Oration to the Greeks 3
Summary: Heraclitus, Zeno, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Plato, and Crates are mocked for arrogance and contradictory doctrines.
Greek text · Otto 6:12–18
Τὸν γὰρ Ἡράκλειτον οὐκ ἂν ἀποδεξαίμην, ἐμαυτὸν ἐδιζησάμην εἰπόντα, διὰ τὸ αὐτοδίδακτον εἶναι καὶ ὑπερήφανον. Οὔτʼ ἂν ἐπαινέσαιμι κατακρύψαντα τὴν ποίησιν ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ναῷ, μυστηριωδῶς ὅπως ὕστερον ἡ ταύτης ἔκδοσις γένηται· καὶ γὰρ οἷς μέλον ἐστὶ περὶ τούτων φασὶν Εὐριπίδην τὸν τραγῳδοποιόν, κατιόντα καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντα, διὰ μνήμης κατʼ ὀλίγον τὸ Ἡρακλείτου σκότος σπουδαίως παραδεδωκέναι. Τούτου μὲν οὖν τὴν ἀμαθίαν ὁ θάνατος διήλεγξεν· ὕδρωπι γὰρ συσχεθείς, καὶ τὴν ἰατρικὴν ὡς φιλοσοφίαν ἐπιτηδεύσας, βολβίτοις τε περιπλάσας ἑαυτόν, τῆς κόπρου κρατυνθείσης, συνολκάς τε τοῦ παντὸς ἀπεργασαμένης σώματος, σπασθεὶς ἐτελεύτησε. Τὸν γὰρ Ζήνωνα, διὰ τῆς ἐκπυρώσεως ἀποφαινόμενον ἀνίστασθαι πάλιν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς, λέγω δὲ Ἄνυτον καὶ Μέλητον ἐπὶ τῷ κατηγορεῖν, Βούσιριν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ξενοκτονεῖν, καὶ Ἡρακλέα πάλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀθλεῖν, παραιτητέον· ὅστις ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὴν ἐκπύρωσιν λόγῳ πλείονας τοὺς μοχθηροὺς τῶν δικαίων εἰσηγεῖται, Σωκράτους ἑνὸς καὶ Ἡρακλέους, καί τινων ἄλλων τοιούτων γεγονότων ὀλίγων καὶ οὐ πολλῶν. Οἱ γὰρ κακοὶ πάνυ πλείους εὑρεθήσονται τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Καὶ ὁ θεὸς κακῶν ἀποδειχθήσεται κατʼ αὐτὸν ποιητής, ἐν ἀμάραις τε καὶ σκώληξι καὶ ἀῤῥητουργοῖς καταγινόμενος. Ἐμπεδοκλέους γὰρ τὸ ἀλαζονικὸν αἱ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν τοῦ πυρὸς ἀναφυσήσεις ἀπέδειξαν, ὅτι μὴ θεὸς ὢν τοῦτο παρʼ ὀλίγον εἶναι κατεψεύδετο. Γελῶ καὶ τὴν Φερεκύδους γραολογίαν, καὶ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου τὴν περὶ τὸ δόγμα κληρονομίαν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Πλάτωνος, κἄν τινες μὴ θέλωσι, τὴν περὶ τούτου μίμησιν. Τίς γὰρ ἂν ἐπιμαρτυρήσαι τῇ Κράτητος κυνογαμίᾳ, καὶ οὐ μᾶλλον παραιτησάμενος τὴν ἔντυφον τῶν ὁμοίων αὐτῷ γλωττομανίαν ἐπὶ τὸ ζητεῖν τὸ κατʼ ἀλήθειαν σπουδαῖον τρέψεται; Διόπερ μὴ παρασυρέτωσαν ὑμᾶς αἱ τῶν φιλοσόφων καὶ οὐ φιλοσόφων πανηγύρεις, οἵτινες ἐναντία μὲν ἑαυτοῖς δογματίζουσιν· κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἐπελθὸν ἕκαστος ἐκπεφώνηκε. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐστι προσκρούματα· μισεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἕτερος τὸν ἕτερον· ἀντιδοξοῦσιν δὲ ἑαυτοῖς, διὰ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν τόπους ἐπιλεγόμενοι τοὺς προὔχοντας. Ἐχρῆν δὲ μήτε βασιλέας προλήμματι θεραπεύειν ἢ κολακεύειν τοὺς ἡγουμένους, περιμένειν δὲ μέχρις ἂν πρὸς αὐτοὺς οἱ μεγιστᾶνες ἀφίκωνται.
English · Claude translation
I would not accept Heraclitus, who said, “I searched out myself,” because he was self-taught and arrogant. Nor would I praise him for hiding his poem in the temple of Artemis, so that it might later be published as a mystery; for those who concern themselves with such things say that Euripides the tragedian went there, read it, and little by little, from memory, carefully passed on the obscurity of Heraclitus. His death exposed his ignorance: seized with dropsy, and practicing medicine as he had practiced philosophy, he plastered himself with cow dung, and when the dung hardened and caused his whole body to contract, he died in convulsions. As for Zeno, who declares that after the conflagration the same people will rise again for the same deeds (I mean Anytus and Meletus to accuse, Busiris to murder strangers, and Heracles again to perform his labors), he must be rejected. In his account of the conflagration he introduces more wicked people than righteous, since there has been one Socrates and one Heracles and a few others like them, and not many; for the bad will be found far more numerous than the good. And on his account God will turn out to be the maker of evils, dwelling in sewers and worms and in those who do unspeakable things. The eruptions of fire in Sicily exposed the boastfulness of Empedocles, who was no god but all but lied that he was one. I laugh also at the old wives' tale of Pherecydes, and at Pythagoras's inheritance of his doctrine, and at Plato's imitation of it, even if some would rather I did not. For who would give his approval to the dog-marriage of Crates, and not rather reject the conceited raving tongue of those like him and turn to seeking what is truly worthwhile? So do not be swept along by the solemn assemblies of philosophers who are no philosophers, who teach doctrines contrary to one another, each saying whatever comes into his head. There are many clashes among them: one hates another, they contradict one another, and in their vanity they pick out the foremost places. They ought not to court kings out of self-interest or flatter those in power, but to wait until the great come to them.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “I searched out myself”: Heraclitus, fragment 101 (Diels–Kranz).
- Pherecydes' “old wives' tale” and Pythagoras's “inheritance” probably refer to the transmigration of souls, which Pythagoras was said to have learned from Pherecydes; Plato's “imitation” is his doctrine of the soul.
- Crates the Cynic was said to have consummated his marriage with Hipparchia in public, hence “dog-marriage.”
- Zeno's view is the Stoic doctrine that after each cosmic conflagration the world, with the same persons and deeds, recurs exactly.
- “And not many” follows the obvious correction οὐ πολλῶν for the printed οὐ κολλῶν.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on ἂν before a following word; accent: grave on ὢν before a following word; misprint or digitization slip: κολλῶν for πολλῶν (“not many”), required by the sense): οὐκ ἄν ἀποδεξαίμην → οὐκ ἂν ἀποδεξαίμην; θεὸς ὤν τοῦτο → θεὸς ὢν τοῦτο; καὶ οὐ κολλῶν → καὶ οὐ πολλῶν.
Cite this passage
Tatian, Or. Graec. 3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/3/).
Plain text
Tatian, Or. Graec. 3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/3/).
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