Chapter XV: Part 15

674 cf. 139 C; _Oration_ 5. 165 C, 166 D, 170 C.

675 τὰς Hertlein suggests.

676 cf. 167 D. In _Timaeus_ 58 A it is the revolution of the whole which
by constriction compresses all matter together, but Julian had that
passage in mind. In Empedocles it is the Titan, Aether, _i.e._ the
Fifth Substance, that “binds the globe.” _fr._ 38 Diels.

677 Plato in _Timaeus_ 41 A, distinguishes “the gods who revolve before
our eyes” from “those who reveal themselves so far as they will.”
Julian regularly describes, as here, a triad; every one of his three
worlds has its own unconditioned being (αὐθυπόστατον); its own
creative power (δημιουργία); its own power to generate life (γόνιμον
τῆς ζωῆς); and in every case, the middle term is Helios as a
connecting link in his capacity of thinking or intellectual god
(νοερός).

678 Julian now describes the three kinds of substance (οὐσία) and its
three forms (εἴδη) in the three worlds.

679 _i.e._ the visible heavenly bodies.

680 Helios connects the forms (Plato’s Ideas) which exist in the
intelligible world, with those which in our world ally themselves
with matter; cf. _Oration_ 5. 171 B.

681 αὐτὰ V, αὐτὸς MSS, Hertlein.

682 _i.e._ the heavenly bodies.

683 These angels combine, as does a model, the idea and its
hypostazisation; cf. 142 A, _Letter to the Athenians_ 275 B. Julian
nowhere defines angels, but Porphyry as quoted by Augustine, _De
civitate Dei_ 10, 9, distinguished them from daemons and placed them
in the aether.

684 προηγούμενος V, προκαθηγούμενος MSS, Hertlein.

685 cf. 141 B.

686 _i.e._ the heavenly bodies; cf. _Fragment of a Letter_ 295 A.

687 _Nichomachean Ethics_ 7. 14. 1154 b.

688 τοιοῦτον Hertlein suggests, τούτων MSS.

689 The powers and activities of Helios are now described, 142 D‐152 A.

690 cf. 148 C, _Timaeus_ 47 A, _Republic_ 529 B, where Plato
distinguishes mere star‐gazing from astronomy.

691 διὰ τὴν Hertlein suggests, καὶ τὴν MSS.

692 cf. 144 C.

693 _Timaeus_ 32 B; Plato says that to make the universe solid, “God set
air and water between fire and earth.”

694 cf. 144 C. 179 A; Proclus on Plato, _Timaeus_ 203 E, says that
because Dionysus was torn asunder by the Titans, his function is to
divide wholes into their parts and to separate the forms (εἴδη).

695 Julian calls Dionysus the son of Helios 152 C, D, and the son of
Zeus, _Oration_ 5. 179 B.

696 cf. 153 B, where Asclepios is called “the saviour of the All,” and
_Against the Christians_ 200 A.

697 ἔκγονος MSS, ἔγγονος V, Hertlein.

698 νοητοῖς Petavius adds.

699 cf. 141 B, _Letter to the Athenians_ 275 B.

700 The sun.

701 Plato, _Symposium_ 206 B τόκος ἐν καλῷ.

702 _i.e._ Intellectual Helios.

703 _i.e._ Intelligible Helios.

704 Plato, _Laws_ 713 D defines daemons as a race superior to men but
inferior to gods; they were created to watch over human affairs;
Julian, _Letter to Themistius_ 258 B echoes Plato’s description; cf.
Plotinus 3. 5. 6; pseudo‐Iamblichus, _De Mysteriis_ 1. 20. 61;
Julian 2. 90 B.

705 _i.e._ the individual souls; by using this term, derived from the
Neo‐Platonists and Iamblichus, Julian implies that there is an
indivisible world soul; cf. Plotinus 4. 8. 8 ἡ μὲν ὅλη (ψυχὴ) ... αἱ
δὲ ἑν μέρει γενόμεναι.

