Did Early Christians Reject Homer and Pagan Poetry?

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

For indeed the poets — Homer, to wit, and Hesiod, being, as they say, inspired by the Muses — spoke from a deceptive fancy, and not with a pure but an erring spirit.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

...mself a coat from its hide. And his other deeds, his incest, adultery, and lust, are better told by Homer and the other poets. Why should I say more about his sons? About how Hercules burned himself; and about Bacchus, drunk and raging; and about Apollo, fearing Achilles and fleeing from him, and falling in love with Daphne, and not knowing the fate of Hyacinthus; and about Venus wounded, and Mars, the plague of mortals; and about the ichor flowing from the so-called gods. And these are actually the milder kinds of stories, since the god called Osiris is found to have been torn limb from limb. His mysteries are celebrated every year, as if he had died and were being found and searched for piece by piece. For it is neither known whether he died, nor is it shown whether he is found. And why should I speak of Atys mutilated, or of Adonis wandering in the woods and wounded by a boar while hunting; or of Æsculapius struck by a thunderbolt; or of the fugitive Serapis, chased from Sinope to Alexandria; or of the Scythian Diana, who was herself also a fugitive, a killer, a huntress, and a passionate lover of Endymion? Now, it is not we who make these things known, but your own writers a

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

Hush! Homer, a god never rages. But you describe the god to me as blood-stained, and the bane of mortals:—

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...even more serious, we develop them in our very studies and lessons, especially in the verses of the poets, who have harmed the truth as much as possible by their authority. For this reason Plato rightly drove out from the state he had founded in his discourse the famous Homer, whom he had praised and crowned. For Homer especially, in the Trojan story, allowed your gods to interfere in the affairs and actions of men, although he made jokes about them. He brought them together in conflict. He wounded Venus. He bound, wounded, and drove away Mars. He says that Jupiter was set free by Briareus so that the rest of the gods would not bind him fast. He says that Jupiter wept showers of blood for his son Sarpedon because he could not snatch him from death. And, enticed by the girdle of Venus, he lay with his wife Juno more eagerly than he was accustomed to do with his adulterous loves. Elsewhere, Hercules threw out dung, and Apollo feeds cattle for Admetus. Neptune also builds walls for Laomedon, and the unfortunate builder did not receive the wages for his work. Then Jupiter's thunderbolt is forged on the anvil along with the arms of Aeneas, although heaven, thunderbolts, and lightning

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

Accordingly, Homer, the best of the poets, who describes what usually took place, when, wishing to show us what most influenced the demons to grant an answer to the wishes of their votaries, introduces Chryses, who, for a few garlands and the thighs of bulls and goats, obtained an answer to his prayers for his daughter Chryseis, so that the Greeks were driven by a pestilence to restore her back to him.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...ther god as their ruler, if Saturn had not been deceived by his wife. But someone will say that the poets invented these things. Whoever thinks this is mistaken. For they spoke about men. But in order to adorn with praise those whose memory they celebrated, they said that they were gods. Therefore, the things they said about them as gods were invented, not the things they said about them as men. And this will be made clear by an example that I will give. When he was about to violate Danae, he poured a large amount of gold coins into her lap. This was the price he paid for her dishonor. But the poets, speaking of him as a god, did not want to weaken the authority of his supposed majesty. So they invented the story that he himself came down in a shower of gold. They used the same kind of figure of speech that they use when they speak of showers of iron, meaning a great number of darts and arrows. He is said to have carried off Ganymede by an eagle. This is a picture made by the poets. But either he carried him off by a legion, which has an eagle as its standard, or the ship on which he was taken had a guardian deity in the form of an eagle, just as it had the image of a bull when

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Even your very rejoicings therefore ought to be done with fear and trembling: for a Christian who is faithful ought neither to repeat an heathen hymn nor an obscene song, because he will be obliged by that hymn to make mention of the idolatrous names of demons;

Tertullian, Ad Nationes Supporting witness

I mean Homer by this description. He it is, in my opinion, who has treated the majesty of the Divine Being on the low level of human condition, imbuing the gods with the falls and the passions of men;

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Supporting witness

And not only Menander, but Homer also, and Euripides, and other poets in great numbers, expose your gods, and are wont to rate them, and that soundly too.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

...on completely without trickery. And he says that the opinions of the Greeks differ very little from myths. For childish fables and stories commonly told among children are not fit to be listened to. And he called the myths themselves children, as if they were the offspring of those among the Greeks who were wise in their own eyes, yet had very little understanding. By "studies made gray with time," he meant the truth possessed by the barbarians, reaching back to the earliest antiquity. He set this against the phrase "child fable," criticizing the mythical nature of the efforts of the moderns, because, like children, they had nothing mature in them. And he declared that both their fables and their speeches were childish.

