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Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson.
Clement of Alexandria in Print
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This Part: 134 Pages
Page 60
What an end was it that ensued to them, and what woes they endured, who would not restrain their self-will! Two continents were convulsed by unrestrained pleasures, and all was thrown into confusion by a barbarian boy. The whole of Hellas puts to sea; the ocean is burdened with the weight of continents; a protracted war breaks out, and fierce battles are waged, and the plains are crowded with dead: the barbarian assails the fleet with outrage; wickedness prevails, and the eye of that poetic Jove looks on the Thracians:--
"The barbarian plains drink noble blood,
And the streams of the rivers are choked with dead bodies."
Breasts are beaten in lamentations, and grief desolates the land; and all the feet, and the summits of many-fountained Ida, and the cities of the Trojans, and the ships of the Achaeans, shake.
Where, O Homer, shall we flee and stand? Show us a spot of ground that is not shaken!--
"Touch not the reins, inexperienced boy,
Nor mount the seat, not having learned to drive." [1593]
Heaven delights in two charioteers, by whom alone the chariot of fire is guided. For the mind is carried away by pleasure; and the unsullied principle of reason, when not instructed by the Word, slides down into licentiousness, and gets a fall as the due reward of its transgression. An example of this are the angels, who renounced the beauty of God for a beauty which fades, and so fell from heaven to earth. [1594]
The Shechemites, too, were punished by an overthrow for dishonouring the holy virgin. The grave was their punishment, and the monument of their ignominy leads to salvation.
[1593] Phaethon of Euripides.
[1594] Gen. vi. 1, 2. [It is surprising with what tenacity this interpretation clings to the ancient mind of the Church. The Nephilim and Gibborim need a special investigation. The Oriental tales of the genii are probably connected with their fabulous history.]
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