"O Zeus, the most glorious, the greatest of the gods, hiding under the dung of sheep, horses, and hinnies!" And could it be expressed in any other way? But he is not stingy with other equally lofty speeches. For example: "Having said this, the goddess δοιως ανεσυρατο μυρως" in order to lead her favorites into her obscene secrets, which is still depicted even now by external bodily movements. Let Phanes, Ericapeia, and he who devoured all the other gods, and then vomited them out of himself, and thus became the father of men and gods, join in all this. Let all this be offered to the wonderful hearers of theology, then let them invent allegories and monstrous interpretations for this, and the teaching, departing from its subject, will rush into the abyss or rapids of speculation, which has no support. But where will you place Homer, that great tragicomic singer of the gods? In his amazing poems you will find both, that is, both grief and laughter. Indeed, is it possible to watch and wait without great care whether, through the intermediary of Hera, dressed like a harlot, the Ocean will be reconciled with Tethys? Otherwise, the misfortune of the whole Universe if they spend some more time chaste! I do not know whether you will explain this in such a way that dryness and humidity must be reconciled, so that by an excess of one of them everything will not be thrown into disorder; or come up with something even more ridiculous. Then, what a wonderful copulation between the cloud-gatherer and the venerable Hera, when she convinces him with shamelessness in the middle of the day! And the poets in their measured speeches flatter him, laying the dewy lotus and returning saffron and hyacinth from the ground. What is this based on and how can it be explained? How can we understand that one and the same Hera, the sister and wife of the great Zeus, white-bodied and rosy-feathered, appears to be hanged in the ether and in the clouds, with iron anvils dragging her down, and with golden (of course, out of respect for her) fetters on her hands, so that even for the gods, who wanted to intercede for her, their compassion was not uncomfortable; then he puts on the belt of love and, magnificently dressed, so captivates Zeus that all his former desires, as he himself confesses, were much weaker than the love that was then aroused in him? Or how terrible is it that the gods should be stirred for the Lacedaemonian harlot, that the heavens should thunder, and that the foundations of the earth should be torn asunder, the sea should be moved, the kingdom of hell should be revealed, and that which had so long remained hidden should be revealed? Or, how menacing is this wave of black eyebrows and the wavering of immortal hair, from which the whole of Olympus shook? Then, is it not wonderful to see how Ares is wounded, or how this ugly lover of the golden Aphrodite, an imprudent adulterer, is imprisoned in copper, and bound by Hephaestus, lame on both legs, gathers around him for a spectacle the gods who look at his lewdness, and then is released for little money?

Why should they resort to myths, to this cover of shame? The myth is the protection of those who retreat, not those who boldly advance. If this is a lie, then, first, let them point out the theologians who are not hiding, and we will talk to them; then let them say, is it not foolish, as something solid, to boast of what they themselves are ashamed of, as fabulous? Isn't it strange to flaunt in images and in various forms what might remain unknown to the people (because not everyone learns)

In the first place, why do they praise these offenders of the gods they worship, and almost bestow divine honors? It would be a great gain for such people not to suffer punishment for their wickedness.

And it seems to me that it is truly necessary that both the outward signs of the Divine and the expressions about it should not be indecent and unworthy of what is signified, should not be such that people would be grieved if they heard something similar about themselves; on the contrary, they must be either in the highest degree beautiful, or at least not vile, so that they may both please the wise and not harm the people. And with you, what needs to be understood with the mind is incredible, and what is offered to the eyes is pernicious. What kind of prudence is this, to lead through the mud to the city, or over rocks and pitfalls to the wharf? What will come of it? What will be the consequences of such a teaching? You will talk idly and cover up your calamities or other fictions with allegories, but no one will believe you. Rather, they are convinced by what they see. Thus, you will not benefit the listener, and you will lead the spectator who dwells on the visible to destruction. Such is the speculative part of their wisdom! So far is it from their intended ends, that it is more likely that all the rest can be connected with each other, that what is separated by the greatest space is more likely to be united, than to combine and harmonize their fictions, or to think that both the meaning of the fables and their shell are the work of one and the same teacher.

