἐλευθερίαν ἐπαγγέλλεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς δουλείαν ἀποδιδράσκετε. σωτηρίαν χαρίζεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς θάνατον ὑποφέρεσθε. ζωὴν δωρεῖται αἰώνιον, ὑμεῖς δὲ τὴν κόλασιν ἀναμένετε· καὶ »τὸ πῦρ« δὲ προσκοπεῖτε, »ὃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ κύριος τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ.« διὰ τοῦτο ὁ μακάριος ἀπόστολος »μαρτύρομαι ἐν κυρίῳ,« φησίν, »μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν, καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν, ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὄντες καὶ ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ, διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν· οἵτινες ἑαυτοὺς παρέδωκαν ἀπηλγηκότες τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ εἰς ἐργασίαν ἀκαθαρσίας ### English translation (Claude) the first to be separated from the devil. But now some are the more godless, the more God loves humankind. For he wants us to become sons instead of slaves, but they have disdained even to become sons. O the great folly of it! You are ashamed of the Lord. He promises freedom, and you run away into slavery. He grants salvation, and you are swept down into death. He gives eternal life, and you wait for punishment; and you look ahead to “the fire which the Lord has prepared for the devil and his angels.” That is why the blessed apostle says: “I testify in the Lord that you no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; who, having become callous, have given themselves up to licentiousness, for the practice of every uncleanness … ### Scripture references - Gal 4:7: echo, medium confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:18: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 25:41 and Eph 4:17–19. The quotation continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.83 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/83/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.84 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/84/ - Source: Stählin 1:63–64 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Lord keeps calling sleepers to wake; the Scripture's “today” of grace lasts until the end, so no one should harden his heart. ### Greek text πάσης καὶ πλεονεξίας.« τοιούτου μάρτυρος ἐλέγχοντος τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄνοιαν καὶ θεὸν ἐπιβοωμένου, τί δὴ ἕτερον ὑπολείπεται τοῖς ἀπίστοις ἢ κρίσις καὶ καταδίκη; οὐ κάμνει δὲ ὁ κύριος παραινῶν, ἐκφοβῶν, προτρέπων, διεγείρων, νουθετῶν· ἀφυπνίζει γέ τοι καὶ τοῦ σκότους αὐτοῦ τοὺς πεπλανημένους διανίστησιν· »ἔγειρε,« φησίν, »ὁ καθεύδων καὶ ἀνάστα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐπιφαύσει σοι ὁ Χριστὸς κύριος,« ὁ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἥλιος, ὁ »πρὸ ἑωσφόρου« γεννώμενος, ὁ ζωὴν χαρισάμενος ἀκτῖσιν ἰδίαις. μὴ οὖν περιφρονείτω τις τοῦ λόγου, μὴ λάθῃ καταφρονῶν ἑαυτοῦ. λέγει γάρ που ἡ γραφή· »σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ.« ἡ δὲ δοκιμασία τίς ἐστιν εἰ θέλεις μαθεῖν, τὸ ἅγιόν σοι πνεῦμα ἐξηγήσεται· »καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου,« φησί, »τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη· διʼ ὃ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ καὶ εἶπον· ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ· αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου, ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου.« ὁρᾶτε τὴν ἀπειλήν· ὁρᾶτε τὴν προτροπήν· ὁρᾶτε τὴν τιμήν· τί δὴ οὖν ἔτι τὴν χάριν εἰς ὀργὴν μεταλλάσσομεν καὶ οὐχὶ ἀναπεπταμέναις ταῖς ἀκοαῖς καταδεχόμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν ἁγναῖς ξενοδοχοῦμεν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὸν θεόν; μεγάλη γὰρ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας αὐτοῦ ἡ χάρις, ἐὰν σήμερον τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσωμεν· τὸ δὲ σήμερον καθʼ ἑκάστην [αὐτοῦ] αὔξεται τὴν ἡμέραν, ἔστʼ ἂν ἡ σήμερον ὀνομάζηται. μέχρι δὲ συντελείας καὶ ἡ σήμερον καὶ ἡ μάθησις διαμένει· καὶ τότε ἡ ὄντως σήμερον ἡ ἀνελλιπὴς τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρα τοῖς αἰῶσι συνεκτείνεται. ### English translation (Claude) … and greed.” With such a witness convicting the folly of human beings and calling on God, what else remains for the unbelieving but judgment and condemnation? But the Lord does not grow weary of exhorting, frightening, urging, rousing, admonishing; he wakes them from sleep and raises up those who have gone astray from their darkness. “Awake,” he says, “you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ the Lord will shine on you,” the sun of the resurrection, begotten “before the morning star,” who has given life by his own rays. Let no one, then, despise the Word, lest he unwittingly despise himself. For the Scripture says somewhere: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me by trial.” If you wish to learn what the trial is, the Holy Spirit will explain it to you: “And they saw my works,” he says, “for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation and said: They always go astray in their heart; they did not know my ways; as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.” See the threat! See the exhortation! See the honor! Why then do we still turn grace into wrath, instead of receiving the Word with open ears and welcoming God as a guest in pure souls? For great is the grace of his promise, if today we hear his voice; and this “today” is extended day by day, as long as it is called “today.” Until the consummation, both the “today” and the learning remain; and then the true “today,” the unending day of God, stretches out through the ages. ### Scripture references - Eph 4:19: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 95:7 (94:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 95:8 (94:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 95:9 (94:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 95:10 (94:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 95:11 (94:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 3:7: quotation, high confidence - Heb 3:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Eph 4:19 (end), Eph 5:14 (with “the Lord” added), Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX, “before the morning star”), Ps 95:7–11 (94:7–11 LXX) as quoted in Heb 3:7–11, and Heb 3:13. The bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.84 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/84/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.85 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/85/ - Source: Stählin 1:64 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The “today” of the divine call is an image of eternity; those who disbelieve, like the Israelites in the desert, miss the rest, while godliness holds promise for this life and the next. ### Greek text ἀεὶ οὖν τῆς φωνῆς ὑπακούωμεν τοῦ θείου λόγου· ἡ σήμερον γὰρ ἀιδίου αἰῶνός ἐστιν εἰκών, σύμβολον δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς ἡ ἡμέρα, φῶς δὲ ὁ λόγος ἀνθρώποις, διʼ οὗ καταυγαζόμεθα τὸν θεόν. εἰκότως ἄρα πιστεύσασι μὲν καὶ ὑπακούουσιν ἡ χάρις ὑπερπλεονάσει, ἀπειθήσασι δὲ καὶ πλανωμένοις κατὰ καρδίαν ὁδούς τε τὰς κυριακὰς μὴ ἐγνωκόσιν, ἃς εὐθείας ποιεῖν καὶ εὐτρεπίζειν παρήγγειλεν Ἰωάννης, τούτοις δὲ προσώχθισεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀπειλεῖ· καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀπειλῆς αἰνιγματωδῶς ἀπειλήφασιν οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων πλανῆται· οὐ γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν λέγονται διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν, πρὶν ἢ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς κατακολουθήσαντας τῷ Μωυσέως διαδόχῳ ὀψέ ποτε ἔργῳ μαθεῖν οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως σωθῆναι μὴ οὐχὶ ὡς Ἰησοῦς πεπιστευκότας. φιλάνθρωπος δὲ ὢν ὁ κύριος πάντας ἀνθρώπους »εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας« παρακαλεῖ, ὁ τὸν παράκλητον ἀποστέλλων. τίς οὖν ἡ ἐπίγνωσις; θεοσέβεια· »θεοσέβεια δὲ πρὸς πάντα ὠφέλιμος« κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον, »ἐπαγγελίαν ἔχουσα ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης.« πόσου ὡμολογήσατε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, εἰ ἐπιπράσκετο σωτηρία ἀίδιος, ὠνήσασθαι ἄν; ### English translation (Claude) Let us always, then, obey the voice of the divine Word. For “today” is an image of eternity, and the day is a symbol of light, and the Word is light for human beings, by which we are illuminated to see God. Naturally, then, for those who have believed and obey, grace will abound; but with those who have disobeyed and go astray in heart, and have not known the ways of the Lord, which John commanded to be made straight and prepared, with these God is angry and threatens them. And indeed the ancient wanderers among the Hebrews received the fulfillment of the threat in a figure: for they are said not to have entered into the rest because of their unbelief, until they followed the successor of Moses and learned at last, by experience, that they could not be saved otherwise than by believing as Jesus did. But the Lord, who loves humankind, calls all people “to the knowledge of the truth,” he who sends the Paraclete. What then is this knowledge? Godliness; and “godliness is profitable for all things,” according to Paul, “having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” How much, you people, would you have agreed to pay, if eternal salvation were for sale? ### Scripture references - Rom 5:20: echo, medium confidence - Matt 3:3: allusion, high confidence - Isa 40:3: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 3:18: allusion, high confidence - Heb 3:19: allusion, high confidence - Heb 4:8: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 2:4: quotation, high confidence - John 14:26: allusion, low confidence - 1 Tim 4:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Joshua, the successor of Moses, is Ἰησοῦς in Greek; Clement plays on the identity of the name with Jesus (compare Heb 4:8). - The quotations are 1 Tim 2:4 and 1 Tim 4:8; the allusions are Rom 5:20, Matt 3:3 (Isa 40:3), Heb 3:18–19, and John 14:16, 26. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.85 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/85/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.86 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/86/ - Source: Stählin 1:64–65 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Salvation cannot be bought with gold but only with love and faith; godliness makes the human being like God. ### Greek text οὐδὲ εἰ τὸν Πακτωλόν τις ὅλον, τοῦ χρυσίου τὸ ῥεῦμα τὸ μυθικόν, ἀπομετρήσαι, ἀντάξιον σωτηρίας μισθὸν ἀριθμήσει. μὴ οὖν ἀποκάμητε· ἔξεστιν ὑμῖν, ἢν ἐθέλητε, ἐξωνήσασθαι τὴν πολυτίμητον σωτηρίαν οἰκείῳ θησαυρῷ, ἀγάπῃ καὶ πίστει ζωῆς, ὅς ἐστιν ἀξιόλογος μισθός. ταύτην ἡδέως τὴν τιμὴν ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει. »ἠλπίκαμεν γὰρ ἐπὶ θεῷ ζῶντι, ὅς ἐστι σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, μάλιστα πιστῶν.« οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι περιπεφυκότες τῷ κόσμῳ, οἷα φυκία τινὰ ἐνάλοις πέτραις, ἀθανασίας ὀλιγωροῦσιν, καθάπερ ὁ Ἰθακήσιος γέρων οὐ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τῆς ἐν οὐρανῷ πατρίδος, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος ἱμειρόμενοι φωτός, ἀλλὰ τοῦ καπνοῦ. θεοσέβεια δέ, ἐξομοιοῦσα τῷ θεῷ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατάλληλον ἐπιγράφεται διδάσκαλον θεὸν τὸν καὶ μόνον ἀπεικάσαι κατʼ ἀξίαν δυνάμενον ἄνθρωπον θεῷ. ### English translation (Claude) Not even if one measured out the whole Pactolus, the legendary river of gold, would he count out a price equal to salvation. Do not lose heart, then: if you are willing, you can buy that precious salvation with a treasure of your own, love and the faith of life, which is a worthy price. God gladly accepts this payment. “For we have hoped in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” But the rest, clinging to the world like seaweed to rocks in the sea, make light of immortality; like the old man of Ithaca, they long not for the truth and the fatherland in heaven, nor for the light that truly is, but for the smoke. Godliness, which makes the human being like God as far as possible, enrolls God as its fitting teacher, since he alone is able worthily to make a human being like God. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 4:10: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 1.57–59 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, high confidence - Plato, Theaet. 176b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Tim 4:10. The old man of Ithaca is Odysseus, longing to see even the smoke of his homeland (Homer, Odyssey 1.57–59). “Likeness to God as far as possible” is Plato's phrase (Theaetetus 176b). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.86 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/86/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.87 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/87/ - Source: Stählin 1:65 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The inspired Scriptures make one wise for salvation; the Lord and Paul both proclaim that the kingdom is at hand. ### Greek text ταύτην ὁ ἀπόστολος τὴν διδασκαλίαν θείαν ὄντως ἐπιστάμενος »σὺ δέ, ὦ Τιμόθεε,« φησίν, »ἀπὸ βρέφους ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδας, τὰ δυνάμενά σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν διὰ πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ.« ἱερὰ γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς τὰ ἱεροποιοῦντα καὶ θεοποιοῦντα γράμματα, ἐξ ὧν γραμμάτων καὶ συλλαβῶν τῶν ἱερῶν τὰς συγκειμένας γραφάς, τὰ συντάγματα, ὁ αὐτὸς ἀκολούθως ἀπόστολος »θεοπνεύστους« καλεῖ, »ὠφελίμους οὔσας πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, πρὸς ἔλεγχον, πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν, πρὸς παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐξηρτημένος.« οὐκ ἄν τις οὕτως ἐκπλαγείη τῶν ἄλλων ἁγίων τὰς προτροπὰς ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν κύριον τὸν φιλάνθρωπον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀλλʼ ἢ τοῦτο ἔργον μόνον ἐστὶν αὐτῷ σῴζεσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. βοᾷ γοῦν ἐπείγων εἰς σωτηρίαν αὐτὸς »ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν·« ἐπιστρέφει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πλησιάζοντας τῷ φόβῳ. ταύτῃ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος τοῦ κυρίου παρακαλῶν τοὺς Μακεδόνας ἑρμηνεὺς γίνεται τῆς θείας φωνῆς, »ὁ κύριος ἤγγικεν« λέγων, »εὐλαβεῖσθε μὴ καταληφθῶμεν κενοί.« ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐς τοσοῦτον ἀδεεῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἄπιστοι, μήτε αὐτῷ πειθόμενοι τῷ κυρίῳ μήτε τῷ Παύλῳ, καὶ ταῦτα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ δεδεμένῳ. ### English translation (Claude) The apostle, knowing this truly divine teaching, says: “But you, Timothy, from infancy have known the sacred letters, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ.” For truly sacred are the letters that make holy and make divine; and the same apostle consistently calls the Scriptures composed of these sacred letters and syllables, the collected writings, “inspired by God, being profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” No one would be so struck by the exhortations of the other saints as by those of the Lord himself, who loves humankind; for this is his one and only work, that the human being be saved. He himself cries out, urging us to salvation: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”; he converts people as they draw near to him through fear. So too the apostle of the Lord, exhorting the Macedonians, becomes the interpreter of the divine voice, saying: “The Lord is at hand; take care that we are not found empty.” But you are so fearless, or rather so unbelieving, that you obey neither the Lord himself nor Paul, and that though he was in chains for Christ. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 3:15: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 3:16: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:2: quotation, medium confidence - Phil 4:5: quotation, high confidence - Eph 3:1: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 2 Tim 3:15–17 (Clement applies “inspired by God” to the Scriptures made of sacred letters) and Matt 3:2 / 4:17. “The Lord is at hand” is Phil 4:5 (Philippi was in Macedonia); the words that follow (“take care that we are not found empty”) are not in Paul's letters and may be Clement's paraphrase or an unwritten saying. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.87 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/87/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 9.88 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/88/ - Source: Stählin 1:65–66 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Taste and see that God is good: the Word shines on all, and those saved become one chorus crying “Abba, Father.” ### Greek text »γεύσασθε καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι χρηστὸς ὁ θεός.« ἡ πίστις εἰσάξει, ἡ πεῖρα διδάξει, ἡ γραφὴ παιδαγωγήσει »δεῦτε, ὦ τέκνα,« λέγουσα, »ἀκούσατέ μου, φόβον κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς.