thought to surpass his other works in elegance of diction; but that alone will hardly be a sufficient reason to pronounce it spurious, though it may justify a suspicion and an hesitation about it. The Benedictin editor, p. 604, says, Cum scriberet Cohortationem ad Græcos Justinus, credebat Septuaginta illos Viros, dum pro se quisque separatim inclusi laborabant, magno miraculo in omnibus verbis et sententiis inter se consensisse. Sed hanc fabulam, nec in prima Apologia, ubi agit de Septuaginta Interpretibus, commemorat, nec in Dialogo illius credendæ onus imponit Judæis: in quo quidem non levis conjectura est eam Justinum aut missam fecisse, aut saltem suspectam habere cœpisse.' Some will rather conjecture from this, that Justin was not the author of the Cohortatio; and I could name a friend, well known to the learned world, and a very good judge, who thinks that nothing of Justin is certainly genuine, besides the Dialogue and the Apologies. The Benedictin endeavours to prove that the Cohortatio is to be ascribed to him, and contends with Casimire Oudin, who held the contrary opinion. Præf. p. lxviii. The Sibyl in the Proœm says, Τὶς γὰρ σὰρξ δύναται τὸν ἐπουράνιον καὶ ἀληθῆ Corporeis oculis etenim quis cernere verum Socrates in Xenophon has the same sentiment, and says that the Deity is inconspicuous, and that a man cannot look upon the sun without being dazzled. Memor. iv. 3. Theophilus, Minucius Felix, Theodoret, and others have said the same thing. Clemens Alexandrinus fancied that Xenophon borrowed it from the Sibyl, Cohort. p. 61. and Strom. v.714. But even admitting the antiquity of these verses, and supposing that they were written in Noah's ark, it will not fol low from the parity of thought, that Socrates or Xenophon had seen them, since all men, except those who are blind, know, without an instructor, that it is impossible to look upon the sun when he shines out in full strength. One thing is very plain, that the two first verses, and the word σαρξ, for mortal man, are taken from the scriptures. Justin Cohort. 18. has cited a very singular passage from Sophocles; Εἷς ταῖς ἀληθείαισιν, εἷς ἐστιν Θεὸς, C • Bentley, in his Epistle to Mill, corrects these verses ascribed to Sephocles, and rejects them as spurious. He says: Efficiam ut posthac hi versiculi sano saltem pede possint incedere. Sic igitur emendo: Ἐν ταῖς ἀληθείαισιν εἷς ἐστιν Θεὸς, Ita fere leguntur apud Justinum, Clementem, Eusebium, Theodoritum, et partim Athenagoram; adeo ut demirer interpretem (Malala) Chilmeadum, hominem sane pereruditum, in luce tam clara minus solito perspexisse. Sed non te celabo, quod pace sanctorum virorum dictum velim, vehementer me suspicari non esse hæc a Sophocle. Id adeo cur in animum inducam, si me interroges; dico, permirum mihi præter alia videri, tam illustrem locum Ecclesiasticis solis incurrisse in oculos, aliorum omnium aciem effugisse. Qui factum, uti dormitaret hic Plutarchi diligentia ? Qui Porphyrium præterire potuit περὶ ἀποχῆς ἐμψύ χων tam insigne testimonium adversus τῶν θυσιῶν τὰς παρανόμους σφα γας, ut ad hunc locum ait Theodoritus ? Ubi tu, Stobæe, cessasti ? tu, qui tot forulos bibliothecarum excussisti, Sophoclis autem et Euripidis monumenta studiose præter cætera lectitasti? Adeone paucos è patribus, quid patres autem dico? unumne aliquem tenebrionem, qui supposita persona librum ediderit (ut et olim et hodie nonnullorum opinio est, neque adeo injuria) cæteris omnibus