What can be said about the moral part of their wisdom? Whence and where shall they begin, and what motives shall they use to teach their hearers virtue, and by means of their exhortations to make them better? It is a beautiful thing to be of one mind, that cities, nations, families, and all men should live in harmony with each other, following the law and order of nature, which has divided and united all things, and has made this collection of various things one world. But by what examples will they teach unanimity? Is it that they will tell of the battles of the gods, of their internecine strife, of their rebellions, and of the multitude of misfortunes which they themselves endure and inflict on each other, each separately and all together, and with which almost all their history and all their poetry are filled? But by pointing out such examples, you are more likely to make people from peaceful lovers of abuse, from wise to ecstasy, than from impudent and foolish to humble and sensible. If, even then, since there is no lure to evil, it is difficult to turn people away from vice, and to convert them from a bad state to a good one, then who will persuade them to be meek and temperate, when their gods are the guides and protectors of the passions, and to be vicious is even a praiseworthy deed, rewarded with altars and sacrifices, and enjoying legal freedom (since every vice is under the protection of some god? to which it is attributed)? Indeed, it is the greatest absurdity that people revere the very thing for which the law prescribes punishment as something divine. Such is your abundance of unrighteousness. Secondly, let the teachers of the Gentiles suggest that they reverently respect their parents and honor in them the first guilt of their existence after the Original Guilt. Let them bring proofs to this point and present convictions from theology. How could Cronus, who castrated Uranus so that he could not beget gods, and give the waves an opportunity to complete the birth of the goddess from foam, would not persuade him to do so? How can Zeus, that sweet stone and bitter murderer of the tyrant, who, imitating his father Cronus, rebel against him, not convince? I do not point out other similar motives for honoring parents contained in their books. Thirdly, let the teachers of the Gentiles try to teach them to despise money, not to try to profit from everything, and not to seek unrighteous acquisitions, which are the pledge of calamity. But how then to put Kerdoi in front? How to show his bag? How to honor the agility of this god in stealing? What good then are the sayings: "Phoebus does not prophesy without brass" or "Nothing is more honorable than an obolus?"

Do we still need examples of curbing the passions? Let anger be tamed by Ares, drunkenness by Dionysus, hatred of strangers by Artemis, passion for deception by their cunning soothsayer, immoderate laughter by that god who limps in the assembly of gods who pity him, who can hardly stand on thin legs, gluttony by Zeus, who runs with other demons to a fat feast with the immaculate Ethiopians, and also Vuin, so called because he offended a farmer and ate his ox, pulling the plow, as well as the other gods, who all run so hastily to the smell of fat and libations!

Is this close to our teaching, according to which everyone should measure love for others by love for himself, and desire for his neighbors the same as for himself, according to which desire is blamed not only for doing evil, but also for plotting, and for punishing the deed itself, according to which chastity should be so carefully cared for, as to abstain from the eye, and not only from the hand, to kill? but to pacify the anger itself, according to which – to break an oath or to swear falsely – is so terrible and intolerable, that the oath itself is forbidden to us alone? Many of us had no money at all, and others, although they had a lot of it, but only in order to neglect much, loving non-acquisitiveness instead of all wealth. To serve the belly, that intolerable and disgusting worthy lord and source of all evil, is left to us by the rabble; It will not be much if I say that Christian ascetics try to be as it were bodiless, exhausting the mortal with the immortal; for them, one law of virtue is not to be conquered even by the smallest, even by what everyone ignores. While others punish according to their laws for committing a deed, we cut off the very sources of sin, stopping it in advance, as a kind of evil and unstoppable stream. What could be more excellent? Or, tell me, where and from what kind of people you will find, so that when they speak evil of them, they bless, when they blaspheme, they are comforted (for it is not the accusation that causes harm, but the truth), when they persecute, they yield (1 Cor. 4:12-13), when one garment is taken from them, they give another, when they swear, they pray for those who swear (Matt. 5:40-44), in a word, that they may overcome insolence with mercy, and, Patiently enduring offenses, did you make the offenders themselves the best? Let them also restrain vice by exhortations that are outwardly plausible; let us yield to them, but how can they attain our virtue and our teaching, when even these are considered evil among us, if we do not succeed in good, if we do not continually become new from the old, but remain in the same position, like the kubars, which only whirl and do not roll forward, and although they move from the blows of the whip, they are all in the same place? We have so many good deeds ahead of us, that we must complete one thing, approach another, ardently desire a third, until we reach the end and God's grace, for this we have received existence, and to this we unswervingly strive, if only we ascend the mountain with our minds and hope for good things worthy of the greatness of God.

