# Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων 1

Plutarch, Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων, Section 1. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/plutarch/text-61/1

ἀετούς τινας ἢ κύκνους, ὦ Τερέντιε Πρῖσκε, μυθολογοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον φερομένους εἰς ταὐτὸ συμπεσεῖν Πυθοῖ περὶ τὸν καλούμενον ὀμφαλόν· ὕστερον δὲ χρόνῳ τὸν Φαίστιον Ἐπιμενίδην ἐλέγχοντα τὸν μῦθον ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λαβόντα χρησμὸν ἀσαφῆ καὶ ἀμφίβολον εἰπεῖν οὔτε γὰρ ἦν γαίης; μέσος ὀμφαλὸς; οὐδὲ θαλάσσης εἰ δέ τις ἔστι, θεοῖς δῆλος θνητοῖσι δʼ ἄφαντος. ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὖν εἰκότως ὁ θεὸς ἠμύνατο, μύθου παλαιοῦ καθάπερ ζωγραφήματος; ἁφῇ διαπειρώμενον.

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Plutarch, Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0007.tlg092.local001/.