[3936] Lit., "take the oaths of allegiance" or military oaths, using a very common metaphor applied to Christians in the preceding book, c. 5.
[3937] Lit., "suppliant hands." It has been thought that the word supplices is a gloss, and that the idea originally was that of a band of soldiers holding out their hands as they swore to be true to their country and leaders; but there is no want of simplicity and congruity in the sentence as it stands, to warrant us in rejecting the word.
[3938] i.e., than the inventors of such fables had shown.
[3939] Lit., "from us infants;" i.e., as compared with such a man as Cicero.
[3940] Secundas actiones. The reference is evidently to a second speaker, who makes good his predecessor's defects.
7. But why should I say that men seek from him subtleties of expression and splendour of diction, when I know that there are many who avoid and flee from his books on this subject, and will not hear his opinions read, [3941] overthrowing their prejudices; and when I hear others muttering angrily, and saying that the senate should decree the destruction [3942] of these writings by which the Christian religion is maintained, and the weight of antiquity overborne? But, indeed, if you are convinced that anything you say regarding your gods is beyond doubt, point out Cicero's error, refute, rebut his rash and impious words, [3943] and show that they are so. For when you would carry off writings, and suppress a book given forth to the public, you are not defending the gods, but dreading the evidence of the truth.
[3941] Lit., "are unwilling to admit into their ear the reading of opinions," etc.
[3942] Both Christians and heathen, it is probable, were concerned in the mutilation of de Nat. Deorum.
[3943] So Gelenius, reading dicta for the ms. dictitare. The last verb is comprobate, read reprobate--"condemn," by all edd. except Hild. and Oehler.
8. And yet, that no thoughtless person may raise a false accusation against us, as though we believed God whom we worship to be male,--for this reason, that is, that when we speak of Him we use a masculine word,--let him understand that it is not sex which is expressed, but His name, and its meaning according to custom, and the way in which we are in the habit of using words. [3944] For the Deity is not male, but His name is of the masculine gender: but in your ceremonies you cannot say the same; for in your prayers you have been wont to say whether thou art god or goddess, [3945] and this uncertain description shows, even by their opposition, that you attribute sex to the gods. We cannot, then, be prevailed on to believe that the divine is embodied; for bodies must needs be distinguished by difference of sex, if they are male and female. For who, however mean his capacity, [3946] does not know that the sexes of different gender have been ordained and formed by the Creator of the creatures of earth, only that, by intercourse and union of bodies, that which is fleeting and transient may endure being ever renewed and maintained? [3947]
[3944] Lit., "with familiarity of speech."
[3945] A formula used when they sought to propitiate the author of some event which could not be traced to a particular deity; referring also to the cases in which there were different opinions as to the sex of a deity.
[3946] Lit., "even of mean understanding."
[3947] Lit., "by the renewing of perpetual succession."
9. What, then, shall we say? That gods beget and are begotten? [3948] and that therefore they have received organs of generation, that they might be able to raise up offspring, and that, as each new race springs up, a substitution, regularly occurring, [3949] should make up for all which had been swept away by the preceding age? If, then, it is so,--that is, if the gods above beget other gods, and are subject to these conditions of sex, [3950] and are immortal, and are not worn out, by the chills of age,--it follows, as a consequence, that the world [3951] should be full of gods, and that countless heavens could not contain their multitude, inasmuch as they are both themselves ever begetting, and the countless multitude of their descendants, always being increased, is augmented by means of their offspring; or if, as is fitting, the gods are not degraded by being subjected to sexual impulses, [3952] what cause or reason will be pointed out for their being distinguished by those members by which the sexes are wont to recognise each other at the suggestion of their own desires? For it is not likely that they have these members without a purpose, or that nature had wished in them to make sport of its own improvidence, [3953] in providing them with members for which there would be no use. For as the hands, feet, eyes, and other members which form our body, [3954] have been arranged for certain uses, each for its own end, so we may well [3955] believe that these members have been provided to discharge their office; or it must be confessed that there is something without a purpose in the bodies of the gods, which has been made uselessly and in vain.
[3948] Lit., "that gods are born."
[3949] Lit, "recurring," "arising again."
[3950] Lit., "make trial of themselves by these laws of sex."
[3951] Lit., "all things," etc.
[3952] Lit., "if the impurity of sexual union is wanting to the gods."
[3953] So the first five edd.
[3954] Lit., "the other arrangement of members."
[3955] Lit., "it is fitting to believe."
10. What say you, ye holy and pure guardians of religion? Have the gods, then, sexes; and are they disfigured by those parts, the very mention of whose names by modest lips is disgraceful? What, then, now remains, but to believe that they, as unclean beasts, are transported with violent passions, rush with maddened desires into mutual embraces, and at last, with shattered and ruined bodies, are enfeebled by their sensuality? And since some things are peculiar to the female sex, we must believe that the goddesses, too, submit to these conditions at the proper time, conceive and become pregnant with loathing, miscarry, carry the full time, and sometimes are prematurely delivered. O divinity, pure, holy, free from and unstained by any dishonourable blot! The mind longs [3956] and burns to see, in the great halls and palaces of heaven, gods and goddesses, with bodies uncovered and bare, the full-breasted Ceres nursing Iacchus, [3957] as the muse of Lucretius sings, the Hellespontian Priapus bearing about among the goddesses, virgin and matron, those parts [3958] ever prepared for encounter. It longs, I say, to see goddesses pregnant, goddesses with child, and, as they daily increase in size, faltering in their steps, through the irksomeness of the burden they bear about with them; others, after long delay, bringing to birth, and seeking the midwife's aid; others, shrieking as they are attacked by keen pangs and grievous pains, tormented, [3959] and, under all these influences, imploring the aid of Juno Lucina. Is it not much better to abuse, revile, and otherwise insult the gods, than, with pious pretence, unworthily to entertain such monstrous beliefs about them?
