The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1Julian, Emperor of Rome
Religion
The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1
Julian, Emperor of Rome
Speeches, addresses, etc., Greek -- Translations into English
[C] βούλει οὖν ἔτι σοι φράσω μεῖζον τεκμήριον, ὅτι ἄρα ὁ τῆς πόλεως ἡμῶν
οἰκιστὴς οὐχ ὑπ᾽ Ἀρεως κατεπέμφθη μόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως αὐτῷ τῆς μὲν τοῦ
σώματος κατασκευῆς συνεπελάβετο δαίμων ἀρήιος καὶ γενναῖος, ὁ λεγόμενος
ἐπιφοιτῆσαι τῇ Σιλβίᾳ λουτρὰ τῇ θεῷ φερούσῃ, τὸ δὲ ὅλον ἐξ Ἡλίου κατῆλθεν
ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ θεοῦ Κυρίνου· πειστέον γὰρ οἶμαι τῇ φήμῃ. [D] σύνοδος ἀκριβὴς
τῶν τὴν ἐμφανῆ κατανειμαμένων βασιλείαν Ἡλίου τε καὶ Σελήνης ὥσπερ οὖν εἰς
τὴν γῆν κατήγαγεν, οὕτω καὶ ἀνήγαγεν ὃν(759) ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐδέξατο, τὸ
θνητὸν ἀφανίσασα πυρὶ κεραυνίῳ τοῦ σώματος. οὕτω προδήλως ἡ τῶν περιγείων
δημιουργὸς ὑπὸ αὐτὸν ἄκρως γενομένη τὸν ἥλιον ἐδέξατο εἰς γῆν πεμπόμενον
διὰ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τῆς Προνοίας τὸν Κυρῖνον, ἀνιπτάμενόν τε αὖθις ἀπὸ γῆς ἐπὶ
τὸν βασιλέα τῶν ὅλων ἐπανήγαγεν αὐτίκα Ἥλιον.
(Now do you wish me to bring forward a still greater proof that the
founder of our city was sent down to earth, not by Ares alone, though
perhaps some noble daemon with the character of Ares did take part in the
fashioning of his mortal body, even he who is said to have visited
Silvia(760) when she was carrying water for the bath of the goddess,(761)
but the whole truth is that the soul of the god Quirinus(762) came down to
earth from Helios; for we must, I think, believe the sacred tradition. And
the close conjunction of Helios and Selene, who share the empire over the
visible world, even as it had caused his soul to descend to earth, in like
manner caused to mount upwards him whom it received back from the earth,
after blotting out with fire from a thunderbolt(763) the mortal part of
his body. So clearly did she who creates earthly matter, she whose place
is at the furthest point below the sun, receive Quirinus when he was sent
down to earth by Athene, goddess of Forethought; and when he took flight
again from earth she led him back straightway to Helios, the King of the
All.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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