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Tertullian

Book 2 · Chapter 7

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter VII.—The Gods of the Mythic Class. The Poets a Very Poor Authority in Such Matters. Homer and the Mythic Poets. Why Irreligious.

But to pass to the mythic class of gods, which we

‹ Book 2 · Chapter 6 Book 2 · Chapter 8 ›

attributed

to

the

poets

,

I

hardly

know

whether

I

must

only

seek

to

put

them

on

a

par

with

our

own

human

mediocrity

,

or

whether

they

must

be

affirmed

to

be

gods

,

with

proofs

of

divinity

,

like

the

African

Mopsus

and

the

Bœotian

Amphiaraus

.

I

must

now

indeed

but

slightly

touch

on

this

class

,

of

which

a

fuller

view

will

be

taken

in

the

proper

place

.

Meanwhile

,

that

these

were

only

human

beings

,

is

clear

from

the

fact

that

you

do

not

consistently

call

them

gods

,

but

heroes

.

Why

then

discuss

the

point

?

Although

divine

honours

had

to

be

ascribed

to

dead

men

,

it

was

not

to

them

as

such

,

of

course

.

Look

at

your

own

practice

,

when

with

similar

excess

of

presumption

you

sully

heaven

with

the

sepulchres

of

your

kings

:

is

it

not

such

as

are

illustrious

for

justice

,

virtue

,

piety

,

and

every

excellence

of

this

sort

,

that

you

honour

with

the

blessedness

of

deification

,

contented

even

to

incur

contempt

if

you

forswear

yourselves

for

such

characters

?

And

,

on

the

other

hand

,

do

you

not

deprive

the

impious

and

disgraceful

of

even

the

old

prizes

of

human

glory

,

tear

up

their

decrees

and

titles

,

pull

down

their

statues

,

and

deface

their

images

on

the

current

coin

?

Will

He

,

however

,

who

beholds

all

things

,

who

approves

,

nay

,

rewards

the

good

,

prostitute

before

all

men

the

attribute

of

His

own

inexhaustible

grace

and

mercy

?

And

shall

men

be

allowed

an

especial

mount

of

care

and

righteousness

,

that

they

may

be

wise

in

selecting

and

multiplying

their

deities

?

Shall

attendants

on

kings

and

princes

be

more

pure

than

those

who

wait

on

the

Supreme

God

?

You

turn

your

back

in

horror

,

indeed

,

on

outcasts

and

exiles

,

on

the

poor

and

weak

,

on

the

obscurely

born

and

the

low

-

lived

;

but

yet

you

honour

,

even

by

legal

sanctions

,

unchaste

men

,

adulterers

,

robbers

,

and

parricides

.

Must

we

regard

it

as

a

subject

of

ridicule

or

indignation

,

that

such

characters

are

believed

to

be

gods

who

are

not

fit

to

be

men

?

Then

,

again

,

in

this

mythic

class

of

yours

which

the

poets

celebrate

,

how

uncertain

is

your

conduct

as

to

purity

of

conscience

and

the

maintenance

thereof

!

For

whenever

we

hold

up

to

execration

the

wretched

,

disgraceful

and

atrocious

(

examples

)

of

your

gods

,

you

defend

them

as

mere

fables

,

on

the

pretence

of

poetic

licence

;

whenever

we

volunteer

a

silent

contempt

of

this

said

poetic

licence

,

then

you

are

not

only

troubled

with

no

horror

of

it

,

but

you

go

so

far

as

to

show

it

respect

,

and

to

hold

it

as

one

of

the

indispensable

(

fine

)

arts

;

nay

,

you

carry

out

the

studies

of

your

higher

classes

by

its

means

,

as

the

very

foundation

of

your

literature

.

Plato

was

of

opinion

that

poets

ought

to

be

banished

,

as

calumniators

of

the

gods

;

(

he

would

even

have

)

Homer

himself

expelled

from

his

republic

,

although

,

as

you

are

aware

,

he

was

the

crowned

head

of

them

all

.

But

while

you

admit

and

retain

them

thus

,

why

should

you

not

believe

them

when

they

disclose

such

things

respecting

your

gods

?

And

if

you

do

believe

your

poets

,

how

is

it

that

you

worship

such

gods

(

as

they

describe

)

?

If

you

worship

them

simply

because

you

do

not

believe

the

poets

,

why

do

you

bestow

praise

on

such

lying

authors

,

without

any

fear

of

giving

offence

to

those

whose

calumniators

you

honour

?

A

regard

for

truth

is

not

,

of

course

,

to

be

expected

of

poets

.

But

when

you

say

that

they

only

make

men

into

gods

after

their

death

,

do

you

not

admit

that

before

death

the

said

gods

were

merely

human

?

Now

what

is

there

strange

in

the

fact

,

that

they

who

were

once

men

are

subject

to

the

dishonour

of

human

casualties

,

or

crimes

,

or

fables

?

Do

you

not

,

in

fact

,

put

faith

in

your

poets

,

when

it

is

in

accordance

with

their

rhapsodies

that

you

have

arranged

in

some

instances

your

very

rituals

?

How

is

it

that

the

priestess

of

Ceres

is

ravished

,

if

it

is

not

because

Ceres

suffered

a

similar

outrage

?

Why

are

the

children

of

others

sacrificed

to

Saturn

,

if

it

is

not

because

he

spared

not

his

own

?

Why

is

a

male

mutilated

in

honour

of

the

Idæan

goddess

Cybele

,

unless

it

be

that

the

(

unhappy

)

youth

who

was

too

disdainful

of

her

advances

was

castrated

,

owing

to

her

vexation

at

his

daring

to

cross

her

love

?

Why

was

not

Hercules

“

a

dainty

dish

”

to

the

good

ladies

of

Lanuvium

,

if

it

was

not

for

the

primeval

offence

which

women

gave

to

him

?

The

poets

,

no

doubt

,

are

liars

.

Yet

it

is

not

because

of

their

telling

us

that

your

gods

did

such

things

when

they

were

human

beings

,

nor

because

they

predicated

divine

scandals

of

a

divine

state

,

since

it

seemed

to

you

more

credible

that

gods

should

exist

,

though

not

of

such

a

character

,

than

that

there

should

be

such

characters

,

although

not

gods

.

Notes

1
See above, c. i. [Note 19, p. 129.]
2
See The Apology, especially cc. xxii. and xxiii.
3
Pejerantes.
4
Lancinatis.
5
Repercutitus.
6
Vulgo.
7
Sapere. The infinitive of purpose is frequent in our author.
8
Distribuendis.
9
An allusion to Antinous, who is also referred to in The Apology, xiii. [“Court-page.” See, p. 29, Supra.]
10
Inhoneste institutos.
11
By the “legibus” Tertullian refers to the divine honours ordered to be paid, by decrees of the Senate, to deceased emperors. Comp. Suetonius, Octav. 88; and Pliny, Paneg. 11 (Oehler).
12
Ultro siletur.
13
Ejusmodi.
14
Insuper.
15
Denique.
16
Ingenuitatis.
17
Initiatricem.
18
Sane.
19
Fides.
20
Polluuntur.
21
Relationibus.
22
Comp. The Apology, ix. [See, p. 25, Supra.]
23
Comp. Minucius Felix, Octav. xxi.; Arnobius, adv. Nat. v. 6, 7; Augustine, Civ. Dei, vi. 7.
24
This is the force of the subjunctive verb.
25
By divine scandals, he means such as exceed in their atrocity even human scandals.