Preparation for the Gospel 5.34.1–6.6.30
Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 1 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 1–2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: E. H. Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis libri XV (Oxford, 1903), vol. 3 (English).
Preparation 5, chapter 34
5.34.1Dindorf 1:264
Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐ μόνους ποιητὰς, ἤδη δὲ καὶ πύκτας καὶ ἀθλητὰς ὁ θαυμάσιος θεὸς διὰ τῶν οἰκείων χρησμῶν ἐξεθέωσεν, εἰκότως μοι δοκεῖ καὶ ταῦτα ἀπελέγχειν ὁ δεδηλωμένος τούτοις τοῖς ῥήμασιν
Epei de ou monous poiētas, ēdē de kai pyktas kai athlētas ho thaumasios theos dia tōn oikeiōn chrēsmōn exetheōsen, eikotōs moi dokei kai tauta apelenchein ho dedēlōmenos toutois tois rhēmasin
But since the wonderful god deified through his oracles not only poets but even boxers and athletes, the writer cited above reasonably, it seems to me, refutes these too, in these words:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Oenomaus on deified athletes.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): ῥή- μασιν → ῥήμασιν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.1 (Dindorf 1:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.2Dindorf 1:264
ὢ εἰδὼς ψάμμου τʼ ἀριθμὸν καὶ μέτρα θαλάσσης, καὶ κωφοῦ ξυνιεὶς καὶ μὴ λαλέοντος ἀκούων. εἴθε ὤφελες τὰ μὲν τοιαῦτα πάντα ἀγνοεῖν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ εἰδέναι, ὅτι ἡ πυκτικὴ τῆς λακτιστικῆς οὐδὲν διαφέρει, ἔν ἢ καὶ τοὺς ὄνους ἀπηθανάτους, ἢ μηδὲ Κλεομήδην πύκτην Ἀστυπαλαιέα, λέγων οὕτως ὕστατος ἡρώων Κλεομήδης Ἁστυπαλαιεὺς, ὃν θυσίαις τιμᾶθʼ ὡς οὐκέτι θνητὸν ἐόντα.
ō eidōs psammou tʼ arithmon kai metra thalassēs, kai kōphou xynieis kai mē laleontos akouōn. eithe ōpheles ta men toiauta panta agnoein, ekeino de eidenai, hoti hē pyktikē tēs laktistikēs ouden diapherei, en ē kai tous onous apēthanatous, ē mēde Kleomēdēn pyktēn Astypalaiea, legōn houtōs hystatos hērōōn Kleomēdēs Hastypalaieus, hon thysiais timathʼ hōs ouketi thnēton eonta.
"'O you who know the number of the sand and the measures of the sea, and understand the dumb and hear him who does not speak!' Would that you had been ignorant of all such things, and had known this instead: that boxing differs nothing from kicking, so that you would either make asses immortal too, or not even Cleomedes the boxer of Astypalaea, when you say: 'Last of the heroes is Cleomedes of Astypalaea; honor him with sacrifices, as being no longer mortal.'
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo deified the boxer Cleomedes.
- Oenomaus, quoted through 5.34.17. The first line adapts the oracle to Croesus (Herodotus, Histories 1.47). "So that you would either make asses immortal": the printed text here (ἔν ἢ ... ἀπηθανάτους) is corrupt; rendered by the sense. On Cleomedes compare Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.9.6–8.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 1.47 (Herodotus, Histories; quotation); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.2 (Dindorf 1:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.3Dindorf 1:264
διὰ τί γὰρ, ὦ πάτριε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐξηγητὰ, ὥς σε καλεῖ Πλάτων, ἐθέωσας τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον; ἢ ὅτι Ὀλυμπίασι πληγῇ μιᾷ πατάξας τὸν ἀνταγωνιστὴν ἀνέῳξε τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐμβαλὼν τὴν χεῖρα ἐλάβετο τοῦ πνεύμονος;
dia ti gar, ō patrie tōn Hellēnōn exēgēta, hōs se kalei Platōn, etheōsas ton andra touton? ē hoti Olympiasi plēgę̄ mią pataxas ton antagōnistēn aneǭxe tēn pleuran autou kai embalōn tēn cheira elabeto tou pneumonos?
For why, O ancestral interpreter of the Greeks, as Plato calls you, did you deify this man? Was it because at Olympia, striking his opponent with one blow, he opened his side and, thrusting in his hand, seized his lung?
Notes and citation
Summary: Cleomedes killed an opponent at Olympia.
- Plato calls Apollo the ancestral interpreter: Republic 427c.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in digitization): Πλάτωνʼ, → Πλάτων,.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 427c (Plato (works); allusion); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.3 (Dindorf 1:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.4Dindorf 1:264
Ἄπολλον, ἀξιοθέου ἔργου· ἢ οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι προστιμηθεὶς τεσσάρων ταλάντων ζημίαν ἐπὶ τούτῳ οὐχ ὑπέστη, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ ἀχθηδόνος καὶ βαρυθυμίας ἐνήρεισε τὸν θυμὸν τοῖς ἐν τῷ διδασκαλείῳ παισὶ, τὸν κίονα ὑφελκύσας, ὃς ἀνεῖχε τὴν στέγην; ἆρʼ, ὦ θεοποιὲ, διὰ ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν ὁ Κλεομήδης τιμητέος ἐστίν;
Apollon, axiotheou ergou; ē ou monon, alla kai hoti prostimētheis tessarōn talantōn zēmian epi toutǭ ouch hypestē, allʼ hypʼ achthēdonos kai barythymias enēreise ton thymon tois en tǭ didaskaleiǭ paisi, ton kiona hyphelkysas, hos aneiche tēn stegēn? arʼ, ō theopoie, dia tauthʼ hymin ho Kleomēdēs timēteos estin?
Apollo, what a deed worthy of a god! Or not only that, but also because, being fined four talents for it, he did not submit, but in vexation and rage vented his anger on the boys in the school, pulling away the pillar that held up the roof? Is it for this, maker of gods, that Cleomedes is to be honored by you?
Notes and citation
Summary: Cleomedes pulled down a school roof on the children.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.4 (Dindorf 1:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.5Dindorf 1:264–265
ἢ κἀκεῖνο προσθήσεις, τὸ ἕτερον δεῖγμα τῆς ἐκείνου ἀνδρείας ἅμα καὶ θεοφιλίας, ὅτι δὴ ἐμβὰς εἰς ἱερὸν κιβώτιον καὶ τὸ πῶμα ἐπαγόμενος ἄληπτος ἐγένετο τοῖς διώκουσι, πειρωμένοις αὐτὸν ἐξελκύσαι. ὦ Κλεόμηδες, ἆρα ἥρως οὐκέτι θνητὸς, οἷα τὰ μηχανήματα ὑπὲρ ἀθανασίας ἐξεῦρες.
ē kakeino prosthēseis, to heteron deigma tēs ekeinou andreias hama kai theophilias, hoti dē embas eis hieron kibōtion kai to pōma epagomenos alēptos egeneto tois diōkousi, peirōmenois auton exelkysai. ō Kleomēdes, ara hērōs ouketi thnētos, hoia ta mēchanēmata hyper athanasias exeures.
Or will you add that other proof of his courage and at the same time his love for the gods, that, getting into a sacred chest and pulling the lid down, he could not be caught by his pursuers when they tried to drag him out? O Cleomedes, hero no longer mortal, what contrivances you invented for immortality!
Notes and citation
Summary: Cleomedes vanished from a chest in a temple.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in digitization): ἐξελκύσαι,. ὦ → ἐξελκύσαι. ὦ.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.5 (Dindorf 1:264–265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.6Dindorf 1:265
ᾔσθοντο γοῦν εὐθέως οἱ θεοὶ τῆς ἀγαθουργίας καὶ ἀνηρείψαντό σε, ὥσπερ οἱ τοῦ Ὁμήρου τὸν Γανυμήδην· ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει, σὲ δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ ἰσχύϊ καὶ τῆς ἰσχύος τῇ χρήσει τῇ ἀγαθῇ.
ę̄sthonto goun eutheōs hoi theoi tēs agathourgias kai anēreipsanto se, hōsper hoi tou Homērou ton Ganymēdēn; alla ton men epi tǭ kallei, se de epi tę̄ ischyï kai tēs ischyos tę̄ chrēsei tę̄ agathę̄.
The gods at once perceived his good deeds and snatched you up, as Homer's gods did Ganymede; but him for his beauty, and you for your strength and your good use of strength.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ironical comparison of Cleomedes with Ganymede.
- Compare Homer, Iliad 20.232–235.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing space in digitization): οἱτοῦ → οἱ τοῦ.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 20.232–235 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.6 (Dindorf 1:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.7Dindorf 1:265
εἴθε οὖν, ὦ μάντι, ὡς ἔφην, ἐάσας τὴν ψάμμον καὶ τὴν ἅλμην ἀντʼ αὐτῶν ἐξέμαθες ὁπόσου ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἡ πυκτικὴ, ἵνα καὶ τοὺς πύκτας ὄνους θεοὺς ἐνόμιζες καὶ τοὺς ὀνάγρους τῶν θεῶν τοὺς ἀρίστους· καὶ ἦν ἄν τι οἰκεῖον λόγιον ἐπʼ ἀποθανόντι ὀνάγρῳ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τῷ σῷ πύκτῃ ἔξοχος ἀθανάτων ὄνος ἄγριος, οὐ Κλεομήδης, ὃν θυσίαις τιμᾶθʼ ὡς οὐκέτι θνητὸν ἐόντα.
eithe oun, ō manti, hōs ephēn, easas tēn psammon kai tēn halmēn antʼ autōn exemathes hoposou axion estin hē pyktikē, hina kai tous pyktas onous theous enomizes kai tous onagrous tōn theōn tous aristous; kai ēn an ti oikeion logion epʼ apothanonti onagrǭ mallon ē epi tǭ sǭ pyktę̄ exochos athanatōn onos agrios, ou Kleomēdēs, hon thysiais timathʼ hōs ouketi thnēton eonta.
Would then, O seer, as I said, that you had left the sand and the brine and learned instead what boxing is worth, so that you might have counted boxers asses for gods and wild asses the best of gods; and there would have been a fitting oracle on a dead wild ass rather than on your boxer: 'Highest of immortals is the wild ass, not Cleomedes; honor him with sacrifices, as being no longer mortal.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus parodies the Cleomedes oracle with a wild ass.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization): ὡς ουκέτι → ὡς οὐκέτι.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.7 (Dindorf 1:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.8Dindorf 1:265
μὴ γὰρ δὴ θαυμάσῃς εἰ καὶ ὄναγρος ἐπιδικάσεται ἀθανασίας, ἱκανῶς τὰ θεῖα παρεσκευασμένος· καὶ ἀκούσας μὴ ἀνασχέσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἀπειλῆσαι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Κλεομήδην πατάξας εἰς τὸ βάραθρον ἐμβαλεῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἐπιτρέψειν αὐτῷ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβῆναι·
mē gar dē thaumasę̄s ei kai onagros epidikasetai athanasias, hikanōs ta theia pareskeuasmenos; kai akousas mē anaschesthai, allʼ apeilēsai kai auton ton Kleomēdēn pataxas eis to barathron embalein, kai ouk epitrepsein autǭ eis ton ouranon anabēnai;
For do not be surprised if a wild ass too lays claim to immortality, being well equipped for divine things; and that on hearing of it he would not bear it, but would threaten to strike Cleomedes himself and throw him into the pit, and would not let him go up to heaven.
Notes and citation
Summary: The wild ass would contest Cleomedes' claim.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.8 (Dindorf 1:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.9Dindorf 1:265
εἶναι γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἀξιώτερος αὐτῶν τῶν θείων δώρων, ἅτε μήτε αὐτῷ μόνῳ ἕτοιμος ὢν μάχεσθαι, κἂν εἰ σιδηροῖς χρῷτο τοῖς ἱμᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ Θασίῳ πύκτῃ ἅμα ἀμφοτέροις, ὑπὲρ οὗ τοῦ ἀνδριάντος ἐχαλέπηναν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ τὴν Θασίων γῆν ἄφορον εἰργάσαντο.
einai gar autou axiōteros autōn tōn theiōn dōrōn, hate mēte autǭ monǭ hetoimos ōn machesthai, kan ei sidērois chrǭto tois himasin, alla kai tǭ Thasiǭ pyktę̄ hama amphoterois, hyper hou tou andriantos echalepēnan hoi theoi kai tēn Thasiōn gēn aphoron eirgasanto.
For he would be worthier than he of the divine gifts themselves, being ready to fight not only him alone, even if he used iron thongs, but also the Thasian boxer, both at once, over whose statue the gods were angry and made the land of the Thasians barren.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus turns to the Thasian boxer's statue.
- The Thasian boxer is Theagenes; compare Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.11.2–9.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation); Pausanias (Pausanias, Description of Greece; echo)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.9 (Dindorf 1:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.10Dindorf 1:265
πιστεύομεν δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτου οὐκ ἀνθρώπῳ, ἀλλὰ θεῷ τῷ αὐτῷ. ἐξ ὧν ἐγὼ καὶ πάνυ κατενόησα ὅτι θεῖόν τι ἄρα ἦν ἐπιτήδευμα ἡ πυκτικὴ, τοὺς δὲ πολλοὺς καὶ οἰομένους εἶναι σοφοὺς ἐλελήθει, ἵνʼ ἀφέμενοι τοῦ καλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ εἶναι ἤσκουν τὰ τοῦ Θασίου πύκτου· ᾧ ἀθανασίαν μὲν, ὥσπερ Κλεομήδει, οὐκ ἔδωκαν, ἐφίλησαν δὲ μεγάλως οἱ θεοί.
pisteuomen de kai peri toutou ouk anthrōpǭ, alla theǭ tǭ autǭ. ex hōn egō kai pany katenoēsa hoti theion ti ara ēn epitēdeuma hē pyktikē, tous de pollous kai oiomenous einai sophous elelēthei, hinʼ aphemenoi tou kaloi kagathoi einai ēskoun ta tou Thasiou pyktou; hǭ athanasian men, hōsper Kleomēdei, ouk edōkan, ephilēsan de megalōs hoi theoi.
And about this too we trust not a man but the same god. From which I fully perceived that boxing was, it seems, a divine pursuit, though it had escaped the many and those who think themselves wise, so that, giving up being honorable and good, they might practice the arts of the Thasian boxer, to whom the gods did not give immortality, as to Cleomedes, but loved him greatly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ironical conclusion that boxing is divine.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.10 (Dindorf 1:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.11Dindorf 1:265–266
οὕτω καὶ ὁ χάλκεος αὐτοῦ ἀνδριὰς ἔδειξέ τι ὑπὲρ τὰς τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων εἰκόνας, ἐπικατενεχθεὶς τῷ μαστιγοῦντι ἐχθρῷ, κατά τινα, ὡς ἔοικε, δαιμονίαν μέριμναν.
houtō kai ho chalkeos autou andrias edeixe ti hyper tas tōn allōn anthrōpōn eikonas, epikatenechtheis tǭ mastigounti echthrǭ, kata tina, hōs eoike, daimonian merimnan.
So his bronze statue too showed something beyond the images of other men, falling upon the enemy who was flogging it, by some demonic care, it seems.
Notes and citation
Summary: The statue fell on a man who flogged it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): ἐπικα- τενεχθεὶς → ἐπικατενεχθεὶς.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.11 (Dindorf 1:265–266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.12Dindorf 1:266
ἀλλʼ οἱ ἄφρονες Θάσιοι καὶ θείων ἄπειροι πραγμάτων ἠγανάκτησάν τε καὶ ἄγος ἐπεκάλεσαν τῷ ἀνδριάντι, καὶ δίκην εἰσεπράξαντο, καὶ καταδῦσαι ἐτόλμησαν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν.
allʼ hoi aphrones Thasioi kai theiōn apeiroi pragmatōn ēganaktēsan te kai agos epekalesan tǭ andrianti, kai dikēn eisepraxanto, kai katadysai etolmēsan eis tēn thalassan.