perspicaciorem et diligentiorem fuisse? Ciemens enim aperte et ingenue fatetur Hecatæi se fidem secu • Unus profecto est, unus est tantum Deus, tum, apud ipsum Sophoclem omnino non legisse. Ὁ μὲν Σοφοκλῆς, ait Strom. v. ὥς φησιν Ἑκαταῖος ὁ τὰς ἱστορίας συνταξάμενος ἐν τῷ κατ' *Αβραμον καὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους. Πlud autem exploratum habeo tam a Justino et Clemente patres alios accepisse, quam Justinum et Clementem commentitii ejus Hecatæi autoritate tradidisse. Quem ad hominem demum, et quam nulla fide res redierit vides. Ille ne ut Sophocli versiculos aliquot vereretur affingere, qui illum ipsum, quo eos adduxit, lie brum ediderit simulata persona Hecatæi? Ipsa præterea oratio de se facit indicium. Non agnosco illud χαλκέων, et πολλὸν sumtum, ut aiunt, adverbialiter, esse hominis Attici, aut in tragoedia ferri posse. Qualis enim hæc foret confusio dialectorum, et, ut ait ille, sartago loquendi ? Oportuit enim πολύ et χαλκών. Χαλκέων quidem a χαλκεύς Attice dixeris ; minime gentium a χαλκούς, non magis mehercule quam άγαπάει νεί ̓Αριστοτέλεος. χρύσεα, ait Phrynichus, ἀργύρια, κυάνεα, χάλ κεα, ταῦτα Ἰακα διαιρούμενα· χρὴ οὖν λέγειν, χρυσᾶ, ἀργυρᾶ, κυανά, τὸν Αττικίζοντα. Χρυσοῦς λέγε, τὸ γὰρ χρύσεος Ιακὸν, ὡσαύτως καὶ ἀρε γυροῦς, χαλκοῦς, κυανοῦς, καὶ τὰ όμοια. Rogo denique cui persona hæc oratio conveniat? Quave Sophocles fiducia die festo Ludorum (non alias enim in scena quam Panathenæis ac trinis Liberalibus tragœdiæ docebantur) illos ipsos dies festos et ludos solennes in contemptionem adduceret? Istuccine se impune laturum speraret? Nonne Eschyli periculum cautiorem eum faceret, qui, quod in Sisypho opinor πετροκυλίστη ad Cereris mysteria curiosius videretur alludere, nisi ad aram Bacchi confugisset, illico trucidatus esset in scena: postea etiam in Areopago de capite suo caussam dixit? - Auget vehementer suspicionem nostram ipse Clemens in Protreptico, qui posteaquam versus eos tanquam Sophocleos protulit, Οὑτοσὶ μὲν, ait, ἤδη καὶ παρακεκινδυνευμένος ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῖς θεαταῖς παρεισήγαγεν. Ergo et Clementis judicio in capitis venisset discrimen, quicunque eos olim in scenam detulisset. Ii alibi citantur hoc exemplo : Θνητοὶ δὲ πουλυκερδείᾳ πλανώμενοι Θεῶν ἀγάλματ' ἐκ λίθων τε καὶ ξύλων, Quamobrem, quia nullus jam locus est censuræ nostræ in woλλov et χαλκέων, alia efferam argumenta oportet, cur subdititii sint. Multis sane nominibus non placet illud πουλυκερδεία. Nam quid, obsecro, facit Touλu in tragœdiæ diverbio ? est enim ex dialecto Ionica. Neque vero dela spondæus in sede quarta ferri potest contra morem consuetudinemque Tragicorum. Theocritus: Καὶ φιλοκερδείη βεβλαμμένον ἄνδρα παρελθεῖν. Neque porro πολυκερδεία de avaritia possis accipere cum interprete Clementis: verum ea sententia nimium quidem inepta et inficeta, quasi At ducta cæco errore gens mortalium si prudentia sive astutia homines in errorem inciderint. Πολυκέρδεια enim est πολυίδρεια. Ut Ulysses Homericus : Οὐκ ἔα επέμεναι, πολυϊδρείησι νόοιο, ̓Αλλ' ὁ μὲν ὴν ἄλοχον πολυκερδείησιν ἄνωγε. Sed et alia fertur scriptura nihilo melior: Θνητοὶ δὲ πολλοὶ καρδίᾳ πλανώμενοι. Mihi quidem, salvo aliorum judicio, nos multi mortales' parum ornate dici videtur pro elegantia Αττικής μελίττης. Sed utcunque de ea re visum fuerit eruditis, rogatos eos velim, qui luculenter Græce sciunt, utrum καρδίᾳ πλανώμενοι domesticus sit sincerusque serio Græcus, an potius peregrinus et