« εἶτα ὡς ἤδη πεπιστευκόσι συντόμως ἐπιλέγει »τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὁ θέλων ζωήν, ἀγαπῶν ἡμέρας ἰδεῖν ἀγαθάς;« ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν, φήσομεν, οἱ τἀγαθοῦ προσκυνηταί, οἱ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ζηλωταί. ἀκούσατε οὖν »οἱ μακράν,« ἀκούσατε »οἱ ἐγγύς·« οὐκ ἀπεκρύβη τινὰς ὁ λόγος· φῶς ἐστι κοινόν, ἐπιλάμπει πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις· οὐδεὶς Κιμμέριος ἐν λόγῳ· σπεύσωμεν εἰς σωτηρίαν, ἐπὶ τὴν παλιγγενεσίαν· εἰς μίαν ἀγάπην συναχθῆναι οἱ πολλοὶ κατὰ τὴν τῆς μοναδικῆς οὐσίας ἕνωσιν σπεύσωμεν· ἀγαθοεργούμενοι ἀναλόγως ἑνότητα διώκωμεν, τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐκζητοῦντες μονάδα. ἡ δὲ ἐκ πολλῶν ἕνωσις ἐκ πολυφωνίας καὶ διασπορᾶς ἁρμονίαν λαβοῦσα θεϊκὴν μία γίνεται συμφωνία, ἑνὶ χορευτῇ καὶ διδασκάλῳ τῷ λόγῳ ἑπομένη, ἐπʼ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀναπαυομένη, »Ἀββᾶ« λέγουσα »ὁ πατήρ«· ταύτην ὁ θεὸς τὴν φωνὴν τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἀσπάζεται παρὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ παίδων πρώτην καρπούμενος. ### English translation (Claude) “Taste and see that God is good.” Faith will lead you in, experience will teach you, Scripture will train you, saying: “Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Then, as to those who have already believed, it adds briefly: “Who is the man who desires life, who loves to see good days?” We are, we will say, we who worship the Good, who are zealous for good things. Listen, then, “you who are far off”; listen, “you who are near.” The Word has been hidden from no one; he is a common light, he shines on all human beings; there is no Cimmerian in the Word. Let us hasten to salvation, to the new birth. Let us, being many, hasten to be gathered into one love, according to the union of the one essence. Being made good, let us in like manner pursue unity, seeking the good Monad. The union of many, taking divine harmony out of many voices and dispersion, becomes one symphony, following one leader of the chorus and teacher, the Word, resting on the truth itself, saying “Abba, Father.” This true voice God welcomes from his children, gathering it as their first fruits. ### Scripture references - Ps 34:8 (33:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 34:11 (33:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 34:12 (33:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:17: quotation, high confidence - Isa 57:19: allusion, medium confidence - Titus 3:5: echo, medium confidence - Rom 8:15: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:6: quotation, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 11.14–19 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 34:8, 11, 12 (33:9, 12, 13 LXX), Eph 2:17 (Isa 57:19), and Rom 8:15 (Gal 4:6). The Cimmerians lived, in Homer, in perpetual darkness (Odyssey 11.14–19). “New birth” (παλιγγενεσία) is baptismal language (Titus 3:5). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 9.88 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/9/88/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.89 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/89/ - Source: Stählin 1:66 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Ancestral custom is no reason to reject the truth; we outgrow childish habits, and should outgrow godless custom too. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἐκ πατέρων, φατέ, παραδεδομένον ἡμῖν ἔθος ἀνατρέπειν οὐκ εὔλογον. καὶ τί δὴ οὐχὶ τῇ πρώτῃ τροφῇ, τῷ γάλακτι, χρώμεθα, ᾧ δήπουθεν συνείθισαν ἡμᾶς ἐκ γενετῆς αἱ τίτθαι; τί δὲ αὐξάνομεν ἢ μειοῦμεν τὴν πατρῴαν οὐσίαν, καὶ οὐχὶ τὴν ἴσην, ὡς παρειλήφαμεν, διαφυλάττομεν; τί δὲ οὐκέτι τοῖς κόλποις τοῖς πατρῴοις ἐναποβλύζομεν, ἢ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ἃ νηπιάζοντες ὑπὸ μητράσιν τε ἐκτρεφόμενοι γέλωτα ὤφλομεν, ἐπιτελοῦμεν ἔτι, ἀλλὰ σφᾶς αὐτούς, καὶ εἰ μὴ παιδαγωγῶν ἐτύχομεν ἀγαθῶν, ἐπανωρθώσαμεν; εἶτα ἐπὶ τῶν πλόων αἱ παρεκβάσεις καίτοι ἐπιζήμιοι καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς οὖσαι, ὅμως γλυκεῖαί πως προσπίπτουσιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ βίου οὐχὶ τὸ ἔθος καταλιπόντες τὸ πονηρὸν καὶ ἐμπαθὲς καὶ ἄθεον, κἂν οἱ πατέρες χαλεπαίνωσιν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐκκλινοῦμεν καὶ τὸν ὄντως ὄντα πατέρα ἐπιζητήσομεν, οἷον δηλητήριον φάρμακον τὴν συνήθειαν ἀπωσάμενοι; τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ γάρ τοι τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν ἐγχειρουμένων ἐστίν, ὑποδεῖξαι ὑμῖν ὡς ἀπὸ μανίας καὶ τοῦ τρισαθλίου τούτου ἔθους ἐμισήθη ἡ θεοσέβεια· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐμισήθη ποτὲ ἢ ἀπηγορεύθη ἀγαθὸν τοσοῦτον, οὗ μεῖζον οὐδὲν ἐκ θεοῦ δεδώρηταί πω τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γενέσει, εἰ μὴ συναρπαζόμενοι τῷ ἔθει, εἶτα μέντοι ἀποβύσαντες τὰ ὦτα ἡμῖν, οἷον ἵπποι σκληραύχενες ἀφηνιάζοντες, τοὺς χαλινοὺς ἐνδακόντες, ἀπεφεύγετε τοὺς λόγους, ἀποσείσασθαι μὲν τοὺς ἡνιόχους ὑμῶν τοῦ βίου ἡμᾶς ἐπιποθοῦντες, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς κρημνοὺς τῆς ἀπωλείας ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνοίας φερόμενοι ἐναγῆ ### English translation (Claude) “But,” you say, “it is not reasonable to overturn a custom handed down to us from our fathers.” Then why do we not still use our first food, milk, to which our nurses accustomed us from birth? Why do we increase or diminish our father's property, instead of keeping it the same as we received it? Why do we no longer dribble on our fathers' laps, or still do the other things that made us laughed at when we were infants being brought up by our mothers? Have we not corrected ourselves, even if we did not happen to have good tutors? Then, in voyages, deviations from the course, though harmful and dangerous, somehow come as a pleasure; and in life shall we not abandon custom, which is wicked, passionate, and godless, even if our fathers are angry, and turn aside to the truth and seek him who is truly Father, thrusting custom away like a poisonous drug? This indeed is the finest part of my undertaking: to show you that it was from madness and from this thrice-wretched custom that godliness came to be hated. For so great a good, than which nothing greater has ever been given by God to the human race, would never have been hated or rejected, if you had not been carried away by custom, and then, stopping your ears against us, like stiff-necked horses throwing off the reins, biting on the bit, fled from our words, longing to throw us off, the charioteers of your life, and, carried by your folly toward the cliffs of destruction, you supposed the holy Word of God to be accursed. ### Translation notes - The sentence runs on into the next section, which begins with the end of it (“the holy Word of God”); the translation gives the whole sentence here. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.89 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/89/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.90 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/90/ - Source: Stählin 1:66–67 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Rejecting the Word brings its own reward: the good will be rewarded, the wicked and the devil punished; God gives life, while custom leads to useless regret. ### Greek text τὸν ἅγιον ὑπελαμβάνετε τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον. ἕπεται τοιγαροῦν ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸν Σοφοκλέα τὰ ἐπίχειρα τῆς ἐκλογῆς, νοῦς φροῦδος, ὦτα ἀχρεῖα, φροντίδες κεναί, καὶ οὐκ ἴστε ὡς παντὸς μᾶλλον τοῦτο ἀληθές, ὅτι ἄρα οἱ μὲν ἀγαθοὶ καὶ θεοσεβεῖς ἀγαθῆς τῆς ἀμοιβῆς τεύξονται τἀγαθὸν τετιμηκότες, οἱ δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων πονηροὶ τῆς καταλλήλου τιμωρίας, καὶ τῷ γε ἄρχοντι τῆς κακίας ἐπήρτηται κόλασις. ἀπειλεῖ γοῦν αὐτῷ ὁ προφήτης Ζαχαρίας »ἐπιτιμήσαι ἐν σοὶ ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ· οὐκ ἰδοὺ τοῦτο δαλὸς ἐξεσπασμένος ἐκ πυρός;« τίς οὖν ἔτι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὄρεξις ἔγκειται θανάτου ἑκουσίου; τί δὲ τῷ δαλῷ τῷ θανατηφόρῳ τούτῳ προσπεφεύγασιν, μεθʼ οὗ καταφλεχθήσονται, ἐξὸν βιῶναι καλῶς κατὰ τὸν θεόν, οὐ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος; θεὸς μὲν γὰρ ζωὴν χαρίζεται, ἔθος δὲ πονηρὸν μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγὴν μετάνοιαν κενὴν ἅμα τιμωρίᾳ προστρίβεται, »παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω«, ὡς ἀπολλύει δεισιδαιμονία καὶ σῴζει θεοσέβεια. ### English translation (Claude) (The holy Word of God, which you supposed accursed.) So there follow for you, as Sophocles says, the rewards of your choice: “mind departed, ears useless, thoughts empty”; and you do not know that this, more than anything, is true: that the good and godly, who have honored the good, will obtain a good reward, while the wicked, on the contrary, will receive fitting punishment, and punishment hangs over the ruler of wickedness. The prophet Zechariah threatens him: “May he who chose Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” What desire for voluntary death, then, still lies in human beings? Why have they fled to this deadly brand, with which they will be burned up, when they could live well according to God, not according to custom? For God grants life, but wicked custom, after our departure from here, inflicts an empty repentance along with punishment; “and the fool learns by suffering” how superstition destroys and godliness saves. ### Scripture references - Zech 3:2: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sophocles (Sophocles (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Hesiod, Op. 218 (Hesiod, Works and Days): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are from an unknown play of Sophocles (fragment 863), Zech 3:2 (addressed to the devil), and Hesiod, Works and Days 218 (a proverb also in Homer, Iliad 17.32). - The Greek of this section begins with the last words of the sentence begun in 10.89; the translation gives them there and repeats them here in parentheses. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.90 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/90/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.91 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/91/ - Source: Stählin 1:67 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The wretched priests of the idols deserve pity; God, like a mother bird, rescues the human being who has fallen from the nest. ### Greek text ἰδέτω τις ὑμῶν τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς εἰδώλοις λατρεύοντας, κόμῃ ῥυπῶντας, ἐσθῆτι πιναρᾷ καὶ κατερρωγυίᾳ καθυβρισμένους, λουτρῶν μὲν παντάπασιν ἀπειράτους, ταῖς δὲ τῶν ὀνύχων ἀκμαῖς ἐκτεθηριωμένους, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ τῶν αἰδοίων ἀφῃρημένους, ἔργῳ δεικνύντας τῶν εἰδώλων τὰ τεμένη τάφους τινὰς ἢ δεσμωτήρια· οὗτοί μοι δοκοῦσι πενθεῖν, οὐ θρῃσκεύειν τοὺς θεούς, ἐλέου μᾶλλον ἢ θεοσεβείας ἄξια πεπονθότες. καὶ ταῦτα ὁρῶντες ἔτι τυφλώττετε καὶ οὐχὶ πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην τῶν πάντων καὶ κύριον τῶν ὅλων ἀναβλέψετε; οὐχὶ δὲ καταφεύξεσθε, ἐκ τῶν ἐνταῦθα δεσμωτηρίων ἐκφεύγοντες, ἐπὶ τὸν ἔλεον τὸν ἐξ οὐρανῶν; ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐκ πολλῆς τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἀντέχεται τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ὥσπερ ἐκ καλιᾶς ἐκπίπτοντος νεοττοῦ ἡ μήτηρ ὄρνις ἐφίπταται· εἰ δέ που καὶ θηρίον ἑρπηστικὸν περιχάνοι τῷ νεοττῷ, μήτηρ δʼ ἀμφιποτᾶται ὀδυρομένη φίλα τέκνα· ὁ δὲ θεὸς πατὴρ καὶ ζητεῖ τὸ πλάσμα καὶ ἰᾶται τὸ παράπτωμα καὶ διώκει τὸ θηρίον καὶ τὸν νεοττὸν αὖθις ἀναλαμβάνει ἐπὶ τὴν καλιὰν ### English translation (Claude) Let any of you look at those who serve before the idols: their hair filthy, disgraced in dirty and torn clothing, utterly unacquainted with baths, made like wild beasts by the length of their nails, and many of them deprived of their private parts, showing in deed that the precincts of the idols are tombs or prisons. These seem to me to mourn the gods, not to worship them, having suffered things more deserving of pity than of reverence. And seeing these things, are you still blind, and will you not look up to the Master of all and Lord of the universe? Will you not escape from the prisons here and take refuge in the mercy from heaven? For God, out of his great love for humankind, holds fast to the human being, as a mother bird flies to her nestling when it falls out of the nest; and if a creeping beast gapes at the nestling, “the mother flutters around, lamenting her dear children.” But God, as Father, both seeks his creature and heals its fall, pursues the beast, and takes the nestling back again, urging it to fly up … ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 2.315 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Homer, Iliad 2.315. The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.91 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/91/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.92 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/92/ - Source: Stählin 1:67–68 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Even animals return to their masters, yet humans, God's own creatures, serve another master; let us look up to the light as true children. ### Greek text ἀναπτῆναι παρορμῶν. εἶτα κύνες μὲν ἤδη πεπλανημένοι ὀδμαῖς ῥινηλατοῦντες ἐξίχνευσαν τὸν δεσπότην καὶ ἵπποι τὸν ἀναβάτην ἀποσεισάμενοι ἑνί που συρίγματι ὑπήκουσαν τῷ δεσπότῃ· »ἔγνω δέ«, φησί, »βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω.« τί οὖν ὁ κύριος; οὐ μνησικακεῖ, ἔτι ἐλεεῖ, ἔτι τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀπαιτεῖ. ἐρέσθαι δὲ ὑμᾶς βούλομαι, εἰ οὐκ ἄτοπον ὑμῖν δοκεῖ πλάσμα ὑμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους [ἐπι]γεγονότας τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν εἰληφότας καὶ ὄντας ὅλως τοῦ θεοῦ ἑτέρῳ δουλεύειν δεσπότῃ, πρὸς δὲ καὶ θεραπεύειν ἀντὶ μὲν τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν τύραννον, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὸν πονηρόν. τίς γάρ, ὢ πρὸς τῆς ἀληθείας, σωφρονῶν γε τἀγαθὸν καταλείπων κακίᾳ σύνεστιν; τίς δὲ ὅστις τὸν θεὸν ἀποφεύγων δαιμονίοις συμβιοῖ; τίς δὲ υἱὸς εἶναι δυνάμενος τοῦ θεοῦ δουλεύειν ἥδεται; ἢ τίς οὐρανοῦ πολίτης εἶναι δυνάμενος ἔρεβος διώκει, ἐξὸν παράδεισον γεωργεῖν καὶ οὐρανὸν περιπολεῖν καὶ τῆς ζωτικῆς καὶ ἀκηράτου μεταλαμβάνειν πηγῆς, κατʼ ἴχνος ἐκείνης τῆς φωτεινῆς ἀεροβατοῦντα νεφέλης, ὥσπερ ὁ Ἡλίας, θεωροῦντα τὸν ὑετὸν τὸν σωτήριον; οἱ δὲ σκωλήκων δίκην περὶ τέλματα καὶ βορβόρους, τὰ ἡδονῆς ῥεύματα, καλινδούμενοι ἀνονήτους καὶ ἀνοήτους ἐκβόσκονται τρυφάς, ὑώδεις τινὲς ἄνθρωποι. ὕες γάρ, φησίν, »ἥδονται βορβόρῳ« μᾶλλον ἢ καθαρῷ ὕδατι καὶ »ἐπὶ φορυτῷ μαργαίνουσιν« κατὰ Δημόκριτον. μὴ δῆτα οὖν, μὴ δῆτα ἐξανδραποδισθῶμεν μηδὲ ὑώδεις γενώμεθα, ἀλλʼ »ὡς τέκνα φωτὸς« γνήσια, ἀναθρήσωμεν καὶ ἀναβλέψωμεν εἰς τὸ φῶς, μὴ νόθους ἡμᾶς ἐξελέγξῃ ὁ κύριος ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος τοὺς ἀετούς. ### English translation (Claude) … to the nest. Then again, dogs that have gone astray have tracked down their master by following the scent, and horses that have thrown their rider have obeyed their master at a single whistle. “The ox,” it says, “knows its owner, and the donkey its master's manger; but Israel has not known me.” What then does the Lord do? He bears no grudge; he still has mercy; he still asks for repentance. I want to ask you whether it does not seem absurd to you that you human beings, who are God's creatures, who received your soul from him, and who belong wholly to God, should serve another master, and moreover serve the tyrant instead of the king, and the evil one instead of the good. For who, in the name of truth, who is in his right mind, leaves the good and keeps company with wickedness? Who flees from God to live with daemons? Who, when he could be a son of God, delights in being a slave? Or who, when he could be a citizen of heaven, pursues darkness, when he could cultivate paradise, walk about heaven, and share in the living and pure spring, treading the air in the track of that bright cloud, like Elijah, and gazing on the rain of salvation? But others, like worms, rolling about in marshes and mud, the streams of pleasure, feed on useless and senseless luxuries, swinish men. For pigs, it says, “delight in mud” more than in clean water, and “go mad over filth,” as Democritus says. Let us not, then, let us not be enslaved or become swinish, but as true “children of light,” let us look up and gaze at the light, lest the Lord prove us bastards, as the sun does eagles. ### Scripture references - Isa 1:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 18:44: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Kgs 2:11: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 5:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 1:3 and Eph 5:8. The Democritus saying is fragment 147 (Diels–Kranz), with a phrase from Heraclitus (fragment 13). The ancients believed that eagles test their young by making them look at the sun, rejecting those that cannot. Elijah's cloud and rain: 1 Kgs 18:44–45 and 2 Kgs 2:11. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.92 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/92/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.93 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/93/ - Source: Stählin 1:68 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Let us repent and desert to God; the inheritance of those who serve the Lord is a treasure no moth or thief can touch. ### Greek text μετανοήσωμεν οὖν καὶ μεταστῶμεν ἐξ ἀμαθίας εἰς ἐπιστήμην, ἐξ ἀφροσύνης εἰς φρόνησιν, ἐξ ἀκρασίας εἰς ἐγκράτειαν, ἐξ ἀδικίας εἰς δικαιοσύνην, ἐξ ἀθεότητος εἰς θεόν. καλὸς ὁ κίνδυνος αὐτομολεῖν πρὸς θεόν. πολλῶν δὲ καὶ ἄλλων ἔστιν ἀπολαῦσαι ἀγαθῶν τοὺς δικαιοσύνης ἐραστάς, οἳ τὴν ἀίδιον διώκομεν σωτηρίαν, ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ ὧν αὐτὸς αἰνίττεται ὁ θεὸς διὰ Ἡσαΐου λαλῶν »ἔστι κληρονομία τοῖς θεραπεύουσι κύριον«· καλή γε καὶ ἐράσμιος ἡ κληρονομία, οὐ χρυσίον, οὐκ ἄργυρος, οὐκ ἐσθής, ἔνθα που σὴς καὶ [τὰ τῆς γῆς] λῃστής που καταδύεται περὶ τὸν χαμαίζηλον πλοῦτον ὀφθαλμιῶν, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνος ὁ θησαυρὸς τῆς σωτηρίας, πρὸς ὅν γε ἐπείγεσθαι χρὴ φιλολόγους γενομένους, συναπαίρει δὲ ἡμῖν ἐνθένδε τὰ ἔργα τὰ ### English translation (Claude) Let us repent, then, and pass over from ignorance to knowledge, from folly to wisdom, from incontinence to self-control, from injustice to righteousness, from godlessness to God. It is a noble risk to desert to God. Those who love righteousness, who pursue eternal salvation, can enjoy many other good things too, and especially those that God himself hints at when he speaks through Isaiah: “There is an inheritance for those who serve the Lord.” Beautiful and lovely indeed is this inheritance: not gold, not silver, not clothing, where the moth and the thief somewhere creep in, eyeing the earthbound wealth; but that treasure of salvation, toward which we must hasten, becoming lovers of the Word; and our good deeds go away with us from here … ### Scripture references - Isa 54:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:19: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:20: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 54:17 and Matt 6:19–20. The bracketed words are marked by the editor as a gloss. The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.93 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/93/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.94 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/94/ - Source: Stählin 1:68–69 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The loving Father calls all to the washing of baptism and offers the whole creation freely to his true children. ### Greek text ἀστεῖα καὶ συνίπταται τῷ τῆς ἀληθείας πτερῷ. ταύτην ἡμῖν τὴν κληρονομίαν ἐγχειρίζει ἡ ἀίδιος διαθήκη τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἀίδιον δωρεὰν χορηγοῦσα· ὁ δὲ φιλόστοργος οὗτος ἡμῶν πατήρ, ὁ ὄντως πατήρ, οὐ παύεται προτρέπων, νουθετῶν, παιδεύων, φιλῶν· οὐδὲ γὰρ σῴζων παύεται, συμβουλεύει δὲ τὰ ἄριστα· »δίκαιοι γένεσθε, λέγει κύριος· οἱ διψῶντες πορεύεσθε ἐφʼ ὕδωρ, καὶ ὅσοι μὴ ἔχετε ἀργύριον, βαδίσατε καὶ ἀγοράσατε καὶ πίετε ἄνευ ἀργυρίου.