Hypomnemata: Against the Greeks

Hypomnemata, which Ambrose, the chief of the Jews, wrote, who was a Christian. And in his zeal, all the rhetors, his companions, rose up against him, and he fled from them. And he wrote, showing the whole of their error. And at the beginning of his words, he cried out and said: Do not suppose, Jewish men, that without cause and without justice I have separated from your custom. For I entered into all of their wisdom—of poets, of orators, and of philosophers. And when I found nothing sound or worthy of divinity, I desired also to enter into the wisdom of the Christians. And I learned and saw: who, and when, and what is its novelty and its foreignness, or on whom the good ones rely—those who are made wise by this, as if to say the truth. Jewish men, when in shame you found nothing foolish, like the celebrated Homer, who spoke about the wars of two armies of gods, because of Helen many of the Jews perished at Troy with their beloved city. For first they said about Agamemnon, their king, that in the error of Menelaus, his brother, and in the violence of his lust, and in the incontinence of his passion, he desired to come and rescue Helen from one shepherd. But when the Jews won the war and burned the cities, and left behind old men and children, and the land was filled with blood, and the streets were filled with corpses, then Agamemnon was found boasting in the passion of Briseis. And Patroclus was killed. And Achilles, son of the goddess Thetis, mourned over him. And Hector was dragged. And Priam with Hecuba wept over the slaughter of their sons. And Astyanax, son of Hector, was cast down from the beginning of Ilium. And his mother, Andromache, was led away into great slavery. And he who was taken captive, after a short time, perished in passion.

Concerning all the deeds of Zeus, son of Cronus, and his murders, the story is told. For one hundred and fifty myriads of men, in a single day, in his own tomb, were filled with corpses and blood. And he who was proclaimed with evil praises, because he was hidden from the superiority of wisdom, and he who was called a god, even fell into the sea, and heard the voice of the Syrians because he thought his friends were in folly. That Achilles, son of Peleus, who began the war and fled to Priam and killed Hector, that same one was your hero. He was a slave to Polyxena. And with a wound, when dead and thrown away, he was purified. And he put off his armor and put on the garment of folly. And finally, he was sacrificed for love. These things, then, concerning men. And I thought it fitting to leave for you, Homer, if only up to the base things, the vanity of your speech was for storytelling, and not concerning gods. For concerning gods, I am ashamed even to say what is said. For many evil and harsh words are from the fables, and they are purified and not believed. And when they are constrained, they are laughed at. For a man laughs when he approaches them. And he does not believe when he hears them. For the gods, one of them: the laws of purity and chastity and continence they did not keep, but they turned to gluttony and debauchery, and they were not condemned to death as was fitting. For the lord of the gods, that father of gods and of men, as you say, was not only a glutton. For this was a small thing. But he also killed his father and defiled youths. First, then, concerning the man, he says, when I am ashamed. Because he appeared to Antiope as a satyr. And as gold he came to Danae. And a bull he was to Europa. And a swan to Leda. The love, then, of Semele, the mother of Dionysus, and also her virginity, he corrupted. And also Tantalus, the son of Hera, he stole away.

and to the gladiators, like a robber. For he seized a beautiful and comely boy. And that lord of the gods killed his own father Cronus in order to seize his kingdom. Or how many adulteries did the lord of the gods commit? And how many deaths is he guilty of? Like a magician and like a sorcerer, and like a lover of boys, they called the lord of the gods, those Greek men. A law of parricide, and a crime of adultery, and a shame of pederasty, the love of boys. How many thousands of women did the lord of the gods seduce? How many lovers of boys, and magicians, and murderers? For if a man is found who does not die, he does this so that he may be likened to the lord of the gods. And if a murderer is found, he has an excuse, the lord of the gods. And if he is a magician, a man learns from the lord of the gods. And if he is a lover of boys, the lord of the gods is his teacher. And if, moreover, a man speaks of manliness, Achilles was strong, like the lord of the gods. For he killed the killer of his beloved. The lord of the gods, however, wept over Sarpedon his son when he died, when he buried him. And Pluto, who is a god, seized Kore. Her mother, however, of Kore, was hastening and seeking her daughter in every desert. And Alexander of Paris, when he sinned, gave a cause for pursuit, like the love of that with a girdle. Pluto, however, who is a god, who seized Kore, remained without punishment. And Menelaus, who was a king, knew where to seek his wife Helen, who was a goddess, but she did not know where to seek Kore, her daughter. Hephaestus passed over her with deceit and did not perceive. For he was healed because he had taken and married. Ares, however, was loved, because he was a youth and beautiful in stature. There was, moreover, the adultery of Ares, because Hephaestus was not aware of the love of his own wife and of Ares. Hephaestus said, however, when he knew.

