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Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Justin Martyr

Chapter 30

About this work

Author: Justin Martyr

Chapter XXX.—Homer’s knowledge of man’s origin.

And he was obviously deceived in the same way regarding

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the

earth

and

heaven

and

man

;

for

he

supposes

that

there

are

“

ideas

”

of

these

.

For

as

Moses

wrote

thus

,

“

In

the

beginning

God

created

the

heaven

and

the

earth

,

”

and

then

subjoins

this

sentence

,

“

And

the

earth

was

invisible

and

unfashioned

,

”

he

thought

that

it

was

the

pre

-

existent

earth

which

was

spoken

of

in

the

words

,

“

The

earth

was

,

”

because

Moses

said

,

“

And

the

earth

was

invisible

and

unfashioned

;

”

and

he

thought

that

the

earth

,

concerning

which

he

says

,

“

God

created

the

heaven

and

the

earth

,

”

was

that

earth

which

we

perceive

by

the

senses

,

and

which

God

made

according

to

the

pre

-

existent

form

.

And

so

also

,

of

the

heaven

which

was

created

,

he

thought

that

the

heaven

which

was

created

—

and

which

he

also

called

the

firmament

—

was

that

creation

which

the

senses

perceive

;

and

that

the

heaven

which

the

intellect

perceives

is

that

other

of

which

the

prophet

said

,

“

The

heaven

of

heavens

is

the

Lord’s

,

but

the

earth

hath

He

given

to

the

children

of

men

.

”

And

so

also

concerning

man

:

Moses

first

mentions

the

name

of

man

,

and

then

after

many

other

creations

he

makes

mention

of

the

formation

of

man

,

saying

,

“

And

God

made

man

,

taking

dust

from

the

earth

.

”

He

thought

,

accordingly

,

that

the

man

first

so

named

existed

before

the

man

who

was

made

,

and

that

he

who

was

formed

of

the

earth

was

afterwards

made

according

to

the

pre

-

existent

form

.

And

that

man

was

formed

of

earth

,

Homer

,

too

,

having

discovered

from

the

ancient

and

divine

history

which

says

,

“

Dust

thou

art

,

and

unto

dust

shalt

thou

return

,

”

calls

the

lifeless

body

of

Hector

dumb

clay

.

For

in

condemnation

of

Achilles

dragging

the

corpse

of

Hector

after

death

,

he

says

somewhere

:

—

“On the dumb clay he cast indignity, Blinded with rage.”

And again, somewhere else, he introduces Menelaus, thus addressing those who were not accepting Hector’s challenge to single combat with becoming alacrity,—

“To earth and water may you all return,”—

resolving them in his violent rage into their original and pristine formation from earth. These things Homer and Plato, having learned in Egypt from the ancient histories, wrote in their own words.

Notes

71
Ps. cxv. 16.
72
Gen. ii. 7.
73
Gen. iii. 19.
74
Iliad, xxii.
75
Iliad, vii. 99.