« ἐπὶ τὸ λουτρόν, ἐπὶ τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἐπὶ τὸν φωτισμὸν παρακαλεῖ μονονουχὶ βοῶν καὶ λέγων· γῆν σοι δίδωμι καὶ θάλατταν, παιδίον, οὐρανόν τε καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα ζῷά σοι χαρίζομαι· μόνον, ὦ παιδίον, δίψησον τοῦ πατρός, ἀμισθεί σοι δειχθήσεται ὁ θεός· οὐ καπηλεύεται ἡ ἀλήθεια, δίδωσί σοι καὶ τὰ πτηνὰ καὶ τὰ νηκτὰ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ταῦτά σου ταῖς εὐχαρίστοις τρυφαῖς δεδημιούργηκεν ὁ πατήρ. ἀργυρίῳ μὲν ὠνήσεται ὁ νόθος, ὃς ἀπωλείας ἐστὶ παιδίον, ὃς »μαμωνᾷ δουλεύειν« προῄρηται, σοὶ δὲ τὰ σὰ ἐπιτρέπει, τῷ γνησίῳ λέγω, τῷ φιλοῦντι τὸν πατέρα, διʼ ὃν ἔτι ἐργάζεται, ᾧ μόνῳ καὶ ὑπισχνεῖται λέγων· »καὶ ἡ γῆ οὐ πραθήσεται εἰς βεβαίωσιν·« οὐ γὰρ κυροῦται τῇ φθορᾷ· »ἐμὴ γάρ ἐστιν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ,« ἔστι δὲ καὶ σή, ἐὰν ἀπολάβῃς τὸν θεόν. ὅθεν ἡ γραφὴ εἰκότως εὐαγγελίζεται τοῖς πεπιστευκόσιν· »οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι κυρίου κληρονομήσουσι τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ.« ### English translation (Claude) … and fly with us on the wing of truth. This inheritance the eternal covenant of God puts into our hands, supplying the eternal gift. This loving Father of ours, the true Father, does not cease exhorting, admonishing, training, loving; nor does he cease saving, but he counsels what is best: “Become righteous, says the Lord. You who thirst, come to the water; and you who have no money, go and buy and drink without money.” He calls us to the washing, to salvation, to illumination, all but crying out and saying: “I give you the earth and the sea, my child, and I grant you heaven and all the living things in them. Only, my child, thirst for the Father; God will be shown to you without price. The truth is not peddled; he gives you the birds and the fish and the creatures on the earth; the Father has made these for your thankful enjoyment.” The bastard, who is a child of destruction, who has chosen “to serve mammon,” will buy with money; but to you he entrusts what is yours, to you, I mean, the true son, who loves the Father, for whose sake he is still at work, to whom alone he also makes the promise: “And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity”; for it is not given over to corruption. “For all the earth is mine”; and it is yours too, if you receive God. Hence the Scripture fittingly brings good news to those who have believed: “The saints of the Lord will inherit the glory of God and his power.” ### Scripture references - Isa 55:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:24: quotation, high confidence - John 5:17: echo, medium confidence - Lev 25:23: quotation, high confidence - Exod 19:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “The washing … illumination” (λουτρόν, φωτισμός) are terms for baptism. - The quotations are Isa 55:1 (introduced by a phrase not in Isaiah), Matt 6:24, Lev 25:23, and Exod 19:5. The last quotation (“The saints of the Lord will inherit …”) is not found in the Bible as we have it; it may be a paraphrase or from an unknown source. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/94/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.95 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/95/ - Source: Stählin 1:69–70 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: God sets life and death before us; faith in the Good should choose life at once, instead of deliberating only about godliness. ### Greek text ποίαν, ὦ μακάριε, δόξαν, εἰπέ μοι· »ἣν ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν οὐδὲ οὖς ἤκουσεν, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἀνέβη· καὶ χαρήσονται ἐπὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ κυρίου αὐτῶν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν.« ἔχετε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, τὴν θείαν τῆς χάριτος ἐπαγγελίαν, ἀκηκόατε καὶ τὴν ἄλλην τῆς κολάσεως ἀπειλήν, διʼ ὧν ὁ κύριος σῴζει, φόβῳ καὶ χάριτι παιδαγωγῶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον· τί μέλλομεν; τί οὐκ ἐκκλίνομεν τὴν κόλασιν; τί οὐ καταδεχόμεθα τὴν δωρεάν; τί δὲ οὐχ αἱρούμεθα τὰ βελτίονα, θεὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ, καὶ σοφίαν εἰδωλολατρείας προκρίνομεν καὶ ζωὴν ἀντικαταλλασσόμεθα θανάτου; »ἰδοὺ τέθεικα πρὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν,« φησί, »τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ζωήν.« πειράζει σε ὁ κύριος ἐκλέξασθαι τὴν ζωήν, συμβουλεύει σοι ὡς πατὴρ πείθεσθαι τῷ θεῷ. »ἐὰν γὰρ ἀκούσητέ μου«, φησί, »καὶ θελήσητε, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε,« ὑπακοῆς ἡ χάρις· »ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ὑπακούσητέ μου μηδὲ θελήσητε, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς καὶ πῦρ κατέδεται,« παρακοῆς ἡ κρίσις. »τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησεν ταῦτα·« νόμος ἀληθείας λόγος κυρίου· βούλεσθε ὑμῖν ἀγαθὸς γένωμαι σύμβουλος; ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς μὲν ἀκούσατε· ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ δυνατόν, ἐνδείξομαι. ἐχρῆν μὲν ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, αὐτοῦ πέρι ἐννοουμένους τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἔμφυτον ἐπάγεσθαι πίστιν, μάρτυρα ἀξιόχρεων αὐτόθεν οἴκοθεν, περιφανῶς αἱρουμένην τὸ βέλτιστον, μηδὲ ζητεῖν εἰ μεταδιωκτέον, τὸ δʼ ἀγαθὸν ἐκπονεῖν. καὶ γὰρ εἴ τῳ μεθυστέον, φέρε εἰπεῖν, ἀμφιβάλλειν χρή· ὑμεῖς δὲ πρὶν ἢ ἐπισκέψασθαι μεθύετε· καὶ εἰ ὑβριστέον, οὐ πολυπραγμονεῖτε, ἀλλʼ ᾗ τάχος ὑβρίζετε. μόνον δʼ ἄρα εἰ θεοσεβητέον, ζητεῖτε, καὶ εἰ τῷ σοφῷ τούτῳ [δὴ] τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ κατακολουθητέον, τοῦτο δὴ βουλῆς καὶ σκέψεως ἀξιοῦτε, οὐδʼ ὃ πρέπει θεῷ, ὅ τι ποτέ ἐστι, νενοηκότες. ### English translation (Claude) What glory, blessed one, tell me? That “which eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man; and they will rejoice in the kingdom of their Lord forever, amen.” You have, you people, the divine promise of grace; you have heard also the other, the threat of punishment; by these the Lord saves, training the human being with fear and grace. Why do we delay? Why do we not avoid the punishment? Why do we not accept the gift? Why do we not choose what is better, God instead of the evil one, and prefer wisdom to idolatry, and take life in exchange for death? “Behold,” he says, “I have set before your face death and life.” The Lord tests you, to see whether you will choose life; he counsels you as a father to obey God. “For if you listen to me,” he says, “and are willing, you will eat the good things of the land”: the grace of obedience. “But if you do not obey me and are not willing, the sword and fire will devour you”: the judgment of disobedience. “For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” The Word of the Lord is the law of truth. Do you want me to be a good counselor to you? Then listen, and I will show you, if I can. You ought, you people, when you think about the Good itself, to bring forward an innate faith, a trustworthy witness at hand from within, which plainly chooses what is best, and not to ask whether it should be pursued, but to work hard at the good. For if the question were whether one should get drunk, say, doubt would be in order; yet you get drunk before you consider it. And whether one should behave outrageously, you do not inquire, but behave outrageously as fast as you can. Only whether one should be godly do you question, and whether one should follow this wise God and Christ: this you think worthy of deliberation and inquiry, without having understood what befits God, whatever it may be. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Deut 30:15: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:19: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 2:9 (with an ending, “and they will rejoice …,” from an unknown source), Deut 30:15, and Isa 1:19–20. The bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.95 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/95/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.96 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/96/ - Source: Stählin 1:70 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement urges his hearers not to be ashamed of the Christian name but to contend for the prize of immortality, ignoring those who deify men like Alexander. ### Greek text πιστεύσατε ἡμῖν κἂν ὡς μέθῃ, ἵνα σωφρονήσητε· πιστεύσατε κἂν ὡς ὕβρει, ἵνα ζήσητε. εἰ δὲ καὶ πείθεσθαι βούλεσθε τὴν ἐναργῆ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐποπτεύσαντες πίστιν, φέρε ὑμῖν ἐκ περιουσίας τὴν περὶ τοῦ λόγου παραθήσομαι πειθώ. ὑμεῖς δέ, οὐ γὰρ τὰ πάτρια ὑμᾶς ἔτι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπασχολεῖ ἔθη προκατηχημένους, ἀκούοιτʼ ἂν ἤδη τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ὅπως ἔχει· καὶ δὴ μή τις ὑμᾶς τοῦδε τοῦ ὀνόματος αἰσχύνη προκαταλαμβανέτω, »ἥτʼ ἄνδρας μέγα σίνεται,« παρατρέπουσα σωτηρίας. ἀποδυσάμενοι δʼ οὖν περιφανῶς ἐν τῷ τῆς ἀληθείας σταδίῳ γνησίως ἀγωνιζώμεθα, βραβεύοντος μὲν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ ἁγίου, ἀγωνοθετοῦντος δὲ τοῦ δεσπότου τῶν ὅλων. οὐ γὰρ σμικρὸν ἡμῖν τὸ ἆθλον ἀθανασία πρόκειται. μὴ οὖν ἔτι φροντίζετε μηδὲ [εἰ] ὀλίγον, τί ὑμᾶς ἀγορεύουσι σύρφακές τινες ἀγοραῖοι, δεισιδαιμονίας ἄθεοι χορευταί, ἀνοίᾳ καὶ παρανοίᾳ ἐς αὐτὸ ὠθούμενοι τὸ βάραθρον, εἰδώλων ποιηταὶ καὶ λίθων προσκυνηταί· οἵδε γὰρ ἀνθρώπους ἀποθεοῦν τετολμήκασι, τρισκαιδέκατον Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Μακεδόνα ἀναγράφοντες θεόν, »ὃν Βαβυλὼν ### English translation (Claude) Believe us, at least as you would drunkenness, so that you may become sober; believe, at least as you would outrage, so that you may live. And if you wish to be persuaded by looking at the clear evidence of the virtues, come, I will set before you, out of abundance, the persuasion concerning the Word. And you (for your ancestral customs, in which you were instructed beforehand, no longer keep you from the truth) may now hear how the next point stands. And let no shame of this name take hold of you, “shame, which greatly harms men,” turning them aside from salvation. Stripping off, then, openly, let us contend truly in the stadium of truth, with the holy Word as umpire and the Master of the universe presiding over the games. For no small prize is set before us: immortality. So pay no more attention, not even a little, to what certain rabble of the marketplace say to you, godless dancers in the chorus of superstition, pushed by folly and madness into the very pit, makers of idols and worshipers of stones. For these have dared to make men gods, enrolling Alexander of Macedon as the thirteenth god, “whom Babylon … ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 24.44–45 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Shame, which greatly harms men” is from Homer, Iliad 24.44–45 (also Hesiod, Works and Days 317–318). The Athenians proposed to add Alexander the Great to the twelve Olympian gods. The sentence continues in the next section; the bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/96/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.97 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/97/ - Source: Stählin 1:70–71 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Alexander, deified in life, died at Babylon; God is perfectly just, and nothing is more like him than a just person. ### Greek text ἤλεγξε νεκρόν.« ἄγαμαι τοίνυν τὸν Χῖον σοφιστήν, Θεόκριτος ὄνομα αὐτῷ· μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτὴν ἐπισκώπτων ὁ Θεόκριτος τὰς δόξας τὰς κενὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἃς εἶχον περὶ θεῶν, πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας »ἄνδρες,« εἶπεν, »θαρρεῖτε ἄχρις ἂν ὁρᾶτε τοὺς θεοὺς πρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀποθνῄσκοντας.« θεοὺς δὲ δὴ τοὺς ὁρατοὺς καὶ τὸν σύγκλυδα τῶν γενητῶν τούτων ὄχλον ὁ προσκυνῶν καὶ προσεταιριζόμενος, αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν δαιμόνων ἀθλιώτερος μακρῷ. θεὸς γὰρ οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς ἄδικος ὥσπερ οἱ δαίμονες, ἀλλʼ ὡς οἷόν τε δικαιότατος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ ὁμοιότερον οὐδὲν ἢ ὃς ἂν ἡμῶν γένηται ὅτι δικαιότατος. ### English translation (Claude) … proved to be dead.” So I admire the sophist of Chios, Theocritus by name. After Alexander's death, mocking the empty opinions people had about gods, Theocritus said to his fellow citizens: “Men, take heart, as long as you see the gods dying before the men.” But whoever worships and makes a companion of visible gods and of the motley crowd of these created things is far more wretched than the daemons themselves. For God is in no way unjust, as the daemons are, but most just in every possible way; and there is nothing more like him than whoever of us becomes as just as possible. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Theaet. 176b–c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The last sentence is from Plato, Theaetetus 176b–c. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.97 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/97/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.98 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/98/ - Source: Stählin 1:71 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: No sculptor can make a living being; God alone formed the human being as his living image, since the Word is God's image and the human mind the image of the Word. ### Greek text βᾶτʼ εἰς ὁδὸν δὴ πᾶς ὁ χειρῶναξ λεώς, οἳ τὴν Διὸς γοργῶπιν Ἐργάνην θεὸν στατοῖσι λίκνοις προστρέπεσθε, ἠλίθιοι τῶν λίθων δημιουργοί τε καὶ προσκυνηταί. ὁ Φειδίας ὑμῶν καὶ ὁ Πολύκλειτος ἡκόντων Πραξιτέλης τε αὖ καὶ Ἀπελλῆς καὶ ὅσοι τὰς βαναύσους μετέρχονται τέχνας, γήινοι γῆς ὄντες ἐργάται. τότε γὰρ φησί τις προφητεία δυστυχήσειν τὰ τῇδε πράγματα, ὅταν ἀνδριᾶσι πιστεύσωσιν. ἡκόντων οὖν αὖθις, οὐ γὰρ ἀνήσω καλῶν, οἱ μικροτέχναι. οὐδείς που τούτων ἔμπνουν εἰκόνα δεδημιούργηκεν, οὐδὲ μὴν ἐκ γῆς μαλθακὴν ἐμάλαξε σάρκα. τίς ἔτηξε μυελὸν ἢ τίς ἔπηξεν ὀστέα; τίς νεῦρα διέτεινεν ἢ τίς φλέβας ἐφύσησεν; τίς αἷμα ἐνέχεεν ἐν αὐταῖς ἢ τίς δέρμα περιέτεινεν; ποῦ δʼ ἄν τις αὐτῶν ὀφθαλμοὺς ποιήσαι βλέποντας; τίς ἐνεφύσησε ψυχήν; τίς δικαιοσύνην ἐδωρήσατο; τίς ἀθανασίαν ὑπέσχηται; μόνος ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργός, ὁ »ἀριστοτέχνας πατήρ,« τοιοῦτον ἄγαλμα ἔμψυχον ἡμᾶς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν· ὁ δὲ Ὀλύμπιος ὑμῶν, εἰκόνος εἰκών, πολύ τι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπᾴδων, ἔργον ἐστὶ κωφὸν χειρῶν Ἀττικῶν. »εἰκὼν« μὲν γὰρ »τοῦ θεοῦ« ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ (καὶ υἱὸς τοῦ νοῦ γνήσιος ὁ θεῖος λόγος, φωτὸς ἀρχέτυπον φῶς), εἰκὼν δὲ τοῦ λόγου ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ ἀληθινός, ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, ὁ »κατʼ εἰκόνα« τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ »καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν« διὰ τοῦτο γεγενῆσθαι λεγόμενος, τῇ κατὰ καρδίαν φρονήσει τῷ θείῳ παρεικαζόμενος λόγῳ καὶ ταύτῃ λογικός. ἀνθρώπου δὲ τοῦ ὁρωμένου τοῦ γηγενοῦς γήινος εἰκὼν τὰ ἀγάλματα τὰ ἀνδρείκελα καὶ πόρρω τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπίκαιρον ἐκμαγεῖον καταφαίνεται. ### English translation (Claude) “Come out into the road, all you craftsmen folk, who pray to Zeus's fierce-eyed daughter, the Worker, with winnowing baskets set up,” you foolish makers and worshipers of stones. Let your Phidias and Polyclitus come, and Praxiteles too and Apelles, and all who practice the mechanical arts, earthly workers of earth. For then, says a certain prophecy, things here will fare badly, when people put their trust in statues. Let them come again, then (for I will not stop calling them), these petty craftsmen. Not one of them has made a breathing image, nor molded soft flesh out of earth. Who melted the marrow, or who made the bones solid? Who stretched out the sinews, or who inflated the veins? Who poured blood into them, or who stretched skin around them? How could any of them make eyes that see? Who breathed a soul into it? Who bestowed righteousness? Who has promised immortality? Only the Creator of the universe, “the Father, the supreme artist,” fashioned such a living statue as us, the human being. But your Olympian Zeus, an image of an image, far out of tune with the truth, is a dumb work of Attic hands. For “the image of God” is his Word (and the divine Word is the true Son of Mind, the Light that is the archetype of light); and the image of the Word is the true human being, the mind in the human being, who is said for this reason to have been made “in the image” of God and “after his likeness,” being likened to the divine Word by the understanding of the heart, and in this way rational. But the man-shaped statues are an earthly image of the visible, earthborn man, and appear to be a transient impression, far from the truth. ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: allusion, medium confidence - Job 10:11: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sophocles (Sophocles (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The opening lines are Sophocles, fragment 844. “The Father, the supreme artist” is from Pindar (fragment 57). The prophecy about statues is unidentified. - The quotations are Col 1:15 (the Word as “image of God”) and Gen 1:26. Clement distinguishes the image of God (the Word) from the human being made “according to” that image. