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Translated from the Greek original by Frederick Crombie.
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This Part: 128 Pages
Page 76
Chapter XXII.
But this low jester [3493] Celsus, omitting no species of mockery and ridicule which can be employed against us, mentions in his treatise the Dioscuri, and Hercules, and Aesculapius, and Dionysus, who are believed by the Greeks to have become gods after being men, and says that "we cannot bear to call such beings gods, because they were at first men, [3494] and yet they manifested many noble qualifies, which were displayed for the benefit of mankind, while we assert that Jesus was seen after His death by His own followers;" and he brings against us an additional charge, as if we said that "He was seen indeed, but was only a shadow!" Now to this we reply, that it was very artful of Celsus not here clearly to indicate that he did not regard these beings as gods, for he was afraid of the opinion of those who might peruse his treatise, and who might suppose him to be an atheist; whereas, if he had paid respect to what appeared to him to be the truth, he would not have feigned to regard them as gods. [3495] Now to either of the allegations we are ready with an answer. Let us, accordingly, to those who do not regard them as gods reply as follows: These beings, then, are not gods at all; but agreeably to the view of those who think that the soul of man perishes immediately (after death), the souls of these men also perished; or according to the opinion of those who say that the soul continues to subsist or is immortal, these men continue to exist or are immortal, and they are not gods but heroes,--or not even heroes, but simply souls.
[3493] bomolochos.
[3494] The reading in the text is kai protoi, for which Bohereau proposes to proton, which we have adopted in the translation.
[3495] We have followed in the translation the emendation of Guietus, who proposes ei de ten phainomenen auto aletheian epresbeusen, ouk an, k.t.l.,, instead of the textual reading, ei te tes phainomenes auto aletheias epresbensen, ouk an, k.t.l.
Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/origen/contra-celsum.asp?pg=76
