De Theologia (Orat. 28)

Σὺ δέ μοι θαύμασον καὶ ἀλόγων φυσικὴν σύνεσιν. καὶ τοὺς λόγους παράστησον. πῶς μὲν ὄρνισι καλιαὶ πέτραι τε καὶ δένδρα καὶ ὄροφοι, εἰς ἀσφάλειάν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ κάλλος ἐξησκημέναι, καὶ τοῖς τρεφομένοις ἐπιτηδείως; πόθεν δὲ μελίσσαις τε καὶ ἀράχναις τὸ φιλεργὸν καὶ φιλότεχνον, ἵνα ταῖς μὲν τὰ κηρία πλέκηται καὶ συνέχηται δι᾿ ἑξαγώνων συρίγγων καὶ ἀντιστρόφων, καὶ τὸ ἑδραῖον αὐταῖς διὰ τοῦ μέσου διατειχίσματος καὶ ἀλλαγῆς ἐπιπλεκομένων ταῖς εὐθείαις τῶν γωνιῶν πραγματεύηται, [*](1 ποθεν + δε e || 2 ωστε] ος c || 3 om η bc || 4 καλλωπιζηται] -ζεται bcdf || 6 θεατριζει] -ζη b: -ζειν f || 11 ουρανιων] ουρανων ‘in quibusd.’ 25. 12 φυσικην] φυσιν και f || συνεσιν] κινησιν b ‘tres Colb.’ || 13 λο- γους] + ει δυνασαι df) i.e. the unnnatural sounds made by birds which are taught to speak and to whistle. [*](4. τὸ πτερόν] seems to mean ‘his plumage,’ not ‘wing,’ as above. So Philostratus says of the peacock, τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ πτεροῦ τὴν τῶν ἄστρων διακόσμησιν ἀναπλάττεται. Kατάστερον from κατά and ἀστήρ.) [*](6. θεατρίζει] a favourite word of Gr.’s, but not very common elsewhere, ‘to show off,’ as upon the stage; cp. Heb. x 33. Σοβαρός, ‘pompous.’) [*](8. καὶ γυναικῶν] Job xxxviii 36 (LXX.). If such skill is wonderful in women, much more in creatures without reason, like the foll.) [*](25. The sagacity of animals ; the bee, the spider, the crane, the ant.) [*](13. καλιαί] ‘bowers’; a poetical word for ‘nests.’ It is a somewhat bold phrase to say that they make rocks and trees their nests. Ἐξησκ., cp. § 6 ἠσκ.) [*](18. ἑξ. συρ. κ. ἀντιστρ.] ‘by means of hexagonal pipes complementary to each other, and the fabric secured (lit. the firmness is effected) by means of the dividing wall and the combi- nation ὁ the angles with the straight lines.' The ’dividing ’ is perh. the horizontal one between the upper and lower set of cells. But cp. Bas. Hex. viii p. 88 (Paris 1638).)

καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ζοφεροῖς οὕτω τοῖς σίμβλοις καὶ ἀοράτοις τοῖς πλάσμασιν· αἱ δὲ διὰ λεπτῶν οὕτω καὶ ἀερίων σχεδὸν τῶν νημάτων πολυειδῶς διατεταμένων πολυπλόκους τοὺς ἱστοὺς ἐξυφαίνωσι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐξ ἀφανῶν τῶν ἀρχῶν, οἴκησίν τε ὁμοῦ τιμίαν, καὶ θήραν τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων εἰς τροφῆς ἀπόλαυσιν; ποῖος Εὐκλείδης ἐμιμήσατο ταῦτα, γραμμαῖς ἐμφιλοσοφῶν ταῖς οὐκ οὔσαις, καὶ κάμνων ἐν ταῖς ἀποδείξεσι; τίνος Παλαμήδους τακτικὰ κινήματά τε καὶ σχήματα γεράνων, ὥς φασι, καὶ ταὐτὰ παιδεύματα κινουμένων ἐν τάξει, καὶ μετὰ ποικίλης τῆς πτήσεως; ποῖοι Φειδίαι καὶ Ζεύξιδες καὶ Πολύγνωτοι, Παρράσιοι τέ τινες καὶ ἈγλαοΦῶντες, κάλλη μεθ’ ὑπερβολῆς γράφειν καὶ πλάττειν εἰδότες; τίς Κνώσσιος Δαιδάλου χορὸς ἐναρμόνιος, νύμφη πονηθεὶς εἰς κάλλους περιουσίαν, ἢ λαβύρινθος Κρητικὸς δυσδιέξοδος καὶ δυσέλικτος, ποιητικῶς εἰπεῖν, καὶ πολλάκις ἀπαντῶν ἑαυτῷ τοῖς τῆς τέχνης σοΦίσμασι; καὶ σιωπῶ μυρμήκων ταμιεῖά τε καὶ ταμίας, καὶ [*](2 αι] οἱ b ’Or. I' || 4 ἐξυφαίνουσι abf || 5 ἀσθενῶν bdef || 6 τροΦης] τρυφῆς ’in quibused.' || 7 om ἐν c) [*](1. σίμβλοις] ’hives’; translate, ’when the hives in which it is done are so dark and the structure itself is invisible.') [*](4. ἱστούς] ’webs’; ἀρχῶν, ’ends’ as in Acts χ II.) [*](5. τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων] Cp. i 9.) [*](7. Υρ. ταῖς οὐκ οὔσαις] ’ivith his imaginary limes.’) [*](8. τίνος Παλ. κτλ.] Παλ. depends upon τακτικά; τακτικά is nom. to ἐμιμήσατο understood, and κιν. κ. σχ. acc after it. The same verb must be supplied for ποῖοι Φειδίαι etc. Ὥς φασι implies (as in ἑ 24) that Gr. himself had not had opportunities of observing the crane and the peacock. The usual reading ταῦτα παιδ’. can only make sense, if at all, if κ. ταῦτα be taken as in § 19, ’and that, when they move': ταὐτά makes good sense, and the καὶ before it points on to καὶ μετὰ ποικ. ‘What Pal. drew up tactics to rival the movements and groupings of the cranes, which, so they tell us, without breaking rank go through the same drill- like movements, in ever so many figures of flight?’) [*](12. γράφειν κ. πλάττειν] Phidias πλάττειν, the rest γράφειν ᾔδεσαν.) [*](13. Κνώσσιος] at Cnossus, or Gnossus, in Crete; νύμφῃ, Ariadne, see Homer II. xviii 592 foil.) [*](15. δυσέλικτος] ‘hard to unwind.' Gr. apologizes for using so poetical a word.) [*](16. ἀπαντῶν] ‘meeting.') θησαυρισμὸν τροφῆς τῷ καιρῷ σύμμετρον, τἄλλα τε ὅσα περὶ ὁδῶν καὶ περὶ ἡγουμένων καὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις εὐταξίας ἔγνωμεν ἱστορούμενα.