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.98 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/98/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.99 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/99/ - Source: Stählin 1:71–72 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Ignorance breeds idolatry; wash in the water of the Word, recognize your Father, and like the Ninevites repent and be saved. ### Greek text οὐδὲν οὖν ἀλλʼ ἢ μανίας ἔμπλεως ὁ βίος ἔδοξέ μοι γεγονέναι, τοσαύτῃ σπουδῇ περὶ τὴν ὕλην καταγινόμενος. ἐπιτέτριπται δὲ ὑπὸ κενῆς δόξης ἡ συνήθεια δουλείας μὲν γεύσασα ὑμᾶς καὶ ἀλόγου περιεργασίας· νομίμων δὲ ἀνόμων καὶ ἀπατηλῶν ὑποκρίσεων ἄγνοια αἰτία, ἣ δὴ † κατασκευασθεῖσα τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος κηρῶν ὀλεθρίων καὶ εἰδώλων ἐπιστυγῶν πολλὰς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπινοήσασα μορφάς, κηλῖδα τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτῇ ἐναπεμάξατο θανάτου μακροῦ. λάβετε οὖν ὕδωρ λογικόν, λούσασθε οἱ μεμολυσμένοι, περιρράνατε αὑτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς συνηθείας ταῖς ἀληθιναῖς σταγόσιν· καθαροὺς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναβῆναι δεῖ. ἄνθρωπος εἶ, τὸ κοινότατον, ἐπιζήτησον τὸν δημιουργήσαντά σε· υἱὸς εἶ, τὸ ἰδιαίτατον, ἀναγνώρισον τὸν πατέρα. σὺ δὲ ἔτι ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις παραμένεις, προστετηκὼς ἡδοναῖς; τίνι λαλήσει κύριος »ὑμῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν«; ὑμῶν ἐστιν, ἐὰν θελήσητε, τῶν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὴν προαίρεσιν ἐσχηκότων· ὑμῶν, ἐὰν ἐθελήσητε πιστεῦσαι μόνον καὶ τῇ συντομίᾳ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἕπεσθαι, ἧς ὑπακούσαντες οἱ Νινευῖται τῆς προσδοκηθείσης ἁλώσεως μετανοίᾳ γνησίῳ τὴν καλὴν ἀντικατηλλάξαντο σωτηρίαν. ### English translation (Claude) So human life seemed to me to have become nothing but full of madness, busying itself with such zeal about matter. Custom, which gave you a taste of slavery and of senseless meddling, has been corrupted by empty opinion. And ignorance is the cause of lawless rites and deceitful pretenses; it † having furnished the human race with deadly fates and hateful idols, and having devised many forms of daemons, has stamped on those who follow it the stain of lasting death. Take, then, the water of the Word; wash, you who are defiled; sprinkle yourselves clean of custom with the true drops. We must go up to heaven pure. You are a human being, which is what is most common: seek the one who made you. You are a son, which is most your own: recognize your Father. But do you still remain in your sins, melted into pleasures? To whom will the Lord say, “Yours is the kingdom of heaven”? It is yours, if you are willing, you who have set your choice toward God; yours, if you are willing only to believe and follow the brevity of the proclamation, by obeying which the Ninevites, through genuine repentance, exchanged the capture they expected for a glorious salvation. ### Scripture references - Matt 5:3: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 3:5: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:41: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The dagger (†) marks a text the editor considers corrupt; the translation of this clause is uncertain. “The water of the Word” (ὕδωρ λογικόν) points to baptism. - The allusions are Matt 5:3 (Luke 6:20) and Jonah 3:4–10 (compare Matt 12:41). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.99 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/99/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.100 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/100/ - Source: Stählin 1:72 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Lord is the narrow way to heaven; those who have heard the Word have no excuse, since the human being is made by nature for the knowledge of God. ### Greek text πῶς οὖν ἀνέλθω, φησίν, εἰς οὐρανούς; »ὁδός« ἐστιν ὁ κύριος, »στενὴ« μέν, ἀλλʼ »ἐξ οὐρανῶν,« στενὴ μέν, ἀλλʼ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναπέμπουσα· στενὴ ἐπὶ γῆς ὑπερορωμένη, πλατεῖα ἐν οὐρανοῖς προσκυνουμένη. εἶθʼ ὁ μὲν ἄπυστος τοῦ λόγου συγγνώμην τῆς πλάνης ἔχει τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ὁ δὲ εἰς ὦτα βαλλόμενος [καὶ] τῇ ψυχῇ παρὰ τῆς γνώμης φέρει τὴν ἀπείθειαν, καὶ ὅσῳ γε φρονιμώτερος εἶναι δόξει, πρὸς κακοῦ ἡ σύνεσις αὐτῷ, ὅτι τῇ φρονήσει κέχρηται κατηγόρῳ τὸ βέλτιστον οὐχ ἑλόμενος· πέφυκε γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος οἰκείως ἔχειν πρὸς θεόν. ὥσπερ οὖν τὸν ἵππον ἀροῦν οὐ βιαζόμεθα οὐδὲ τὸν ταῦρον κυνηγετεῖν, πρὸς ὃ πέφυκε δὲ ἕκαστον τῶν ζῴων περιέλκομεν, οὕτως ἀμέλει καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τὴν οὐρανοῦ γενόμενον θέαν, φυτὸν οὐράνιον ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν παρακαλοῦμεν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξαίρετον καὶ ἰδιωματικὸν παρὰ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα κατειλημμένοι, αὔταρκες ἐφόδιον αἰώνων, θεοσέβειαν, παρασκευάζεσθαι συμβουλεύοντες. ### English translation (Claude) How then, one asks, shall I go up to heaven? The Lord is “the way”: “narrow,” but “from heaven”; narrow, but leading up to heaven; narrow as it is despised on earth, broad as it is worshiped in heaven. Then again, one who has never heard of the Word has ignorance as an excuse for his error; but one into whose ears it has been poured, and into his soul, bears his disobedience by his own choice; and the more intelligent he seems to be, the more his understanding is to his harm, because he has his own wisdom as accuser for not choosing what is best. For as a human being he is by nature akin to God. Just as we do not force the horse to plow, or the bull to hunt, but lead each animal to what it is suited for by nature, so we call the human being, who was made to contemplate heaven, truly a heavenly plant, to the knowledge of God, having grasped what is proper to him, excellent and distinctive above the other animals, and we counsel him to provide himself with godliness, a sufficient provision for the ages. ### Scripture references - John 14:6: allusion, high confidence - Matt 7:14: allusion, high confidence - John 3:13: echo, medium confidence - John 15:22: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 90a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are John 14:6, Matt 7:14, and John 3:13. “A heavenly plant” is from Plato, Timaeus 90a. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.100 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/100/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.101 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/101/ - Source: Stählin 1:72–73 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Whatever one's work, one should know God in it; people waste their lives on stones and custom, loving darkness rather than light. ### Greek text γεώργει, φαμέν, εἰ γεωργὸς εἶ, ἀλλὰ γνῶθι τὸν θεὸν γεωργῶν, καὶ πλεῖθι ὁ τῆς ναυτιλίας ἐρῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸν οὐράνιον κυβερνήτην παρακαλῶν· στρατευόμενόν σε κατείληφεν ἡ γνῶσις· τοῦ δίκαια σημαίνοντος ἄκουε στρατηγοῦ. καθάπερ οὖν κάρῳ καὶ μέθῃ βεβαρημένοι ἀνανήψατε καὶ διαβλέψαντες ὀλίγον ἐννοήθητε, τί θέλουσιν ὑμῖν οἱ προσκυνούμενοι λίθοι καὶ ἃ περὶ τὴν ὕλην κενοσπούδως δαπανᾶτε· εἰς ἄγνοιαν [καὶ] τὰ χρήματα καὶ τὸν βίον ὡς τὸ ζῆν ὑμῶν εἰς θάνατον καταναλίσκετε, τοῦτο μόνον τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἐλπίδος εὑρόμενοι τὸ πέρας, οὐδὲ αὑτοὺς οἷοί τε ὄντες οἰκτεῖραι, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῖς κατελεῶσιν ὑμᾶς τῆς πλάνης ἐπιτήδειοι πείθεσθαι γίνεσθε, συνηθείᾳ κακῇ δεδουλωμένοι, ἧς ἀπηρτημένοι αὐθαίρετοι μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑποφέρεσθε· »ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἠγάπησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον τὸ σκότος ἢ τὸ φῶς,« ἐξὸν ἀπομάξασθαι τὰ ἐμποδὼν τῇ σωτηρίᾳ καὶ τὸν τῦφον καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τὸν φόβον, ἐπιφθεγγομένους τὸ ποιητικὸν δὴ τοῦτο πῇ δὴ χρήματα πολλὰ φέρω τάδε; πῇ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς πλάζομαι; οὐ βούλεσθε οὖν τὰς φαντασίας ταύτας τὰς κενὰς ἀπορρίψαντες τῇ συνηθείᾳ αὐτῇ ἀποτάξασθαι, κενοδοξίᾳ ἐπιλέγοντες· ψευδεῖς ὄνειροι χαίρετʼ, οὐδὲν ἦτʼ ἄρα; ### English translation (Claude) Till the soil, we say, if you are a farmer, but know God as you till it; and sail, you who love seafaring, but call on the heavenly Pilot. Has knowledge found you serving as a soldier? Listen to the commander who gives just orders. As if weighed down with stupor and drunkenness, then, sober up, look about a little, and consider what the stones you worship want with you, and what you spend so vainly on matter. You are squandering your money and your life on ignorance, as your living on death, finding only this as the end of your vain hope. You are not able to pity yourselves, and you are not fit to be persuaded by those who pity you for your error, enslaved as you are to wicked custom; clinging to it by your own choice to your last breath, you are swept down to destruction, “because the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light.” Yet you could wipe away what stands in the way of salvation, vanity and wealth and fear, repeating the poet's words: “Where am I taking all these goods? And where am I wandering myself?” Will you not, then, throw away these empty fancies and renounce custom itself, saying to vainglory: “False dreams, farewell; you were nothing after all”? ### Scripture references - John 3:19: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 13.203–204 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Euripides, Iph. taur. 569 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are John 3:19, Homer, Odyssey 13.203–204, and Euripides, Iphigenia among the Taurians 569. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.101 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/101/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.102 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/102/ - Source: Stählin 1:73–74 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Stones, natural phenomena, abstractions, and passions are not gods; to worship them is absurd. ### Greek text 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 translation (Claude) 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? ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 16.672 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Hermes statues named were famous landmarks at Athens. “Twin gods” is from Homer, Iliad 16.672. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.102 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/102/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.103 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/103/ - Source: Stählin 1:74 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Only the true God exists and provides for us; the earth is the Lord's, and those who enjoy it while ignoring him are turning to stone like Lot's wife. ### Greek text ὁ δὲ τὴν τύχην θεὸν λέγων καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν λεγέτω θεόν. εἰ δὴ οὖν τούτων οὐδὲ ἓν θεὸς εἶναι νομίζεται οὐδὲ μὴν ἐκείνων τῶν χειροκμήτων καὶ ἀναισθήτων πλασμάτων, πρόνοια δέ τις περὶ ἡμᾶς καταφαίνεται δυνάμεως θεϊκῆς, λείπεται οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ τοῦτο ὁμολογεῖν, ὅτι ἄρα ὄντως μόνος ἔστι τε καὶ ὑφέστηκεν ὁ μόνος ὄντως ὑπάρχων θεός. ἀλλὰ γὰρ μανδραγόραν ἤ τι ἄλλο φάρμακον πεπωκόσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐοίκατε οἱ ἀνόητοι, θεὸς δὲ ὑμῖν ἀνανῆψαι δοίη ποτὲ τοῦδε τοῦ ὕπνου καὶ συνιέναι θεὸν μηδὲ χρυσὸν ἢ λίθον ἢ δένδρον ἢ πρᾶξιν ἢ πάθος ἢ νόσον ἢ φόβον ἰνδάλλεσθαι ὡς θεόν. »τρὶς γὰρ μύριοί εἰσιν« ὡς ἀληθῶς »ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ δαίμονες« οὐκ »ἀθάνατοι« οὐδὲ μὴν θνητοί (οὐδὲ γὰρ αἰσθήσεως, ἵνα καὶ θανάτου, μετειλήφασιν), λίθινοι δὲ καὶ ξύλινοι δεσπόται ἀνθρώπων, ὑβρίζοντες καὶ παρασπονδοῦντες τὸν βίον διὰ τῆς συνηθείας. »ἡ γῆ δὲ τοῦ κυρίου,« φησί, »καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς·« εἶτα τί τολμᾷς ἐν τοῖς τοῦ κυρίου τρυφῶν ἀγνοεῖν τὸν δεσπότην; κατάλειπε τὴν γῆν τὴν ἐμήν, ἐρεῖ σοι ὁ κύριος, μὴ θίγῃς τοῦ ὕδατος ὃ ἐγὼ ἀναδίδωμι, τῶν καρπῶν ὧν ἐγὼ γεωργῶ, μὴ μεταλάμβανε· ἀπόδος, ἄνθρωπε, τὰ τροφεῖα τῷ θεῷ· ἐπίγνωθί σου τὸν δεσπότην· ἴδιον εἶ πλάσμα τοῦ θεοῦ· τὸ δὲ οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ πῶς ἂν ἐνδίκως ἀλλότριον γένοιτο; τὸ γὰρ ἀπηλλοτριωμένον στερόμενον τῆς οἰκειότητος στέρεται τῆς ἀληθείας. ἦ γὰρ οὐχ ᾗ Νιόβη τρόπον τινά, μᾶλλον δὲ ἵνα μυστικώτερον πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀποφθέγξωμαι, γυναικὸς τῆς Ἑβραίας δίκην (Λὼτ ἐκάλουν αὐτὴν οἱ παλαιοὶ) εἰς ἀναισθησίαν μετατρέπεσθε; ### English translation (Claude) Whoever calls chance a god, let him call action a god too. If, then, not one of these is thought to be a god, nor any of those handmade and senseless images, and yet a providence of divine power is evident around us, there remains nothing but to confess that the only truly existing God alone truly is and subsists. But you fools are like people who have drunk mandrake or some other drug. May God grant you at last to wake from this sleep and understand God, and not to imagine gold or stone or tree or action or passion or disease or fear to be a god. For there truly are “thrice ten thousand daemons on the much-nourishing earth,” not “immortal,” nor even mortal (for they do not share in sensation, so as to share in death either), but masters of human beings made of stone and wood, insulting life and breaking faith with it through custom. “The earth is the Lord's,” it says, “and its fullness.” How then do you dare, while you enjoy the Lord's things, to ignore the Master? “Leave my earth,” the Lord will say to you; “do not touch the water that I send up; do not take the fruits that I cultivate. Repay God, man, for your upbringing. Recognize your Master. You are God's own creature; how could what is his own rightly become another's?” For what is estranged, deprived of its kinship, is deprived of the truth. Are you not, like Niobe in a way, or rather, to speak to you more mystically, like the Hebrew woman (the ancients called her Lot's wife), turning into senselessness? ### Scripture references - Ps 24:1 (23:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 19:26: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Op. 252–253 (Hesiod, Works and Days): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Hesiod, Works and Days 252–253 (turned against the idols; see 2.41) and Ps 24:1 (23:1 LXX). Lot's wife: Gen 19:26. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.103 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/103/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.104 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/104/ - Source: Stählin 1:74–75 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Human beings, not stones or birds, are sacred; yet people honor ravens as God's messengers while persecuting the Christian who speaks for God. ### Greek text λελιθωμένην ταύτην παρειλήφαμεν τὴν γυναῖκα διὰ τὸ Σοδόμων ἐρᾶν· Σοδομῖται δὲ οἱ ἄθεοι καὶ οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἀσέβειαν ἐπιστρεφόμενοι σκληροκάρδιοί τε καὶ ἠλίθιοι. ταύτας οἴου θεόθεν ἐπιλέγεσθαί σοι τὰς φωνάς· μὴ γὰρ οἴου λίθους μὲν εἶναι ἱερὰ καὶ ξύλα καὶ ὄρνεα καὶ ὄφεις, ἀνθρώπους δὲ μή· πολὺ δὲ τοὐναντίον· ἱεροὺς μὲν ὄντως τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὑπολάμβανε, τὰ δὲ θηρία καὶ τοὺς λίθους ὅπερ εἰσίν. οἱ γάρ τοι δείλαιοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἄθλιοι διὰ μὲν κόρακος καὶ κολοιοῦ νομίζουσι τὸν θεὸν ἐμβοᾶν, διὰ δὲ ἀνθρώπου σιωπᾶν, καὶ τὸν μὲν κόρακα τετιμήκασιν ὡς ἄγγελον θεοῦ, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον τοῦ θεοῦ διώκουσιν, οὐ κρῴζοντα, οὐ κλώζοντα, φθεγγόμενον δέ· οἴμοι, λογικῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως κατηχοῦντα ἀποσφάττειν ἀπανθρώπως ἐπιχειροῦσιν, ἐπὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην καλοῦντα, οὔτε τὴν χάριν τὴν ἄνωθεν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι οὔτε τὴν κόλασιν ἐκτρεπόμενοι. οὐ γὰρ πιστεύουσι τῷ θεῷ οὐδὲ ἐκμανθάνουσι τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ. οὗ δὲ ἄρρητος ἡ φιλανθρωπία, τούτου ἀχώρητος ἡ μισοπονηρία. τρέφει δὲ ὁ μὲν θυμὸς τὴν κόλασιν ἐπὶ ἁμαρτίᾳ, εὖ ποιεῖ δὲ ἐπὶ μετανοίᾳ ἡ φιλανθρωπία. οἰκτρότατον δὲ τὸ στέρεσθαι τῆς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπικουρίας. ### English translation (Claude) We have received the tradition that this woman was turned to stone because she loved Sodom; and the Sodomites are the godless, and those who turn to impiety, hard-hearted and foolish. Consider these words to be spoken to you from God: Do not think that stones and wood and birds and snakes are sacred, and human beings not; quite the contrary: consider human beings to be truly sacred, and beasts and stones to be what they are. For the wretched and miserable among humankind think that God cries out through a raven or a jackdaw, but is silent through a human being; they have honored the raven as a messenger of God, but they persecute the man of God, who does not croak or caw but speaks. Alas! They try inhumanly to slaughter him who teaches them rationally and humanely, who calls them to righteousness, neither welcoming the grace from above nor avoiding the punishment. For they do not believe God, nor learn his power. But he whose love for humankind is inexpressible has a hatred of wickedness beyond measure. His wrath feeds punishment for sin, and his love for humankind does good in response to repentance. Most pitiable of all is to be deprived of God's help. ### Translation notes - Clement alludes to the persecution of Christians (“the man of God”) in his own day. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.104 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/104/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.105 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/105/ - Source: Stählin 1:75 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The blind and deaf in spirit do not grieve over their state; nothing prevents anyone from coming to God, but many stop their ears like deaf snakes. ### Greek text ὀμμάτων μὲν οὖν ἡ πήρωσις καὶ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἡ κώφωσις ἀλγεινοτέρα παρὰ τὰς λοιπὰς τοῦ πονηροῦ πλεονεξίας· ἣ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἀφῄρηται τῆς οὐρανίου προσόψεως, ἣ δὲ τῆς θείας μαθήσεως ἐστέρηται. ὑμεῖς δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀνάπηροι καὶ τυφλοὶ μὲν τὸν νοῦν, κωφοὶ δὲ τὴν σύνεσιν ὄντες οὐκ ἀλγεῖτε, οὐκ ἀγανακτεῖτε, οὐ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἰδεῖν καὶ τὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ποιητὴν ἐπεθυμήσατε, οὐδὲ τὸν τῶν πάντων δημιουργὸν καὶ πατέρα ἀκοῦσαι καὶ μαθεῖν ἐξεζητήσατε, τὴν προαίρεσιν τῇ σωτηρίᾳ συνάψαντες· ἐμποδὼν γὰρ ἵσταται οὐδὲν τῷ σπεύδοντι πρὸς γνῶσιν θεοῦ, οὐκ ἀπαιδευσία, οὐ πενία, οὐκ ἀδοξία, οὐκ ἀκτημοσύνη· οὐδέ τις τὴν ὄντως ἀληθῆ σοφίαν »χαλκῷ δῃώσας« μεταλλάξαι εὔχεται οὐδὲ σιδήρῳ· εὖ γάρ τοι παντὸς μᾶλλον τοῦτο εἴρηται· ὁ χρηστός ἐστι πανταχοῦ σωτήριος· ὁ γὰρ τοῦ δικαίου ζηλωτής, ὡς ἂν τοῦ ἀνενδεοῦς ἐραστής, ὀλιγοδεής, οὐκ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἢ ἐν αὐτῷ [καὶ] τῷ θεῷ τὸ μακάριον θησαυρίσας, ἔνθα οὐ σής, οὐ λῃστής, οὐ πειρατής, ἀλλʼ ὁ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀίδιος δοτήρ. ἄρα οὖν εἰκότως ὡμοίωσθε τοῖς ὄφεσιν ἐκείνοις, οἷς τὰ ὦτα πρὸς τοὺς κατεπᾴδοντας ἀποκέκλεισται. »θυμὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς«, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, »κατὰ τὴν ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ ὄφεως, ὡσεὶ ἀσπίδος κωφῆς καὶ βυούσης τὰ ὦτα αὐτῆς, ἥτις οὐκ εἰσακούσεται φωνῆς ἐπᾳδόντων.