But the foolish Thasians, inexperienced in divine matters, were indignant, charged the statue with pollution, exacted a penalty, and dared to sink it in the sea.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Thasians sank the statue in the sea.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.12 (Dindorf 1:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.13Dindorf 1:266
οὐ μὴν διέφυγόν γε οἱ Θάσιοι, ἀλλʼ οἱ θεοὶ ἔδειξαν ἡλίκον κακὸν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἐτολμήθη, λιμὸν ἐπιπέμψαντες τὸν τῆς θείας δίκης διάκονον, ὃς ἐδίδαξε μόλις αὐτοὺς τὰ τῶν θεῶν βουλεύματα, ὅ τε φιλανθρωπότατος θεῶν σὺ τῷ οἰκείῳ τρόπῳ τὴν βοήθειαν αὐτοῖς ἔπεμψας λέγων εἰς πάτρην φυγάδας κατάγων Δήμητρʼ ἀπαμήσεις.
ou mēn diephygon ge hoi Thasioi, allʼ hoi theoi edeixan hēlikon kakon hypʼ autōn etolmēthē, limon epipempsantes ton tēs theias dikēs diakonon, hos edidaxe molis autous ta tōn theōn bouleumata, ho te philanthrōpotatos theōn sy tǭ oikeiǭ tropǭ tēn boētheian autois epempsas legōn eis patrēn phygadas katagōn Dēmētrʼ apamēseis.
Yet the Thasians did not escape; the gods showed how great an evil they had dared, sending famine, the minister of divine justice, which barely taught them the gods' counsels; and you, kindest of the gods, sent them help in your own fashion, saying: 'Bring the exiles back to their fatherland, and you will reap Demeter.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Famine struck Thasos; Apollo's oracle spoke of bringing back exiles.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.13 (Dindorf 1:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.14Dindorf 1:266
ἀλλʼ οἱ ἀβέλτεροι πάλιν τοὺς φεύγοντας ἀνθρώπους ᾤοντο ὅτι δεῖ αὐτοὺς κατακαλεῖν· κακῶς εἰδότες. τί γὰρ δὴ καὶ μέλει τοῖς ἀφιλανθρωποτάτοις θεοῖς ἀνθρώπων κατακαλουμένων ὅσονπερ ἀνδριάντων; ἀμέλει οὐδὲν ἐπὶ τούτῳ ὠφελήθη ἡ γῆ ὥστε παύσασθαι νοσοῦσα, εἰ μὴ τῶν σοφῶν καὶ ἐπισταμένων τις τὸν θεῖον νοῦν συνῆκε φυγάδα εἶναι τὸν καταπεποντωμένον ἀνδριάντα. καὶ ἦν οὕτως. ἅμα γὰρ ἀνεστάθη καὶ εὐθὺς ἡ μὲν γῆ ἀνέθαλλεν, οἱ δὲ ἐκόμων Δήμητρι λοιπόν.
allʼ hoi abelteroi palin tous pheugontas anthrōpous ǭonto hoti dei autous katakalein; kakōs eidotes. ti gar dē kai melei tois aphilanthrōpotatois theois anthrōpōn katakaloumenōn hosonper andriantōn? amelei ouden epi toutǭ ōphelēthē hē gē hōste pausasthai nosousa, ei mē tōn sophōn kai epistamenōn tis ton theion noun synēke phygada einai ton katapepontōmenon andrianta. kai ēn houtōs. hama gar anestathē kai euthys hē men gē anethallen, hoi de ekomōn Dēmētri loipon.
But the fools again thought they must recall the men who were in exile, ill-informed as they were. For what do the most unkind gods care about the recall of men, compared with that of statues? Of course the land gained nothing by this so as to stop being sick, until one of the wise who knew the divine mind understood that the exile was the statue sunk in the sea. And so it was. For as soon as it was set up again, the land at once flourished again, and they thereafter grew their hair long for Demeter.
Notes and citation
Summary: The famine ended when the statue was restored.
- "Grew their hair long for Demeter": i.e. their crops flourished; the Greek ἐκόμων plays on the 'hair' of grain.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.14 (Dindorf 1:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.15Dindorf 1:266
πῶς οὖν οὐ τεκμήρια ταῦτά εἰσιν ἐναργῆ τῆς θεοπρεποῦς ἀθλητικῆς, ὅτι ἐστὶ θεοτίμητος; καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ πεντάθλου ἀνδριάντι ὑβρισμένῳ ἐμήνισαν οἱ θεοὶ, καὶ Λοκροὶ ἐπείνησαν διὰ τοῦτο, ὥσπερ Θάσιοι, ἕως αὐτοὺς ἰάσατο λόγιον σὸν ἔχον οὕτως ἐν τιμῇ τὸν ἄτιμον ἔχων τότε γῆν ἀναρώσεις.
pōs oun ou tekmēria tauta eisin enargē tēs theoprepous athlētikēs, hoti esti theotimētos? kai gar kai epi pentathlou andrianti hybrismenǭ emēnisan hoi theoi, kai Lokroi epeinēsan dia touto, hōsper Thasioi, heōs autous iasato logion son echon houtōs en timę̄ ton atimon echōn tote gēn anarōseis.
How, then, are these not clear proofs of god-befitting athletics, that it is honored by the gods? For the gods were angry also over the insulted statue of a pentathlete, and the Locrians starved because of it, like the Thasians, until an oracle of yours healed them, running thus: 'Holding the dishonored one in honor, then you will till the land.'
Notes and citation
Summary: The Locrians suffered famine for insulting a pentathlete's statue.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.15 (Dindorf 1:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.16Dindorf 1:266–267
οὐδὲ γὰρ Λοκροὶ ᾔσθοντο θείας διανοίας πρότερον ἢ σὲ αὐτοῖς τούτου πρόξενον γενέσθαι. ἀλλʼ Εὐθυκλέα τὸν πένταθλον ἐνέβαλον εἰς εἱρκτὴν, αἰτιασάμενοι αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ πατρίδι εἰληφέναι δῶρα· καὶ οὐ μόνον τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποθανόντος καὶ οὗτοι εἰς τὰς εἰκόνας ἐξύβριζον, ἕως οἱ θεοὶ οὐκ ἀνασχόμενοι τῶν γινομένων ἐπαφῆκαν αὐτοῖς τὸν κράτιστον λιμόν· κἂν ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ διώλοντο ἂν, εἰ μὴ ἡ παρὰ σοῦ ἦλθε βοήθεια, λέγουσα ὅτι δεῖ αὐτοὺς τιμᾶν ἄνδρας πεφατνευμένους, οὓς οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν οὐχ ἡττον ἢ οὓς οἱ ἀλφιτοποιοὶ πιαίνουσι βοῦς, διʼ ὧν ὑμᾶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐνίοτε θύοντες πείθουσιν· οὐχ ἡττον ἴσως, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον παχέων βοῶν οἱ παχεῖς ἄνθρωποι εὐφραίνουσιν ὑμᾶς οὕτως ὥστε ἐνίοτε ὅλῃ πόλει καὶ ὅλῳ ἔθνει ὀργίζεσθαι, ἑνὸς ἢ δυοῖν ἀδικούντων ταῦτα τὰ θρέμματα.
oude gar Lokroi ę̄sthonto theias dianoias proteron ē se autois toutou proxenon genesthai. allʼ Euthyklea ton pentathlon enebalon eis heirktēn, aitiasamenoi auton epi tę̄ patridi eilēphenai dōra; kai ou monon touto, alla kai apothanontos kai houtoi eis tas eikonas exybrizon, heōs hoi theoi ouk anaschomenoi tōn ginomenōn epaphēkan autois ton kratiston limon; kan hypo tou limou diōlonto an, ei mē hē para sou ēlthe boētheia, legousa hoti dei autous timan andras pephatneumenous, hous hoi theoi philousin ouch hētton ē hous hoi alphitopoioi piainousi bous, diʼ hōn hymas hoi anthrōpoi eniote thyontes peithousin; ouch hētton isōs, alla kai poly mallon pacheōn boōn hoi pacheis anthrōpoi euphrainousin hymas houtōs hōste eniote holę̄ polei kai holǭ ethnei orgizesthai, henos ē dyoin adikountōn tauta ta thremmata.
For the Locrians did not perceive the divine intent before you became their patron in this. But they threw Euthycles the pentathlete into prison, accusing him of having taken bribes against his country; and not only this, but after he died they too outraged his images, until the gods, not bearing what was happening, let loose upon them the mightiest famine; and they would have perished by the famine, had not help come from you, saying that they must honor stall-fed men, whom the gods love no less than the oxen fattened by millers, by sacrificing which men sometimes persuade you gods; no less, perhaps, but much more than fat oxen, fat men gladden you, so that you are sometimes angry with a whole city and a whole nation when one or two wrong these cattle of yours.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus mocks the gods' love of fattened athletes.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined; punctuation misread in digitization): ἕως οἶ θεοὶ → ἕως οἱ θεοὶ; οὓς οἶ ἀλφιτοποιοὶ → οὓς οἱ ἀλφιτοποιοὶ; πείθουσιν ’ οὐχ → πείθουσιν· οὐχ; πρότε- ρον → πρότερον; αἰτια- σάμενοι → αἰτιασάμενοι.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.16 (Dindorf 1:266–267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.34.17Dindorf 1:267
ὡς δὴ ὤφελες, ὦ μάντι, ἀλείπτης ἡμῖν ἀντὶ μάντεως γενέσθαι, ἢ καὶ μάντις ἅμα καὶ ἀλείπτης, ἵν ᾖ ὥσπερ χρηστήριον Δελφικὸν, οὕτω καὶ γυμναστήριον. καὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἀλλότριον ἦν ἀγῶνος Πυθικοῦ Πυθικὸν εἶναι καὶ τὸ γυμναστήριον.’ Τούτοις ἐπισυνάψω καὶ ἅ φησιν ἀπελέγχων ὡς καὶ τοὺς τυράννους κολακεύειν εἰώθασιν οἱ περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος.
hōs dē ōpheles, ō manti, aleiptēs hēmin anti manteōs genesthai, ē kai mantis hama kai aleiptēs, hin ę̄ hōsper chrēstērion Delphikon, houtō kai gymnastērion. kai gar oudʼ allotrion ēn agōnos Pythikou Pythikon einai kai to gymnastērion.’ Toutois episynapsō kai ha phēsin apelenchōn hōs kai tous tyrannous kolakeuein eiōthasin hoi peri hōn ho logos.
Would, O seer, that you had become a trainer for us instead of a seer, or seer and trainer at once, so that as there is an oracle at Delphi, so there might be a gymnasium too. For it would not be foreign to the Pythian games for the gymnasium also to be Pythian." To these I shall add what he says in refutation, showing how those of whom we speak are accustomed to flatter tyrants too:
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo should have been an athletic trainer.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; repeated syllables in digitization): γενέσθαι, σθα, ἢ → γενέσθαι, ἢ; οἶ περὶ ὧν → οἱ περὶ ὧν.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.34.17 (Dindorf 1:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-34-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 5, chapter 35
5.35.1Dindorf 1:267
“ οὗτος ἀνὴρ, ὃς ἐμὸν δόμον ἐσκαταβαίνει, Κύψελος Αἰακίδης, βασιλεὺς κλεινοῖο Κορίνθου. οὐκοῦν καὶ οἱ τύραννοι, οὐ μόνον οἱ τῶν τυράννων ἐπίβουλοι, Κύψελος, ὃς δὴ πολλὰ Κορίνθῳ πήματα τεύξει, καὶ Μελάνιππος ὁ πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ τῇ Γελώων πόλει τεύξας.
“ houtos anēr, hos emon domon eskatabainei, Kypselos Aiakidēs, basileus kleinoio Korinthou. oukoun kai hoi tyrannoi, ou monon hoi tōn tyrannōn epibouloi, Kypselos, hos dē polla Korinthǭ pēmata teuxei, kai Melanippos ho polla agatha tę̄ Gelōōn polei teuxas.
"'This man who comes down into my house is Cypselus, son of Eetion, king of famous Corinth.' So tyrants too are blessed, not only those who plot against tyrants: Cypselus, who will bring many woes on Corinth, and Melanippus, who brought many goods to the city of Gela.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo flattered the tyrant Cypselus.
- The oracle: Herodotus, Histories 5.92. The printed text calls Cypselus Αἰακίδης; Herodotus has Ἠετίδης, "son of Eetion", which is translated here.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): οἶ τῶν τυράννων → οἱ τῶν τυράννων.
Extrabiblical texts: Herodotus, Hist. 5.92 (Herodotus, Histories; quotation); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.35.1 (Dindorf 1:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.35.2Dindorf 1:267–268
πῶς δʼ εἰ Κύψελος ὄλβιος, ὦ κακόδαιμον, οὐ καὶ Φαλαρὶς ὄλβιός, ὁμότροπος ὢν Κυψέλῳ; ὥστʼ ἂν ἐκείνως ἄμεινον εἶναι ὑμῖν εὐδαίμων Φαλαρὶς καὶ Μελάνιππος ἔφυ, θείας ἁγητῆρες ἐν ἀνθρώποις διχονοίας.
pōs dʼ ei Kypselos olbios, ō kakodaimon, ou kai Phalaris olbios, homotropos ōn Kypselǭ? hōstʼ an ekeinōs ameinon einai hymin eudaimōn Phalaris kai Melanippos ephy, theias hagētēres en anthrōpois dichonoias.
And how, if Cypselus is blessed, wretch, is not Phalaris blessed too, being of the same character as Cypselus? So that it would be better for you to say: 'Happy were Phalaris and Melanippus, leaders among men of divine discord.'
Notes and citation
Summary: If Cypselus was blessed, so was Phalaris.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.35.2 (Dindorf 1:267–268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.35.3Dindorf 1:268
ἤκουσα δέ σου καὶ διαλελυμένον χρησμὸν περὶ τοῦ Φαλάριδος, ἐπαινοῦντα καὶ τιμῶντα, ὅτι λαβὼν ἐπιβουλεύοντας ᾐκίσατο μὲν, καρτεροῦντας δὲ ἀγάμενος ἀφῆκε· Λοξίας καὶ Ζεὺς πατὴρ ἀναβολὴν ἐψηφίσαντο θανάτου Φαλαρίδι, ἀνθʼ ὧν ἡμέρως Χαρίτωνι καὶ Μελανίππῳ προσηνέχθη. ἀλλʼ εὖ γε καὶ μόλις ἡμῖν τὰ περὶ τοῦ θανάτου ἔδειξας καὶ τῆς ζωῆς, ὅτι κάλλιστόν τι ἐστὶν ἡ ζωή. ἐπὶ τούτοις ἅπασι καὶ τόδε προσκείσθω
ēkousa de sou kai dialelymenon chrēsmon peri tou Phalaridos, epainounta kai timōnta, hoti labōn epibouleuontas ę̄kisato men, karterountas de agamenos aphēke; Loxias kai Zeus patēr anabolēn epsēphisanto thanatou Phalaridi, anthʼ hōn hēmerōs Charitōni kai Melanippǭ prosēnechthē. allʼ eu ge kai molis hēmin ta peri tou thanatou edeixas kai tēs zōēs, hoti kalliston ti estin hē zōē. epi toutois hapasi kai tode proskeisthō
And I heard from you a prose oracle too about Phalaris, praising and honoring him because, when he caught men plotting against him, he tortured them, but admiring their endurance let them go: 'Loxias and father Zeus have voted a postponement of death for Phalaris, because he dealt gently with Chariton and Melanippus.' Well done, and with difficulty you have shown us the truth about death and life, that life is a very fine thing." To all these let this too be added:
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo praised the tyrant Phalaris.
- The Greek here reads Θαλάριδος, a slip for Φαλάριδος, "Phalaris".
