[5] The discourses of Socrates in Plato.
[6] For so the Christians were called by the heathens, when the religion of the latter was rapidly declining, and that of the former had gained the ascendency. Thus Porphyry, in a passage preserved by Theodoret, (in lib. i. De Curat. Græc. Superst.) Χαλκοδετος γαρ η προς θεους οδος, αιπεινη τε και τραχεια, ης πολλας ατραπους Βαρβαροι μεν εξευρον, Ελληνες δε επλανηθησαν, οι δε κρατουντες ηδη και διεφθειραν. i.e. “For the way which leads to the Gods is bound with chains of brass, and is arduous and rough, many paths of which were indeed discovered by the Barbarians; but the Greeks have wandered from them, and they are entirely corrupted by those who now prevail.”
This passage of Porphyry, derived its origin from the following oracle of Apollo, preserved by Eusebius:
Αιπεινη γαρ οδος μακαρων τρηχεια τε πολλον,
Χαλκοδετοις τα πρωτα διοιγομενη πυλεωσιν.
Ατραπετοι δε εασσιν αθεσφατοι εγγεγαυιαι,
Ας πρωτοι μεροπων επ’ απειρονα πρηξιν εφηναν
Οι το καλον πινοντες υδωρ Νειλωτιδος αιης·
Πολλας και Φοινικες οδους μακαρων εδαησαν,
Ασσυριοι Λυδοι τε, και Εβραιων γενος ανδρων.