Εἰ τούτων ἐφικτὸς ὁ λόγος σοι, καὶ τὴν περὶ ταῦτα σύνεσιν ἔγνως, σκέψαι καὶ φυτῶν διαφοράς, μέχρι καὶ τῆς ἐν φύλλοις φιλοτεχνίας πρὸς τὸ ἥδιστόν τε ἅμα ταῖς ὄψεσι καὶ τοῖς καρποῖς χρησιμώτατον. σκέψαι μοι καὶ καρπῶν ποικιλίαν καὶ ἀφθονίαν, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων τὸ κάλλιστον. καὶ σκέψαι μοι καὶ δυνάμεις ῥιζῶν καὶ χυμῶν καὶ ἀνθέων καὶ ὀδμῶν, οὐχ ἡδίστων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἐπιτηδείων, καὶ χρωμάτων χάριτας καὶ ποιότητας. ἔτι δὲ λίθων πολυτελείας καὶ διαυγείας· ἐπειδή σοι πάντα προὔθηκεν, ὥσπερ ἐν πανδαισίᾳ κοινῇ, ὅσα τε ἀναγκαῖα, καὶ ὅσα πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν, ἡ φύσις· ἵν’, εἰ μή τι ἄλλο, ἐξ ὧν εὐεργετῇ, γνωρίσῃς θεόν, καὶ τῷ δεῖσθαι γένῃ σεαυτοῦ συνετώτερος. ἐντεῦθεν ἔπελθέ μοι γῆς πλάτη καὶ μήκη, τῆς κοινῆς πάντων μητρός, καὶ κόλπους θαλαττίους ἀλλήλοις τε καὶ τῇ γῇ [*](2 περι ηγουμ.] om περι cd ‘tres Colb. Or. 1’ 26. 8 και καρπων] om και c || ποικιλίαν] + τε e || 9 και σκεψαι] om και cdef || 10 χυμων] χυλων def) [*](1. τῷ καιρῷ σύμμετρον] ‘proportioned to the time’ for which the food is required.) [*](26. Plants, stones, earth, and its springs—its medicinal waters—are full of wonders ; the stability of the earth, its adaptation of mountain and plain to the convenience of its inhabitants.) [*](6. τῆς ἐν φύλλοις φιλ.] ‘the artistic skill displayed in the leaves.’ They are ‘profitable to the fruits’ by shading them, as Elias says. Cp. Bas. Hex. v κατέσχισται τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου φύλλον, ἵνα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος βλάβας ὁ βότρυς ἀντέχῃ καὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ τῆς ἀραιότψτος δαψιλῶς ὑποδέχηται.) [*](9. δυνάμεις ῥίζῶν] Wisd. vii 20, — a passage which Gr. has had in view for some time.) [*](12. ποιότητας] rather a curious word to join with χάριτας. The point pern, lies in the plur.; ‘the charms of the colours and their varieties of quality.’) [*](13. πανδαισίᾳ] ‘α perfect feast,’ from δαίς.) [*](15. εὐεργετῇ] 2nd per. sing. pres. ind. pass.) [*](18. ἀλλ. κ. τῇ γῇ συνδ.] It is hard to see what Gr. means by this expression. The bays may be said to be connected with the land by the way they run up into it and affect its whole character. Gr. is no doubt thinking of the deeply indented coast of the Aegean. They are con- nected with each other, apparently, because the coasting vessels pass along from bay to bay, rounding the headlands, and plying between the towns that lie in the gulfs. Cp. ἑ 27.)

