Chapter XIII: Part 13

Αὐτὰ δὲ χρὴ τὰ εἴδη πρότερον ὑφεστάναι πάντως ἐνεργείᾳ τοῦ δυνάμει. τῆς τοίνυν ἐν ἡμῖν ψυχῆς, ὡς καὶ Ἀριστοτέλει δοκεῖ, δυνάμει τῶν ὄντων ἐχούσης τὰ εἴδη, ποῦ πρῶτον ἐνεργείᾳ θησόμεθα ταῦτα; πότερον ἐν τοῖς ἐνύλοις; [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἔστι γε ταῦτα φανερῶς τὰ τελευταῖα. λείπεται δὴ λοιπὸν ἀύλους αἰτίας ζητεῖν ἐνεργείᾳ προτεταγμένας τῶν ἐνύλων, αἷς παρυποστᾶσαν καὶ συμπροελθοῦσαν ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν δέχεσθαι μὲν ἐκεῖθεν, ὥσπερ ἐξ ὄντων τινῶν τὰ ἔσοπτρα, τοὺς τῶν εἰδῶν ἀναγκαῖον λόγους, ἐνδιδόναι δὲ διὰ τῆς φύσεως τῇ τε ὕλῃ καὶ τοῖς ἐνύλοις τουτοισὶ σώμασιν. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἡ φύσις ἐστὶ δημιουργὸς τῶν σωμάτων ἴσμεν, ὡς ὅλη τις οὖσα τοῦ παντός, ἡ δὲ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον [C] ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τῶν ἐν μέρει, πρόδηλόν ἐστί που καὶ σαφές, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ φύσις ἐνεργείᾳ δίχα φαντασίας ἐν ἡμῖν, ἡ δὲ ὑπὲρ ταύτης ψυχὴ καὶ τὴν φαντασίαν προσείληφεν. εἰ τοίνυν ἡ φύσις καὶ ὧν οὐκ ἔχει τὴν φαντασίαν ἔχειν ὅμως ὁμολογεῖται τὴν αἰτίαν, ἀνθ᾽ ὅτου πρὸς θεῶν οὐχὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸ μᾶλλον ἔτι καὶ πρεσβύτερον τῇ ψυχῇ δώσομεν, ὅπου καὶ φανταστικῶς αὐτὸ γιγνώσκομεν ἤδη [D] καὶ λόγῳ καταλαμβάνομεν; εἶτα τίς οὕτως ἐστὶ φιλόνεικος, ὡς τῇ φύσει μὲν ὑπάρχειν ὁμολογεῖν τοὺς ἐνύλους λόγους, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντας καὶ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐνεργείᾳ, ἀλλὰ δυνάμει γε πάντας, τῇ ψυχῇ δὲ μὴ δοῦναι τοῦτο αὐτό; οὐκοῦν εἰ δυνάμει μὲν ἐν τῇ φύσει καὶ οὐκ ἐνεργείᾳ τὰ εἴδη, δυνάμει δὲ ἔτι καὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ καθαρώτερον καὶ δικεκριμένως μᾶλλον, ὥστε δὴ καὶ καταλαμβάνεσθαι καὶ γινώσκεσθαι, ἐνεργείᾳ δὲ οὐδαμοῦ· πόθεν ἀναρτήσομεν τῆς ἀειγενεσίας τὰ πείσματα; ποῦ δὲ ἑδράσομεν [165] τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀιδιότητος κόσμου λόγους; τὸ γὰρ τοι κυκλικὸν σῶμα ἐξ ὑποκειμένου καὶ εἴδους ἐστίν. ἀνάγκη δὴ οὖν, εἰ καὶ μήποτε ἐνεργείᾳ ταῦτα δίχα ἀλλήλων, ἀλλὰ ταῖς γε ἐπινοίαις ἐκεῖνα πρῶτα ὑπάρχοντα εἶναί τε καὶ νομίζεσθαι πρεσβύτερα. οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ δέδοταί τις καὶ τῶν ἐνύλων εἰδῶν αἰτία προηγουμένη παντελῶς ἄυλος ὑπὸ τὸν τρίτον δημιουργόν, ὃς ἡμῖν οὐ τούτων μόνον ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ φαινομένου καὶ πέμπτου σώματος πατὴρ καὶ δεσπότης· [B] ἀποδιελόντες ἐκείνου τὸν Ἄττιν, τὴν ἄχρι τῆς ὕλης καταβαίνουσαν αἰτίαν, καὶ θεὸν γόνιμον Ἄττιν εἶναι καὶ Γάλλον πεπιστεύκαμεν, ὃν δή φησιν ὁ μῦθος ἀνθῆσαι μὲν ἐκτεθέντα παρὰ Γάλλου ποταμοῦ ταῖς δίναις, εἶτα καλὸν φανέντα καὶ μέγαν ἀγαπηθῆναι παρὰ τῆς Μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν. τὴν δὲ τά τε ἄλλα πάντα ἐπιτρέψαι αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν ἀστερωτὸν περιθεῖναι(818) πῖλον. [C] ἀλλ᾽ εἰ τὴν κορυφὴν σκέπει τοῦ Ἄττιδος ὁ φαινόμενος οὐρανὸς οὑτοσί, τὸν Γάλλον ποταμὸν ἄρα μή ποτε χρὴ τὸν γαλαξίαν αἰνίττεσθαι(819) κύκλον; ἐνταῦθα γάρ φασι μίγνυσθαι τὸ παθητὸν σῶμα πρὸς τὴν ἀπαθῆ τοῦ πέμπτου κυκλοφορίαν. ἄχρι τοι τούτων ἐπέτρεψεν ἡ Μήτηρ τῶν θεῶν σκιρτᾶν τε καὶ χορεύειν τῷ καλῷ τούτῳ καὶ ταῖς ἡλιακαῖς ἀκτῖσιν ἐμφερεῖ τῷ νοερῷ θεῷ, τῷ Ἄττιδι. ὁ δὲ ἐπειδὴ προïὼν ἦλθεν ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων, ὁ μῦθος αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ ἄντρον(820) κατελθεῖν ἔφη καὶ συγγενέσθαι τῇ νύμφῃ, [D] τὸ δίυγρον αἰνιττόμενος τῆς ὕλης· καὶ οὐδὲ τὴν ὕλην αὐτὴν νῦν ἔφη, τὴν τελευταίαν δὲ αἰτίαν ἀσώματον, ἣ τῆς ὕλης προüφέστηκε.(821) λέγεταί τοι καὶ πρὸς Ἡρακλείτου(822)

(Now the forms themselves must certainly subsist actually before they subsist potentially. If, therefore, the soul in us, as Aristotle himself believed, contains potentially the forms of existing things, where shall we place the forms in that previous state of actuality? Shall it be in material things? No, for the forms that are in them are evidently the last and lowest. Therefore it only remains to search for immaterial causes which exist in actuality prior to and of a higher order than the causes that are embodied in matter. And our souls must subsist in dependence on these and come forth together with them, and so receive from them the concepts of the forms, as mirrors show the reflections of things; and then with the aid of nature it bestows them on matter and on these material bodies of our world. For we know that nature is the creator of bodies, universal nature in some sort of the All; while that the individual nature of each is the creator of particulars is plainly evident. But nature exists in us in actuality without a mental image, whereas the soul, which is superior to nature, possesses a mental image besides. If therefore we admit that nature contains in herself the cause of things of which she has however no mental image, why, in heaven’s name, are we not to assign to the soul these same forms, only in a still higher degree, and with priority over nature, seeing that it is in the soul that we recognise the forms by means of mental images, and comprehend them by means of the concept? Who then is so contentious as to admit on the one hand that the concepts embodied in matter exist in nature—even though not all and equally in actuality, yet all potentially—while on the other hand he refuses to recognise that the same is true of the soul? If therefore the forms exist in nature potentially, but not actually, and if also they exist potentially in the soul,(823) only in a still purer sense and more completely separated, so that they can be comprehended and recognised; but yet exist in actuality nowhere at all; to what, I ask, shall we hang the chain of perpetual generation, and on what shall we base our theories of the imperishability of the universe? For the cyclic substance(824) itself is composed of matter and form. It must therefore follow that, even though in actuality these two, matter and form, are never separate from one another, yet for our intelligence the forms must have prior existence and be regarded as of a higher order. Accordingly, since for the forms embodied in matter a wholly immaterial cause has been assigned, which leads these forms under the hand of the third creator(825)—who for us is the lord and father not only of these forms but also of the visible fifth substance—from that creator we distinguish Attis, the cause which descends even unto matter, and we believe that Attis or Gallus is a god of generative powers. Of him the myth relates that, after being exposed at birth near the eddying stream of the river Gallus, he grew up like a flower, and when he had grown to be fair and tall, he was beloved by the Mother of the Gods. And she entrusted all things to him, and moreover set on his head the starry cap.(826) But if our visible sky covers the crown of Attis, must one not interpret the river Gallus as the Milky Way?(827) For it is there, they say, that the substance which is subject to change mingles with the passionless revolving sphere of the fifth substance. Only as far as this did the Mother of the Gods permit this fair intellectual god Attis, who resembles the sun’s rays, to leap and dance. But when he passed beyond this limit and came even to the lowest region, the myth said that he had descended into the cave, and had wedded the nymph. And the nymph is to be interpreted as the dampness of matter; though the myth does not here mean matter itself, but the lowest immaterial cause which subsists prior to matter. Indeed Heracleitus also says:)

ψυχῇσιν θάνατος ὑγρῇσι γενέσθαι·

(“It is death to souls to become wet.”)

