οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλογον οὐδὲ μυθῶδες οὐδʼ ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν, ἐγκατεστοιχειοῦτο ταῖς ἱερουργίαις, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἠθικὰς ἔχοντα καὶ χρειώδεις αἰτίας, τὰ δʼ οὐκ ἄμοιρα κομψότητος ἱστορικῆς ἢ φυσικῆς ἐστιν, οἷον τὸ περὶ κρομμύου. τὸ γὰρ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ ἀπολέσθαι τὸν τῆς Ἴσιδος τρόφιμον Δίκτυν τῶν κρομμύων ἐπιδρασσόμενον ἐσχάτως ἀπίθανον· οἱ δʼ ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιοῦνται καὶ δυσχεραίνουσι τὸ κρόμμυον παραφυλάττοντες, ὅτι τῆς σελήνης φθινούσης μόνον εὐτροφεῖν τοῦτο καὶ τεθηλέναι πέφυκεν. ἔστι δὲ πρόσφορον οὔθʼ ἁγνεύουσιν οὔθʼ ἑορτάζουσι, τοῖς μὲν ὅτι διψῆν, τοῖς δʼ ὅτι δακρύειν ποιεῖ τοὺς προσφερομένους. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ὗν ἀνίερον ζῷον ἡγοῦνται· ὡς μάλιστα γὰρ ὀχεύεσθαι δοκεῖ τῆς σελήνης φθινούσης· καὶ τῶν τὸ γάλα πινόντων ἐξανθεῖ τὰ σώματα λέπραν καὶ ψωρικὰς τραχύτητας, τὸν δὲ λόγον, ὃν θύοντες ἅπαξ ὗν ἐν πανσελήνῳ καὶ ἐσθίοντες ἐπιλέγουσιν, ὡς ὁ Τυφὼν ὗν διώκων πρὸς τὴν πανσέληνον εὗρε τὴν ξυλίνην σορόν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἔκειτο, καὶ διέρριψεν, οὐ πάντες ἀποδέχονται, παρακουσμάτιον ὥσπερ ἄλλα πολλὰ νομίζοντες· ἀλλὰ τρυφήν τε καὶ πολυτέλειαν καὶ ἡδυπάθειαν οὕτω προβάλλεσθαι τοὺς παλαιοὺς λέγουσιν, ὥστε καὶ στήλην ἔφασαν ἐν Θήβαις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ κεῖσθαι κατάρας ἐγγεγραμμένας ἔχουσαν κατὰ Μείνιος τοῦ βασιλέως, ὃς πρῶτος Αἰγυπτίους τῆς ἀπλούτου καὶ ἀχρημάτου καὶ λιτῆς ἀπήλλαξε διαίτης. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Τέχνακτις ὁ Βοκχόρεως πατὴρ στρατεύων ἐπʼ Ἄραβας, τῆς ἀποσκευῆς βραδυνούσης, ἡδέως τῷ προστυχόντι σιτίῳ χρησάμενος, εἶτα κοιμηθεὶς βαθὺν ὕπνον ἐπὶ στιβάδος, ἀσπάσασθαι τὴν εὐτέλειαν· ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταράσασθαι τῷ Μεινίῳ, καὶ τῶν ἱερέων ἐπαινεσάντων στηλιτεῦσαι τὴν κατάραν.
For nothing hath been ranked among their sacred and religious rites that savored of folly, romance, or superstition, as some do suppose; but some of them were such as contained some signification of morality and utility, and others such as were not without a fineness either in history or natural philosophy. As, for instance, in what refers to the onions; for that Dictys, the foster-father of Isis, as he was reaching at a handful of onions, fell into the river and was there drowned, is extremely improbable. But the true reason why the priests abhor, detest, and avoid the onion is because it is the only plant whose nature it is to grow and spread forth in the wane of the moon. Besides, it is no proper food, either for such as would practise abstinence and use purgations, or for such as would observe the festivals; for the former, because it causeth thirst, and for the latter, because it forceth tears from those that eat it. They likewise esteem the swine as an unhallowed animal, because it is observed to be most apt to engender in the wane of the moon, and because that such as drink its milk have a leprosy and scabbed roughness in their bodies. But the story which they that sacrifice a swine at every full moon are wont to subjoin after their eating of it, — how that Typhon, being once about the full of the moon in pursuit of a certain swine, found by chance the wooden chest wherein lay the body of Osiris, and scattered it, — is not received by all, but looked upon as a misrepresented story, as a great many more such are. They tell us moreover, that the ancients did so much despise delicacy, sumptuousness, and a soft and effeminate way of living, that they erected a pillar in the temple at Thebes, having engraven upon it several grievous curses against King Meinis, who (as they tell us) was the first that brought off the Egyptians from a mean, wealthless, and simple way of living. There goes also another story, how that Technatis, father to Bocchoris, commanding an army against the Arabians, and his baggage and provisions not coming in as soon as was expected, heartily fed upon such things as he could next light on, and afterwards had a sound sleep upon a pallet, whereupon he fell greatly in love with a poor and mean life; and for this reason he cursed Meinis, and that with the consent of all the priests, and carved that curse upon a pillar.
οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς ἀπεδείκνυντο μὲν ἐκ τῶν ἱερέων ἢ τῶν μαχίμων, τοῦ μὲν διʼ ἀνδρείαν τοῦ δὲ διὰ σοφίαν γένους ἀξίωμα καὶ τιμὴν ἔχοντος. ὁ δʼ ἐκ μαχίμων ἀποδεδειγμένος εὐθὺς ἐγίγνετο τῶν ἱερέων καὶ μετεῖχε τῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἐπικεκρυμμένης τὰ πολλὰ μύθοις καὶ λόγοις ἀμυδρὰς ἐμφάσεις τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ διαφάσεις ἔχουσιν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ παραδηλοῦσιν αὐτοὶ πρὸ τῶν ἱερῶν τὰς σφίγγας ἐπιεικῶς ἱστάντες, ὡς αἰνιγματώδη σοφίαν τῆς θεολογίας αὐτῶν ἐχούσης. τὸ δʼ ἐν Σάι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ἣν καὶ Ἶσιν νομίζουσιν, ἕδος ἐπιγραφὴν εἶχε τοιαύτην ἐγώ εἰμι πᾶν τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ὂν καὶ ἐσόμενον καὶ τὸν ἐμὸν πέπλον οὐδείς πω θνητὸς ἀπεκάλυψεν ἔτι δὲ τῶν πολλῶν νομιζόντων ἴδιον παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις ὄνομα τοῦ Διὸς εἶναι τὸν Ἀμοῦν (ὃ παράγοντες ἡμεῖς Ἄμμωνα λέγομεν), Μανεθὼς μὲν ὁ Σεβεννύτης τὸ κεκρυμμένον οἴεται καὶ τὴν κρύψιν ὑπὸ ταύτης δηλοῦσθαι τῆς φωνῆς· Ἑκαταῖος δʼ ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης φησὶ τούτῳ καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους τῷ ῥήματι χρῆσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, ὅταν τινὰ προσκαλῶνται· προσκλητικὴν γὰρ εἶναι τὴν φωνήν. διὸ τὸν πρῶτον θεόν, ὃν τῷ παντὶ τὸν αὐτὸν νομίζουσιν, ὡς ἀφανῆ καὶ κεκρυμμένον ὄντα προσκαλούμενοι καὶ παρακαλοῦντες ἐμφανῆ γενέσθαι καὶ δῆλον αὐτοῖς, Ἀμοῦν λέγουσιν. ἡ μὲν οὖν εὐλάβεια τῆς περὶ τὰ θεῖα σοφίας Αἰγυπτίων τοσαύτη ἦν.
But their kings (you must know) were always chosen either out of the priesthood or soldiery, the latter having the right of succession by reason of their military valor, and the former by reason of their wisdom. But he that was chosen out of the soldiery was obliged immediately to turn priest, and was thereupon admitted to the participation of their philosophy, whose genius it was to conceal the greater part in tales and romantic relations, containing dark hints and resemblances of truth; which it is plain that even themselves would insinuate to us, while they are so kind as to set up Sphinxes before their temples, to intimate that their theology contained in it an enigmatical sort of learning. Moreover, the temple of Minerva which is at Sais (whom they look upon as the same with Isis) had upon it this inscription: I am whatever was, or is, or will be; and my veil no mortal ever took up. Besides, we find the greater part to be of opinion that the proper name of Jupiter in the Egyptian tongue is Amun (from which we have derived our word Ammon). But now Manetho the Sebennite thinks this word signifies hidden and hiding; but Hecataeus of Abdera saith, the Egyptians use this word when they call anybody; for that it is a term of calling. Therefore they must be of the opinion that the first God is the same with the universe; and therefore, while they invoke him who is unmanifest and hidden, and pray him to make himself manifest and known to them, they cry Amun. So great therefore was the piety of the Egyptians’ philosophy about things divine.
