Cicero's Tusculan Disputations
consumes the rolling years; but to restrain him from immoderate haste,
Jupiter has confined him to the course of the stars, which are as
chains to him. Jupiter (that is, _juvans pater_) signifies a "helping
father," whom, by changing the cases, we call Jove,[142] _a juvando_.
The poets call him "father of Gods and men;"[143] and our ancestors
"the most good, the most great;" and as there is something more
glorious in itself, and more agreeable to others, to be good (that is,
beneficent) than to be great, the title of "most good" precedes that of
"most great." This, then, is he whom Ennius means in the following
passage, before quoted--
Look up to the refulgent heaven above,
Which all men call, unanimously, Jove:
which is more plainly expressed than in this other passage[144] of the
same poet--
On whose account I'll curse that flood of light,
Whate'er it is above that shines so bright.
Our augurs also mean the same, when, for the "thundering and lightning
heaven," they say the "thundering and lightning Jove." Euripides, among
many excellent things, has this:
The vast, expanded, boundless sky behold,
See it with soft embrace the earth enfold;
This own the chief of Deities above,
And this acknowledge by the name of Jove.
XXVI. The air, according to the Stoics, which is between the sea and
the heaven, is consecrated by the name of Juno, and is called the
sister and wife of Jove, because it resembles the sky, and is in close
conjunction with it. They have made it feminine, because there is
nothing softer. But I believe it is called Juno, _a juvando_ (from
helping).
To make three separate kingdoms, by fable, there remained yet the water
and the earth. The dominion of the sea is given, therefore, to Neptune,
a brother, as he is called, of Jove; whose name, Neptunus--as
_Portunus, a portu_, from a port--is derived _a nando_ (from swimming),
the first letters being a little changed. The sovereignty and power
over the earth is the portion of a God, to whom we, as well as the
Greeks, have given a name that denotes riches (in Latin, _Dis_; in
Greek, [Greek: Plouton]), because all things arise from the earth and
return to it. He forced away Proserpine (in Greek called [Greek:
Persephone]), by which the poets mean the "seed of corn," from whence
comes their fiction of Ceres, the mother of Proserpine, seeking for her
daughter, who was hidden from her. She is called Ceres, which is the
same as Geres--_a gerendis frugibus_[145]--"from bearing fruit," the
first letter of the word being altered after the manner of the Greeks,
for by them she is called [Greek: Demeter], the same as [Greek:
Gemeter].[146] Again, he (_qui magna vorteret_) "who brings about
mighty changes" is called Mavors; and Minerva is so called because
(_minueret_, or _minaretur_) she diminishes or menaces.
XXVII. And as the beginnings and endings of all things are of the
greatest importance, therefore they would have their sacrifices to
begin with Janus.[147] His name is derived _ab eundo_, from passing;
from whence thorough passages are called _jani_, and the outward doors
of common houses are called _januae_. The name of Vesta is, from the
Greeks, the same with their [Greek: Hestia]. Her province is over
altars and hearths; and in the name of this Goddess, who is the keeper
of all things within, prayers and sacrifices are concluded. The _Dii
Penates_, "household Gods," have some affinity with this power, and are
so called either from _penus_, "all kind of human provisions," or
because _penitus insident_ (they reside within), from which, by the
poets, they are called _penetrales_ also. Apollo, a Greek name, is
called _Sol_, the sun; and Diana, _Luna_, the moon. The sun (_sol_) is
so named either because he is _solus_ (alone), so eminent above all the
stars; or because he obscures all the stars, and appears alone as soon
as he rises. _Luna_, the moon, is so called _a lucendo_ (from shining);
she bears the name also of Lucina: and as in Greece the women in labor
invoke Diana Lucifera, so here they invoke Juno Lucina. She is likewise
called Diana _omnivaga_, not _a venando_ (from hunting), but because
she is reckoned one of the seven stars that seem to wander.[148] She is
called Diana because she makes a kind of day of the night;[149] and
presides over births, because the delivery is effected sometimes in
seven, or at most in nine, courses of the moon; which, because they
make _mensa spatia_ (measured spaces), are called _menses_ (months).
This occasioned a pleasant observation of Timaeus (as he has many).
Having said in his history that "the same night in which Alexander was
born, the temple of Diana at Ephesus was burned down," he adds, "It is
not in the least to be wondered at, because Diana, being willing to
assist at the labor of Olympias,[150] was absent from home." But to
this Goddess, because _ad res omnes veniret_--"she has an influence
upon all things"--we have given the appellation of Venus,[151] from
whom the word _venustas_ (beauty) is rather derived than Venus from
_venustas_.
XXVIII. Do you not see, therefore, how, from the productions of nature
and the useful inventions of men, have arisen fictitious and imaginary
Deities, which have been the foundation of false opinions, pernicious
errors, and wretched superstitions? For we know how the different forms
of the Gods--their ages, apparel, ornaments; their pedigrees,
marriages, relations, and everything belonging to them--are adapted to
human weakness and represented with our passions; with lust, sorrow,
and anger, according to fabulous history: they have had wars and
combats, not only, as Homer relates, when they have interested
themselves in two different armies, but when they have fought battles
in their own defence against the Titans and giants. These stories, of
the greatest weakness and levity, are related and believed with the
most implicit folly.
