39. But perhaps,
some one will urge, the Ruler of the world sent hither souls
sprung from Himself for this purpose—a very rash thing for a man
to say3669
| 3669 So
the later edd., from the margin of Ursinus, reading quod temeritatis
est maximæ for the ms.
quem—“whom it shows the greatest rashness to speak
of.” |
—that
they which had been
divine3670
with Him, not coming into contact with
the body and earthly limits,
3671
| 3671 So
Gelenius (acc. to Orelli), reading as in the margin of Ursinus,
terrenæ circumscriptionis, for the unintelligible
reading of the ms.,
temerariæ, retained in both Roman edd., Canterus, and (acc.
to Oehler) Gelenius. LB. reads metariæ—“a
limiting by boundaries.” |
should be buried in the germs of men,
spring from the
womb,
burst into and keep up the silliest wailings,
draw the breasts in sucking, besmear and bedaub themselves with their
own
filth, then be hushed by the swaying
3672
of the frightened
nurse and by the
sound of rattles.
3673
| 3673
Cf. Lucr., v. 229 sq. The same idea comes up again in iv. 21. |
Did
He send
souls hither for this reason, that they which had been
but now sincere and of blameless
virtue should
learn as
3674
men to
feign,
to dissemble, to
lie, to cheat,
3675
| 3675
According to Hildebrand, the ms.
reads dissimular-ent circumscribere, so that, by merely
dropping nt, he reads, “to dissemble and cheat;” but
according to Crusius, iri is found in the ms. between these two words, so that by prefixing
m Sabæus in the first ed. read m-ent-iri as above,
followed by all other edd. |
to
deceive, to entrap with a
flatterer’s abjectness; to conceal one thing in the
heart,
3676
express
another in the
countenance; to
ensnare, to
beguile3677
| 3677
Rigaltius and Hildebrand regard decipere as a gloss. |
the ignorant with
crafty devices, to
seek out poisons by means of numberless arts
suggested by bad
feelings, and to be fashioned
3678
| 3678
So the ms., reading
formari, followed by Hildebrand and Oehler; but all the other
edd. give the active form, -are. |
with
deceitful changeableness to
suit circumstances? Was it for this He sent
souls, that, living
till then in calm and undisturbed tranquillity, they might find
in
3679
their bodies
causes by which to become
fierce and savage, cherish
hatred and enmity,
make
war upon each other,
subdue and
overthrow states; load themselves
with, and give themselves up to the yoke of
slavery; and finally, be
put the one in the other’s
power, having changed the
condition
3680
| 3680 The
condition, i.e., of freedom. |
in which they
were
born? Was it for this He sent
souls, that, being made
unmindful of the
truth, and
forgetful of what
God was, they should make
supplication to images which cannot move; address as superhuman deities
pieces of
wood,
brass, and
stones; ask aid of them
3681
| 3681
LB., seemingly received by Orelli, though not inserted into his text,
reads poscerent eos for the ms. -entur, which Hildebrand modifies -ent
ea as above. |
with the
blood of slain
animals; make
no mention of Himself: nay more, that some of them should doubt
their own existence, or deny altogether that anything exists? Was
it for this He sent
souls, that they which in their own abodes had been
of one
mind, equals in intellect and
knowledge, after that they put on
mortal forms, should be divided by differences of opinion; should have
different views as to what is just, useful, and right; should
contend
about the objects of desire and aversion; should define the highest
good and greatest evil differently; that, in seeking to know the truth
of things, they should be hindered by their obscurity; and, as if
bereft of eyesight, should see nothing clearly,
3682
and, wandering from the
truth,
3683
should be
led through uncertain bypaths of fancy?
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