Texte grec :
| [30,25] ταῦτα μέν τις εἶπεν ἀνὴρ δυσάρεστος, ὡς ἐγὼ δοκῶ, καὶ πολλὰ
λελυπημένος κατὰ τὸν βίον, ὀψὲ παιδείας ἀληθοῦς ᾐσθημένος, οὐ
μὴν ἀληθῆ γε οὐδὲ πρέποντα θεοῖς. ἕτερος δὲ βελτίων ἐστὶ τοῦδε
λόγος, ὃν πολὺ ἂν εἴποιμι προθυμότερον. ἤκουσα δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπου
γεωργοῦ ἐν ἀγροίκῳ τινὶ ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει· πλὴν τοῦτο
μὲν ἴσως οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν αὐτὴν ἀπομνησθῆναι
πειρασόμεθα. ἔλεγε δὲ ὑμνῶν τόν τε Δία καὶ τοὺς
ἄλλους θεοὺς ὡς ἀγαθοί τε εἶεν καὶ φιλοῖεν ἡμᾶς, ἅτε δὴ ξυγγενεῖς
ὄντας αὐτῶν. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν θεῶν ἔφη τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι
γένος, οὐκ ἀπὸ Τιτάνων οὐδ´ ἀπὸ Γιγάντων. ὅτε γὰρ τὰ σύμπαντα
ἔσχον, ὥσπερ ἀποικίαν τινὰ αὑτῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐρήμῃ οὔσῃ
κατοικίσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐφ´ ἥττοσι τιμαῖς καὶ ὄλβῳ, δικαίοις
δὲ καὶ νόμοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς· ὥσπερ αἱ μεγάλαι πόλεις καὶ εὐδαίμονες
τὰς μικρὰς κατοικίζουσι· καί μοι ἐδόκει λέγειν οὐ προστιθεὶς
αὐτὸς τὰ ὀνόματα, οἷον Ἀθηναῖοι Κυθνίους ἢ Σεριφίους ἢ Λακεδαιμόνιοι
Κυθηρίους τὸ παλαιὸν ἐπὶ νόμοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς ᾤκισαν· καὶ
μιμήματά γε παρ´ ἑκάστοις τούτοις ἰδεῖν ἔστι τῶν ἐθῶν καὶ τῆς
πολιτείας, ἣν οἱ κτίσαντες ἔχουσιν, ἀσθενῆ δὲ πάντα καὶ χείρονα. τὴν
(27) μέντοι διαφορότητα οὐκ ἴσην εἶναι. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἅτε ἀνθρώπους
ἀνθρώπων διαφέρειν, τὴν δὲ τῶν θεῶν ὑπεροχὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἄπειρόν
τινα εἶναι. μέχρι μὲν οὖν ἔτυχε νεοκατάστατος ὢν ὁ βίος,
τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτούς τε παραγίγνεσθαι καὶ πέμπειν ὥσπερ ἁρμοστὰς
παρ´ αὑτῶν {ἄρχοντας} τοὺς ἐπιμελησομένους, οἷον Ἡρακλέα τε
καὶ Διόνυσον καὶ Περσέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, οὓς ἀκούομεν θεῶν παῖδας,
τοὺς δὲ ἐκγόνους, γενέσθαι παρ´ ἡμῖν· ἔπειτα ὕστερον ἐᾶσαι
δι´ αὑτῶν οἰκεῖν ὅπως ἂν δυνώμεθα. καὶ τότε δὴ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα
καὶ τὰς ἀδικίας ξυμβαίνειν.
(28) ᾖδε δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ μὲν κόσμος οἶκός ἐστι πάνυ καλός τε καὶ
θεῖος ὑπὸ θεῶν {τε} κατεσκευασμένος·
ὥσπερ ὑπὸ τῶν εὐδαιμόνων τε καὶ πλουσίων καλουμένων
ἀνδρῶν οὕστινας ὁρῶμεν κατεσκευασμένους σταθμοῖς καὶ
κίοσι, καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ γραφαῖς τήν τε ὀροφὴν καὶ τοίχους καὶ θύρας
εἰργασμένους· ὁμοίως γεγονέναι τὸν κόσμον εἰς ὑποδοχήν τε καὶ
εὐφροσύνην ἀνθρώπων, εὐειδῆ καὶ ποικίλον ἄστροις τε καὶ ἡλίῳ
καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ φυτοῖς, ἃ δὴ τοῦ θεῶν πλούτου
καὶ τέχνης τῆς ἐκείνων ἐστίν.
