1. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.80, 2.91-2.96 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Ass, in Greek Cult • Tacitus, Jewish Worship of an Ass • Types of Animals Sacrificed, Worship of an Ass • popular responses (to Christianity), charges of cannibalism, ass-worship, magic etc
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007) 516, 522, 1047; Esler (2000) 878
2.91. προπηετα υερο αλιορυμ φαξτυς εστ απιον ετ διχιτ αντιοξηυμ ιν τεμπλο ινυενισσε λεξτυμ ετ ηομινεμ ιν εο ιαξεντεμ ετ προποσιταμ ει μενσαμ μαριτιμις τερρενισθυε ετ υολατιλιυμ δαπιβυς πλεναμ, ετ οβστιπυισσετ ηις ηομο. 2.92. ιλλυμ υερο μοχ αδορασσε ρεγις ινγρεσσυμ ταμθυαμ μαχιμυμ ει σολαξιυμ πραεβιτυρυμ αξ προξιδεντεμ αδ ειυς γενυα εχτενσα δεχτρα ποποσξισσε λιβερτατεμ; ετ ιυβεντε ρεγε, υτ ξονφιδερετ ετ διξερετ, θυις εσσετ υελ ξυρ ιβιδεμ ηαβιταρετ υελ θυαε εσσετ ξαυσα ξιβορυμ ειυς, τυνξ ηομινεμ ξυμ γεμιτυ ετ λαξριμις λαμενταβιλιτερ συαμ ναρρασσε νεξεσσιτατεμ αιτ. 2.93. ινθυιτ εσσε θυιδεμ σε γραεξυμ, ετ δυμ περαγραρετ προυινξιαμ προπτερ υιταε ξαυσαμ διρεπτυμ σε συβιτο αβ αλιενιγενις ηομινιβυς ατθυε δεδυξτυμ αδ τεμπλυμ ετ ινξλυσυμ ιλλιξ, ετ α νυλλο ξονσπιξι σεδ ξυνξτα δαπιυμ πραεπαρατιονε σαγιναρι. 2.94. ετ πριμυμ θυιδεμ ηαεξ σιβι ινοπιναβιλια βενεφιξια προδιδισσε ετ δετυλισσε λαετιτιαμ δεινδε συσπιξιονεμ ποστεα στυπορεμ, αξ ποστρεμυμ ξονσυλεντεμ α μινιστρις αδ σε αξξεδεντιβυς αυδισσε λεγεμ ινεφφαβιλεμ ιυδαεορυμ, προ θυα νυτριεβατυρ, ετ ηοξ ιλλος φαξερε σινγυλις αννις θυοδαμ τεμπορε ξονστιτυτο. 2.95. ετ ξομπραεηενδερε θυιδεμ γραεξυμ περεγρινυμ ευμθυε ανναλι τεμπορε σαγιναρε ετ δεδυξτυμ αδ θυανδαμ σιλυαμ οξξιδερε θυιδεμ ευμ ηομινεμ ειυσθυε ξορπυς σαξριφιξαρε σεξυνδυμ συας σολλεμνιτατες ετ γυσταρε εχ ειυς υισξεριβυς ετ ιυσιυρανδυμ φαξερε ιν ιμμολατιονε γραεξι, υτ ινιμιξιτιας ξοντρα γραεξος ηαβερεντ, ετ τυνξ ιν θυανδαμ φουεαμ ρελιθυα ηομινις περευντις αβιξερε. 2.96. δεινδε ρεφερτ ευμ διχισσε παυξος ιαμ διες δεβιτα σιβιμετ συπερεσσε ατθυε ρογασσε, υτ ερυβεσξενς γραεξορυμ δεος ετ συπεραντες ιν συο σανγυινε ινσιδιας ιυδαεορυμ δε μαλις ευμ ξιρξυμασταντιβυς λιβεραρετ.' '. None | 2.91. Apion becomes other men’s prophet upon this occasion, and says, that “Antiochus found in our temple a bed and a man lying upon it, with a small table before him, full of dainties, from the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the dry land; that this man was amazed at these dainties thus set before him; 2.92. that he immediately adored the king, upon his coming in, as hoping that he would afford him all possible assistance; that he fell down upon his knees, and stretched out to him his right hand, and begged to be released: and that when the king bade him sit down, and tell him who he was, and why he dwelt there, and what was the meaning of those various sorts of food that were set before him, the man made a lamentable complaint, and with sighs, and tears in his eyes, gave him this account of the distress he was in: 2.93. and said that he was a Greek, and that as he went over this province, in order to get his living, he was seized upon by foreigners, on a sudden, and brought to this temple, and shut up therein, and was seen by nobody, but was fattened by these curious provisions thus set before him: 2.94. and that truly at the first such unexpected advantages seemed to him matter of great joy; that, after a while they brought a suspicion upon him, and at length astonishment, what their meaning should be; that at last he inquired of the servants that came to him, and was by them informed that it was in order to the fulfilling a law of the Jews, which they must not tell him, that he was thus fed; and that they did the same at a set time every year: 2.95. that they used to catch a Greek foreigner, and fat him thus up every year, and then lead