Sophia Scriptura

Octavius 2.4

Minucius Felix · Octavius · ca. 197–250 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: On the beach Caecilius blew a kiss to a statue of Serapis, as pagans did.

Latin text · CSEL 2:4

itaque cum diluculo ad mare inambulando litore pergeremus, ut et aura adspirans leniter membra uegetaret et cum eximia uoluptate molli uestigio cedens harena subsideret, Caecilius simulacro Serapidis denotato, ut uulgus superstitiosus solet, manum ori admouens osculum labiis inpressit.

English · Claude translation

So when at daybreak we were walking along the shore toward the sea, so that the gently blowing breeze might refresh our limbs and the sand, yielding to our soft tread, might sink beneath us with exquisite pleasure, Caecilius, noticing a statue of Serapis, raised his hand to his mouth, as the superstitious common people do, and pressed a kiss upon it with his lips.

About this passage

Source
CSEL 2:4 · 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.

Notes

Translation notes

  • Kissing the hand toward a god's image was a common pagan gesture of reverence.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/2/4/).

Plain text
Minucius Felix, Oct. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/2/4/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage