Oration to the Greeks 41
Summary: Moses is older also than the legendary poets before Homer and than the Greek lawgivers and sages.
Greek text · Otto 6:154–162
Τὸ δὲ συνέχον σπευτέον μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας σαφηνίζειν, ὡς οὐχ Ὁμήρου μόνον πρεσβύτερός ἐστιν ὁ Μωυσῆς, ἔτι δὲ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ συγγραφέων, Λίνου, Φιλάμμωνος, Θαμύριδος, Ἀμφίωνος, Μουσαίου, Ὀρφέως, Δημοδόκου, Φημίου, Σιβύλλης, Ἐπιμενίδου τοῦ Κρητός, ὅστις εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην ἀφίκετο, Ἀρισταίου τοῦ Προκοννησίου, τοῦ τὰ Ἀριμάσπια συγγράψαντος, Ἀσβόλου τε τοῦ Κενταύρου καὶ Ἰσάτιδος, Δρύμωνός τε καὶ Εὔκλου τοῦ Κυπρίου καὶ Ὥρου τοῦ Σαμίου καὶ Προναπίδου τοῦ Ἀθηναίου. Λίνος μὲν γὰρ Ἡρακλέους ἐστὶ διδάσκαλος, ὁ δὲ Ἡρακλῆς μιᾷ τῶν Τρωϊκῶν προγενέστερος πέφηνε γενεᾷ· τοῦτο δέ ἐστι φανερὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ Τληπολέμου, στρατεύσαντος ἐπὶ Ἴλιον. Ὀρφεὺς δὲ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον Ἡρακλεῖ γέγονεν, ἄλλως τε καὶ τὰ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπιφερόμενά φασιν ὑπὸ Ὀνομακρίτου τοῦ Ἀθηναίου συντετάχθαι, γενομένου κατὰ τὴν Πεισιστρατιδῶν ἀρχὴν περὶ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν ὀλυμπιάδα. Τοῦ δὲ Ὀρφέως μαθητὴς Μουσαῖος. Ἀμφίων δὲ δυσὶ προάγων γενεαῖς τῶν Ἰλιακῶν τοῦ πλείονα πρὸς τοὺς φιλομαθεῖς συντάττειν ἀπείργει ἡμᾶς. Δημόδοκος δὲ καὶ Φήμιος κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τῶν Τρωϊκῶν πόλεμον γεγόνασι· διέτριβον γὰρ ὁ μὲν παρὰ τοῖς μνηστῆρσιν, ὁ δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Φαίαξιν. Ὁ Θάμυρις δὲ καὶ ὁ Φιλάμμων οὐ πολὺ τούτων εἰσὶν ἀρχαιότεροι. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς καθʼ ἕκαστον λόγον πραγματείας, χρόνων τε καὶ ἀναγραφῆς αὐτῶν, ὡς οἶμαι, σφόδρα μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας ὑμῖν ἀνεγράψαμεν. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ τὸ μέχρι νῦν ἐνδέον ἀποπληρώσωμεν, ἔτι καὶ περὶ τῶν νομιζομένων σοφῶν ποιήσομαι τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Μίνως γάρ, ὁ πάσης προὔχειν νομισθεὶς σοφίας ἀγχινοίας τε καὶ νομοθεσίας, ἐπὶ Λυγκέως τοῦ μετὰ Δαναὸν βασιλεύσαντος γέγονεν, ἑνδεκάτῃ γενεᾷ μετὰ Ἴναχον. Λυκοῦργος δέ, πολὺ γεννηθεὶς μετὰ τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν, πρὸ τῶν ὀλυμπιάδων ἔτεσιν ἑκατὸν νομοθετεῖ Λακεδαιμονίοις. Δράκων δὲ περὶ ὀλυμπιάδα τριακοστὴν καὶ ἐννάτην εὑρίσκεται γεγονώς· Σόλων περὶ μς΄· Πυθαγόρας περὶ ξβ΄. Τὰς δὲ ὀλυμπιάδας ὕστερον τῶν Ἰλιακῶν ἔτεσι ἀπεδείξαμεν γεγονυίας τετρακοσίοις ἑπτά. Καὶ δὴ τούτων οὕτως ἀποδεδειγμένων, διὰ βραχέων ἔτι καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν ἡλικίας ἀναγράψομεν. Τοῦ γὰρ πρεσβυτάτου τῶν προειρημένων Θάλητος γενομένου περὶ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν ὀλυμπιάδα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν μετʼ αὐτὸν σχεδὸν ὑμῖν συντόμως εἴρηται.
English · Claude translation
But the main point must be made clear with all precision: that Moses is older not only than Homer but also than the writers before him: Linus, Philammon, Thamyris, Amphion, Musaeus, Orpheus, Demodocus, Phemius, the Sibyl, Epimenides of Crete who came to Sparta, Aristeas of Proconnesus who wrote the Arimaspea, Asbolus the Centaur, Isatis, Drymon, Euclus of Cyprus, Horus of Samos, and Pronapides of Athens. Linus was the teacher of Heracles, and Heracles is shown to have lived one generation before the Trojan War; this is clear from his son Tlepolemus, who fought against Troy. Orpheus lived at the same time as Heracles; moreover, they say that the works attributed to him were composed by Onomacritus of Athens, who lived under the rule of the Pisistratids, about the fiftieth Olympiad. Musaeus was a disciple of Orpheus. Amphion, who lived two generations before the Trojan War, spares us from writing more for those who love learning. Demodocus and Phemius lived at the time of the Trojan War itself, for the one lived among the suitors and the other among the Phaeacians. Thamyris and Philammon are not much older than these. So concerning the works of each, and their dates and records, we have written for you, I think, with all precision. But to fill in what is still missing, I will also give the proof concerning those considered wise. Minos, who was thought to excel in every kind of wisdom, shrewdness, and lawgiving, lived in the time of Lynceus, who reigned after Danaus, in the eleventh generation after Inachus. Lycurgus, born long after the capture of Troy, gave laws to the Lacedaemonians one hundred years before the Olympiads. Draco is found to have lived about the thirty-ninth Olympiad; Solon about the forty-sixth; Pythagoras about the sixty-second. We have shown that the Olympiads began 407 years after the Trojan War. With these things proved, let us write briefly about the age of the seven sages too. Since Thales, the oldest of them, lived about the fiftieth Olympiad, what concerns those after him has also, more or less, been briefly told you.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Demodocus is the bard of the Phaeacians and Phemius the bard among Penelope's suitors in the Odyssey; Tatian's “the one … the other” gives them in reverse order.
- “Amphion … spares us from writing more” is literal; the sense seems to be that Amphion's date needs no further proof.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misspelling: ὀλυμπεάδα for ὀλυμπιάδα): πεντηκοστὴν ὀλυμπεάδα → πεντηκοστὴν ὀλυμπιάδα.
Cite this passage
Tatian, Or. Graec. 41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/41/).
Plain text
Tatian, Or. Graec. 41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/41/).
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