TiLDEN: Philo Judaeus 



13 



jacket"'^'^ made of linen. On the whole, they carry out thek idea of 

 simplicity, regarding the false as the beginning of pride, but truth 

 the beginning of simplicity. They regard both truth and falsehood 

 as a fountain, for from the false flow the manifold forms of evil, 

 and from truth the abundance of good things both human and divine. 



V 



I wish now to tell about their common gatherings, and their more 

 cheerful means of relaxations in banquets contrasting them first 

 with the s>Tnposia of others. For others, after they have filled them- 

 selves full of strong drink, as if they had drunk not wine but some 

 deranging and maddening beverage, or if there is anything stronger 

 yet to drive one out of his senses, they bawl aloud and rave after the 

 manner of savage dogs, and attack and bite one another, and nibble 

 their noses, ears, fingers, and other parts of their bodies, in order 

 to prove the truth, it would seem, of the story of the Cyclops and the 

 comrades of Odysseus. For in that story, the poet says that he ate 

 gobbets of human flesh. But these do it in a more saA'age way than 

 he, for he was taking vengeance upon those whom he regarded as 

 enemies, while these devour companions and friends, and in some 

 instances their own relatives, while at their own salt and table, 

 perpetrating acts of hostility while at peace, like the acts of men in 

 g\Tiinastic contests counterfeiting you might say the proper practice 

 like those who debase the legal coinage, becoming miserable wretches 

 instead of wrestlers, for wretches is the only name that must be given 

 to them.^^ 



For what the Olympian athletes do with scientific skill in the 

 (M. 478) stadia when sober, having all the Greeks as spectators and 

 in the open light of day in order to gain victories and crowns, these 

 wretches with counterfeit purpose do at their banquets by night and 



3° The f5w,"/c is the ordinary ^'^rwr fre/iouacrja/oc of the Greek workman and 

 slave. The modern Poongye or Buddhist Friar of Burmah leaves his left 

 shoulder bare (Conybeare). 



^^Athenaeus Bk. X, chap. 17, p. 420 E describes just such a banquet in 

 Alexandria, saying: "But those of the present day who give entertainments, 

 especially the inhabitants of the beautiful Alexandria, cr}- out, and make 

 a noise, and curse the cup-bearer, the steward, and cook; and the slaves are 

 all crying, being beaten with fists and driven about in ever}' direction. 

 And not only do the guests who are invited sup with great discomfort and 

 annoyance, but even if there is a sacrifice going on. the God himself would 

 veil his face and go away, leaving not only the house, but even the entire 

 city, in which such things take place" (C. D. Yonge's translation). In 

 aB7.T]TC)v adlLoi, ''becoming miserable wretches instead of wrestlers", we have 

 a common pun. 