HOMILY 5. The Second Accusation of Emperor Julian

And so, with my word, the first podvig was accomplished and completed. For I have sufficiently shown the wickedness of man, by depicting what he has done to us, and what he could still do, incessantly inventing something more painful than the present. Now I will assign another purpose to the word, which hardly anyone intended for himself, a goal more sacred before God, most pleasing to us, most useful for posterity, — to add to what has been said how true are the scales of God, and what recompense impiety finds for itself, now immediately, now in a short time, as it pleases (I think) the Artist, the Word and Administrator of our affairs, who knows when to atone for misfortunes with mercy and when to bring insolence to reason with shame and executions, using the measures of correction known to Him.

I will begin my speech with a miracle known to all, which even the atheists believe.

As waves were raised upon waves, every day the one who raged against us, first raging against himself, trampling down the holiness of the Spirit of grace, offending (Heb. 10:29), this (it is more appropriate to say) Jeroboam, or the Israelite Ahab (the most wicked of men), or the Egyptian Pharaoh, or the Assyrian Nebuchadnezzar, or, combining all these names together, let us call him alone. For it seems that he combined in himself the vices of all: the apostasy of Jeroboam, the indecent murder of Ahab, the hardness of Pharaoh, the sacrilege of Nebuchadnezzar, and the wickedness of all in general. Having tried all the rest over us, and neglecting other kinds of torment as small and insignificant (for there was no creature more capable of inventing and inventing evil), he finally stirred up the Jewish people against us, making the instrument of his cunning their old light-mindedness and the hatred of us that had long been hidden in them. Concealing his designs under the guise of benevolence toward the Jews, he proved from their books and sacraments that the time had now come for them to enter their land, to rebuild the temple, and to restore the strength of their fathers' customs. But when he had invented this and convinced them of it (for everything pleasant easily leads to deception), the Jews, as if perked up, conceived a plan for the temple, and began to work actively and zealously at the work. Some say with amazement that their wives not only took off all their adornments and willingly sacrificed them for the benefit of the cause and the working people, but also carried the earth in their hands, sparing neither expensive clothes nor tender limbs, recognized their labors as a work of piety, and placed everything else below their occupation. When, frightened suddenly by a violent whirlwind and an earthquake, they rushed to one of the nearby churches, some for prayer, others, as usually happens in such cases, seeking salvation where they had to, while others were carried away by the general confusion, interfering with the crowd of fleeing, then, according to some, the church did not receive them. Going to the open gates, they found that they were closed by some invisible power, which works miracles in a similar way, in order to terrify the wicked, and the pious to safety. But everyone is already saying and are sure that when they tried to enter, fire came out of the temple and burned and destroyed some (so that something similar happened to them that befell the Sodomites, or the miracle that happened to Nadab and Abihu, who burned a strange fire and perished extraordinarily), and others, having mutilated, left as a living monument of God's wrath and vengeance against sinners. So it was, and everyone should believe this, as well as other miracles of God. Even more surprising and obvious to everyone was the light in the sky, depicting the cross. This mark and name, which was formerly despised on earth by the godless, is now made equally visible to all in heaven and serves as a sign of God's victory over the wicked, preferably before any other sign of victory.

