Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 2

Before we begin the proposed task, we must supply what is lacking at the end of the fifth Stromata by way of an introduction. We have already shown that the symbolic mode is ancient, and that not only our prophets but also most of the ancient Greeks and many of the other barbarian nations have employed it. It was therefore also necessary to examine the mysteries of the initiations. I pass over these things for now, reserving their explanation for when we come to refute the doctrines about first principles that the Greeks have put forward. We will then show that both this theory and the mysteries belong to them. Having demonstrated the bent of the Greek mind, illuminated by the truth given to us through the Scriptures, and having indicated that they have received the stolen truth from us — if it is not offensive to say so — we have proved that they stole it. Come, then; let us bring forward the Greeks themselves as witnesses against themselves. For in openly taking their own ideas from one another, they confirm that they are thieves, yet even unwillingly they secretly pass on the truth that comes from us to their fellow countrymen. They will not even refrain from stealing from their own, let alone from us. I will keep silent about their philosophical doctrines, since the very men who handed down the schools admit in writing that they received the most important of their doctrines from Socrates, so that they might not appear ungrateful. Having cited the testimonies of a few men who were respected among the Greeks and who associated with them, I will expose their plagiaristic method, disregarding chronological order, and then proceed to what follows. Orpheus, for instance, said: "So there was nothing more dog-like and more shaggy than a woman." Homer says outright: "So there was nothing more shameful and dog-like than a woman." And when Musaeus wrote: "For art is always far better than strength," Homer says: "Does not the woodcutter prevail either by skill or by force?" Again, Musaeus said: "And just as the fertile earth produces leaves, some of which perish in the honeycombs while others grow, so also the generation and tribe of men are destroyed." Homer transcribes it: "Leaves, some of which the wind scatters on the ground, while others the distant forest produces, and the season of spring comes; so also the generation of men, one grows while another perishes." Again, when Homer said: "It is not right for those who have acquired wealth to pray for men," Archilochus and Cratinus write — the former: "For it is not good to mock men who have died," and Cratinus in The Laconians: "This is a fearful thing for men, for those who have acquired wealth to boast greatly." And again Archilochus, transferring that Homeric phrase — "I am amazed, and I do not think it is unjust" — writes instead: "I was blinded, and some other man was struck by this folly." Just as with that line: "War is common to all, and the killer kills," he transforms it and brings it out as: "I will act; for war is common to men." Still, translating another phrase: "The victory of men lies in the trial of the gods," he makes it clear through this iambic line: "And he encouraged the young, and the limits of victory are in the gods."