To Autolycus 3.5 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Otto 8:196–198

Ἐπειδὴ οὖν πολλὰ ἀνέγνως, τί σοι ἔδοξεν τὰ Ζήνωνος ἢ τὰ Διογένους καὶ Κλεάνθους, ὁπόσα περιέχουσιν αἱ βίβλοι αὐτῶν, διδάσκουσαι ἀνθρωποβορίας, πατέρας μὲν ὑπὸ ἰδίων τέκνων ἕψεσθαι καὶ βιβρώσκεσθαι, καὶ εἴ τις οὐ βούλοιτο ἢ μέλος τι τῆς μυσαρᾶς τροφῆς ἀποῤῥίψειεν, αὐτὸν κατεσθίεσθαι τὸν μὴ φαγόντα; Πρὸς τούτοις ἀθεωτέρα τις φωνὴ εὑρίσκεται, ἡ τοῦ Διογένους, διδάσκοντος τὰ τέκνα τοὺς ἑαυτῶν γονεῖς εἰς θυσίαν ἄγειν καὶ τούτους κατεσθίειν. Τί δέ; Οὐχὶ καὶ Ἡρόδοτος ὁ ἱστοριογράφος μυθεύει τὸν Καμβύσην τὰ τοῦ Ἁρπάγου τέκνα σφάξαντα καὶ ἑψήσαντα παρατεθεικέναι τῷ πατρὶ βοράν; Ἔτι δὲ καὶ παρὰ Ἰνδοῖς μυθεύει κατεσθίεσθαι τοὺς πατέρας ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων τέκνων. Ὢ τῆς ἀθέου διδασκαλίας τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀναγραψάντων μᾶλλον δὲ διδαξάντων, ὢ τῆς ἀσεβείας καὶ ἀθεότητος αὐτῶν, ὢ τῆς διανοίας τῶν οὕτως ἀκριβῶς φιλοσοφησάντων καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἐπαγγελλομένων. Οἱ γὰρ ταῦτα δογματίσαντες τὸν κόσμον ἀσεβείας ἐνέπλησαν.

English · Claude translation

Since you have read a great deal, what do you think of the writings of Zeno, or of Diogenes and Cleanthes, all that their books contain? They teach cannibalism: that fathers should be cooked and eaten by their own children, and that if anyone refuses, or throws away some part of the abominable meal, he himself who would not eat should be eaten. Besides these, an even more godless voice is found, that of Diogenes, who teaches children to lead their own parents to sacrifice and devour them. And does not Herodotus the historian tell the tale that Cambyses slaughtered the children of Harpagus, cooked them, and set them before their father as food? He also tells that among the Indians fathers are eaten by their own children. What godless teaching from those who recorded such things, or rather taught them! What impiety and godlessness! What minds they had, who philosophized so “precisely” and professed philosophy! For those who taught these things filled the world with impiety.

About this passage

Source

Otto 8:196–198 · Johann Carl Theodor Otto, ed., Theophili episcopi Antiocheni ad Autolycum libri tres, Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 8 (Jena: Mauke, 1861) · Greek text: J. C. T. Otto, Theophili episcopi Antiocheni ad Autolycum libri tres (Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 8, 1861), 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

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Otto (1861); made independently of existing English translations.

Extrabiblical texts

Herodotus, Hist. 1.119 (Herodotus, Histories) · allusion, high confidence
Herodotus, Hist. 3.99 (Herodotus, Histories) · allusion, medium confidence

Topics

Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

In Herodotus (1.119) it is the Median king Astyages, not Cambyses, who serves Harpagus his son; Theophilus's memory has slipped. The Indian custom is in Herodotus 3.38 and 3.99.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent: the interjection ὢ, as in the following exclamations; missing rough breathing on Οἱ; misspelling: μυσερᾶς for μυσαρᾶς (“abominable”)): μέλος τι τῆς μυσερᾶς τροφῆς → μέλος τι τῆς μυσαρᾶς τροφῆς; Ὤ τῆς ἀθέου διδασκαλίας → Ὢ τῆς ἀθέου διδασκαλίας; Οι γὰρ ταῦτα δογματίσαντες → Οἱ γὰρ ταῦτα δογματίσαντες.

Cite this passage

Theophilus, Autol. 3.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/5/).

Plain text

Theophilus, Autol. 3.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/5/).