# Ad Marcellam 16

Porphyrius, Ad Marcellam, Section 16. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/porphyrius/ad-marcellam/16

καὶ τιμήσεις μὲν ἄριστα τὸν θεόν, ὅταν τῷ θεῷ τὴν σαυ- τῆς διάνοιαν ὁμοιώσῃς· ἡ δὲ ὁμοίωσις ἔσται διὰ μό- νης ἀρετῆς· μόνη γὰρ ἀρετὴ τὴν ψυχὴν ἄνω ἕλκει καὶ πρὸς τὸ συγγενές. καὶ μέγα οὐδὲν ἄλλο μετὰ θεὸν ἢ ἀρετή. μείζων ἀρετῆς θεός· θεὸς δὲ ἄνθρω- πον βεβαιοῖ πράσσοντα καλά· κακῶν δὲ πράξεων ·κακὸς δαίμων ἡγεμών. ψυχὴ οὖν πονηρὰ φεύγει μὲν θεόν, πρόνοιαν δὲ θεοῦ εἶναι οὐ βούλεται, νόμου τε θείου τοῦ πάντα φαῦλον κολάζοντος ἀποστατοῖ πάν- τως. ψυχὴ δὲ σοφοῦ ἁρμόζεται πρὸς θεόν, ἀεὶ θεὸν ὁρᾷ, σύνεστιν ἀεὶ θεῷ. εἰ δὲ χαίρει τῷ ἀρχομένῳ τὸ ἄρχον, καὶ θεὸς σοφοῦ κήδεται καὶ προνοεῖ· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μακάριος ὁ σοφός, ὅτι ἐπιτροπεύεται ὑπὸ θεοῦ. οὐχ ἡ γλῶττα τοῦ σοφοῦ τίμιον παρὰ θεῷ, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἔργα. σοφὸς γὰρ ἀνὴρ καὶ σιγῶν τὸν θεὸν τιμᾷ· ἄνθρωπος δὲ ἀμαθὴς καὶ εὐχόμενος καὶ θύων μιαίνει τὸ θεῖον. μόνος οὖν ἱερεὺς ὁ σοφός, μόνος θεοφιλής, μόνος εἰδὼς εὔξασθαι.

---

Porphyrius, Ad Marcellam, ed. August Nauck. 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/tlg2034.tlg005.local001/.