Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §2.20.1-2.20.2

Dangers of Greek Myths and Superiority of Roman Theology

Passage 111 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The author acknowledges that some Greek myths possess allegorical and moral utility, but warns of the danger of the unphilosophical crowd misinterpreting them to justify immorality, thereby expressing his preference for Roman theology.

§2.20.1καὶ μηδεὶς ὑπολάβῃ με ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μύθων εἰσί τινες ἀνθρώποις χρήσιμοι, οἱ μὲν ἐπιδεικνύμενοι τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἔργα διʼ ἀλληγορίας, οἱ δὲ παραμυθίας ἕνεκα συγκείμενοι τῶν ἀνθρωπείων συμφορῶν, οἱ δὲ ταραχὰς ἐξαιρούμενοι ψυχῆς καὶ δείματα καὶ δόξας καθαιροῦντες οὐχ ὑγιεῖς, οἱ δʼ ἄλλης τινὸς ἕνεκα συμπλασθέντες ὠφελείας.

And let no one suppose me to be ignorant that some of the Greek myths are useful to mankind, some exhibiting the works of nature through allegory, others composed for the sake of comforting human misfortunes, others removing disturbances of the soul and destroying fears and unhealthy opinions, and others fashioned for the sake of some other utility.

§2.20.2ἀλλὰ καίπερ ἐπιστάμενος ταῦτα οὐδενὸς χεῖρον ὅμως εὐλαβῶς διάκειμαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων μᾶλλον ἀποδέχομαι θεολογίαν, ἐνθυμούμενος ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μύθων ἀγαθὰ μικρά τε ἐστὶ καὶ οὐ πολλοὺς δυνάμενα ὠφελεῖν, ἀλλὰ μόνους τοὺς ἐξητακότας ὧν ἕνεκα γίνεται, σπάνιοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ μετειληφότες ταύτης τῆς φιλοσοφίας.

But although I understand these things no less than anyone else, nevertheless I am cautiously disposed toward them and rather accept the theology of the Romans, considering that the benefits from the Greek myths are small and unable to assist many, but only those who have examined the reasons for which they are created, and those who have shared in this philosophy are rare.

ὁ δὲ πολὺς καὶ ἀφιλοσόφητος ὄχλος ἐπὶ τὰ χείρω λαμβάνειν φιλεῖ τοὺς περὶ αὐτῶν λόγους καὶ δυεῖν πάσχει θάτερον, ἢ καταφρονεῖ τῶν θεῶν ὡς ἐν πολλῇ κακοδαιμονίᾳ κυλινδουμένων, ἢ τῶν αἰσχίστων τε καὶ παρανομωτάτων οὐδενὸς ἀπέχεται θεοῖς αὐτὰ προσκείμενα ὁρῶν.

But the common and unphilosophical multitude is inclined to take the stories about them in the worse sense and suffers one of two things: either they despise the gods as being rolled in great misery, or they abstain from none of the most shameful and unlawful actions, seeing these same things attributed to the gods.

Notes

2.20.1μηδεὶς ὑπολάβῃ — An aorist subjunctive with μηδείς expressing a third-person prohibition or negative exhortation, meaning "let no one suppose."
2.20.1τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μύθων — A partitive genitive qualifying the subsequent pronoun τινες ("some of the Greek myths").
2.20.2ὧν ἕνεκα γίνεται — Composed of the relative pronoun ὧν (referring back to the myths) and the postposition ἕνεκα, acting like an indirect question: "for what purposes they [the myths] exist (or are created)."
2.20.2δυεῖν πάσχει θάτερον — θάτερον is a crasis of τὸ ἕτερον, which, accompanied by the genitive δυεῖν, forms the idiomatic expression "suffers one of two things" or "falls into one of two alternatives."
2.20.2τῶν αἰσχίστων τε καὶ παρανομωτάτων οὐδενὸς ἀπέχεται — The verb ἀπέχομαι (to abstain from) governs the genitive of separation, which accounts for the genitive forms of both the substantivated adjectives τῶν αἰσχίστων τε καὶ παρανομωτάτων and the negative pronoun οὐδενός.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §2.20.1-2.20.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.20.1-2.20.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.