Philosophumena; or, The refutation of all heresies, Volume I — David Hume — John Shaqi
Philosophumena; or, The refutation of all heresies, Volume I
David Hume · en
As the legend of Attis and Cybele may not be familiar to all, it may
be well to give a brief abstract of it as found in Pausanias, Diodorus
Siculus, Ovid, and the Christian writer Arnobius. Cybele, called also
Agdistis, Rhea, Gê, or the Great Mother, was said to have been born
from a rock accidentally fecundated by Zeus. On her first appearance
she was hermaphrodite, but on the gods depriving her of her virility
it passed into an almond-tree. The fruit of this was plucked by the
virgin daughter of the river Sangarios, who, placing it in her bosom,
became by it the mother of Attis, fairest of mankind. Attis at his
birth was exposed on the river-bank, but was rescued, brought up as a
goatherd, and was later chosen as a husband by the king’s daughter. At
the marriage feast, Cybele, fired by jealousy, broke into the palace
and, according to one version of the story, emasculated Attis who died
of the hurt. Then Cybele repented and prayed to Zeus to restore him to
life, which prayer was granted by making him a god. The ceremonies of
the Megalesia celebrating the Death and Resurrection of Attis as held
in Rome during the late Republic and early Empire, and their likeness
to the Easter rites of the Christian Church are described in the
_Journal_ of the Royal Asiatic Society for October 1917.]
[Footnote 2: (οὗ) χάριν, “thanks to which.”]
[Footnote 3: μετέχιο τὰς ἀφορμὰς, a phrase frequent in Plato.]
[Footnote 4: נָחָשׁ]
[Footnote 5: Cf. Rev. ii. 24.]
[Footnote 6: ἀρσενόθηλυς.]
[Footnote 7: Cruice thinks the name derived from the Adam Cadmon of the
Jewish Cabala. But Adamas “the unsubdued” is an epithet of Hades who
was equated with Dionysos, the analogue of Attis. Cf. Irenæus, I, 1.]
[Footnote 8: Salmon and Stähelin in maintaining their theory that
Hippolytus’ documents were contemporary forgeries make the point that
something like this hymn is repeated later in the account of Monoimus
the Arabian’s heresy. The likeness is not very close. Cf. II, p. 107
_infra_.]
[Footnote 9: Origen (_cont. Celsum_, VI, 30) says the Ophites used to
curse the name of Christ. Hence Origen cannot be the author of the
_Philosophumena_.]
[Footnote 10: τὰ ὅλα. I am doubtful whether he is here using the word
in its philosophic or Aristotelian sense as “entities necessarily
differing from one another in kind,” or as “things of the universe.” On
the whole the former construction seems here to be right.]
[Footnote 11: “That which has been sent”?]
[Footnote 12: Doubtless as being still confined in matter.]
[Footnote 13: Both Origen and Celsus knew of this Mariamne, after whom
a sect is said to have been named. See Orig. _cont. Cels._, VI, 30.]
[Footnote 14: τῶν ἐθνῶν. The usual expression for Gentiles or Goyim.]
[Footnote 15: Isa. liii. 8.]
[Footnote 16: διάφορον. Miller reads ἀδιάφορον: “undistinguished.”]