Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9241

Philo Of Alexandria, On The Contemplative Life, 60-64
nan for the greater part of the book is occupied by common, vulgar, promiscuous love, which takes away from the soul courage, that which is the most serviceable of all virtues both in war and in peace, and which engenders in it instead the female disease, and renders men men-women, though they ought rather to be carefully trained in all the practices likely to give men valour.
nan And having corrupted the age of boys, and having metamorphosed them and removed them into the classification and character of women, it has injured their lovers also in the most important particulars, their bodies, their souls, and their properties; for it follows of necessity that the mind of a lover of boys must be kept on the stretch towards the objects of his affection, and must have no acuteness of vision for any other object, but must be blinded by its desire as to all other objects private or common, and must so be wasted away, more especially if it fails in its objects. Moreover, the man's property must be diminished on two accounts, both from the owner's neglect and from his expenses for the beloved object.
nan There is also another greater evil which affects the whole people, and which grows up alongside of the other, for men who give into such passions produce solitude in cities, and a scarcity of the best kind of men, and barrenness, and unproductiveness, inasmuch as they are imitating those farmers who are unskilful in agriculture, and who, instead of the deep-soiled champaign country, sow briny marshes, or stony and rugged districts, which are not calculated to produce crops of any kind, and which only destroy the seed which is put into them.
nan I pass over in silence the different fabulous fictions, and the stories of persons with two bodies, who having originally been stuck to one another by amatory influences, are subsequently separated like portions which have been brought together and are disjoined again, the harmony having been dissolved by which they were held together; for all these things are very attractive, being able by novelty of their imagination to allure the ears, but they are despised by the disciples of Moses, who in the abundance of their wisdom have learnt from their earliest infancy to love truth, and also continue to the end of their lives impossible to be deceived. VIII.
nan But since the entertainments of the greatest celebrity are full of such trifling and folly, bearing conviction in themselves, if any one should think fit not to regard vague opinion and the character which has been commonly handed down concerning them as feasts which have gone off with the most eminent success, I will oppose to them the entertainments of those persons who have devoted their whole life and themselves to the knowledge and contemplation of the affairs of nature in accordance with the most sacred admonitions and precepts of the prophet Moses.

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1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 21.6-21.7 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) 21.6. וְכֹל זִקְנֵי הָעִיר הַהִוא הַקְּרֹבִים אֶל־הֶחָלָל יִרְחֲצוּ אֶת־יְדֵיהֶם עַל־הָעֶגְלָה הָעֲרוּפָה בַנָּחַל׃ 21.7. וְעָנוּ וְאָמְרוּ יָדֵינוּ לֹא שפכה [שָׁפְכוּ] אֶת־הַדָּם הַזֶּה וְעֵינֵינוּ לֹא רָאוּ׃ 21.6. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley." 21.7. And they shall speak and say: ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it."
2. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 15 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
3. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 12.1-12.5, 15.7 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) 12.1. וַיְהִי רָעָב בָּאָרֶץ וַיֵּרֶד אַבְרָם מִצְרַיְמָה לָגוּר שָׁם כִּי־כָבֵד הָרָעָב בָּאָרֶץ׃ 12.1. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ׃ 12.2. וַיְצַו עָלָיו פַּרְעֹה אֲנָשִׁים וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ׃ 12.2. וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה׃ 12.3. וַאֲבָרֲכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה׃ 12.4. וַיֵּלֶךְ אַבְרָם כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו יְהוָה וַיֵּלֶךְ אִתּוֹ לוֹט וְאַבְרָם בֶּן־חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה בְּצֵאתוֹ מֵחָרָן׃ 12.5. וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם אֶת־שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת־לוֹט בֶּן־אָחִיו וְאֶת־כָּל־רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכָשׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן וַיֵּצְאוּ לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן׃ 15.7. וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָתֶת לְךָ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת לְרִשְׁתָּהּ׃ 12.1. Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee." 12.2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing." 12.3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’" 12.4. So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran." 12.5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came." 15.7. And He said unto him: ‘I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.’"