Aristides, The Apology Supporting witness

The stories about their gods are of several kinds. Some are myths, some are poems about nature, and some are hymns and elegies. The hymns and elegies are really empty words and mere noise. But as for these poems about nature, even if they were composed as they say, those who do, suffer, and endure such things are still not gods. And those myths are shallow stories with no depth at all.

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

But they say that all these things are the inventions of poets, and entertainments arranged for pleasure. It is not believable that men who were by no means foolish, and who tried to trace the character of the most distant past, either failed to put into their poems the tales that remained in people's minds and in common talk, or claimed for themselves such great freedom that they would foolishly invent what was almost pure madness, and so give themselves reason to fear the gods and bring themselves into danger with men. But let us grant that the poets are, as you say, the inventors and authors of tales so disgraceful. Even then, however, you are not free from the guilt of dishonoring the gods. For the gods either are careless in punishing such offenses, or have not opposed such recklessness by making laws and enforcing severe punishments, and have not decided that from now on no one should say what tended to dishonor them or what was unworthy of the glory of the gods. For whoever allows a wrongdoer to sin makes his boldness stronger. And it is more insulting to stain and mark someone with false accusations than to bring forward and throw real offenses in his face. For to be called

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Direct teaching

And the poet Homer, using the license of poetry, and rivalling the original opinion of Orpheus regarding the plurality of the gods, mentions, indeed, several gods in a mythical style, lest he should seem to sing in a different strain from the poem of Orpheus, which he so distinctly proposed to rival, that even in the first line of his poem he indicated the relation he held to him.

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

And the poet Homer, using poetic license and competing with the original views of Orpheus about the many gods, mentions several gods in a mythical style. He did this so he would not appear to sing in a different way from Orpheus, whose work he clearly sought to rival, even suggesting this connection in the first line of his poem. As Orpheus began his poem with, “O goddess, sing the wrath of Demeter, who brings the goodly fruit,” Homer started with, “O goddess, sing the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus.” He preferred, it seems to me, to disrupt the poetic meter in his first line rather than forget the names of the gods. But shortly after, he clearly and explicitly expresses his opinion about only one God when he makes Phœnix say to Achilles, “Not though God Himself were to promise that He would peel off my old age and give me the vigor of my youth,” where he refers to the real and true God. Elsewhere, he has Ulysses speak to the Greek host, saying, “The rule of many is not a good thing; let there be one ruler.” He argued that the rule of many is not good, but actually evil, by telling of the wars caused by having many rulers, along with the fights, factions, and mutual plots. For mo

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

How, then, does Plato blame Homer for saying that the gods can change their minds, although, as is clear from the context, Homer said this for a practical reason? It is natural for those who hope to gain mercy through prayer and sacrifices to stop and repent of their sins. Those who believe that the Deity cannot change are not motivated to give up their sins, as they assume they will gain nothing from repentance. How, then, does Plato the philosopher criticize the poet Homer for saying, “Even the gods themselves can change,” yet himself describe the creator of the gods as so easily swayed that he sometimes claims the gods are mortal and at other times claims they are immortal? And this inconsistency applies not only to the gods but also to matter, from which, he says, the created gods have been made; he sometimes states it is uncreated and at other times that it is created. Yet, he does not recognize that he, by saying the maker of the gods can be easily swayed, has made the very mistakes he criticizes Homer for, though Homer said the very opposite about the maker of the gods. Homer asserted that he spoke thus of himself: “For my promise shall never deceive, fail, or be withdrawn i

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

and not Homer only, but also Hesiod. So that if you believe your most distinguished poets, who have given the genealogies of your gods, you must of necessity either suppose that the gods are such beings as these, or believe that there are no gods at all.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

Homer, while representing the gods as subject to human passions, appears to know the Divine Being, whom Epicurus does not so revere. He says accordingly:—

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

For thus they most heartily celebrate Homer and Hesiod, and the rest of the poets, but the glory of the incorruptible and only God they not only omit to mention, but blaspheme;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