706 _Odyssey_ 11, 303; Philo Judaeus, _De Decalogo_ 2. 190, τόν τε
οὐρανὸν εἰς ἡμισφαίρια τῷ λόγῳ διχῇ διανείμαντες, τὸ μὲν ὑπὲρ γῆς τὸ
δ᾽ ὑπὸ γῆς, Διοσκούρους ἐκάλεσαν τὸ περὶ τῆς ἑτερημέρου ζωῆς αὐτῶν
προστερατευσάμενοι διήγημα.

707 κενὸν Hertlein suggests, καινὸν Mb, κοινὸν MSS.

708 _Timaeus_ 37 C; when the Creator had made the universe, he invented
Time as an attribute of “divided substance.”

709 For Julian’s debt to Iamblichus cf. 150 D, 157 B, C.

710 Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Helios, Aphrodite, Hermes, Selene are the seven
planets; cf. 149 D. Though Helios guides the others he is counted
with them.

711 _i.e._ the fixed stars; cf. Iamblichus, _Theologumena arithmeticae_
56. 4 ἡ περιέχουσα τὰ πάντα σφαῖρα ὀγδόη, “the eighth sphere that
encompasses all the rest.”

712 The Graces are often associated with Spring; Julian seems to be
describing obscurely the annual course of the sun.

713 Necessity played an important part in the cult of Mithras and was
sometimes identified with the constellation Virgo who holds the
scales of Justice.

714 For the adoption of the Dioscuri into the Mithraic cult see Cumont.
Julian does not give his own view, though he rejects that of the
later Greek astronomers. Macrobius, _Saturnalia_ 1. 21. 22
identifies them with the sun.

715 _i.e._ the torrid zone. On the equator in the winter months shadows
fall due north at noon, in the summer months due south; this is more
or less true of the whole torrid zone; cf. ἀμφίσκιος which has the
same meaning.

716 _Iliad_ 14. 246.

717 For the affectation of mystery cf. 152 B, 159 A, 172 D.

718 δὴ Hertlein suggests, δὲ MSS.

719 Plutarch, _Demosthenes_ 4, quotes this phrase as peculiarly
Platonic; cf. Plato, _Laws_ 676 A.

720 cf. 143 B and note.

721 χαριτοδότης Spanheim, χαριδότης Hertlein, MSS.

722 ἁδρᾷ Hertlein suggests, ἀνδρῶν MSS.

723 ἐπιτροπεύει Wright, ἐπιτροπεύουσι Hertlein, MSS lacuna Petavius.

724 Literally “life‐bringer,” Aristotle’s phrase for the zodiac.

725 cf. Zeller, _Philosophie der Griechen_ III. 2, p. 753, notes.

726 There is a play on the word κύκλος, which means both “sphere” and
“circle.”

727 The Egyptian sun‐god, whose worship was introduced first into Greece
and later at Rome.

728 Athene as goddess of Forethought was worshipped at Delphi, but her
earlier epithet was προναία “whose statue is in front of the
temple”; cf. Aeschylus, _Eumenides_ 21, Herodotus 8. 37; late
writers often confuse these forms. Julian applies the epithet
πρόνοια to the mother of the gods 179 A, and to Prometheus 182 D;
cf. 131 C.

729 This verse was quoted from an unknown source by Eustathius on
_Iliad_ 1. p. 83. “The Grey‐eyed” is a name of Athene.

730 _Iliad_ 8. 538; 13. 827.

731 δ᾽ Hertlein adds.

732 τὸ Hertlein adds.

733 ἐπιμετρῆσαι Hertlein suggests, μετριάσαι MSS.

734 Ἔμεσαν Spanheim, cf. 154 B, Ἔδεσσαν MSS.

735 On Athene cf. _Oration_ 7. 230 A; _Against the Christians_ 235 C.

736 cf. 152 D. Julian derives his theory of the position and functions
of the moon from Iamblichus; cf. Proclus on Plato, _Timaeus_ 258 f.

737 cf. 154 A, and Proclus on Plato, _Timaeus_ 155 F, 259 B, where
Aphrodite is called “the binding goddess” συνδετικήν, and
“harmoniser” συναρμοστικήν.

