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§ LXXIII. Reference to Aratus and Hesiod Since philosophy alone is not enough, let poetry itself come to us, completely mired in lies, hardly ever inclined to testify to the truth, rather admitting to deviating from God into fiction and fairy tales. Let the poet who wants to appear first. So, Arat believes that the power of God permeates everything: ...so that everything is strong and strong, He is always the first and the last to be propitiated. Rejoice, Father, great miracle and highest good! The Ascrean Hesiod also alludes to God in the same way: He is the Lord and Almighty King of the entire great universe. There is none of the gods who will challenge His right to power. § LXXIV. Euripides, Sophocles and Orpheus' repentance Even from the stage the truth is revealed. Euripides, looking at the ether and the sky, says: Consider Him God. In Sophocles, son of Sophilus, we find: Truly there is only one God, Who created the whole earth, the firmament, And the onslaught of azure sea waves and winds. But in the twilight wandering of my own soul, Like consolation in troubles, statues of gods We built for ourselves from copper and stones, Sculptures made of gold and bone. Offering sacrifices to them and holidays in their honor As we celebrate, we think that we are pious. It was he who plucked up courage and showed the audience the truth from the stage. The Thracian hierophant and at the same time a poet, Orpheus, son of Eagrus, after compiling a canon of orgic sacraments and the theology of idols, composes a palinode in favor of truth and sings a truly sacred, albeit belated song: I will tell those who can, and those who are alien to the sacraments, let them close The door behind you; Listen, Musey, son of the luminous Moon! I will speak the truth so that your life will not be taken away I love what I once showed you in vain. Having cognized the Word of the Divine, remain constantly next to him, Directing your spiritual heart straight, step on the glorious path And contemplate one Lord of the boundless universe, There is only one who gave birth to Himself; from Him are all creations. He revolves in them, but people cannot see Him, He Himself contemplates everyone, nothing is hidden from Him. This is what Orpheus says: over time, he realized that he had been wrong before. You, O mortal, endowed with a great mind, do not hesitate! Turning back, offer a sacrifice of propitiation to God. After all, if the Hellenes, having received into themselves certain sparks of the divine Word, said little about the truth, then they testify by this that its power is not hidden, while they expose themselves as weak, who have not reached the end in their search. § LXXV. Criticism of the cult of Cybele by Menander and Antisthenes Here, I think, it became clear to everyone that those who do or say anything without the help of the Word of truth are like those who are forced to walk without ground under their feet. Let them confuse you, giving you the opportunity to escape, by the exposure of your gods by poets forced to portray them in comedies with the truth. The comedian Menander says in “The Charioteer”: I don't like God walking in the distance With an old woman, but not entering the house, beggar priest. Such are the mendicant priests of Cybele. Therefore, Antisthenes quite rightly answered them, begging for alms: I do not feed the Mother of the gods, who is fed by the gods. The same Menander in the comedy “The Priestess,” indignant at the custom, tries to dispel the smoke of godless error, saying quite reasonably: ... after all, if a man can God Make your will fulfill yours, Rattling with cymbals, he is stronger than the deity; But this music is only a trick of people, § LXXVI. Homer and Euripides as accusers of the gods And not only Menander, but also Homer, and Euripides, and many other poets denounce your gods and are not at all afraid to revile them. For example, they call Aphrodite a dog fly, and Hephaestus - lame in both legs; Elena says to Aphrodite: Don’t touch Olympus with your heel again! Homer openly writes about Dionysus: He once scattered the frenzied Bacchus's nurses, And they all fled along the slopes of the holy Nisei, They threw their torches to the ground and the thyrsi: Lycurgus was terrible. Euripides is truly worthy of the Socratic school. Looking at the truth and despising his spectators, he is then Apollo, Who lives where the navel of the earth is, And he speaks untrue words to people, After listening to him, I killed my own mother. Consider him wicked, death to him! And he knows the law no more than me, then he shows Hercules either mad, or drunk, or insatiable. Isn't it? Satisfied with meat, ...he devoured green figs And he barked in a way that even a barbarian couldn’t. In the tragedy “Ion,” Euripides, without a shadow of embarrassment, rolls out the gods onto the theater stage: And is it fair that having given Mortal laws, are you breaking them? Even though this won’t happen, I’ll still say: If you, the rapists, are called to account - And Poseidon, and Zeus, and you, You will see your churches empty.