Oration to the Greeks 37 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Otto 6:144–146

Μετὰ δὲ τοὺς Χαλδαίους τὰ Φοινίκων οὕτως ἔχει. Γεγόνασιν παρʼ αὐτοῖς τρεῖς ἄνδρες, Θεόδοτος, Ὑψικράτης, Μῶχος· τούτων τὰς βίβλους εἰς ἑλληνίδα κατέταξεν φωνὴν Χαῖτος, ὁ καὶ τοὺς βίους τῶν φιλοσόφων ἐπʼ ἀκριβὲς πραγματευσάμενος. Ἐν δὲ ταῖς τῶν προειρημένων δηλοῦται ἱστορίαις κατά τινα τῶν βασιλέων Εὐρώπης ἁρπαγὴν γεγονέναι, Μενελάου τε εἰς τὴν Φοινίκην ἄφιξις, καὶ τὰ περὶ Χείραμον, ὅστις Σολομῶνι τῷ Ἰουδαίων βασιλεῖ πρὸς γάμον δοὺς τὴν θυγατέρα καὶ ξύλων παντοδαπῶν ὕλην εἰς τὴν τοῦ ναοῦ κατασκευὴν ἐδωρήσατο. Καὶ Μένανδρος δὲ ὁ Περγαμηνὸς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τὴν ἀναγραφὴν ἐποιήσατο. Τοῦ δὲ Χειράμου ὁ χρόνος ἤδη που τοῖς Ἰλιακοῖς ἐγγίζει· Σολομὼν δὲ ὁ κατὰ Χείραμον πολὺ κατώτερός ἐστι τῆς Μωυσέως ἡλικίας.

English · Claude translation

After the Chaldeans, the Phoenician evidence is as follows. There were among them three men, Theodotus, Hypsicrates, and Mochus; their books were translated into Greek by Chaetus, who also wrote a careful account of the lives of the philosophers. The histories of these men show that the rape of Europa took place under one of the kings, and also the arrival of Menelaus in Phoenicia, and the story of Hiram, who gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon, king of the Jews, and presented him with timber of every kind for building the temple. Menander of Pergamum also wrote an account of the same things. The time of Hiram comes somewhere near the Trojan War; and Solomon, Hiram's contemporary, is much later than the age of Moses.

About this passage

Source

Otto 6:144–146 · Johann Carl Theodor Otto, ed., Tatiani Oratio ad Graecos, Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 6 (Jena: Mauke, 1851) · Greek text: J. C. T. Otto, Tatiani Oratio ad Graecos (Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 6, 1851), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Otto, CorpApol 6. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Otto (1851); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Scripture

1 Kgs 5:10 · allusion, medium confidence

Topics

Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

Hiram's gift of timber is in 1 Kgs 5; the marriage of his daughter to Solomon is not in the Bible but is reported from Phoenician sources (Menander of Ephesus, cited by Josephus).
“Chaetus” is otherwise unknown; some think the name is a corruption of Laetus.

Cite this passage

Tatian, Or. Graec. 37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/37/).

Plain text

Tatian, Or. Graec. 37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/37/).