« ### English translation (Claude) Blindness of the eyes and deafness of the ears are more painful than the evil one's other assaults; for the one takes away the sight of heaven, the other deprives us of divine learning. But you, crippled toward the truth, blind in mind and deaf in understanding, do not grieve, are not indignant; you have not desired to see heaven and the maker of heaven, nor have you sought to hear and learn the Creator and Father of all things, joining your choice to salvation. For nothing stands in the way of one who hastens to the knowledge of God, not lack of education, not poverty, not obscurity, not want of possessions; nor does anyone pray to obtain the truly real wisdom by “slaying with bronze” or with iron. For this, more than anything, is well said: “The good man is everywhere a savior.” For the one who is zealous for righteousness, as a lover of him who needs nothing, needs little himself, having stored up his blessedness in nothing else but in God himself, where there is no moth, no robber, no pirate, but the eternal Giver of good things. Rightly, then, you have been likened to those snakes whose ears are shut against the charmers. “Their wrath,” says the Scripture, “is like that of a serpent, like a deaf asp that stops its ears, which will not listen to the voice of the charmers.” ### Scripture references - Matt 6:20: allusion, high confidence - Ps 58:4 (57:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 58:5 (57:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 7.77 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Slaying with bronze” is a Homeric phrase (Iliad 7.77). The saying about the good man is a proverb (perhaps from Menander). The quotation is Ps 58:4–5 (57:5–6 LXX); the treasure image is Matt 6:20. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.105 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/105/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.106 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/106/ - Source: Stählin 1:75–76 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement urges his hearers to cast off their serpent-like enmity, repent with the whole heart, and believe in Christ, who is man and God, who suffered and is worshiped. ### Greek text ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς γε κατεπᾴσθητε τὴν ἀγριότητα καὶ παραδέξασθε τὸν ἥμερον καὶ ἡμέτερον λόγον καὶ τὸν ἰὸν ἀποπτύσατε τὸν δηλητήριον, ὅπως ὅτι μάλιστα ὑμῖν τὴν φθοράν, ὡς ἐκείνοις τὸ γῆρας, ἀποδύσασθαι δοθῇ. ἀκούσατέ μου καὶ μὴ τὰ ὦτα ἀποβύσητε μηδὲ τὰς ἀκοὰς ἀποφράξητε, ἀλλʼ εἰς νοῦν βάλεσθε τὰ λεγόμενα. καλόν ἐστι τὸ φάρμακον τῆς ἀθανασίας· στήσατέ ποτε τοὺς ὁλκοὺς τοὺς ἑρπηστικούς. »οἱ γὰρ ἐχθροὶ κυρίου χοῦν λείξουσι«, φησίν [ἡ γραφὴ λέγει]· ἀνανεύσατε τῆς γῆς εἰς αἰθέρα, ἀναβλέψατε εἰς οὐρανόν, θαυμάσατε, παύσασθε καραδοκοῦντες τῶν δικαίων τὴν πτέρναν καὶ »τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ἀληθείας« ἐμποδίζοντες· φρόνιμοι γένεσθε καὶ ἀβλαβεῖς· τάχα που ὁ κύριος ἁπλότητος ὑμῖν δωρήσεται πτερόν (πτερῶσαι προῄρηται τοὺς γηγενεῖς), ἵνα δὴ τοὺς χηραμοὺς καταλείποντες οἰκήσητε τοὺς οὐρανούς. μόνον ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας μετανοήσωμεν, ὡς ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ δυνηθῆναι χωρῆσαι τὸν θεόν. »ἐλπίσατε ἐπʼ αὐτόν«, φησί, »πᾶσα συναγωγὴ λαοῦ, ἐκχέετε ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν« πρὸς τοὺς κενοὺς τῆς πονηρίας λέγει· ἐλεεῖ καὶ δικαιοσύνης πληροῖ· πίστευσον, ἄνθρωπε, ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ θεῷ· πίστευσον, ἄνθρωπε τῷ παθόντι καὶ προσκυνουμένῳ, θεῷ ζῶντι πιστεύσατε οἱ δοῦλοι τῷ νεκρῷ· πάντες ἄνθρωποι πιστεύσατε μόνῳ τῷ πάντων ἀνθρώπων θεῷ· πιστεύσατε καὶ μισθὸν λάβετε σωτηρίαν· »ἐκζητήσατε τὸν θεόν, καὶ ζήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν.« ### English translation (Claude) But you, at least, let your savagery be charmed away; receive the gentle Word, who is ours, and spit out the deadly poison, so that you may be granted, as far as possible, to strip off corruption, as those snakes strip off their old age. Listen to me, and do not stop your ears or block your hearing, but take to heart what is said. Beautiful is the medicine of immortality. Stop at last your creeping trails. “For the enemies of the Lord will lick the dust,” it says [the Scripture says]. Lift your heads from the earth to the ether, look up to heaven, wonder; stop lying in wait for the heel of the righteous and obstructing “the way of truth.” Be wise and harmless; perhaps the Lord will give you the wing of simplicity (he has chosen to give wings to those born of earth), so that you may leave your holes and dwell in the heavens. Only let us repent with our whole heart, so that we may be able to receive God with our whole heart. “Hope in him,” it says, “all the assembly of the people; pour out all your hearts before him”: he says this to those who are empty of wickedness; he has mercy and fills them with righteousness. Believe, man, in him who is man and God; believe, man, in him who suffered and is worshiped, the living God. Believe, you slaves, in him who died; all people, believe in him who alone is God of all people. Believe, and receive salvation as your reward. “Seek God, and your soul shall live.” ### Scripture references - Ps 72:9 (71:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:15: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Pet 2:2: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 10:16: allusion, high confidence - Ps 62:8 (61:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 69:32 (68:33 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Ign. Eph. 20.2 (To the Ephesians): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Medicine of immortality” echoes Ignatius, Eph. 20.2. The quotations are Ps 72:9 (71:9 LXX), Ps 62:8 (61:9 LXX), and Ps 69:32 (68:33 LXX); the allusions are Gen 3:15 (the heel), 2 Pet 2:2 (“the way of truth”), and Matt 10:16. The bracketed words are marked by the editor as a gloss. - The punctuation of “believe … in him who suffered and is worshiped, the living God” follows the sense; the digital text runs the clauses together. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.106 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/106/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.107 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/107/ - Source: Stählin 1:76–77 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Whoever seeks God finds life; the human being in whom the virtues are written is God's hymn, and wisdom makes good fathers, sons, husbands, and masters. ### Greek text ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν θεὸν τὴν ἰδίαν πολυπραγμονεῖ σωτηρίαν· εὗρες τὸν θεόν, ἔχεις τὴν ζωήν. ζητήσωμεν οὖν, ἵνα καὶ ζήσωμεν. ὁ μισθὸς τῆς εὑρέσεως ζωὴ παρὰ θεῷ. »ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν καὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν ἐπὶ σοὶ πάντες οἱ ζητοῦντές σε καὶ λεγέτωσαν διὰ παντός, μεγαλυνθήτω ὁ θεός.« καλὸς ὕμνος τοῦ θεοῦ ἀθάνατος ἄνθρωπος, δικαιοσύνῃ οἰκοδομούμενος, ἐν ᾧ τὰ λόγια τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγκεχάρακται. ποῦ γὰρ ἀλλαχόθι ἢ ἐν σώφρονι ψυχῇ δικαιοσύνην ἐγγραπτέον; ποῦ ἀγάπην; αἰδῶ δὲ ποῦ; πραότητα δὲ ποῦ; ταύτας, οἶμαι, τὰς θείας γραφὰς ἐναποσφραγισαμένους χρὴ τῇ ψυχῇ καλὸν ἀφετήριον σοφίαν ἡγεῖσθαι τοῖς ἐφʼ ὁτιοῦν τοῦ βίου τραπεῖσι μέρος, ὅρμον τε τὴν αὐτὴν ἀκύμονα σωτηρίας σοφίαν νομίζειν· διʼ ἣν ἀγαθοὶ μὲν πατέρες τέκνων οἱ τῷ πατρὶ προσδεδραμηκότες, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ γονεῦσιν υἱοὶ οἱ τὸν υἱὸν νενοηκότες, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ ἄνδρες γυναικῶν οἱ μεμνημένοι τοῦ νυμφίου, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ οἰκετῶν δεσπόται οἱ τῆς ### English translation (Claude) Whoever seeks God is concerned for his own salvation. Have you found God? You have life. Let us seek, then, that we may also live. The reward of finding is life with God. “Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you, and let them say continually, May God be magnified.” A beautiful hymn to God is an immortal human being, built up in righteousness, on whom the oracles of truth are engraved. For where else should righteousness be written but in a self-controlled soul? Where love? Where modesty? Where gentleness? Those who have sealed these divine writings in their soul should consider wisdom a good starting point, whatever part of life they have turned to, and should consider the same wisdom a calm harbor of salvation. Through her, those who have run to the Father are good fathers to their children; those who have understood the Son are good sons to their parents; those who remember the Bridegroom are good husbands to their wives; and those who have been ransomed from the utmost slavery are good masters to their servants. ### Scripture references - Ps 40:16 (39:17 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 70:4 (69:5 LXX): quotation, medium confidence - 2 Cor 3:3: echo, medium confidence - Eph 5:25: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Ps 40:16 (39:17 LXX; compare Ps 70:4). The household pattern recalls Eph 5:22–6:9. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.107 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/107/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.108 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/108/ - Source: Stählin 1:77 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Even the old should turn to God and become like children; the citizen of heaven follows God's laws, written in the commandments and on the heart. ### Greek text ἐσχάτης δουλείας λελυτρωμένοι. ὢ μακαριώτερα τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις πλάνης τὰ θηρία· ἐπινέμεται τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ὡς ὑμεῖς, οὐχ ὑποκρίνεται δὲ τὴν ἀλήθειαν· οὐκ ἔστι παρʼ αὐτοῖς κολάκων γένη, οὐ δεισιδαιμονοῦσιν ἰχθύες, οὐκ εἰδωλολατρεῖ τὰ ὄρνεα, ἕνα μόνον ἐκπλήττεται τὸν οὐρανόν, ἐπεὶ θεὸν νοῆσαι μὴ δύναται ἀπηξιωμένα τοῦ λόγου. εἶτʼ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀλογωτέρους πεποιηκότες, οἳ διὰ τοσούτων ἡλικιῶν ἐν ἀθεότητι κατατέτριφθε; παῖδες γεγόνατε, εἶτα μειράκια, εἶτα ἔφηβοι, εἶτα ἄνδρες, χρηστοὶ δὲ οὐδέποτε. κἂν τὸ γῆρας αἰδέσθητε, ἐπὶ δυσμαῖς τοῦ βίου γενόμενοι σωφρονήσατε, κἂν ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ βίου τὸν θεὸν ἐπίγνωτε, ὡς δὴ τὸ τέλος ὑμῖν τοῦ βίου ἀρχὴν ἀναλάβοι σωτηρίας. εἰ γηράσατε πρὸς δεισιδαιμονίαν, νέοι ἀφίκεσθε πρὸς θεοσέβειαν· παῖδας ἀκάκους ἐγκρινεῖ θεός. ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἀθηναῖος τοῖς Σόλωνος ἑπέσθω νόμοις καὶ ὁ Ἀργεῖος τοῖς Φορωνέως καὶ ὁ Σπαρτιάτης τοῖς Λυκούργου, εἰ δὲ σεαυτὸν ἀναγράφεις τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐρανὸς μέν σοι ἡ πατρίς, ὁ δὲ θεὸς νομοθέτης. τίνες δὲ καὶ οἱ νόμοι; »οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ παιδοφθορήσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις, ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου.« εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ τούτων τὰ παραπληρώματα, λόγιοι νόμοι καὶ ἅγιοι λόγοι ἐν αὐταῖς ἐγγραφόμενοι ταῖς καρδίαις· »ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν,« καὶ »τῷ τύπτοντί σε εἰς τὴν σιαγόνα πάρεχε καὶ τὴν ἄλλην,« καὶ »οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις, ἐπιθυμίᾳ γὰρ μόνῃ ### English translation (Claude) O, the beasts are more blessed than humankind in its error! They live in ignorance, as you do, but they do not pretend to the truth. There are no tribes of flatterers among them; fish are not superstitious; birds do not worship idols; they marvel at heaven alone, since, being deprived of reason, they cannot understand God. Are you not ashamed, then, to have made yourselves more irrational than the irrational animals, you who have worn yourselves out in godlessness through so many ages of life? You have been children, then boys, then youths, then men, but never good. At least respect your old age; now that you have come to the sunset of life, be wise; at least at the end of life, recognize God, so that the end of your life may become the beginning of salvation. If you have grown old in superstition, come young to godliness; God will enroll you as innocent children. Let the Athenian follow the laws of Solon, the Argive those of Phoroneus, and the Spartan those of Lycurgus; but if you enroll yourself as God's, heaven is your fatherland and God your lawgiver. And what are the laws? “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not corrupt boys, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall love the Lord your God.” And there are their complements, rational laws and holy words written on the hearts themselves: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” and “To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also,” and “You shall not covet; for by desire alone … ### Scripture references - Exod 20:13: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:14: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:15: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:16: quotation, high confidence - Deut 6:5: quotation, high confidence - Jer 31:33: echo, medium confidence - Lev 19:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:39: quotation, medium confidence - Luke 6:29: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 18:3: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Did. 2.2 (Didache): quotation, medium confidence - Barn. 19.4 (Epistle of Barnabas): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The commandments are from Exod 20:13–16 and Deut 6:5; “you shall not corrupt boys” is not in the Decalogue but is in the early Christian lists of Did. 2.2 and Barn. 19.4. The other quotations are Lev 19:18 (Matt 22:39), Luke 6:29, and Exod 20:17 with Matt 5:28. The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.108 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/108/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.109 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/109/ - Source: Stählin 1:77–78 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Truth is harsh medicine but heals; it is near us, in hands, mouth, and heart, and we will outgrow custom as children outgrow toys. ### Greek text μεμοίχευκας.« πόσῳ γοῦν ἄμεινον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῦ τυγχάνειν τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν ἀρχὴν μηδὲ ἐπιθυμεῖν ἐθέλειν ὧν μὴ δεῖ; ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς μὲν τὸ αὐστηρὸν τῆς σωτηρίας ὑπομένειν οὐ καρτερεῖτε, καθάπερ δὲ τῶν σιτίων τοῖς γλυκέσιν ἡδόμεθα διὰ τὴν λειότητα τῆς ἡδονῆς προτιμῶντες, ἰᾶται δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑγιάζει τὰ πικρὰ τραχύνοντα τὴν αἴσθησιν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς τὸν στόμαχον ῥώννυσιν ἡ τῶν φαρμάκων αὐστηρία, οὕτως ἥδει μὲν καὶ γαργαλίζει ἡ συνήθεια, ἀλλʼ ἣ μὲν εἰς τὸ βάραθρον ὠθεῖ, ἡ συνήθεια, ἣ δὲ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνάγει, ἡ ἀλήθεια, »τραχεῖα« μὲν τὸ πρῶτον, »ἀλλʼ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος·« καὶ σεμνὴ μὲν ἡ γυναικωνῖτις αὕτη, σώφρων δὲ ἡ γερουσία· οὐδέ ἐστι δυσπρόσιτος οὐδὲ ἀδύνατος λαβεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἐγγυτάτω ἔνοικος ἡμῶν, ᾗ φησιν αἰνιττόμενος ὁ πάνσοφος Μωυσῆς, τρισὶ τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐνδιαιτωμένη μέρεσι, »χερσὶ καὶ στόματι καὶ καρδίᾳ.« σύμβολον τοῦτο γνήσιον τρισὶ τοῖς πᾶσι συμπληρουμένης τῆς ἀληθείας, βουλῇ καὶ πράξει καὶ λόγῳ· μηδὲ γὰρ τόδε δείμαινε, μή σε τὰ πολλὰ καὶ ἐπιτερπῆ φανταζόμενα ἀφέληται σοφίας· αὐτὸς ἑκὼν ὑπερβήσῃ τὸν λῆρον τῆς συνηθείας, καθάπερ καὶ οἱ παῖδες τὰ ἀθύρματα ἄνδρες ### English translation (Claude) … you have committed adultery.” How much better it is for people not even to wish at all to desire what they should not, than to obtain their desires! But you cannot bear the austerity of salvation. Just as we enjoy sweet foods and prefer them for the smoothness of the pleasure, while bitter things, though they roughen the palate, heal us and make us healthy, and the harshness of medicines strengthens those with weak stomachs; so custom pleases and tickles, but custom pushes us into the pit, while truth leads up to heaven, “rough” at first, “but a good nurse of the young.” This women's chamber is holy, and this council of elders is wise. Nor is she hard to approach or impossible to grasp; she is our nearest neighbor, dwelling within us, as the all-wise Moses says in a riddle, in our three parts: “in the hands, in the mouth, and in the heart.” This is a true symbol of the truth, fulfilled in all three: counsel, action, and speech. And do not fear this, that the many pleasant things that appear may rob you of wisdom; you yourself will willingly pass over the nonsense of custom, just as children throw away their toys when they become men. ### Scripture references - Matt 5:28: quotation, high confidence - Deut 30:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:11: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 9.27 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Rough, but a good nurse of the young” is Homer, Odyssey 9.27 (of Ithaca), here applied to truth. The Moses quotation is Deut 30:14 in the Septuagint, which adds “in your hands.” The toys image recalls 1 Cor 13:11. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.109 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/109/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 10.110 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/110/ - Source: Stählin 1:78 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The divine Word, equal to the Father, took flesh and in a short time filled the world with salvation, becoming a sea of good things. ### Greek text γενόμενοι ἀπέρριψαν. τάχει μὲν δὴ ἀνυπερβλήτῳ εὐνοίᾳ τε εὐπροσίτῳ ἡ δύναμις ἡ θεϊκὴ ἐπιλάμψασα τὴν γῆν σωτηρίου σπέρματος ἐνέπλησε τὸ πᾶν. οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὕτως ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ τοσοῦτον ἔργον ἄνευ θείας κομιδῆς ἐξήνυσεν ὁ κύριος, ὄψει καταφρονούμενος, ἔργῳ προσκυνούμενος, ὁ καθάρσιος καὶ σωτήριος καὶ μειλίχιος, ὁ θεῖος λόγος, ὁ φανερώτατος ὄντως θεός, ὁ τῷ δεσπότῃ τῶν ὅλων ἐξισωθείς, ὅτι ἦν υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ »ὁ λόγος ἦν ἐν τῷ θεῷ«, οὔθʼ ὅτε τὸ πρῶτον προεκηρύχθη, ἀπιστηθείς, οὔθʼ ὅτε τὸ ἀνθρώπου προσωπεῖον ἀναλαβὼν καὶ σαρκὶ ἀναπλασάμενος τὸ σωτήριον δρᾶμα τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ὑπεκρίνετο, ἀγνοηθείς· γνήσιος γὰρ ἦν ἀγωνιστὴς καὶ τοῦ πλάσματος συναγωνιστής, τάχιστα δὲ εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους διαδοθεὶς θᾶττον ἡλίου ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀνατείλας τῆς πατρικῆς βουλήσεως, ῥᾷστα ἡμῖν ἐπέλαμψε τὸν θεόν, ὅθεν τε ἦν αὐτὸς καὶ ὃς ἦν, διʼ ὧν ἐδίδαξεν καὶ ἐνεδείξατο, παραστησάμενος, ὁ σπονδοφόρος καὶ διαλλακτὴς καὶ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν λόγος, πηγὴ ζωοποιός, εἰρηνική, ἐπὶ πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς χεόμενος, διʼ ὃν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τὰ πάντα ἤδη πέλαγος γέγονεν ἀγαθῶν. ### English translation (Claude) … when they become men. With unsurpassable speed and approachable goodwill the divine power has shone on the earth and filled the universe with the seed of salvation. For the Lord could not have accomplished so great a work in so short a time without divine care: he who was despised in appearance but is worshiped in deed, the purifier, the savior, the gentle, the divine Word, truly the most manifest God, made equal with the Master of the universe, because he was his Son and “the Word was with God.” When he was first proclaimed he was not disbelieved; and when he took on the mask of a human being and was fashioned in flesh, and acted out the saving drama of humanity, he was not unrecognized. For he was a true contender, and a fellow contender with his creature. Spread most swiftly to all people, rising more quickly than the sun from the Father's very will, he most readily lit up God for us, showing, by what he taught and demonstrated, where he came from and who he was: the Word, the bearer of the covenant, the reconciler, our Savior, a life-giving and peaceful spring poured out over all the face of the earth, through whom, so to speak, everything has now become a sea of good things. ### Scripture references - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:6: echo, medium confidence - John 5:18: echo, medium confidence - Isa 53:3: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “Mask” and “drama” (προσωπεῖον, δρᾶμα) are theatrical images for the incarnation; they do not imply that his humanity was unreal, since Clement says he was “fashioned in flesh.” The quotation is John 1:1; the allusion “made equal” recalls Phil 2:6 and John 5:18. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 10.110 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/10/110/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.110 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/110/ - Source: Stählin 1:78 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement begins to recount God's benefits from the beginning. ### Greek text Μικρὸν δέ, εἰ βούλει, ἄνωθεν ἄθρει τὴν θείαν εὐεργεσίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Look a little, if you will, from the beginning at the divine benefaction. ### Translation notes - This short sentence opens chapter 11; the section number 110 continues from the end of chapter 10. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.110 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/110/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.111 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/111/ - Source: Stählin 1:78–79 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Adam, a free child of God, was enslaved by pleasure; the Lord, taking flesh and stretching out his hands on the cross, set humanity free from the serpent and death. ### Greek text ὁ πρῶτος [ὁτὲ] ἐν παραδείσῳ ἔπαιζε λελυμένος, ἐπεὶ παιδίον ἦν τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅτε δὲ ὑποπίπτων ἡδονῇ (ὄφις ἀλληγορεῖται ἡδονὴ ἐπὶ γαστέρα ἕρπουσα, κακία γηΐνη, εἰς ὕλας στρεφομένη) παρήγετο ἐπιθυμίαις, ὁ παῖς ἀνδριζόμενος ἀπειθείᾳ καὶ παρακούσας τοῦ πατρὸς ᾐσχύνετο τὸν θεόν. οἷον ἴσχυσεν ἡδονή· ὁ διʼ ἁπλότητα λελυμένος ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτίαις εὑρέθη δεδεμένος. τῶν δεσμῶν λῦσαι τοῦτον ὁ κύριος αὖθις ἠθέλησεν, καὶ σαρκὶ ἐνδεθείς (μυστήριον θεῖον τοῦτο) τὸν ὄφιν ἐχειρώσατο καὶ τὸν τύραννον ἐδουλώσατο, τὸν θάνατον, καί, τὸ παραδοξότατον, ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ἡδονῇ πεπλανημένον, τὸν τῇ φθορᾷ δεδεμένον, χερσὶν ἡπλωμέναις ἔδειξε λελυμένον. ### English translation (Claude) The first man played in paradise, free, since he was a child of God. But when he fell prey to pleasure (the serpent, creeping on its belly, is an allegory of pleasure, an earthly vice, turning toward matter) and was led astray by desires, the child, becoming a man through disobedience and disregarding his Father, was ashamed before God. See what pleasure could do! The man who was free through his simplicity was found bound by sins. The Lord wished to set him free from his bonds again; and, binding himself in flesh (this is a divine mystery), he subdued the serpent and enslaved the tyrant, death; and, most wonderful of all, that man who had been led astray by pleasure, who was bound by corruption, he showed to be set free, with outstretched hands. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:14: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:7: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 2:14: echo, medium confidence - Heb 2:15: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Philo, Opif. 157–160 (Philo of Alexandria (works)): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). “With outstretched hands” refers to the crucifixion. - Clement's reading of the serpent as pleasure follows Philo (Opif. 157–160). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.111 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/111/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.112 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/112/ - Source: Stählin 1:79 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Since the Word has come from heaven, there is no need of Greek schools; Christ's disciples have the wisdom the philosophers only hinted at, and in Christ all divisions are overcome. ### Greek text ὢ θαύματος μυστικοῦ· κέκλιται μὲν ὁ κύριος, ἀνέστη δὲ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου πεσὼν μεῖζον ὑπακοῆς ἆθλον, οὐρανούς, ἀπολαμβάνει. διό μοι δοκεῖ, ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς ἧκεν ὡς ἡμᾶς οὐρανόθεν ὁ λόγος, ἡμᾶς ἐπʼ ἀνθρωπίνην ἰέναι μὴ χρῆναι διδασκαλίαν ἔτι, Ἀθήνας καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ Ἰωνίαν πολυπραγμονοῦντας. εἰ γὰρ ἡμῖν [ὁ] διδάσκαλος ὁ πληρώσας τὰ πάντα δυνάμεσιν ἁγίαις, δημιουργίᾳ σωτηρίᾳ εὐεργεσίᾳ, νομοθεσίᾳ προφητείᾳ διδασκαλίᾳ, πάντα νῦν ὁ διδάσκαλος κατηχεῖ καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἤδη Ἀθῆναι καὶ Ἑλλὰς γέγονεν τῷ λόγῳ. οὐ γὰρ δὴ μύθῳ μὲν ἐπιστεύετε ποιητικῷ τὸν Μίνω τὸν Κρῆτα τοῦ Διὸς ὀαριστὴν ἀναγράφοντι, ἡμᾶς δὲ ἀπιστήσετε μαθητὰς θεοῦ γεγονότας, τὴν ὄντως ἀληθῆ σοφίαν ἐπανῃρημένους, ἣν φιλοσοφίας ἄκροι μόνον ᾐνίξαντο, οἱ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθηταὶ καὶ κατειλήφασι καὶ ἀνεκήρυξαν. καὶ δὴ καὶ πᾶς, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, * * ὁ Χριστὸς οὐ μερίζεται· οὔτε βάρβαρός ἐστιν οὔτε Ἰουδαῖος οὔτε Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἄρρεν, οὐ θῆλυ· καινὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ πνεύματι ἁγίῳ μεταπεπλασμένος. ### English translation (Claude) O mystic wonder! The Lord has been laid low, and man has risen; and he who fell from paradise receives a greater prize for obedience: the heavens. So it seems to me that, since the Word himself has come to us from heaven, we need no longer go to human teaching, busying ourselves about Athens and the rest of Greece, and Ionia too. For if our teacher is he who has filled all things with holy powers, with creation, salvation, benefaction, lawgiving, prophecy, and teaching, this teacher now instructs us in all things, and the whole world has already become Athens and Greece through the Word. For you surely will not believe a poetic myth that records Minos of Crete as the familiar friend of Zeus, and then disbelieve us, who have become disciples of God and have taken up the truly real wisdom, which the leaders of philosophy only hinted at, but which the disciples of Christ have both grasped and proclaimed. And indeed, so to speak, the whole Christ … is not divided: there is neither barbarian nor Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, but a new man, refashioned by the Holy Spirit of God. ### Scripture references - Eph 4:10: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:11: allusion, high confidence - Gal 3:28: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:10: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 19.179 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The asterisks mark a gap in the manuscript. Minos as “familiar friend of Zeus” is from Homer, Odyssey 19.179. The allusions are Eph 4:10, 1 Cor 1:13, Col 3:10–11, and Gal 3:28. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.112 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/112/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.113 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/113/ - Source: Stählin 1:79–80 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Godliness is the one exhortation for all of life; the Word enlightens the soul's eyes, and through him we find the Father and become fellow heirs. ### Greek text εἶθʼ αἱ μὲν ἄλλαι συμβουλαί τε καὶ ὑποθῆκαι λυπραὶ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ μέρους εἰσίν, εἰ γαμητέον, εἰ πολιτευτέον, εἰ παιδοποιητέον· καθολικὴ δὲ ἄρα προτροπὴ μόνη καὶ πρὸς ὅλον δηλαδὴ τὸν βίον, ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, ἐν πάσῃ περιστάσει πρὸς τὸ κυριώτατον τέλος, τὴν ζωήν, συντείνουσα ἡ θεοσέβεια· καθʼ ὃ καὶ μόνον ἐπάναγκές ἐστι ζῆν, ἵνα ζήσωμεν ἀεί· φιλοσοφία δέ, ᾗ φασιν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, πολυχρόνιός ἐστι συμβουλή, σοφίας ἀίδιον μνηστευομένη ἔρωτα· »ἐντολὴ δὲ κυρίου τηλαυγής, φωτίζουσα ὀφθαλμούς,« ἀπόλαβε τὸν Χριστόν, ἀπόλαβε τὸ βλέπειν, ἀπόλαβέ σου τὸ φῶς, ὄφρʼ εὖ γινώσκοις ἠμὲν θεὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἄνδρα. »γλυκὺς« ὁ λόγος ὁ φωτίσας ἡμᾶς »ὑπὲρ χρυσίον καὶ λίθον τίμιον· ποθεινός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ μέλι καὶ κηρίον.« πῶς γὰρ οὐ ποθεινὸς ὁ τὸν ἐν σκότει κατορωρυγμένον νοῦν ἐναργῆ ποιησάμενος καὶ τὰ »φωσφόρα« τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποξύνας »ὄμματα«; καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ »ἡλίου μὴ ὄντος ἕνεκα τῶν ἄλλων ἄστρων νὺξ ἂν ἦν τὰ πάντα«, οὕτως εἰ μὴ τὸν λόγον ἔγνωμεν καὶ τούτῳ κατηυγάσθημεν, οὐδὲν ἂν τῶν σιτευομένων ὀρνίθων ἐλειπόμεθα, ἐν σκότει πιαινόμενοι καὶ θανάτῳ τρεφόμενοι. χωρήσωμεν τὸ φῶς, ἵνα χωρήσωμεν τὸν θεόν· χωρήσωμεν τὸ φῶς καὶ μαθητεύσωμεν τῷ κυρίῳ. τοῦτό τοι καὶ ἐπήγγελται τῷ πατρὶ »διηγήσομαι τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου· ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε«. ὕμνησον καὶ διήγησαί μοι τὸν πατέρα σου τὸν θεόν· σώσει σου τὰ διηγήματα, παιδεύσει με ἡ ᾠδή. ὡς μέχρι νῦν ἐπλανώμην ζητῶν τὸν θεόν, ἐπεὶ δέ με φωταγωγεῖς, κύριε, κύριε, καὶ τὸν θεὸν εὑρίσκω διὰ σοῦ καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἀπολαμβάνω παρὰ σοῦ, γίνομαί σου συγκληρονόμος, ἐπεὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνθης. ### English translation (Claude) The other counsels and precepts are meager and concern particular matters: whether to marry, whether to take part in public life, whether to have children. But the only universal exhortation, one clearly for the whole of life, at every moment and in every circumstance, directed toward the supreme end, life, is godliness. According to it alone it is necessary to live, so that we may live forever. Philosophy, as the elders say, is a long-drawn-out counsel, wooing an everlasting love of wisdom; but “the commandment of the Lord is far-shining, enlightening the eyes.” Receive Christ, receive sight, receive your light, “so that you may know well both God and man.” “Sweet” is the Word who has enlightened us, “more than gold and precious stone; more desirable than honey and the honeycomb.” For how could he not be desirable, who has made clear the mind buried in darkness and sharpened the “light-bearing eyes” of the soul? For just as, “if there were no sun, it would be night everywhere in spite of the other stars,” so, if we had not known the Word and been lit up by him, we would be no better than fattened birds, fed in darkness and nourished for death. Let us receive the light, so that we may receive God; let us receive the light and become disciples of the Lord. This indeed he promised the Father: “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will sing your praise.” Sing praise and tell me of your Father, God; your stories will save, your song will teach me. Until now I went astray, seeking God; but since you light my way, Lord, I find God through you and receive the Father from you; I become your fellow heir, since you were not ashamed of your brother. ### Scripture references - Ps 19:8 (18:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:10 (18:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 22:22 (21:23 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Heb 2:11: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:17: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 5.128 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Tim. 45b (Plato (works)): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 19:8 (18:9 LXX) and 19:10 (18:11 LXX); Homer, Iliad 5.128 (Athena clearing Diomedes's eyes, here applied to Christ); Plato, Timaeus 45b (“light-bearing eyes”); Heraclitus, fragment 99; and Ps 22:22 (21:23 LXX) as quoted in Heb 2:12. The allusions are Heb 2:11 and Rom 8:17. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.113 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/113/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.114 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/114/ - Source: Stählin 1:80–81 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Christ, the Sun of righteousness, has turned night into day and death into life, lifting humanity to heaven and writing God's laws on the heart. ### Greek text Ἀφέλωμεν οὖν, ἀφέλωμεν τὴν λήθην τῆς ἀληθείας· τὴν ἄγνοιαν καὶ τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐμποδὼν ὡς ἀχλὺν ὄψεως καταγαγόντες τὸν ὄντως ὄντα θεὸν ἐποπτεύσωμεν, ταύτην αὐτῷ πρῶτον ἀνυμνήσαντες τὴν φωνήν »χαῖρε φῶς·« φῶς ἡμῖν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τοῖς ἐν σκότει κατορωρυγμένοις καὶ ἐν σκιᾷ θανάτου κατακεκλεισμένοις ἐξέλαμψεν ἡλίου καθαρώτερον, ζωῆς τῆς ἐνταῦθα γλυκύτερον. τὸ φῶς ἐκεῖνο ζωή ἐστιν ἀίδιος, καὶ ὅσα μετείληφεν αὐτοῦ, ζῇ, ἡ νὺξ δὲ εὐλαβεῖται τὸ φῶς καὶ δύνουσα διὰ τὸν φόβον παραχωρεῖ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ κυρίου· τὰ πάντα φῶς ἀκοίμητον γέγονεν καὶ ἡ δύσις εἰς ἀνατολὴν περιέστηκεν. τοῦτο ἡ κτίσις ἡ καινὴ βεβούληται· ὁ γὰρ τὰ πάντα καθιππεύων »δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος« ἐπʼ ἴσης περιπολεῖ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα, τὸν πατέρα μιμούμενος, ὃς »ἐπὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἀνατέλλει τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ«, καὶ καταψεκάζει τὴν δρόσον τῆς ἀληθείας. οὗτος τὴν δύσιν εἰς ἀνατολὴν μετήγαγεν καὶ τὸν θάνατον εἰς ζωὴν ἀνεσταύρωσεν, ἐξαρπάσας δὲ τῆς ἀπωλείας τὸν ἄνθρωπον προσεκρέμασεν αἰθέρι, μεταφυτεύων τὴν φθορὰν εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ γῆν μεταβάλλων εἰς οὐρανούς, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ γεωργός, »δεξιὰ σημαίνων, λαοὺς δʼ ἐπὶ ἔργον« ἀγαθὸν »ἐγείρων, μιμνῄσκων βιότοιο« ἀληθινοῦ, καὶ τὸν μέγαν ὄντως καὶ θεῖον καὶ ἀναφαίρετον τοῦ πατρὸς κλῆρον χαριζόμενος ἡμῖν, οὐρανίῳ διδασκαλίᾳ θεοποιῶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, »διδοὺς νόμους εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν γράφων αὐτούς.« τίνας ὑπογράφει νόμους; ### English translation (Claude) Let us remove, then, let us remove the forgetfulness of truth. Taking away the ignorance and darkness that stand in the way like a mist over the eyes, let us behold the God who truly is, first singing to him this cry: “Hail, Light!” A light has shone on us from heaven, on us who were buried in darkness and shut up in the shadow of death, a light purer than the sun, sweeter than life here. That light is eternal life, and whatever shares in it lives. Night fears the light and, sinking in fear, yields to the day of the Lord. All things have become sleepless light, and the setting has turned into a rising. This is what the new creation meant. For “the Sun of righteousness,” who drives his chariot over all things, visits all humanity alike, imitating the Father, who “makes his sun rise on all people,” and he sprinkles on them the dew of the truth. He has changed the setting into a rising and crucified death into life; snatching the human being from destruction, he has lifted him up to the sky, transplanting corruption into incorruption and changing earth into heaven. He is God's farmer, “giving favorable signs, and rousing the peoples to” good “work, reminding them of” true “livelihood,” and granting us the truly great, divine, and inalienable inheritance of the Father, deifying the human being by heavenly teaching, “putting laws into their minds and writing them on their hearts.” What laws does he write? ### Scripture references - Isa 9:2: allusion, high confidence - Luke 1:79: allusion, high confidence - Matt 4:16: allusion, medium confidence - Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:45: quotation, high confidence - Jer 31:33 (38:33 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 8:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:17: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Aratus, Phaen. 