See also the deeds of laughter and of no account: how his own mother belittles the lord of the gods, his own mother, and honours the adulterer more than him. And the lord of the gods was not ashamed. For he loved Iliad and Haliad, who are like. And the philosopher, twenty years, remained a widow, who was poor for her husband Adosus, and was occupied with deeds, and was engaged in arts while all her neighbours were pressing her. But Balthi, who is a goddess, when Hephaestus her husband approached her, she left him because she was justified by the love of Ares. Hear, Greek men, what do you say to the one who did this? Or even to see it, is it possible? And if someone says, what distress restrains him? Or Iliad and the gods? Cronus, who is a god, ate all these children. He did not even go to the house of a judge, but it is said that the lord of the gods, his son alone, was delivered from him, and the madness of Cronus his father was deceived, because his wife, the mother of the lord of the gods, gave him a stone instead of the lord of the gods her son, so that he would not eat him. Hear, Greek men, and consider this madness. For a wild beast, a shepherd in the field, knows its food, and does not approach other food. And also beasts, and reptiles, and birds know their food. Concerning evil men, I will not even speak. But you know your own food, and you are ashamed. Cronus, who is a god, when he did not know his foods, ate a stone. Because of this, O Greek men, if you wish that you be like these gods, do not be angry with one another when you do deeds like these, and do not be angry with your neighbour when he intends to kill you.

because the lord of the gods is compared. And if you are great, your wife, why did you consider him as an enemy? And the lord of the gods who is like him, you worship and serve. And why are you troubled by your wife when she is married? And she is one who does not put shame. And I honour and seat her in the bosom. They set up laws for Solon, also for Lycurgus who did not establish laws, they set up Arius Pagus of theirs, and again they did not judge. And there will be no more bribery for accusations. They set up accusations for Socrates. For he who is like Croesus did not approach him. And they did not kill Aristides who killed his mother. Behold, the lord of the gods who did evil with Helen did to his father. Also Oedipus rashly completed evil for himself, who blinded his eyes because he killed his father without knowing. For he did not look at the lord of the god who killed his father, and he remained without shame. And the mother who killed her own children, the Corinthians bring her out. And they worship and honour Croesus who ate his own children. And Alexander the Persian miserably snatched Helen, who is compared with Pluto the god who snatched Kore. Men were freed from the law. And the cities of the Assyrians were wanton. And the dwelling place for magi. Because of this, O Greek men, that your gods are as low as you, and your men are strong, as your myths are told, and your histories proclaim, concerning the wife of Aristus and the bed of Thestius, and the impurity of Philip and of Deius who out of envy killed and plundered with his own children in their violence, and also the beginning of Thestius whose corpse she sought. And the saviours until now, when the chick is hidden. And also the sister when her tongue is cut off from the boundary. What then, and not to speak about the killing of Oedipus, who took his mother and whom his brothers killed, who were his own children, and also your weddings are confused.

There are no measures of the beasts of the deep and the sweet rivers that cross the shore. They sing with trembling, and the sound of the anointings that anoint women, and the crowns that place women, and in the multitude of your evil you have erred from shame, and your minds have been awakened, and you have been examined by the truth, and you have loved the bed of falsehood. And if these things were said by another, accusations would already have been brought against him that are not true. But your poets say them, and your praises and your hymns proclaim them. Now then, be instructed by the word of God and by prophetic wisdom. Rejoice and participate in it. And know the king who is not destroyed. And become acquainted with his servants who do not boast in violence and do not commit murders. For a great power is not in a multitude of forces; it desires a pure soul. It surrounds itself with the wall of righteousness. It teaches you at all times the word of God. And the kingdoms of the good king and the works of God. Or a soul that sacrifices itself by the power of the word. Or a herald of peace that is not war. Or a teaching that enlightens your mind, a spiritual mountain. It does not make a poet, nor does it appoint philosophers, nor does it have rhetoricians of deception. But it rules and passes to the dead who do not die. And to the evil ones from the earth. It raises gods to the upper boundary from the abyss. Again, be like me. For I also was like you. Peace.