τοῦτον οὖν τὸν Γάλλον, τὸν νοερὸν θεόν, τὸν τῶν ἐνύλων καὶ ὑπὸ σελήνην εἰδῶν συνοχέα, τῇ προτεταγμένῃ τῆς ὕλης αἰτίᾳ συνιόντα, συνιόντα δὲ οὐχ ὡς ἄλλον ἄλλῃ, [166] ἀλλ᾽ οἷον αὐτὸ εἰς ἑαυτὸ(828) λέγομεν(829) ὑποφερόμενον.

(We mean therefore that this Gallus, the intellectual god, the connecting link between forms embodied in matter beneath the region of the moon, is united with the cause that is set over matter, but not in the sense that one sex is united with another, but like an element that is gathered to itself.)

Τίς οὖν ἡ Μήτηρ τῶν θεῶν; ἡ τῶν κυβερνώντων τοὺς ἐμφανεῖς νοερῶν καὶ δημιουργικῶν θεῶν πηγή, ἡ καὶ τεκοῦσα καὶ συνοικοῦσα τῷ μεγάλῳ Διὶ θεὸς ὑποστᾶσα μεγάλη μετὰ τὸν μέγαν καὶ σὺν τῷ μεγάλῳ δημιουργῷ, ἡ πάσης μὲν κυρία ζωῆς, πάσης δὲ γενέσεως αἰτία, ἡ ῥᾷστα μὲν ἐπιτελοῦσα τὰ ποιούμενα, γεννῶσα δὲ δίχα πάθους καὶ δημιουργοῦσα τὰ ὄντα μετὰ τοῦ πατρός· αὕτη [B] καὶ παρθένος ἀμήτωρ καὶ Διὸς σύνθωκος καὶ μήτηρ θεῶν ὄντως οὖσα πάντων. τῶν γὰρ νοητῶν ὑπερκοσμίων τε(830) θεῶν δεξαμένη πάντων τὰς(831) αἰτίας ἐν ἑαυτῇ πηγὴ τοῖς νοεροῖς ἐγένετο. ταύτην δὴ τὴν θεὸν οὖσαν καὶ πρόνοιαν ἔρως μὲν ὑπῆλθεν ἀπαθὴς Ἄττιδος· ἐθελούσια γὰρ αὐτῇ καὶ κατὰ γνώμην ἐστὶν οὐ τὰ ἔνυλα μόνον εἴδη, πολὺ δὲ πλέον τὰ τούτων αἴτια. τὴν δὴ τὰ γινόμενα καὶ φθειρόμενα σώζουσαν [C] προμήθειαν ἐργᾶν ὁ μῦθος ἔφη τῆς δημιουργικῆς τούτων αἰτίας καὶ γονίμου, καὶ κελεύειν μὲν αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ νοητῷ τίκτειν μᾶλλον καὶ βούλεσθαι μὲν(832) πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἐπεστράφθαι καὶ συνοικεῖν, ἐπίταγμα δὲ ποιεῖσθαι, μηδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ἅμα μὲν τὸ ἑνοειδὲς σωτήριον διώκουσαν, ἅμα δὲ φεύγουσαν τὸ πρὸς τὴν ὕλην νεῦσαν· πρὸς ἑαυτήν τε βλέπειν ἐκέλευσεν, οὖσαν πηγὴν μὲν τῶν δημιουργικῶν θεῶν, οὐ καθελκομένην δὲ εἰς τὴν γένεσιν οὐδὲ θελγομένην· [D] οὕτω γὰρ ἔμελλεν ὁ μέγας Ἄττις καὶ κρείττων(833) εἶναι δημιουργός, ἐπείπερ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἐπιστροφὴ μᾶλλόν ἐστι δραστήριος τῆς πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον νεύσεως. ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ πέμπτον σῶμα τούτῳ δημιουργικώτερόν ἐστι τῶν τῇδε καὶ θειότερον, τῷ μᾶλλον ἐστράφθαι πρὸς τοὺς θεούς, ἐπεί τοι τὸ σῶμα, κἂν αἰθέρος ᾖ τοῦ καθαρωτάτου, ψυχῆς ἀχράντου καὶ καθαρᾶς, ὁποίαν τὴν Ἡρακλέους ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐξέπεμψεν, οὐδεὶς ἂν εἰπεῖν κρεῖττον τολμήσειε. [167] τότε μέντοι ἦν τε καὶ ἐδόκει μᾶλλον δραστήριος, ἢ ὅτε(834) αὑτὴν ἔδωκεν ἐκείνη σώματι. ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτῷ νῦν Ἡρακλεῖ ὅλῳ πρὸς ὅλον κεχωρηκότι τὸν πατέρα ῥᾴων ἡ τούτων ἐπιμέλεια καθέστηκεν ἢ πρότερον ἦν, ὅτε ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις σαρκία φορῶν ἐστρέφετο. οὕτως ἐν πᾶσι δραστήριος μᾶλλον ἡ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἀπόστασις τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον στροφῆς. ὁ δὴ βουλόμενος ὁ μῦθος διδάξαι παραινέσαι φησὶ τὴν Μητέρα τῶν θεῶν τῷ Ἄττιδι θεραπεύειν αὑτὴν καὶ μήτε ἀποχωρεῖν μήτε ἐρᾶν ἄλλης. [B] ὁ δὲ προῆλθεν ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων τῆς ὕλης κατελθών. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐχρῆν παύσασθαί ποτε καὶ στῆναι τὴν ἀπειρίαν, Κορύβας μὲν ὁ μέγας Ἥλιος, ὁ σύνθρονος τῇ Μητρὶ καὶ συνδημιουργῶν αὐτῇ τὰ πάντα καὶ συμπρομηθούμενος καὶ οὐδὲν πράττων αὐτῆς δίχα, πείθει τὸν λέοντα μηνυτὴν γενέσθαι. τίς δὲ ὁ λέων; αἴθωνα δήπουθεν ἀκούομεν αὐτόν, αἰτίαν τοίνυν τὴν προüφεστῶσαν(835) τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ πυρώδους, [C] ἣ πολεμήσειν ἔμελλε τῇ νύμφῃ καὶ ζηλοτυπήσειν αὐτὴν τῆς πρὸς τὸν Ἄττιν κοινωνίας· εἴρηται δὲ ἡμῖν τίς ἡ νύμφη· τῇ δὲ(836) δημιουργικῇ προμηθείᾳ τῶν ὄντων ὑπουργῆσαί φησιν ὁ μῦθος,(837) δηλαδὴ τῇ Μητρὶ τῶν θεῶν· εἶτα φωράσαντα καὶ μηνυτὴν γενόμενον αἴτιον γενέσθαι τῷ νεανίσκῳ τῆς ἐκτομὴς. ἡ δὲ ἐκτομὴ τίς; ἐποχὴ τῆς ἀπειρίας· ἔστη γὰρ δὴ τὰ τῆς γενέσεως ἐν ὡρισμένοις τοῖς εἴδεσιν ὑπὸ τῆς δημιουργικῆς ἐπισχεθέντα προμηθείας, [D] οὐκ ἄνευ τῆς τοῦ Ἄττιδος λεγομένης παραφροσύνης, ἣ τὸ μέτριον ἐξισταμένη καὶ ὑπερβαίνουσα καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ ἐξασθενοῦσα καὶ οὐκέθ᾽ αὑτῆς εἶναι δυναμένη·(838) ὃ δὴ περὶ τὴν τελευταίαν ὑποστῆναι τῶν θεῶν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἄλογον. σκόπει οὖν ἀναλλοίωτον κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀλλοίωσιν τὸ πέμπτον θεώμενος σῶμα περὶ τοὺς φωτισμοὺς τῆς σελήνης, ἵνα λοιπὸν ὁ συνεχῶς γιγνόμενός τε καὶ ἀπολλύμενος κόσμος γειτνιᾷ τῷ πέμπτῳ σώματι. περὶ 168 τοὺς φωτισμοὺς αὐτῆς ἀλλοίωσίν τινα καὶ πάθη συμπίπτοντα θεωροῦμεν. οὐκ ἄτοπον οὖν καὶ τὸν Ἄττιν τοῦτον ἡμίθεόν τινα εἶναι· βούλεται γὰρ δὴ καὶ ὁ μῦθος τοῦτο· μᾶλλον δὲ θεὸν μὲν τῷ παντί· πρόεισί τε γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ τρίτου δημιουργοῦ καὶ ἐπανάγεται πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν Μητέρα τῶν θεῶν μετὰ τὴν ἐκτομήν· ἐπεὶ δὲ ὅλως ῥέπειν καὶ(839) νεύειν εἰς τὴν ὕλην δοκεῖ, θεῶν μὲν ἔσχατον, ἔξαρχον δὲ [B] τῶν θείων γενῶν ἁπάντων οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τις αὐτὸν ὑπολαβών. ἡμίθεον δὲ διὰ τοῦτο ὁ μῦθός φησι, τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἀτρέπτους αὐτοῦ θεοὺς ἐνδεικνύμενος διαφοράν. δορυφοροῦσι γὰρ αὐτὸν παρὰ τῆς Μητρὸς δοθέντες οἱ Κορύβαντες, αἱ τρεῖς ἀρχικαὶ τῶν μετὰ θεοὺς κρεισσόνων γενῶν ὑποστάσεις. ἄρχει δὲ καὶ τῶν λεόντων, οἳ τὴν ἔνθερμον οὐσίαν καὶ πυρώδη κατανειμάμενοι μετὰ τοῦ σφῶν ἐξάρχου λέοντος αἴτιοι τῷ πυρὶ μὲν πρώτως, διὰ δὲ τῆς ἐνθένδε θερμότητος ἐνεργείας τε κινητικῆς αἴτιοι [C] καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις εἰσὶ σωτηρίας· περίκειται δὲ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀντὶ τιάρας, ἐκεῖθεν ὥσπερ ἐπὶ γῆν ὁρμώμενος.

