Sophia Scriptura

Octavius 22.1

Minucius Felix · Octavius · ca. 197–250 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: The rites of Isis act out a yearly loss and finding of her son.

Latin text · CSEL 2:31

Considera denique sacra ipsa et ipsa mysteria: inuenies exitus tristes, fata et funera et luctus atque planctus miserorum deorum. Isis perditum filium cum Cynocephalo suo et caluis sacerdotibus luget, plangit, inquirit, et Isiaci miseri caedunt pectora et dolorem infelicissimae matris imitantur: mox inuento paruulo gaudet Isis,. exultant sacerdotes, Cynocephalus inuentor gloriatur, nec desinunt annis omnibus uel perdere quod inueniunt uel inuenire quod perdunt.

English · Claude translation

"Consider, then, the sacred rites and the mysteries themselves: you will find sad endings, deaths, funerals, mourning and lamentations of wretched gods. Isis mourns, laments, and searches for her lost son with her Dog-headed companion and her bald priests, and the wretched worshippers of Isis beat their breasts and imitate the grief of that most unhappy mother; soon, the little boy found, Isis rejoices, the priests exult, Dog-head the finder boasts; and every year they never cease either to lose what they find or to find what they lose.

About this passage

Source
CSEL 2:31 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in CSEL 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.

Notes

Translation notes

  • The Dog-headed one is Anubis.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 22.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/22/1/).

Plain text
Minucius Felix, Oct. 22.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/22/1/).

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