And the star remained above Pege, who has been named Urania, until the magi went forth, and then it went with them.
24. And then, in the depth of evening, Dionysus appeared in the temple, unaccompanied by the satyrs, and said to the statues: "Pege is no longer one of us, but stands far above us, since she gives birth to a human being who was conceived by divine Fortune. O priest Prupippus! What are you doing sitting here? An action, indicated in writing, has proceeded against us, and we are going to be convicted [p. 15] as false by a person in action. The apparitions we produced, we produced; and that which we ruled, we ruled. No longer do we give oracular responses. Removed from us is our honour. We have become without honor and glory. There is one, one alone, out of all, who has received again his proper honour."
25. They said: "Do not be disturbed. No longer do the Persians exact tribute of earth and air. For he who established these things is at hand, and he brings tribute of actions to him who sent him—he who renews the ancient image, and puts image together with image, and brings the unlike to likeness. Heaven rejoices with earth, and earth itself boasts at receiving heaven's boast. Things which have not happened above, have happened below. He whom the order of the blessed has not seen, is viewed by the [order of] the miserable. Flame threatens those; dew is present for these. It [was] the good fortune of Karia to give birth to Pege in Bethlehem, and it [is] Pege's grace to become heaven-desired and to conceive grace of grace. Judaea has bloomed, and our affairs are withering immediately. To Gentiles and foreigners, salvation has come; to the wretched, relief is provided in abundance. Rightly do the women dance, and say, 'Lady Pege, Stream-bearer, you who have become mother of the heavenly light-giver, you cloud that brings the world dew after heat, remember your servants, dear mistress.'"
26. The king then, without delay, sent the magi under his dominion with gifts, with the star showing them the way. And when they returned, they narrated everything to the men of that time—those very things which were also written on leaves of gold, to the following effect:
27. For when we came to Jerusalem, the sign, together with our arrival, [p. 16] disturbed everyone. They say, "What is this? Wise men of the Persians are here, and along with them an appearance of a star?" And the foremost of the Jews asked us what was going to happen, and the reason for our coming. And we said: "He whom you call 'Messiah' has been born." And they were confounded, and dared not oppose us. But they, for their part, said to us, "Justice of Heaven! Tell us what you know." And we said to them: "You have the disease of unbelief; and neither without an oath nor with an oath do you believe, but you follow your own ill-advised intentions. For the Christ, the child of the Most High, has been born, putting an end to of your law and synagogues. And it is for this reason that, struck as it were by a most excellent oracle as with a dart, you do not hear with pleasure this name which has come up against you suddenly." And they then, taking counsel together, urged us to accept their gifts, and tell no one such a thing [as the news] from this land [of theirs], lest a revolt rise against us. But we said: "We have brought gifts in his honor, with the view of proclaiming those mighty things which have happened in our country on occasion of his birth—and you bid us take your gifts, and conceal the things which have been made known to us by celestial divinity, and neglect the commandments of our own king? Or do you not know what an experience of the Assyrians you once received?" And they became afraid, and after beseeching us repeatedly, they sent us away.
When the one who was ruling over Judaea sent for us [p. 17] and had some converse with us, and asked us questions, we said to him [things] at which he was thoroughly disturbed. We departed from him, without giving any greater heed to him than to any worthless person.
28. And we came to that place to which we had been sent, and saw the one who had given birth and the one who had been born, the star indicating to us the lordly babe. And we said to the mother: "What are you called, O renowned mother?" And she says: "Mary, masters." And we said to her: "Where do you come from?" And she said: "From this district—[the district] of the Bethlehemites." "Have you not taken a husband?" She says: "I have only been betrothed, with only pre-nuptial arrangements having been concluded; but my thoughts are divided. For I had no wish at all to come to this [state of affairs]. But while I was giving very little concern to it, at the dawn of a certain Sabbath—at the rising of the sun—an angel straightway appeared to me bringing me the good news of offspring, all of a sudden. And I was disturbed, and cried out, 'Let it not be so to me, Lord, for I do not have a husband.' And he persuaded me to believe, that it was by the will of God that I would have the son." And we said to her: "Mother of mothers, all the gods of the Persians have called you blessed: Your grounds for boasting are great, for you have transcended all women of renown, and you have become manifestly more queenly than all queens."
29. The child, moreover, was seated on the ground, being, as she said, nearly two years old, and having in part the likeness of the one who bore him. For she was small in stature even when holding her head up, and had a delicate body; and she was the color of wheat; and she had her hair bound up with a simple, very beautiful hair-style. And as we had along with [p. 18] us a servant quite skilled in painting, we brought back with us to our country a likeness of them both; and it was placed in the temple in which the oracle was given, with the following inscription: "In the heaven-sent temple, the power of Persia dedicated this to Zeus Helios, the great God, King Jesus."
And taking the child up, and bearing him in our arms, each of us in turn, we saluted him and worshipped him, and presented to him gold, addressing Him thus: "[We give] to you what is your own; we lavish you [with gifts], O powerful one in heaven. Things unordered would be ordered in no way other than by your presence. In no other way could things above be brought into conjunction with things below, but by your descent. Service is not carried out to such a degree, if only a servant is sent, as when the [master] himself is present; neither [can so much be achieved] when the king sends only his satraps to war, as when he is there himself. It was quite fitting for your methods, for you to deal in this manner with the rebels."
And the child smiled and leaped at our fawning and our words. And when we had bidden the mother farewell, and when she had shown us honor, and we had glorified her as was necessary, we went to the place in which we lodged.