(Who then is the Mother of the Gods? She is the source of the intellectual(840) and creative gods, who in their turn guide the visible gods: she is both the mother and the spouse of mighty Zeus; she came into being next to and together with the great creator; she is in control of every form of life, and the cause of all generation; she easily brings to perfection all things that are made; without pain she brings to birth, and with the father’s(841) aid creates all things that are; she is the motherless maiden,(842) enthroned at the side of Zeus, and in very truth is the Mother of all the Gods. For having received into herself the causes of all the gods, both intelligible and supra‐mundane, she became the source of the intellectual gods. Now this goddess, who is also Forethought, was inspired with a passionless love for Attis. For not only the forms embodied in matter, but to a still greater degree the causes of those forms, voluntarily serve her and obey her will. Accordingly the myth relates the following: that she who is the Providence who preserves all that is subject to generation and decay, loved their creative and generative cause, and commanded that cause to beget offspring rather in the intelligible region; and she desired that it should turn towards herself and dwell with her, but condemned it to dwell with no other thing. For only thus would that creative cause strive towards the uniformity that preserves it, and at the same time would avoid that which inclines towards matter. And she bade that cause look towards her, who is the source of the creative gods, and not be dragged down or allured into generation. For in this way was mighty Attis destined to be an even mightier creation, seeing that in all things the conversion to what is higher produces more power to effect than the inclination to what is lower. And the fifth substance itself is more creative and more divine than the elements of our earth, for this reason, that it is more nearly connected with the gods. Not that anyone, surely, would venture to assert that any substance, even if it be composed of the purest aether, is superior to soul undefiled and pure, that of Heracles for instance, as it was when the creator sent it to earth. For that soul of his both seemed to be and was more effective than after it had bestowed itself on a body. Since even Heracles, now that he has returned, one and indivisible, to his father one and indivisible, more easily controls his own province than formerly when he wore the garment of flesh and walked among men. And this shows that in all things the conversion to the higher is more effective than the propensity to the lower. This is what the myth aims to teach us when it says that the Mother of the Gods exhorted Attis not to leave her or to love another. But he went further, and descended even to the lowest limits of matter. Since, however, it was necessary that his limitless course should cease and halt at last, mighty Helios the Corybant,(843) who shares the Mother’s throne and with her creates all things, with her has providence for all things, and apart from her does nothing, persuaded the Lion(844) to reveal the matter. And who is the Lion? Verily we are told that he is flame‐ coloured.(845) He is, therefore, the cause that subsists prior to the hot and fiery, and it was his task to contend against the nymph and to be jealous of her union with Attis. (And who the nymph is, I have said.) And the myth says that the Lion serves the creative Providence of the world, which evidently means the Mother of the Gods. Then it says that by detecting and revealing the truth, he caused the youth’s castration. What is the meaning of this castration? It is the checking of the unlimited. For now was generation confined within definite forms checked by creative Providence. And this would not have happened without the so‐called madness of Attis, which overstepped and transgressed due measure, and thereby made him become weak so that he had no control over himself. And it is not surprising that this should come to pass, when we have to do with the cause that ranks lowest among the gods. For consider the fifth substance, which is subject to no change of any sort, in the region of the light of the moon: I mean where our world of continuous generation and decay borders on the fifth substance. We perceive that in the region of her light it seems to undergo certain alterations and to be affected by external influences. Therefore it is not contradictory to suppose that our Attis also is a sort of demigod—for that is actually the meaning of the myth—or rather for the universe he is wholly god, for he proceeds from the third creator, and after his castration is led upwards again to the Mother of the Gods. But though he seems to lean and incline towards matter, one would not be mistaken in supposing that, though he is the lowest in order of the gods, nevertheless he is the leader of all the tribes of divine beings. But the myth calls him a demigod to indicate the difference between him and the unchanging gods. He is attended by the Corybants who are assigned to him by the Mother; they are the three leading personalities of the higher races(846) that are next in order to the gods. Also Attis rules over the lions, who together with the Lion, who is their leader, have chosen for themselves hot and fiery substance, and so are, first and foremost, the cause of fire. And through the heat derived from fire they are the causes of motive force and of preservation for all other things that exist. And Attis encircles the heavens like a tiara, and thence sets out as though to descend to earth.)

