Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §149.1

Animal Sacrifice as Proper Only to Daemons

Passage 154 of 196 · Greek

Summary

The author, citing Theophrastus, argues that animal sacrifice is appropriate only for daemons, not gods, concluding that Apollo is therefore a daemon rather than a god.

§149.1Fr. 149 Ὁ δὲ τὴν Θεόφραστον μαρτυρόμενος θεοῖς μὲν οὔ φησιν ἁρμόζειν τὴν διὰ ζώων θυσίαν, δαίμοσι δὲ μόνοις· ὥστε κατὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ Θεοφράστου λόγον δαίμονα εἶναι ἀλλʼ οὐ θεὸν τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα.
Fr. 149 But he who calls upon Theophrastus as a witness says that sacrifice by means of animals is not appropriate for gods, but only for daemons; so that, according to his own argument and that of Theophrastus, Apollo is a daemon and not a god.

Notes

  1. §149.1τὴν Θεόφραστον — In the transmitted text, the feminine accusative article τὴν is placed before the masculine noun Θεόφραστον (Theophrastus). Although this is generally regarded as a scribal error for τὸν (or an ellipse of a feminine noun like δόξαν 'opinion'), the contextual meaning is clear: 'he who calls upon Theophrastus (as a witness).'
  2. §149.1δαίμονα εἶναι ἀλλʼ οὐ θεὸν τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα — An accusative and infinitive construction within the ὥστε clause expressing result. Since τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα has the definite article, it functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive εἶναι, while the anarthrous δαίμονα and θεὸν serve as the predicate accusatives.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §149.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:149.1

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