(29) παραγίγνεσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους
εἰς αὐτὸν ἑορτάσοντας, ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν θεῶν κεκλημένους
ἐπ´ εὐωχίαν τινὰ καὶ θοίνην λαμπράν, ἁπάντων ἀπολαύσοντας
τῶν ἀγαθῶν. κατακεῖσθαι δὲ ἄλλους ἀλλαχῇ, καθάπερ ἐν
δείπνῳ, τοὺς μὲν ἀμείνονος χώρας, τοὺς δὲ φαυλοτέρας τυχόντας.
εἶναι δὲ πάντα ὅμοια τοῖς παρ´ ἡμῖν γιγνομένοις ἐν ταῖς ὑποδοχαῖς,
πλὴν ὡς μικροῖς καὶ ἀγεννέσι θεῖα καὶ μεγάλα εἰκάσαι.
φῶς τε γὰρ {παρ´} ἡμῖν παρέχειν τοὺς θεοὺς διττὸν διὰ λαμπτήρων
τινῶν, τοτὲ μὲν πλεῖον, τοτὲ δὲ ἔλαττον, τὸ μὲν νυκτός, τὸ δὲ ἡμέρας·
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Traduction française :
| [30,25] "Now this explanation was given, in my opinion,
by a certain morose man who had suffered a great deal
in his life and only late had gained true education ;
but it is not the right explanation, nor one that
befits the gods. There is another one better than
that, which I am much more eager to give. I heard
it from a peasant who spoke with a very rustic drawl
and accent. However, perhaps there is no need for
us to imitate this, and we shall attempt merely to
record his thought.
(26) "He said, in reciting the praises of Zeus and the
other gods, that they are good and love us as being
of kin to them. For it is from the gods, he declared,
that the race of men is sprung and not from Titans
or from Giants. For when they got the universe
into their power, they established mankind upon the
earth, which was hitherto uninhabited, as a sort of
colony made up of their own people, on the basis
of inferior honours and felicity, but with the same
righteous laws as their own; precisely after the
fashion in which great and prosperous cities found
the small cornmunities. And I thought that he
meant, without expressly adding the proper names,
just as Athens colonized Cythnos and Seriphos, or
Sparta founded Cythera in ancient times, giving them
the same laws as they themselves had. And in
these various colonies you may behold copies of the
customs and the form of government which their
founders enjoy, but all are weak and inferior. However,
the superiority of the colonizers over their
colonies is not as great ; for in the one case it is the
superiority of men over men, whereas the greater
excellence of the gods as compared with ourselves
is an infinite one. Now, as long as life was but newly
established, the gods both visited us in person and
sent harmosts, as it were, from their own number
at first to look after us, such as Heracles, for example,
Dionysus, Perseus, and the others, who, we are told,
were the children of the gods, and that the descendants
of these were born among us. Afterwards
they permitted us to manage for ourselves as best
we could. And then it was that sin and injustice began.
(28) "The peasant also chanted a second monody,
telling how the universe is a house very beautiful
and divine, constructed by the gods ; that just
as we see houses built by men who are called prosperous
and wealthy, with portals and columns, and
the roof, walls, and doors adorned with gold and
with paintings, in the same way the universe has
been made to give entertainment and good cheer to
mankind, beauteous and bespangled with stars, sun,
moon, land, sea, and plants, all these being, indeed,
portions of the wealth of the gods and specimens
of their handiwork.
(29) "Into this universe comes mankind to hold high
festival, having been invited by the king of the
gods to a most splendid feast and banquet that
they may enjoy all blessings. They recline in
different places, just as at a dinner, some getting
better and others inferior positions, and everything
resembles what takes place among us at our entertainments,
except that we are comparing the
divine and great with the small and mean. For the
gods furnish us with light of two kinds by means
of lamps as it were, at one time a brighter and at
another a dimmer light, the one at night and the
other by day ;
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