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; letter misread in digitization; punctuation misread in digitization): Θαλάριδος → Φαλάριδος; ῂκίσατο → ᾐκίσατο; ἀφῆκε ’ Λοξίας → ἀφῆκε· Λοξίας.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.35.3 (Dindorf 1:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-35-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 5, chapter 36
5.36.1Dindorf 1:268
ἀλλά κε Μηθύμνης ναέταις πολὺ λώιον ἔσται φαλληνὸν τιμῶσι Διωνύσοιο κάρηνον. θύουσι γὰρ αἱ πόλεις καὶ τελετὰς ἄγουσιν οὐ μόνον φαλληνοῖς Διωνύσοιο καρήνοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ λιθίνοις καὶ χαλκέοις καὶ χρυσέοις, καὶ οὐ μόνον φαλληνοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς Διονυσίοις καὶ ἄλλοις παμπόλλοις Ἡσιοδείοις θεοῖς.
alla ke Mēthymnēs naetais poly lōion estai phallēnon timōsi Diōnysoio karēnon. thyousi gar hai poleis kai teletas agousin ou monon phallēnois Diōnysoio karēnois, alla kai lithinois kai chalkeois kai chryseois, kai ou monon phallēnois, alla kai autois tois Dionysiois kai allois pampollois Hēsiodeiois theois.
"'But it will be much better for the dwellers of Methymna if they honor the phallic head of Dionysus.' For cities sacrifice and hold rites not only for phallic heads of Dionysus, but also for stone, bronze, and golden ones; and not only for phallic ones, but also for the Dionysuses themselves and very many other Hesiodic gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apollo's oracle to Methymna on the wooden head of Dionysus.
- Compare Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.19.3.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation); Pausanias (Pausanias, Description of Greece; echo)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.36.1 (Dindorf 1:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.36.2Dindorf 1:268
τρὶς γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς μύριοί εἰσιν ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ, οὐκ ἀθάνατοι, ἀλλὰ λίθινοι καὶ ξύλινοι δεσπόται ἀνθρώπων· οἳ εἰ ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίην ἐφεώρων, οὐκ ἂν τοσοῦτος ἤρθη λῆρος, ὥστε καὶ ἤδη καὶ μέχρις ὑμῶν κεχωρηκέναι τὸ κακὸν, ἐπιδιαβὰν καὶ εἰς τὸν Ὄλυμπον, ὅθι, φασὶ, θεῶν ἶδος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεί.
tris gar hōs alēthōs myrioi eisin epi chthoni poulyboteirę̄, ouk athanatoi, alla lithinoi kai xylinoi despotai anthrōpōn; hoi ei anthrōpōn hybrin te kai eunomiēn epheōrōn, ouk an tosoutos ērthē lēros, hōste kai ēdē kai mechris hymōn kechōrēkenai to kakon, epidiaban kai eis ton Olympon, hothi, phasi, theōn idos asphales aiei.
For truly 'thrice ten thousand are there on the much-nourishing earth,' not immortals, but stone and wooden masters of men; who, if they watched over men's insolence and good order, so much nonsense would not have arisen that the evil has now reached even to you, crossing over to Olympus as well, 'where, they say, is the seat of the gods, ever secure.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus parodies Hesiod's 'thirty thousand immortals'.
- Hesiod, Works and Days 252–254, adapted; Homer, Odyssey 17.487 (watching over men's insolence and good order); Odyssey 6.42.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): Ὂλυμπον → Ὄλυμπον.
Extrabiblical texts: Hesiod, Op. 252–254 (Hesiod, Works and Days; quotation); Homer, Od. 17.487 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation); Homer, Od. 6.42 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation); Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.36.2 (Dindorf 1:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.36.3Dindorf 1:268
καίτοι εἰ ἀσφαλὲς ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἦν ἐπιβατὸν λήρῳ, οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς τις τῶν Ὀλυμπίων εἰς τοῦτο ἦλθε παρανοίας ὥστʼ ἐλάινον κορμὸν θεῶσαι, ὃν οἱ Μηθυμναῖοι σαγήνης ἐμπλακέντα τοῖς λίνοις ἀνείλκυσαν, καὶ δὶς, εἰ βούλει, καὶ τρὶς καὶ πλεονάκις ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ σαγηνεύοντες ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου εἰς τὸ Λιβυκὸν ἐξοκείλαντες, οὐδʼ εἰς τὴν γῆν ἔξω ἐκβαλόντες αὐτόν· ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἂν, μὰ τὸν Διόνυσον, ἔτι αὐτοῖς ἐνεπλάκη τοῖς λίνοις.
kaitoi ei asphales ēn, ouk an ēn epibaton lērǭ, oudʼ an heis tis tōn Olympiōn eis touto ēlthe paranoias hōstʼ elainon kormon theōsai, hon hoi Mēthymnaioi sagēnēs emplakenta tois linois aneilkysan, kai dis, ei boulei, kai tris kai pleonakis en tǭ autǭ sagēneuontes anthrōpoi, kai ex ekeinou eis to Libykon exokeilantes, oudʼ eis tēn gēn exō ekbalontes auton; epei ouk an, ma ton Dionyson, eti autois eneplakē tois linois.
And yet if it were secure, it would not be accessible to nonsense, nor would any one of the Olympians have come to such madness as to deify an olive trunk which the Methymnaeans drew up caught in the meshes of a net, men casting their nets twice, if you like, and three times and more in the same place, and running aground from there on the Libyan coast, without even casting it out onto the land; since, by Dionysus, it would not otherwise have been caught in their nets again.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oenomaus ridicules the deified olive trunk netted by fishermen.
- The sentence is compressed and partly obscure in the Greek.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization; stray marks and breathing misread in digitization): ὥστʼ ’ ἐλάινον κορμὸν θεῶσαι ’ ὃν οἶ → ὥστʼ ἐλάινον κορμὸν θεῶσαι, ὃν οἱ; μὰ τον Διόνυσον → μὰ τὸν Διόνυσον.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.36.3 (Dindorf 1:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-36-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.36.4Dindorf 1:268–269
ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἄκρου κεφαλοειδὴς ὁ κορμὸς (Ἄπολλον, ξένου κατασκευάσματος·) τί ποτʼ οὖν ἔπραττεν ἐν τῷ πελάγει; ἀπορήσαι ἄν τις. τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἢ ἐκάθητο, νὴ Δία, ἀναμένων ἕως ἄνθρωποι μαινόμενοι, οὐ γὰρ φήσω ὅτι καὶ θεοὶ, ἐγκυρήσαντες αὐτῷ, οὐ διοπετὲς, ἀλλὰ ποσειδωνοπετὲς ἡγήσωνται, κἄπειτα εἰς ἄστυ ἀπαγάγωσιν, ὥσπερ τινὰ ἀγαθὴν τύχην, κακὴν οὖσαν ὡς ἀληθῶς, οὐ τύχην, ἀλλὰ τυφεδόνα; ἢ οὐκ ἤρκει ἄρα αὐτοῖς οἴκοθεν διολλύουσα, ἀλλʼ αὐτὴν ἐπέρρωσέ τε καὶ προσεπέτεινε θεοπληξίας, ὡς ἄν τις εἴποι, ἐκ Δελφῶν μετάπεμπτος ἐπιθήκη.’
allʼ ex akrou kephaloeidēs ho kormos (Apollon, xenou kataskeuasmatos;) ti potʼ oun epratten en tǭ pelagei? aporēsai an tis. ti gar allo ē ekathēto, nē Dia, anamenōn heōs anthrōpoi mainomenoi, ou gar phēsō hoti kai theoi, enkyrēsantes autǭ, ou diopetes, alla poseidōnopetes hēgēsōntai, kapeita eis asty apagagōsin, hōsper tina agathēn tychēn, kakēn ousan hōs alēthōs, ou tychēn, alla typhedona? ē ouk ērkei ara autois oikothen diollyousa, allʼ autēn eperrōse te kai prosepeteine theoplēxias, hōs an tis eipoi, ek Delphōn metapemptos epithēkē.’
But the trunk had a head-shaped top (Apollo, what a strange contrivance!). What, then, was it doing in the sea? One might be at a loss. What else, by Zeus, but sitting and waiting until men in their madness (for I will not say gods too) should come upon it and think it fallen not from Zeus but from Poseidon, and then carry it off to the city like some good fortune, though in truth it was bad, not fortune but folly? Or was the folly not enough for them, ruining them from home, but a further load sent for from Delphi strengthened it and stretched it further into god-stricken madness, as one might say?"
Notes and citation
Summary: The trunk became a cult object by Delphi's sanction.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter inserted in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): κἄπεικτα → κἄπειτα; τύ- χην → τύχην.
Extrabiblical texts: Oenomaus (Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Impostors; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.36.4 (Dindorf 1:268–269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-36-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
5.36.5Dindorf 1:269
Τοσαῦτα καὶ ὁ Οἰνόμαος. ἀλλὰ γὰρ μετὰ τὰ εἰρημένα μεταβὰς αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίαν τοῦ τὴν συσκευὴν καθʼ ἡμῶν πεποιημένου, ἀνάγνωθι ἐκ τῶν περὶ εἱμαρμένης τοῦ Πυθίου χρησμῶν, εἰ μὴ καὶ σοὶ θείας ἀλλότριος ὢν δυνάμεως ἔτι μᾶλλον ὁ περὶ τῶν θρυλουμένων χρηστηρίων ὑποπεσεῖται λόγος.
Tosauta kai ho Oinomaos. alla gar meta ta eirēmena metabas authis epi tēn Ek logiōn philosophian tou tēn syskeuēn kathʼ hēmōn pepoiēmenou, anagnōthi ek tōn peri heimarmenēs tou Pythiou chrēsmōn, ei mē kai soi theias allotrios ōn dynameōs eti mallon ho peri tōn thryloumenōn chrēstēriōn hypopeseitai logos.
So much, then, from Oenomaus. But after what has been said, turn again to the Philosophy from Oracles of the man who composed the attack against us, and read from the Pythian's oracles on fate, to see whether the account of the much-talked-of oracles will not strike you too as still more foreign to divine power.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius turns back to Porphyry's oracles on fate.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.36.5 (Dindorf 1:269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-5-36-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 0
6.0.1Dindorf 1:269–270
Τοῦ περὶ τῶν χρηστηρίων τρόπου διὰ τῶν προδιηνυσμένων αὐτάρκως ἡμῖν ἀπεληλεγμένου, καὶ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας τὸ θεοπρεπὲς ἅμα καὶ βιωφελὲς ἐπιδεδειγμένης, ὅτι δὴ διὰ μόνης αὐτῆς, καὶ οὐ διʼ ἄλλης, τῶν ἐξ αἰῶνος τὸν πάντα βίον ἐπισκοτισάντων τε καὶ λυμηναμένων δαιμονικῶν φαντασμάτων ἐλευθερία πᾶσιν ὑπῆρχεν ἀνθρώποις, φέρε καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ εἱμαρμένης ψευδοδοξουμένων αὐτοῖς τὸν περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀπευθύνωμεν λόγον, ὡς ἂν μὴ διὰ μόνης τῆς τοῦ τρόπου μοχθηρίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν οὐκ ὀρθῶς οὐδὲ ἀληθῶς αὐτοῖς δοξαζομένων, φαῦλοι καὶ ἀδρανεῖς ὄντες οἱ τὰ χρηστήρια κινεῖν νενομισμένοι δαίμονες δειχθεῖεν.
Tou peri tōn chrēstēriōn tropou dia tōn prodiēnysmenōn autarkōs hēmin apelēlegmenou, kai tēs theias dynameōs tou sōtēros hēmōn dia tēs euangelikēs autou didaskalias to theoprepes hama kai biōpheles epidedeigmenēs, hoti dē dia monēs autēs, kai ou diʼ allēs, tōn ex aiōnos ton panta bion episkotisantōn te kai lymēnamenōn daimonikōn phantasmatōn eleutheria pasin hypērchen anthrōpois, phere kai apo tōn peri heimarmenēs pseudodoxoumenōn autois ton peri tōn autōn apeuthynōmen logon, hōs an mē dia monēs tēs tou tropou mochthērias, alla kai dia tōn ouk orthōs oude alēthōs autois doxazomenōn, phauloi kai adraneis ontes hoi ta chrēstēria kinein nenomismenoi daimones deichtheien.
In what has gone before, the character of the oracles has been sufficiently refuted by us, and the divine power of our Savior has been shown, through his gospel teaching, to be at once worthy of God and beneficial to life, since through it alone, and through no other, freedom has come to all people from the demonic phantoms that from of old darkened and ruined the whole of human life. Come, then, let us also direct our account of these same beings against their false opinions about fate, so that the demons who are thought to move the oracles may be shown to be worthless and powerless, not only by the wickedness of their character, but also by the opinions they hold that are neither right nor true.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius opens Book 6 by turning from the oracles to the pagan doctrine of fate, to show the demons behind the oracles are powerless.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.0.1 (Dindorf 1:269–270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-0-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.0.2Dindorf 1:270
σκέψαι δʼ οὖν εἰ μὴ καὶ σοὶ θείας ἀλλότριος ὢν δυνάμεως ὁ περὶ αὐτῶν ὑποπεσεῖται λόγος, ἔκ τε ὧν παραθήσομαι ἀνατρεπτικῶν τοῦ περὶ εἱμαρμένης καὶ αὐτόθεν ἐκ τοῦ τρόπου, καθʼ ὃν τὰς μαντείας ποιεῖσθαι λέγονται.
skepsai dʼ oun ei mē kai soi theias allotrios ōn dynameōs ho peri autōn hypopeseitai logos, ek te hōn parathēsomai anatreptikōn tou peri heimarmenēs kai autothen ek tou tropou, kathʼ hon tas manteias poieisthai legontai.
Consider, then, whether you too will not find their account of these things foreign to divine power, both from the passages I shall set out that overturn the doctrine of fate, and directly from the manner in which they are said to make their divinations.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius asks the reader to judge the demons by the arguments against fate and by how they divine.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.0.2 (Dindorf 1:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-0-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.0.3Dindorf 1:270
οὐ γὰρ δὴ δυνάμει κρείττονι τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν προειληφέναι φασὶν αὐτοὺς, ἐκ θεωρίας δὲ τῆς τῶν ἄστρων κινήσεως ὁμοίως ἀνθρώποις τὰ μέλλοντα καταστοχάζεσθαι. οὕτως οὐδὲν δύνασθαι οὔτʼ ὠφελεῖν οὔτε τι τὸ παράπαν ἐνεργεῖν αὐτοὺς, εἰ μὴ τὰ καθʼ εἱμαρμένην, φασί. τούτων δὲ ἔλεγχος αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τῶν δαιμόνων προήγορος, ἐν οἷς ἐπέγραψε “Περὶ τῆς ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίας” ὧδε λέγων πρὸς λέξιν
ou gar dē dynamei kreittoni tēn tōn mellontōn gnōsin proeilēphenai phasin autous, ek theōrias de tēs tōn astrōn kinēseōs homoiōs anthrōpois ta mellonta katastochazesthai. houtōs ouden dynasthai outʼ ōphelein oute ti to parapan energein autous, ei mē ta kathʼ heimarmenēn, phasi. toutōn de elenchos autos ekeinos ho tōn daimonōn proēgoros, en hois epegrapse “Peri tēs ek logiōn philosophias” hōde legōn pros lexin
For they do not say that the demons have gained knowledge of the future beforehand by some higher power, but that, like human beings, they guess at what is to come from observing the motion of the stars. So, they say, the demons can neither help nor do anything at all, except what accords with fate. The proof of this is that very advocate of the demons himself, in the work he entitled On the Philosophy from Oracles, where he speaks word for word as follows:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Porphyry's admission that the gods foretell only by reading the stars.
- The "advocate of the demons" is Porphyry; the work quoted is his Philosophy from Oracles.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.0.3 (Dindorf 1:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-0-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 1
6.1.1Dindorf 1:270
“Ἃ γὰρ λέγουσιν οἱ θεοὶ, εἴπερ τὰ μεμοιραμένα γινώσκοντες λέγουσιν, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἄστρων φορᾶς δηλοῦσιν, καὶ τοῦτο σχεδὸν πάντες ἐξέφηναν οἱ ἀψευδεῖς τῶν θεῶν.”
“Ha gar legousin hoi theoi, eiper ta memoiramena ginōskontes legousin, apo tēs tōn astrōn phoras dēlousin, kai touto schedon pantes exephēnan hoi apseudeis tōn theōn.”
"For what the gods say, if indeed they speak with knowledge of what is fated, they declare from the movement of the stars; and nearly all the truthful gods have made this plain."
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry: the gods' predictions come from the movement of the stars.
- Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.1 (Dindorf 1:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.1.2Dindorf 1:270
Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ὑποβάς φησιν “Ἐρωτηθεὶς ὁ Ἀπόλλων τί τέξεται ἡ γυνὴ, ἐκ τῶν ἄστρων εἶπεν ὅτι θῆλυ, ἐκ τοῦ σπορίμου ἐπιγνοὺς χρόνου. λέγει δʼ οὕτως ἐκφύεται γαίηθεν ὁδῶν, ὅθι λείμακες ὄμβρου διψοσύνῃ κατέμαρψαν ὅλον πόμα μητέρος αὐτῆς, ἔνδον ὀρινομένης χρόνον ἄρκιον· οὔ τι δὲ κοῦρον, ἀλλὰ κόρην· Φοίβη γὰρ ἐΰσκοπος ἤροσεν ἁγνὴν Κύπριν, ἐπειγομένην θῆλυν γόνον, ὦ φίλε, σεῖο.
Eithʼ hexēs hypobas phēsin “Erōtētheis ho Apollōn ti texetai hē gynē, ek tōn astrōn eipen hoti thēly, ek tou sporimou epignous chronou. legei dʼ houtōs ekphyetai gaiēthen hodōn, hothi leimakes ombrou dipsosynę̄ katemarpsan holon poma mēteros autēs, endon orinomenēs chronon arkion; ou ti de kouron, alla korēn; Phoibē gar eÿskopos ērosen hagnēn Kyprin, epeigomenēn thēlyn gonon, ō phile, seio.
Then, a little further on, he says: "Apollo, asked what a woman would bear, said from the stars that it would be female, having learned it from the time of conception. He speaks thus: 'It springs from the earth along the paths where the meadows, in their thirst for rain, have drunk up all the drink of their own mother, while within her it stirs for its due time. No boy, but a girl; for Phoebe, keen of sight, has ploughed chaste Cypris, who hastens on a female birth for you, my friend.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry cites an oracle of Apollo predicting a girl's birth from the stars at conception.
- Phoebe here is the Moon, Cypris the planet Venus; Eusebius explains the conjunction in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing breathing and accent in the digital text): μητέρος αυτῆς → μητέρος αὐτῆς.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.2 (Dindorf 1:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.1.3Dindorf 1:270–271
ἰδοὺ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπορίμου, ὅτι σελήνη ἐπὶ Ἀφροδίτην ἐφέρετο, εἶπεν ὅτι θῆλυ γεννηθήσεται. καὶ μὴν καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐκεῖθεν προλέγουσιν. ἐπάκουσον γὰρ ἡ μάλα μιν κακὸς ἰὸς ἐνὶ στέρνοισι δαμάζει, πνεύμονος ἀλγινόεσσαν ὑπερβλύζων κακότητα.
idou kai apo tou sporimou, hoti selēnē epi Aphroditēn ephereto, eipen hoti thēly gennēthēsetai. kai mēn kai tas nosous ekeithen prolegousin. epakouson gar hē mala min kakos ios eni sternoisi damazei, pneumonos alginoessan hyperblyzōn kakotēta.
See, from the time of conception, because the moon was moving toward Venus, he said that a female child would be born. Indeed, they also foretell diseases from that source. Listen: 'Surely an evil poison overpowers him within his breast, pouring forth the painful evil of the lung.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry explains the astrological reasoning and adds an oracle foretelling disease.
- A displaced line from the opening of the quotation (a running head or repeated line) had entered the digital text here and is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated line from 6.1.1 and stray marks leaked into the digital text): καὶ I. ""^ γὰρ λέγουσιν οἱ θεοὶ, εἴπερ τὰ μεμοιρα- μὴν καὶ → καὶ μὴν καὶ.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.3 (Dindorf 1:270–271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.1.4Dindorf 1:271
καὶ ἑξῆς, οἷς ἐπιλέγει ταῦτα δὲ Μοιράων νόος ἤγαγεν, ἠδὲ κελαινὴν εἰς ἔριν ἐστήριξε, κακηπελίῃσι δαμάζειν, ὑψιπόλοιο Κρόνοιο κακὴν ὑπʼ ἀταρπὸν ἰόντος.
kai hexēs, hois epilegei tauta de Moiraōn noos ēgagen, ēde kelainēn eis erin estērixe, kakēpelię̄si damazein, hypsipoloio Kronoio kakēn hypʼ atarpon iontos.
And next, after which he adds: 'These things the mind of the Fates brought on, and fixed him in dark strife, to be overcome by sickness, as lofty Cronus goes along his evil path.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry quotes an oracle ascribing a disease to the Fates and the course of Saturn.
- Cronus = the planet Saturn.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing in the digital text): ὐπʼ → ὑπʼ; οἶς → οἷς.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.4 (Dindorf 1:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.1.5Dindorf 1:271
καὶ μεθʼ ἕτερα ἀλλά σε μόρσιμον ἦμαρ ἀναπλῆσαι βιότοιο ἀλγινόεις βροτολοιγὸς ἐπισπέρχων Κρόνῳ ἄντα σπεύσατο, σῆς δὲ θέμειλον ἀπὸ φρενὸς ἠίστωσε· τοὔνεκα καὶ πατέρος θεοειδέος ἱερὸν ἦτορ φευγέμεναι κακοεργὸν ἐπηπείλησεν Ἄρηα.
kai methʼ hetera alla se morsimon ēmar anaplēsai biotoio alginoeis brotoloigos episperchōn Kronǭ anta speusato, sēs de themeilon apo phrenos ēistōse; touneka kai pateros theoeideos hieron ētor pheugemenai kakoergon epēpeilēsen Arēa.
And after other lines: 'But the painful destroyer of mortals, hastening on against Cronus, pressed you to fill up the fated day of your life and laid waste the foundation of your mind; therefore your godlike father's sacred heart threatened you to flee the evil-working Ares.'
Notes and citation
Summary: A further oracle links a death to the planets Mars and Saturn.
- The "destroyer of mortals" and Ares are the planet Mars.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.5 (Dindorf 1:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.1.6Dindorf 1:271
ταῦτα μὲν ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐκ θείας αὐτῶν δυνάμεως μαντεύονται, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἄστρων ἐπιτηρήσεως κατὰ τοὺς μαθηματικῶν λόγους, ὡς μηδὲν ἐν τούτῳ διαφέρειν ἀνθρώπων μηδέ τι κρεῖττον καὶ φύσεως θειοτέρας ἔργον ἐπιδείκνυσθαι.
tauta men hoti oude ek theias autōn dynameōs manteuontai, allʼ ex astrōn epitērēseōs kata tous mathēmatikōn logous, hōs mēden en toutǭ diapherein anthrōpōn mēde ti kreitton kai physeōs theioteras ergon epideiknysthai.
These things show that they do not prophesy from any divine power of their own, but from watching the stars by the methods of the astrologers, so that in this they differ in no way from human beings and display no work of anything higher or of a more divine nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: The oracles show the gods predict only as astrologers do, with no higher power.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.6 (Dindorf 1:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.1.7Dindorf 1:271
θέα δʼ ὡς καὶ τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἀναιροῦσιν, οὐ μόνον τὰ ἐκτὸς καὶ τὰ οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν τῇ τῶν ἄστρων ἀνατιθέντες φορᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἡμετέρας προαιρέσεις.
thea dʼ hōs kai to ephʼ hēmin anairousin, ou monon ta ektos kai ta ouk ephʼ hēmin tę̄ tōn astrōn anatithentes phorą, alla kai tas hēmeteras proaireseis.
But see how they also do away with free will, ascribing to the movement of the stars not only external things and things not in our power, but even our own choices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius notes that these oracles abolish human free will.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letters in the digital text): ἀναιροῦσιν, ἱν, οὐ → ἀναιροῦσιν, οὐ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1.7 (Dindorf 1:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-1-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 2
6.2.1Dindorf 1:271
“ Οὓτως καὶ ὁ Ἀπόλλων περί τινος, ἅμα καὶ b τὴν περὶ στρατιὰν προθυμίαν ἀφηγούμενος πόθεν αὐτῷ γίνεται, ἔφη Ἄρεα κραιπνὸν ἔχει γενεθλήιον, ὅς μιν ὀρίνει, οὐδέ ἑ ταρχύσει· Ζῆνός γὰρ ἐπέχραε βουλὴ, ἤ οἱ κῦδος ἄρειον ἀπʼ Ἄρεος εὐθὺς ὀρέξει. καὶ πάλιν ἐπʼ ἄλλου εὐχαίτης ἐπέκειτο Κρόνος, στυγεροῖσι δὲ κέντροις ἄλγυνεν παιδὸς Ταλαοῦ δυσπέμφελον ἠῶ.
“ Houtōs kai ho Apollōn peri tinos, hama kai b tēn peri stratian prothymian aphēgoumenos pothen autǭ ginetai, ephē Area kraipnon echei genethlēion, hos min orinei, oude he tarchysei; Zēnos gar epechrae boulē, ē hoi kydos areion apʼ Areos euthys orexei. kai palin epʼ allou euchaitēs epekeito Kronos, stygeroisi de kentrois algynen paidos Talaou dyspemphelon ēō.
"So also Apollo, speaking about a certain man and at the same time explaining where his eagerness for military service came from, said: 'He has swift Ares at his birth, who stirs him on, yet will not bring him to the grave; for the counsel of Zeus has fallen upon him, which will at once hold out to him martial glory from Ares.' And again, about another: 'Long-haired Cronus lay upon him, and with hateful goads afflicted the stormy dawn of the son of Talaus.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry cites oracles that trace a man's martial zeal and another's misfortune to the planets.
- Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.2.1 (Dindorf 1:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.2.2Dindorf 1:271–272
εἰς τοσοῦτον δὲ τὴν εἱμαρμένην οἱ γενναῖοι θεοὶ πεφρίκασιν ὡς ὁμολογεῖν μηδὲ κεραυνουμένοις αὐτῶν τοῖς ἱεροῖς δύνασθαι ἐπαμύνειν. πολλὴ ἄρα γένοιτʼ ἂν ἐλπὶς ἀνθρώποις εὐχομένοις τυχεῖν βοηθείας παρὰ τῶν μηδὲ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπαρήγειν δυνατῶν. τί δὲ χρὴ λοιπὸν εὐσεβεῖν καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς προσκυνεῖν καὶ θεραπεύειν, μηδὲν οἵους τε καθόλου μηδὲ ἑαυτοῖς ἐπαρκεῖν; ἄκουε δʼ οὖν ἅ φησιν ὁ χρησμός·
eis tosouton de tēn heimarmenēn hoi gennaioi theoi pephrikasin hōs homologein mēde keraunoumenois autōn tois hierois dynasthai epamynein. pollē ara genoitʼ an elpis anthrōpois euchomenois tychein boētheias para tōn mēde sphisin autois eparēgein dynatōn. ti de chrē loipon eusebein kai tous theous proskynein kai therapeuein, mēden hoious te katholou mēde heautois eparkein? akoue dʼ oun ha phēsin ho chrēsmos;
These noble gods stand in such dread of fate that they admit they cannot defend even their own temples when struck by lightning. Great, then, must be the hope for human beings who pray to obtain help from those who cannot help even themselves! And what need is there any longer to be devout and to worship and serve the gods, if they are wholly unable to help even themselves? Listen, then, to what the oracle says:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius mocks gods who cannot even protect their own temples from fate.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.2.2 (Dindorf 1:271–272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 3
6.3.1Dindorf 1:272
Οὕτω καὶ ναῶν μοῖραι καὶ ἱερῶν, καὶ αὐτοῦ γε τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τὸ ἱερὸν μεμοίρατο κεραυνωθῆναι, ὥς φησιν ὦ ζαθέης γεγαῶτες Ἐριχθονίοιο γενέθλης, ἔτλητʼ ἐλθέμεναι καὶ ἐμὴν ἐρεεινέμεν ὀμφὴν, ὁππόθι δῃωθῇ περικαλλέος ἕδρανα σηκοῦ. κλῦτε δαφνηρεφέων μυχάτων ἄπο θέσκελον ὀμφήν. εὖτʼ ἂν ἄνω πνείοντες ὑπηέριοι κελάδοντες τρίβωνται πατάγοισιν ἐναντία δηριόωντες — κρυμὸς δʼ αὖ περὶ κόσμον ἀπείρονα νήνεμος ἔσται — μηδὲ διεξερύγησιν ἔχῃ κεκακωμένος αἰθὴρ, αἰθαλόεις περὶ γαῖαν, ὅπη τύχεν, ἔκπεσε πυρσός ’ τὸν μὲν δὴ θῆρές τε κατʼ οὔρεα δειμαίνοντες φεύγουσιν πυμάτοις ὑπὸ κεύθεσιν, οὐδὲ μένουσιν εἰσιδέειν ὄσσοισι καταιβάσιον Δῖός ἔγχος. τοῦ μὲν καὶ νηοὶ μακάρων καὶ δένδρεα μακρὰ ἠλιβάτων τʼ ὀρέων κορυφαὶ νῆές τʼ ἐνὶ πόντῳ δάμνανται ζαπύροις πωτήμασιν ἐμπελάοντος· καὶ δʼ αὐτὴ πληγεῖσα Ποσειδάωνος ἑταίρη πολλάκις ἠχήεσσʼ ἀναχάζεται Ἀμφιτρίτη. ὑμεῖς οὖν καὶ ἄτλητον ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἄλγος ἔχοντες, τέτλατε Μοιράων ἀμετάτροπα δήνεα θυμῷ ’ ταῖσι γὰρ Οὐρανίδαο Δῖός κατένευσε κάρηνον, ὅττι κε δινήσωσι μένειν ἀσάλευτον ἀτράκτοις. αἶσα γὰρ ἢν δολιχοῖσι χρόνοις περικαλλέα σηκὸν πυρσῶν αἰώρῃσι διιπετέεσσι δαμῆναι.
Houtō kai naōn moirai kai hierōn, kai autou ge tou Apollōnos to hieron memoirato keraunōthēnai, hōs phēsin ō zatheēs gegaōtes Erichthonioio genethlēs, etlētʼ elthemenai kai emēn ereeinemen omphēn, hoppothi dę̄ōthę̄ perikalleos hedrana sēkou. klyte daphnērepheōn mychatōn apo theskelon omphēn. eutʼ an anō pneiontes hypēerioi keladontes tribōntai patagoisin enantia dērioōntes — krymos dʼ au peri kosmon apeirona nēnemos estai — mēde diexerygēsin echę̄ kekakōmenos aithēr, aithaloeis peri gaian, hopē tychen, ekpese pyrsos ’ ton men dē thēres te katʼ ourea deimainontes pheugousin pymatois hypo keuthesin, oude menousin eisideein ossoisi kataibasion Dios enchos. tou men kai nēoi makarōn kai dendrea makra ēlibatōn tʼ oreōn koryphai nēes tʼ eni pontǭ damnantai zapyrois pōtēmasin empelaontos; kai dʼ autē plēgeisa Poseidaōnos hetairē pollakis ēchēessʼ anachazetai Amphitritē. hymeis oun kai atlēton eni phresin algos echontes, tetlate Moiraōn ametatropa dēnea thymǭ ’ taisi gar Ouranidao Dios kateneuse karēnon, hotti ke dinēsōsi menein asaleuton atraktois. aisa gar ēn dolichoisi chronois perikallea sēkon pyrsōn aiōrę̄si diipeteessi damēnai.
"So temples and sanctuaries too have their fates, and even Apollo's own sanctuary was fated to be struck by lightning, as he says: 'O you born of the most holy race of Erichthonius, you have dared to come and ask my voice when the seats of the most beautiful shrine will be laid waste. Hear the wondrous voice from the laurel-roofed recesses. When the winds in the upper air, blowing aloft and roaring, clash with din as they fight against each other, while a windless frost lies over the boundless world, and the afflicted air has no outlet, a blazing torch falls about the earth wherever it chances. The wild beasts on the mountains flee from it in terror into their deepest lairs, and do not stay to look with their eyes upon the descending spear of Zeus. When it draws near, the temples of the blessed ones, tall trees, the peaks of lofty mountains, and ships at sea are overcome by its fiery flights; and Amphitrite herself, the consort of Poseidon, often struck, falls back with a roar. You, then, though you have unbearable grief in your hearts, bear in your spirit the unchangeable counsels of the Fates; for to them the head of Zeus, son of Uranus, nodded assent, that whatever they spin should remain unshaken on their spindles. For it was the lot of the most beautiful shrine, in long ages, to be overcome by the hovering of torches fallen from Zeus.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry cites Apollo's oracle that his own temple was fated to be destroyed by lightning.
- Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles. Erichthonius was a legendary king of Athens, so the inquirers are Athenians.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text; wrong accent in the digital text): ὠ ζαθέης → ὦ ζαθέης; καἲ ἐμὴν → καὶ ἐμὴν; ὑμεῖς οὑν → ὑμεῖς οὖν; δι)νήσωσι → δινήσωσι.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.3.1 (Dindorf 1:272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.3.2Dindorf 1:272–273
εἰ δὴ οὖν Μοιρῶν ἀτράκτοις καὶ τῶν σεβασμίων θεῶν οἱ ναοὶ, τά τε ἱερὰ αὐτῶν δώματα δάμναται ζαπύροις πωτήμασι, τίς ἂν ἔτι λείποιτο ἐλπὶς θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις τῆς τῶν πεπρωμένων ἀποφυγῆς; εἰ δὲ καὶ μηδεμία ἐκ θεῶν ὑπάρχοι βοήθεια, δεῖ δὲ ἐξ ἅπαντος τετλάναι Μοιράων ἀμετάτροπα δήνεα θυμῷ, τίς ἡ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ματαία σπουδή; εἴποι ἄν τις.
ei dē oun Moirōn atraktois kai tōn sebasmiōn theōn hoi naoi, ta te hiera autōn dōmata damnatai zapyrois pōtēmasi, tis an eti leipoito elpis thnētois anthrōpois tēs tōn peprōmenōn apophygēs? ei de kai mēdemia ek theōn hyparchoi boētheia, dei de ex hapantos tetlanai Moiraōn ametatropa dēnea thymǭ, tis hē peri tous theous mataia spoudē? eipoi an tis.
If, then, by the spindles of the Fates even the temples of the revered gods and their holy dwellings are overcome "by fiery flights," what hope would still remain for mortal men of escaping their destiny? And if there is no help at all from the gods, but one must in every case "bear in one's spirit the unchangeable counsels of the Fates," what is the use of this vain zeal about the gods? one might ask.
Notes and citation
Summary: If even temples cannot escape fate, Eusebius asks what hope humans have from such gods.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): θνη- τοῖς → θνητοῖς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.3.2 (Dindorf 1:272–273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.3.3Dindorf 1:273
τί δὲ δεῖ λοιβῆς τε κνίσης τε καὶ τὸ ἐκ τούτων γέρας τοῖς μηδὲ τούτων ἀξίοις ἀπονέμειν, εἰ κατʼ οὐδὲν ἧμας ὠφελεῖν δύνανται; ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν δοτῆρας οἴεσθαι χρῆν αὐτοὺς, ἀλλʼ ἣν καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων ὡμολόγουν αἰτίαν.
ti de dei loibēs te knisēs te kai to ek toutōn geras tois mēde toutōn axiois aponemein, ei katʼ ouden hēmas ōphelein dynantai? epei mēde tōn agathōn dotēras oiesthai chrēn autous, allʼ hēn kai tōn enantiōn hōmologoun aitian.
And why must one assign "libation and the savour of sacrifice" and the honor that comes from them to beings not worthy even of these, if they cannot help us in any way? For then one ought not to think of them as givers of good things either, but rather that cause which they admitted was the cause of the opposite.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods unable to help do not deserve sacrifice, nor can they be thought givers of good.
- "Libation and the savour of sacrifice" echoes Homer, Iliad 4.49.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): δο- τῆρας → δοτῆρας.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 4.49 (Homer, Iliad; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.3.3 (Dindorf 1:273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.3.4Dindorf 1:273
εἰ γὰρ πέπρωται ἀνθρώποις εἴτε τι ἀγαθὸν εἴτε τι καὶ ἐναντίον, ἔσται ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ παρέσται τοῦτο καὶ βουλομένων καὶ μὴ τῶν θεῶν. μόνην ἄρα τὴν ἀνάγκην θεραπευτέον, σμικρὰ, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ μηδὲν φροντίσαντας τῶν θεῶν, μήτε λυπεῖν μήτε εὐεργετεῖν δυναμένων.
ei gar peprōtai anthrōpois eite ti agathon eite ti kai enantion, estai ex anankēs kai parestai touto kai boulomenōn kai mē tōn theōn. monēn ara tēn anankēn therapeuteon, smikra, mallon de to mēden phrontisantas tōn theōn, mēte lypein mēte euergetein dynamenōn.
For if something is fated for human beings, whether something good or its opposite, it will come of necessity and will be present whether the gods will it or not. Necessity alone, then, should be worshiped, and the gods given little thought, or rather none, since they can neither harm nor benefit.
Notes and citation
Summary: If all is fated, only Necessity should be worshiped, not the gods.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.3.4 (Dindorf 1:273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.3.5Dindorf 1:273
εἰ δὲ δὴ τῶν Μοιρῶν μόνος ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων ἐπιστατεῖ θεὸς, καὶ μόνος καὶ τούτων ὑπάρχει κύριος, ταῖσι γὰρ Οὐρανίδαο (φησὶ) Δῖός κατένευσε κάρηνον, ὅττι κε δινήσωσι μένειν ἀσάλευτον ἀτράκτοις, τί δὴ οὐχὶ πάντα ὑπερθέμενος τὸν παμβασιλέα καὶ τῆς εἱμαρμένης δεσπότην μόνον θεὸν εἶναι ὁμολογεῖς, καὶ μόνον ἀγαθῶν δοτῆρα καὶ σωτῆρα; ὅτι δὴ μόνῳ αὐτῷ καὶ ἃ φῄς Μοιράων ἀμετάτροπα δήνεα τρέπειν καὶ μεταλλάττειν ῥᾴδιον· ὡς μήτʼ ἀνάγκῃ μήτε εἱμαρμένῃ τὸν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ θεῷ καθωσιωμένον καὶ μόνον αὐτὸν εὐσεβοῦντα δουλεύειν, οἷα δὲ ἐλεύθερον καὶ παντὸς ἀφειμένον δεσμοῦ ταῖς ἐνθέοις καὶ σωτηριώδεσιν οἰκονομίαις ἀκωλύτως ἐφέπεσθαι. ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἀληθὴς τοιαῦτα προφαίνει λόγος, ὁ δʼ ἔμπαλιν ὅρα διὰ τίνων φησὶ τὰ τῆς εἱμαρμένης λύεσθαι.
ei de dē tōn Moirōn monos ho epi pantōn epistatei theos, kai monos kai toutōn hyparchei kyrios, taisi gar Ouranidao (phēsi) Dios kateneuse karēnon, hotti ke dinēsōsi menein asaleuton atraktois, ti dē ouchi panta hyperthemenos ton pambasilea kai tēs heimarmenēs despotēn monon theon einai homologeis, kai monon agathōn dotēra kai sōtēra? hoti dē monǭ autǭ kai ha phę̄s Moiraōn ametatropa dēnea trepein kai metallattein rhądion; hōs mētʼ anankę̄ mēte heimarmenę̄ ton tǭ pambasilei theǭ kathōsiōmenon kai monon auton eusebounta douleuein, hoia de eleutheron kai pantos apheimenon desmou tais entheois kai sōtēriōdesin oikonomiais akōlytōs ephepesthai. allʼ ho men alēthēs toiauta prophainei logos, ho dʼ empalin hora dia tinōn phēsi ta tēs heimarmenēs lyesthai.
But if the God who is over all alone presides over the Fates, and alone is Lord of these too ("for to them," he says, "the head of Zeus, son of Uranus, nodded assent, that whatever they spin should remain unshaken on their spindles"), why do you not set all else aside and confess that the King of all and Master of fate alone is God, and alone the giver of good things and Savior? For to him alone is it easy to turn and change even what you call "the unchangeable counsels of the Fates," so that the one who is consecrated to God the King of all and worships him alone is enslaved neither to necessity nor to fate, but, as one free and released from every bond, follows unhindered the divine and saving dispensations. That is what the true account shows; but see, on the contrary, by what means he says the decrees of fate are undone.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the supreme God rules the Fates, he alone should be confessed as God, and his worshiper is free from fate.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (opening parenthesis lost in the digital text): Οὐρανίδαο φησὶ) → Οὐρανίδαο (φησὶ).
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.3.5 (Dindorf 1:273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 4
6.4.1Dindorf 1:273–274
Δεηθέντος γάρ τινος καταδέξασθαι θεὸν, εἰπὼν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἀνεπιτήδειός ἐστι διὰ τὸ ὑπὸ φύσεως καταδεδέσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀποτροπιασμοὺς ὑπαγορεύσας, ἐπάγει ῥιπῇ δαιμονίη γὰρ ἅλις ἐπιδέδρομεν ἀλκὴ σαῖσι γοναῖς, ἃς χρή σε φυγεῖν τοίαισι μαγείαις.
Deēthentos gar tinos katadexasthai theon, eipōn ho theos hoti anepitēdeios esti dia to hypo physeōs katadedesthai, kai dia touto apotropiasmous hypagoreusas, epagei rhipę̄ daimoniē gar halis epidedromen alkē saisi gonais, has chrē se phygein toiaisi mageiais.
"For when someone begged to receive a god, the god said he was unfit because he was bound down by nature; and so, after prescribing rites to avert this, he adds: 'For a demonic force has rushed abundantly with its blast upon your birth, which you must escape by such magic arts.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry cites an oracle prescribing magic to escape what nature and fate had bound.
- Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.4.1 (Dindorf 1:273–274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.4.2Dindorf 1:274
διʼ ὧν καὶ σαφῶς δεδήλωται ὅτι ἡ μαγεία ἐν τῷ λύειν τὰ τῆς εἱμαρμένης παρὰ θεῶν ἐδόθη εἰς τὸ ὁπωσοῦν ταύτην παρατρέπειν. ”
diʼ hōn kai saphōs dedēlōtai hoti hē mageia en tǭ lyein ta tēs heimarmenēs para theōn edothē eis to hopōsoun tautēn paratrepein. ”
By this it is also clearly shown that magic was given by the gods for loosing the decrees of fate, to turn it aside by any means whatever."
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry concludes that the gods gave magic to undo fate.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.4.2 (Dindorf 1:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.4.3Dindorf 1:274
Ταῦτά σοι ὁ Πορφύριος, οὐκ ἐγώ. ὁ τοίνυν μαγείαις παραινῶν λύειν τὰ τῆς εἱμαρμένης πῶς αὐτὸς θεὸς ὢν τὰ πεπρωμένα κατὰ τοῦ ἰδίου ναοῦ κεραυνῷ πιμπραμένου μὴ ἔλυσεν; ὁ δὲ δὴ μαγεύειν, ἀλλὰ μὴ φιλοσοφεῖν παρορμῶν, πῶς οὐκ ἂν εἴη δῆλος ὁποῖος ὢν τυγχάνει τὸν τρόπον; ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις καὶ ψεύδεσθαι τοὺς θεοὺς ὁ αὐτὸς ὁμολογεῖ.
Tauta soi ho Porphyrios, ouk egō. ho toinyn mageiais parainōn lyein ta tēs heimarmenēs pōs autos theos ōn ta peprōmena kata tou idiou naou keraunǭ pimpramenou mē elysen? ho de dē mageuein, alla mē philosophein parormōn, pōs ouk an eiē dēlos hopoios ōn tynchanei ton tropon? epi pasi toutois kai pseudesthai tous theous ho autos homologei.
Porphyry tells you this, not I. How then did the one who advises loosing the decrees of fate by magic not, though himself a god, loose what was fated against his own temple when it was burned by lightning? And one who urges people to practice magic rather than philosophy, how could it not be plain what sort of character he has? On top of all this, the same author admits that the gods lie.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius points out that a god who recommends magic could not save his own temple, and that Porphyry admits the gods lie.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.4.3 (Dindorf 1:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 5
6.5.1Dindorf 1:274
“ ‘Αλλʼ ἤδη καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς φορὰς τὴν ἀκριβῆ καὶ τὰς ἐκ τούτων συμβάσεις ἀκατάληπτον εἶναι ἀνθρώποις, καὶ οὐ μόνον τούτοις, ἀλλὰ καί τισι τῶν δαιμονίων ’ ὅθεν καὶ ψεύδονται περὶ πολλῶν ἐρωτηθέντες. ”
“ ‘Allʼ ēdē kai tēn gnōsin tēs phoras tēn akribē kai tas ek toutōn symbaseis akatalēpton einai anthrōpois, kai ou monon toutois, alla kai tisi tōn daimoniōn ’ hothen kai pseudontai peri pollōn erōtēthentes. ”
"But further, exact knowledge of the movement of the heavens and of the events that follow from it is beyond the grasp of human beings, and not only of them but also of some of the daemons; hence they lie when asked about many things."
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry admits that some daemons do not know the stars exactly and so lie.
- Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.5.1 (Dindorf 1:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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6.5.2Dindorf 1:274
Τούτοις αὖθις ἐπιλέγει “ Καὶ τὸ περιέχον ἀναγκάζον ψευδῆ γίνεσθαι τὰ μαντεῖα, οὐ τοὺς παρόντας ἑκόντας προστιθέναι τὸ ψεῦδος. πολλάκις γοῦν προλέγουσιν ὅτι ψεύσονται· οἱ δὲ μένουσι καὶ λέγειν ἀναγκάζουσι διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν.
Toutois authis epilegei “ Kai to periechon anankazon pseudē ginesthai ta manteia, ou tous parontas hekontas prostithenai to pseudos. pollakis goun prolegousin hoti pseusontai; hoi de menousi kai legein anankazousi dia tēn amathian.
To this he again adds: "And it is the surrounding air that compels the oracles to be false, not the beings present who add the falsehood willingly. Often, at any rate, they say beforehand that they will lie; but the inquirers stay and compel them to speak, through ignorance.
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry blames false oracles on the state of the atmosphere and the persistence of inquirers.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.5.2 (Dindorf 1:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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6.5.3Dindorf 1:274
εἶπε γοῦν ὁ Ἀπόλλων ποτὲ, τοιαύτης οὒσης τῆς καταστάσεως, ὡς ἐδείξαμεν, πονηρᾶς τοῦ περιέχοντος, κλεῖε βίην κάρτος τε λόγων· ψευδηγόρα λέξω. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα ἀληθῆ ἐστιν ἅπερ ἔφαμεν δηλώσει τὰ ὢ λόγια.
eipe goun ho Apollōn pote, toiautēs ousēs tēs katastaseōs, hōs edeixamen, ponēras tou periechontos, kleie biēn kartos te logōn; pseudēgora lexō. kai hoti tauta alēthē estin haper ephamen dēlōsei ta ō logia.
Apollo, at any rate, once said, when the condition of the surrounding air was evil, as we have shown: 'Hold back force and the power of words: I shall speak falsehoods.' And that what we have said is true, the oracles will show.
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry cites Apollo announcing that he will speak falsely.
- The phrase rendered "the oracles" (τὰ ὢ λόγια) is garbled in the digital text; translated by sense.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.5.3 (Dindorf 1:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.5.4Dindorf 1:274–275
ἔφη γοῦν τις κληθεὶς τῶν θεῶν σήμερον οὐκ ἐπέοικε λέγειν ἄστρων ὁδὸν ἱρήν ’ ἕδρανα μαντοσύνης γὰρ ἐν ἄστρασι νῦν πεπέδηται. καὶ ἐπιλέγει “ Πέφηνεν ἄρα πόθεν πολλάκις τὸ ψεῦδος συνίσταται.”
ephē goun tis klētheis tōn theōn sēmeron ouk epeoike legein astrōn hodon hirēn ’ hedrana mantosynēs gar en astrasi nyn pepedētai. kai epilegei “ Pephēnen ara pothen pollakis to pseudos synistatai.”