But, rejecting these fables with contempt, a Deity is diffused in every
part of nature; in earth under the name of Ceres, in the sea under the
name of Neptune, in other parts under other names. Yet whatever they
are, and whatever characters and dispositions they have, and whatever
name custom has given them, we are bound to worship and adore them. The
best, the chastest, the most sacred and pious worship of the Gods is to
reverence them always with a pure, perfect, and unpolluted mind and
voice; for our ancestors, as well as the philosophers, have separated
superstition from religion. They who prayed whole days and sacrificed,
that their children might survive them (_ut superstites essent_), were
called superstitious, which word became afterward more general; but
they who diligently perused, and, as we may say, read or practised over
again, all the duties relating to the worship of the Gods, were called
_religiosi_--religious, from _relegendo_--"reading over again, or
practising;" as _elegantes_, elegant, _ex eligendo_, "from choosing,
making a good choice;" _diligentes_, diligent, _ex diligendo_, "from
attending on what we love;" _intelligentes_, intelligent, from
understanding--for the signification is derived in the same manner.
Thus are the words superstitious and religious understood; the one
being a term of reproach, the other of commendation. I think I have now
sufficiently demonstrated that there are Gods, and what they are.
XXIX. I am now to show that the world is governed by the providence of
the Gods. This is an important point, which you Academics endeavor to
confound; and, indeed, the whole contest is with you, Cotta; for your
sect, Velleius, know very little of what is said on different subjects
by other schools. You read and have a taste only for your own books,
and condemn all others without examination. For instance, when you
mentioned yesterday[152] that prophetic old dame [Greek: Pronoia],
Providence, invented by the Stoics, you were led into that error by
imagining that Providence was made by them to be a particular Deity
that governs the whole universe, whereas it is only spoken in a short
manner; as when it is said "The commonwealth of Athens is governed by
the council," it is meant "of the Areopagus;"[153] so when we say "The
world is governed by providence," we mean "by the providence of the
Gods." To express ourselves, therefore, more fully and clearly, we say,
"The world is governed by the providence of the Gods." Be not,
therefore, lavish of your railleries, of which your sect has little to
spare: if I may advise you, do not attempt it. It does not become you,
it is not your talent, nor is it in your power. This is not applied to
you in particular who have the education and politeness of a Roman, but
to all your sect in general, and especially to your leader[154]--a man
unpolished, illiterate, insulting, without wit, without reputation,
without elegance.
XXX. I assert, then, that the universe, with all its parts, was
originally constituted, and has, without any cessation, been ever
governed by the providence of the Gods. This argument we Stoics
commonly divide into three parts; the first of which is, that the
existence of the Gods being once known, it must follow that the world
is governed by their wisdom; the second, that as everything is under
the direction of an intelligent nature, which has produced that
beautiful order in the world, it is evident that it is formed from
animating principles; the third is deduced from those glorious works
which we behold in the heavens and the earth.
First, then, we must either deny the existence of the Gods (as
Democritus and Epicurus by their doctrine of images in some sort do),
or, if we acknowledge that there are Gods, we must believe they are
employed, and that, too, in something excellent. Now, nothing is so
excellent as the administration of the universe. The universe,
therefore, is governed by the wisdom of the Gods. Otherwise, we must
imagine that there is some cause superior to the Deity, whether it be a
nature inanimate, or a necessity agitated by a mighty force, that
produces those beautiful works which we behold. The nature of the Gods
would then be neither supreme nor excellent, if you subject it to that
necessity or to that nature, by which you would make the heaven, the
earth, and the seas to be governed. But there is nothing superior to
the Deity; the world, therefore, must be governed by him: consequently,
the Deity is under no obedience or subjection to nature, but does
himself rule over all nature. In effect, if we allow the Gods have
understanding, we allow also their providence, which regards the most
important things; for, can they be ignorant of those important things,
and how they are to be conducted and preserved, or do they want power
to sustain and direct them? Ignorance is inconsistent with the nature
of the Gods, and imbecility is repugnant to their majesty. From whence
it follows, as we assert, that the world is governed by the providence
of the Gods.
XXXI. But supposing, which is incontestable, that there are Gods, they
must be animated, and not only animated, but endowed with
reason--united, as we may say, in a civil agreement and society, and
governing together one universe, as a republic or city. Thus the same
reason, the same verity, the same law, which ordains good and prohibits
evil, exists in the Gods as it does in men. From them, consequently, we
have prudence and understanding, for which reason our ancestors erected
temples to the Mind, Faith, Virtue, and Concord. Shall we not then
allow the Gods to have these perfections, since we worship the sacred
and august images of them? But if understanding, faith, virtue, and
concord reside in human kind, how could they come on earth, unless from
heaven? And if we are possessed of wisdom, reason, and prudence, the