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| Chapter XXII
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Chapter
XXII.
After this, Celsus, desiring to exhibit his
learning in his treatise against us, quotes also certain Persian
mysteries, where he says: “These things are obscurely
hinted at in the accounts of the Persians, and especially in the
mysteries of Mithras, which are celebrated amongst them. For in
the latter there is a representation of the two heavenly
revolutions,—of the movement, viz., of the fixed4396
stars, and of that which take place among
the planets, and of the passage of the soul through these. The
representation is of the following nature: There is a ladder with
lofty gates,4397
| 4397 κλίμαξ
ἱψίπυλος.
Boherellus conjectures ἑπτάπυλος. | and on the top of
it an eighth gate. The first gate consists of lead, the second of
tin, the third of copper, the fourth of iron, the fifth of a mixture of
metals,4398
| 4398 κεραστοῦ
νομίσματος. | the sixth of
silver, and the seventh of gold. The first gate they assign to
Saturn, indicating by the ‘lead’ the slowness of this star;
the second to Venus, comparing her to the splendour and softness of
tin; the third to Jupiter, being firm4399
| 4399 τὴν
χαλκοβάτην
καὶ
στεῤῥάν. |
and solid; the fourth to Mercury, for both Mercury and iron are fit to
endure all things, and are money-making and laborious;4400
| 4400 τλήμονα γὰρ
ἔργων
ἁπάντων, καὶ
χρηματιστὴν,
καὶ
πολύκμητον
εἶναι, τόν τε
σίδηρον καὶ
τὸν ῾Ερμῆν. | the fifth to Mars, because, being composed
of a mixture of metals, it is varied and unequal; the sixth, of silver,
to the Moon; the seventh, of gold, to the Sun,—thus imitating the
different colours of the two latter.” He next proceeds to
examine the reason of the stars being arranged in this order, which is
symbolized by the names of the rest of matter.4401
| 4401 τῆς λοιπῆς
ὕλης. For ὕλης, another reading is πύλης. | Musical reasons, moreover, are added
or quoted by the Persian theology; and to these, again, he strives to
add a second explanation, connected also with musical
considerations. But it seems to me, that to quote the language of
Celsus upon these matters would be absurd, and similar to what he
himself has done, when, in his accusations against Christians and Jews,
he quoted, most inappropriately, not only the words of Plato; but,
dissatisfied even with these,4402
| 4402 For ὡς
ἐκείνοις
ἀρκεῖσθαι,
Spencer introduced into his text, οὐδ᾽
ἐκείνοις
ἀρκεῖσθαι, which
has been adopted in the translation. | he adduced in
addition the mysteries of the Persian Mithras, and the explanation of
them. Now, whatever be the case with regard to
these,—whether the Persians and those who conduct the mysteries
of Mithras give false or true accounts regarding them,—why did he
select these for quotation, rather than some of the other mysteries,
with the explanation of them? For the mysteries of Mithras do not
appear to be more famous among the Greeks than those of Eleusis, or
than those in Ægina, where individuals are initiated in the rites
of Hecate. But if he must introduce barbarian mysteries with
their explanation, why not rather those of the Egyptians, which are
highly regarded by many,4403
| 4403 ἐν
οἷς πολλοὶ
σεμνύνονται. | or those of the
Cappadocians regarding the Comanian Diana, or those of the Thracians,
or even those of the Romans themselves, who initiate the noblest
members of their senate?4404
| 4404 ἀπὸ
τῆς
συγκλήτου
βουλῆς. | But if he
deemed it inappropriate to institute a comparison with any of these,
because they furnished no aid in the way of accusing Jews or
Christians, why did it not also appear to him inappropriate to adduce
the instance of the mysteries of Mithras?E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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