4. Plato, Symposium, 180c (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
5. Xenophon, Symposium, 8.9-8.11, 8.32 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) 8.9. Now, whether there is one Aphrodite or two, Heavenly and Vulgar, I do not know; for even Zeus, though considered one and the same, yet has many by-names. I do know, however, that in the case of Aphrodite there are separate altars and temples for the two, and also rituals, those of the Vulgar Aphrodite excelling in looseness, those of the Heavenly in chastity. 8.10. One might conjecture, also, that different types of love come from the different sources, carnal love from the Vulgar Aphrodite, and from the Heavenly spiritual love, love of friendship and of noble conduct. That is the sort of love, Callias, that seems to have you in its grip. 8.11. I infer this from the noble nature of the one you love and because I see that you include his father in your meetings with him. For the virtuous lover does not make any of these matters a secret from the father of his beloved. 8.32. Moreover, take the splendid feats of the present day; would not a person discover that they are all done for glory’s sake by persons willing to endure hardship and jeopardy, rather than by those who are drifting into the habit of preferring pleasure to a good name? Yet Pausanias, the lover of the poet Agathon, has said in his defence of those who wallow in lasciviousness that the most valiant army, even, would be one recruited of lovers and their favourites!
6. Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule, 6.2-6.13 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
7. Dead Sea Scrolls, Messianic Rule, 2.17-2.21 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
8. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 26.29 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
9. Septuagint, 4 Maccabees, 1.1-1.2 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) 1.1. The subject that I am about to discuss is most philosophical, that is, whether devout reason is sovereign over the emotions. So it is right for me to advise you to pay earnest attention to philosophy. 1.2. For the subject is essential to everyone who is seeking knowledge, and in addition it includes the praise of the highest virtue -- I mean, of course, rational judgment.
10. Anon., Sibylline Oracles, 3.573, 3.591-3.593, 4.163-4.170 (1st cent. BCE - 5th cent. CE) 3.573. O sign of Cyprus, may an earthquake waste 3.591. But when from Italy shall come a man 3.592. A spoiler, then, Laodicea, thou 3.593. Beautiful city of the Carian 4.163. Who having burned the temple of Solyma 4.164. And having slaughtered many of the Jews 4.165. 165 Shall destruction on their great broad land. 4.166. And then too shall an earthquake overthrow 4.167. Both Salamis and Paphos, when dark water 4.168. Shall dash o'er Cyprus washed by many a wave. 4.169. But when from deep cleft of Italian land 4.170. 170 Fire shall come flashing forth in the broad heaven
11. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 1.26 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 1.26. 1.  The priests of the Egyptians, reckoning the time from the reign of Helius to the crossing of Alexander into Asia, say that it was in round numbers twenty-three thousand years.,2.  And, as their legends say, the most ancient of the gods ruled more than twelve hundred years and the later ones not less than three hundred.,3.  But since this great number of years surpasses belief, some men would maintain that in early times, before the movement of the sun had as yet been recognized, it was customary to reckon the year by the lunar cycle.,4.  Consequently, since the year consisted of thirty days, it was not impossible that some men lived twelve hundred years; for in our own time, when our year consists of twelve months, not a few men live over one hundred years.,5.  A similar explanation they also give regarding those who are supposed to have reigned for three hundred years; for at their time, namely, the year was composed of the four months which comprise the seasons of each year, that is, spring, summer, and winter; and it is for this reason that among some of the Greeks the years are called "seasons" (horoi) and that their yearly records are given the name "horographs.",6.  Furthermore, the Egyptians relate in their myths that in the time of Isis there were certain creatures of many bodies, who are called by the Greeks Giants, but by themselves . . ., these being the men who are represented on their temples in monstrous form and as being cudgelled by Osiris.,7.  Now some say that they were born of the earth at the time when the genesis of living things from the earth was still recent, while some hold that they were only men of unusual physical strength who achieved many deeds and for this reason were described in the myths as of many bodies.,8.  But it is generally agreed that when they stirred up war against Zeus and Osiris they were all destroyed.
12. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 9.733-9.734 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
13. Philo of Alexandria, On The Cherubim, 43-48, 42 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 42. But that we may describe the conception and the parturition of virtues, let the superstitious either stop their ears, or else let them depart; for we are about to teach those initiated persons who are worthy of the knowledge of the most sacred mysteries, the whole nature of such divine and secret ordices. And those who are thus worthy are they who, with all modesty, practise genuine piety, of that sort which scorns to disguise itself under any false colours. But we will not act the part of hierophant or expounder of sacred mysteries to those who are afflicted with the incurable disease of pride of language and quibbling expressions, and juggling tricks of manners, and who measure sanctity and holiness by no other standard. XIII. 42. I will, therefore, behave myself in an affable, and courteous, and conciliatory manner to all men, even if I should obtain the dominion over the whole earth and the whole sea, and especially to those who are in the greatest difficulties and of the least reputation, and who are destitute of all assistance from kindred of their own, to those who are orphaned of either or of both their parents, to women who have experienced widowhood, and to old men who have either never had any children at all, or who have lost at an early age those who have been born to them;
14. Philo of Alexandria, On The Migration of Abraham, 87-94, 86 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 86. What then is the fourth gift? The having a great name, for God says, "I will magnify thy Name;" and the meaning of this, as it appears to me, is as follows; as to be good is honourable, so also to appear to be so is advantageous. And truth is better than appearance, but perfect happiness is when the two are combined. For there are great numbers of people who apply themselves to virtue in genuine honesty and sincerity, and who admire its genuine beauty, having no regard to the reputation which they may have with the multitude, and who in consequence have been plotted against, being thought wicked though in reality they are good.
15. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 80, 168 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 168. For I think that as the sun and the moon do continually give light, ever since they were originally commanded to do so at the time of the original creation of the universe, and as they constantly obey the divine injunction, for the sake of no other reason but because evil and disobedience are banished to a distance far from the boundaries of heaven: so in the same way would the fertile and productive regions of the earth yield an immense abundance in the various seasons of the year, without any skill or co-operation on the part of the husbandman. But at present the ever-flowing fountains of the graces of God have been checked, from the time when wickedness began to increase faster than the virtues, in order that they might not be supplying men who were unworthy to be benefited by them.
16. Philo of Alexandria, On The Sacrifices of Cain And Abel, 22-32, 21 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 21. For two women live with each individual among us, both unfriendly and hostile to one another, filling the whole abode of the soul with envy, and jealousy, and contention; of these we love the one looking upon her as being mild and tractable, and very dear to and very closely connected with ourselves, and she is called pleasure; but the other we detest, deeming her unmanageable, savage, fierce, and most completely hostile, and her name is virtue. Accordingly, the one comes to us luxuriously dressed in the guise of a harlot and prostitute, with mincing steps, rolling her eyes about with excessive licentiousness and desire, by which baits she entraps the souls of the young, looking about with a mixture of boldness and impudence, holding up her head, and raising herself above her natural height, fawning and giggling, having the hair of her head dressed with most superfluous elaborateness, having her eyes pencilled, her eyebrows covered over, using incessant warm baths, painted with a fictitious colour, exquisitely dressed with costly garments, richly embroidered, adorned with armlets, and bracelets, and necklaces, and all other ornaments which can be made of gold, and precious stones, and all kinds of female decorations; loosely girdled, breathing of most fragrant perfumes, thinking the whole market her home; a marvel to be seen in the public roads, out of the scarcity of any genuine beauty, pursuing a bastard elegance.
17. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 2.56, 2.58, 2.61-2.62 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 2.56. But after this continued and uninterrupted festival which thus lasts through all time, there is another celebrated, namely, that of the sacred seventh day after each recurring interval of six days, which some have denominated the virgin, looking at its exceeding sanctity and purity. And others have called the motherless, as being produced by the Father of the universe alone, as a specimen of the male kind unconnected with the sex of women; for the number seven is a most brave and valiant number, well adapted by nature for government and authority. Some, again, have called it the occasion, forming their conjectures of that part of its essence which is appreciable only by the intellect, from the objects intelligible to their outward senses. 2.58. But Moses, from a most honourable cause, called it consummation and perfection; attributing to the number six the origination of all the parts of the world, and to the number seven their perfection; for the number six is an oddeven number, being composed of twice three, having the odd number for the male and the even number for the female, from the union of which, production takes place in accordance with the unalterable laws of nature. 2.61. And the works meant are those enjoined by precepts and doctrines in accordance with virtue. And in the day he exhorts us to apply ourselves to philosophy, improving our souls and the domit part of us, our mind. 2.62. Accordingly, on the seventh day there are spread before the people in every city innumerable lessons of prudence, and temperance, and courage, and justice, and all other virtues; during the giving of which the common people sit down, keeping silence and pricking up their ears, with all possible attention, from their thirst for wholesome instruction; but some of those who are very learned explain to them what is of great importance and use, lessons by which the whole of their lives may be improved.
18. Philo of Alexandria, On The Virtues, 55 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 55. And the clearest proof of what I have said may be afforded by the following consideration. He had a friend and pupil, one who had been so almost from his very earliest youth, Joshua by name, whose friendship he had won, not by any of the arts which are commonly in use among other men, but by that heavenly and unmixed love from which all virtue is derived. This man lived under the same roof, and shared the same table with him, except when solitude was enjoined to him on occasions when he was inspired and instructed in divine oracles. He also performed other services for him in which he was distinguished from the multitude, being almost his lieutet, and regulating in conjunction with him the matters relating to his supreme authority.
