Against the Professors, Books I-VI of Against the Learned Section 289

Ὅμηρος δέ καὶ Ἡσίοδος κατὰ τὸν Κολοφώνιον Ξενο- φάνη (B 12 Dieis) ὡς πλεῖστ’ ἐφθέγξαντο θεῶν ἀθεμίστια ἔργα, κλέπτειν μοιχεύειν τε καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀπατεύειν. Κρόνος μὲν γάρ, ἐφʼ οὖ τὸν εὐδαίμονα βίον γεγονέναι λέγουσι, τὸν πατέρα ἦνδροτόμησε καὶ τὰ τέκνα κατέπιεν, Ζεύς τε ὁ τούτου παῖς ἀφελόμενος αὐτὸν τῆς ἡγεμονίας (Ηom. Ξ 204) γαίης νέρθε καθεῖσε καὶ ἀτρυγέτοιο θαλάσσης, τῆλε μάλʼ ἧχι βάθιστον ὑπὸ χθονός ἐστι βέρεθρον.

But Homer and Hesiod, according to Xenophanes of Colophon (B 12 Diels), “uttered of the gods as many lawless deeds as possible: stealing, committing adultery, and deceiving one another.” Cronus, during whose reign they say the happy life existed, castrated his father and swallowed his children. Zeus, his son, deprived him of rule and (Hom. Il. 14.204) “set him beneath earth and the barren sea, far away, where the deepest gulf lies beneath the ground.”

Mais Homère et Hésiode, selon Xénophane de Colophon (B 12 Diels), «ont attribué aux dieux quantité d’actes contraires à la loi: voler, commettre l’adultère et se tromper mutuellement». Cronos, sous le règne duquel on place la vie heureuse, mutila son père et avala ses enfants. Zeus, son fils, lui arracha le pouvoir et (Homère, Ξ 204) «le plaça sous la terre et sous la mer inféconde, au loin, là où sous le sol s’ouvre le gouffre le plus profond».