6–7 (Aratus, Phaenomena): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions and quotations are Isa 9:2 (Matt 4:16; Luke 1:79), Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX), Matt 5:45, and Jer 31:33 (38:33 LXX) as quoted in Heb 8:10. The verses about God's farmer adapt Aratus, Phaenomena 6–7, with Clement's own additions (“good,” “true”). “Deifying” (θεοποιῶν) is Clement's word for the transformation of the human being by grace. - “Hail, Light!” may come from an early Christian hymn. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.114 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/114/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.115 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/115/ - Source: Stählin 1:81 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: God asks only a little faith in return for the whole creation and heaven; let the Word, not amulets, be bound on us, and let the light shine in the heart. ### Greek text »ὅτι πάντες εἴσονται τὸν θεὸν ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου, καὶ ἵλεως«, φησὶν ὁ θεός, »ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ.« δεξώμεθα τοὺς νόμους τῆς ζωῆς, πεισθῶμεν προτρεπομένῳ θεῷ, μάθωμεν αὐτόν, ἵνα ἵλεως ᾖ, ἀποδῶμεν καὶ μὴ δεομένῳ μισθὸν εὐχάριστον, εὐπείθειαν, οἷόν τι ἐνοίκιον [τὴν εὐσέβειαν] τῷ θεῷ τῆς ἐνταῦθα ἐνοικήσεως. χρύσεα χαλκείων, ἑκατόμβοιʼ ἐννεαβοίων, ὀλίγης πίστεως γῆν σοι δίδωσι τὴν τοσαύτην γεωργεῖν, ὕδωρ πίνειν καὶ ἄλλο πλεῖν, ἀέρα ἀναπνεῖν, πῦρ ὑπουργεῖν, κόσμον οἰκεῖν· ἐντεῦθεν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀποικίαν στείλασθαί σοι συγκεχώρηκεν· τὰ μεγάλα ταῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτά σοι δημιουργήματα καὶ χαρίσματα ὀλίγης πίστεως μεμίσθωκεν. εἶθʼ οἱ μὲν τοῖς γόησι πεπιστευκότες τὰ περίαπτα καὶ τὰς ἐπαοιδὰς ὡς σωτηρίους δῆθεν ἀποδέχονται, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐ βούλεσθε τὸν οὐράνιον αὐτὸν περιάψασθαι, τὸν σωτῆρα λόγον, καὶ τῇ ἐπῳδῇ τοῦ θεοῦ πιστεύσαντες ἀπαλλαγῆναι μὲν παθῶν, ἃ δὴ ψυχῆς νόσοι, ἀποσπασθῆναι δὲ ἁμαρτίας; θάνατος γὰρ ἀίδιος ἁμαρτία. ἦ τέλεον νωδοὶ καὶ τυφλοὶ καθάπερ οἱ σπάλακες οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ ἐσθίοντες ἐν σκότῳ διαιτᾶσθε, περικαταρρέοντες τῇ φθορᾷ. ἀλλʼ ἔστιν, ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια ἡ κεκραγυῖα »ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψει«. λαμψάτω οὖν ἐν τῷ ἀποκεκρυμμένῳ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, τὸ φῶς, καὶ τῆς γνώσεως αἱ ἀκτῖνες ἀνατειλάτωσαν τὸν ἐγκεκρυμμένον ἔνδον ἐκφαίνουσαι καὶ ἀποστίλβουσαι ἄνθρωπον, τὸν μαθητὴν τοῦ φωτός, τὸν Χριστοῦ γνώριμόν τε καὶ συγκληρονόμον, μάλιστα ἐπειδὰν τὸ τιμιώτατον καὶ σεβασμιώτατον εὐσεβεῖ τε καὶ ἀγαθῷ παιδὶ ἀγαθοῦ πατρὸς ὄνομα εἰς γνῶσιν ἀφίκηται, προστάττοντος ἤπια καὶ τῷ παιδὶ ἐγκελευομένου τὰ σωτήρια. ὁ δὲ πειθόμενος αὐτῷ κατὰ πάντα δὴ πλεονεκτεῖ· ἕπεται τῷ θεῷ, πείθεται τῷ πατρί, ἔγνω πλανώμενος αὐτόν, ἠγάπησε τὸν θεόν, ἠγάπησε τὸν πλησίον, ἐπλήρωσε τὴν ἐντολήν, τὸ ἆθλον ἐπιζητεῖ, τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἀπαιτεῖ. ### English translation (Claude) “That all shall know God, from the least to the greatest; and I will be merciful to them,” says God, “and I will not remember their sins.” Let us receive the laws of life; let us obey God who exhorts us; let us learn of him, so that he may be merciful; let us pay him, though he needs nothing, a grateful reward, obedience, as a kind of rent to God for our dwelling here. “Gold for bronze, a hundred oxen's worth for nine”: for a little faith he gives you this great earth to cultivate, water to drink and other water to sail, air to breathe, fire to serve you, the world to live in; and he has permitted you to send a colony from here to heaven. All these great and many works and gifts he has hired out to you for a little faith. Then those who believe in sorcerers accept amulets and incantations as if they could save; and will you not bind on the heavenly one himself, the saving Word, and, trusting in God's incantation, be freed from the passions, which are diseases of the soul, and be torn away from sin? For sin is eternal death. Or else, completely toothless and blind like moles, you live in darkness doing nothing but eat, wasting away in corruption. But there is, there is a truth that cries out, “Light shall shine out of darkness.” Let the light shine, then, in the hidden part of the human being, in the heart, and let the rays of knowledge rise, bringing to light and making shine the hidden inner man, the disciple of the light, the friend and fellow heir of Christ; especially when the most honored and revered name of a good father comes to be known by a pious and good child, a father who gives gentle commands and enjoins what is saving on his child. Whoever obeys him gains in every way: he follows God, he obeys the Father, he knew him when he was astray, he loved God, he loved his neighbor, he fulfilled the commandment, he seeks the prize, he claims the promise. ### Scripture references - Jer 31:34 (38:34 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 8:11: quotation, high confidence - Heb 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:23: echo, medium confidence - 2 Cor 4:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:17: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 22:37: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 22:39: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 6.236 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Jer 31:34 (38:34 LXX; Heb 8:11–12), Homer, Iliad 6.236 (Glaucus's unequal exchange), and 2 Cor 4:6. The allusions are Rom 6:23, Rom 8:17, and Matt 22:37–39. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.115 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/115/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.116 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/116/ - Source: Stählin 1:81–82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Christ the Good Shepherd has sounded the trumpet of the gospel and gathered a peaceful army, armed with the spiritual armor Paul describes. ### Greek text Πρόκειται δὲ ἀεὶ τῷ θεῷ τὴν ἀνθρώπων ἀγέλην σῴζειν. ταύτῃ καὶ τὸν ἀγαθὸν ποιμένα ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἀπέστειλεν θεός· ἁπλώσας δὲ ὁ λόγος τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔδειξε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸ ὕψος τῆς σωτηρίας, ὅπως ἢ μετανοήσαντες σωθῶσιν ἢ μὴ ὑπακούσαντες κριθῶσιν. τοῦτο τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὸ κήρυγμα, ὑπακούουσιν εὐαγγέλιον, παρακούσασιν κριτήριον. ἀλλὰ σάλπιγξ μὲν »ἡ μεγαλόκλονος« ἠχήσασα στρατιώτας συνήγαγεν καὶ πόλεμον κατήγγειλεν, Χριστὸς δὲ εἰρηνικὸν ἐπὶ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς ἐπιπνεύσας μέλος οὐ συνάξει ἄρα τοὺς εἰρηνικοὺς στρατιώτας τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ; συνήγαγε μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, τὸ στρατιωτικὸν τὸ ἀναίμακτον αἵματι καὶ λόγῳ, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν αὐτοῖς ἐνεχείρισεν. σάλπιγξ ἐστὶ Χριστοῦ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτοῦ· ὃ μὲν ἐσάλπισεν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἠκούσαμεν. ἐξοπλισώμεθα εἰρηνικῶς, »ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης« καὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα τῆς πίστεως ἀναλαβόντες καὶ τὴν κόρυν τοῦ σωτηρίου περιθέμενοι καὶ »τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα θεοῦ«, ἀκονήσωμεν. οὕτως ἡμᾶς ὁ ἀπόστολος εἰρηνικῶς ἐκτάττει· ταῦτα ἡμῶν τὰ ὅπλα τὰ ἄτρωτα· τούτοις ἐξοπλισάμενοι παραταξώμεθα τῷ πονηρῷ· τὰ πεπυρακτωμένα τοῦ πονηροῦ ἀποσβέσωμεν βέλη ταῖς ὑδατίναις ἀκμαῖς ταῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου βεβαμμέναις, εὐχαρίστοις ἀμειβόμενοι τὰς εὐποιίας εὐλογίαις καὶ τὸν θεὸν τῷ θείῳ γεραίροντες λόγῳ. »ἔτι γὰρ λαλοῦντός σου ἐρεῖ,« φησίν, »ἰδοὺ πάρειμι.« ### English translation (Claude) God's purpose is always to save the flock of humankind. For this reason the good God sent the Good Shepherd. The Word, unfolding the truth, has shown human beings the height of salvation, so that they may either repent and be saved, or refuse to obey and be judged. This is the proclamation of righteousness: good news to those who obey, judgment to those who disregard it. The trumpet “of mighty din,” when it sounds, gathers soldiers and proclaims war; and shall not Christ, having breathed a song of peace to the ends of the earth, gather his own soldiers of peace? He has gathered, man, by his blood and by the Word, a bloodless army, and entrusted to them the kingdom of heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his gospel; he has sounded it, and we have heard. Let us arm ourselves for peace, “putting on the breastplate of righteousness,” taking up the shield of faith, putting on the helmet of salvation, and let us sharpen “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” So the apostle draws us up in peaceful battle order. These are our invulnerable weapons; armed with them, let us take our stand against the evil one; let us quench the fiery darts of the evil one with the watery blades dipped by the Word, repaying his benefits with thankful blessings and honoring God with the divine Word. “For while you are still speaking,” he says, “he will say, Here I am.” ### Scripture references - John 10:11: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:8: echo, medium confidence - Isa 58:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions and quotations are John 10:11, Eph 6:14–17 (with 1 Thess 5:8), and Isa 58:9. “The watery blades dipped by the Word” may refer to baptism. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.116 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/116/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 11.117 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/117/ - Source: Stählin 1:82–83 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The Word, who regenerates human beings and makes them God's temple, calls them to purify that temple and offer themselves to God. ### Greek text Ὢ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ μακαρίας ταύτης δυνάμεως, διʼ ἧς ἀνθρώποις συμπολιτεύεται θεός. λῷον οὖν καὶ ἄμεινον τῆς ἀρίστης τῶν ὄντων οὐσίας μιμητὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ θεραπευτὴν γενέσθαι· οὐ γὰρ μιμεῖσθαί τις δυνήσεται τὸν θεὸν ἢ διʼ ὧν ὁσίως θεραπεύει οὐδʼ αὖ θεραπεύειν καὶ σέβειν ἢ μιμούμενος. ὅ γέ τοι οὐράνιος καὶ θεῖος ὄντως ἔρως ταύτῃ προσγίνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὅταν ἐν αὐτῇ που τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ ὄντως καλὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου λόγου ἀναζωπυρούμενον ἐκλάμπειν δυνηθῇ· καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ἅμα τῷ βουληθῆναι γνησίως τὸ σωθῆναι συντρέχει, ὁμοζυγούντων, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, προαιρέσεως καὶ ζωῆς. τοιγάρτοι μόνη αὕτη ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας προτροπὴ τοῖς πιστοτάτοις ἀπείκασται τῶν φίλων μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς παραμένουσα καὶ παραπομπὸς ἀγαθὴ ὅλῳ καὶ τελείῳ τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς πνεύματι τοῖς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀπαίρουσι γενομένη. τί δή σε προτρέπω; σωθῆναί σε ἐπείγομαι. τοῦτο Χριστὸς βούλεται· ἑνὶ λόγῳ ζωήν σοι χαρίζεται. καὶ τίς ἐστιν οὗτος; μάθε συντόμως· λόγος ἀληθείας, λόγος ἀφθαρσίας, ὁ ἀναγεννῶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰς ἀλήθειαν αὐτὸν ἀναφέρων, τὸ κέντρον τῆς σωτηρίας, ὁ ἐξελαύνων τὴν φθοράν, ὁ ἐκδιώκων τὸν θάνατον, ὁ ἐν ἀνθρώποις οἰκοδομήσας νεών, ἵνα ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἱδρύσῃ τὸν θεόν. ἅγνισον τὸν νεών, καὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς καὶ τὰς ῥᾳθυμίας ὥσπερ ἄνθος ἐφήμερον καταλίμπανε ἀνέμῳ καὶ πυρί, σωφροσύνης δὲ τοὺς καρποὺς γεώργησον ἐμφρόνως, καὶ σεαυτὸν ἀκροθίνιον ἀνάστησον τῷ θεῷ, ὅπως οὐκ ἔργον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ χάρις ᾖς τοῦ θεοῦ· πρέπει δὲ ἄμφω τῷ Χριστοῦ γνωρίμῳ, καὶ βασιλείας ἄξιον φανῆναι καὶ βασιλείας κατηξιῶσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) O this holy and blessed power, by which God shares citizenship with human beings! It is better, then, and nobler to become at once an imitator and a servant of the highest of all beings; for no one will be able to imitate God except by serving him in holiness, nor to serve and revere him except by imitating him. The heavenly and truly divine love comes to human beings in this way, when somewhere in the soul itself the truly beautiful, rekindled by the divine Word, is able to shine out; and, greatest of all, salvation runs together with the genuine wish for it, will and life being, so to speak, yoked together. Therefore this exhortation of truth alone is likened to the most faithful of friends, remaining with us to our last breath, and becoming a good escort for the whole and perfect spirit of the soul as it departs for heaven. Why then do I exhort you? I am eager that you be saved. This is what Christ wills; in a single word he grants you life. And who is he? Learn in brief: the Word of truth, the Word of incorruption, who regenerates the human being, bringing him back to the truth; the goad of salvation, who drives out corruption, who chases away death, who has built a temple in human beings, so that he may set up God in human beings. Purify the temple; leave your pleasures and idleness to wind and fire like a short-lived flower, and wisely cultivate the fruits of self-control; and dedicate yourself to God as first fruits, so that you may be not only a work but also a grace of God. Both befit the friend of Christ: to be seen worthy of the kingdom, and to be deemed worthy of it. ### Scripture references - 1 Pet 1:23: echo, medium confidence - 1 Cor 3:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:17: allusion, medium confidence - Jas 1:10: echo, medium confidence - 2 Thess 1:5: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are 1 Pet 1:23 (regeneration by the word), 1 Cor 3:16–17 (the temple), Jas 1:10–11 (the fading flower), and 2 Thess 1:5. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.117 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/117/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 12.118 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/118/ - Source: Stählin 1:83–84 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Flee custom and pleasure like Odysseus sailing past the Sirens; bound to the wood of the cross, the Christian passes safely to the harbor of heaven. ### Greek text Φύγωμεν οὖν τὴν συνήθειαν, φύγωμεν οἷον ἄκραν χαλεπὴν ἢ Χαρύβδεως ἀπειλὴν ἢ Σειρῆνας μυθικάς· ἄγχει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποτρέπει, ἀπάγει τῆς ζωῆς, παγίς ἐστιν, βάραθρόν ἐστιν, βόθρος ἐστί, λίχνον ἐστὶν κακὸν ἡ συνήθεια· κείνου μὲν καπνοῦ καὶ κύματος ἐκτὸς ἔεργε νῆα. φεύγωμεν, ὦ συνναῦται, φεύγωμεν τὸ κῦμα τοῦτο, πῦρ ἐρεύγεται, νῆσός ἐστι πονηρὰ ὀστοῖς καὶ νεκροῖς σεσωρευμένη, ᾄδει δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ πορνίδιον ὡραῖον, ἡδονή, πανδήμῳ τερπόμενον μουσικῇ· δεῦρʼ ἄγʼ ἰών, πολύαινʼ Ὀδυσεῦ, μέγα κῦδος Ἀχαιῶν, νῆα κατάστησον, ἵνα θειοτέρην ὄπʼ ἀκούσῃς. ἐπαινεῖ σε, ὦ ναῦτα, καὶ πολυύμνητον λέγει, καὶ τὸ κῦδος τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡ πόρνη σφετερίζεται· ἔασον αὐτὴν ἐπινέμεσθαι τοὺς νεκρούς, πνεῦμά σοι οὐράνιον βοηθεῖ· πάριθι τὴν ἡδονήν, βουκολεῖ· μηδὲ γυνή σε νόον πυγοστόλος ἐξαπατάτω, αἱμύλα κωτίλλουσα, τεὴν διφῶσα καλιήν. παράπλει τὴν ᾠδήν, θάνατον ἐργάζεται· ἐὰν ἐθέλῃς μόνον, νενίκηκας τὴν ἀπώλειαν καὶ τῷ ξύλῳ προσδεδεμένος ἁπάσης ἔσῃ τῆς φθορᾶς λελυμένος, κυβερνήσει σε ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ τοῖς λιμέσι καθορμίσει τῶν οὐρανῶν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· τότε μου κατοπτεύσεις τὸν θεὸν καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐκείνοις τελεσθήσῃ μυστηρίοις καὶ τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀπολαύσεις ἀποκεκρυμμένων, τῶν ἐμοὶ τετηρημένων, »ἃ οὔτε οὖς ἤκουσεν οὔτε ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνέβη« τινός. καὶ μὴν ὁρᾶν μοι δύο μὲν ἡλίους δοκῶ, δισσὰς δὲ Θήβας βακχεύων ἔλεγέν τις εἰδώλοις, ἀγνοίᾳ μεθύων ἀκράτῳ· ἐγὼ δʼ ἂν αὐτὸν οἰκτείραιμι παροινοῦντα καὶ τὸν οὕτω παρανοοῦντα ἐπὶ σωτηρίαν παρακαλέσαιμι σωφρονοῦσαν, ὅτι καὶ κύριος μετάνοιαν ἁμαρτωλοῦ ### English translation (Claude) Let us flee, then, from custom; let us flee it like a dangerous headland, or the threat of Charybdis, or the Sirens of myth. It strangles the human being, turns him from the truth, leads him away from life; it is a snare, a pit, a trench; custom is a greedy evil. “Keep the ship clear of that smoke and wave.” Let us flee, shipmates, let us flee this wave; it belches fire; it is a wicked island heaped with bones and corpses, and on it sings a lovely harlot, Pleasure, delighting in vulgar music: “Come here, much-praised Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans; bring your ship to land, so that you may hear a diviner voice.” She praises you, sailor, and calls you much-sung, and the harlot claims for herself the glory of the Greeks. Let her feed on the dead; a heavenly spirit comes to your help. Pass by Pleasure; she beguiles. “Let no woman with trailing robes deceive your mind, coaxing with wheedling words, seeking your nest.” Sail past the song; it works death. Only be willing, and you have conquered destruction; bound to the wood, you will be freed from all corruption. The Word of God will be your pilot, and the Holy Spirit will bring you to anchor in the harbors of heaven. Then you will behold my God, and be initiated into those holy mysteries, and enjoy the things hidden in heaven, kept for me, “which neither ear has heard, nor have they entered into the heart” of anyone. “And indeed I seem to see two suns, and a double Thebes,” said someone raving in Bacchic frenzy for idols, drunk with undiluted ignorance. I would pity him in his drunken madness and invite one so out of his mind to a sober salvation, since the Lord too welcomes the repentance of a sinner … ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 33:11: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 12.219–220 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 12.184–185 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Hesiod, Op. 373–374 (Hesiod, Works and Days): quotation, high confidence - Euripides, Bacch. 