What will the wise men of our age say to this, who praise their own, wear long beards, and drag their elegant cloaks on the ground? Tell your own instead, you who write long speeches, compose incredible stories, direct your gaze to the things above, reinterpret heavenly signs, and conclude births and other events from the movement of the stars! Speak to me of your stars, of the crown of Ariadne, of the hair of Veronica, of the lustful swan, of the insolent calf, and, if you like, of your serpent-holder, of the capricorn, of the lion, and of all the others whom you, knowing by their wickedness, have made either gods or stars. Where can you find such a circle in your mathematics? Where will you find a star that would go ahead from the east to Bethlehem as a guide and protector of your Magi? I can say something about heavenly signs: that star opened the coming of Christ, and this one was the crown of Christ's victory. This is what I will say about the heavenly and the heavenly, which, by the great agreement and affinity of all things, participates in our affairs; and the rest will be filled up for me by the psalm: "And thou hast destroyed cities" (Psalm 9:7). Like those ancient cities that were ravaged for such wickedness, they were either swallowed up by the sea or destroyed by an earthquake in the very time of their iniquity with us, so that I can almost say the rest: their memory perished with noise, perished with a loud voice. Such was their fall and destruction, that it would take a long time to restore them, if anyone from among the neighbors, even the most comforted by piety, dared to do so. Such were the manifestations on earth and in heaven! But were not signs placed in the very air at that time, and was it not then sanctified by the signs of the suffering (of Christ)? Let the spectators and witnesses of his miracle show even now the garments sealed then with the signs of the Cross. As soon as one of our own or a stranger told about it or listened to those who told it, he immediately saw a miracle either on himself or on a neighbor: he himself was in the stars, or saw the stars on the clothes of another, which were mottled better than any masterful fabric or skillful painting. What happened from this? The spectators were so amazed that almost everyone, as if with one wave and one voice, began to call on the Christian God and propitiate Him with praises and prayers. Many, without delay, at the same time as it happened, came to our priests and, after earnest request, became members of the Church, were instructed in the sacraments of the Faith, cleansed by Divine Baptism, and thus, through fear, were delivered from fear. But enough about that.

Julian, more and more incited and driven by rage, finally ascends to the very summit of his misfortunes. For he thought that the affairs of the Christians were going according to his wishes, since what he had done already gave him hope that everything would submit to him if he only wanted to; moreover, he admired the victory over the Western barbarians, then he undertook this intention, which was very prudent and philanthropic. Taking from thence two armies, both the soldiers and the demons who commanded him (on whom he had more hope), he marched against the Persians, relying more on his reckless audacity than on the strength of his forces. And this sage could not understand that boldness (θαρσος) and audacity (θρασος), although close in name, are nevertheless most different from each other in actions; I mean courage and cowardice. To be bold in matters that require courage is a sign of courage; while to weaken is a sign of timidity. But to go and rush where there is more danger, and not to hold back, is a sign of insolence; whereas to evade is a sign of caution. It cannot be supposed that it means to keep what you have and to acquire what you did not have. The former is especially and especially worthy of the respect of prudent people, the latter, if it is convenient, should be accepted; otherwise, it is contemptible. Whoever, in the hope of gaining something, exposes himself to the danger of losing all that he has, is very imprudent. Such a man seems to me to be like a bad fighter, who begins to fight before he is in a firm position, or to the helmsman who sinks and tries to sink the enemy's ship when his ship is without tackle and incapable of sailing.

Julian, it seems, did not think about it in the least; he proceeds without prudence to carry out his enterprise; he thought about acquiring a foreign province when the affairs of the Romans were upset by him and were in a bad situation, especially as a result of persecution. Being Salmoneus, who made thunder with his skin, he stretched out his eyes to those Trajans and Hadrians, in whom caution was no less surprising than courage, and did not think of either Carus or Valerian, who were punished for their reckless impetuosity (I do not speak in reproach to an evil fate, as the tragedian expresses it), having suffered defeat within the borders of Persia, when they were at the summit of happiness. But he made up his mind to do so, and gave himself up to his impetuosity, gathering together all that was out of measure in prophecy and sorcery, in heard and unheard of sacrifices, so that all would suddenly collapse. And what a great, extraordinary vow he made, to my Christ and the Word! And the sufferings of the Passionless One, and the mystery of the whole world, the whole Christian race is to be given over to demons, if it succeeds in what it has undertaken.