him to a certain wood, and kill him, and sacrifice with their accustomed solemnities, and taste of his entrails, and take an oath upon this sacrificing a Greek, that they would ever be at enmity with the Greeks; and that then they threw the remaining parts of the miserable wretch into a certain pit.” 2.96. Apion adds farther, that “the man said there were but a few days to come ere he was to be slain, and implored Antiochus that, out of the reverence he bore to the Grecian gods, he would disappoint the snares the Jews laid for his blood, and would deliver him from the miseries with which he was encompassed.” ' '. None |
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2. Plutarch, On Isis And Osiris, 30 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Ass, hateful to Isis • Isis, ass hateful to • Seth-Typhon, and ass • ass-man
Found in books: Griffiths (1975) 162; Pinheiro Bierl and Beck (2013) 150
| 30. Now Osiris and Isis changed from good minor deities into gods. Cf. 361 e, supra . But the power of Typhon, weakened and crushed, but still fighting and strugglingagainst extinction, they try to console and mollify by certain sacrifices; but again there are times when, at certain festivals, they humiliate and insult him by assailing red-headed men with jeering, and by throwing an ass over the edge of a precipice, as the people of Kopto do, because Typhon had red hair and in colour resembled an ass. Cf. 359 e, supra, and 364 a, infra ; for Kopto Cf. 356 d. The people of Busiris Cf. Moralia, 150 e-f. and Lycopolis do not use trumpets at all, because these make a sound like an ass Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, x. 28. ; and altogether they regard the ass as an unclean animal dominated by some higher power because of its resemblance to Typhon, Cf. Moralia, 150 f. and when they make cakes at their sacrifices in the month of Paÿni and of Phaophi they imprint upon them the device of an ass tied by a rope. Cf. 371 d, infra . Moreover, in the sacrifice to the Sun they enjoin upon the worshippers not to wear any golden ornaments nor to give fodder to an ass. It is plain that the adherents of Pythagoras hold Typhon to be a daemonic power; for they say that he was born in an even factor of fifty-six; and the dominion of the triangle belongs to Hades, Dionysus, and Ares, that of the quadrilateral to Rhea, Aphroditê, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, that of the dodecagon to Zeus, As the chief of the twelve gods presumably; Cf. Herodotus, ii. 4. and that of a polygon of fifty-six sides to Typhon, as Eudoxus has recorded.''. None |
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3. Tacitus, Histories, 5.3-5.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Ass, in Greek Cult • Ass, in popular culture • Tacitus, Jewish Worship of an Ass • Types of Animals Sacrificed, Worship of an Ass • ass; deified
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007) 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526; Sider (2001) 35
| 5.3. \xa0Most authors agree that once during a plague in Egypt which caused bodily disfigurement, King Bocchoris approached the oracle of Ammon and asked for a remedy, whereupon he was told to purge his kingdom and to transport this race into other lands, since it was hateful to the gods. So the Hebrews were searched out and gathered together; then, being abandoned in the desert, while all others lay idle and weeping, one only of the exiles, Moses by name, warned them not to hope for help from gods or men, for they were deserted by both, but to trust to themselves, regarding as a guide sent from heaven the one whose assistance should first give them escape from their present distress. They agreed, and then set out on their journey in utter ignorance, but trusting to chance. Nothing caused them so much distress as scarcity of water, and in fact they had already fallen exhausted over the plain nigh unto death, when a herd of wild asses moved from their pasturage to a rock that was shaded by a grove of trees. Moses followed them, and, conjecturing the truth from the grassy ground, discovered abundant streams of water. This relieved them, and they then marched six days continuously, and on the seventh seized a country, expelling the former inhabitants; there they founded a city and dedicated a temple. 