μαρτυροῦσι δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ σοφώτατοι, Σόλων Θαλῆς Πλάτων Εὔδοξος Πυθαγόρας, ὡς δʼ ἔνιοί φασι, καὶ Λυκοῦργος, εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀφικόμενοι καὶ συγγενόμενοι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν. Εὔδοξος μὲν οὖν Χονούφεώς φασι Μεμφίτου διακοῦσαι, Σόλωνα δὲ Σόγχιτος Σαΐτου, Πυθαγόραν δʼ Οἰνούφεως Ἡλιοπολίτου. μάλιστα δʼ οὗτος, ὡς ἔοικε, θαυμασθεὶς καὶ θαυμάσας τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀπεμιμήσατο τὸ συμβολικὸν αὐτῶν καὶ μυστηριῶδες, ἀναμίξας αἰνίγμασι τὰ δόγματα· τῶν γὰρ καλουμένων ἱερογλυφικῶν γραμμάτων οὐδὲν ἀπολείπει τὰ πολλὰ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν παραγγελμάτων, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ μὴ ἐσθίειν ἐπὶ δίφρου μηδʼ ἐπὶ χοίνικος καθῆσθαι μηδὲ φοίνικα φυτεύειν μηδὲ πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ σκαλεύειν ἐν οἰκίᾳ δοκῶ δʼ ἔγωγε καὶ τὸ τὴν μονάδα τοὺς ἄνδρας ὀνομάζειν Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ τὴν δυάδα Ἄρτεμιν, Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ τὴν ἑβδομάδα, Ποσειδῶνα δὲ τὸν πρῶτον κύβον, ἐοικέναι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἱδρυμένοις καὶ δρωμένοις νὴ Δία καὶ γραφομένοις. τὸν γὰρ βασιλέα καὶ κύριον Ὄσιριν ὀφθαλμῷ καὶ σκήπτρῳ γράφουσιν· ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τοὔνομα διερμηνεύουσι πολυόφθαλμον, ὡς τοῦ μὲν ος, τὸ πολύ, τοῦ δʼ ιρι τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν Αἰγυπτίᾳ γλώττῃ φράζοντος τὸν δʼ οὐρανὸν ὡς ἀγήρων διʼ ἀιδιότητα καρδίᾳ θυμὸν ἐσχάρας ὑποκειμένης. ἐν δὲ Θήβαις εἰκόνες ἦσαν ἀνακείμεναι δικαστῶν ἄχειρες, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἀρχιδικαστοῦ καταμύουσα τοῖς ὄμμασιν, ὡς ἄδωρον ἅμα τὴν δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀνέντευκτον οὖσαν. τοῖς δὲ μαχίμοις κάνθαρος ἦν γλυφὴ σφραγῖδος· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι κάνθαρος θῆλυς, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἄρσενες. τίκτουσι δὲ τὸν γόνον εἰς ὕλην, ἣν σφαιροποιοῦσιν, οὐ τροφῆς μᾶλλον ἢ γενέσεως χώραν παρασκευάζοντες.
This is also confirmed by the most learned of the Greeks (such as Solon, Thales, Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras, and as some say, even Lycurgus) going to Egypt and conversing with the priests; of whom they say Eudoxus was a hearer of Chonuphis of Memphis, Solon of Sonchis of Sais, and Pythagoras of Oenuphis of Heliopolis. Whereof the last named, being (as is probable) more than ordinarily admired by the men, and they also by him, imitated their symbolical and mysterious way of talking, obscuring his sentiments with dark riddles. For the greatest part of the Pythagoric precepts fall nothing short of those sacred writings they call hieroglyphical, such as, Do not eat in a chariot; Do not sit on a choenix (or measure); Plant not a palm-tree; Stir not fire with a knife within the house. And I verily believe, that their terming the unit Apollo, the number two Diana, the number seven Minerva, and the first cube Neptune, refers to the columns set up in their temples, and to things there acted, aye, and painted too. For they represent their king and lord Osiris by an eye and a sceptre. There are some also that interpret his name by many-eyed, as if os in the Egyptian tongue signified many, and iri an eye. And the heaven, because by reason of its eternity it never grows old, they represent by a heart with a censer under it. There were also statues of judges erected at Thebes, having no hands; and the chief of them had also his eyes closed up, hereby signifying that among them justice was not to be solicited with either bribery or address. Moreover, the men of the sword had a beetle carved upon their signets, because there is no such thing as a female beetle; for they are all males, and they generate their young in certain round pellets formed of dirt, being herein as well providers of the place in which they are to be engendered, as of the matter of their nutrition.
