[12,35] οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ τοιοῦτον γιγνόμενον θαυμάσαι τις ἄν, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον ὅπως καὶ μέχρι τῶν θηρίων διικνεῖται τῶν ἀφρόνων καὶ ἀλόγων, ὡς καὶ ταῦτα γιγνώσκειν καὶ τιμᾶν τὸν θεὸν καὶ προθυμεῖσθαι ζῆν κατὰ τὸν ἐκείνου θεσμόν· ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἀπεοικότως τὰ φυτά, οἷς μηδεμία μηδενὸς ἔννοια, ἀλλὰ ἄψυχα καὶ ἄφωνα ἁπλῇ τινι φύσει διοικούμενα, ὅμως δὲ καὶ αὐτὰ ἑκουσίως καὶ βουλόμενα καρπὸν ἐκφέρει τὸν προσήκοντα ἑκάστῳ. οὕτω πάνυ ἐναργὴς καὶ πρόδηλος ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ γνώμη καὶ δύναμις.

[12,35] That human beings should be so effected would occasion no surprise, but much rather that, as we see, this influence reaches even the senseless and irrational brutes, so that even they recognize and honour the god and desire to live according to his ordinance ; and it is still stranger that the plants, which have no conception of anything, but, being soulless and voiceless, are controlled by a simple kind of nature—it is passing strange. I say, that even these voluntarily and willingly yield each its own proper fruit; so very clear and evident is the will and power of yonder god.

[12,36] ἀλλ´ ἦπου σφόδρα γελοῖοι καὶ ἀρχαῖοι δόξομεν ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις, ἐγγυτέρω φάσκοντες εἶναι τὴν τοιαύτην ξύνεσιν τοῖς θηρίοις καὶ τοῖς δένδροις ἤπερ ἡμῖν τὴν ἀπειρίαν τε καὶ ἄγνοιαν; ὁπότε ἄνθρωποί τινες σοφώτεροι γενόμενοι τῆς ἁπάσης σοφίας, οὐ κηρὸν ἐγχέαντες τοῖς ὠσίν, ὥσπερ οἶμαί φασι τοὺς Ἰθακησίους ναύτας ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ κατακοῦσαι τῆς τῶν Σειρήνων ᾠδῆς, ἀλλὰ μολύβδου τινὸς μαλθακὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἄτρωτον ὑπὸ φωνῆς φύσιν, ἔτι δὲ οἶμαι πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σκότος πολὺ προβαλόμενοι καὶ ἀχλύν, ὑφ´ ἧς Ὅμηρός φησι κωλύεσθαι τὸν καταληφθέντα διαγιγνώσκειν θεόν, ὑπερφρονοῦσι τὰ θεῖα, καὶ μίαν ἱδρυσάμενοι δαίμονα πονηρὰν καὶ ἄλυπον, τρυφήν τινα ἢ ῥᾳθυμίαν πολλὴν καὶ ἀνειμένην ὕβριν, ἡδονὴν ἐπονομάζοντες, γυναικείαν τῷ ὄντι θεόν, προτιμῶσι καὶ θεραπεύουσι κυμβάλοις τισὶν ἢ ψόφοις καὶ αὐλοῖς ὑπὸ σκότος αὐλουμένοις, ἧς εὐωχίας οὐδεὶς ἐκείνοις φθόνος,

[12,36] Nay, I wonder if we shall be thought exceedingly absurd and hopelessly behind the times in view of this reasoning, if we maintain that this unexpected knowledge is indeed more natural for the beasts and the trees than dullness and ignorance are for us ? Why, certain men have shown themselves wiser than all wisdom ; yes, they have poured into their ears, not wax, as I believe they say that the sallors from Ithaca did that they might not hear the song of the Sirens, but a substance like lead, soft at once and impenetrable by the human voice, and they also methinks have hung before their eyes a curtain of deep darkness and mist like that which, according to Homer, kept the god from being recognized when he was caught ; these men, then, despise all things divine, and having set up the image of one single female divinity, depraved and monstrous, representing a kind of wantonness or self-indulgent ease and unrestrained lewdness, to which they gave the name of Pleasure—an effeminate god in very truth—her they prefer in honour and worship with softly tinkling cymbal-like instruments, or with pipes played under cover of darkness —a form of entertainment which nobody would grudge such men