5.4. \xa0To establish his influence over this people for all time, Moses introduced new religious practices, quite opposed to those of all other religions. The Jews regard as profane all that we hold sacred; on the other hand, they permit all that we abhor. They dedicated, in a shrine, a statue of that creature whose guidance enabled them to put an end to their wandering and thirst, sacrificing a ram, apparently in derision of Ammon. They likewise offer the ox, because the Egyptians worship Apis. They abstain from pork, in recollection of a plague, for the scab to which this animal is subject once afflicted them. By frequent fasts even now they bear witness to the long hunger with which they were once distressed, and the unleavened Jewish bread is still employed in memory of the haste with which they seized the grain. They say that they first chose to rest on the seventh day because that day ended their toils; but after a time they were led by the charms of indolence to give over the seventh year as well to inactivity. Others say that this is done in honour of Saturn, whether it be that the primitive elements of their religion were given by the Idaeans, who, according to tradition, were expelled with Saturn and became the founders of the Jewish race, or is due to the fact that, of the seven planets that rule the fortunes of mankind, Saturn moves in the highest orbit and has the greatest potency; and that many of the heavenly bodies traverse their paths and courses in multiples of seven.''. None |
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4. None, None, nan (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Tacitus, Jewish Worship of an Ass • Types of Animals Sacrificed, Worship of an Ass • ass worship
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007) 518; Witter et al. (2021) 24
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5. Apuleius, The Golden Ass, 1.1-1.2, 1.7-1.8, 2.1, 2.5, 2.28, 3.2, 3.12, 3.21, 3.23-3.24, 4.13, 4.27, 4.29, 4.32, 6.25, 8.24, 9.10, 10.19, 10.21, 10.23, 10.30, 10.32, 11.13, 11.15, 11.19-11.20, 11.23-11.24, 11.27 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Apuleius Golden Ass • Apuleius, Golden Ass • Asinus aureus / The Golden Ass / Metamorphoses • Ass, and catamites • Ass, as Sethian animal • Ass, copulation with woman • Ass, hateful to Isis • Ass, hateful to Isis, and sacred rite • Ass, hateful to Isis, ass form of Lucius disappears - bristles, hide, belly, hoofs, front feet, neck, ears, molars, tail • Ass, hateful to Isis, removes loathsome skin • Ass, hateful to Isis, spot where ass had lain • Ass, hateful to Isis, with wings • Ass-man story • Augustine, St., on meaning of Golden Ass • Catamites, and ass • Devotees, adore token of highest deitys power in transformation of ass, band of • Devotees, adore token of highest deitys power in transformation of ass, escort of • Isis, ass hateful to • Jesus, and ass-man legend, Messianic entry of • Jesus, and ass-man legend, tri-lingualism of • Lucius (Golden Ass) • Lucius, man and ass, • Pegasus, as ass with wings • Seth-Typhon, and ass • asses • ekphrasis, in Golden Ass • epiphany, in Golden Ass • gaze, in Golden Ass
