(So much then in respect to those powers of his that existed before the beginning of the world; and co-ordinate with these are his works over the whole visible world, in that he fills it with good gifts. For since he is the genuine son of the Good and from it has received his blessed lot in fulness of perfection, he himself distributes that blessedness to the intellectual gods, bestowing on them a beneficent and perfect nature. This then is one of his works. And a second work of the god is his most perfect distribution of intelligible beauty among the intellectual and immaterial forms. For when the generative substance[700] which is visible in our world desires to beget in the Beautiful[701] and to bring forth offspring, it is further necessary that it should be guided by the substance that, in the region of intelligible beauty, does this very thing eternally and always and not intermittently, now fruitful now barren. For all that is beautiful in our world only at times, is beautiful always in the intelligible world. We must therefore assert that the ungenerated offspring in beauty intelligible and eternal guides the generative cause in the visible world; which offspring[702] this god[703] called into existence and keeps at his side, and to it he assigns also perfect reason. For just as through his light he gives sight to our eyes, so also among the intelligible gods through his intellectual counterpart—which he causes to shine far more brightly than his rays in our upper air—he bestows, as I believe, on all the intellectual gods the faculty of thought and of being comprehended by thought. Besides these, another marvellous activity of Helios the King of the All is that by which he endows with superior lot the nobler races—I mean angels, daemons,[704] heroes, and those divided souls[705] which remain in the category of model and archetype and never give themselves over to bodies. I have now described the substance of our god that is prior to the world and his powers and activities, celebrating Helios the King of the All in so far as it was possible for me to compass his praise. But since eyes, as the saying goes, are more trustworthy than hearing—although they are of course less trustworthy and weaker than the intelligence—come, let me endeavour to tell also of his visible creative function; but let first me entreat him to grant that I speak with some measure of success.)
Ὕπέστη μὲν οὖν περὶ αὐτὸν ὁ φαινόμενος ἐξ αἰῶνος κόσμος, ἕδραν δὲ ἔχει τὸ περικόσμιον φῆς ἐξ αἰῶνος, οὐχὶ νῦν μέν, τότε δὲ οὔ, οὐδὲ ἄλλοτε ἄλλως, ἀεὶ δὲ ὡσαύτως. ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις ταύτην τὴν [pg 398] διαιώνιον φύσιν ἄχρις ἐπινοίας ἐθελήσειε χρονικῶς κατανοῆσαι, [146] τὸν βασιλέα τῶν ὅλων Ἥλιον ἀθρόως καταλάμποντα ῥᾷστα ἂν γνοίη, πόσων αἴτιός ἐστι δι᾽ αἰῶνος ἀγαθῶν τῷ κόσμῳ. οἶδα μὲν οὗν καὶ Πλάτωνα τὸν μέγαν καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον ἄνδρα τοῖς χρόνοις, οὔτι μὴν τῇ φύσει καταδεέστερον· τὸν Χαλκιδέα φημί, τὸν Ἰάμβλιχον· ὃς ἡμᾶς τά τε ἄλλα περὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν καὶ δὴ καὶ ταῦτα διὰ τῶν λόγων ἐμύησεν, ἄχρις ὑποθέσεως τῷ γεννητῷ προσχρωμένους καὶ οἱονεὶ χρονικήν τινα [B] τὴν ποίησιν ὑποτιθεμένους, ἵνα τὸ μέγεθος τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ γινομένων ἔργων ἐπινοηθείη. πλὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἔμοιγε τῆς ἐκείνων ἀπολειπομένῳ παντάπασι δυνάμεως οὐδαμῶς ἐστι παρακινδυνευτέον, ἐπείπερ ἀκίνδυνον οὐδὲ αὐτὸ τὸ μέχρι ψιλῆς ὑποθέσεως χρονικήν τινα περὶ τὸν κόσμον ὑποθέσθαι ποίησιν ὁ κλεινὸς ἤρως ἐνόμισεν Ἰάμβλιχος. πλὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἐπείπερ ὁ θεὸς ἐξ αἰωνίου προῆλθεν αἰτίας, μᾶλλον δὲ προήγαγε πάντα ἐξ αἰῶνος, [C] ἀπὸ τῶν ἀφανῶν τὰ φανερὰ βουλήσει θείᾳ καὶ ἀρρήτῳ τάχει καὶ ἀνυπερβλήτῳ δυνάμει πάντα ἀθρόως ἐν τῷ νῦν ἀπογεννήσας χρόνῳ, ἀπεκληρώσατο μὲν οἷον οἰκειοτέραν ἕδραν τὸ μέσον οὐρανοῦ, ἵνα πανταχόθεν ἴσα διανέμῃ τἀγαθὰ τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ προελθοῦσι θεοῖς, ἐπιτροπεύῃ δὲ τὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ τὴν ὀγδόην [pg 400] οὐρανοῦ κυκλοφορίαν, ἐνάτην τε οἶμαι δημιουργίαν τὴν ἐν γενέσει καὶ φθορᾷ συνεχεῖ διαιωνίως ἀνακυκλουμένην γένεσιν. οἵ τε γὰρ πλάνητες εὔδηλον ὅτι περὶ [D] αὐτὸν χορεύοντες μέτρον ἔχουσι τῆς κινήσεως τὴν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τόνδε τοιάνδε περὶ τὰ σχήματα συμφωνίαν, ὅ τε ὅλος οὐρανὸς αὐτῷ κατὰ πάντα συναρμοζόμενος ἑαυτοῦ τὰ μέρη θεῶν ἐστιν ἐξ Ἡλίου πλήρης. ἔστι γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ὅδε πέντε μὲν κύκλων ἄρχων κατ᾽ οὐρανόν, τρεῖς δὲ ἐκ τούτων ἐπιὼν ἐν τρισὶ τρεῖς γεννᾷ τὰς χάριτας· οἱ λειπόμενοι δὲ μεγάλης ἀνάγκης εἰσὶ πλάστιγγες. [147] ἀξύνετον ἴσως λέγω τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ὥσπερ δέον μόνον τὰ συνήθη καὶ γνώριμα λέγειν· οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὡς ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι, παντελῶς ξένον. οἱ Διόσκουροι τίνες ὑμῖν εἰσιν, ὦ σοφώτατοι καὶ ἀβασανίστως τὰ πολλὰ παραδεχόμενοι; οὐχ ἑτερήμεροι[706] λέγονται, διότι μὴ θέμις ὁρᾶσθαι τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας; ὑμεῖς ὅπως ἀκούετε εὔδηλον ὅτι τῆς χθὲς καὶ τήμερον. εἶτα τί νοεῖ τοῦτο, πρὸς αὐτῶν τῶν Διοσκούρων; ἐφαρμόσωμεν αὐτὸ φύσει [pg 402] τινὶ καὶ πράγματι, κενὸν[707] [B] ἵνα μηδὲν μηδὲ ἀνόητον λέγωμεν. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν εὕροιμεν ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζοντες· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὡς ὑπέλαβον εἰρῆσθαί τινες πρὸς τῶν θεολόγων ἡμισφαίρια τοῦ παντὸς τὰ δύο λόγον ἔχει τινά· πῶς γάρ ἐστιν ἑτερήμερον αὐτῶν ἕκαστον οὐδὲ ἐπινοῆσαι ῥᾴδιον, ἡμέρας ἑκάστης ἀνεπαισθήτου τῆς κατὰ τὸν φωτισμὸν αὐτῶν παραυξήσεως γινομένης. σκεψώμεθα δὲ νῦν ὑπὲρ ὧν αὐτοὶ καινοτομεῖν ἴσως τῳ δοκοῦμεν. τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας ἐκεῖνοι [C] μετέχειν ὀρθῶς ἂν ῥηθεῖεν, ὁπόσοις ἴσος ἐστὶν ὁ τῆς ὑπὲρ γῆν ἡλίου πορείας χρόνος ἐν ἑνὶ καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ μηνί. ὁράτω τις οὖν, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἑτερήμερον τοῖς κύκλοις ἐφαρμόζει τοῖς τε ἄλλοις καὶ τοῖς τροπικοῖς. ὑπολήψεται τις· οὐκ ἴσον ἐστιν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀεὶ φαίνονται, καὶ τοῖς τὴν ἀντίσκιον οἰκοῦσι γῆν ἀμφοτέροις ἀμφότεροι, τῶν δὲ οἱ θάτερον ὁρῶντες οὐδαμῶς ὁρῶσι θάτερον.