918–919 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Homer, Odyssey 12.219–220 and 12.184–185; Hesiod, Works and Days 373–374; 1 Cor 2:9; and Euripides, Bacchae 918–919. Odysseus bound to the mast is Clement's image of the Christian bound to the cross (“the wood”). The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.118 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/118/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 12.119 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/119/ - Source: Stählin 1:84 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Clement turns the imagery of Euripides's Bacchae to Christ: on God's mountain the righteous form a sober chorus, and the blind Tiresias is invited to lean on the cross and see. ### Greek text καὶ οὐχὶ θάνατον ἀσπάζεται. ἧκε, ὦ παραπλήξ, μὴ θύρσῳ σκηριπτόμενος, μὴ κιττῷ ἀναδούμενος, ῥῖψον τὴν μίτραν, ῥῖψον τὴν νεβρίδα, σωφρόνησον· δείξω σοι τὸν λόγον καὶ τοῦ λόγου τὰ μυστήρια, κατὰ τὴν σὴν διηγούμενος εἰκόνα. ὄρος ἐστὶ τοῦτο θεῷ πεφιλημένον, οὐ τραγῳδίαις ὡς Κιθαιρὼν ὑποκείμενον, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀληθείας ἀνακείμενον δράμασιν, ὄρος νηφάλιον, ἁγναῖς ὕλαις σύσκιον· βακχεύουσι δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ οὐχ αἱ Σεμέλης »τῆς κεραυνίας« ἀδελφαί, αἱ μαινάδες, αἱ δύσαγνον κρεανομίαν μυούμεναι, ἀλλʼ αἱ τοῦ θεοῦ θυγατέρες, αἱ ἀμνάδες αἱ καλαί, τὰ σεμνὰ τοῦ λόγου θεσπίζουσαι ὄργια, χορὸν ἀγείρουσαι σώφρονα. ὁ χορὸς οἱ δίκαιοι, τὸ ᾆσμα ὕμνος ἐστὶ τοῦ πάντων βασιλέως· ψάλλουσιν αἱ κόραι, δοξάζουσιν ἄγγελοι, προφῆται λαλοῦσιν, ἦχος στέλλεται μουσικῆς, δρόμῳ τὸν θίασον διώκουσιν, σπεύδουσιν οἱ κεκλημένοι πατέρα ποθοῦντες ἀπολαβεῖν. ἧκέ μοι, ὦ πρέσβυ, καὶ σύ, τὰς Θήβας λιπὼν καὶ τὴν μαντικὴν καὶ τὴν βακχείαν ἀπορρίψας πρὸς ἀλήθειαν χειραγωγοῦ· ἰδού σοι τὸ ξύλον ἐπερείδεσθαι δίδωμι· σπεῦσον, Τειρεσία, πίστευσον· ὄψει· Χριστὸς ἐπιλάμπει φαιδρότερον ἡλίου, διʼ ὃν ὀφθαλμοὶ τυφλῶν ἀναβλέπουσιν· νύξ σε φεύξεται, πῦρ φοβηθήσεται, θάνατος οἰχήσεται· ὄψει τοὺς οὐρανούς, ὦ γέρον, ὁ Θήβας μὴ βλέπων. ### English translation (Claude) … and not his death. Come, madman, not leaning on the thyrsus, not crowned with ivy; throw away the headband, throw away the fawnskin; come to your senses. I will show you the Word and the mysteries of the Word, describing them in terms of your own imagery. This is the mountain beloved by God, not a subject for tragedies like Cithaeron, but dedicated to the dramas of truth; a sober mountain, shaded by pure woods. On it revel not the sisters of Semele “the thunderstruck,” the maenads, who are initiated into the unholy distribution of flesh, but the daughters of God, the fair lambs, who proclaim the holy rites of the Word, gathering a sober chorus. The chorus is the righteous; the song is a hymn to the King of all. The maidens play the harp, angels give glory, prophets speak; the sound of music is sent forth; they run swiftly after the sacred band; those who have been called hasten, longing to receive the Father. Come to me, old man, you too; leave Thebes, throw away your prophecy and your Bacchic revelry, and be led by the hand to the truth. See, I give you the wood to lean on. Hurry, Tiresias, believe; you will see. Christ shines more brightly than the sun, and through him the eyes of the blind see again. Night will flee from you, fire will be afraid, death will be gone. You will see the heavens, old man, you who do not see Thebes. ### Scripture references - Ezek 33:11: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 18:23: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 11:5: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Bacchae (Euripides (plays and fragments)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The imagery (Cithaeron, maenads, the old seer Tiresias with his staff) is from Euripides's Bacchae. “The wood” is again the cross. The allusions are Ezek 33:11 (18:23) and Matt 11:5. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.119 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/119/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 12.120 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/120/ - Source: Stählin 1:84–85 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: The true mysteries: the Lord initiates, illumines, and seals the believer; Jesus, the eternal High Priest, calls all humankind to incorruption and to his easy yoke. ### Greek text Ὢ τῶν ἁγίων ὡς ἀληθῶς μυστηρίων, ὢ φωτὸς ἀκηράτου. δᾳδουχοῦμαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἐποπτεῦσαι, ἅγιος γίνομαι μυούμενος, ἱεροφαντεῖ δὲ ὁ κύριος καὶ τὸν μύστην σφραγίζεται φωταγωγῶν, καὶ παρατίθεται τῷ πατρὶ τὸν πεπιστευκότα αἰῶσι τηρούμενον. ταῦτα τῶν ἐμῶν μυστηρίων τὰ βακχεύματα· εἰ βούλει, καὶ σὺ μυοῦ, καὶ χορεύσεις μετʼ ἀγγέλων ἀμφὶ τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἀνώλεθρον καὶ μόνον ὄντως θεόν, συνυμνοῦντος ἡμῖν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. ἀίδιος οὗτος Ἰησοῦς, εἷς [ὁ] μέγας ἀρχιερεὺς θεοῦ τε ἑνὸς τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ πατρός, ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων εὔχεται καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἐγκελεύεται »κέκλυτε, μυρία φῦλα«, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅσοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων λογικοί, καὶ βάρβαροι καὶ Ἕλληνες· τὸ πᾶν ἀνθρώπων γένος καλῶ, ὧν ἐγὼ δημιουργὸς θελήματι πατρός. ἥκετε ὡς ἐμέ, ὑφʼ ἕνα ταχθησόμενοι θεὸν καὶ τὸν ἕνα λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ μὴ μόνον τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων πλεονεκτεῖτε τῷ λόγῳ, ἐκ δὲ τῶν θνητῶν ἁπάντων ὑμῖν ἀθανασίαν μόνοις καρπώσασθαι δίδωμι. ἐθέλω γάρ, ἐθέλω καὶ ταύτης ὑμῖν μεταδοῦναι τῆς χάριτος, ὁλόκληρον χορηγῶν τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, ἀφθαρσίαν· καὶ λόγον χαρίζομαι ὑμῖν, τὴν γνῶσιν τοῦ θεοῦ, τέλειον ἐμαυτὸν χαρίζομαι. τοῦτό εἰμι ἐγώ, τοῦτο βούλεται ὁ θεός, τοῦτο συμφωνία ἐστί, τοῦτο ἁρμονία πατρός, τοῦτο υἱός, τοῦτο Χριστός, τοῦτο ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, βραχίων κυρίου, δύναμις τῶν ὅλων, τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός. ὦ πάλαι μὲν εἰκόνες, οὐ πᾶσαι δὲ ἐμφερεῖς, διορθώσασθαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς τὸ ἀρχέτυπον βούλομαι, ἵνα μοι καὶ ὅμοιοι γένησθε. χρίσω ὑμᾶς τῷ πίστεως ἀλείμματι, διʼ οὗ τὴν φθορὰν ἀποβάλλετε, καὶ γυμνὸν δικαιοσύνης ἐπιδείξω τὸ σχῆμα, διʼ οὗ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀναβαίνετε. »δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς· ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν· ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ### English translation (Claude) O truly holy mysteries! O pure light! I am led by torchlight to behold the heavens and God; I become holy by being initiated. The Lord is the hierophant, and he seals the initiate, giving him light, and commends to the Father the one who has believed, to be kept forever. These are the Bacchic rites of my mysteries. If you wish, be initiated too, and you will dance with the angels around the unbegotten and imperishable and only true God, while the Word of God joins us in the hymn. This eternal Jesus, the one great High Priest of the one God, who is also Father, prays for human beings and exhorts them: “Hear, you countless tribes,” or rather, all of humankind who are rational, both barbarians and Greeks. “I call the whole human race, whose creator I am by the will of the Father. Come to me, to be ranked under one God and the one Word of God; and not only do you surpass the irrational animals by reason, but I grant you alone of all mortals to enjoy the fruit of immortality. For I will, I will to give you a share in this grace too, supplying the benefit in full: incorruption. And I grant you the Word, the knowledge of God; I grant you myself, complete. This is what I am, this is what God wills, this is the symphony, this is the harmony of the Father, this is the Son, this is Christ, this is the Word of God, the arm of the Lord, the power of the universe, the will of the Father. O you who of old were images, but not all resembling the original, I want to restore you to the archetype, so that you may become like me. I will anoint you with the ointment of faith, by which you cast off corruption, and I will show you the naked form of righteousness, by which you ascend to God. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ### Scripture references - Heb 4:14: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:34: echo, medium confidence - Isa 53:1: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 11:28: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:29: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:30: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 17.220 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Seals” (σφραγίζεται) and “giving light” (φωταγωγῶν) are baptismal terms; Clement turns the language of the pagan mysteries (torchlight, hierophant, initiation) to Christian baptism. - The quotations and allusions are Heb 4:14 and 3:1 (High Priest), Rom 8:34, Homer, Iliad 17.220 (“Hear, you countless tribes”), Isa 53:1 (“the arm of the Lord”), Gen 1:26, and Matt 11:28–30. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.120 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/120/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 12.121 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/121/ - Source: Stählin 1:85 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Let us take Christ's yoke and follow him, the charioteer who, as he once entered Jerusalem, now leads humanity into heaven. ### Greek text ἐστιν.« σπεύσωμεν, δράμωμεν, ὦ θεοφιλῆ καὶ θεοείκελα τοῦ λόγου [ἄνθρωποι] ἀγάλματα· σπεύσωμεν, δράμωμεν, ἄρωμεν τὸν ζυγὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐπιβάλωμεν ἀφθαρσίᾳ, καλὸν ἡνίοχον ἀνθρώπων τὸν Χριστὸν ἀγαπήσωμεν· τὸν πῶλον ὑποζύγιον ἤγαγε σὺν τῷ παλαιῷ· καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν συνωρίδα καταζεύξας, εἰς ἀθανασίαν κατιθύνει τὸ ἅρμα, σπεύδων πρὸς τὸν θεὸν πληρῶσαι ἐναργῶς ὃ ᾐνίξατο, πρότερον μὲν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, νῦν δὲ εἰσελαύνων οὐρανούς, κάλλιστον θέαμα τῷ πατρὶ υἱὸς ἀίδιος νικηφόρος. φιλότιμοι τοίνυν πρὸς τὰ καλὰ καὶ θεοφιλεῖς ἄνθρωποι γενώμεθα, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὰ μέγιστα, θεὸν καὶ ζωήν, κτησώμεθα. ἀρωγὸς δὲ ὁ λόγος· θαρρῶμεν αὐτῷ καὶ μή ποτε ἡμᾶς τοσοῦτος ἀργύρου καὶ χρυσοῦ, μὴ δόξης ἐπέλθῃ πόθος, ὅσος αὐτοῦ τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας λόγου. ### English translation (Claude) Let us hasten, let us run, you God-beloved and godlike images of the Word; let us hasten, let us run, let us take up his yoke, let us mount toward incorruption; let us love Christ, the good charioteer of human beings. He led the colt under the yoke together with the old one; and having yoked the pair of human beings, he guides the chariot to immortality, hastening to God to fulfill plainly what he signified in a figure, formerly driving into Jerusalem, but now into the heavens: a most beautiful sight for the Father, the eternal, victorious Son. Let us then be ambitious for what is good, and become men beloved by God, and acquire the greatest of good things, God and life. The Word is our helper; let us take courage in him, and may no desire for silver and gold, nor for glory, ever come upon us so strongly as the desire for the Word of truth himself. ### Scripture references - Matt 11:29: allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:7: allusion, high confidence - Zech 9:9: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The colt and the old donkey (Matt 21:2–7; Zech 9:9) were read allegorically: the colt as the Gentiles, newly yoked, and the old donkey as Israel. The bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.121 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/121/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 12.122 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/122/ - Source: Stählin 1:85–86 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: Following God with all our strength, we are his friends, and since friends share all things, all things belong to the godly person, who becomes an image of God. ### Greek text οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ τῷ θεῷ αὐτῷ ἀρεστόν, εἰ ἡμεῖς τὰ μὲν πλείστου ἄξια περὶ ἐλαχίστου ποιούμεθα, ἀγνοίας δὲ καὶ ἀμαθίας καὶ ῥᾳθυμίας καὶ εἰδωλολατρείας ὕβρεις περιφανεῖς καὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην δυσσέβειαν περὶ πλείονος αἱρούμεθα. οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τρόπου φιλοσόφων παῖδες πάντα ὅσα πράττουσιν οἱ ἀνόητοι. ἀνοσιουργεῖν καὶ ἀσεβεῖν νομίζουσιν καὶ αὐτήν γε [ἔτι] τὴν ἄγνοιαν μανίας εἶδος ὑπογράφοντες οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ μεμηνέναι τοὺς πολλοὺς ὁμολογοῦσιν. οὐ δὴ οὖν ἀμφιβάλλειν αἱρεῖ ὁ λόγος, ὁπότερον αὐτοῖν ἄμεινον, σωφρονεῖν ἢ μεμηνέναι· ἐχομένους δὲ ἀπρὶξ τῆς ἀληθείας παντὶ σθένει ἕπεσθαι χρὴ τῷ θεῷ σωφρονοῦντας καὶ πάντα αὐτοῦ νομίζειν, ὥσπερ ἔστι, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἡμᾶς τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν κτημάτων μεμαθηκότας ὄντας αὐτοῦ, σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐπιτρέπειν τῷ θεῷ, ἀγαπῶντας κύριον τὸν θεὸν καὶ τοῦτο παρʼ ὅλον τὸν βίον ἔργον ἡγουμένους. εἰ δὲ »κοινὰ τὰ φίλων«, θεοφιλὴς δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος (καὶ γὰρ οὖν φίλος τῷ θεῷ, μεσιτεύοντος τοῦ λόγου), γίνεται δὴ οὖν τὰ πάντα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι τὰ πάντα τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ κοινὰ ἀμφοῖν τοῖν φίλοιν τὰ πάντα, τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπου. ὥρα οὖν ἡμῖν μόνον τὸν θεοσεβῆ [Χριστιανὸν] εἰπεῖν πλούσιόν τε καὶ σώφρονα καὶ εὐγενῆ καὶ ταύτῃ εἰκόνα τοῦ θεοῦ μεθʼ ὁμοιώσεως, καὶ λέγειν καὶ πιστεύειν »δίκαιον καὶ ὅσιον μετὰ φρονήσεως« γενόμενον ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον ### English translation (Claude) For it is not pleasing to God himself if we make least of what is worth most, and prefer the open outrages of ignorance, stupidity, idleness, and idolatry, and the utmost impiety. For not without reason do the sons of the philosophers think that everything the foolish do is sacrilege and impiety; and describing ignorance itself as a form of madness, they confess that the many are simply mad. So the Word does not allow us to doubt which of the two is better, to be sane or to be mad. Rather, holding fast to the truth, we must follow God with all our strength, being of sound mind, and consider all things to be his, as they are; and, having learned that we too are the most beautiful of his possessions, entrust ourselves to God, loving the Lord our God, and considering this our work through our whole life. And if “friends have all things in common,” and the human being is dear to God (for he is indeed God's friend, the Word being mediator), then all things belong to the human being, because all things belong to God, and all things are common to both friends, God and the human being. It is time, then, for us to say that only the godly [Christian] is rich and self-controlled and noble, and in this way an image of God with likeness; and to say and believe that he has become “just and holy with wisdom” through Christ Jesus, and to that extent … ### Scripture references - Deut 6:5: allusion, high confidence - Jas 2:23: echo, medium confidence - 1 Tim 2:5: echo, medium confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 279c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Theaet. 176b (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Friends have all things in common” is a proverb cited by Plato (Phaedrus 279c); “just and holy with wisdom” is Plato, Theaetetus 176b. The human being as God's friend recalls Jas 2:23. The bracketed word is marked by the editor as a gloss. The sentence continues in the next section. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.122 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/122/). ## Exhortation to the Greeks 12.123 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/123/ - Source: Stählin 1:86 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 Summary: God adopts believers as sons and calls them “gods”; the Christian's intentions, words, deeds, and life agree. Clement ends by setting before his hearers the choice between judgment and grace. ### Greek text ὅμοιον ἤδη καὶ θεῷ. οὐκ ἀποκρύπτεται γοῦν ὁ προφήτης τὴν χάριν λέγων, »ἐγὼ εἶπον ὅτι θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου πάντες.« ἡμᾶς γάρ, ἡμᾶς εἰσπεποίηται καὶ ἡμῶν ἐθέλει μόνων κεκλῆσθαι πατήρ, οὐ τῶν ἀπειθούντων. καὶ γὰρ οὖν ὧδέ πως ἔχει τὰ ἡμέτερα τῶν Χριστοῦ ὀπαδῶν· οἷαι μὲν αἱ βουλαί, τοῖοι καὶ οἱ λόγοι, ὁποῖοι δὲ οἱ λόγοι, τοιαίδε καὶ αἱ πράξεις, καὶ ὁποῖα τὰ ἔργα, τοιοῦτος ὁ βίος· χρηστὸς ὁ σύμπας ἀνθρώπων βίος τῶν Χριστὸν ἐγνωκότων. Ἅλις οἶμαι τῶν λόγων, εἰ καὶ μακροτέρω προῆλθον ὑπὸ φιλανθρωπίας ὅ τι περ εἶχον ἐκ θεοῦ ἐκχέων, ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ τὸ μέγιστον τῶν ἀγαθῶν, τὴν σωτηρίαν, παρακαλῶν· περὶ γάρ τοι τῆς παῦλαν οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς ἐχούσης ζωῆς οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν οὐδʼ οἱ λόγοι παύσασθαί ποτε ἱεροφαντοῦντες. ὑμῖν δὲ ἔτι τοῦτο περιλείπεται πέρας τὸ λυσιτελοῦν ἑλέσθαι, ἢ κρίσιν ἢ χάριν· ὡς ἔγωγε οὐδʼ ἀμφιβάλλειν ἀξιῶ, πότερον ἄμεινον αὐτοῖν· οὐδὲ μὴν συγκρίνεσθαι θέμις ζωὴν ἀπωλείᾳ. ### English translation (Claude) … already like God. The prophet does not hide this grace when he says: “I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” For it is us, us whom he has adopted, and of us alone that he wishes to be called Father, not of the disobedient. And indeed this is how it is with us, the followers of Christ: as are our intentions, so are our words; as are our words, so are our actions; and as are our deeds, such is our life. The whole life of those who have known Christ is good. Enough words, I think, even if I have gone on at some length, out of love for humankind, pouring out whatever I had from God, as I called you to the greatest of good things, salvation. For about the life that has no end whatever, words too are unwilling ever to stop revealing the sacred mysteries. But for you this final point still remains: to choose what is profitable, judgment or grace. For my part, I do not think it right even to doubt which of the two is better; nor is it lawful to compare life with destruction. ### Scripture references - Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 10:34: echo, medium confidence - Rom 8:15: echo, medium confidence - Deut 30:19: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX; compare John 10:34). Clement, like other early Christian writers, uses “gods” for those made like God by grace, not for a change of nature. ### Citation (SBL) Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 12.123 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/12/123/).