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DISCOURSE TO THE GREEKS Chapter 1 11]0NOT IMAGINE, my Greek friends, that I am rash and unreasonable in refusing to practice your customs , for I have discovered that they are in no way holy or pleasing to God. Indeed, the very writings of your poets stand as permanent testimonials of madness and perversity . Whoever becomes a pupil of your most learned one1 encounters more difficulties than any man ever faced. Because , first of all, they2 affirm that Agamemnon, in assisting his brother's sensuality with great madness and unrestrained passion, did not hesitate to hand over his own daughter3 to be immolated. Furthermore, to rescue Helen, carried away by the leprous shepherd, he disturbed all Greece. But when captives were taken during the ensuing war, Agamemnon himself was captivated by Chryseis, and because of another girl, Briseis, he became an enemy of Thetis' son.4 And that great hero of yours, the son of Peleus,5 who constrained the river, conquered Troy and vanquished Hector, became the slave of Polyxena, and was overcome by a dead Amazon.6 Replacing his divinely-made armor with a wedding garment, he became a love victim in the temple of Apollo. And the 1 Homer. 2 The grammarians who interpreted the Homeric poems. 3 Iphigeneia. 4 Achilles. 5 Achilles. Cf. Iliad 21.24ff., 243ff. 6 Achilles was filled with remorse when he perceived the beauty of the Amazon whom he had mortally wounded in battle. 431 432 SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR Ithacan Ulysses even made evil appear as virtue. Indeed, in sailing by the realm of the Sirens, he showed that he lacked sufficient prudence when he could not trust his own good sense to close his ears.7 Then there is the example of the son of Telamon, Ajax, that strong man whose shield was covered with seven ox hides, but who, when defeated by Ulysses in the contest for the weapons [of Achilles], went stark mad. I have not the slightest desire to be taught such things. Nor do I aspire to attain such a state of mind that I should believe these Homeric myths. For the whole epic poem, both the beginning and end of the Iliad and Odyssey, revolves about one theme-woman. Chapter 2 And as to Hesiod, who, after Homer, wrote his Works and Days, who will agree with his futile theogony? For he says that Saturn, the son of heaven, deposed his own father of his reign and took over his sceptre, and that, panic-stricken lest he suffer the same fate, he decided to eat his own children. But Jupiter, through the cunning of Curetes, was taken away and hidden. Later, he returned to take his father prisoner in chains and to divide his kingdom. On this occasion it is said that Jupiter received the air; Neptune, the sea; and Pluto, the portion of Hades. And Pluto carried away Proserpine , while Ceres wandered about in the wilderness, in search of her daughter. Even this myth was exalted by the Eleusinian fire.l Not only did Neptune assault Melanippe when she was drawing water, but he also debased a great number of mermaids2 whose names are too numerous to mention. 7 Instead, he had himself bound to the mast of his ship. 1 The annual return of Proserpine from the region of the dead was celebrated in the Eleusinian Mysteries. 2 Nereids. DISCOURSE TO THE GREEKS 433 And Jupiter was an adulterer under many guises, for he sinned with Antiope as a satyr, with Danae as [a shower of] gold, with Europa as a bull, and with Leda as a swan. And the love of Semele stimulated both his lewdness and the jealousy of Juno. It is also reported that he carried off the Phrygian Ganymede to serve as his cupbearer. Such were the misdeeds of Saturn's descendants. And your Apollo, that renowned son of Latona, proved himself a liar when he professed to be a soothsayer. For, although he pursued Daphne, he never caught up with her; nor did he warn his beloved Hyacinth, when he pitched the quoit, of his death.3 And I shall pass over in silence the masculine characteristics of Minerva, the femininity of Bacchus, and the immoral habits of Venus. You Greeks should read aloud to Jupiter the law against parricide, the punishment for adultery, and the stigma of pederasty. Teach Minerva and Diana feminine activities, and show Bacchus how a man should act. What majesty is depicted by the...
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