I Moreover, Desiring To Know
Something Certain Of These Matters So Far As Might Be, Made A Voyage
Also To
Tyre of Phenicia, hearing that in that place there was a holy
temple of Heracles; and I saw that it
Was richly furnished with many
votive offerings besides, and especially there were in it two pillars,
the one of pure gold and the other of an emerald stone of such size as
to shine by night: and having come to speech with the priests of the
god, I asked them how long a time it was since their temple had been
set up: and these also I found to be at variance with the Hellenes,
for they said that at the same time when Tyre was founded, the temple
of the god also had been set up, and that it was a period of two
thousand three hundred years since their people began to dwell at
Tyre. I saw also at Tyre another temple of Heracles, with the surname
Thasian; and I came to Thasos also and there I found a temple of
Heracles set up by the Phenicians, who had sailed out to seek for
Europa and had colonised Thasos; and these things happened full five
generations of men before Heracles the son of Amphitryon was born in
Hellas. So then my inquiries show clearly that Heracles is an ancient
god, and those of the Hellenes seem to me to act most rightly who have
two temples of Heracles set up, and who sacrifice to the one as an
immortal god and with the title Olympian, and make offerings of the
dead to the other as a hero. Moreover, besides many other stories
which the Hellenes tell without due consideration, this tale is
especially foolish which they tell about Heracles, namely that when he
came to Egypt, the Egyptians put on him wreaths and led him forth in
procession to sacrifice him to Zeus; and he for some time kept quiet,
but when they were beginning the sacrifice of him at the altar, he
betook himself to prowess and slew them all. I for my part am of
opinion that the Hellenes when they tell this tale are altogether
without knowledge of the nature and customs of the Egyptians; for how
should they for whom it is not lawful to sacrifice even beasts, except
swine and the males of oxen and calves (such of them as are clean) and
geese, how should these sacrifice human beings? Besides this, how is
it in nature possible that Heracles, being one person only and
moreover a man (as they assert), should slay many myriads? Having said
so much of these matters, we pray that we may have grace from both the
gods and the heroes for our speech.
Now the reason why those of the Egyptians whom I have mentioned do not
sacrifice goats, female or male, is this: - the Mendesians count Pan to
be one of the eight gods (now these eight gods they say came into
being before the twelve gods), and the painters and image-makers
represent in painting and in sculpture the figure of Pan, just as the
Hellenes do, with goat's face and legs, not supposing him to be really
like this but to resemble the other gods; the cause however why they
represent him in this form I prefer not to say.
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