Οὗτος ὁ μέγας ἡμῖν θεὸς Ἄττις ἐστίν· αὗται τοῦ βασιλέως Ἄττιδος αἱ θρηνούμεναι τέως φυγαὶ καὶ κρύψεις καὶ ἀφανισμοὶ καὶ αἱ δύσεις αἱ κατὰ τὸ ἄντρον. τεκμήρια δὲ ἔστω μοι τούτου ὁ χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ γίνεται. τέμνεσθαι γάρ φασι τὸ ἱερὸν δένδρον καθ᾽ ἣν ἡμέραν ὁ ἥλιος ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ἰσημερινῆς ἁψῖδος ἔρχεται· εἶθ᾽ ἑξῆς περισαλπισμὸς παραλαμβάνεται· [D] τῇ τρίτῃ δὲ τέμνεται τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ ἀπόρρητον θέρος τοῦ θεοῦ Γάλλου· ἐπὶ τούτοις Ἱλάρια, φασί, καὶ ἑορταί. ὅτι μὲν οὖν στάσις ἐστὶ τῆς ἀπειρίας ἡ θρυλουμένη παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐκτομή, πρόδηλον ἐξ ὧν ἡνίκα ὁ μέγας Ἥλιος τοῦ ἰσημερινοῦ ψαύσας κύκλου, ἵνα τὸ μάλιστα ὡρισμένον ἐστί·(847) τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἴσον ὡρισμένον ἐστί, τὸ δὲ ἄνισον ἄπειρόν τε καὶ ἀδιεξίτητον· κατὰ τὸν λόγον αὐτίκα τὸ δένδρον τέμνεται· [169] εἶθ᾽ ἑξῆς γίνεται τὰ λοιπά, τὰ μὲν διὰ τοὺς μυστικοὺς καὶ κρυφίους θεσμούς, τὰ δὲ καὶ διὰ(848) ῥηθῆναι πᾶσι δυναμένους. ἡ δὲ ἐκτομὴ τοῦ δένδρου, τοῦτο δὲ τῇ μὲν ἱστορίᾳ προσήκει τῇ περὶ τὸν Γάλλον, οὐδὲν δὲ τοῖς μυστηρίοις, οἷς παραλαμβάνεται, διδασκόντων ἡμᾶς οἶμαι τῶν θεῶν συμβολικῶς, ὅτι χρὴ τὸ κάλλιστον ἐκ γῆς δρεψαμένους, ἀρετὴν μετὰ εὐσεβείας, ἀπενεγκεῖν τῇ θεῷ, σύμβολον τῆς ἐνταῦθα χρηστῆς πολιτείας ἐσόμενον. τὸ γάρ τοι δένδρον ἐκ [B] γῆς μὲν φύεται, σπεύδει δὲ ὥσπερ εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα καὶ ἰδεῖν τέ ἐστι καλὸν καὶ σκιὰν παρασχεῖν ἐν πνίγει, ἤδη δὲ καὶ καρπὸν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προβαλεῖν καὶ χαρίσασθαι· οὗτως αὐτῷ πολύ τί γε τοῦ γονίμου περίεστιν. ἡμῖν οὖν ὁ θεσμὸς παρακελεύεται, τοῖς φύσει μὲν οὐρανίοις, εἰς γῆν δὲ ἐνεχθεῖσιν, ἀρετὴν μετὰ εὐσεβείας ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ γῇ πολιτείας ἀμησαμένους παρὰ τὴν προγονικὴν [C] καὶ ζωογόνον σπεύδειν θεόν.

(This, then, is our mighty god Attis. This explains his once lamented flight and concealment and disappearance and descent into the cave. In proof of this let me cite the time of year at which it happens. For we are told that the sacred tree(849) is felled on the day when the sun reaches the height of the equinox.(850) Thereupon the trumpets are sounded.(851) And on the third day the sacred and unspeakable member of the god Gallus is severed.(852) Next comes, they say, the Hilaria(853) and the festival. And that this castration, so much discussed by the crowd, is really the halting of his unlimited course, is evident from what happens directly mighty Helios touches the cycle of the equinox, where the bounds are most clearly defined. (For the even is bounded, but the uneven is without bounds, and there is no way through or out of it.) At that time then, precisely, according to the account we have, the sacred tree is felled. Thereupon, in their proper order, all the other ceremonies take place. Some of them are celebrated with the secret ritual of the Mysteries, but others by a ritual that can be told to all. For instance, the cutting of the tree belongs to the story of Gallus and not to the Mysteries at all, but it has been taken over by them, I think because the gods wished to teach us, in symbolic fashion, that we must pluck the fairest fruits from the earth, namely, virtue and piety, and offer them to the goddess to be the symbol of our well‐ordered constitution here on earth. For the tree grows from the soil, but it strives upwards as though to reach the upper air, and it is fair to behold and gives us shade in the heat, and casts before us and bestows on us its fruits as a boon; such is its superabundance of generative life. Accordingly the ritual enjoins on us, who by nature belong to the heavens but have fallen to earth, to reap the harvest of our constitution here on earth, namely, virtue and piety, and then strive upwards to the goddess of our forefathers, to her who is the principle of all life.)

Εὐθὺς οὖν ἡ σάλπιγξ μετὰ τὴν ἐκτομὴν ἐνδίδωσι τὸ ἀνακλητικὸν τῷ Ἄττιδι καὶ τοῖς ὅσοι ποτὲ οὐρανόθεν ἔπτημεν εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐπέσομεν. μετὰ δὴ τὸ σύμβολον τοῦτο, ὅτε ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἄττις ἵστησι τὴν ἀπειρίαν διὰ τῆς ἐκτομῆς, ἡμῖν οἱ θεοὶ κελεύουσιν ἐκτέμνειν καὶ αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἀπειρίαν καὶ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἡγεμόνας,(854) ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ ὡρισμένον καὶ ἑνοειδὲς καί, εἴπερ οἷόν τέ ἐστιν, [D] αὐτὸ τὸ ἓν ἀνατρέχειν· οὗπερ γενομένου πάντως ἕπεσθαι χρὴ τὰ Ἱλάρια. τί γὰρ εὐθυμότερον, τί δὲ ἱλαρώτερον γένοιτο ἂν ψυχῆς ἀπειρίαν μὲν καὶ γένεσιν καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ κλύδωνα διαφυγούσης, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀναχθείσης; ὧν ἕνα καὶ τὸν Ἄττιν ὄντα περιεῖδεν οὐδαμῶς ἡ τῶν θεῶν Μήτηρ βαδίζοντα πρόσω πλέον ἢ χρῆν, πρὸς ἑαυτὴν δὲ ἐπέστρεψε, στῆσαι τὴν ἀπειρίαν προστάξασα.

(Therefore, immediately after the castration, the trumpet sounds the recall for Attis and for all of us who once flew down from heaven and fell to earth. And after this signal, when King Attis stays his limitless course by his castration, the god bids us also root out the unlimited in ourselves and imitate the gods our leaders and hasten back to the defined and uniform, and, if it be possible, to the One itself. After this, the Hilaria must by all means follow. For what could be more blessed, what more joyful than a soul which has escaped from limitlessness and generation and inward storm, and has been translated up to the very gods? And Attis himself was such a one, and the Mother of the Gods by no means allowed him to advance unregarded further than was permitted: nay, she made him turn towards herself, and commanded him to set a limit to his limitless course.)

Καὶ μή τις ὑπολάβῃ με λέγειν, ὡς ταῦτα ἐπράχθη ποτέ καὶ γέγονεν, [170] ὥσπερ οὐκ εἰδότων τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν, ὅ, τι ποιήσουσιν, ἢ τὰ σφῶν αὐτῶν ἁμαρτήματα διορθουμένων. ἀλλὰ οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν ὄντων ἀεὶ τὰς αἰτίας, ἤτοι τῶν θεῶν ὑφηγουμένων ἢ κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς διερευνώμενοι, βέλτιον δὲ ἴσως εἰπεῖν ζητοῦντες ὑφ᾽ ἡγεμόσι τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔπειτα εὑρόντες ἐσκέπασαν αὐτὰς(855) μύθοις παραδόξοις, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ παραδόξου καὶ ἀπεμφαίνοντος τὸ πλάσμα φωραθὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ζήτησιν ἡμᾶς τῆς [B] ἀληθείας προτρέψῃ, τοῖς μὲν ἰδιώταις ἀρκούσης οἶμαι τῆς ἀλόγου καὶ διὰ τῶν συμβόλων μόνων ὠφελείας, τοῖς δὲ περιττοῖς κατὰ τὴν φρόνησιν οὕτως μόνως ἐσομένης ὠφελίμου τῆς περὶ θεῶν ἀληθείας, εἴ τις ἐξετάζων αὐτὴν ὑφ᾽ ἡγεμόσι τοῖς θεοῖς εὕροι καὶ λάβοι, διὰ μὲν τῶν αἰνιγμάτων ὑπομνησθείς, ὅτι χρή τι περὶ αὐτῶν ζητεῖν, ἐς τέλος δὲ καὶ ὥσπερ κορυφὴν τοῦ πράγματος διὰ τῆς σκέψεως εὑρὼν πορευθείη, [C] οὐκ αἰδοῖ καὶ πίστει μᾶλλον ἀλλοτρίας δόξης ἢ τῆς σφετέρᾳ κατὰ νοῦν ἐνεργείᾳ.

(But let no one suppose my meaning to be that this was ever done or happened in a way that implies that the gods themselves are ignorant of what they intend to do, or that they have to correct their own errors. But our ancestors in every case tried to trace the original meanings of things, whether with the guidance of the gods or independently—though perhaps it would be better to say that they sought for them under the leadership of the gods—then when they had discovered those meanings they clothed them in paradoxical myths. This was in order that, by means of the paradox and the incongruity, the fiction might be detected and we might be induced to search out the truth. Now I think ordinary men derive benefit enough from the irrational myth which instructs them through symbols alone. But those who are more highly endowed with wisdom will find the truth about the gods helpful; though only on condition that such a man examine and discover and comprehend it under the leadership of the gods, and if by such riddles as these he is reminded that he must search out their meaning, and so attains to the goal and summit of his quest(856) through his own researches; he must not be modest and put faith in the opinions of others rather than in his own mental powers.)