19. Philo of Alexandria, On The Contemplative Life, 11-12, 14, 17, 2, 21-29, 3, 30-39, 4, 40-49, 5, 50-59, 6, 61-69, 7, 70-79, 8, 80-89, 9, 90, 10 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 10. But since these men infect not only their fellow countrymen, but also all that come near them with folly, let them remain uncovered, being mutilated in that most indispensable of all the outward senses, namely, sight. I am speaking here not of the sight of the body, but of that of the soul, by which alone truth and falsehood are distinguished from one another.
20. Philo of Alexandria, Against Flaccus, 43, 121 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 121. And when they heard of the arrest that had taken place, and that Flaccus was now within the toils, stretching up their hands to heaven, they sang a hymn, and began a song of praise to God, who presides over all the affairs of men, saying, "We are not delighted, O Master, at the punishment of our enemy, being taught by the sacred laws to submit to all the vicissitudes of human life, but we justly give thanks to thee, who hast had mercy and compassion upon us, and who hast thus relieved our continual and incessant oppressions.
21. Philo of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 3 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 3. For as long as the pure rays of wisdom shine forth in the soul, by means of which the wise man sees God and his powers, no one of those who bring false news ever enters into the reason, but all such are kept at a distance outside of the sacred threshhold. But when the light of the intellect is dimmed and overshadowed, then the companions of darkness having become victorious, associate themselves with the dissolute and effeminate passions which the prophet calls the daughters of men, and they bear children to them and not to God.
22. Philo of Alexandria, Plant., 39 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 39. He, then, who had drunk of this unmixed source of joy, and was a follower of and fellow rejoicer with Moses, and not one of the least valued of that body, in his Psalms addressed his own mind, saying, "Delight thou in the Lord." Exciting himself and his mind towards heavenly and divine love by these words, and indigtly turning away from the luxury and effeminacy existing among what are called and believed to be human goods; and being hurried away in his whole heart by divine inspiration and fervour, and finding his joy in God alone. X.
23. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 1.154, 14.214-14.216 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 1.154. 1. Now Abram, having no son of his own, adopted Lot, his brother Haran’s son, and his wife Sarai’s brother; and he left the land of Chaldea when he was seventy-five years old, and at the command of God went into Canaan, and therein he dwelt himself, and left it to his posterity. He was a person of great sagacity, both for understanding all things and persuading his hearers, and not mistaken in his opinions; 14.214. Now it does not please me that such decrees should be made against our friends and confederates, whereby they are forbidden to live according to their own customs, or to bring in contributions for common suppers and holy festivals, while they are not forbidden so to do even at Rome itself; 14.215. for even Caius Caesar, our imperator and consul, in that decree wherein he forbade the Bacchanal rioters to meet in the city, did yet permit these Jews, and these only, both to bring in their contributions, and to make their common suppers. 14.216. Accordingly, when I forbid other Bacchanal rioters, I permit these Jews to gather themselves together, according to the customs and laws of their forefathers, and to persist therein. It will be therefore good for you, that if you have made any decree against these our friends and confederates, to abrogate the same, by reason of their virtue and kind disposition towards us.”
24. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 7.420-7.436 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 7.421. who having in suspicion the restless temper of the Jews for innovation, and being afraid lest they should get together again, and persuade some others to join with them, gave orders to Lupus to demolish that Jewish temple which was in the region called Onion 7.422. and was in Egypt, which was built and had its denomination from the occasion following: 7.423. Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly, on account of his hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance; 7.424. and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him to give him leave to build a temple somewhere in Egypt, and to worship God according to the customs of his own country; 7.425. for that the Jews would then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with greater goodwill; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience, very many of them would come over to him. 7.426. 3. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, and gave him a place one hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. That Nomos was called the Nomos of Heliopoli 7.427. where Onias built a fortress and a temple, not like to that at Jerusalem, but such as resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of sixty cubits; 7.428. he made the structure of the altar in imitation of that in our own country, and in like manner adorned with gifts, excepting the make of the candlestick 7.429. for he did not make a candlestick, but had a [single] lamp hammered out of a piece of gold, which illuminated the place with its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold; 7.431. Yet did not Onias do this out of a sober disposition, but he had a mind to contend with the Jews at Jerusalem, and could not forget the indignation he had for being banished thence. Accordingly, he thought that by building this temple he should draw away a great number from them to himself. 7.432. There had been also a certain ancient prediction made by [a prophet] whose name was Isaiah, about six hundred years before, that this temple should be built by a man that was a Jew in Egypt. And this is the history of the building of that temple. 7.433. 4. And now Lupus, the governor of Alexandria, upon the receipt of Caesar’s letter, came to the temple, and carried out of it some of the donations dedicated thereto, and shut up the temple itself. 7.434. And as Lupus died a little afterward, Paulinus succeeded him. This man left none of those donations there, and threatened the priests severely if they did not bring them all out; nor did he permit any who were desirous of worshipping God there so much as to come near the whole sacred place; 7.435. but when he had shut up the gates, he made it entirely inaccessible, insomuch that there remained no longer the least footsteps of any Divine worship that had been in that place. 7.436. Now the duration of the time from the building of this temple till it was shut up again was three hundred and forty-three years.
25. Mishnah, Shekalim, 5.2 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 5.2. They did not have less than three treasurers. Or less than seven superintendents. Nor create positions of authority over the public in matters of money [with] less than two [officers], except [in the case] of the son of Ahiyah who was over the sickness of the bowels and Elazar who was over the veil, for these had been accepted by the majority of the public."
26. New Testament, Acts, 7.2-7.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 7.2. He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran 7.3. and said to him, 'Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.' 7.4. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.
27. New Testament, Galatians, 3.28 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 3.28. There is neither Jewnor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither malenor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
28. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 108.9-108.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
29. Tacitus, Agricola, 21 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
30. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of The Philosophers, 7.111 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 7.111. They hold the emotions to be judgements, as is stated by Chrysippus in his treatise On the Passions: avarice being a supposition that money is a good, while the case is similar with drunkenness and profligacy and all the other emotions.And grief or pain they hold to be an irrational mental contraction. Its species are pity, envy, jealousy, rivalry, heaviness, annoyance, distress, anguish, distraction. Pity is grief felt at undeserved suffering; envy, grief at others' prosperity; jealousy, grief at the possession by another of that which one desires for oneself; rivalry, pain at the possession by another of what one has oneself.
31. Porphyry, On Abstinence, 4.8 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) 4.8. 8.This also is a testimony of their continence, that, though they neither exercised themselves in walking or riding, yet they lived free from disease, and were sufficiently strong for the endurance of modern labours. They bore therefore many burdens in the performance of sacred operations, and accomplished many ministrant works, which required more than common strength. But they divided the night into the observation of the celestial bodies, and sometimes devoted a part of it to offices of purification; and they distributed the day into the worship of the Gods, according to which they celebrated them with hymns thrice or four times, viz. in the morning and evening, when the sun is at his meridian altitude, and when he is declining to the west. The rest of their time they devoted to arithmetical and geometrical speculations, always labouring to effect something, and to make some new discovery, and, in short, continually exercising their skill. In winter nights also they were occupied in the same employments, being vigilantly engaged in literary pursuits, as paying no attention to the acquisition of externals, and being liberated from the servitude of that bad master, excessive expense. Hence their unwearied and incessant labour testifies their endurance, but their continence is manifested by their liberation from the desire of external good. To sail from Egypt likewise, [i.e. to quit Egypt,] was considered by them to be one of the most unholy things, in consequence of their being careful to avoid foreign luxury and pursuits; for this appeared to them to be alone lawful to those who were compelled to do so by regal necessities. Indeed, they were very anxious to continue in the observance of the institutes of their country, and those who were found to have violated them, though but in a small degree were expelled [from the college of the priests]. The |119 true method of philosophizing, likewise, was preserved by the prophets, by the hierostolistae 9, and the sacred scribes, and also by the horologi, or calculators of nativities. But the rest of the priests, and of the pastophori 10, curators of temples, and ministers of the Gods, were similarly studious of purity, yet not so accurately, and with such great continence, as the priests of whom we have been speaking. And such are the particulars which are narrated of the Egyptians, by a man who was a lover of truth, and an accurate writer, and who among the Stoics strenuously and solidly philosophized. SPAN
32. Anon., Letter of Aristeas, 306, 305 305. after saluting the king went back to their own place. And as is the custom of all the Jews, they washed their hands in the sea and prayed to God and then devoted themselves to reading and

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
achilles	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 259
adams, edward	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 234
alcibiades	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 255
alexandria	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135; Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326; Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 23, 223
allegory of the law	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 143
anaxagoras	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 239
androgyne, or hermaphroditus	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
antioch (syrian)	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
aphrodite	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 144, 254
apion	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 107
apollo	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 227
aramaic	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
aristophanes	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 242, 249, 258, 262
aristotle, on drunkenness	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
aristotle	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 254
associations	Alikin, The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering (2009) 27
athenaeus	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255; Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 225, 252
