Against Celsus 6.22
Summary: Celsus describes the Mithraic seven-gated ladder of the planets, but Origen asks why he drags this, rather than any other mystery cult, into an attack on Christians and Jews.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:91–93
Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις βουλόμενος ὁ Κέλσος πολυμάθειαν ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιδείξασθαι ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἡμῶν λόγῳ ἐκτίθεταί τινα καὶ Περσικὰ μυστήρια ἐν οἷς φησιν· αἰνίττεται ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Περσῶν λόγος, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Μίθρου τελετὴ, (ἣ) παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐστιν. ἔστι γάρ τι ἐν αὐτῇ σύμβολον τῶν δύο τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ περιόδων, τῆς τε ἀπλανοῦς καὶ τῆς εἰς τοὺς πλανήτας αὖ νενεμημένης, καὶ τῆς διʼ αὐτῶν τῆς ψυχῆς διεξόδου. τοιόνδε τὸ σύμβολον· κλῖμαξ ἑπτάπυλος, ἐπὶ δʼ αὐτῇ πύλη ὀγδόη. ἡ πρώτη τῶν πυλῶν μολίβδου, ἡ δευτέρα κασσιτέρου, ἡ τρίτη χαλκοῦ, ἡ τετάρτη σιδήρου, ἡ πέμπτη κεραστοῦ νομίσματος, ἡ ἕκτη ἀργύρου, χρυσοῦ δὲ ἡ ἑβδόμη. τὴν πρώτην τίθενται Κρόνου, τῷ μολίβδῳ τεκμηριούμενοι τὴν βραδυτῆτα τοῦ ἀστέρος, τὴν δευτέραν Ἀφροδίτης, παραβάλλοντες αὐτῇ τὸ φαιδρόν τε καὶ μαλακὸν τοῦ κασσιτέρου, τὴν τρίτην τοῦ Διὸς, τὴν χαλκοβατῆ καὶ στεῤῥὰν, τὴν τετάρτην Ἑρμοῦ, τλήμονα γὰρ ἔργων ἁπάντων καὶ χρηματιστὴν καὶ πολύκμητον εἶναι τόν τε σίδηρον καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν, τὴν πέμπτην Ἄρεος, τὴν ἐκ τοῦ κράματος ἀνώμαλόν τε καὶ ποικίλην, ἕκτην Σελήνης τὴν ἀργυρᾶν, ἑβδόμην Ἡλίου τὴν χρυσῆν, μιμούμενοι τὰς χρόας αὐτῶν. ἑξῆς ἐξετάζει τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς οὕτω κατειλεγμένης τάξεως τῶν ἀστέρων, δηλουμένης διὰ συμβόλων ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασι τῆς λοιπῆς ὕλης, καὶ μουσικοὺς λόγους προσάπτει ᾗ ἐκτίθεται Περσῶν θεολογίᾳ· προσφιλοτιμεῖται δὲ τούτοις καὶ δευτέραν ἐκθέσθαι διήγησιν, πάλιν ἐχομένην μουσικῶν θεωρημάτων. ἔδοξε δέ μοι τὸ ἐκθέσθαι τὴν λέξιν ἐν τούτοις τοῦ Κέλσου ἄτοπον εἶναι καὶ ὅμοιον ᾧ αὐτὸς πεποίηκεν, εἰς τὴν περὶ Χριστιανῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων κατηγορίαν ἀκαίρως παραλαβὼν οὐ μόνον τὰ Πλάτωνος, ὡς ἐκείνοις ἀρκεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ, ὥς φησι, Περσῶν τοῦ Μίθρου μυστήρια καὶ τὴν διήγησιν αὐτῶν. ὅπως ποτὲ γὰρ ἐχέτω ταῦτα, εἴτε ψευδῶς εἴτʼ ἀληθῶς, τοῖς τὰ τοῦ Μίθρου πρεσβεύουσι καὶ Πέρσαις· τί δὴ οὖν μᾶλλον ταῦτʼ ἐξέθετο ἤ τι τῶν λοιπῶν μυστηρίων μετὰ τῆς διηγήσεως αὐτῶν; οὐ γὰρ δοκεῖ παρʼ Ἕλλησιν εἶναι ἐξαίρετα τὰ τοῦ Μίθρου παρὰ τὰ Ἐλευσίνια ἢ τὰ παραδιδόμενα τοῖς ἐν Αἰγίνῃ μυουμένοις τὰ τῆς Ἑκάτης. τί δὲ μᾶλλον εἴπερ βαρβαρικὰ ἐβούλετο μυστήρια ἐκτίθεσθαι μετὰ τῆς διηγήσεως αὐτῶν, οὐ μᾶλλον τὰ Αἰγυπτίων, ἐν οἷς πολλοὶ σεμνύνονται, ἢ τὰ Καππαδοκῶν περὶ τῆς ἐν Κομάνοις Ἀρτέμιδος ἢ τὰ Θρᾳκῶν ἢ καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων αὐτῶν, τελούντων τοὺς εὐγενεστάτους τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς; ἀλλʼ εἰ ἄκαιρον αὐτῷ ἔδοξεν ἐκείνων τι παραβαλεῖν ὡς μηδαμῶς συμβαλλόμενον εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἢ Χριστιανῶν κατηγορίαν, πῶς οὐχὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἄκαιρον καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκθέσεως τῶν Μιθραϊκῶν αὐτῷ ἐφαίνετο;