ὅταν οὖν ἃ μυθολογοῦσιν Αἰγύπτιοι περὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀκούσῃς, πλάνας καὶ διαμελισμοὺς καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα παθήματα, δεῖ τῶν προειρημένων μνημονεύειν καὶ μηδὲν οἴεσθαι τούτων λέγεσθαι γεγονὸς οὕτω καὶ πεπραγμένον. οὐ γὰρ τὸν κύνα κυρίως Ἑρμῆν λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ζῴου τὸ φυλακτικὸν καὶ τὸ ἄγρυπνον καὶ τὸ φιλόσοφον, γνώσει καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ τὸ φίλον καὶ τὸ ἐχθρὸν ὁρίζοντος, ᾗ φησιν ὁ Πλάτων, τῷ λογιωτάτῳ τῶν θεῶν συνοικειοῦσιν. οὐδὲ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκ λωτοῦ νομίζουσι βρέφος ἀνίσχειν νεογνόν, ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἀνατολὴν ἡλίου γράφουσι, τὴν ἐξ ὑγρῶν ἡλίου γιγνομένην ἄναψιν αἰνιττόμενοι. καὶ γὰρ τὸν ὠμότατον Περσῶν βασιλέα καὶ φοβερώτατον Ὦχον ἀποκτείναντα πολλούς, τέλος δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἆπιν ἀποσφάξαντα καὶ καταδειπνήσαντα μετὰ τῶν φίλων, ἐκάλεσαν μάχαιραν, καὶ καλοῦσι μέχρι νῦν οὕτως ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ τῶν βασιλέων, οὐ κυρίως δήπου τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ σημαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ τοῦ τρόπου τὴν σκληρότητα καὶ κακίαν ὀργάνῳ φονικῷ παρεικάζοντες. οὕτω δὴ τὰ περὶ θεῶν ἀκούσασα καὶ δεχομένη παρὰ τῶν ἐξηγουμένων τὸν μῦθον ὁσίως καὶ φιλοσόφως, καὶ δρῶσα μὲν ἀεὶ καὶ διαφυλάττουσα τῶν ἱερῶν τὰ νενομισμένα, τοῦ δʼ ἀληθῆ δόξαν ἔχειν περὶ θεῶν μηδὲν οἰομένη μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς μήτε θύσειν μήτε ποιήσειν κεχαρισμένον, οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἀποφεύξῃ κακὸν ἀθεότητος δεισιδαιμονίαν.
When therefore you hear the tales which the Egyptians relate about the Gods, such as their wanderings, discerptions, and such like disasters that befell them, you are still to remember that none of these things have been really so acted and done as they are told. For they do not call the dog Hermes properly, but only attribute the warding, vigilancy, and philosophic acuteness of that animal, which by knowing or not knowing distinguishes between its friend and its foe (as Plato speaks), to the most knowing and ingenious of the Gods. Nor do they believe that the sun springs up a little boy from the top of the lotus, but they thus set forth his rising to insinuate the kindling of his rays by means of humids. Besides, that most savage and horrible king of the Persians named Ochus, who, when he had massacred abundance of people, afterwards slaughtered the Apis, and feasted upon him, both himself and his retinue, they called the Sword; and they call him so to this very day in their table of kings, hereby not denoting properly his person, but resembling by this instrument of murder the severity and mischievousness of his disposition. When therefore you thus hear the stories of the Gods from such as interpret them with consistency to piety and philosophy, and observe and practise those rites that are by law established, and are persuaded in your mind that you cannot possibly either offer or perform a more agreeable thing to the Gods than the entertaining of a right notion of them, you will then avoid superstition as a no less evil than atheism itself.
Cite This Text