Found in books: Bowersock (1997) 108, 109; Elsner (2007) 180, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 300; Griffiths (1975) 2, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 27, 162, 182, 235, 239, 259, 286, 351, 352; Jenkyns (2013) 10, 32; Pinheiro et al (2018) 221, 223, 224, 232, 291, 333, 334, 336, 337, 341, 342, 353; Stephens and Winkler (1995) 182, 323
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1.13. The priest, having been advised the night before, stood still and holding out his hand, and thrust out the garland of roses into my mouth. I (trembling) devoured it with a great eagerness. And as soon as I had eaten them, I found that the promise made to me had not been in vain. For my deformed face changed, and first the rugged hair of my body fell off, my thick skin grew soft and tender, the hooves of my feet changed into toes, my hands returned again, my neck grew short, my head and mouth became round, my long ears were made little, my great and stony teeth grew more like the teeth of men, and my tail, which had burdened me most, disappeared. Then the people began to marvel. The religious honored the goddess for so evident a miracle. They wondered at the visions which they saw in the night, and the ease of my restoration, whereby they rendered testimony of so great a benefit that I had received from the goddess. 1
1.15. “O my friend Lucius, after the enduring so many labors and escaping so many tempests of fortune, you have at length come to the port and haven of rest and mercy. Your noble linage, your dignity, your education, or any thing else did not avail you. But you have endured so many servile pleasures due to the folly of youth. Thusly you have had an unpleasant reward for your excessive curiosity. But however the blindness of Fortune has tormented you in various dangers, so it is now that, unbeknownst to her, you have come to this present felicity. Let Fortune go and fume with fury in another place. Let her find some other matter on which to execute her cruelty. Fortune has no power against those who serve and honor our goddess. What good did it do her that you endured thieves, savage beasts, great servitude, dangerous waits, long journeys, and fear of death every day? Know that now you are safe and under the protection of her who, by her clear light, brightens the other gods. Wherefore rejoice and take a countece appropriate to your white garment. Follow the parade of this devout and honorable procession so that those who do not worship the goddess may see and acknowledge their error. Behold Lucius, you are delivered from so great miseries by the providence of the goddess Isis. Rejoice therefore and triumph in the victory over fortune. And so that you may live more safe and sure, make yourself one of this holy order. Dedicate your mind to our religion and take upon yourself the voluntary yoke of ministry. And when you begin to serve and honor the goddess, then you shall feel the fruit of your liberty.” 1
1.19. After I had related to them of all my former miseries and present joys, I went before the face of the goddess and hired a house within the cloister of the temple so that I might continually be ready to serve of the goddess. I also wanted to be in continual contact with the company of the priests so that I could become wholly devoted to the goddess, and become an inseparable worshipper of her divine name. It happened that the goddess often appeared to me in the night, urging and commanding me to take the order of her religion. But I, though I greatly desired to do so, was held back because of fear. I considered her discipline was hard and difficult, the chastity of the priests intolerable, and the life austere and subject to many inconveniences. Being thus in doubt, I refrained from all those things as seeming impossible.