... the gods? Why then are they portrayed that way and worshiped that way? Unless perhaps not only the poets, but also painters and sculptors, speak falsehoods. For if this is the Jupiter whom you call a god, if he is not the one born from Saturn and Ops, then no image except his own should have been placed in all the temples. What do the images of women mean? What does the doubtful sex mean? If this Jupiter is represented in them, the very stones will confess that he is a man. They say that the poets spoke falsely, and yet they believe them. Yes, truly by the fact itself they prove that the poets did not speak falsely. For they make the images of the gods in such a way that, from the very difference of sex, it appears that the things the poets say are true. For what other conclusion can be drawn from the image of Ganymede and the figure of the eagle, when they are placed before Jupiter's feet in the temples and are worshiped equally with him, except that the memory of wicked guilt and debauchery remains forever? Therefore, the poets invent nothing completely. Perhaps something is changed and hidden by indirect shaping, under which the truth was wrapped and concealed. This is so in

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Therefore, the stories of the poets are true, but they are covered over with an outward veil and appearance. It is possible that Mount Olympus gave the poets the idea for saying that Jupiter gained the kingdom of heaven, because Olympus is the common name for both the mountain and heaven. But the same history tells us that Jupiter lived on Mount Olympus when it says, "At that time Jupiter spent most of his life on Mount Olympus; and people used to go to him there for the administration of justice, if any matters were disputed. Moreover, if anyone had discovered some new invention that might be useful for human life, he would come there and show it to Jupiter." The poets transfer many things in this way, not because they want to speak falsely against the objects of their worship, but so that by using figures of many colors they may add beauty and grace to their poems. But those who do not understand the way, or the reason, or the nature of what is presented in figure attack the poets as false and sacrilegious. Even the philosophers were deceived by this error. Because these things said about Jupiter seemed unfitting for the character of a god, they introduced two Jupiters, one natur

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

They, therefore, who entertain the opinion that the poets have invented fables about the gods, and yet believe in the existence of female deities, and worship them, are unconsciously brought back to that which they had denied — that they have sexual intercourse, and bring forth.

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

By your insults and affronts, I say, partly in the vile stories, partly in the shameful beliefs which your theologians, your poets, you yourselves too, celebrate in disgraceful ceremonies, you will find that the affairs of men have been ruined, and that the gods have thrown away the helm, if indeed it is by their care that the fortunes of men are guided and arranged.

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Direct teaching

...t seems right for me to show that our philosophy is older than the systems of the Greeks. Moses and Homer will be our boundary points, since both are very ancient. One is the oldest of poets and historians, and the other is the founder of all barbarian wisdom. So let us compare them. Then we will find that our teachings are older, not only than those of the Greeks, but even than the invention of letters. And I will not bring forward witnesses from our own people. Instead, I will appeal to Greeks. To do the first would be foolish, because you would not allow it. But the second will surprise you, when I argue against you with your own weapons and present proofs you did not expect. Now the poetry of Homer, his ancestry, and the time when he lived have been examined by the earliest writers: Theagenes of Rhegium, who lived in the time of Cambyses; Stesimbrotus of Thasos and Antimachus of Colophon; Herodotus of Halicarnassus; and Dionysius the Olynthian. After them came Ephorus of Cumæ, Philochorus the Athenian, and the Peripatetics Megaclides and Chamæleon. Later came the grammarians Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callimachus, Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus, and Apollodorus. Of these, C

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

Now the poetry of Homer, his parentage, and the time in which he flourished have been investigated by the most ancient writers — by Theagenes of Rhegium, who lived in the time of Cambyses, Stesimbrotus of Thasos and Antimachus of Colophon, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, and Dionysius the Olynthian;

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

...yphus and Tantalus as suffering punishment with the body. Diodorus, a highly respected historian, clearly shows us that Homer had been in Egypt and incorporated much of what he learned there into his own work. He stated that while in Egypt, Homer learned that Helen received a drug from Theon’s wife, Polydamna, which eased all sorrow and melancholy and caused forgetfulness of all troubles, and brought it to Sparta. Homer recounted that Helen used this drug to end Menelaus's lamentation caused by Telemachus's presence. He also referred to Venus as "golden" based on what he saw in Egypt, where there was a temple called "the temple of golden Venus" and a plain named "the plain of golden Venus." Why do I mention this? To show that the poet incorporated much from the divine writings of the prophets into his work. First, he included what Moses had described as the beginning of the world's creation. Moses wrote, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," then the sun, the moon, and the stars. Having learned this in Egypt and being greatly impressed with what Moses wrote in the Genesis of the world, Homer fictionalized that Vulcan fashioned on Achilles' shield a representat

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

But their own special prophet Homer, listening to whom they have invented such doctrines, shall himself reprove them, when he expresses himself as follows:— “Hateful to me that man as Hades’ gates, Who one thing thinks, while he another states.”

