2. Apuleius, The Golden Ass, 11.2, 11.5-11.6 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •arete, of a deity Found in books: Stavrianopoulou (2013) 172 | 11.2. “O blessed queen of heaven, you are the Lady Ceres, who is the original and motherly nurse of all fruitful things on earth. You, after finding your daughter Proserpina, through the great joy which you presently conceived, made barren and unfruitful ground be plowed and sown. And now you dwell in the land of Eleusis. Or else you are the celestial Venus who, in the beginning of the world coupled together all kind of things with engendered love. By an eternal propagation of humankind, you are now worshipped within the temples of Paphos. You are also the sister of the god Phoebus, who nourishes so many people by the generation of beasts, and are now adored at the sacred places of Ephesus. You are terrible Proserpina, by reason of the deadly cries that you wield. You have the power to stop and put away the invasion of the hags and ghosts that appear to men, and to keep them down in the closures of the earth. You are worshipped in diverse ways, and illuminate all the borders of the earth by your feminine shape. You nourish all the fruits of the world by your vigor and force. By whatever name or fashion it is lawful to call you, I pray you to end my great travail and misery, and to deliver me from wretched fortune, which has so long pursued me. Grant peace and rest, if it pleases you, to my adversities, for I have endured too much labor and peril. Remove from me the shape of an ass and render to me my original form. And if I have offended in any point your divine majesty, let me rather die than live, for I am full weary of my life.” 11.5. “Behold, Lucius, I have come! Your weeping and prayers have moved me to succor you. I am she who is the natural mother of all things, mistress and governess of all the elements, the initial progeny of worlds, chief of powers divine, queen of heaven! I am the principal of the celestial gods, the light of the goddesses. At my will the planets of the heavens, the wholesome winds of the seas, and the silences of hell are disposed. My name and my divinity is adored throughout all the world in diverse manners. I am worshipped by various customs and by many names. The Phrygians call me the mother of the gods. The Athenians, Minerva. The Cyprians, Venus. The Cretans, Diana. The Sicilians, Proserpina. The Eleusians, Ceres. Some call me Juno, other Bellona, and yet others Hecate. And principally the Aethiopians who dwell in the Orient, and the Aegyptians who are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine and by their proper ceremonies are accustomed to worship me, call me Queen Isis. Behold, I have come to take pity of your fortune and tribulation. Behold, I am present to favor and aid you. Leave off your weeping and lamentation, put away all your sorrow. For behold, the day which is ordained by my providence is at hand. Therefore be ready to attend to my command. This day which shall come after this night is dedicated to my service by an eternal religion. My priests and ministers are accustomed, after the tempests of the sea have ceased, to offer in my name a new ship as a first fruit of my navigation. I command you not to profane or despise the sacrifice in any way. 11.6. “The great priest shall carry this day, following in procession by my exhortation, a garland of roses next the rattle in his right hand. Follow my procession amongst the people and, when you come to the priest, make as though you would kiss his hand. But snatch at the roses, whereby I will put away the skin and shape of an ass. This kind of beast I have long abhorred and despised. But above all things beware that you do not doubt or fear any of those things as being hard and difficult to bring to pass. For in the same hour as I have come to you, I have commanded the priest, by a vision, of what he shall do. And all the people by my command shall be compelled to give you place and say nothing! Moreover, do not think that, amongst so fair and joyful ceremonies and in so good a company, any person shall abhor your ill-favored and deformed figure, or that any man shall be so hardy as to blame and reprove your sudden restoration to human shape. They will not conceive any sinister opinion about this deed. And know this for certain: for the rest of your life, until the hour of death, you shall be bound and subject to me! And think it not an injury to be always subject to me, since by my means and benefit you shall become a man. You shall live blessed in this world, you shall live gloriously by my guidance and protection. And when you descend to hell, you shall see me shine in that subterranean place, shining (as you see me now) in the darkness of Acheron, and reigning in the deep profundity of Styx. There you shall worship me as one who has been favorable to you. And if I perceive that you are obedient to my command, an adherent to my religion, and worthy my divine grace, know you that I will prolong your days above the time that the fates have appointed, and the celestial planets have ordained.” |
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