Sophia Scriptura

Exhortation to the Greeks 2.40

Clement of Alexandria · Exhortation to the Greeks · ca. 190–200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: If the pagan gods are not gods, perhaps they are daemons; but then they are greedy and foul, and many are simply local heroes.

Greek text · Stählin 1:30

Εἶεν δή· ἐπειδὴ οὐ θεοί, οὓς θρῃσκεύετε, αὖθις ἐπισκέψασθαί μοι δοκεῖ εἰ ὄντως εἶεν δαίμονες, δευτέρᾳ ταύτῃ, ὡς ὑμεῖς φατέ, ἐγκαταλεγόμενοι τάξει. εἰ γὰρ οὖν δαίμονες, λίχνοι τε καὶ μιαροί. ἔστι μὲν ἐφευρεῖν καὶ ἀναφανδὸν οὕτω κατὰ πόλεις δαίμονας ἐπιχωρίους τιμὴν ἐπιδρεπομένους, παρὰ Κυθνίοις Μενέδημον, παρὰ Τηνίοις Καλλισταγόραν, παρὰ Δηλίοις Ἄνιον, παρὰ Λάκωσιν Ἀστράβακον.

English · Claude translation

Well then, since those whom you worship are not gods, it seems to me that we should consider next whether they are really daemons, enrolled, as you say, in this second rank. For if they are daemons, they are greedy and foul. One can even find local daemons openly receiving honor in the various cities: among the Cythnians Menedemus, among the Tenians Callistagoras, among the Delians Anius, among the Spartans Astrabacus.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:30 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 12. 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), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); 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)

Notes

Translation notes

  • In Greek usage a δαίμων could be any lesser divine being, not necessarily evil; Clement exploits the word's range.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/40/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/40/).

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