συνδεομένους, καὶ ἀλσῶν κάλλη, καὶ ποταμούς, καὶ πηγὰς δαψιλεῖς τε καὶ ἀενάους, οὐ μόνον ψυχρῶν καὶ ποτίμων ὑδάτων, καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ γῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσαι ὑπὸ γῆν ῥέουσαι, καὶ σήραγγάς τινας ὑποτρέχουσαι, εἶτ’ ἐξωθούμεναι βιαίῳ τῷ πνεύματι καὶ ἀντιτυπούμεναι, εἶτ’ ἐκπυρούμεναι τῷ σφοδρῷ τῆς πάλης καὶ τῆς ἀντιθέσεως, ὅπη παρείκοι κατὰ μικρὸν ἀναρρήγνυνται, καὶ τὴν τῶν θερμῶν λουτρῶν χρείαν ἐντεῦθεν ἡμῖν χαρίζονται πολλαχοῦ τῆς γῆς, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἐναντίας δυνάμεως ἰατρείαν ἄμισθον καὶ αὐτόματον. εἰπὲ πῶς καὶ πόθεν ταῦτα — τί τὸ μέγα τοῦτο καὶ ἄτεχνον ὕφασμα — οὐχ ἧττον ἐπαινετὰ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα σχέσεως, ἢ καθ’ ἕκαστον Θεωρούμενα; πῶς γῆ μὲν ἕστηκε παγία καὶ ἀκλινής; ἐπὶ τίνος ὀχουμένη, καὶ τίνος ὄντος τοῦ ὑπερείδοντος; καὶ τίνος ἐκεῖνο πάλιν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἔχει, ἐφ’ ὃ ἐρεισθῇ, πλὴν τοῦ θείου θελήματος. καὶ πῶς [*](1 συνδεδεμένους de || 2 μόνων a || 5 om καὶ ἀντιτυπούμεναι e || 7 αναρργνυται b: νυηται e || I 5 O] ᾦ d) [*](3. ὑπὸ γῆν] a special feature of Asia Minor. Σήραγγες are ’holes? ’passages, Gr.'s theory of hot springs is that the water is heated by the violence with which it is forced out of its underground pas- sages, by blasts of air which it en- counters. These dash it from side to side and drive it with intense pressure through narrow apertures, until it assumes a very high temperature ἐκπυρούμεναι). Ὅπη παρείκοι, ‘wherever possuble.' I do not know whence Gr. obtained this theory. It is not in Arist. Meteor. or de Mnndo, although Arist. has much to say about underground currents of wind, as well as of underground streams. Arist. rightly connects hot springs with volcanic action. But cp. Bas. Hex. iv ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς τοῦ κινοῦντος αἰτίας ζέουσα γίνεται... καὶ πυρώδης.) [*](8. μ. τ. ἐναντίας δ.] generally understood to mean ’along with the ’ This is of course an impossible interp. of the words. The μετὰ is, as frequently in Gr., used in that general sense which includes the instrumental, — like its modern representative μέ; cp. ἑ 13 σκοπεῖ μετὰ τῆς ἰδ’. ἀσθενείας, § 2 I προσβ. μετὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων, ἑ 28 μεθ’ οὗ λόγος. So here it will mean ‘with their contrary (i. e. corrective) force.') [*](10. ἄτεχνον ὕφ’.] a kind of oxymoron. Gr. uses ὑφαίνειν in a wide way, without any notion of ‘weaving'; e.g. § 24 συνυφαίνων τὴν ᾠδήν.) [*](11. ἐπαινετά] agrees with ταῦτα, the question τί τὸ μέγα κτλ. being parenthetical. τῆς σχές. depends on ἐπαιν., ’ to be praised for, in reference to, their correlation to each other. ’) [*](14. οὐδέ γὰρ ὁ λόγος κτλ.] ‘reason knows of nothing for it (the earth) to rest upon.') ἡ μὲν εἰς ὀρῶν κορυφὰς ἀνηγμένη, ἡ δὲ εἰς πεδία καθεζομένη, καὶ τοῦτο πολυειδῶς καὶ ποικίλως, καὶ ταῖς κατ’ ὀλίγον ἐναλλαγαῖς μεθισταμένη, πρός τε τὴν χρείαν ἐστὶν ἀΦθονωτώρα, καὶ τῷ ποικίλῳ χαριεστέρα; καὶ ἡ μὲν εἰς οἰκήσεις νενεμημένη, ἡ δὲ ἀοίκητος, ὅσην αἱ ὑπερβολαὶ τῶν ὀρῶν ἀποτέμνονται, καὶ ἄλλη πρὸς ἄλλο τι πέρας σχιζομένη καὶ ἀποβαίνουσα, τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ μεγαλουργίας ἐναργέστατόν ἐστι γνώρισμα;

