Clement on Hesiod and Homer's gods

Connection type: allusion · 2 passages

Clement argues that the twelve gods are a poetic invention: Hesiod sings their birth in the Theogony and Homer speaks of the gods throughout. The Theogony's opening invocation of the Heliconian Muses is shown beside Clement's charge.

Passages side by side

“There is a sixth mode of introducing error and of manufacturing gods, according to which they number the twelve gods, whose birth is the theme of which Hesiod sings in his Theogony, and of whom Homer speaks in all that he says of the gods.”

Clement of Alexandria — Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Heathen) · Chapter 2. The Absurdity and Impiety of the Heathen Mysteries and Fables About the Birth and Death of Their Gods.

“From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos,”

Hesiod — Theogony · Section urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng2

Every passage above is quoted verbatim from the library’s own corpus file for that work (Septuagint passages from the Swete text); long passages are shown as sentences or marked excerpts, never paraphrased. The connection type is descriptive: “direct quotation” means the later text names or quotes its source; “allusion” means it names the figure or scene; “parallel tradition” means the texts retell the same episode or wording, with no dependence claimed.

Subjects

Myth & legend, Heresy & apologetics

All connections · Biblical passages · Quotation finder