Recognitions 10.20–10.46

“So far let the old wives' fable and genealogy of the Gentiles go; for there would be no end if I wished to set out all the generations of those they call gods and their impious deeds. But by way of example, leaving out the others, I will recount the shameful deeds of the one whom they hold greatest and chief, whom they name Jupiter. For they say that he holds heaven as better than the rest. As soon as he grew up, he took his own sister, whom they call Juno, as wife—in which he at once becomes like a beast. Juno bore Vulcan, but, as they relate, not conceived by Jupiter. By Jupiter himself she bore Medea; and he, having received an oracle that one born of her would be stronger than he and drive him from his kingdom, himself also took her and devoured her; and again he begot Minerva from his brain, and Liber from his thigh. After this, when he had fallen in love with Thetis, they say Prometheus declared to him that if he lay with her, the one born of her would be stronger than his father; and fearing this he gave her in marriage to one Peleus. Next he has intercourse with Persephone, who had been born to him from Ceres, and by her begot Dionysus, who was torn apart by the Titans. But remembering, it says, lest his father Saturn should beget another son who would be born stronger even than he and drive him from his kingdom, he set about attacking his father together with his brothers the Titans; and when they had been overcome, at last he also threw his father into chains, cut off his genitals, and threw them into the sea. But the blood that flowed from the wound, received by the waves and turned into foam by frequent dashing, produced her whom they call Aphrodite, whom among us they call Venus. From intercourse with her, who was certainly his sister, they relate that this same Jupiter begot Cypris, from whom they say Cupid was also born.

“So much for his incests; hear now about his adulteries. He violates Europa, wife of Oceanus, from whom Dodonaeus is born; Helen, daughter of Pandion, from whom Musaeus is born; Eurynome, daughter of Asopus, from whom Ogygias is born; Hermione, daughter of Oceanus, from whom the Graces are born, Thalia, Euphrosyne, Aglaia; Themis his sister, from whom the Hours are born, Eurynomia, Dike, Irene; Themisto, daughter of Inachus, from whom Arcas is born; Idaea, daughter of Minos, from whom Asterion is born; Phoenissa, daughter of Alphion, from whom Endymion is born; Io, daughter of Inachus, from whom Epaphus is born; Hippodamia and Isione, daughters of Danaus, of whom Olenus had the one, Hippodamia, and Orchomenus or Chryses had Isione; Carme, daughter of Phoenix, from whom is born Britomartis, who was a companion of Diana; Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, from whom Orcas is born; Libye, daughter of Munantus, from whom Belus is born; Latona, from whom Apollo and Diana are born; Leanida, daughter of Eurymedon, from whom Coron is born; Lysithea, daughter of Evenus, from whom Helenus is born; Hippodamia, daughter of Bellerophon, from whom Sarpedon is born; Megaclite, daughter of Macareus, from whom Thebe and Locrus are born; Niobe, daughter of Phoroneus, from whom Argus and Pelasgus are born; Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, from whom Alexander is born; Pyrrha, daughter of Prometheus, from whom Helmetheus is born; Protogenia and Pandora, daughters of Deucalion, from whom he begot Aethlius and Dorus and Melera and Pandorus; Thaicrucia, daughter of Proteus, from whom Nympheus is born; Salamis, daughter of Asopus, from whom Saracon is born; Taygete, Electra, Maia, Plutis, daughters of Atlas, from whom he begot—from Taygete, Lacedaemon; from Electra, Dardanus; from Maia, Mercury; from Plutis, Tantalus; Phthia, daughter of Phoroneus, from whom he begot Achaeus; (Choniane, daughter of Aramnus, from whom he begot Laco;) Chalcea, a nymph, from whom Olympus is born; Charidia, a nymph, from whom Alchanus is born; Chloris, who was the wife of Ampycus, from whom Mopsus is born; Cotonia, daughter of Lesbus, from whom Polymedes is born; Hippodamia, daughter of Anicetus; Chrysogenia, daughter of Peneus, from whom Thessalus is born.

