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Address to the Greeks

Tatian

Chapter 21

About this work

Tatian attacks Greek claims to cultural and philosophical superiority, defends Christian teaching about God, creation, resurrection, and ethics, and argues for the antiquity of biblical wisdom.

Author: Tatian
Date: c. AD 165–175
Origin: Rome or the eastern Mediterranean
Genre: Apology

Doctrines of the Christians and Greeks Respecting God Compared.

We do not act as fools, O Greeks,

‹ Chapter 20 Chapter 22 ›

nor

utter

idle

tales

,

when

we

announce

that

God

was

born

in

the

form

of

a

man

.

I

call

on

you

who

reproach

us

to

compare

your

mythical

accounts

with

our

narrations

.

Athené

,

as

they

say

,

took

the

form

of

Deïphobus

for

the

sake

of

Hector

,

and

the

unshorn

Phoœbus

for

the

sake

of

Admetus

fed

the

trailing

-

footed

oxen

,

and

the

spouse

us

came

as

an

old

woman

to

Semele

.

But

,

while

you

treat

seriously

such

things

,

how

can

you

deride

us

?

Your

Asclepios

died

,

and

he

who

ravished

fifty

virgins

in

one

night

at

Thespiæ

lost

his

life

by

delivering

himself

to

the

devouring

flame

.

Prometheus

,

fastened

to

Caucasus

,

suffered

punishment

for

his

good

deeds

to

men

.

According

to

you

,

Zeus

is

envious

,

and

hides

the

dream

from

men

,

wishing

their

destruction

.

Wherefore

,

looking

at

your

own

memorials

,

vouchsafe

us

your

approval

,

though

it

were

only

as

dealing

in

legends

similar

to

your

own

.

We

,

however

,

do

not

deal

in

folly

,

but

your

legends

are

only

idle

tales

.

If

you

speak

of

the

origin

of

the

gods

,

you

also

declare

them

to

be

mortal

.

For

what

reason

is

Hera

now

never

pregnant

?

Has

she

grown

old

?

or

is

there

no

one

to

give

you

information

?

Believe

me

now

,

O

Greeks

,

and

do

not

resolve

your

myths

and

gods

into

allegory

.

If

you

attempt

to

do

this

,

the

divine

nature

as

held

by

you

is

overthrown

by

your

own

selves

;

for

,

if

the

demons

with

you

are

such

as

they

are

said

to

be

,

they

are

worthless

as

to

character

;

or

,

if

regarded

as

symbols

of

the

powers

of

nature

,

they

are

not

what

they

are

called

.

But

I

cannot

be

persuaded

to

pay

religious

homage

to

the

natural

elements

,

nor

can

I

undertake

to

persuade

my

neighbour

.

And

Metrodorus

of

Lampsacus

,

in

his

treatise

concerning

Homer

,

has

argued

very

foolishly

,

turning

everything

into

allegory

.

For

he

says

that

neither

Hera

,

nor

Athené

,

nor

Zeus

are

what

those

persons

suppose

who

consecrate

to

them

sacred

enclosures

and

groves

,

but

parts

of

nature

and

certain

arrangements

of

the

elements

.

Hector

also

,

and

Achilles

,

and

Agamemnon

,

and

all

the

Greeks

in

general

,

and

the

Barbarians

with

Helen

and

Paris

,

being

of

the

same

nature

,

you

will

of

course

say

are

introduced

merely

for

the

sake

of

the

machinery

of

the

poem

,

not

one

of

these

personages

having

really

existed

.

But

these

things

we

have

put

forth

only

for

argument’s

sake

;

for

it

is

not

allowable

even

to

compare

our

notion

of

God

with

those

who

are

wallowing

in

matter

and

mud

.

Notes

62
Il., xxii. 227.
63
Il., ii. init.
64
[Χάριν οἰκονμίας. Compare divers uses of this word in Kaye’s Justin, p. 174.]