augustus (octavian)	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
babylonia	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
baer, richard a.	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 257
betz, h.d.	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 229
bormann, karl	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 243
bénatouïl, t.	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
chaeremon the stoic, on the egyptian priests	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 15, 239, 276
chaeremon the stoic	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 15, 23
christianity	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
church fathers, hippolytus	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
cicero	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 37
claudius	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 233
cleanthes	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 107
competition and competitiveness	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 136
corpus hermeticum	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
courage	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 115, 129
cowardice	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 115, 129
death	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
diaspora	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
disease/illness	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 115, 129
drunkenness	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
edfu (= apollinopolis magna)	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
endurance	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 115
esotericism	Tarrant et al, Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity (2018) 120
fear	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 129
gluttony	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135
gnosticism	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
greek, language	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
greek-jewish (graeco-jewish), literature and culture	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
harran	Birnbaum and Dillon, Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2020) 213
health	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 129
heavens	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
hebrew language	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
hellenism, hellenistic	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
hercules	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 102
homily	Alikin, The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering (2009) 27
inebriation, sober	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
inebriation	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
jewish feasting and feasting literature see under (see also under christianity, early), responses to the greco-roman symposium	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135, 136
jewish thought	Tarrant et al, Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity (2018) 120
josephus	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
law, mosaic (law of moses)	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
leontopolis	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
love, of heaven	Birnbaum and Dillon, Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2020) 213
meals, jewish	Alikin, The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering (2009) 27
meat, avoidance/prohibition	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
midrash	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
migrations of abraham, as spiritual	Birnbaum and Dillon, Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2020) 213
migrations of abraham, literal and ethical interpretations of	Birnbaum and Dillon, Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2020) 213
migrations of abraham	Birnbaum and Dillon, Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2020) 213
moralia	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
mosaic	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
moses	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
mysticism, mystical	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
names (as ethnic-religious markers)	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
noah, drunken	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
onias iv, land of onias	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
onias iv, temple of onias (leontopolis)	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
orphism	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
ostraca arabic, greek	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
pagan, paganism	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
papyri, as evidence for jews in egypt	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
papyri, greek	Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
paul, apostle	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
paul (saul)	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
pederasty	Tarrant et al, Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity (2018) 120
perfectionism, path to perfection	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
perfectionism	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
persian empire/period	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
persian language/thought/culture	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
phaedrus, symposium	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
phillips, t.e.	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
philo, of alexandria	Tarrant et al, Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity (2018) 120
philo, on the contemplative life	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135
philo	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
philo of alexandria, perfection	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
philo of alexandria	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
philosophy, graeco-roman	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
plato/platonic	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
plato	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180; Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 102; Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
platos symposium	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
pleasure	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 136
plutarch, symposium of the seven sages	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135
prostitutes	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 115
protagoras, symposium	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135
pythagoras	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
pythagoreans	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
qumran	Alikin, The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering (2009) 27
rabbinic tradition/literature, halakha	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
recklessness	Wilson, Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2010) 115
reincarnation	Tarrant et al, Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity (2018) 120
revolt/war, under trajan	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
sacrifice	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
seneca	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
sexual relations, (mis)behaviour	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
soul, journey of	Birnbaum and Dillon, Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (2020) 213
stoa/stoic/stoicism, on drunkenness	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
sun	Leão and Lanzillotta, A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019) 180
symposium	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69; Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 102
symposium and symposium literature, rules and conventions for conversation	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 136
synagogue	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
synagogue service	Alikin, The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering (2009) 27
talmud, palestinian	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 136
theophrastus	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255
therapeutac	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 102
therapeutae	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227; Salvesen et al., Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (2020) 326
timaeus	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 102
transmigration of souls'	McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals (1999) 69
virtue	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
wilderness	Najman, The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (2010) 227
wisdom of jesus ben sira	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 136
xenophon, symposium	König, Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture (2012) 135
xenophon	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 102; Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
zeal (for the law)	Tomson, Studies on Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries (2019) 321
zeno	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 255