“And there are very many other adulteries of his, from which he received no offspring, which it would take too long to list. But of all those we have listed, he violated some after transforming himself, as a magician. Indeed he corrupted Antiope, daughter of Nycteus, turned into a satyr, from whom Amphion and Zethus are born; Alcmene, changed into her husband Amphitryon, from whom Hercules is born; Aegina, daughter of Asopus, changed into an eagle, from whom Aeacus is born. He also debauches Ganymede, son of Dardanus, likewise changed into an eagle; Manthea, daughter of Phocus, changed into a bear, from whom Arctos is born; Danae, daughter of Acrisius, changed into gold, from whom Perseus is born; Europa, daughter of Phoenix, changed into a bull, from whom Minos and Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon are born; Eurymedusa, daughter of Achelous, changed into an ant, from whom Myrmidon is born; Thalia (Aetna), a nymph, changed into a vulture, from whom the Palici in Sicily are born; Imandra, daughter of Geneanus, at Rhodes, changed into a shower; Cassiopeia, changed into her husband Phoenix, from whom Anchinus is born; Leda, daughter of Thestius, changed into a swan, from whom Helen is born; and again the same, changed into a star, from whom Castor and Pollux are born; Lamia, changed into a hoopoe; Mnemosyne, changed into a shepherd, from whom the nine Muses are born; Nemesis, changed into a goose; Semele, daughter of Cadmus, changed into fire, from whom Dionysus is born. And from his daughter Ceres he begot Persephone, whom he also corrupted, changed into a serpent.

“He also commits adultery with Europa, the wife of his uncle Oceanus, and with her sister Eurynome, and punishes the father; and he commits adultery with Plute, the daughter of his son Atlas, and condemns Tantalus, the son born to him from her. From Larissa, daughter of Orchomenus, he also begot Tityus, whom he too handed over to punishments. Snatching Dia, the wife of his son Ixion, he subjects Ixion himself to everlasting punishments; and almost all the sons he begot from adulteries he condemned to the lot of a violent death, and the tombs of almost all of them are well known. Finally, the tomb of this parricide himself, who both killed his uncles and violated their wives, who debauched his sisters, the many-shaped magician, is plain to see among the Cretans; who nevertheless, knowing and confessing his unspeakable and incestuous deeds and telling them to everyone, are not ashamed to confess him a god. Hence it seems to me a wonder, and a great wonder, how he who stands above all mortals in crime and wickedness received the holy name, which is above every good, so as to be called father of gods and men—unless perhaps he who rejoices in men's evils persuaded unhappy souls to confer on him, whom he saw standing above the rest in crimes, honor above the rest, so as to invite all to imitate evil.

“The tombs of his sons too, who are thought gods among them, are shown most plainly in their several places: Mercury's at Hermopolis, Cyprian Venus's in Cyprus, Mars's in Thrace, Liber's at Thebes, where he is said to have been torn apart, Hercules's at Tyre, where he was burned in fire, Aesculapius's in Epidaurus. All of these are shown to have died not only as men, but to have been punished as wicked men for their crimes; and yet they are worshiped as gods by foolish men.

“And if they wish to argue and assert that these places are rather of their birth than of their burial or death, they will be refuted from neighboring and still recent events concerning earlier and older ones, when we show that they worship those whom they themselves admit were men and died, or rather were punished: for example, the Syrians Adonis, the Egyptians Osiris, the people of Ilium Hector, Achilles at Leuconesus, Patroclus in Pontus, Alexander of Macedon at Rhodes; and each worships and adores as gods many others in various places, whom they do not doubt were dead men. Hence it follows that the earlier ones too, slipping into a similar error, conferred divine honor on dead men who perhaps had had some power or art, and especially if they had brought foolish men into amazement by magical phantasms.

“Then to this was added that the poets adorned the fabrications of error with elegance of words, and by sweetness of speech persuaded that mortals had been made immortals. Indeed they say even more: that from men stars come to be, and trees and animals and flowers and birds, springs and rivers. And if it did not seem wordy, I could list almost all the stars that they assert were made from men, or trees or springs and rivers; but by way of example I will mention at least one from each kind. They say Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus, was turned into a star; Daphne, daughter of the river Ladon, changed into a tree; Hyacinthus, the beloved of Apollo, into a flower; Callisto into the constellation they call the Bear; Procne and Philomela with Tereus into birds; Thisbe in Cilicia into a spring, and Pyramus there dissolved into a river; and almost all, as I said, whether stars or trees, springs and rivers, flowers and animals, or birds, they affirm were once men.