11.23. This done, I gave charge to certain of my companions to buy liberally whatever was necessary and appropriate. Then the priest brought me to the baths nearby, accompanied with all the religious sort. He, demanding pardon of the goddess, washed me and purified my body according to custom. After this, when no one approached, he brought me back again to the temple and presented me before the face of the goddess. He told me of certain secret things that it was unlawful to utter, and he commanded me, and generally all the rest, to fast for the space of ten continual days. I was not allowed to eat any beast or drink any wine. These strictures I observed with marvelous continence. Then behold, the day approached when the sacrifice was to be made. And when night came there arrived on every coast a great multitude of priests who, according to their order, offered me many presents and gifts. Then all the laity and profane people were commanded to depart. When they had put on my back a linen robe, they brought me to the most secret and sacred place of all the temple. You will perhaps ask (o studious reader) what was said and done there. Verily I would tell you if it were lawful for me to tell. You would know if it were appropriate for you to hear. But both your ears and my tongue shall incur similar punishment for rash curiosity. However, I will content your mind for this present time, since it is perhaps somewhat religious and given to devotion. Listen therefore and believe it to be true. You shall understand that I approached near to Hell, and even to the gates of Proserpina. After I was brought through all the elements, I returned to my proper place. About midnight I saw the sun shine, and I saw likewise the celestial and infernal gods. Before them I presented myself and worshipped them. Behold, now have I told you something which, although you have heard it, it is necessary for you to conceal. This much have I declared without offence for the understanding of the profane. 11.24. When morning came, and that the solemnities were finished, I came forth sanctified with twelve robes and in a religious habit. I am not forbidden to speak of this since many persons saw me at that time. There I was commanded to stand upon a seat of wood which stood in the middle of the temple before the image of the goddess. My vestment was of fine linen, covered and embroidered with flowers. I had a precious cloak upon my shoulders hung down to the ground. On it were depicted beasts wrought of diverse colors: Indian dragons and Hyperborean griffins which the other world engenders in the form of birds. The priests commonly call such a habit a celestial robe. In my right hand I carried a lit torch. There was a garland of flowers upon my head with palm leaves sprouting out on every side. I was adorned like un the sun and made in fashion of an image such that all the people came up to behold me. Then they began to solemnize the feast of the nativity and the new procession, with sumptuous banquets and delicacies. The third day was likewise celebrated with like ceremonies with a religious dinner, and with all the consummation of the order. After I had stayed there a good space, I conceived a marvelous pleasure and consolation in beholding the image of the goddess. She at length urged me to depart homeward. I rendered my thanks which, although not sufficient, yet they were according to my power. However, I could not be persuaded to depart before I had fallen prostrate before the face of the goddess and wiped her steps with my face. Then I began greatly to weep and sigh (so uch so that my words were interrupted) and, as though devouring my prayer, I began to speak in this way:
11.27. But it happened that, while I reasoned with myself and while I examined the issue with the priests, there came a new and marvelous thought in my mind. I realized that I was only consecrated to the goddess Isis, but not sacred to the religion of great Osiris, the sovereign father of all the goddesses. Between them, although there was a religious unity and concord, yet there was a great difference of order and ceremony. And because it was necessary that I should likewise be a devotee of Osiris, there was no long delay. For the night after there appeared to me one of that order, covered with linen robes. He held in his hands spears wrapped in ivy and other things not appropriate to declare. Then he left these things in my chamber and, sitting in my seat, recited to me such things as were necessary for the sumptuous banquet for my initiation. And so that I might know him again, he showed me how the ankle of his left foot was somewhat maimed, which gave him a slight limp.Afterwards I manifestly knew the will of the god Osiris. When matins ended, I went from one priest to another to find the one who had the halting mark on his foot, according to my vision. At length I found it true. I perceived one of the company of the priests who had not only the token of his foot, but the stature and habit of his body, resembling in every point the man who appeared in the nigh. He was called Asinius Marcellus, a name appropriate to my transformation. By and by I went to him and he knew well enough all the matter. He had been admonished by a similar precept in the night. For the night before, as he dressed the flowers and garlands about the head of the god Osiris, he understood from the mouth of the image (which told the predestinations of all men) how the god had sent him a poor man of Madauros. To this man the priest was supposed to minister his sacraments so that he could receive a reward by divine providence, and the other glory for his virtuous studies.' '. None |
