17. Lo, if dogs—for a
case must be imagined, in order that things may be seen more
clearly—if dogs, I say, and asses, and along with them
water-wagtails, if the twittering swallows, and pigs also, having
acquired some of the feelings of men, were to think and suppose that
you were gods, and to propose to offer sacrifices in your honour, not
of other things and substances, but of those with which they are
wont to be nourished and supported, according to their natural
inclination,—we ask you to say whether you would consider this an
honour, or rather a most outrageous affront, when the swallows slew and
consecrated flies to you, the water-wagtails ants; when the asses put
hay upon your altars, and poured out libations of chaff; when the dogs
placed bones, and burned human excrements4845
at your shrines; when, lastly,
the pigs poured out before you a horrid mess, taken from their
frightful hog-
pools and
filthy maws? Would you not in this case,
then, be inflamed with
rage that your greatness was treated with
contumely, and account it an atrocious wrong that you were greeted with
filth? But,
you reply, you honour the gods with the
carcasses of bulls, and by slaying
4846
| 4846
Lit., “by slaughters of,” cædibus. |
other living creatures. And in
what respect does this differ from that, since these
sacrifices,
also, if they are not yet, will nevertheless soon be,
dung, and will
become rotten after a very short time has passed? Finally, cease
to place
fire upon
4847
| 4847
Lit., “under,” i.e., under the sacrifices on your
altars. |
your
altars, then indeed you
will
4848
| 4848 So all edd., reading
cerne-, except both Roman edd., Hild., and Oehler, who
retain the ms.
cerni-tis—“you see.” |
see that
consecrated flesh of bulls, with which you
magnify the honour of the
gods, swelling and heaving with
worms, tainting and corrupting the
atmosphere, and infecting the neighbouring
districts with unwholesome
smells. Now, if the gods were to enjoin you to turn these
things
4849
| 4849
In translating thus, it has been attempted to adhere as closely
as possible to the ms. reading (according to
Crusius) qua si—corrected, as above,
quæ in LB.; but it is by no means certain that further
changes should not be made. |
to your own
account, to make your meals from them
4850
| 4850
Lit., “prepare luncheons and dinners thence,” i.e., from
the putrefying carcasses. |
in the usual way; you would
flee to a
distance, and, execrating the smell, would beg pardon from the gods,
and
bind yourselves by
oath never
again to offer such sacrifices
to them. Is not this
conduct of yours mockery, then? is it not to
confess, to make known that you do not know what a
deity is, nor to
what
power the meaning and title of this name should be given and
applied? Do you give new
dignity to the gods by new kinds of
food? do you honour them with savours and juices, and because those
things which nourish you are pleasing and
grateful to you? do you
believe that the gods also flock up to
enjoy their pleasant
taste, and, just as barking dogs, lay aside their fierceness for
mouthfuls, and pretty often fawn upon those who hold
these
out?
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