When Peter heard this he said: “Then according to them, before men were changed into stars or the other things you list, heaven was without stars and earth without trees and animals, and there were neither springs nor rivers nor birds. And how did men themselves live without these things into which they were afterwards changed, since it is clear that men could not have lived on earth at all without them?” I answered: “But they do not even know how to observe the worship of their own gods consistently. For each of those they worship has something dedicated to him, from which the worshipers ought to abstain: they say the olive is dedicated to Minerva, the goat to Jupiter, seeds to Ceres, wine to Liber, water to Osiris, the ram to Ammon, the deer to Diana, the fish and the dove to the demon of the Syrians, fire to Vulcan; and to each, as I said, something is properly dedicated, from which the worshipers ought to abstain in honor of those to whom they are dedicated. But now each, keeping away from some one thing, has all the others angry with him for the sake of honoring one. Surely if they wished to placate them, they ought, in honor of all, to abstain from everything—so that before the day of judgment, condemned by a just sentence of their own, they would perish by a most miserable death from starvation.”

“But let us return to the subject. What evil reason is it, or rather what madness possesses the minds of mortals, that a man whom they not only know to be impious, monstrous, profane—Jupiter, I mean—incestuous, a parricide, an adulterer, but even sing of him publicly in the theaters, they should worship and adore as a god? Or if he deserved to be a god for these deeds, then even now they ought to adore as gods any murderers, adulterers, parricides, and incestuous persons they hear of. But why they venerate in him what they execrate in others, I cannot know at all.” Peter answered: “Since you say you do not know, learn from me why they venerate criminal deeds in him. First, so that when they themselves do similar things, they may know they are acceptable to him, as one whom they imitate in shameful acts; second, because the ancients left these things skillfully stored in writings and elegantly woven into verses. And now, under the pretext of a boy's education, since knowledge of them has clung to tender and simple minds, it can hardly be torn out and cast away.”

When Peter had said this, Niceta answered: “Do not think, my lord Peter, that the learned among the Gentiles do not have certain plausible arguments by which they support these things that seem blameworthy and shameful. I say this not as confirming their errors—far be it from me that this should even come into my thought—but yet I know that among the more prudent of them there are certain defenses by which they are accustomed to support and color these things that seem absurd. And if it pleases you that I bring forward some of these, which I partly remember, I will do as you command.” When Peter had permitted it, Niceta began in this way:

“All writing among the Greeks that is composed about the origin of antiquity has many authors, but two especially: Orpheus and Hesiod. Their writings are divided into two parts of understanding, that is, according to the letter and according to allegory; and the ignoble crowd of the common people has flocked to what is according to the letter, but all the talkativeness of philosophers and learned men has been devoted to what consists in allegory. It is Orpheus, then, who says that first there was chaos, eternal, immeasurable, unbegotten, from which all things were made. This chaos he said was neither darkness nor light, neither moist nor dry, neither hot nor cold, but all things mixed together, and was always one formless thing; yet at some time, as if after the manner of an immense egg, brought to completion through immeasurable ages, it brought forth and produced from itself a kind of double form, which they call male-female, a form compacted from the contrary mixture of such diversity. And this, he says, is the beginning of all things, which first proceeded from purer matter, and which, proceeding, produced the separation of the four elements, and made heaven from the two elements that are first, and earth from the others; from which he says that all things are now born and begotten by mutual participation. This is what Orpheus says.

“Hesiod adds to this, saying that immediately after chaos heaven and earth were made, from which, he says, were begotten those eleven, whom he sometimes also calls twelve; of these he sets six as males and five as females. He gives these names to the males: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus, who is also Saturn; and to the females: Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys. These names they interpret by allegory in this way: the number eleven or twelve, they say, is nature itself, the first, which they also want to be called Rhea from flowing; the other ten they call its accidents, which they also call qualities; and they add a twelfth, Cronus, whom among us they call Saturn, and take him for time. Saturn and Rhea, then, they set down as time and matter, which, when they are mixed with moist and dry and hot and cold over time, generate all things.