738 _i.e._ as the planet Venus.

739 cf. _Caesars_ 313 A, _Misopogon_ 357 C. Emesa in Syria was famous
for its temple to Baal, the sun‐god. The Emperor Heliogabalus
(218‐222 A.D.) was born at Emesa and was, as his name indicates, a
priest of Baal, whose worship he attempted to introduce at Rome.

740 The “strong god,” identified with the star Lucifer.

741 133 D, 138 B.

742 τὸ γόνιμον τῇ φύσει Marcilius, cf. 150 B, 151 C, lacuna MSS.,
Hertlein.

743 _Physics_ 2. 2. 194 b; cf. 131 C.

744 cf. 145 C.

745 cf. 145 C.

746 _i.e._ their ascent after death to the gods.

747 περὶ Hertlein suggests, ἐπὶ MSS.

748 _Republic_ 529, 530; _Epinomis_ 977 A.

749 _Laws_ 653 C, D, 665 A.

750 _i.e._ as a unit of measurement; _Timaeus_ 39 B, 47 A.

751 γέννησιν Mau, γένεσιν MSS, Hertlein.

752 cf. 144 C: _Against the Christians_ 200, 235 B.C. Asclepios plays an
important part in Julian’s religion, and may have been intentionally
opposed, as the son of Helios‐Mithras and the “saviour of the
world,” to Jesus Christ.

753 τὸ Hertlein suggests.

754 Ἔμεσαν Spanheim, Ἔδεσσαν MSS, Hertlein; cf. 150 C.

755 Rome.

756 This refers to the famous temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline; cf.
_Oration_ 1. 29 D. The three shrines in this temple were dedicated
to Jupiter, Minerva and Juno, but Julian ignores Juno because he
wishes to introduce Aphrodite in connection with Aeneas.

757 Julian accepts the impossible etymology “path of the wolf”; Lycabas
means “path of light,” cf. _lux_.

758 _Odyssey_, 14. 161. The word was also used on Roman coins with the
meaning “year.”

759 ὃν Marcilius, ἣν MSS, Hertlein.

760 Silvia the Vestal virgin gave birth to twins, Romulus and Remus,
whose father was supposed to be Mars (Ares).

761 Vesta, the Greek Hestia, the goddess of the hearth.

762 The name given to Romulus after his apotheosis; cf. _Caesars_ 307 B.

763 For the legend of his translation see Livy 1. 16; Plutarch,
_Romulus_ 21; Ovid, _Fasti_ 2. 496; Horace, _Odes_ 3. 3. 15 foll.

764 After γενόμενον Hertlein omits ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης.

765 ὥραν Hertlein, Naber suggest, ἡμέραν MSS, cf. Episile 444. 425 C.

766 To Numa Pompilius, the legendary king who reigned next after
Romulus, the Romans ascribed the foundation of many of their
religious ceremonies.

767 The Vestal virgins.

768 The Heliaia, _solis agon_, was founded by the Emperor Aurelian at
Rome in 274 A.D.; but the “unconquerable sun,” _sol invictus_, had
been worshipped there for fully a century before Aurelian’s
foundation; see Usener, _Sol invictus_, in _Rheinisches Museum_,
1905. Julian once again, _Caesars_ 336 C calls Helios by his Persian
name Mithras.

769 The Attic year began with the summer solstice.

770 A Greek astronomer who flourished in the middle of the second
century B.C. His works are lost.

771 Claudius Ptolemy an astronomer at Alexandria 127‐151 A.D.

772 τοῦ τε Hertlein suggests, τε τοῦ MSS.

773 _i.e._ December.

774 The festival of Saturn, the Saturnalia, was celebrated by the Latins
at the close of December, and corresponds to our Christmas holidays.
Saturn was identified with the Greek god Kronos, and Julian uses the
Greek word for the festival in order to avoid, according to
sophistic etiquette, a Latin name.

775 Rome.

776 αὐτὸν Hertlein suggests, αὐτοῦ MSS.

777 τοῦ Hertlein suggests, τὸ M, τῷ MSS.