30. And when evening came, there appeared to us someone terrifying and awesome, saying: "Get away quickly, lest you fall prey to a plot." And we, in fear, said: "And who is it that is plotting against so august [p. 19] an embassy, O general of God?" And he replied: "Herod—but get up immediately and depart in safety and peace." And we speedily mounted our strong steeds and departed from there in all earnestness; and we reported all that we had seen in Jerusalem.
Behold, then, such great things have we told you regarding Christ; and we know that Christ has become our Savior.
But you, by your ways, are opposed to him, slandering his pain and suffering all the time. For speaking unworthy things, and doing still more unworthy things, are a mark of hatred.
...
[p. 45]
84. ...And the same presbyter [i.e., Philip] recounted that the day on which the star appeared in the temple—that same day, every year, until the Lord was taken up [into heaven], all the statues would produce their characteristic utterance, and so that entire city there was transfixed, beholding the great marvels and the yearly appearance of the star.
[Prophecies of "Learned Greeks"—Ophianus, Elibatus, Trachelaphius]
[p. 31]
52. "Why should I unfold the Hebrews' prophecies and not our own? Ophianus [p. 32] Pertillaeus spoke in his 'Laws' as follows: 'Oh my! How the Caspian Gate has been adorned—it has received a mountain stone, which hands did not hew out, but rather grace discovered, and narrowed the whole Gate all around by means of it. Not only did it strengthen it, but it also opened it when it had been closed—the stone having become way and door. The door leads to an august door, and the way draws one to a pure way, as all those who see it shout: "Great is the dominion of the gods, whose will for action is more easily realized."' And Elibatus, who wrote down innumerable laws, when speaking On Eucles towards the end , says, 'A frightful cloud settled upon a mountain and cast a single stone upon the earth, and strengthened all its foundations. And how shall a single stone prevail over the entire [earth]? Did not one God alone create the universe?' And Trachelaphius, speaking Against the Falsely-Named , demonstrates his mastery also in the following solid reasoning: 'Who deceived those who trust in Dionysus so as to say about him that he, being forever without a beginning, was born from an unravished virgin? They clothe him with another's dignity. For the one without a beginning, being of the substance that is forever without beginning, takes hold of mortal substance without receiving it as a violation. For that which he formed, he shall not consider an violation, when he takes it up. There, a virgin—[p. 33] unsullied in her body and having no falsehood in her tongue—supplies virginal flesh; [this process is the] activation of all grace dwelling within [her]. I marvel at the flux-bound taking hold of the flux-free—knowing this: that some have been deified on account of their promulgation of laws; others, because of their nobility of life and their conspicuous purity in other respects, because of which it is fitting to honor them; but to go after heavenly honors is beyond all audacity and above all blasphemy.'"
[Virtuous Pagans]
[p. 19]
32. ..."There have been Christians [p. 20] indeed, but there have also been pagans, who practiced the utmost virtue. King Cyrus had very attractive female bodyguards where he slept: he was sharpening his desire, but also correcting it by such trials. He used to say that all glory was worthy of the heavenly power alone. He loved his fellow man so much that there was no poor man or even the least captive in Persian territory, because of his constant bestowing of benefits upon everyone. And Concencrates, who was truly a philosopher, possessed one single rough cloak—he lived near the peak of Masgabala, being terribly worn out by the snow and cold; and the wise Neoctetius said to him: 'You will perish, wise man, and die because of the heat and cold.' And he said: 'If I die to those here [on earth], I shall live by my future hope.' He asked: 'What [hope] is that?' And the other said, 'Truly, I am directing my attention to a certain other life, and offering myself myself to it. For the Providence of God will not disregard those who have labored during the day: in the evening it will deem them worthy of reward and rest. Every day I see the heavens and the things of earth that seem good diminishing and decaying. And this takes place because of our "exasperations," which show beforehand that everything here below perishes. But those who have acquired the virtues above do not die, as they are spoken about and answered with eternal remembrance by them.' This man only ate fruit, and drank a little water once a day, not wishing to know anything else [p. 21] of what belongs to the world, [but] practicing death every day. And this is sufficient. And Dichorianus, who published so many things about God, and who used to say that he was nourished by these things, and not by those which harm the body—after preserving impassibility of body and mind for 90 years, while he was dying said: 'Glory to you, righteous Justice, who changed my [mind] regarding what was honorable.' And there are many others of whom the book-lovers know—both Christians and true philosophers. But let us leave off for today, and tomorrow we [will] inquire into the rest. If it is desired by the will of heaven that we come this far, we [will] achieve resolution of further questions in turn."
[The Shepherdess and Coatus]
[p. 42]
80. ..."...I once learned of a woman, a shepherdess, in the settlement of the Arigbanes. One Coatus, son of Coatus, fell in love with her and sent her gifts, so that she would come to an agreement with him. But she, seeing the gifts, laughed and said to the messenger, pointing to her sheep: 'Behold my gifts and my children, from which I am nourished by divine grace.' And he came away to her and with splendid promises he urged her to accept him. She said to him: 'Shall I defile the undefiled cloak which grace has given to me?' Coatus said: 'Miserable girl, this law has been established from above for the propagation of the race.' The shepherdess: 'A law has been established for me not to acquire more than I have.' After much pleading to no effect, he ordered that she be starved to death. And so, on the third day, when she was about to expire, she uttered cheerful words as follows: 'O heavenly Father of your genuine children, O unsullied bridegroom of those who are in the bloom of beauty, I come to you, thrice-desired Lord, giving back to you without complaint that which you gave to me—virginity, forgiveness of sins, an existence without property, a truthful tongue, a heart unacquainted with wickedness—ever intent on the hope that is to come, which I have honored and whose joys I am now by all means going to meet.' And thus she expired. [p. 43] His father, learning this, ordered that he be hung head-downwards on a tall post in the middle of the city, so as to be eaten by birds."