“This, then, he says, first of all, over a long time, brought forth a kind of compacted bubble, which, gradually gathered from the spirit that was in the waters, swelled up; and, carried round for some time over the surface of matter, from which it had come forth as from a womb, hardened by the stiffness of cold and always growing by icy accretions, at last broke off and sank into the depth; and drawn by its very weight it went down to the underworld; and because it became invisible it was called Aides, who is also named Orcus or Pluto. And when it sank from the upper regions into the lower, it gave the moist element room to flow together, and the denser part, which is earth, was laid bare as the waters gave way. This freedom of the waters, then, which had previously been pressed down by the covering bubble, after the bubble had obtained the place of the underworld, was called Neptune. After this, when the cold element had been absorbed into the lower regions through the congealing of the icy bubble, and the dry had been separated from the moist, with nothing now hindering, the hot element of fire, by its vigor and lightness, flew up to the upper regions of the air, borne up by wind and storm. This storm, then, which is called kataigis in Greek, they called a goat, and the fire which ascended to the heights, Jupiter; and therefore they say he ascended Olympus borne up by a goat.

“Jupiter himself the Greeks want to be named from living or giving life, our people from helping. This, then, they say, is the living substance, which, placed in the upper regions, drawing all things to itself by the force of heat as by the circuit of a brain, and composing them by the moderation of a certain tempering, is said to have begotten from his head wisdom, whom they call Minerva, who is named Athena by the Greeks because of her immortality. Because the father of all made all things through his wisdom, she is said to have been born from his very head, the chief place of all, and is held to have formed and adorned the whole world by the tempered mixture of the elements. So the forms that have been put into matter so that the world might come to be, since they are bound together by the force of heat, are said to be held by the strength of Jupiter. And since these are sufficiently arranged and need nothing new added to them, but each is renewed by the posterity of its own seed, the hands of Saturn are said to have been bound by Jupiter; because time no longer produces anything new from matter, as I said, but the heat of the seeds restores all things according to their kind, and the offspring of Rhea, that is, the propagation of flowing matter, no longer increases. And therefore they call the first division of the elements itself the castration of Saturn, as of one who can no longer generate a world.”

“Of Venus they hand down the allegory in this way. When, they say, the sea lay beneath the ether, and the brightness of heaven reflected by the waters shone more pleasingly, the loveliness of things, which appeared more beautiful from the waters, was named Venus; and she, joined to the ether as to her brother, is recorded to have begotten Cupid, because she produced a desirable beauty. In this way, then, by allegory they hand down that Cronus, who is Saturn, is time, as we said; Rhea is matter; Aides, that is Orcus, the depth of the underworld; Neptune, water; Jupiter, the air, that is, the element of heat; Venus, the loveliness of things; Cupid, the desire that is in all things, by which posterity is renewed, or else the reason of things which, wisely contemplated, gives delight. Hera, that is Juno, is set down as this middle air which comes down from heaven to earth. Diana, whom they say is also Proserpina, they hand down as the lower air. Apollo himself they also call the sun, going round the pole; Mercury, the word, by which an account of each thing is given; Mars, intemperate fire, which consumes all things. But not to dwell on listing each, according to this form of allegory those who have more secret skill in such things think they give honorable and just accounts of each of those they worship.”

When Niceta had said this, Aquila answered: “It seems to me that whoever is the author and inventor of these things was very impious, if he hid these things that seem pleasing and honorable, and placed the rite of his superstition in disgraceful and shameful observances, since what is written according to the letter is plainly dishonorable and shameful, and the whole observance of their religion consists in these things, so that by such crimes and impieties they teach men to imitate the gods they worship. For what use will these allegories be to them? Though they are made up as honorable, yet no use for worship comes from them, nor any amendment of morals.

“Hence it is rather clear that prudent men, seeing that the common superstition was so disgraceful, so shameful, and yet not having learned any way or knowledge of correcting it, tried by whatever arguments and interpretations they could to veil dishonorable things with honorable words—and not, as they say, to hide honorable reasons in dishonorable fables. If that were so, their images and paintings of them would never be made with their vices and crimes. The swan would not be shaped as Leda's adulterer, nor the bull for Europa, nor would they turn him whom they think better than all into a thousand monsters. If the great and wise men among them knew this was fiction and not truth, would they not convict of impiety and sacrilege those who set up such paintings or carved such images to the insult of the gods? Indeed, let them paint the king of their time in the form of an ox or a goose or an ant or a vulture, write their king's name above it, and set up such a statue or image: they will feel the insult of the deed and the greatness of the vengeance.