One of the gods, at any rate, when summoned, said: 'Today it is not fitting to tell the holy path of the stars; for the seats of prophecy are now fettered among the stars.' And he adds: "It has been made plain, then, how falsehood often arises."
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry quotes a god refusing to prophesy because of the stars, explaining oracular falsehood.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): συνί- σταται → συνίσταται.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.5.4 (Dindorf 1:274–275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-5-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 6, chapter 6
6.6.1Dindorf 1:275
Ἀρά σοι πέπαυται λοιπὸν τὰ τῆς ἀμφιβόλου γνώμης, ὅτι μηδέν τι ἢν θεῖον ἐν τοῖς τῶν θεῶν χρησμοῖς. πῶς γάρ ποτε τὸ θεῖον ψεύσαιτʼ ἂν, τὴν φύσιν ὂν ἀψευδέστατον, εἴ γε ἀψευδὲς τὸ θεῖον; πῶς δὲ ἀγαθὸς δαίμων ταῖς ψευδολογίαις ἀπατήσειέ ποτε τοὺς χρωμένους; πῶς δʼ ἂν εἴη κρεῖττον ἀνθρώπου τὸ τῇ τῶν ἄστρων φορᾷ πεπεδημένον;
Ara soi pepautai loipon ta tēs amphibolou gnōmēs, hoti mēden ti ēn theion en tois tōn theōn chrēsmois. pōs gar pote to theion pseusaitʼ an, tēn physin on apseudestaton, ei ge apseudes to theion? pōs de agathos daimōn tais pseudologiais apatēseie pote tous chrōmenous? pōs dʼ an eiē kreitton anthrōpou to tę̄ tōn astrōn phorą pepedēmenon?
Has your uncertainty now come to an end, then, that there was nothing divine in the gods' oracles? For how could the divine ever lie, being by nature most free of falsehood, if indeed the divine is free of falsehood? And how could a good daemon ever deceive those who consult it with lying words? And how could that which is fettered by the movement of the stars be better than a human being?
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius argues that oracles which lie and depend on the stars cannot be divine.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.1 (Dindorf 1:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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6.6.2Dindorf 1:275
θνητὸς μὲν οὑν ἀνὴρ βραχεῖαν ἀρετῆς σπουδὴν εἰσενεγκάμενος οὔποτʼ ἂν ψεύσαιτο, τἀληθὲς προτιμᾶν προθέμενος, οὐδʼ εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκην οὐδʼ ἄστρων φορὰν αἰτιάσαιτο ψευσάμενος· ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ τῷ σώματι πῦρ τις ἢ σίδηρον προσφέροι, διαφθείρειν ἐξαναγκάζων τὸν ἀληθῆ λόγον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ἐλευθεροστομῶν ἀντιφθέγξεται, ἴτω μὲν πῦρ, ἴτω δὲ φάσγανα· τέμνε, κάταιθε σάρκας, ἐμπλήσθητί μου πίνων κελαινὸν αἷμα· πρόσθε γὰρ κάτω γῆς εἶσιν ἄστρα, γῆ δʼ ἄνεισʼ ἐς οὐρανὸν, πρὶν ἐξ ἐμοῦ σοι θῶπʼ ἀπαντῆσαι λόγον.
thnētos men houn anēr bracheian aretēs spoudēn eisenenkamenos oupotʼ an pseusaito, talēthes protiman prothemenos, oudʼ heimarmenēs anankēn oudʼ astrōn phoran aitiasaito pseusamenos; allʼ ei kai tǭ sōmati pyr tis ē sidēron prospheroi, diaphtheirein exanankazōn ton alēthē logon, alla kai pros touto eleutherostomōn antiphthenxetai, itō men pyr, itō de phasgana; temne, kataithe sarkas, emplēsthēti mou pinōn kelainon haima; prosthe gar katō gēs eisin astra, gē dʼ aneisʼ es ouranon, prin ex emou soi thōpʼ apantēsai logon.
A mortal man who has given even a little attention to virtue would never lie, having resolved to honor the truth above all, nor, if he lied, would he blame the necessity of fate or the movement of the stars. Rather, even if someone applied fire or iron to his body to force him to corrupt the true word, he would answer this too with freedom of speech: "Let fire come, let swords come; cut, burn up my flesh, glut yourself drinking my dark blood; for sooner will the stars go down beneath the earth, and earth go up to heaven, than a flattering word from me will meet you."
Notes and citation
Summary: A virtuous man would not lie even under torture, nor blame fate for lying.
- The verses are from Euripides, Syleus (fragment).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): ἐλευθε- ροστομῶν → ἐλευθεροστομῶν.
Extrabiblical texts: Euripides, Syleus fr. (Euripides (plays and fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.2 (Dindorf 1:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.3Dindorf 1:275
τὸ δέ γε λαοπλάνον καὶ ἀπατηλὸν δαιμόνιον σκήπτεται τοὺς ἄφρονας σοφιζόμενον, ἵνʼ ἐν οἷς ἂν τῆς τοῦ μέλλοντος προρρήσεως ἀποπίπτοι καταφυγὴν αὐτῷ τῆς ἀλογίας τὴν εἱμαρμένην πορίζοιτο.
to de ge laoplanon kai apatēlon daimonion skēptetai tous aphronas sophizomenon, hinʼ en hois an tēs tou mellontos prorrēseōs apopiptoi kataphygēn autǭ tēs alogias tēn heimarmenēn porizoito.
But the demon that leads the people astray and deceives them makes a pretext and plays the sophist with the foolish, so that whenever he fails in foretelling the future he may provide himself with fate as a refuge for his absurdity.
Notes and citation
Summary: The deceiving demon uses fate as an excuse when its predictions fail.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled word and breathing in the digital text): ἔν ἐν οἶς → ἵνʼ ἐν οἷς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.3 (Dindorf 1:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.4Dindorf 1:275–276
πάντα δʼ εἱμαρμένης διὰ τῶν χρησμῶν ἀναρτήσας ὁ δαίμων, καὶ τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἐκ τῆς αὐτοπροαιρέτου κινήσεως ἀνελὼν, ἀνάγκῃ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο καταδουλώσας, θέα εἰς οἷον κακῶν δογμάτων ὄλεθρον τοὺς αὐτῷ πειθομένους καταβέβληκεν.
panta dʼ heimarmenēs dia tōn chrēsmōn anartēsas ho daimōn, kai to ephʼ hēmin ek tēs autoproairetou kinēseōs anelōn, anankę̄ de kai touto katadoulōsas, thea eis hoion kakōn dogmatōn olethron tous autǭ peithomenous katabeblēken.
And when the demon, through his oracles, had made everything depend on fate, and had done away with what is in our power through self-chosen movement, enslaving this too to necessity, see into what ruin of evil doctrines he has thrown those who believe him.
Notes and citation
Summary: By making all things depend on fate the demon ruins those who believe him.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text; repeated syllables in the digital text): ἀνελὼν, λὼν, → ἀνελὼν,; πειθομέ- νους → πειθομένους.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.4 (Dindorf 1:275–276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.5Dindorf 1:276
εἰ γὰρ ἄστροις καὶ εἱμαρμένῃ οὐ μόνα τὰ ἐκτὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς κατὰ λογισμὸν προθυμίας ἀναθετέον, καί τις ἀπαραίτητος ἀνάγκη τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ἐκβιάζεται γνώμας, οἰχήσεταί σοι φιλοσοφία, οἰχήσεται καὶ εὐσέβεια· οὐδέ τις ἦν τοῖς σπουδαίοις ἔπαινος ἀρετῆς, οὐδέ τις θεοφιλία, οὐδὲ τῶν ἐν ἀσκήσει πόνων καρπὸς ἐπάξιος, ἀνάγκης καὶ εἱμαρμένης τὴν αἰτίαν πάντων ἀναδεδεγμένης.
ei gar astrois kai heimarmenę̄ ou mona ta ektos, alla kai tas kata logismon prothymias anatheteon, kai tis aparaitētos anankē tas anthrōpinas ekbiazetai gnōmas, oichēsetai soi philosophia, oichēsetai kai eusebeia; oude tis ēn tois spoudaiois epainos aretēs, oude tis theophilia, oude tōn en askēsei ponōn karpos epaxios, anankēs kai heimarmenēs tēn aitian pantōn anadedegmenēs.
For if not only external things but even the impulses of our reasoning are to be ascribed to the stars and to fate, and some inexorable necessity forces human decisions, then philosophy is gone, and piety too is gone; there would be no praise of virtue for the earnest, no love of God, no worthy fruit of the labors of discipline, since necessity and fate would have taken on themselves the cause of everything.
Notes and citation
Summary: If even our decisions are fated, philosophy, piety, and the reward of virtue all vanish.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin-shaped letter in the digital text): χαὶ εὐσέβεια → καὶ εὐσέβεια.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.5 (Dindorf 1:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.6Dindorf 1:276
οὐ δὴ οὖν προσήκει καταμέμφεσθαι τοῖς περὶ τὸν βίον πλημμελοῦσιν, οὐδέ γε τοῖς ἀσεβέσι καὶ ἐπιρρητοτάτοις, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοὺς σπουδαίους θαυμάζειν· ταύτῃ δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, οἰχήσεται καὶ τὸ μέγα τῆς φιλοσοφίας κλέος, οὐκ αὐτοπροαιρέτου μελέτης καὶ ἀσκήσεως, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἄστρων ἀνάγκης ἀπῃωρημένον.
ou dē oun prosēkei katamemphesthai tois peri ton bion plēmmelousin, oude ge tois asebesi kai epirrētotatois, allʼ oude tous spoudaious thaumazein; tautę̄ de, hōs ephēn, oichēsetai kai to mega tēs philosophias kleos, ouk autoproairetou meletēs kai askēseōs, allʼ ek tēs tōn astrōn anankēs apę̄ōrēmenon.
It would not be right, then, to blame those who go wrong in their way of life, nor even the impious and most infamous, nor indeed to admire the earnest. In this way, as I said, the great glory of philosophy will also be gone, since it would depend not on self-chosen study and discipline but on the necessity of the stars.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fatalism abolishes blame, praise, and the glory of philosophy.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.6 (Dindorf 1:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.7Dindorf 1:276
ὅρα οὖν εἰς οἷον κακῶν δογμάτων βυθὸν οἱ θαυμάσιοι θεοὶ καταβεβλήκασι, καὶ σκέψαι ὡς εἰς ἀσωτίαν καὶ ἀδικίαν καὶ ἄλλα μυρία κακὰ παρορμᾷ καὶ προτρέπει τουτὶ τὸ δόγμα, ἀνατροπὴν τοῦ παντὸς βίου ἀθρόως κατεργαζόμενον.
hora oun eis hoion kakōn dogmatōn bython hoi thaumasioi theoi katabeblēkasi, kai skepsai hōs eis asōtian kai adikian kai alla myria kaka parormą kai protrepei touti to dogma, anatropēn tou pantos biou athroōs katergazomenon.
See, then, into what an abyss of evil doctrines the wonderful gods have cast people down, and consider how this doctrine urges and drives them toward profligacy, injustice, and countless other evils, bringing about the overthrow of all life at once.
Notes and citation
Summary: The doctrine of fate drives people to vice and overturns all of life.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.7 (Dindorf 1:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.8Dindorf 1:276
εἰ γοῦν τις αὐτόθεν πιστεύσειε τοῖς θαυμαστοῖς τῶν θεῶν χρησμοῖς, ὅτι τε τὸ ἀληθεύειν καὶ τὸ ψεύδεσθαι οὐχ ἡμέτερον ἔργον ἦν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀπαραιτήτου εἱμαρμένης, καὶ τὸ θέλειν ἐπὶ στρατείαν ἢ ἐπʼ ἄλλο τι τῶν πρακτέων ὁρμᾶν, καὶ τὸ μὴ θέλειν τὰ τοιάδε, πῶς οὐκ ἂν ἐθελήσειεν ἀμελεῖν καὶ καταρρᾳθυμεῖν ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς μὴ ἄνευ καμάτων καὶ πόνων καὶ τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν προθυμίας κατορθοῦσθαι δυναμένοις;
ei goun tis autothen pisteuseie tois thaumastois tōn theōn chrēsmois, hoti te to alētheuein kai to pseudesthai ouch hēmeteron ergon ēn, alla tēs aparaitētou heimarmenēs, kai to thelein epi strateian ē epʼ allo ti tōn prakteōn horman, kai to mē thelein ta toiade, pōs ouk an ethelēseien amelein kai katarrąthymein en hapasi tois mē aneu kamatōn kai ponōn kai tēs hēmōn autōn prothymias katorthousthai dynamenois?
If someone, at any rate, were to believe the gods' wonderful oracles outright, that telling the truth and lying are not our work but that of inexorable fate, and likewise wishing to set out on a campaign or on any other action, and not wishing to do such things, how would he not wish to be careless and idle in everything that cannot be accomplished without toil and labor and our own eagerness?
Notes and citation
Summary: Belief that all choices are fated would make people idle in every laborious task.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.8 (Dindorf 1:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.9Dindorf 1:276
εἰ γὰρ ἐξ εἱμαρμένης τόδε τι γενήσεσθαι νομίζοι, εἴτε πονοίημεν ἡμεῖς περὶ αὐτὸ καὶ σπουδάζοιμεν εἴτε καὶ μὴ, πῶς οὐκ ἄν τις ἐθελήσειε τὸ ῥᾷον αἱρεῖσθαι, παρεὶς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀμελῶν, ὡς ἐξ εἱμαρμένης καὶ ἀνάγκης γενησομένου τοῦ πραχθησομένου;
ei gar ex heimarmenēs tode ti genēsesthai nomizoi, eite ponoiēmen hēmeis peri auto kai spoudazoimen eite kai mē, pōs ouk an tis ethelēseie to rhąon haireisthai, pareis heauton kai amelōn, hōs ex heimarmenēs kai anankēs genēsomenou tou prachthēsomenou?
For if he thinks that this or that will happen by fate, whether we labor and take pains over it or not, how would he not wish to choose the easier way, letting himself go and neglecting it, since what is to be done will come about by fate and necessity?
Notes and citation
Summary: If outcomes are fated regardless of effort, anyone would choose the easier course.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.9 (Dindorf 1:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.10Dindorf 1:276–277
ὅθεν καὶ λεγόντων ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι τῶν πολλῶν ὅτι ἄρα πραχθήσεται τοῦτο, εἴ γε εἵμαρταί μοι, καὶ τί με χρὴ παρέχειν ἐμαυτῷ πράγματα;
hothen kai legontōn estin akousai tōn pollōn hoti ara prachthēsetai touto, ei ge heimartai moi, kai ti me chrē parechein emautǭ pragmata?
That is why one can hear most people saying, "This will be done, then, if it is fated for me; so why should I give myself trouble?"
Notes and citation
Summary: Popular fatalism says, why trouble myself if it is fated?
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen and stray accent in the digital text): λεγόν- τῶν → λεγόντων.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.10 (Dindorf 1:276–277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.11Dindorf 1:277
εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἐπὶ στρατείαν ὁρμῶν οὐκ ἐκ προαιρέσεως οἰκείας τοῦτʼ ἔπραττεν, ελαυνόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἔξωθεν ἀνάγκης, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ λῃστείαν καὶ τυμβωρυχίας καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἤτοι ἀνοσιουργίας καὶ ἀκολασίας ἢ κοσμίους καὶ σώφρονας ἐπιτηδεύσεις ’ τοῦτο γὰρ ἂν εἴη ἀκόλουθον τῷ περὶ εἱμαρμένης λόγῳ.
ei gar ho epi strateian hormōn ouk ek proaireseōs oikeias toutʼ epratten, elaunomenos de hypo tēs exōthen anankēs, dēlon hoti kai ho epi lę̄steian kai tymbōrychias kai epi tas allas ētoi anosiourgias kai akolasias ē kosmious kai sōphronas epitēdeuseis ’ touto gar an eiē akolouthon tǭ peri heimarmenēs logǭ.
For if the one who sets out on a campaign does this not by his own choice but driven by necessity from outside, then clearly so does the one who sets out on robbery and grave-robbing and the other practices, whether impious and licentious or orderly and temperate; for this would follow from the doctrine of fate.