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6. Tertullian, Apology, 16 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Ass, in Greek Cult • Seth-Typhon, and ass • Types of Animals Sacrificed, Worship of an Ass • popular responses (to Christianity), charges of cannibalism, ass-worship, magic etc
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007) 520, 521; Esler (2000) 877; Griffiths (1975) 5
| 16. For, like some others, you are under the delusion that our god is an ass's head. Cornelius Tacitus first put this notion into people's minds. In the fifth book of his histories, beginning the (narrative of the) Jewish war with an account of the origin of the nation; and theorizing at his pleasure about the origin, as well as the name and the religion of the Jews, he states that having been delivered, or rather, in his opinion, expelled from Egypt, in crossing the vast plains of Arabia, where water is so scanty, they were in extremity from thirst; but taking the guidance of the wild asses, which it was thought might be seeking water after feeding, they discovered a fountain, and thereupon in their gratitude they consecrated a head of this species of animal. And as Christianity is nearly allied to Judaism, from this, I suppose, it was taken for granted that we too are devoted to the worship of the same image. But the said Cornelius Tacitus (the very opposite of tacit in telling lies) informs us in the work already mentioned, that when Cneius Pompeius captured Jerusalem, he entered the temple to see the arcana of the Jewish religion, but found no image there. Yet surely if worship was rendered to any visible object, the very place for its exhibition would be the shrine; and that all the more that the worship, however unreasonable, had no need there to fear outside beholders. For entrance to the holy place was permitted to the priests alone, while all vision was forbidden to others by an outspread curtain. You will not, however, deny that all beasts of burden, and not parts of them, but the animals entire, are with their goddess Epona objects of worship with you. It is this, perhaps, which displeases you in us, that while your worship here is universal, we do homage only to the ass. Then, if any of you think we render superstitious adoration to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us. If you offer homage to a piece of wood at all, it matters little what it is like when the substance is the same: it is of no consequence the form, if you have the very body of the god. And yet how far does the Athenian Pallas differ from the stock of the cross, or the Pharian Ceres as she is put up uncarved to sale, a mere rough stake and piece of shapeless wood? Every stake fixed in an upright position is a portion of the cross; we render our adoration, if you will have it so, to a god entire and complete. We have shown before that your deities are derived from shapes modelled from the cross. But you also worship victories, for in your trophies the cross is the heart of the trophy. The camp religion of the Romans is all through a worship of the standards, a setting the standards above all gods. Well, as those images decking out the standards are ornaments of crosses. All those hangings of your standards and banners are robes of crosses. I praise your zeal: you would not consecrate crosses unclothed and unadorned. Others, again, certainly with more information and greater verisimilitude, believe that the sun is our god. We shall be counted Persians perhaps, though we do not worship the orb of day painted on a piece of linen cloth, having himself everywhere in his own disk. The idea no doubt has originated from our being known to turn to the east in prayer. But you, many of you, also under pretence sometimes of worshipping the heavenly bodies, move your lips in the direction of the sunrise. In the same way, if we devote Sun-day to rejoicing, from a far different reason than Sun-worship, we have some resemblance to those of you who devote the day of Saturn to ease and luxury, though they too go far away from Jewish ways, of which indeed they are ignorant. But lately a new edition of our god has been given to the world in that great city: it originated with a certain vile man who was wont to hire himself out to cheat the wild beasts, and who exhibited a picture with this inscription: The God of the Christians, born of an ass. He had the ears of an ass, was hoofed in one foot, carried a book, and wore a toga. Both the name and the figure gave us amusement. But our opponents ought straightway to have done homage to this biformed divinity, for they have acknowledged gods dog-headed and lion-headed, with horn of buck and ram, with goat-like loins, with serpent legs, with wings sprouting from back or foot. These things we have discussed ex abundanti, that we might not seem willingly to pass by any rumor against us unrefuted. Having thoroughly cleared ourselves, we turn now to an exhibition of what our religion really is. "". None |
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7. None, None, nan
Tagged with subjects: • Apuleius Golden Ass • Ass, hateful to Isis, removes loathsome skin • Devotees, adore token of highest deitys power in transformation of ass, band of • asses
Found in books: Griffiths (1975) 14; Stephens and Winkler (1995) 324
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