778 See Introduction, p. 351.

779 For the threefold creative force cf. Proclus on _Timaeus_ 94 CD.
Here Julian means that there are three modes of creation exercised
by Helios now in one, now in another, of the three worlds; cf. 135
B.C.

780 This work is lost.

781 _i.e._ his treatise _On the Gods_, which is not extant.

782 Hesiod, _Works and Days_ 336.

783 For the Attis cult see Frazer, _Attis, Adonis and Osiris_; for the
introduction of the worship of Cybele into Italy, Cumont, _Les
religions orientales dans le paganisme romain_.

784 See Harrison, _Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens_.

785 Catullus 63.

786 5. 1. 7; 3. 6. 19; 1. 6. 8; cf. Plato, _Theaetetus_ 152 C; and
Plutarch, _On Isis and Osiris_, ὁ μῦθος ... λόγου τινὸς ἔμφασίς
ἐστιν ἀνακλῶντος ἐπ᾽ ἄλλα τὴν διάνοιαν.

787 Cf. 206 D. Myths are like toys which help children through teething.

788 ἐξοίσομεν Cobet adds, ἀνέξοιστα καὶ MSS, Hertlein.

789 οὑτοσὶ Hertlein suggests, οὑτωσὶ MSS.

790 μικρὰν Hertlein, μικρὸν Naber, who thinks ἱστορίαν a gloss, cf.
_Oration_ vii. 276 C, μικρὸν ἱστορίαν MSS, μικρὸν ἱστορίας Reiske.

791 ὡς Petavius adds.

792 αὐτὴν Hertlein suggests, αὑτὴν MSS.

793 ἐπήγοντο Hertlein suggests, ἐπῆγον τὸν MSS.

794 The Phrygian god of vegetation who corresponds to the Syrian Adonis.
His name is said to mean “father,” and he is at once the lover and
son of the Mother of the Gods. His death and resurrection were
celebrated in spring.

795 The generic name for the eunuch priests of Attis.

796 The Phrygian Cybele, the Asiatic goddess of fertility; the chief
seat of her worship was Pessinus in Phrygia.

797 _i.e._ after the middle of the fifth century B.C.; before that date
the records were kept in the Acropolis.

798 In 204 B.C.; cf. Livy 29. 10 foll.; Silius Italicus 17. 1 foll.;
Ovid, _Fasti_ 4. 255 foll. tells the legend and describes the ritual
of the cult.

799 The Attalids.

800 A black meteoric stone embodied the goddess of Pessinus.

801 Claudia, turritae rara ministra deae. “Claudia thou peerless
priestess of the goddess with the embattled crown.”—Propertius 4.
11. 52.

802 A matron in other versions.

803 In the Third Punic War, which began 149 B.C., Carthage was sacked by
the Romans under Scipio.

804 Plato, _Republic_ 519 A δριμὺ μὲν βλέπει τὸ ψυχάριον.

805 A relief in the Capitoline Museum shows Claudia in the act of
dragging the ship.

806 _i.e._ the world of sense‐perception.

807 Plotinus 1. 8. 4 called matter “the privation of the Good,” στέρησις
ἀγαθοῦ.

808 Helios; cf. _Oration_ 4. 140 A. Attis is here identified with the
light of the sun.

809 Julian here sums up the tendency of the philosophy of his age. The
Peripatetics had been merged in the Platonists and Neo‐Platonists,
and Themistius the Aristotelian commentator often speaks of the
reconciliation, in contemporary philosophy, of Plato and Aristotle;
cf. 235 C, 236, 366 C. Julian, following the example of Iamblichus,
would force them into agreement; but the final appeal was to
revealed religion.

810 προϋφεστῶτες Hertlein suggests, cf. 165 D, προεστῶτες MSS.

811 233 D.

812 αὐτόν Hertlein suggests, αὐτό MSS.

813 _Sophist_ 235 A; cf. _Republic_ 596 D.

814 _i.e._ aether, the fifth substance.

815 _i.e._ the causes of the forms that are embodied in matter have a
prior existence as Ideas.

