§1.12.1τούτων δʼ ἕκαστον θεὸν νομίσαι καὶ προσηγορίαν ἰδίαν ἑκάστῳ θεῖναι κατὰ τὸ οἰκεῖον τοὺς πρώτους διαλέκτῳ χρησαμένους διηρθρωμένῃ τῶν κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ἀνθρώπων.
And they say that the first of the men of Egypt who used articulate speech regarded each of these elements as a god, and gave a peculiar name to each, in accordance with its own nature.
§1.12.2τὸ μὲν οὖν πνεῦμα Δία προσαγορεῦσαι μεθερμηνευομένης τῆς λέξεως, ὃν αἴτιον ὄντα τοῦ ψυχικοῦ τοῖς ζῴοις ἐνόμισαν ὑπάρχειν πάντων οἱονεί τινα πατέρα.
Thus, they called the breath "Zeus," when the word is translated, whom they regarded, since he is the cause of the life-force in living creatures, as the father, as it were, of all things.
συμφωνεῖν δὲ τούτοις φασὶ καὶ τὸν ἐπιφανέστατον τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι ποιητῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου λέγοντα
"πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε. " §1.12.3τὸ δὲ πῦρ μεθερμηνευόμενον Ἥφαιστον ὀνομάσαι, νομίσαντας μέγαν εἶναι θεὸν καὶ πολλὰ συμβάλλεσθαι πᾶσιν εἰς γένεσίν τε καὶ τελείαν αὔξησιν.
And they say that the most famous of the poets among the Greeks also agrees with these things, saying of this god: "father of both men and gods." And the fire they named "Hephaestus" when translated, regarding him as a great god and as contributing much to all things for their generation and complete growth.
§1.12.4τὴν δὲ γῆν ὥσπερ ἀγγεῖόν τι τῶν φυομένων ὑπολαμβάνοντας μητέρα προσαγορεῦσαι· καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας δὲ ταύτην παραπλησίως Δήμητραν καλεῖν, βραχὺ μετατεθείσης διὰ τὸν χρόνον τῆς λέξεως·
And the earth, conceiving it as a vessel, as it were, of growing things, they called "mother"; and the Greeks also call her "Demeter" in a similar manner, the word having changed slightly through the passage of time.
τὸ γὰρ παλαιὸν ὀνομάζεσθαι γῆν μητέρα, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν Ὀρφέα προσμαρτυρεῖν λέγοντα
"γῆ μήτηρ πάντων, Δημήτηρ πλουτοδότειρα. " §1.12.5τὸ δʼ ὑγρὸν ὀνομάσαι λέγουσι τοὺς παλαιοὺς Ὠκεάνην, ὃ μεθερμηνευόμενον μὲν εἶναι τροφὴν μητέρα, παρʼ ἐνίοις δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων Ὠκεανὸν ὑπάρχειν ὑπειλῆφθαι, περὶ οὗ καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν λέγειν
"ὠκεανόν τε θεῶν γένεσιν καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν. " §1.12.6οἱ γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι νομίζουσιν Ὠκεανὸν εἶναι τὸν παρʼ αὐτοῖς ποταμὸν Νεῖλον, πρὸς ᾧ καὶ τὰς τῶν θεῶν γενέσεις ὑπάρξαι· τῆς γὰρ πάσης οἰκουμένης κατὰ μόνην τὴν Αἴγυπτον εἶναι πόλεις πολλὰς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων θεῶν ἐκτισμένας, οἷον Διός, Ἡλίου, Ἑρμοῦ, Ἀπόλλωνος, Πανός, Εἰλειθυίας, ἄλλων πλειόνων.
