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Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Justin Martyr

Chapter 17

About this work

Author: Justin Martyr

Chapter XVII.—Testimony of Homer.

And the poet Homer, using the license of poetry

‹ Chapter 16 Chapter 18 ›

,

and

rivalling

the

original

opinion

of

Orpheus

regarding

the

plurality

of

the

gods

,

mentions

,

indeed

,

several

gods

in

a

mythical

style

,

lest

he

should

seem

to

sing

in

a

different

strain

from

the

poem

of

Orpheus

,

which

he

so

distinctly

proposed

to

rival

,

that

even

in

the

first

line

of

his

poem

he

indicated

the

relation

he

held

to

him

.

For

as

Orpheus

in

the

beginning

of

his

poem

had

said

,

“

O

goddess

,

sing

the

wrath

of

Demeter

,

who

brings

the

goodly

fruit

,

”

Homer

began

thus

,

“

O

goddess

,

sing

the

wrath

of

Achilles

,

son

of

Peleus

,

”

preferring

,

as

it

seems

to

me

,

even

to

violate

the

poetical

metre

in

his

first

line

,

than

that

he

should

seem

not

to

have

remembered

before

all

else

the

names

of

the

gods

.

But

shortly

after

he

also

clearly

and

explicitly

presents

his

own

opinion

regarding

one

God

only

,

somewhere

saying

to

Achilles

by

the

mouth

of

Phœnix

,

“

Not

though

God

Himself

were

to

promise

that

He

would

peel

off

my

old

age

,

and

give

me

the

rigour

of

my

youth

,

”

where

he

indicates

by

the

pronoun

the

real

and

true

God

.

And

somewhere

he

makes

Ulysses

address

the

host

of

the

Greeks

thus

:

“

The

rule

of

many

is

not

a

good

thing

;

let

there

be

one

ruler

.

”

And

that

the

rule

of

many

is

not

a

good

thing

,

but

on

the

contrary

an

evil

,

he

proposed

to

evince

by

fact

,

recounting

the

wars

which

took

place

on

account

of

the

multitude

of

rulers

,

and

the

fights

and

factions

,

and

their

mutual

counterplots

.

For

monarchy

is

free

from

contention

.

So

far

the

poet

Homer

.

Notes

37
Iliad, ix. 445.
38
Iliad, ii. 204.