816 An echo of Plato, _Theaetetus_ 191 C, 196 A; _Timaeus_ 50 C.

817 _De Anima_ 3. 4. 429 A; Aristotle quotes the phrase with approval
and evidently attributes it to Plato; the precise expression is not
to be found in Plato, though in _Parmenides_ 132 B he says that the
Ideas are “in our souls.”

818 περιθεῖναι Hertlein suggests, cf. Sallust, _On the Gods and the
World_ 249, τὸν ἀστερωτὸν αὐτῷ περιθεῖναι πῖλον: ἐπιθεῖναι MSS.

819 αἰνίττεσθαι Hertlein suggests, cf. Sallust 250 τὸν γαλαξόαν
αἰνίττεται κύκλον: μαντεύεσθαι MSS.

820 cf. Porphyry, _On the Cave of the Nymph_ 7; and Plato, _Republic_
514 A.

821 προüφέστηκε Hertlein suggests, προέστηκε MSS.

822 _fr._ 36, Diels.

823 For the superiority of the soul to nature cf. _De Mysteriis_ 8. 7.
270; and for the theory that the soul gives form to matter, Plotinus
4. 3. 20.

824 _i.e._ the fifth substance.

825 Helios; cf. 161 D. The whole passage implies the identification of
Attis with nature, and of the world‐soul with Helios; cf. 162 A
where Attis is called “Nature,” φύσις.

826 cf. 170 D, 168 C; Sallust, _On the Gods and the World_ 4. 16. 1.

827 cf. 171 A; Sallust also identifies Gallus with the Milky Way, 4. 14.
25.

828 ἑαυτὸ Shorey suggests, τοῦτο Hertlein, MSS.

829 λέγομεν Petavius suggests, lacuna Hertlein, MSS.

830 τε Hertlein suggests.

831 τὰς Hertlein suggests.

832 μὲν Hertlein suggests, γε MSS.

833 κρείττων Hertlein suggests, κρεῖττον MSS.

834 ἢ ὅτε Shorey, ὅτε Hertlein, MSS.

835 προüφεστῶσαν Hertlein suggests, προεστῶσαν MSS.

836 τῇ δὲ Hertlein suggests, τῇ MSS.

837 φησιν ὁ μῦθος Hertlein suggests, φησι MSS.

838 A finite verb _e.g._ φαίνεται is needed to complete the
construction.

839 καὶ Friederich, πέπεικε Hertlein, MSS.

840 cf. 170 D, 179 D.

841 _i.e._ Zeus.

842 Hence she is the counterpart of Athene, cf. 179 A. Athene is
Forethought among the intellectual gods; Cybele is Forethought among
the intelligible gods and therefore superior to Athene; cf. 180 A.

843 The Corybantes were the Phrygian priests of Cybele, who at Rome were
called Galli.

844 The Asiatic deities, especially Cybele, are often represented
holding lions, or in cars drawn by them. cf. Catullus 63. 76,
_juncta juga resolvens Cybele leonibus_, “Cybele unharnessed her
team of lions”; she sends a lion in pursuit of Attis, cf. 168 B;
Porphyry, _On the Cave of the Nymph_ 3. 2. 287 calls the sign of the
lion “the dwelling of Helios.”

845 _Iliad_ 10. 23 λέοντος αἴθωνος.

846 cf. _Oration_ 4. 145 C.

847 A finite verb is needed to complete the construction. For the
anacoluthon cf. 167 D.

848 καὶ διὰ Hertlein suggests, καὶ MSS.

849 A pine sacred to Attis was felled on March 22nd; cf. Frazer, _Attis,
Adonis and Osiris_, p. 222.

850 cf. 171 C, 175 A.

851 March 23rd.

852 March 24th was the date of the castration of the Galli, the priests
of Attis.

853 On March 25th the resurrection of Attis and the freeing of our souls
from generation (γένεσις) was celebrated by the feast of the
Hilaria.

854 ἡγεμόνας Shorey, cf. 170 A, B, ἡμῶν Hertlein, MSS.

