31. But you who assert that
you are the defenders and propagators of their immortality, have you
passed by, have you left untouched, any one of them, without assailing
him4478
with your
abuse? or is there any
kind of insult so
damnable in the
eyes of all,
that you have been afraid to use it upon them, even though
hindered4479
| 4479
So the edd., reading tardati for the ms. tradatis, except Hild., who reads
tardatis. |
by the
dignity of their name? Who declared that the gods
loved frail and
mortal bodies?
was it not you? Who that they perpetrated
those most charming
thefts on the couches of others?
was it not
you? Who that
children had intercourse with their mothers;
and on the other
hand, fathers with their
virgin daughters?
was it not you? Who that pretty
boys, and even grown-up
men of very fine
appearance, were wrongfully
lusted after?
was it not you? Who
declared that they4480
were
mutilated, debauched,
4481
| 4481
Exoletos. Cf. iv. c. 35, note 13, p. 487,
supra. |
skilled in dissimulation,
thieves,
held in
bonds and
chains, finally assailed with thunderbolts,
and wounded, that they
died,
and even found
graves on
earth?
was it not you? While, then, so many and grievous charges
have been
raised by you to the injury of the gods, do you
dare to
assert that the gods have been displeased because of us, while it has
long been clear that you are the guilty causes of such anger, and the
occasion of the divine wrath?
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
