Oration to the Greeks 42 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Otto 6:162–164

Ταῦτα ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ὁ κατὰ βαρβάρους φιλοσοφῶν Τατιανὸς συνέταξα, γεννηθεὶς μὲν ἐν τῇ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων γῇ, παιδευθεὶς δὲ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ὑμέτερα, δεύτερον δὲ ἅτινα νῦν κηρύττειν ἐπαγγέλλομαι. Γινώσκων δὲ λοιπὸν τίς ὁ θεὸς καὶ τίς ἡ κατʼ αὐτὸν ποίησις, ἕτοιμον ἐμαυτὸν ὑμῖν πρὸς τὴν ἀνάκρισιν τῶν δογμάτων παρίστημι, μενούσης μοι τῆς κατὰ θεὸν πολιτείας ἀνεξαρνήτου.

English · Claude translation

These things, men of Greece, I, Tatian, who pursue philosophy in the manner of the barbarians, have composed for you. I was born in the land of the Assyrians, and was educated first in your learning, and afterwards in what I now profess to proclaim. Knowing now who God is and what his creation is, I present myself to you ready to be examined on my teachings, while my way of life according to God remains one I will never deny.

About this passage

Source

Otto 6:162–164 · Johann Carl Theodor Otto, ed., Tatiani Oratio ad Graecos, Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 6 (Jena: Mauke, 1851) · Greek text: J. C. T. Otto, Tatiani Oratio ad Graecos (Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 6, 1851), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Otto, CorpApol 6. 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), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Otto (1851); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Topics

Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

“The land of the Assyrians” probably means Syria or the region east of the Euphrates (Adiabene); the exact place is disputed.
“Ready to be examined” (ἀνάκρισις) is the language of a judicial hearing.

Cite this passage

Tatian, Or. Graec. 42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/42/).

Plain text

Tatian, Or. Graec. 42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/42/).