(From eternity there subsisted, surrounding Helios, the visible world, and from eternity the light that encompasses the world has its fixed station, not shining intermittently, nor in different ways at different times, but always in the same manner. And if one desired to comprehend, as far as the mind may, this eternal nature from the point of view of time, one would understand most easily of how many blessings for the world throughout eternity he is the cause, even Helios the King of the All who shines without cessation. Now I am aware that the great philosopher Plato,[708] and after him a man who, though he is later in time, is by no means inferior to him in genius—I mean Iamblichus[709] of Chalcis, who through his writings initiated me not only into other philosophic doctrines but these also—I am aware, I say, that they employed as a hypothesis the conception of a generated world, and assumed for it, so to speak, a creation in time in order that the magnitude of the works that arise from Helios might be recognised. But apart from the fact that I fall short altogether of their ability, I must by no means be so rash; especially since the glorious hero Iamblichus thought it was not without risk to assume, even as a bare hypothesis, a temporal limit for the creation of the world. Nay rather, the god came forth from an eternal cause, or rather brought forth all things from everlasting, engendering by his divine will and with untold speed and unsurpassed power, from the invisible all things now visible in present time. And then he assigned as his own station the mid-heavens, in order that from all sides he may bestow equal blessings on the gods who came forth by his agency and in company with him; and that he may guide the seven spheres[710] in the heavens and the eighth sphere[711] also, yes and as I believe the ninth creation too, namely our world which revolves for ever in a continuous cycle of birth and death. For it is evident that the planets, as they dance in a circle about him, preserve as the measure of their motion a harmony between this god and their own movements such as I shall now describe; and that the whole heaven also, which adapts itself to him in all its parts, is full of gods who proceed from Helios. For this god is lord of five zones in the heavens; and when he traverses three of these he begets in those three the three Graces.[712] And the remaining zones are the scales of mighty Necessity.[713] To the Greeks what I say is perhaps incomprehensible—as though one were obliged to say to them only what is known and familiar. Yet not even is this altogether strange to them as one might suppose. For who, then, in your opinion, are the Dioscuri,[714] O ye most wise, ye who accept without question so many of your traditions? Do you not call them “alternate of days,” because they may not both be seen on the same day? It is obvious that by this you mean “yesterday” and “to-day.” But what does this mean, in the name of those same Dioscuri? Let me apply it to some natural object, so that I may not say anything empty and senseless. But no such object could one find, however carefully one might search for it. For the theory that some have supposed to be held by the theogonists, that the two hemispheres of the universe are meant, has no meaning. For how one could call each one of the hemispheres “alternate of days” is not easy to imagine, since the increase of their light in each separate day is imperceptible. But now let us consider a question on which some may think that I am innovating. We say correctly that those persons for whom the time of the sun's course above the earth is the same in one and the same month share the same day. Consider therefore whether the expression “alternate of days” cannot be applied both to the tropics and the other, the polar, circles. But some one will object that it does not apply equally to both. For though the former are always visible, and both of them are visible at once to those who inhabit that part of the earth where shadows are cast in an opposite direction,[715] yet in the case of the latter those who see the one do not see the other.)
[D] Ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μὴ πλείω περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν λέγων διατρίβω, τὰς τροπὰς ἐργαζόμενος, ὥσπερ ἴσμεν, πατὴρ ὡρῶν ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀπολείπων δὲ οὐδαμῶς τοὺς πόλους Ὠκεανὸς ἂν εἴη, διπλῆς ἡγεμὼν οὐσίας. μῶν ἀσαφές τι καὶ τοῦτο λέγομεν, ἐπείπερ πρὸ ἡμῶν αὐτὸ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἔφη·
However, not to dwell too long on the same subject; since he causes the winter and summer solstice, Helios is, as we know, the father of the seasons; and since he never forsakes the poles, he is Oceanus, the lord of two-fold substance. My meaning here is not obscure, is it, seeing that before my time Homer said the same thing?
Ὠκεανοῦ, ὅσπερ γένεσις πάντεσσι τέτυκται,[716]
(“Oceanus who is the father of all things”)
θνητῶν τε θεῶν θ᾽, ὡς ἂν αὐτὸς φαίη, μακάρων; [pg 404] ἀληθῶς. [148] ἒν γὰρ τῶν πάντων οὐδέν ἐστιν, ὃ μὴ τῆς Ὠκεανοῦ πέφυκεν οὐσίας ἔκγονον. ἀλλὰ τί τοῦτο πρὸς τοὺς πόλους; βούλει σοι φράσω; καίτοι σιωπᾶσθαι κρεῖσσον ἦν· εἰρήσεται δὲ ὅμως.
(yes, for mortals and for the blessed gods too, as he himself would say; and what he says is true. For there is no single thing in the whole of existence that is not the offspring of the substance of Oceanus. But what has that to do with the poles? Shall I tell you? It were better indeed to keep silence[717]; but for all that I will speak.)
Λέγεται γοῦν, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντες ἑτοίμως ἀποδέχονται, ὁ δίσκος ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνάστρου φέρεσθαι πολὺ τῆς ἀπλανοῦς ὑψηλότερος· καὶ οὕτω δὴ[718] τῶν μὲν πλανωμένων οὐχ ἕξει τὸ μέσον, τριῶν δὲ τῶν κόσμων κατὰ τὰς τελεστικὰς [B] ὑποθέσεις, εἰ χρὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα καλεῖν ὑποθέσεις, ἀλλὰ μὴ ταῦτα μὲν δόγματα, τὰ δὲ τῶν σφαιρικῶν ὑποθέσεις. οἱ μὲν γὰρ θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων μεγάλων δή τινων ἀκούσαντές φασιν, οἱ δὲ ὑποτίθενται τὸ πιθανὸν ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὰ φαινόμενα συμφωνίας. αἰνεῖν μὲν οὖν ἄξιον καὶ τούσδε, πιστεύειν δὲ ἐκείνοις ὅτῳ βέλτιον εἶναι δοκεῖ, τοῦτον ἐγὼ παίζων καὶ σπουδάζων ἄγαμαί τε καὶ τεθαύμακα. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ταύτῃ, φασί.