For in ancient times she was named "Earth Mother," as Orpheus also bears witness, saying: "Earth mother of all, Demeter giver of wealth." And the wet element they say the ancients named "Oceane," which when translated is "nourishing mother," but among some of the Greeks it has been supposed that "Oceanus" exists, concerning whom the poet also says: "Oceanus, origin of the gods, and mother Tethys." For the Egyptians suppose that the river Nile among them is Oceanus, near which also the births of the gods took place; for of the whole inhabited world, in Egypt alone are there many cities founded by the ancient gods, such as those of Zeus, Helios, Hermes, Apollo, Pan, Eileithyia, and many others.
§1.12.7τὸν δʼ ἀέρα προσαγορεῦσαί φασιν Ἀθηνᾶν μεθερμηνευομένης τῆς λέξεως, καὶ Διὸς θυγατέρα νομίσαι ταύτην, καὶ παρθένον ὑποστήσασθαι διά τε τὸ ἄφθορον εἶναι φύσει τὸν ἀέρα καὶ τὸν ἀκρότατον ἐπέχειν τόπον τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου· διόπερ ἐκ τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ Διὸς μυθολογηθῆναι ταύτην γενέσθαι.
And the air they say they called "Athena" when the word is translated, and they regarded her as the daughter of Zeus, and established her as a virgin, both because the air is by nature incorruptible and because it occupies the highest place of the whole universe; wherefore she was mythologized to have been born from the crown of Zeus' head.
§1.12.8ὠνομάσθαι δὲ αὐτὴν Τριτογένειαν ἀπὸ τοῦ τρὶς μεταβάλλειν αὐτῆς τὴν φύσιν κατʼ ἐνιαυτόν, ἔαρος καὶ θέρους καὶ χειμῶνος.
And she was named "Tritogeneia" from her nature changing three times in the course of the year, in spring, summer, and winter.
λέγεσθαι δʼ αὐτὴν καὶ Γλαυκῶπιν, οὐχ ὥσπερ ἔνιοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑπέλαβον, ἀπὸ τοῦ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχειν γλαυκούς· τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ εὔηθες ὑπάρχειν· ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ τὸν ἀέρα τὴν πρόσοψιν ἔχειν ἔγγλαυκον.
And they say she is also called "Glaucopis," not as some of the Greeks supposed, from her having blue-grey eyes—for this is foolish—but because the air has a bluish-grey appearance.
§1.12.9φασὶ δὲ τοὺς πέντε θεοὺς τοὺς προειρημένους πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπιπορεύεσθαι, φανταζομένους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐν ἱερῶν ζῴων μορφαῖς, ἔστι δʼ ὅτε εἰς ἀνθρώπων ἰδέας ἤ τινων ἄλλων μεταβάλλοντας· καὶ τοῦτο μὴ μυθῶδες ὑπάρχειν, ἀλλὰ δυνατόν, εἴπερ οὗτοι πρὸς ἀλήθειάν εἰσιν οἱ πάντα γεννῶντες.
And they say that the five aforementioned gods travel over the whole inhabited world, appearing to men in the forms of sacred animals, and sometimes changing into the likenesses of men or of certain other things; and that this is not a myth, but possible, if indeed these are in truth the ones who generate all things.
καὶ §1.12.10τὸν ποιητὴν δὲ εἰς Αἴγυπτον παραβαλόντα καὶ μετασχόντα παρὰ τῶν ἱερέων τῶν τοιούτων λόγων θεῖναί που κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν τὸ προειρημένον ὡς γινόμενον,
"καί τε θεοὶ ξείνοισιν ἐοικότες ἀλλοδαποῖσι παντοῖοι τελέθοντες ἐπιστρωφῶσι πόληας, ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίην ἐσορῶντες. "
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ θεῶν καὶ γένεσιν ἀίδιον ἐσχηκότων τοσαῦτα λέγουσιν Αἰγύπτιοι.
And the poet also, having visited Egypt and having shared in such accounts from the priests, wrote somewhere in his poetry of the aforementioned thing as actually happening: "And the gods, looking like strangers from abroad, appearing in all manner of shapes, visit the cities, keeping watch on the insolence and good order of men." Concerning, then, the gods in heaven and those who have an eternal generation, the Egyptians say this much.