Notes and citation
Summary: If soldiering is fated, so are crime and virtue alike.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.11 (Dindorf 1:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.12Dindorf 1:277
πῶς οὖν ὁ ταῦτα μὴ ἐξ αὑτοῦ ἡγούμενος ἐγχειρεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐξωθεν ἀνάγκης προσέξοι ἄν ποτε τῷ νουθετοῦντι καὶ διδάσκοντι μὴ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδιδόναι ἔκδοτον τοῖς προειρημένοις;
pōs oun ho tauta mē ex hautou hēgoumenos encheirein, allʼ hypo tēs exōthen anankēs prosexoi an pote tǭ nouthetounti kai didaskonti mē heauton epididonai ekdoton tois proeirēmenois?
How, then, would one who thinks that he undertakes these things not of himself but under necessity from outside ever pay attention to someone who admonishes and teaches him not to give himself over to the things just mentioned?
Notes and citation
Summary: A fatalist would not heed moral admonition.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in the digital text): διδάσκοντι σκοντι → διδάσκοντι.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.12 (Dindorf 1:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.13Dindorf 1:277
εἴποι γὰρ ἂν πρὸς τὸν νουθετοῦντα ὡς καὶ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν τισὶν εἴρηται, τί με, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, νουθετεῖς; ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ δήπου ἐστὶν ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ, τὸ μεταβάλλειν τὴν προαίρεσιν· ἡ γὰρ εἱμαρμένη προκατείληφε.
eipoi gar an pros ton nouthetounta hōs kai tōn pro hēmōn tisin eirētai, ti me, ō anthrōpe, noutheteis? tauta gar ou dēpou estin epʼ emoi, to metaballein tēn proairesin; hē gar heimarmenē prokateilēphe.
For he would say to the one admonishing him, as some before us have put it: "Why do you admonish me, sir? To change my choice is surely not in my power; fate has decided it beforehand.
Notes and citation
Summary: The fatalist replies that changing his choice is not in his power.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in the digital text; word split in the digital text): μεταβάλλειν βάλλειν → μεταβάλλειν; προκατεί ληφε → προκατείληφε.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.13 (Dindorf 1:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.14Dindorf 1:277
τί οὖν δεῖ συντετάσθαι πρὸς ἃ οὐδὲ προθυμεῖσθαι δυνήσομαι, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῦτο καθείμαρταί μοι; προθυμήσομαι δὲ, εἰ καθείμαρται, καὶ ἄνευ τῆς σῆς διδασκαλίας ὑπὸ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ἀγόμενος. τί οὖν μάτην σεαυτῷ ἐνοχλεῖς;
ti oun dei syntetasthai pros ha oude prothymeisthai dynēsomai, ei mē kai touto katheimartai moi? prothymēsomai de, ei katheimartai, kai aneu tēs sēs didaskalias hypo tēs heimarmenēs agomenos. ti oun matēn seautǭ enochleis?
Why then must I strain toward things I shall not even be able to desire, unless this too is fated for me? But if it is fated, I shall desire it even without your teaching, led by fate. Why then do you trouble yourself in vain?
Notes and citation
Summary: The fatalist says teaching is useless, since he will desire only what is fated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): προ- θυμεῖσθαι → προθυμεῖσθαι.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.14 (Dindorf 1:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.15Dindorf 1:277
ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ τὸ σὲ παραινεῖν καὶ διδάσκειν φήσεις κατὰ ἀνάγκην ἐπιτελεῖσθαι εἰς τὸ παραινεῖν καὶ πείθειν ἐμὲ τοιαῦτα, ἀλλὰ κἀν τούτῳ τί χρὴ σπουδάζειν; ἀργὴ γὰρ καὶ ἀνωφελὴς ἡ παραίνεσις. εἰ γὰρ εἵμαρταί μοι, φιλοπονήσω ’ εἰ δὲ μὴ εἵμαρται, ματαίαν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν σπουδὴν ἀμφοτέρους συμβήσεται.
allʼ ei kai to se parainein kai didaskein phēseis kata anankēn epiteleisthai eis to parainein kai peithein eme toiauta, alla kan toutǭ ti chrē spoudazein? argē gar kai anōphelēs hē parainesis. ei gar heimartai moi, philoponēsō ’ ei de mē heimartai, mataian poieisthai tēn spoudēn amphoterous symbēsetai.
And if you say that your exhorting and teaching is also done by necessity, so that you exhort and persuade me in this way, still, even so, why be earnest about it? The exhortation is idle and useless. For if it is fated for me, I shall work hard; and if it is not fated, it will turn out that we both made our effort in vain."
Notes and citation
Summary: Even fated exhortation is pointless on the fatalist's view.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text; misread letter in the digital text): ἐπιτελεῖδθαι → ἐπιτελεῖσθαι; φιλο- πονήσω → φιλοπονήσω.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.15 (Dindorf 1:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.16Dindorf 1:277–278
πῶς δὲ οὐ μᾶλλον ἀπορρᾳθυμῶν εἴποι ἂν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ ταύτην ἔχων τὴν δόξαν, ἄγε μηδαμῶς φιλοπονήσω, μηδὲ μάτην ἐνοχλήσω ἐμαυτῷ· γενήσεται γὰρ τὸ εἱμαρτὸν ἐξ ἀνάγκης· ὁ δὲ περί τι σπουδάζων, ἢ διδάσκων ἢ προτρέπων ἑαυτὸν ἢ ἄλλον καὶ τὸ πείθεσθαι καὶ τὸ μὴ πείθεσθαι, καὶ τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν καὶ μὴ, τό τε ἐπιτιμᾶν ἁμαρτάνουσι, καὶ τὸ ἐπαινεῖν τοὺς κατορθοῦντας, πῶς οὐκ ἐναργῶς ἐλέγχεται τὸ μὲν ἔργον καταλιπὼν τοῦ παρʼ ἡμῖν καὶ τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου, τὸ δὲ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ὄνομα αὐτῷ συνάπτων μόνον;
pōs de ou mallon aporrąthymōn eipoi an pros heauton ho tautēn echōn tēn doxan, age mēdamōs philoponēsō, mēde matēn enochlēsō emautǭ; genēsetai gar to heimarton ex anankēs; ho de peri ti spoudazōn, ē didaskōn ē protrepōn heauton ē allon kai to peithesthai kai to mē peithesthai, kai to hamartanein kai mē, to te epitiman hamartanousi, kai to epainein tous katorthountas, pōs ouk enargōs elenchetai to men ergon katalipōn tou parʼ hēmin kai tou autexousiou, to de tēs heimarmenēs onoma autǭ synaptōn monon?
And would not one who holds this opinion rather give up in idleness and say to himself, "Come, I shall not work hard at all, nor trouble myself in vain; for what is fated will come about of necessity"? But one who is earnest about something, or who teaches or urges himself or another both to obey and not to obey, to sin and not to sin, and who rebukes those who sin and praises those who do right, is he not plainly convicted of leaving intact the reality of what is in our power and of free will, and attaching to it only the name of fate?
Notes and citation
Summary: Anyone who exhorts, rebukes, or praises shows he really believes in free will and only uses the name of fate.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled repeated syllables in the digital text; garbled word in the digital text; repeated syllables in the digital text; stray full stop in the digital text; wrong accent in the digital text): ἀνάγκης· κης· → ἀνάγκης·; προτρέιτςε τρέπων → προτρέπων; ἐπιτιμᾶν. ἁμαρτάνουσι → ἐπιτιμᾶν ἁμαρτάνουσι; τοὺδθοῦντααα θοῦντας → τοὺς κατορθοῦντας; τοὐ αὐτεξουσίου → τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.16 (Dindorf 1:277–278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.17Dindorf 1:278
ὥσπερ εἰ τις τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ φύσιν, ἧς κατὰ τὴν παρουσίαν ἄριστα διοικεῖται τὸ ζῷον, τῷ τοῦ κακοῦ προσαγορεύοι ὀνόματι. οὕτω γὰρ ἐπεὶ ἐναργῶς ἑαυτῶν αἰσθανόμεθα μὴ βιαζομένων ὑπʼ ἄλλης τινὸς αἰτίας ἐν τῷ παιδεύειν τοὺς υἱεῖς καὶ μαστίζειν τοὺς οἰκέτας ἁμαρτήσαντας, καὶ ἐν τῷ τόδε τι βούλεσθαι καὶ μὴ βούλεσθαι, ἀλλʼ αὐτοτελῶς ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας ἐξουσίας εἰς τὰς τοιαύτας κινήσεις ἀφικνουμένων, ἁμαρτάνοι ἂν ὁ ταῦτα λέγων γίνεσθαι καθʼ εἱμαρμένην, πρὸς τὸ παραλύειν τάς τε ἡμῶν αὐτῶν προθυμίας καὶ τὰς εἰς ἄλλους γινομένας παρακλήσεις καὶ νουθετήσεις, ἐξ ὧν ὁρῶμεν μάλιστα κατορθούμενα τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πράγματα.
hōsper ei tis tēn tou agathou physin, hēs kata tēn parousian arista dioikeitai to zǭon, tǭ tou kakou prosagoreuoi onomati. houtō gar epei enargōs heautōn aisthanometha mē biazomenōn hypʼ allēs tinos aitias en tǭ paideuein tous huieis kai mastizein tous oiketas hamartēsantas, kai en tǭ tode ti boulesthai kai mē boulesthai, allʼ autotelōs ek tēs idias exousias eis tas toiautas kinēseis aphiknoumenōn, hamartanoi an ho tauta legōn ginesthai kathʼ heimarmenēn, pros to paralyein tas te hēmōn autōn prothymias kai tas eis allous ginomenas paraklēseis kai nouthetēseis, ex hōn horōmen malista katorthoumena ta tōn anthrōpōn pragmata.
It is as if someone were to call by the name of evil the nature of the good, by whose presence the living creature is best governed. For since we plainly perceive ourselves, when we discipline our sons and flog our servants who have done wrong, and when we will or do not will this or that, not to be forced by any other cause, but to come to such movements of ourselves, by our own power, one who says these things happen by fate would be wrong, and would tend to paralyze both our own eagerness and the encouragements and admonitions given to others, from which we see human affairs most of all set right.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since we perceive our own choices as unforced, ascribing them to fate is a misnaming that paralyzes moral effort.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in the digital text): ἐξουσίας σίας → ἐξουσίας.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.17 (Dindorf 1:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.18Dindorf 1:278
καὶ μὴν καὶ νόμους ἀνατρέποι ἂν οὗτος ὁ λόγος τοὺς τοῦ συμφέροντος ἕνεκεν ἀνθρώποις κειμένους. τί γὰρ δεῖ προστάττειν ἢ ἀπαγορεύειν τοῖς ὑφʼ ἑτέρας ἀνάγκης κατεσχημένοις; ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας δεήσει κολάζειν μὴ παρὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν ἡμαρτηκότας, οὐδὲ τοῖς τὰ κάλλιστα πράττουσι τιμὰς ἀπονέμειν, ὧν ἑκάτερον πολλὴν αἰτίαν παρέσχηκεν εἰς ἀναστολὴν ἀδικίας καὶ εἰς εὐποιίας ἑτοιμότητα.
kai mēn kai nomous anatrepoi an houtos ho logos tous tou sympherontos heneken anthrōpois keimenous. ti gar dei prostattein ē apagoreuein tois hyphʼ heteras anankēs kateschēmenois? allʼ oude tous hamartanontas deēsei kolazein mē para tēn autēn aitian hēmartēkotas, oude tois ta kallista prattousi timas aponemein, hōn hekateron pollēn aitian pareschēken eis anastolēn adikias kai eis eupoiias hetoimotēta.
Moreover, this doctrine would also overturn the laws laid down for people's benefit. For why must one command or forbid those held fast by another necessity? Nor will it be necessary to punish wrongdoers, who will not have sinned through their own cause, nor to award honors to those who do the noblest deeds; yet each of these has been a great cause of restraining injustice and of readiness to do good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fatalism would make laws, punishments, and honors meaningless.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.18 (Dindorf 1:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.19Dindorf 1:278
ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσέβειαν ἀνατρέποι ἂν ἥδε ἡ δόξα, εἴ γε μηδὲν ἡμῖν ὁ θεὸς, μηδὲ μὴν αὐτοὶ οἶ τῶνδε χρησμῳδοὶ, μήτʼ εὐχομένοις μήτʼ εὐσεβοῦσι συμβάλλονται εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκαις πεπεδημένοις.
alla kai tēn pros to theion eusebeian anatrepoi an hēde hē doxa, ei ge mēden hēmin ho theos, mēde mēn autoi oi tōnde chrēsmǭdoi, mētʼ euchomenois mētʼ eusebousi symballontai heimarmenēs anankais pepedēmenois.
And this opinion would also overturn piety toward the divine, if neither God nor even these oracle-givers themselves help us at all, whether we pray or practice piety, since we are fettered by the necessities of fate.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fatalism also destroys piety and prayer.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in the digital text): χρησμῳδοὶ, δοὶ, → χρησμῳδοὶ,.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.19 (Dindorf 1:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.20Dindorf 1:278–279
τὸ δὲ δίκην ἀψύχων λέγειν κινεῖσθαι ἡμὰς, τῇδε καὶ τῇδε ὑπό τινος ἔξωθεν δυνάμεως νευροσπαστουμένους, εἰς τὸ ἐπάναγκες ἐθελῆσαι τάδε πρᾶξαι, καὶ ἑλέσθαι παρὰ προαίρεσιν ἕτερα, πῶς οὐκ ἂν εἴη ἀναιδὲς καὶ ἀναισχυντότατον, ἐπείπερ ἐναργῶς αἰσθανόμεθα ἑαυτῶν ἡμετέρᾳ ὁρμῇ καὶ κινήσει τάδε τινὰ προθυμουμένων, καὶ ἀμελούντων, πάλιν ἑαυτῶν ἀντιλαμβανόμεθα, καὶ παρὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν κατορθούντων ἢ μὴ κατορθούντων, καὶ ἐξ οὐδενὸς ἑτέρου βιαζομένων, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἑκουσίῳ γνώμῃ αἱρουμένων, τὰ δὲ φευγόντων καὶ παραιτουμένων ἐκ τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν προαιρέσεως;
to de dikēn apsychōn legein kineisthai hēmas, tę̄de kai tę̄de hypo tinos exōthen dynameōs neurospastoumenous, eis to epanankes ethelēsai tade praxai, kai helesthai para proairesin hetera, pōs ouk an eiē anaides kai anaischyntotaton, epeiper enargōs aisthanometha heautōn hēmeterą hormę̄ kai kinēsei tade tina prothymoumenōn, kai amelountōn, palin heautōn antilambanometha, kai para tautēn tēn aitian katorthountōn ē mē katorthountōn, kai ex oudenos heterou biazomenōn, alla ta men hekousiǭ gnōmę̄ hairoumenōn, ta de pheugontōn kai paraitoumenōn ek tēs hēmōn autōn proaireseōs?
And to say that we are moved like lifeless things, pulled this way and that by strings by some power from outside, so that we will of necessity to do these things and choose other things against our choice, how would this not be shameless and most impudent? For we plainly perceive ourselves, by our own impulse and movement, eager for some things; and when we neglect them we take ourselves to task again; and we perceive ourselves succeeding or failing for this reason, and forced by nothing else, but choosing some things by a willing judgment, and fleeing and refusing others by our own choice.
