Chapter IX. That They Cannot Withdraw of Their Own Accord

[PORPHYRY] ‘Now that the gods so summoned are eager to withdraw, will be shown by such passages as the following, where they say:

“But now release the king; for mortal frame No longer can the present god endure.”

‘And again:

“Why with long prayers torment this mortal frame?”

‘And again:

“Go now, return with speed; thy saving work On me is done.’

‘And how to dismiss them, Apollo himself will teach us, saying:

“Cease then thy cunning spells, let the man rest, Free the old image from its willow bands, And from my limbs with vigorous hand rend off The linen shroud.”

‘He told also the mode of dismissal:

“Lift thy foot up high before thee, Stop the muttering from the cave;”

and the verses that follow these.’

To which he adds, if they are still tardy in the dismissal:

“Unwrap the linen cloud, and set the prophet free.”

‘Again at another time he gave a form of dismissal such as this:

“Ye Nymphs and Naiads with the Muses join To set Apollo free; and then in songs Exalt the praises of the archer god.”

‘At another time he says:

“Now loose the wreaths, with water bathe my feet, Rub out the magic lines, and let me go. The branch of laurel from my right hand take, And both my eyes, both nostrils wipe with care: Then raise, O friends, this mortal from the ground.”’

Upon this the author further remarks:

‘So then he exhorts them to rub out the lines, that he may go free; for these hold him fast, as indeed does also the form of dress in which he is arrayed, because it bears representations of the gods who have been invoked.’

By these quotations I think it has been clearly shown that there is nothing at all worthy of deity, nothing either great or truly divine in these spirits who have fallen to such a depth of degradation as to be drawn and dragged down by any common men, not by reason of any attainment in virtue and wisdom, but merely by their pursuing and practising the arts of magical imposture.

Neither, therefore, did Pythagoras the Rhodian speak rightly, nor would the author of this testimony of theirs, nor any man whatsoever call them with good reason gods, nay, nor yet good daemons, dragged about as they are by mortal men and mere impostors, not according to their own judgement, but dragged by force and compulsion, and without having in themselves the power of release from their bonds.

For if the deity is not subject to force or to compulsion, but is in nature superior to all things, being free and incapable of suffering, how can they be gods who are beguiled by juggling tricks managed by means of such dresses, and lines, and images?----beguiled, I say, by wreaths also and flowers of the earth, and withal by certain unintelligible and barbarous cries and voices, and subdued by ordinary men, and, as it were, enslaved by bonds, so that they cannot even keep safe in their own control the power of independence and free will.

How, too, can they be called good daemons if they are dragged down by force and compulsion? For what is the cause that they give themselves up grudgingly and not of their own free will to those who need help?

If they are good and make their appearance for a good purpose, and if there is, as was said, any benefit to the soul from them, they ought surely to welcome the good by choice, and anticipate the suppliants by their benefits instead of waiting to be compelled.

But if the transaction was not honourable and not beneficial, and therefore its occurrence not according to their mind, how then could they be good, if they practised what is neither honourable nor expedient?

Or how can they deserve to be admired and honoured with divine worship who are enslaved by common impostors of the most abandoned character, and compelled to perform what is neither honourable nor expedient contrary to their judgement, and are led and dragged down, not because they approve of men’s morality, nor to promote virtue or any branch of philosophy, but by forbidden practices of impostors? Such practices the same author has mentioned again in his Epistle to the before-mentioned Egyptian, as though he were consulting a prophet upon secret truths, and requesting to be taught by him the words in which they accomplish these results. For he asks as in doubt, and speaks somewhat as follows. [1]