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Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Justin Martyr

Chapter 37

About this work

Author: Justin Martyr

Chapter XXXVII.—Of the Sibyl.

And you may in part easily learn the right religion

‹ Chapter 36 Chapter 38 ›

from

the

ancient

Sibyl

,

who

by

some

kind

of

potent

inspiration

teaches

you

,

through

her

oracular

predictions

,

truths

which

seem

to

be

much

akin

to

the

teaching

of

the

prophets

.

She

,

they

say

,

was

of

Babylonian

extraction

,

being

the

daughter

of

Berosus

,

who

wrote

the

Chaldæan

History

;

and

when

she

had

crossed

over

(

how

,

I

know

not

)

into

the

region

of

Campania

,

she

there

uttered

her

oracular

sayings

in

a

city

called

Cumæ

,

six

miles

from

Baiæ

,

where

the

hot

springs

of

Campania

are

found

.

And

being

in

that

city

,

we

saw

also

a

certain

place

,

in

which

we

were

shown

a

very

large

basilica

cut

out

of

one

stone

;

a

vast

affair

,

and

worthy

of

all

admiration

.

And

they

who

had

heard

it

from

their

fathers

as

part

of

their

country’s

tradition

,

told

us

that

it

was

here

she

used

to

publish

her

oracles

.

And

in

the

middle

of

the

basilica

they

showed

us

three

receptacles

cut

out

of

one

stone

,

in

which

,

when

filled

with

water

,

they

said

that

she

washed

,

and

having

put

on

her

robe

again

,

retires

into

the

inmost

chamber

of

the

basilica

,

which

is

still

a

part

of

the

one

stone

;

and

sitting

in

the

middle

of

the

chamber

on

a

high

rostrum

and

throne

,

thus

proclaims

her

oracles

.

And

both

by

many

other

writers

has

the

Sibyl

been

mentioned

as

a

prophetess

,

and

also

by

Plato

in

his

Phædrus

.

And

Plato

seems

to

me

to

have

counted

prophets

divinely

inspired

when

he

read

her

prophecies

.

For

he

saw

that

what

she

had

long

ago

predicted

was

accomplished

;

and

on

this

account

he

expresses

in

the

Dialogue

with

Meno

his

wonder

at

and

admiration

of

prophets

in

the

following

terms

:

“

Those

whom

we

now

call

prophetic

persons

we

should

rightly

name

divine

.

And

not

least

would

we

say

that

they

are

divine

,

and

are

raised

to

the

prophetic

ecstasy

by

the

inspiration

and

possession

of

God

,

when

they

correctly

speak

of

many

and

important

matters

,

and

yet

know

nothing

of

what

they

are

saying

,

”

—

plainly

and

manifestly

referring

to

the

prophecies

of

the

Sibyl

.

For

,

unlike

the

poets

who

,

after

their

poems

are

penned

,

have

power

to

correct

and

polish

,

specially

in

the

way

of

increasing

the

accuracy

of

their

verse

,

she

was

filled

indeed

with

prophecy

at

the

time

of

the

inspiration

,

but

as

soon

as

the

inspiration

ceased

,

there

ceased

also

the

remembrance

of

all

she

had

said

.

And

this

indeed

was

the

cause

why

some

only

,

and

not

all

,

the

metres

of

the

verses

of

the

Sibyl

were

preserved

.

For

we

ourselves

,

when

in

that

city

,

ascertained

from

our

cicerone

,

who

showed

us

the

places

in

which

she

used

to

prophesy

,

that

there

was

a

certain

coffer

made

of

brass

in

which

they

said

that

her

remains

were

preserved

.

And

besides

all

else

which

they

told

us

as

they

had

heard

it

from

their

fathers

,

they

said

also

that

they

who

then

took

down

her

prophecies

,

being

illiterate

persons

,

often

went

quite

astray

from

the

accuracy

of

the

metres

;

and

this

,

they

said

,

was

the

cause

of

the

want

of

metre

in

some

of

the

verses

,

the

prophetess

having

no

remembrance

of

what

she

had

said

,

after

the

possession

and

inspiration

ceased

,

and

the

reporters

having

,

through

their

lack

of

education

,

failed

to

record

the

metres

with

accuracy

.

And

on

this

account

,

it

is

manifest

that

Plato

had

an

eye

to

the

prophecies

of

the

Sibyl

when

he

said

this

about

prophets

,

for

he

said

,

“

When

they

correctly

speak

of

many

and

important

matters

,

and

yet

know

nothing

of

what

they

are

saying

.

Notes

84
[Travellers must recognise the agreement of Justin’s story with the traditional cave still shown in this region.]