“But since the things that public shame bears witness to are rather the true ones, and the veils were sought out and composed with honorable words by prudent men for an excuse, therefore they are not only not forbidden, but in the very mysteries images are displayed of Saturn devouring his sons and of the boy hidden by the Corybantes with cymbals and the sound of drums. And as for the castration of Saturn, what greater proof of its truth will there be than that, in honor of their god, the worshipers too are castrated with a like unhappy lot? Since, then, these things are plainly seen, who will be found of so little sense, or rather so stupid, to whom it is not plain that these things are rather true of the unhappy gods, which their more unhappy worshipers attest even by the wounds and mutilation of their bodies?”

“But if, as they say, these things were done so honorably and piously, and are served by so dishonorable and impious a rite, then surely he is sacrilegious, whoever handed them down from the beginning or still persists in carrying out what was wrongly handed down. And what shall we say of the books of the poets? If they defamed the honorable and pious deeds of the gods with shameful fables, ought they not at once to have been cast away and given to the fire, so that they might not persuade the still tender age of boys that Jupiter himself, the chief of the gods, was a parricide toward his parents, incestuous toward his sisters and daughters, impure even toward boys, that Venus and Mars were adulterers, and all those things already mentioned above? Or what do you think, my lord Peter?”

Then he answered: “Be sure, sweetest Aquila, that all things have been done by the good providence of God, so that the cause which was to be contrary to the truth should be not only weak and frail but also shameful. For if the assertion of error had been stronger and more plausible, hardly anyone deceived by it would easily return to the road of truth. For if now, when so many disgraces and shames are brought forward about the gods of the Gentiles, scarcely anyone abandons the shameful error, how much less if there were something honorable and plausible in it? For the mind is with difficulty moved from things with which it has been preoccupied from earliest age; and for this reason, as I said, it came about by divine providence that the substance of error should be both weak and shameful. And divine Providence arranges all other things likewise fittingly and suitably, though the reason of the good and excellent divine dispensation is not clear to us who do not know the causes of things.”

When Peter had said this, I, Clement, asked Niceta to set out, for the sake of knowledge, some of the allegories of the Gentiles, which he had carefully studied; for it is useful that, when we dispute with the Gentiles, these things too should not be unknown to us. Niceta said: “If my lord Peter permits, I can speak.” Then Peter said: “Today I have permitted you to speak against the Gentiles, as you know.” And Niceta said: “Tell me, then, Clement, what you wish to hear about.” I said to him: “How do the Gentiles explain the banquet of the gods which they held at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; whom do they say the shepherd Paris is; whom do they make Juno, Minerva, and Venus, who were judged before him; whom Mercury, or what the apple, and the rest that follows in order?”

Then Niceta said: “The matter of the banquet stands in this way. They hand down that the banquet is the world, and the order of the gods reclining is the position of the stars; those whom Hesiod names the first children of heaven and earth, among whom there are six males and six females, they refer to the number of the twelve signs, which go round the whole world. The dishes of the banquet they hand down to be the reasons and causes of things, sweet and desirable, which are gathered from the position of the signs and the courses of the stars, as to how this world is ruled and governed. They say that these things are set out in the manner of the freedom of a banquet, because each mind has the power to taste something of this knowledge if it wishes, or not; and as at a banquet no one is compelled but each has freedom to eat, so the practice of philosophizing depends on the choice of the will. Discord they say is the desire of the flesh, which rises up against the purpose of the mind and hinders the pursuit of philosophizing; and that, indeed, is why they say it was the time when a wedding was being celebrated. Peleus and the nymph Thetis they set down as the dry and moist element, from whose mixture the substance of bodies is composed. Mercury they hand down to be the word, through which teaching is conferred on the mind; Juno they call chastity, Minerva fortitude, Venus lust, Paris the mind. If, then, they say, it happens that a man's mind is barbarous and unskilled, and does not know right judgment, despising chastity and virtue it will give the palm to lust—which is the evil—through which overthrow and ruin will come not only to himself but to his fellow citizens and the whole nation. Though they have chosen to compose these things from whatever material, they can be applied to every man: for if someone has a shepherd's and rustic and unskilled mind and does not wish to be educated, when the heat of the body suggests the sweetness of lust, at once, despising the virtues of study and the goods of knowledge, he turns his mind to the pleasures of the body. And from this it is that implacable wars arise, cities fall, countries collapse, just as Paris, by carrying off Helen, armed Greeks and barbarians for mutual destruction.”