Τί οὖν εἶναί φαμεν, ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ; κατανοήσαντες ἄχρι τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος οὐ τὸ νοητὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα ταῦτα σώματα τῆς ἀπαθοῦς ὄντα καὶ θείας μερίδος, ἄχρι τούτου θεοὺς ἐνόμισαν ἀκραιφνεῖς εἶναι· τῇ γονίμῳ δὲ τῶν θεῶν οὐσίᾳ τῶν τῇδε παρυποστάντων, ἐξ ἀιδίου συμπροελθούσης τῆς ὕλης τοῖς θεοῖς, [D] παρ᾽ αὐτῶν δὲ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ ὑπέρπληρες αὐτῶν τῆς γονίμου καὶ δημιουργικῆς αἰτίας ἡ των ὄντων προμήθεια συνουσιωμένη τοῖς θεοῖς ἐξ ἀιδίου, καὶ σύνθωκος μὲν οὖσα τῷ βασιλεῖ Διί, πηγὴ δὲ τῶν νοερῶν θεῶν, καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν ἄζωον καὶ ἄγονον καὶ σκύβαλον καὶ τῶν ὄντων, οἷον ἂν εἴποι τις, ἀποκάθαρμα καὶ τρύγα καὶ ὑποσταθμὴν διὰ τῆς τελευταίας αἰτίας(857) τῶν θεῶν, εἰς ἣν αἱ πάντων οὐσίαι τῶν θεῶν ἀποτελευτῶσιν, ἐκόσμησέ τε καὶ διωρθώσατο καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μετέστησεν.

(What shall I say now by way of summary? Because men observed that, as far as the fifth substance, not only the intelligible world but also the visible bodies of our world must be classed as unaffected by externals and divine, they believed that, as far as the fifth substance, the gods are uncompounded. And when by means of that generative substance the visible gods came into being, and, from everlasting, matter was produced along with those gods, from them and through their agency, by reason of the superabundance in them of the generative and creative principle; then the Providence of the world, she who from everlasting is of the same essential nature as the gods, she who is enthroned by the side of King Zeus, and moreover is the source of the intellectual gods, set in order and corrected and changed for the better all that seemed lifeless and barren, the refuse and so to speak offscourings of things, their dregs and sediment: and this she did by means of the last cause(858) derived from the gods, in which the substances of all the gods come to an end.)

[171] Ὁ γὰρ Ἄττις οὗτος ἔχων τὴν κατάστικτον τοῖς ἄστροις τιάραν εὔδηλον ὅτι τὰς πάντων τῶν θεῶν εἰς τὸν ἐμφανῆ κόσμον ὁρωμένας λήξεις ἀρχὰς ἐποιήσατο τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βασιλείας· ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τὸ μὲν ἀκραιφνὲς καὶ καθαρὸν ῾ἦν ἄχρι γαλαξίου· περὶ τοῦτον δὲ ἤδη τὸν τόπον μιγνυμένου πρὸς τὸ ἀπαθὲς τοῦ παθητοῦ καὶ τῆς ὕλης παρυφισταμένης ἐκεῖθεν, ἡ πρὸς ταύτην κοινωνία κατάβασίς ἐστιν εἰς τὸ ἄντρον, [B] οὐκ ἀκουσίως μὲν γενομένη τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ τῇ τούτων Μητρί, λεγομένη δὲ ἀκουσίως γενέσθαι. φύσει γὰρ ἐν κρείττονι τοὺς θεοὺς ὄντας οὐκ ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τάδε καθέλκειν ἐθέλει τὰ βελτίω, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς τῶν κρειττόνων συγκαταβάσεως καὶ ταῦτα ἀνάγειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀμείνονα καὶ θεοφιλεστέραν λῆξιν. οὕτω τοι καὶ τὸν Ἄττιν οὐ κατεχθραίνουσα μετὰ τὴν ἐκτομὴν ἡ Μήτηρ λέγεται, ἀλλὰ ἀγανακτεῖ μὲν οὐκέτι, ἀγανακτοῦσα δὲ λέγεται διὰ τὴν συγκατάβασιν, ὅτι κρείττων ὢν [C] καὶ θεὸς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ καταδεεστέρῳ· στήσαντα δὲ αὐτὸν τῆς ἀπειρίας τὴν πρόοδον καὶ τὸ ἀκόσμητον τοῦτο κοσμήσαντα διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἰσημερινὸν κύκλον συμπαθείας, ἵνα ὁ μέγας Ἥλιος τῆς ὡρισμένης κινήσεως τὸ τελειότατον κυβερνᾷ μέτρον, ἐπανάγει πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἡ θεὸς ἀσμένως, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔχει παρ᾽ ἑαυτῇ. καὶ οὐδέποτε γέγονεν, ὅτε μὴ ταῦτα τοῦτον εἶχε τὸν τρόπον, ὅνπερ νῦν ἔχει, ἀλλ᾽ ἀεὶ μὲν Ἄττις ἐστὶν ὑπουργὸς τῇ Μητρὶ [D] καὶ ἡνίοχος, ἀεὶ δὲ ὀργᾷ εἰς τὴν γένεσιν, ἀεὶ δὲ ἀποτέμνεται τὴν ἀπειρίαν διὰ τῆς ὡρισμένης τῶν εἰδῶν αἰτίας. ἐπαναγόμενος δὲ ὥσπερ ἐκ γῆς τῶν ἀρχαίων αὖθις λέγεται δυναστεύειν σκήπτρων, ἐκπεσὼν μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδαμῶς οὐδὲ ἐκπίπτων, ἐκπεσεῖν δὲ αὐτῶν λεγόμενος διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ παθητὸν σύμμιξιν.

(For it is evident that Attis of whom I speak, who wears the tiara set with stars, took for the foundation of his own dominion the functions of every god as we see them applied to the visible world. And in his case all is undefiled and pure as far as the Milky Way. But, at this very point, that which is troubled by passion begins to mingle with the passionless, and from that union matter begins to subsist. And so the association of Attis with matter is the descent into the cave, nor did this take place against the will of the gods and the Mother of the Gods, though the myth says that it was against their will. For by their nature the gods dwell in a higher world, and the higher powers do not desire to drag them hence down to our world: rather through the condescension of the higher they desire to lead the things of our earth upwards to a higher plane more favoured by the gods. And in fact the myth does not say that the Mother of the Gods was hostile to Attis after his castration: but it says that though she is no longer angry, she was angry at the time on account of his condescension, in that he who was a higher being and a god had given himself to that which was inferior. But when, after staying his limitless progress, he has set in order the chaos of our world through his sympathy with the cycle of the equinox, where mighty Helios controls the most perfect symmetry of his motion within due limits, then the goddess gladly leads him upwards to herself, or rather keeps him by her side. And never did this happen save in the manner that it happens now; but forever is Attis the servant and charioteer of the Mother; forever he yearns passionately towards generation; and forever he cuts short his unlimited course through the cause whose limits are fixed, even the cause of the forms. In like manner the myth says that he is led upwards as though from our earth, and again resumes his ancient sceptre and dominion: not that he ever lost it, or ever loses it now, but the myth says that he lost it on account of his union with that which is subject to passion and change.)