πονηροῦ κόμματος ? Nimirum suo se indicio prodit Judæus iste sorex. Neque enim Hellenismus est, verum Hebraismus purus putus ex S. S. tralatus atque expressus. Psalm. xciv. (et Epist. ad Hebræos) Αεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδοὺς μου. Esaias xxi. Ἡ καρδία μου πλανᾶται. Imo enimvero negamus ista Ἢ χρυσοτεύκτων ἢ ̓λεφαντίνων τύπους, ab homine Græco, nedum a Sophocle, proficisci posse. Τύπος hoc in loco est ipsa statua, αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγάλμα, οὐκ εἶδος τοῦ ἀγάλματος, ut apud Isocratem in fine Evagoræ : τοὺς μὲν τύπους ἀναγκαῖον παρὰ τούτοις εἶναι παρ' οἷς ἂν σταθῶσι. Dicerent vero Græci Ἡ χρυσοτεύκτους ἢ ̓λεφαντίνους τύπους Θεῶν, non χρυσοτεύκτων· velut εἰκόνας dicunt χαλκάς Ολυμπιονικών, που χαλκών. Artemidorus: χάλκεαι γὰρ εἰκόνες τῶν ἐλευθέρων ἀνατίθεν Ita passim et vulgo, ut quidem testimoniis uti putidissimum foret. Neque vero aliter Latini. Lucretius : ται. 'Si non aurea sunt juvenum simulacra per ædes :* non aureorum.' Plinius, xxxiv. 7. • Lignea potius aut fictilia deorum simulacra. Juvenalis : Itaque τύπους ἐλεφαντίνων θεῶν nihil minus est quam Graeca oratio : ed tamen utitur Sibylla iii. ξυλίνων θεῶν εἴδωλα dicens pro ξύλινα. Οἵτινες οὐκ ἀπατήσι κεναῖς, οὐδ ̓ ἐργ ̓ ἀνθρώπων Eadem habet Protrepticus Clementis. Quis porro inficiabitur in eodem Aurove ductas fusili, aut eburneas. doctos esse ludo subjectorem hunc Oraculorum, et commentitium illum Hecatæum? Quod si vicero de versibus falso Sophocli attributis, etiam illud evidentissime constabit, quod olim Pilo Herennius, et patrum memoria Josephus Scaliger suspicati sunt, nempe librum illum de Judæis qui sub Hecatæi nomine ferebatur, a Judæo quodam Hellenista fuisse confictum; velut Aristeam illum pari facinore, quem supposititium esse convincunt post eundem Scaligerurn alii bene multi, in quibus omnium doctissime et copiosissime Humfredus Hodius. ONE who should be disposed to dispute the point with Bentley, might say that, besides the first and the illustrious Sophocles, there was a Sophocles his grandson, and a third in the time of the Ptolemies, and that they were all dramatic poets; and he might suppose that this fragment, or a part of it, was possibly taken from the second or third Sophocles. See Fabricius B. Gr. i. 623. He might compound the matter, and conjecture that the three first lines were genuine, and the six following spurious. If the Cohortatio were not written by Justin, Athenagoras was perhaps the first father who took notice of this passage, and he only cites the two first verses; which gives some reason to suspect that he never saw the rest. But, upon a review of the whole, I must agree with Bentley, and reject this pious fragment' as the work of one forger, or perhaps of two. 6 that the fourth foot will be a spondee: but may not the diphthongs at, El, ol, be made short, when a vowel or diphthong follows in the same word? Sophocles Philoct. 1450. Τίνα προσωφέλησιν ἔρξεις ; Βέλεσι τοῖς Ηρακλείοις And so in other places, if I remember rightly. Homer II. E. 105. Τοῖος ἐων, οἷος ὄντις Αχαιών χαλκοχιτώνων. He observes, as I think, rightly, that an Attic writer would not use πουλυκερδείᾳ in an Iambic verse; but πουλὺς for πολὺς is rather a poetic licence than an Ionic dialect. The best objection to TouAUxedela is, πουλυκερδείᾳ that it is nonsense. Attic writers use the words ὀλοίατο, ὀψοίατο, τιθέασι, διδόασιν, &c. which seem properly to belong to the Ionic dialect. |