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Werke Athenagoras von Athen (133-190) Supplicatio pro Christianis A Plea for the Christians

Chapter XVII.--The Names of the Gods and Their Images are But of Recent Date.

An apologist must adduce more precise arguments than I have yet given, both concering the names of the gods, to show that they are of recent origin, and concerning their images, to show that they are, so to say, but of yesterday. You yourselves, however, are thoroughly acquainted with these matters, since you are versed in all departments of knowledge, and are beyond all other men familiar with the ancients. I assert, then, that it was Orpheus, and Homer, and Hesiod who 1 gave both genealogies and names to those whom they call gods. Such, too, is the testimony of Herodotus. 2 "My opinion," he says, "is that Hesiod and Homer preceded me by four hundred years, and no more; and it was they who framed a theogony for the Greeks, and gave the gods their names, and assigned them their several honours and functions, and described their forms." Representations of the gods, again, were not in use at all, so long as statuary, and painting, and sculpture were unknown; nor did they become common until Saurias the Samian, and Crato the Sicyonian, and Cleanthes the Corinthian, and the Corinthian damsel 3 appeared, when drawing in outline was invented by Saurias, who sketched a horse in the sun, and painting by Crato, who painted in oil on a whitened tablet the outlines of a man and woman; and the art of making figures in relief (koroplathike) was invented by the damsel, 4 who, being in love with a person, traced his shadow on a wall as he lay asleep, and her father, being delighted with the exactness of the resemblance (he was a potter), carved out the sketch and filled it up with clay: this figure is still preserved at Corinth. After these, Daedalus and Theodorus the Milesian further invented sculpture and statuary. You perceive, then, that the time since representations of form and the making of images began is so short, that we can name the artist of each particular god. The image of Artemis at Ephesus, for example, and that of Athenâ (or rather of Athelâ, for so is she named by those who speak more in the style of the mysteries; for thus was the ancient image made of the olive-tree called), and the sitting figure of the same goddess, were made by Endoeus, a pupil of Daedalus; the Pythian god was the work of Theodorus and Telecles; and the Delian god and Artemis are due to the art of Tectaeus and Angelio; Hera in Samos and in Argos came from the hands of Smilis, and the other statues 5 were by Phidias; Aphroditae the courtezan in Cnidus is the production of Praxiteles; Asclepius in Epidaurus is the work of Phidias. In a word, of not one of these statues can it be said that it was not made by man. If, then, these are gods, why did they not exist from the beginning? Why, in sooth, are they younger than those who made them? Why, in sooth, in order to their coming into existence, did they need the aid of men and art? They are nothing but earth, and stones, and matter, and curious art. 6


  1. We here follow the text of Otto; others place the clause in the following sentence. ↩

  2. ii. 53. ↩

  3. Or, Korae. It is doubtful whether or not this should be regarded as a proper name. ↩

  4. Or, Korae. It is doubtful whether or not this should be regarded as a proper name. ↩

  5. The reading is here doubtful. ↩

  6. [There were no images or pictures, therefore, in the earliest Christian places of prayer.] ↩

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Übersetzungen dieses Werks
A Plea for the Christians
Apologie des Chrétiens vergleichen
Bittschrift für die Christen (BKV) vergleichen
Kommentare zu diesem Werk
Einleitung zu Athenagoras' Bittschrift für die Christen
Introductory Note to the Writings of Athenagoras

Inhaltsangabe
  • A Plea For the Christians By Athenagoras the Athenian: Philosopher and Christian
    • Chapter I.--Injustice Shown Towards the Christians.
    • Chapter II.--Claim to Be Treated as Others are When Accused.
    • Chapter III.--Charges Brought Against the Christians.
    • Chapter IV.--The Christians are Not Atheists, But Acknowledge One Only God.
    • Chapter V.--Testimony of the Poets to the Unity of God.
    • Chapter VI.--Opinions of the Philosophers as to the One God.
    • Chapter VII.--Superiority of the Christian Doctrine Respecting God.
    • Chapter VIII.--Absurdities of Polytheism.
    • Chapter IX.--The Testimony of the Prophets.
    • Chapter X.--The Christians Worship the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
    • Chapter XI.--The Moral Teaching of the Christians Repels the Charge Brought Against Them.
    • Chapter XII.--Consequent Absurdity of the Charge of Atheism.
    • Chapter XIII.--Why the Christians Do Not Offer Sacrifices.
    • Chapter XIV.--Inconsistency of Those Who Accuse the Christians.
    • Chapter XV.--The Christians Distinguish God from Matter.
    • Chapter XVI.--The Christians Do Not Worship the Universe.
    • Chapter XVII.--The Names of the Gods and Their Images are But of Recent Date.
    • Chapter XVIII.--The Gods Themselves Have Been Created, as the Poets Confess.
    • Chapter XIX.--The Philosophers Agree with the Poets Respecting the Gods.
    • Chapter XX.--Absurd Representations of the Gods.
    • Chapter XXI.--Impure Loves Ascribed to the Gods.
    • Chapter XXII.--Pretended Symbolical Explanations.
    • Chapter XXIII.--Opinions of Thales and Plato.
    • Chapter XXIV.--Concerning the Angels and Giants.
    • Chapter XXV.--The Poets and Philosophers Have Denied a Divine Providence.
    • Chapter XXVI.--The Demons Allure Men to the Worship of Images.
    • Chapter XXVII.--Artifices of the Demons.
    • Chapter XXVIII.--The Heathen Gods Were Simply Men.
    • Chapter XXIX.--Proof of the Same from the Poets.
    • Chapter XXX.--Reasons Why Divinity Has Been Ascribed to Men.
    • Chapter XXXI.--Confutation of the Other Charges Brought Against the Christians.
    • Chapter XXXII.--Elevated Morality of the Christians.
    • Chapter XXXIII.--Chastity of the Christians with Respect to Marriage.
    • Chapter XXXIV.--The Vast Difference in Morals Between the Christians and Their Accusers.
    • Chapter XXXV.--The Christians Condemn and Detest All Cruelty.
    • Chapter XXXVI.--Bearing of the Doctrine of the Resurrection on the Practices of the Christians.
    • Chapter XXXVII.--Entreaty to Be Fairly Judged.

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