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνο ἴσως ἄξιον προσαπορῆσαι· διττῆς γὰρ οὔσης τῆς ἰσημερίας, [172] οὐ τὴν ἐν ταῖς χηλαῖς, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ κριῷ προτιμῶσι. τίς οὖν αἰτία τούτου, φανερὸν δήπουθεν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ ἥλιος ἄρχεται τότε πλησιάζειν ἀπὸ τῆς ἰσημερίας, αὐξομένης οἶμαι τῆς ἡμέρας, ἔδοξεν οὗτος ὁ καιρὸς ἁρμοδιώτερος. ἔξω γὰρ τῆς αἰτίας, ἥ φησι τοῖς θεοῖς εἶναι τὸ φῶς σύνδρομον, ἔχειν οἰκείως πιστευτέον τοῖς ἀφεθῆναι τῆς γενέσεως σπεύδουσι τὰς ἀναγωγοὺς ἀκτῖνας ἡλίου. [B] σκόπει δὲ ἐναργῶς· ἕλκει μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς πάντα καὶ προκαλεῖται(859) καὶ βλαστάνειν ποιεῖ τῇ ζωπυρίδι καὶ θαυμαστῇ θέρμῃ, διακρίνων οἶμαι πρὸς ἄκραν λεπτότητα τὰ σώματα, καὶ τὰ φύσει φερόμενα κάτω κουφίζει. τὰ δὴ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἀφανῶν αὐτοῦ δυνάμεων ποιητέον τεκμήρια. ὁ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς σώμασι διὰ τῆς σωματοειδοῦς θέρμης οὕτω τοῦτο ἀπεργαζόμενος πῶς οὐ διὰ τῆς ἀφανοῦς καὶ ἀσωμάτου πάντη καὶ θείας καὶ καθαρᾶς ἐν ταῖς ἀκτῖσιν ἱδρυμένης οὐσίας ἕλξει καὶ ἀνάξει τὰς εὐτυχεῖς ψυχάς; [C] οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ πέφηνεν οἰκεῖον μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς τὸ φῶς τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς ἀναχθῆναι σπεύδουσιν, αὔξεται δὲ ἐν τῷ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν κόσμῳ τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὥστε εἶναι τὴν ἡμέραν μείζω τῆς νυκτός, Ἡλίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιπορεύεσθαι τὸν κριὸν ἀρξαμένου· δέδεικται δὴ καὶ(860) ἀναγωγὸν φύσει τὸ τῶν ἀκτίνων τοῦ θεοῦ διά τε τῆς φανερᾶς ἐνεργείας καὶ τῆς ἀφανοῦς, ὑφ᾽ ἧς παμπληθεῖς ἀνήχθησαν ψυχαὶ [D] τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἀκολουθήσασαι τῇ φανοτάτῃ καὶ μάλιστα ἡλιοειδεῖ. τὴν γὰρ τοιαύτην τῶν ὀμμάτων αἴσθησιν οὐκ ἀγαπητὴν μόνον οὐδὲ χρήσιμον εἰς τὸν βίον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς σοφίαν ὁδηγὸν ὁ δαιμόνιος ἀνύμνησε Πλάτων.(861) εἰ δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀρρήτου μυσταγωγίας ἁψαίμην, ἢν ὁ Χαλδαῖος περὶ τὸν ἑπτάκτινα θεὸν ἐβάκχευσεν, ἀνάγων δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰς ψυχάς, ἄγνωστα ἐρῶ, καὶ μάλα γε ἄγνωστα τῷ συρφετῷ, [173] θεουργοῖς δὲ τοῖς μακαρίοις γνώριμα· διόπερ αὐτὰ σιωπήσω τανῦν.

(But perhaps it is worth while to raise the following question also. There are two equinoxes, but men pay more honour to the equinox in the sign of Capricorn than to that in the sign of Cancer.(862) Surely the reason for this is evident. Since the sun begins to approach us immediately after the spring equinox,—for I need not say that then the days begin to lengthen,—this seemed the more agreeable season. For apart from the explanation which says that light accompanies the gods, we must believe that the uplifting rays(863) of the sun are nearly akin to those who yearn to be set free from generation. Consider it clearly: the sun, by his vivifying and marvellous heat, draws up all things from the earth and calls them forth and makes them grow; and he separates, I think, all corporeal things to the utmost degree of tenuity, and makes things weigh light that naturally have a tendency to sink. We ought then to make these visible things proofs of his unseen powers. For if among corporeal things he can bring this about through his material heat, how should he not draw and lead upwards the souls of the blessed by the agency of the invisible, wholly immaterial, divine and pure substance which resides in his rays? We have seen then that this light is nearly akin to the god, and to those who yearn to mount upwards, and moreover, that this light increases in our world, so that when Helios begins to enter the sign of Capricorn the day becomes longer than the night. It has also been demonstrated that the god’s rays are by nature uplifting; and this is due to his energy, both visible and invisible, by which very many souls have been lifted up out of the region of the senses, because they were guided by that sense which is clearest of all and most nearly like the sun. For when with our eyes we perceive the sun’s light, not only is it welcome and useful for our lives, but also, as the divine Plato said when he sang its praises, it is our guide to wisdom. And if I should also touch on the secret teaching of the Mysteries in which the Chaldean,(864) divinely frenzied, celebrated the God of the Seven Rays, that god through whom he lifts up the souls of men, I should be saying what is unintelligible, yea wholly unintelligible to the common herd, but familiar to the happy theurgists.(865) And so I will for the present be silent on that subject.)

Ὅπερ δὲ ἔλεγον, ὅτι καὶ τὸν καιρὸν οὐκ ἀλόγως ὑποληπτέον, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα μετὰ εἰκότος καὶ ἀληθοῦς λόγου παρὰ τῶν παλαιῶν τῷ θεσμῷ προστεθεῖσθαι, σημεῖον δὴ(866) τούτου, ὅτι τὸν ἰσημερινὸν κύκλον ἡ θεὸς αὐτὴ(867) κατενείματο. τελεῖται γὰρ περὶ τὸν ζυγὸν Δηοῖ καὶ Κόρῃ τὰ σεμνὰ καὶ ἀπόρρητα μυστήρια. [B] καὶ τοῦτο εἰκότως γίνεται. χρὴ γὰρ καὶ ἀπιόντι τῷ θεῷ τελεσθῆναι πάλιν, ἵνα μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀθέου καὶ σκοτεινῆς δυσχερὲς πάθωμεν ἐπικρατούσης δυνάμεως. δὶς γοῦν Ἀθηναῖοι τῇ Δηοῖ τελοῦσι τὰ μυστήρια, ἐν αὐτῷ μὲν τῷ κριῷ τὰ μικρὰ, φασί, μυστήρια, τὰ μεγάλα δὲ περὶ τὰς χηλὰς ὄντος ἡλίου, δι᾽ ἃς ἔναγχος ἔφην αἰτίας. μεγάλα δὲ ὠνομάσθαι καὶ μικρὰ νομίζω καὶ ἄλλων ἕνεκα, μάλιστα δέ, ὡς εἰκός, τούτου ἀποχωροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ μᾶλλον ἤπερ προσιόντος· [C] διόπερ ἐν τούτοις ὅσον εἰς ὑπόμνησιν μόνον. ἅτε δὴ καὶ παρόντος τοῦ σωτῆρος καὶ ἀναγωγοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ προτέλεια κατεβάλλοντο τῆς τελετῆς· εἶτα μικρὸν ὕστερον ἁγνεῖαι συνεχεῖς καὶ τῶν ἱερέων(868) ἁγιστεῖαι. ἀπιόντος δὲ λοιπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἀντίχθονα ζώνην, καὶ φυλακῆς ἕνεκα καὶ σωτηρίας αὐτὸ τὸ κεφάλαιον ἐπιτελεῖται τῶν μυστηρίων. ὅρα δέ· ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα τὸ τῆς γενέσεως αἴτιον ἀποτέμνεται, οὕτω δὲ καὶ παρὰ Ἀθηναίοις οἱ τῶν ἀρρήτων ἁπτόμενοι παναγεῖς εἰσι, [D] καὶ ὁ τούτων ἐξάρχων ἱεροφάντης ἀπέστραπται πᾶσαν τὴν γένεσιν, ὡς οὐ μετὸν αὐτῷ τῆς ἐπ᾽ ἄπειρον προόδου, τῆς ὡρισμένης δὲ καὶ ἀεὶ μενούσης καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ συνεχομένης οὐσίας ἀκηράτου τε καὶ καθαρᾶς. ὑπὲρ μὲν δὴ τούτων ἀπόχρη τοσαῦτα.

(I was saying that we ought not to suppose that the ancients appointed the season of the rites irrationally, but rather as far as possible with plausible and true grounds of reason; and indeed a proof of this is that the goddess herself chose as her province the cycle of the equinox. For the most holy and secret Mysteries of Deo and the Maiden(869) are celebrated when the sun is in the sign of Libra, and this is quite natural. For when the gods depart we must consecrate ourselves afresh, so that we may suffer no harm from the godless power of darkness that now begins to get the upper hand. At any rate the Athenians celebrate the Mysteries of Deo twice in the year, and the Lesser Mysteries as they call them in the sign of Capricorn, and the Great Mysteries when the sun is in the sign of Cancer, and this for the reason that I have just mentioned. And I think that these Mysteries are called Great and Lesser for several reasons, but especially, as is natural, they are called great when the god departs rather than when he approaches; and so the Lesser are celebrated only by way of reminder.(870) I mean that when the saving and uplifting god approaches, the preliminary rites of the Mysteries take place. Then a little later follow the rites of purification, one after another, and the consecration of the priests. Then when the god departs to the antipodes, the most important ceremonies of the Mysteries are performed, for our protection and salvation. And observe the following: As in the festival of the Mother the instrument of generation is severed, so too with the Athenians, those who take part in the secret rites are wholly chaste and their leader the hierophant forswears generation; because he must not have aught to do with the progress to the unlimited, but only with the substance whose bounds are fixed, so that it abides for ever and is contained in the One, stainless and pure. On this subject I have said enough.)

