44. But if you
come to the conclusion that these fables have been written
allegorically, what is to be done with the rest, which we see cannot be
forced into such changes of sense? For what are we to
substitute for the wrigglings4547
| 4547
Lit., “waves”—fluctibus, the reading of
the ms., LB., Hild., and Oehler; the other edd.
reading fustibus—“stakes.” |
into which the
lustful heat4548
| 4548
So Meursius, changing the ms.
o- into u-rigo. |
of
Semele’s
offspring forced him upon the sepulchral mound? and what
for those Ganymedes who were carried off
4549
| 4549
The first four edd. retain the ms.,
reading partis—“brought forth;” the
others adopt a suggestion of Canterus, raptis, as above. |
and set to preside over
lustful
practices? what for that conversion of an ant into which
Jupiter, the
greatest
of the gods, contracted the outlines of his huge
body?
4550
what for swans
and satyrs? what for golden showers, which the same seductive
god put on with perfidious
guile, amusing himself by changes of
form? And that we may not seem to speak of
Jupiter only, what
allegories can there be in the
loves of the other deities? what in
their circumstances as hired
servants and
slaves? what in their
bonds,
bereavements, lamentations? what in their agonies,
wounds,
sepulchres? Now, while in this you might be held
guilty in one
respect for writing in such
wise about the gods, you have added to your
guilt beyond measure
4551
| 4551
Addere garo gerrem, a proverb ridiculing a worthless addition,
which nullifies something in itself precious, garum being a
highly esteemed sauce (or perhaps soup), which would be thrown away
upon gerres, a worthless kind of salt fish. Arnobius
merely means, however, that while such stories are wrong, what follows
is unspeakably worse. |
in calling base things by the names of deities, and again in
defaming
the gods by
giving to them the names of infamous things.
But if you believed without any doubt
4552
that they were here close at
hand, or
anywhere at all, fear would check you in making mention of them, and
your beliefs and unchanged thoughts should have been exactly
4553
| 4553
Lit., “it ought to have been so believed, and to be held fixed in
thought just,” etc. |
as if they
were listening to you and heard your words. For among men devoted
to the services of religion, not only the gods themselves, but even the
names of the gods should be reverenced, and there should be quite as
much grandeur in their names as there is in those even who are thought
of under these names.
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