To Autolycus 3.18
Summary: The Greek flood stories (Plato's partial flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha) are fables compared with Moses' account.
Greek text · Otto 8:230–232
Πλάτων γάρ, ὡς προειρήκαμεν, δηλώσας κατακλυσμὸν γεγενῆσθαι, ἔφη μὴ πάσης τῆς γῆς· ἀλλὰ τῶν πεδίων μόνον γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑψηλοτάτοις ὄρεσιν αὐτοὺς διασεσῶσθαι. Ἕτεροι δὲ λέγουσι γεγονέναι Δευκαλίωνα καὶ Πύῤῥαν, καὶ τούτους ἐν λάρνακι διασεσῶσθαι, καὶ τὸν Δευκαλίωνα μετὰ τὸ ἐλθεῖν ἐκ τῆς λάρνακος λίθους εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω πεπομφέναι, καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἐκ τῶν λίθων γεγενῆσθαι· ὅθεν φασὶν λαοὺς προσαγορεύεσθαι τὸ πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων. Ἄλλοι δʼ αὖ Κλύμενον εἶπον ἐν δευτέρῳ κατακλυσμῷ γεγονέναι. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἄθλιοι καὶ πάνυ δυσσεβεῖς καὶ ἀνόητοι εὑρίσκονται οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα συγγράψαντες καὶ φιλοσοφήσαντες ματαίως, ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων δῆλόν ἐστιν. Ὁ δὲ ἡμέτερος προφήτης καὶ θεράπων τοῦ θεοῦ Μωσῆς, περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ κόσμου ἐξιστορῶν, διηγήσατο τίνι τρόπῳ γεγένηται ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ᾧ τρόπῳ γέγονεν, οὐ Πύῤῥαν οὐδὲ Δευκαλίωνα ἢ Κλύμενον μυθεύων, οὐδὲ μὴν τὰ πεδία μόνον κατακεκλύσθαι, καὶ τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄρεσι μόνους διασεσῶσθαι.
English · Claude translation
Plato, as we said, having indicated that a flood took place, said that it was not over the whole earth, but only over the plains, and that those who fled to the highest mountains were saved. Others say that there were Deucalion and Pyrrha, who were saved in a chest, and that Deucalion, after coming out of the chest, threw stones behind him, and human beings came from the stones; that is why, they say, the mass of human beings is called “peoples” (λαοί). Others again said that Clymenus lived at the time of a second flood. That those who wrote such things and philosophized so vainly are found to be wretched, utterly impious, and senseless is clear from what has been said. But our prophet and the servant of God, Moses, in narrating the genesis of the world, told how the flood came upon the earth, and how the events of the flood took place, without telling tales of Pyrrha or Deucalion or Clymenus, or saying that only the plains were flooded and only those who fled to the mountains were saved.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Peoples” (λαοί) was derived from λᾶας (“stone”) because of the stones Deucalion threw.
- Plato's flood of the plains is in Laws 3.677b.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent on the wrong letter: Πὑῤῥαν for Πύῤῥαν): Δευκαλίωνα καὶ Πὑῤῥαν → Δευκαλίωνα καὶ Πύῤῥαν.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 3.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/18/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 3.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/18/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text