Λείπεται δὴ λοιπόν, ὡς εἰκός, ὑπέρ τε τῆς ἁγιστείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς ἁγνείας διεξελθεῖν, ἵνα καὶ ἐντεῦθεν λάβωμεν [174] εἰς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν εἴ τι συμβάλλεται. γελοῖον δὲ αὐτίκα τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐκεῖνο φαίνεται· κρεῶν μὲν ἅπτεσθαι δίδωσιν ὁ ἱερὸς νόμος, ἀπαγορεύει δὲ τῶν σπερμάτων. οὐκ ἄψυχα μὲν ἐκεῖνα, ταῦτα δὲ ἔμψυχα; οὐ καθαρὰ μὲν ἐκεῖνα, ταῦτα δὲ αἵματος καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων οὐκ εὐχερῶν ὄψει τε καὶ ἀκοῇ πεπληρωμένα; οὐ, τὸ μέγιστον, ἐκείνοις μὲν πρόσεστι τὸ μηδένα ἐκ τῆς ἐδωδῆς ἀδικεῖσθαι, τούτοις δὲ τὸ καταθύεσθαι καὶ κατασφάττεσθαι τὰ ζῷα ἀλγοῦντα γε, [B] ὡς εἰκός, καὶ τρυχόμενα; ταῦτα πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν περιττῶν εἴποιεν ἄν· ἐκεῖνα δὲ ἤδη κωμῳδοῦσι καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ δυσσεβέστατοι. τὰ μὲν ὄρμενά φασιν ἐσθίεσθαι τῶν λαχάνων, παραιτεῖσθαι δὲ τὰς ῥίζας, ὥσπερ γογγυλίδας. καὶ σῦκα μὲν ἐσθίεσθαί φασι, ῥοιὰς δὲ οὐκέτι καὶ μῆλα πρὸς τούτοις. ταῦτα ἀκηκοὼς μινυριζόντων πολλῶν πολλάκις, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς εἰρηκὼς(871) πρότερον ἔοικα ἐγὼ μόνος ἐκ πάντων πολλὴν εἴσεσθαι τοῖς δεσπόταις θεοῖς μάλιστα μὲν ἅπασι, πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ τῇ Μητρὶ [C] τῶν θεῶν, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ χάριν, ὅτι με μὴ περιεῖδεν ὥσπερ ἐν σκότῳ πλανώμενον, ἀλλά μοι πρῶτον μὲν ἐκέλευσεν ἀποκόψασθαι οὔτι κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, κατὰ δὲ τὰς ψυχικὰς ἀλόγους ὁρμὰς καὶ κινήσεις τῇ νοερᾷ καὶ προüφεστώσῃ(872) τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν αἰτίᾳ τὰ περιττὰ καὶ μάταια. ἐπὶ νοῦν δὲ ἔδωκεν αὕτη λόγους τινὰς ἴσως οὐκ ἀπᾴδοντας πάντη [D] τῆς ὑπὲρ θεῶν ἀληθοῦς ἅμα καὶ εὐαγοῦς ἐπιστήμης. ἀλλ᾽ ἔοικα γάρ, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἔχων ὅ τι φῶ, κύκλῳ περιτρέχειν. ἐμοὶ δὲ πάρεστι μὲν καὶ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐπιόντι σαφεῖς καὶ τηλαυγεῖς αἰτίας ἀποδοῦναι, τοῦ χάριν ἡμῖν οὐ θέμις ἐστὶ προσφέρεσθαι ταῦτα, ὧν ὁ θεῖος εἴργει θεσμός· καὶ ποιήσω δὲ(873) αὐτὸ μικρὸν ὕστερον· ἄμεινον δὲ νῦν ὥσπερ τύπους τινὰς προθεῖναι καὶ κανόνας, οἷς ἑπόμενοι, κἄν τι πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῆς σπουδῆς παρέλθῃ τὸν λόγον, ἕξομεν ὑπὲρ τούτων κρῖναι.

(It only remains now to speak, as is fitting, about the sacred rite itself, and the purification, so that from these also I may borrow whatever contributes to my argument. For example, everyone thinks that the following is ridiculous. The sacred ordinance allows men to eat meat, but it forbids them to eat grains and fruits. What, say they, are not the latter lifeless, whereas the former was once possessed of life? Are not fruits pure, whereas meat is full of blood and of much else that offends eye and ear? But most important of all is it not the case that, when one eats fruit nothing is hurt, while the eating of meat involves the sacrifice and slaughter of animals who naturally suffer pain and torment? So would say many even of the wisest. But the following ordinance is ridiculed by the most impious of mankind also. They observe that whereas vegetables that grows upwards can be eaten, roots are forbidden, turnips, for instance; and they point out that figs are allowed, but not pomegranates or apples either. I have often heard many men saying this in whispers, and I too in former days have said the same, but now it seems that I alone of all men am bound to be deeply grateful to the ruling gods, to all of them, surely, but above all the rest to the Mother of the Gods. For all things am I grateful to her, and for this among the rest, that she did not disregard me when I wandered as it were in darkness.(874) For first she bade me cut off no part indeed of my body, but by the aid of the intelligible cause(875) that subsists prior to our souls, all that was superfluous and vain in the impulses and motions of my own soul. And that cause gave me, to aid my understanding, certain beliefs which are perhaps not wholly out of harmony with the true and sacred knowledge of the gods. But it looks as though, not knowing what to say next, I were turning round in a circle. I can, however, give clear and manifest reasons in every single case why we are not allowed to eat this food which is forbidden by the sacred ordinance, and presently I will do this. But for the moment it is better to bring forward certain forms, so to speak, and regulations which we must observe in order to be able to decide about these matters, though perhaps, owing to my haste, my argument may pass some evidence by.)

[175] Προσήκει δὲ πρῶτον ὑπομνῆσαι διὰ βραχέων, τίνα τε ἔφαμεν εἶναι τὸν Ἄττιν καὶ τί τὴν ἐκτομήν, τίνος τε εἶναι σύμβολα τὰ μετὰ τὴν ἐκτομὴν ἄχρι τῶν Ἱλαρίων γινόμενα καὶ τί βούλεσθαι τὴν ἁγνείαν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἄττις ἐλέγετο αἰτία τις οὖσα καὶ θεός, ὁ προσεχῶς δημιουργῶν τὸν ἔνυλον κόσμον, ὃς μέχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων κατιὼν ἵσταται ὑπὸ τῆς ἡλίου δημιουργικῆς κινήσεως, ὅταν ἐπὶ τῆς ἄκρως [B] ὡρισμένης τοῦ παντὸς ὁ θεὸς γένηται περιφερείας, ᾗ(876) τῆς ἰσημερίας τοὔνομά ἐστι κατὰ τὸ ἔργον. ἐκτομὴν δὲ ἐλέγομεν εἶναι τῆς ἀπειρίας τὴν ἐποχήν, ἣν οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ διὰ τῆς ἑπὶ τὰς πρεσβυτέρας καὶ ἀρχηγικωτέρας αἰτίας ἀνακλήσεώς τε καὶ ἀναδύσεως συμβαίνειν. αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς ἁγνείας φαμὲν τὸν σκοπὸν ἄνοδον τῶν ψυχῶν.

(First I had better remind you in a few words who I said Attis is; and what his castration means; and what is symbolised by the ceremonies that occur between the castration and the Hilaria; and what is meant by the rite of purification. Attis then was declared to be an original cause and a god, the direct creator of the material world, who descends to the lowest limits and is checked by the creative motion of the sun so soon as that god reaches the exactly limited circuit of the universe, which is called the equinox because of its effect in equalising night and day.(877) And I said that the castration meant the checking of limitlessness, which could only be brought about through the summons and resurrection of Attis to the more venerable and commanding causes. And I said that the end and aim of the rite of purification is the ascent of our souls.)