Notes and citation
Summary: We are not puppets: we perceive ourselves choosing, neglecting, and refusing by our own impulse.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.20 (Dindorf 1:278–279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.21Dindorf 1:279
οὕτω δὲ ἄρα ἐναργὴς ἦν ὁ τοῦ αὐθεκουσίου λόγος ὥστε ὁμοίως τὸ ἀλγεῖν καὶ τὸ ἥδεσθαι, καὶ τὸ τόδε τι ὁρᾶν, καὶ τόδʼ ἀκούειν, οὐ συλλογισμῷ, ἀλλʼ ἐνεργείᾳ καταλαμβανομένων, συναισθέσθαι ἑαυτῶν ἐξ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας βουλῆς ὁρμώντων, καὶ τάδε τινὰ αἱρουμένων, τινὰ δὲ ἀποστρεφομένων, ὥστε ἐξ ἅπαντος τὸ ἐλεύθερον καὶ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν λογικῆς καὶ νοερὰς φύσεως ἐνδίκως ὁμολογεῖσθαι.
houtō de ara enargēs ēn ho tou authekousiou logos hōste homoiōs to algein kai to hēdesthai, kai to tode ti horan, kai todʼ akouein, ou syllogismǭ, allʼ energeią katalambanomenōn, synaisthesthai heautōn ex hēmōn autōn kai tēs hēmeteras boulēs hormōntōn, kai tade tina hairoumenōn, tina de apostrephomenōn, hōste ex hapantos to eleutheron kai to autexousion tēs en hēmin logikēs kai noeras physeōs endikōs homologeisthai.
So plain, then, is the case for free will that, just as pain and pleasure, and seeing this and hearing that, are grasped not by reasoning but by direct experience, so we are conscious of ourselves setting out from ourselves and from our own will, choosing some things and turning away from others; so that the freedom and self-determination of the rational and intelligent nature within us must in every way be rightly acknowledged.
Notes and citation
Summary: Free will is perceived directly, like sensation, and must be acknowledged.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled word in the digital text): οὕτʼ ὢ δὲ → οὕτω δὲ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.21 (Dindorf 1:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.22Dindorf 1:279
εἰ δὲ καὶ παρὰ προαίρεσιν μυρία συμβαίνοντα ἡμῖν τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ταράττει, διαιρετέον ἐνταῦθα τὴν τῶν ἐν οἷς ἐσμὲν φύσιν, καὶ τὸν λόγον, καθʼ ὃν τὰ οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν γίνεται, ἐπιθεωρητέον. οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τούτων τὸ αἴτιον οὔτις ἄλογος ἀναδέξεται εἱμαρμένη, λόγος δὲ πάλιν ἄλλος τῆς τῶν ὅλων προνοίας ἀπηρτημένος. φέρʼ οὖν ἐπιμελῶς τὸ πρόβλημα ἐπισκεψώμεθα.
ei de kai para proairesin myria symbainonta hēmin tous pollous tōn anthrōpōn tarattei, diaireteon entautha tēn tōn en hois esmen physin, kai ton logon, kathʼ hon ta ouk ephʼ hēmin ginetai, epitheōrēteon. houtō gar kai toutōn to aition outis alogos anadexetai heimarmenē, logos de palin allos tēs tōn holōn pronoias apērtēmenos. pherʼ oun epimelōs to problēma episkepsōmetha.
And if the countless things that happen to us against our choice disturb most people, we must here distinguish the nature of the conditions in which we live, and examine the principle by which things not in our power come about. For in this way the cause of these things too will be taken up by no irrational fate, but by another principle that depends on the providence of the universe. Come, then, let us examine the problem carefully.
Notes and citation
Summary: Things beyond our control are explained by providence, not irrational fate; Eusebius turns to examine this.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled word in the digital text; misread letter in the digital text): ταρἀττεο. → ταράττει,; ἐπιμενλῶς → ἐπιμελῶς.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.22 (Dindorf 1:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.23Dindorf 1:279
Πάντα μὲν ἀθρόως ἐκ θεοῦ προνοίας εἶναί τε καὶ διοικεῖσθαι οἱ τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας θεσμοὶ διαγορεύουσιν.
Panta men athroōs ek theou pronoias einai te kai dioikeisthai hoi tēs alēthous eusebeias thesmoi diagoreuousin.
The ordinances of true religion declare that all things together exist and are governed by the providence of God.
Notes and citation
Summary: True religion teaches that all things exist and are governed by God's providence.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.23 (Dindorf 1:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.24Dindorf 1:279–280
ἤδη δὲ κατʼ εἶδος ἰδίως ἕκαστα τῶν γιγνομένων τὰ μὲν ἔξει, τὰ δὲ φύσει, τὰ δὲ ὁρμῇ καὶ φαντασίᾳ, τὰ δὲ λογισμῷ καὶ οἰκείᾳ κρίσει τε καὶ προαιρέσει κινούμενα, καὶ ἄλλα μὲν κατὰ προηγούμενον λόγον γιγνόμενα, ἕτερα δὲ κατʼ ἐπισυμβεβηκότα τοῖς προηγουμένως γεγονόσι, ποικίλην καὶ πολύτροπον τὴν τοῦ παντὸς συνεστήσατο διακόσμησιν, ἑκάστῳ γένει τῶν ὄντων ἰδίαν καὶ ἀφωρισμένην τινὰ φύσεως κατασκευὴν τοῦ τῶν ὅλων αἰτίου διανείμαντος.
ēdē de katʼ eidos idiōs hekasta tōn gignomenōn ta men exei, ta de physei, ta de hormę̄ kai phantasią, ta de logismǭ kai oikeią krisei te kai proairesei kinoumena, kai alla men kata proēgoumenon logon gignomena, hetera de katʼ episymbebēkota tois proēgoumenōs gegonosi, poikilēn kai polytropon tēn tou pantos synestēsato diakosmēsin, hekastǭ genei tōn ontōn idian kai aphōrismenēn tina physeōs kataskeuēn tou tōn holōn aitiou dianeimantos.
But now, taken by kinds, each of the things that come to be is moved in its own way: some by habit, some by nature, some by impulse and impression, some by reasoning and their own judgment and choice; and some come about by a primary principle, others as consequences of what has come about primarily. Thus the cause of the universe has made the ordering of the whole various and manifold, assigning to each kind of being its own distinct constitution of nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: Within providence things are moved variously, by habit, nature, impulse, or reasoned choice.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): ἐπι- συμβεβηκότα → ἐπισυμβεβηκότα.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.24 (Dindorf 1:279–280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.25Dindorf 1:280
σχολῇ μὲν οὖν τις τὸν περὶ τῶν ἄλλων διεξέλθοι λόγον, τὸν δὲ περὶ τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου ῥᾷον ἂν καταμάθοι ὡδε
scholę̄ men oun tis ton peri tōn allōn diexelthoi logon, ton de peri tou autexousiou rhąon an katamathoi hōde
It would take much leisure to go through the account of all the others, but that of free will one may more easily learn as follows.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius turns to explain free will in particular.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.25 (Dindorf 1:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.26Dindorf 1:280
ἐπεὶ μὴ μονογενὲς χρῆμα μηδʼ ἐκ μιᾶς συνεστὼς φύσεως τυγχάνει ὢν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκ δυοῖν δὲ ἐναντίων εἴληχε τὴν σύνοδον, σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς, τοῦ μὲν κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς ὀργάνου τῇ ψυχῇ δεδεμένου, τῆς δὲ νοερᾶς οὐσίας κατὰ τὸν προηγούμενον ὑποστάσης λόγον, καὶ τοῦ μὲν ἀλόγου, τῆς δὲ λογικῆς τυγχανούσης, καὶ τοῦ μὲν φθαρτοῦ, τῆς δὲ ἀφθάρτου, καὶ θατέρου θνητοῦ, θατέρας δὲ ἀθανάτου, ὥσθʼ ἡμᾶς θηρσὶ μὲν ἀλόγοις ἀδελφὸν φέρειν τὸ σῶμα, ψυχὴν δὲ τῇ λογικῇ καὶ ἀθανάτῳ φύσει συγγενῆ ’ ταύτῃ τοι εἰκὸς τὸ διφυὲς τουτὶ βλάστημα, διττῆς ἅτε φύσεως κεκοινωνηκὸς, διττῷ καὶ διαφόρῳ τὸ ζῆν ἀπευθύνειν τρόπῳ, τοτὲ μὲν φύσει σώματος δουλεῦον, τοτὲ δὲ τῇ θειοτέρᾳ μοίρᾳ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσπαζόμενον ἐλευθερίαν· ὡς καὶ δοῦλον εἶναι τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐλεύθερον, τοιαύτην τινὰ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, διʼ οὓς οἶδε λόγους αὐτὸς, κεκληρωμένον ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἐπιμιξίαν.
epei mē monogenes chrēma mēdʼ ek mias synestōs physeōs tynchanei ōn ho anthrōpos, ek dyoin de enantiōn eilēche tēn synodon, sōmatos kai psychēs, tou men kata symbebēkos organou tę̄ psychę̄ dedemenou, tēs de noeras ousias kata ton proēgoumenon hypostasēs logon, kai tou men alogou, tēs de logikēs tynchanousēs, kai tou men phthartou, tēs de aphthartou, kai thaterou thnētou, thateras de athanatou, hōsthʼ hēmas thērsi men alogois adelphon pherein to sōma, psychēn de tę̄ logikę̄ kai athanatǭ physei syngenē ’ tautę̄ toi eikos to diphyes touti blastēma, dittēs hate physeōs kekoinōnēkos, dittǭ kai diaphorǭ to zēn apeuthynein tropǭ, tote men physei sōmatos douleuon, tote de tę̄ theioterą moirą tēn oikeian aspazomenon eleutherian; hōs kai doulon einai ton auton kai eleutheron, toiautēn tina para tou theou, diʼ hous oide logous autos, keklērōmenon psychēs kai sōmatos epimixian.
Since a human being is not a thing of one kind, nor composed of a single nature, but has been allotted a union of two opposites, body and soul (the one bound to the soul as an instrument, by consequence, the intelligent being existing by the primary principle; the one irrational, the other rational; the one perishable, the other imperishable; the one mortal, the other immortal), so that we carry a body akin to the irrational beasts but a soul related to the rational and immortal nature, it is surely fitting that this twofold growth, sharing as it does in a double nature, should direct its life in a double and differing way, at one time serving the nature of the body, at another embracing with its diviner part the freedom proper to it. So the same being is both slave and free, having been allotted by God, for reasons he himself knows, such a mixture of soul and body.
Notes and citation
Summary: A human being, made of body and soul, is both bound by bodily nature and free in the soul.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.26 (Dindorf 1:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.27Dindorf 1:280–281
εἰ δὴ οὑν τις τὰ κατὰ φύσιν ἤτοι τοῦ σώματος ἢ καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, εἱμαρμένης ὀνόματι χρώμενος, ὑπʼ αἰτίαν ἀνάγκης καταβάλλοι, διαμάρτοι ἂν τῆς οἰκείας προσηγορίας. εἰ γὰρ εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκη τις ἦν ἀκώλυτος, πολλὰ δὲ τῶν τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ ψυχὴ κατὰ φύσιν προσόντων παραποδίζεται, μυρία τε ἔξωθεν ἄλλα συναντᾷ παρὰ φύσιν κατά τι συμβεβηκὸς καὶ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι παρεπόμενα, πῶς ἂν εἴη ταὐτὸν εἱμαρμένη καὶ φύσις;
ei dē houn tis ta kata physin ētoi tou sōmatos ē kai tēs psychēs, heimarmenēs onomati chrōmenos, hypʼ aitian anankēs kataballoi, diamartoi an tēs oikeias prosēgorias. ei gar heimarmenēs anankē tis ēn akōlytos, polla de tōn tǭ sōmati kai tę̄ psychē kata physin prosontōn parapodizetai, myria te exōthen alla synantą para physin kata ti symbebēkos kai psychę̄ kai sōmati parepomena, pōs an eiē tauton heimarmenē kai physis?
If, then, someone were to bring what is natural to the body or to the soul under the cause of necessity, using the name of fate, he would miss the proper name. For if there were some unhindered necessity of fate, while many of the things that belong by nature to the body and the soul are impeded, and countless other things from outside meet them against nature and accompany both soul and body by some accident, how could fate and nature be the same?
Notes and citation
Summary: Fate cannot be identified with nature, since nature is often impeded and crossed by accidents.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in the digital text): παρεπόμενα, επόμενα, → παρεπόμενα,.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.27 (Dindorf 1:280–281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.28Dindorf 1:281
εἰ γὰρ ἀπαράλλακτόν φασιν εἷναι τὴν εἱμαρμένην, καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι τι παρʼ αὐτὴν γίνεσθαι (ἀνάγκην γὰρ εἶναι ἀπαραίτητον·) πολλὰ δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, παρὰ τὰ κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ψυχὴ καὶ σώματι συμβαίνει, οὐκ ἂν ὀρθῶς τις ὀνομάζοι ταὐτὸν εἶναι λέγων εἱμαρμένην καὶ φύσιν.
ei gar aparallakton phasin heinai tēn heimarmenēn, kai mē dynasthai ti parʼ autēn ginesthai (anankēn gar einai aparaitēton;) polla de, hōs ephēn, para ta kata physin kai psychē kai sōmati symbainei, ouk an orthōs tis onomazoi tauton einai legōn heimarmenēn kai physin.
For if they say that fate is unchangeable and that nothing can happen contrary to it (for necessity, they say, is inexorable), while many things, as I said, happen to both soul and body contrary to what is natural, no one would name things rightly who says that fate and nature are the same.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since things happen against nature, fate and nature are not the same.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misread letter and stray comma in the digital text; stray letter in the digital text): εἱξμαρμένην → εἱμαρμένην; ἀνάγνην, → ἀνάγκην.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.28 (Dindorf 1:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.29Dindorf 1:281
γένοιτʼ ἂν οὑν τῶν ὄντων ἐν ἡμῖν τὰ μὲν κατὰ λογισμὸν καὶ προαίρεσιν τὴν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν γιγνόμενα, οἶα τὰ κατὰ φύσιν ψυχῆς, τὰ δὲ κατὰ φύσιν τοῦ σώματος, τὰ δὲ τούτοις μὲν συμβεβηκότα, ψυχῇ λέγω καὶ σώματι, ἑτέροις δὲ συντελούμενα κατὰ φύσιν· ἀλλʼ οὔτε τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν οὔτε τοῦ σώματος τὸ κατὰ φύσιν, οὐδὲ μὴν τῶν ἔξωθεν τὸ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς, ἐνδίκως ἄν τις ἀποστεροίη τὸν αἴτιον.
genoitʼ an houn tōn ontōn en hēmin ta men kata logismon kai proairesin tēn ephʼ hēmin gignomena, oia ta kata physin psychēs, ta de kata physin tou sōmatos, ta de toutois men symbebēkota, psychę̄ legō kai sōmati, heterois de synteloumena kata physin; allʼ oute tēs psychēs to ephʼ hēmin oute tou sōmatos to kata physin, oude mēn tōn exōthen to kata symbebēkos, endikōs an tis aposteroiē ton aition.
Of the things within us, then, some would come about by reasoning and the choice that is in our power, such as what is natural to the soul; some by the nature of the body; and some are accidents happening to these, I mean to soul and body, but brought about naturally by other things. Yet one could not rightly deprive their cause of the power in our soul, or of what is natural to the body, or indeed of what is accidental from outside.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some things come from our choice, some from bodily nature, some from external accident, but none is outside their Maker.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.29 (Dindorf 1:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-29). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
6.6.30Dindorf 1:281
θεὸς γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων καὶ τῶν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν, καὶ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν, καὶ τῶν κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς δημιουργὸς ὢν ἀποπέφανται. καθόλου γὰρ περὶ πάντων ἀκουστέον τῆς θείας γραφῆς, τὸ “ αὐτὸς εἶπεν, καὶ ἐγενήθησαν· αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο, καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν” ἀποφηναμένης.
theos gar autos ho tōn holōn kai tōn ephʼ hēmin, kai tōn kata physin, kai tōn kata symbebēkos dēmiourgos ōn apopephantai. katholou gar peri pantōn akousteon tēs theias graphēs, to “ autos eipen, kai egenēthēsan; autos eneteilato, kai ektisthēsan” apophēnamenēs.
For God himself has been declared the maker of the universe, both of what is in our power and of what is natural and of what is accidental. For the divine Scripture must be heard as speaking universally about all things when it declares, "He spoke, and they came to be; he commanded, and they were created."
Ps 148:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God is the maker of all things, whether free, natural, or accidental, as Scripture says.
- Ps 148:5 (LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated word joined to the previous one in the digital text): τῶνκατὰ κατὰ → τῶν κατὰ.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.6.30 (Dindorf 1:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/5-34-1/#p-6-6-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.