English · Claude translation
Next, wishing to display his wide learning in his book against us, Celsus also sets out certain Persian mysteries, where he says: These things are hinted at by the account of the Persians too, and by the rite of Mithras that is among them. For in it there is a symbol of the two revolutions in heaven, that of the fixed stars and that assigned to the planets, and of the soul's passage through them. The symbol is this: a ladder with seven gates, and above it an eighth gate. The first of the gates is of lead, the second of tin, the third of bronze, the fourth of iron, the fifth of an alloy, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold. They assign the first to Kronos, indicating by the lead the slowness of the star; the second to Aphrodite, comparing her to the brightness and softness of tin; the third to Zeus, the bronze-floored and solid one; the fourth to Hermes, for both iron and Hermes endure all works, make money, and labour much; the fifth to Ares, the one that is uneven and varied because of the mixture; the sixth to the Moon, the silver one; and the seventh to the Sun, the golden one, imitating their colours. Next he examines the reason for the stars being arranged in this order, which is indicated through symbols in the names of the rest of the materials, and he attaches musical theories to the theology of the Persians that he sets out; and he is ambitious enough to set out a second account as well, again connected with musical theories. But it seemed to me absurd to set out Celsus's words on these matters, and like what he himself did when, in his accusation against Christians and Jews, he brought in irrelevantly not only the writings of Plato, as though he were content with these, but also what he calls the Persian mysteries of Mithras and their explanation. However these things stand, whether falsely or truly, for the Persians and those who revere the rites of Mithras, why did he set out these rather than some other mysteries with their explanation? For the mysteries of Mithras do not seem to be held in special honour among the Greeks above the Eleusinian mysteries, or those of Hecate handed on to those initiated at Aegina. And if he wished to set out barbarian mysteries with their explanation, why not rather those of the Egyptians, in which many take pride, or those of the Cappadocians about Artemis at Comana, or those of the Thracians, or even those of the Romans themselves, who initiate the noblest members of the Senate? But if it seemed to him irrelevant to set out any of these, since they contributed nothing to his accusation of Jews or Christians, why did the same not seem irrelevant to him when he set out the Mithraic rites?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Celsus's description of the Mithraic ladder is otherwise unknown; “bronze-floored” is a Homeric epithet of Zeus's house.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text): τὴν τρίτην τοὺ Διὸς → τὴν τρίτην τοῦ Διὸς.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 6.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/22/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 6.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/22/).
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