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Supporting witness

In so doing, they act like those who bring forward any kind of hypothesis they fancy, and then endeavour to support them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon that hypothesis, which has, in fact, been but newly constructed;

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

... high God exists in a fiery substance. But Aristotle, in a book addressed to Alexander the Great, clearly contradicts Plato, saying that God does not exist in a fiery substance. Instead, he invents a fifth substance, some kind of ethereal and unchangeable matter, claiming that God exists in it. Thus, he wrote: "Not, as some of those who have erred regarding the Deity say, that God exists in a fiery substance." Then, as if dissatisfied with this rejection of Plato's view, he further attempts to prove his idea about the ethereal body by citing as a witness him whom Plato had banished from his republic as a liar and imitation of the truth three times removed, for that is how Plato refers to Homer. Aristotle wrote, "Thus at least did Homer speak, ‘And Zeus obtained the wide heaven in the air and the clouds,’" trying to lend his own opinion more credibility with Homer's testimony, not realizing that if he used Homer to prove he spoke truthfully, many of his beliefs would be shown to be false. For Thales of Miletus, the founder of their philosophy, will contradict Aristotle's initial opinions about first principles. Aristotle himself, having said that God and matter are the first prin

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

After this, Celsus's Jew continues, as if he were a Greek who loved learning and was well instructed in Greek literature: "The old mythological fables, which attributed a divine origin to Perseus, Amphion, Æacus, and Minos, were not believed by us. Nevertheless, so that they might not appear unworthy of belief, they represented the deeds of these persons as great and wonderful, and truly beyond the power of man. But what have you done that is noble or wonderful, either in deed or in word? You have made no manifestation to us, although they challenged you in the temple to show some unmistakable sign that you were the Son of God." In reply to this, we have to say: Let the Greeks show us, among those who have been named, any one whose deeds have been marked by a usefulness and splendor extending to later generations, and have been so great as to produce belief in the fables that represented them as of divine descent. But these Greeks can show us nothing regarding those men of whom they speak that is inferior by a great degree to what Jesus did, unless they take us back to their fables and histories, wishing us to believe them without any reasonable grounds, and to discredit the Gospel

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

After the above, this Jew of Celsus, as if he were a Greek who loved learning, and were well instructed in Greek literature, continues: The old mythological fables, which attributed a divine origin to Perseus, and Amphion, and Æacus, and Minos, were not believed by us.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

And on what principle must we believe some things and disbelieve others, when the poets have written their stories in order to gain greater veneration for them?

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

For either the tales told by the multitude and the poets about the gods are unworthy of credit, and the reverence shown them is superfluous (for those do not exist, the tales concerning whom are untrue);

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Stay away from all pagan books. What do you have to do with such foreign teachings, laws, or false prophets that overthrow the faith of unstable people? What lack do you find in the law of God, that you should turn to those pagan fables? If you want to read history, you have the books of the Kings. If you want books of wisdom or poetry, you have the books of the Prophets, Job, and Proverbs. In them you will find greater depth of understanding than in all the pagan poets and sophists, because these are the words of the Lord, the only wise God. If you want something to sing, you have the Psalms. If you want the origin of things, you have Genesis. If you want laws and statutes, you have the glorious law of the Lord God. Therefore, completely stay away from all strange and diabolical books. No, when you read the law, do not think that you are required to keep the added precepts, if not all of them, then even some of them. Read those only for the sake of history, so that you may know them and glorify God that He has delivered you from so great and so many bonds. Aim to distinguish which rules came from the law of nature, and which were added afterward, or were additional rules introduce

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

if books of wisdom or poetry, you have those of the Prophets, of Job, and the Proverbs, in which you will find greater depth of sagacity than in all the heathen poets and sophisters, because these are the words of the Lord, the only wise God.

Romans 15:4 Direct teaching

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

1 Timothy 1:4 Supporting witness

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

2 Timothy 4:4 Supporting witness

and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

1 Corinthians 12:2 Background

You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.

Galatians 4:8 Background

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

Psalms 135:15 Background

The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

Psalms 96:5 Background

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Psalms 97:7 Background

All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!

Psalms 115:4 Background

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.