Octavius 13.4 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Simonides kept postponing his answer about the gods because the question grew harder.

Latin text · CSEL 2:18

quid, Simonidis melici nonne admiranda omnibus et sectanda cunctatio? qui Simonides, cum de eo, quid et quales arbitraretur deos, ab Hierone tyranno quaereretur, primo deliberationi diem petiit, postridie biduum prorogauit, mox: alterum tantum admonitus adiunxit. postremo cum causas tantae morae tyrannus inquireret, respondit ille, quod sibi quanto inquisitio tardior pergeret, tanto ueritas fieret obscurior.

English · Claude translation

What of the lyric poet Simonides? Is not his hesitation to be admired and followed by all? When the tyrant Hiero asked this Simonides what he thought the gods were, and of what kind, he first asked for a day to consider; the next day he put it off for two days; then, when reminded, he added as many again. Finally, when the tyrant asked the reasons for so long a delay, he replied that the slower his inquiry went, the more obscure the truth became for him.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:18 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in CSEL 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 13.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/13/4/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 13.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/13/4/).