Οὐκοῦν οὐκ ἐᾷ πρῶτον σιτεῖσθαι τὰ κατὰ γῆς δυόμενα σπέρματα· ἔσχατον μὲν γὰρ τῶν ὄντων ἡ γῆ. ἐνταῦθα δέ φησιν ἀπελαθέντα καὶ Πλάτων τὰ κακὰ στρέφεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τῶν λογίων οἱ θεοὶ σκύβαλον αὐτὸ πολλαχοῦ καλοῦσι, [C] καὶ φεύγειν ἐντεῦθεν παρακελεύονται.(878) πρῶτον οὖν ἡ ζωογόνος καὶ προμηθὴς θεὸς οὐδὲ ἄχρι τῆς τῶν σωμάτων τροφῆς ἐπιτρέπει τοῖς κατὰ γῆς δυομένοις χρῆσθαι, παραινοῦσά γε πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν οὐρανὸν βλέπειν. ἑνί τινες κέχρηνται σπέρματι, τοῖς λοβοῖς, οὐ σπέρμα μᾶλλον ἢ λάχανον αὐτὸ νομίζοντες [D] εἶναι τῷ πεφυκέναι πως ἀνωφερὲς καὶ ὀρθὸν καὶ οὐδὲ ἐρριζῶσθαι κατὰ τῆς γῆς· ἐρρίζωται δὲ ὥσπερ ἐκ δένδρου κιττοῦ τινος ἢ καὶ ἀμπέλου καρπὸς ἤρτηται καὶ καλάμης.(879) ἀπηγόρευται μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν σπέρματι χρῆσθαι διὰ τοῦτο φυτῶν, ἐπιτέτραπται δὲ χρῆσθαι καρποῖς καὶ λαχάνοις, οὐ τοῖς χαμαιζήλοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐκ γῆς αἰρομένοις ἄνω μετεώροις. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ τῆς γογγυλίδος τὸ μὲν γεωχαρὲς ὡς χθόνιον ἐπιτάττει παραιτεῖσθαι, [176] τὸ δὲ ἀναδυόμενον ἄνω καὶ εἰς ὕψος αἰρόμενον ὡς αὐτῷ τούτῳ καθαρὸν τυγχάνον δίδωσι προσένεγκασθαι. τῶν γοῦν λαχάνων ὀρμένοις μὲν συγχωρεῖ χρῆσθαι, ῥίζαις δὲ ἀπαγορεύει καὶ μάλιστα ταῖς ἐντρεφομέναις καὶ συμπαθούσαις τῇ γῇ. καὶ μὴν καὶ τῶν δένδρων μῆλα μὲν ὡς ἱερὰ καὶ χρυσᾶ καὶ ἀρρήτων ἄθλων καὶ τελεστικῶν εἰκόνας καταφθείρειν οὐκ ἐπέτρεψε καὶ καταναλίσκειν, ἄξιά γε ἄντα τῶν ἀρχετύπων χάριν τοῦ σέβεσθαί τε καὶ θεραπεύεσθαι· [B] ῥοιὰς δὲ ὡς φυτὸν χθόνιον παρῃτήσατο, καὶ τοῦ φοίνικος δὲ τὸν καρπὸν ἴσως μὲν ἄν τις εἴποι διὰ τὸ μὴ γίνεσθαι περὶ τὴν Φρυγίαν, ἔνθα πρῶτον ὁ θεσμὸς κατέστη· ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ μᾶλλον ὡς ἱερὸν ἡλίου τὸ φυτὸν ἀγήρων τε ὂν οὐ συγχωρῆσαι καταναλίσκειν ἐν ταῖς ἀγιστείαις εἰς τροφὴν σώματος. ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀπηγόρευται ἰχθύσιν ἅπασι χρῆσθαι. κοινὸν δέ ἐστι τοῦτο [C] καὶ πρὸς Αἰγυπτίους τὸ πρόβλημα. δοκεῖ δὲ ἔμοιγε δυοῖν ἕνεκεν ἄν τις ἰχθύων μάλιστα μὲν ἀεί, πάντως δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἁγιστείαις ἀποσχέσθαι, ἑνὸς μέν, ὅτι τούτων, ἃ μὴ θύομεν τοῖς θεοῖς, οὐδὲ σιτεῖσθαι προσήκει. δέος δὲ ἴσως οὐδέν, μή πού τις ἐνταῦθα λίχνος καὶ γάστρις ἐπιλάβηταί μου, ὥς που καὶ πρότερον ἤδη παθὼν αὐτὸ διαμνημονεύω, “Διὰ τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ θύομεν αὐτῶν πολλάκις τοῖς θεοῖς”; εἰπόντος ἀκούσας. ἀλλ᾽ εἴχομέν τι καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο εἰπεῖν. [D] καὶ θύομέν γε, ἔφην, ὦ μακάριε, ἔν τισι τελεστικαῖς θυσίαις, ὡς ἵππον Ῥωμαῖοι, ὡς πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα θηρία καὶ ζῷα, κύνας ἴσως Ἕλληνες Ἑκάτῃ καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι δέ· καὶ πολλὰ παρ᾽ ἄλλοις ἐστὶ τῶν τελεστικῶν, καὶ δημοσίᾳ ταῖς πόλεσιν ἅπαξ τοῦ ἔτους ἢ δὶς τοιαῦτα θύματα, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐν ταῖς τιμητηρίοις, ὧν μόνων κοινωνεῖν ἄξιον καὶ τραπεζοῦν θεοῖς. τοὺς δὲ ἰχθύας ἐν ταῖς τιμητηρίοις οὐ θύομεν, ὅτι μήτε νέμομεν, [177] μήτε τῆς γενέσεως αὐτῶν ἐπιμελούμεθα, μήτε ἡμῖν εἰσιν ἀγέλαι καθάπερ προβάτων καὶ βοῶν οὕτω δὲ καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων. ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν βοηθούμενα τὰ ζῷα καὶ πληθύνοντα διὰ τοῦτο δικαίως ἂν ἡμῖν εἴς τε τὰς ἄλλας χρείας ἐπικουροίη καὶ πρό γε τῶν ἄλλων ἐς τιμητηρίους θυσίας. εἷς μὲν δὴ λόγος οὗτος, δι᾽ ὃν οὐκ οἶμαι δεῖν ἰχθὺν ἐν ἁγνείας καιρῷ προσφέρεσθαι τροφήν. ἕτερος δέ, ὃν καὶ μᾶλλον ἡγοῦμαι τοῖς προειρημένοις ἁρμόζειν, ὅτι τρόπον τινὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ κατὰ τοῦ βυθοῦ δεδυκότες εἶεν [B] ἂν χθονιώτεροι τῶν σπερμάτων, ὁ δὲ ἐπιθυμῶν ἀναπτῆναι καὶ μετέωρος ὑπὲρ τὸν ἀέρα πρὸς αὐτὰς οὐρανοῦ πτῆναι κορυφὰς δικαίως ἂν ἀποστρέφοιτο πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, μεταθέοι δὲ καὶ μετατρέχοι τὰ τεινόμενα πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα καὶ σπεύδοντα πρὸς τὸ ἄναντες καί, ἵνα ποιητικώτερον(880) εἴπω, πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ὁρῶντα.(881) ὄρνισιν οὖν ἐπιτρέπει χρῆσθαι πλὴν ὀλίγων, οὓς ἱεροὺς εἶναι πάντῃ συμβέβηκε, καὶ τῶν τετραπόδων τοῖς συνήθεσιν ἔξω [C] τοῦ χοίρου. τοῦτον δὲ ὡς χθόνιον πάντη μορφῇ τε καὶ τῷ βίῳ καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ τῆς οὐσίας λόγῳ. περιττωματικός τε γὰρ καὶ παχὺς τὴν σάρκα· τῆς ἱερᾶς ἀποκηρύττει τροφῆς. φίλον γὰρ εἶναι πεπίστευται θῦμα τοῖς χθονίοις θεοῖς οὐκ ἀπεικότως. ἀθέατον γάρ ἐστιν οὐρανοῦ τουτὶ τὸ ζῷον, οὐ μόνον οὐ βουλόμενον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ πεφυκὸς ἀναβλέψαι ποτέ. τοιαύτας μὲν δὴ αἰτίας ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀποχῆς ὧν ἀπέχεσθαι δεῖ εἴρηκεν ὁ θεῖος θεσμός· [D] οἱ ξυνιέντες δὲ κοινούμεθα τοῖς ἐπισταμένοις θεούς.