[3956] The ms., followed by Hild., reads habet et animum--"has it a mind to, and does it," etc.; for which Gelenius, followed by later edd., reads, as above, avet animus.
[3957] Cererem ab Iaccho, either as above, or "loved by Iacchus." Cf. Lucret. iv. 1160: At tumida et mammosa Ceres est ipsa ab Iaccho.
[3958] Sensu obscæno.
[3959] The first five edd. read hortari--"exhorted," for which LB, followed by later edd., received tortari; as above,--a conjecture of Canterus.
11. And you dare to charge us with offending the gods, although, on examination, it is found that the ground of offence is most clearly in yourselves, and that it is not occasioned by the insult which you think [3960] we offer them. For if the gods are, as you say, moved by anger, and burn with rage in their minds, why should we not suppose that they take it amiss, even in the highest degree, that you attribute to them sexes, as dogs and swine have been created, and that, since this is your belief, they are so represented, and openly exposed in a disgraceful manner? This, then, being the case, you are the cause of all troubles--you lead the gods, you rouse them to harass the earth with every ill, and every day to devise all kinds of fresh misfortunes, that so they may avenge themselves, being irritated at suffering so many wrongs and insults from you. By your insults and affronts, I say, partly in the vile stories, partly in the shameful beliefs which your theologians, your poets, you yourselves too, celebrate in disgraceful ceremonies, you will find that the affairs of men have been ruined, and that the gods have thrown away the helm, if indeed it is by their care that the fortunes of men are guided and arranged. For with us, indeed, they have no reason to be angry, whom they see and perceive neither to mock, as it is said, nor worship them, and to think, [3961] to believe much more worthily than you with regard to the dignity of their name.
[3960] So Orelli, reading nec in contumelia quam opinamini stare for the ms. et, which is retained by all other edd.; Oehler, however, inserts alia before quam--"and that it is found in an insult other than you think."
[3961] So later edd., omitting quam, which is read in the ms., both Roman edd., Hild., and Oehler, "to think much more...than you believe."
12. Thus far of sex. Now let us come to the appearance and shapes by which you believe that the gods above have been represented, with which, indeed, you fashion, and set them up in their most splendid abodes, your temples. And let no one here bring up against us Jewish fables and those of the sect of the Sadducees, [3962] as though we, too, attribute to the Deity forms; [3963] for this is supposed to be taught in their writings, and asserted as if with assurance and authority. For these stories either do not concern us, and have nothing at all in common with us, or if they are shared in by us, as you believe, you must seek out teachers of greater wisdom, through whom you may be able to learn how best to overcome the dark and recondite sayings of those writings. Our opinion on the subject is as follows:--that the whole divine nature, since it neither came into existence at any time, nor will ever come to an end of life, is devoid of bodily features, and does not have anything like the forms with which the termination of the several members usually. completes the union of parts. [3964] For whatever is of this character, we think mortal and perishable; nor do we believe that that can endure for ever which an inevitable end shuts in, though the boundaries enclosing it be the remotest.
[3962] It is evident that Arnobius here confuses the sceptical Sadducees with their opponents the Pharisees, and the Talmudists.
[3963] The ms. reads tribuant et nos unintelligibly, for which LB. and Hild. read et os--"as though they attribute form and face;" the other edd, as above, tribuamus et nos.
[3964] Lit., "the joinings of the members."
13. But it is not enough that you limit the gods by forms:--you even confine them to the human figure, and with even less decency enclose them in earthly bodies. What shall we say then? that the gods have a head modelled with perfect symmetry, [3965] bound fast by sinews to the back and breast, and that, to allow the necessary bending of the neck, it is supported by combinations of vertebræ, and by an osseous foundation? But if we believe this to be true, it follows that they have ears also, pierced by crooked windings; rolling eyeballs, overshadowed by the edges of the eyebrows; a nose, placed as a channel, [3966] through which waste fluids and a current of air might easily pass; teeth to masticate food, of three kinds, and adapted to three services; hands to do their work, moving easily by means of joints, fingers, and flexible elbows; feet to support their bodies, regulate their steps, and prompt the first motions in walking. But if the gods bear these things which are seen, it is fitting that they should bear those also which the skin conceals under the framework of the ribs, and the membranes enclosing the viscera; windpipes, stomachs, spleens, lungs, bladders, livers, the long-entwined intestines, and the veins of purple blood, joined with the air-passages, [3967] coursing through the whole viscera.
[3965] Lit., "with smooth roundness." [Cf. Xenoph., Mem., i. cap. 4.]
[3966] Lit., "the raised gutter of the nose, easily passed by," etc.
[3967] The veins were supposed to be for the most part filled with blood, mixed with a little air; while in the arteries air was supposed to be in excess. Cf. Cicero, de Nat. Deor. ii. 55: "Through the veins blood is poured forth to the whole body, and air through the arteries."