Peter, praising his exposition, said: “Clever men, as I see, draw many plausibilities from what they read; and therefore we must be careful that when the law of God is read, it is not read according to the understanding of one's own cleverness. For there are many words in the divine Scriptures which can be drawn to whatever sense each one has presumed for himself; and this ought not to be done. For you ought not to seek a foreign and alien sense brought in from outside, which you then confirm by the authority of the Scriptures, but to take the sense of truth from the Scriptures themselves. And therefore one must learn the understanding of the Scriptures from him who keeps it as handed down to him from his elders according to the truth, so that he too may fittingly assert what he has rightly received. For when someone has received from the divine Scriptures a whole and firm rule of truth, it will not be absurd if he also brings something from common education and the liberal studies, which he perhaps touched in boyhood, to the assertion of true doctrine—yet in such a way that where he has learned the truth, he avoids what is false and feigned.”

And when he had said this, looking at our father, he said: “You, then, old man, if you care for the salvation of your soul, that when it is released from the body it may find everlasting rest in return for this brief conversion, inquire about whatever you wish and consult, so that you may cast off any doubt that is in you. For the time of life is uncertain even for the young, but for the old it is no longer even uncertain; for there is no doubt that however much is thought to remain is short. And therefore both young and old must be very anxious about conversion and repentance, and strive thereafter to adorn their soul with the worthiest ornaments, that is, with the doctrines of truth, the beauty of chastity, the splendor of justice, the brightness of piety, and all the other things with which it befits a rational mind to be adorned; and besides, to avoid dishonorable and unbelieving company, and to keep the society of believers and frequent those assemblies in which chastity, justice, and piety are discussed; to pray to God always from the heart and ask of him what it is fitting to ask of God; to give him thanks, to have true repentance for past deeds; and also, if possible, to help repentance somewhat by mercies to the poor. For through these, pardon will be given more easily, and he who has been indulgent will be indulged more quickly.”

“And if he who comes to repentance is of more advanced age, he ought all the more to give thanks to God that, since every impulse of carnal desire has been broken, having received the knowledge of truth, no battle of the contest threatens him by which he must repress the pleasures of the body rising up against the mind. It remains, then, for him to be exercised in the knowledge of truth and in works of mercy, so that he may bring forth fruits worthy of repentance; and let him not think that the proof of conversion is shown in length of time, and not in the firmness of devotion and purpose. For minds are manifest to God, who reckons not the account of times but of souls. For he approves if someone, having recognized the preaching of truth, has not delayed nor spent time in neglect, but at once, and if it can be said in the same moment, shuddering at the past, has begun to desire the things to come and burned with love of the heavenly kingdom.

“Therefore let none of you any longer pretend or look back, but come gladly to the gospel of the kingdom of God. Let not the poor man say: ‘When I have become rich, then I will be converted.’ God does not require money of you, but a merciful spirit and a pious mind. Nor let the rich man put off his conversion because of worldly anxiety, while he considers how to dispose of the abundance of his crops; nor let him say within himself, ‘What shall I do, where shall I store my fruits?’ Nor let him say to his soul, ‘You have many goods laid up for many years; feast, be merry’; for it will be said to him: ‘Fool, this night your soul will be taken from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be?’ So let every age, every sex, every condition hasten to repentance, so that they may obtain eternal life. Let the young be pleasing in this, that in the very rush of desires they submit their necks to the yoke of discipline. The old too are praiseworthy, because for the fear of God they change the habit of a long time in which they had been wrongly occupied.

“Let no one, then, delay, let no one hesitate; for what cause is there for hesitating to do well? Or do you fear that when you have done well, you may not find the reward there as you thought? And what loss will you feel if you have done well for nothing? Would not conscience alone suffice in these things? But if you find it as you presume, will you not receive great things for small, and eternal for temporal? But I have said this for the sake of unbelievers. What we preach is so, for the things promised by the prophetic voice cannot be otherwise.