855 αὐτὰς Hertlein suggests, αὐτὰ MSS.

856 169 D‐170 C is a digression on the value of myths, which the wise
man is not to accept without an allegorising interpretation; cf.
_Oration_ 7. 216 C.

857 τελευταίας αἰτίας Hertlein suggests, τελευταίας MSS.

858 In 167 D Attis was identified with the light of the moon; cf.
_Oration_ 4. 150 A; where the moon is called the lowest of the
spheres, who gives form to the world of matter that lies below her;
cf. Sallust, _On the Gods and the World_ 4. 14. 23; where Attis is
called the creator of our world.

859 προκαλεῖται Hertlein suggests, προσκαλεῖται MSS.

860 δὴ καὶ Hertlein suggests, δὲ καὶ V, καὶ MSS.

861 _Phaedrus_ 250 D, _Timaeus_ 47 A, _Republic_ 507‐508.

862 Porphyry, _On the Cave of the Nymph_ 22, says that Cancer and
Capricorn are the two gates of the sun; and that souls descend
through Cancer and rise aloft through Capricorn.

863 This seems to identify Attis with the sun’s rays.

864 Chaldean astrology and the Chaldean oracles are often cited with
respect by the Neo‐Platonists; for allusions to their worship of the
Seven‐rayed Mithras (Helios) cf. Damascius 294 and Proclus on
_Timaeus_ 1. 11.

865 _e.g._ Iamblichus and especially Maximus of Ephesus who is a typical
theurgist of the fourth century A.D. and was supposed to work
miracles.

866 δὴ Shorey, δὲ Hertlein, MSS.

867 αὐτὴ Wright, αὕτη MSS., Hertlein.

868 ἱερέων Hertlein suggests, ἱερῶν MSS.

869 The Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone; the Lesser were
celebrated in February, the greater in September.

870 Plato, _Gorgias_ 497 C; Plutarch, _Demetrius_ 900 B.

871 αὐτὸς εἰρηκώς Hertlein suggests, εἰρηκὼς MSS.

872 προüφεστώσῃ Hertlein suggests, προεστεώσῃ MSS.

873 δὲ Hertlein suggests, γε MSS.

874 cf. _Oration_ 4. 131 A.

875 Attis.

876 ᾗ Hertlein suggests, οὗ MSS.

877 cf. 168 D‐169 A, 171 C.

878 παρακελεύονται Wyttenbach, μολλαχοῦ παρακελεύονται Hertlein, MSS.

879 The construction of καὶ καλάμης is not clear; Petavius suspects
corruption or omission.

880 ποιητικώτερον Naber, τι καὶ ποιητικὸν Hertlein, MSS.

881 ὁρμῶντα Naber.

882 _Theaetetus_ 176 A; cf. _Oration_ 2. 90 A.

883 _i.e._ to the intelligible world and the One; cf. 169 C.

884 Porphyry, _On Abstinence_ 3. 5, gives a list of these sacred birds;
_e.g._ the owl sacred to Athene, the eagle to Zeus, the crane to
Demeter.

885 ἅπαντα Hertlein suggests, ἅπαντας MSS.

886 συγχωρεῖ Hertlein suggests, συγχωροίη MSS.

887 φήσει Hertlein suggests, φήσειεν MSS.

888 cf. Aristotle, _On the Generation of Animals_ 736 b. 37, for the
breath πνεῦμα, that envelops the disembodied soul and resembles
aether. The Stoics sometimes defined the soul as a “warm breath,”
ἔνθερμον πνεῦμα.

889 The phrase probably occurred in an oracular verse.

890 Oration 6. 203 C; Demosthenes, _De Corona_ 308, συνείρει ...
ἀπνευστί.

891 ἕνεκά του Shorey, ἕνεκα τοῦ Hertlein, MSS.

892 The epithet means “favoured by Aphrodite.”

893 In this rendering of λόγος (which may here mean “Reason”) I follow
Mau p. 113, and Asmus, _Julians Galiläerschrift_ p. 31.

894 πράξεις Hertlein suggests, τάξεις MSS.