My OperaAddress to the Greeks
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 11:19:42 PM
" For which of your institutions," ...." has not been derived from the Barbarians?
The most eminent of the Telmessians invented the art of divining by dreams ;
the Carians, that of prognosticating by the stars ;
the Phrygians and the most ancient Isaurians, augury by the flight of birds ;
the Cyprians, the art of inspecting victims.
To the Babylonians you owe astronomy ; to the Persians, magic ; to the Egyptians, geometry ; to the Phoenicians, instruction by alphabetic writing.
Cease, then, to miscall these imitations inventions of your own.
Orpheus, again, taught you poetry and song ; from him, too, you learned the mysteries.
The Tuscans taught you the plastic art ; from the annals of the Egyptians you learned to write history ;
you acquired the art of playing the flute from Marsyas and Olympus, — these two rustic Phrygians canstrncted the harmony of the shepherd's pipe.
The Tyrrhenians invented the trumpet ; the Cyclois, the smith's art ; and a woman who was formerly a queen of the Persians, as Hellanicus tells us, the method of joining together epistolary tablets : her name was Atossa.
Wherefore lay aside this conceit."
" Diogenes, who made such a parade of his independence with his tub, . . . lost his life by gluttony. Aristippus, walking about in a purple robe, led a profligate life, in accordance with his professed opinions.
Plato, a philosopher, was sold by Dionysius for his gormandizing propensities.
And Aristotle, who absurdly placed a limit to Providence and made happiness to consist in the things which give pleasure, quite contrary to his duty as a preceptor, flattered Alexander, forgetful that he was but a youth ; and he, showing how well he had learned the lessons of his master, because his friend wQuld not worship him, shut him up and carried him about like a bear or a leopard. . . .
Let such men philosophize for me ! '"
"These things, O Greeks, I, Tatian, a disciple of the barbaric philosophy, have composed for you. "
Tatian was the author of many works, of which only two survive, but the titles of four others are well known.
The two that have survived are his "Address to the Greeks " and his " Diatessaron."
He protests that the Christians are hated unjustly, and condemns the Greek legislation.
In the closing chapters he shows that the Christian philosophy is much older than the Greek, and exhibits the superiority of the Christian doctrine.
--------------------------------------
Thank you so much for being my friend...
I have question for modern Greeks:
why all the ancient authors said the same things....applicable today....
Greeks are liars, thieves, deceivers
The most eminent of the Telmessians invented the art of divining by dreams ;
the Carians, that of prognosticating by the stars ;
the Phrygians and the most ancient Isaurians, augury by the flight of birds ;
the Cyprians, the art of inspecting victims.
To the Babylonians you owe astronomy ; to the Persians, magic ; to the Egyptians, geometry ; to the Phoenicians, instruction by alphabetic writing.
Cease, then, to miscall these imitations inventions of your own.
Orpheus, again, taught you poetry and song ; from him, too, you learned the mysteries.
The Tuscans taught you the plastic art ; from the annals of the Egyptians you learned to write history ;
you acquired the art of playing the flute from Marsyas and Olympus, — these two rustic Phrygians canstrncted the harmony of the shepherd's pipe.
The Tyrrhenians invented the trumpet ; the Cyclois, the smith's art ; and a woman who was formerly a queen of the Persians, as Hellanicus tells us, the method of joining together epistolary tablets : her name was Atossa.
Wherefore lay aside this conceit."
" Diogenes, who made such a parade of his independence with his tub, . . . lost his life by gluttony. Aristippus, walking about in a purple robe, led a profligate life, in accordance with his professed opinions.
Plato, a philosopher, was sold by Dionysius for his gormandizing propensities.
And Aristotle, who absurdly placed a limit to Providence and made happiness to consist in the things which give pleasure, quite contrary to his duty as a preceptor, flattered Alexander, forgetful that he was but a youth ; and he, showing how well he had learned the lessons of his master, because his friend wQuld not worship him, shut him up and carried him about like a bear or a leopard. . . .
Let such men philosophize for me ! '"
"These things, O Greeks, I, Tatian, a disciple of the barbaric philosophy, have composed for you. "
Tatian was the author of many works, of which only two survive, but the titles of four others are well known.
The two that have survived are his "Address to the Greeks " and his " Diatessaron."
He protests that the Christians are hated unjustly, and condemns the Greek legislation.
In the closing chapters he shows that the Christian philosophy is much older than the Greek, and exhibits the superiority of the Christian doctrine.
--------------------------------------
Thank you so much for being my friend...
I have question for modern Greeks:
why all the ancient authors said the same things....applicable today....
Greeks are liars, thieves, deceivers
(75%)