Θαλάττης δέ, εἰ μὲν μὴ τὸ μέγεθος εἶχον θαυμάζειν, ἐθαύμασα ἂν τὸ ἥμερον, καὶ πῶς ἵσταται λελυμένη τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων ἐντός· εἰ δὲ μὴ τὸ ἥμερον, πάντως τὸ μέγεθος. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀμφότερα, τὴν ἐν ἀμφοτέροις δύναμιν ἐπαινέσομαι. τί τὸ συναγαγόν; τί τὸ δῆσαν; πῶς ἐπαίρεταί τε καὶ ἵσταται, ὥσπερ αἰδουμένη τὴν γείτονα γῆν; πῶς καὶ δέχεται ποταμοὺς ἅπαντας, καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ διαμένει διὰ πλήθους περιουσίαν, ἢ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅτι χρὴ λέγειν; πῶς ψάμμος ὅριον αὐτῇ, τηλικούτῳ στοιχείῳ; ἔχουσί τι λέγειν οἱ φυσικοὶ καὶ σοφοὶ τὰ μάταια, καὶ κυάθῳ μετροῦντες ὄντως τὴν θάλασσαν, τὰ τηλικαῦτα ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ἐπινοίαις; ἢ συντόμως ἐγὼ παρὰ τῆς γραφῆς τοῦτο φιλοσοφήσω καὶ τῶν μακρῶν λόγων πιθανώτερόν τε καὶ ἀληθέστερον; Πρόσταγμα [*](27. 15 απαντας] πάντας bdef || om η e) [*](2. τ. κατ’ ὁ. ἐναλλ. μεθ’.] Mountain passes into plain by degrees.) [*](4. εἰς οἰκ. νενεμ] ‘occupied for habitations?) [*](5. ὅσην] rel. to antec. ἡ δὲ ἀοἰκ., ‘where where the too great height of the mountains cuts it off; the mountains are regarded as appropriating the space (mid.).) [*](6. καἰ ἄλλη κτλ.] ‘and one part ἲς severed from another and comes to a different bound? such as the Atlantic or the Indian Ocean. Cp. Acts xxvi 27.) [*](27.The sea, the rivers.) [*](10. ἵσταται λελ.] ‘it ties at ease? opp. to being gathered up in stormy waves. It almost looks as if by μέγεθος Gr. meant the sea in storm (?‘height’).) [*](15. ποταμοὺς ἄπ’] ’Eccl. i 7 but Gr. prob. draws the thought from Aristotle.) [*](16. περιουσίαν] Cp. ἑ 25. If that be not the reason, Gr. knows no other ἢ οὐκ οἶδ.). Cp. § 30.) [*](ib. ὄριον] Jer. v 22.) [*](19. τὰτηλ.] in app. to τὴν θάλ., ταῖς ἑ. ἐπ’. to κυάθω. The proverb has been embodied in a pretty legend about St Austin.) [*](20. παρὰ τῆς γρ.] ’’from Scripture,’ ’by borrowing the words of Scr.’ Job xxvi 10. Γυρῷ, ‘to round.’)

ἐγύρωσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ὕδατος. τοῦτο τῆς ὑγρᾶς φύσεως ὁ δεσμός. πῶς δὲ τὸν χερσαῖον ναυτίλον ἄγει ξύλῳ μικρῷ καὶ πνεύματι, — τοῦτο οὐ θαυμάζεις ὁρῶν; οὐδ’ ἐξίσταταί σου ἡ διάνοια; — iva γῆ καὶ θάλασσα δεθῶσι ταῖς χρείαις καὶ ταῖς ἐπιμιξίαις, καὶ εἰς ἓν ἔλθῃ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὰ τοσοῦτον ἀλλήλων διεστηκότα κατὰ τὴν φύσιν; τίνες δὲ πηγῶν αἱ πρῶται πηγαί, ζήτησον, ἄνθρωπε, εἴ τί σοι τούτων ἐξιχνεῦσαι ἢ εὑρεῖν δυνατόν. καὶ τίς ὁ ποταμοῖς σχίσας καὶ πεδία καὶ ὄρη, καὶ δοὺς τὸν δρόμον ἀκώλυτον; καὶ πῶς ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων τὸ θαῦμα, μήτε θαλάσσης ἐπεξ- ιούσης, μήτε ποταμῶν ἱσταμένων; τίς δὲ ἡ τῶν ὑδάτων τροφή, καὶ τί τὸ ταύτης διάφορον, τῶν μὲν ἄνωθεν ἀρδομένων, τῶν δὲ ταῖς ῥίζαις ποτιζομένων, ἵνα τι καὶ αὐτὸς κατατρυφήσω τοῦ λόγου, θεοῦ τὴν τρυφὴν ἐξηγούμενος;