Christian Texts and History • Re: Dionysos, for Pseudo-?Hecataeus of Abdera ?

The second phase began with H. Lewy's critical analysis of the traditions preserved in Josephus ("Hekataios von Abdera Peri Ioudaion," ZNW 31 [1932] 117-32). Lewy's conclusion that Peri Ioudaion is not pseudepigraphical but authentically from Hecataeus has influenced the judgment of several specialists, notably T. Tcherikover (no. 124, pp. 426f.), Y. Gutman (no. 40, pp. 39ff.), and J. G. Gager, Jr. (no. 892c).

The Wonderful Deeds of the Jew — Karteria and Sōphrosynē, Kalanos and the Cynics

{p.53} It had already been remarked by the first scholars to discuss Clearchus’s account that the original text contained one or more wonderful deeds attributed to the Jew. Indeed, “Aristotle” emphasizes in his introductory comments that he is about to relate unusual acts (“a certain wonder,” “wonderful things similar to

43. Considering the vast extent of his reading of Greek literature, it is most likely that Clement was not relying here on secondary sources. He does not quote from Contra Apionem in his works, since he did not need it. The only reference to Josephus in Clement’s works is found in Stromateis 1.21 [147. 2–3], and not to Contra Apionem but to the Bellum Judaicum (4. 439–41). This concerns the number of years from Moses to David, and from David to Vespasian.
44. It is worth noting in this context the parallel to Aristotle’s account that a number of scholars have found in the apocryphal report by Aristoxenus (Wehrli [1948] fr. 53) of a meeting between Socrates and an Indian sage; see Willrich (1895) 46; Lewy (1938) 218–19; Hengel (1973) 469; Stern (1974) 47; (1976) 1110. However, Aristoxenus is not talking about the superiority of Indian over Greek wisdom; he is merely expressing his opinion concerning philosophical priorities, engaging thereby in a purely internal Greek controversy over the matter (see on this below, pp. 74–75).

{p.54} dreams,” Ap. 1. 177), and that on this issue he will not refrain from relating details. It is clear that he is not referring to the dialogue he conducted with the Jew. Even had the Jew displayed outstanding wisdom, overshadowing Aristotle himself, it is not to this that the expressions refer; the word thaumasia (wonderful things/deeds), variations of which appear in the passage, refers to deeds and events that cannot be grasped by the mind (paradoxa) or are contrary to the laws of nature or experience accumulated over the years, not to the extraordinary intelligence or learning of a particular person. The term was regularly used to denote a certain literary genre that was already in existence in the classical period but flourished particularly in the Hellenistic period, especially in the third century b.c.e. A work of this genre was wrongly attributed even to Aristotle.45 The statement that in these marvelous deeds of the Jew there is “a certain wonder and, similarly, a certain philosophy” (Ap. 1. 177) refers, therefore, to the philosophical approach motivating them, or to their philosophical implications, rather than to any philosophical argument or dialogue.46

A. The Identity of the Anonymous Hypnotist in Proclus-Clearchus

The fragment does not contain an account of the wonderful deeds performed by the Jew. Josephus (or his assistants) made direct use of Clearchus’s work, rather than an intermediate anthology.47 The omission, therefore, is Josephus’s, and he must have had a good reason for it. What was the nature of these deeds? Why did Josephus omit them? Already in the nineteenth century the omission was being supplied by a story preserved in a commentary on Plato’s Politeia by Proclus, the fifth-century pagan Neoplatonic philosopher.48 Proclus quotes a passage from Clearchus’s work On Sleep concerning a man whose identity and nationality are not mentioned, but who, in the presence of Aristotle and his pupils, took the soul of a sleeping boy by means of a staff, and afterward returned it. In this way, it was demonstrated to Aristotle that the soul is separate from the body.49 This

45. On the part played by thaumasia in ethnographic literature of the period, see Trüdinger (1918) 1–44. On works devoted entirely to wonder stories, which were so popular in the Hellenistic period, see Susemihl (1892) 2: 463–86 and the collection of Giannini (1966). On the popularity of wonder stories, see, e.g., Aulus Gellius 6. 4.
46. See further, pp. 77–80 below.
47. See pp. 85–89 below.
48. See Havet (1873) 67; von Gutschmid (1893) 529, 588.
49.  Wehrli (1948) fr. 7. A translation of the Proclus fragment follows: “That it is possible for the soul to exit and enter the body is shown also by the man who, according to Clearchus, used the soul-dragging wand on the sleeping youth, and who persuaded the divine Aristotle—as Clearchus says in On Sleep—concerning the soul, concluding that it separates from the body and that it enters the body, and that it uses the body like an inn. For he struck the boy with the wand and dragged out his soul, and by means of the wand as it were leading it far from the body he showed the body to be unmoving and to be unfeeling, preserved unharmed like something inanimate, in the face of lacerators. The soul, continuing meanwhile to be far from the body was led back again close [to the body] by the wand, and after its entrance reported each and every thing. As a result, all those watching such an inquiry, especially Aristotle, were convinced that the soul is separable from the body.”

{p.55} suggestion has been developed over the years,50 and has been widely accepted among scholars.51 According to the most detailed version of the suggested supplement, that of Hans Lewy, the whole point of the dialogue On Sleep is to prove Plato’s opinion concerning the separate existence of the soul: the account of the (Jewish) hypnotist has a central place in the work, and it is he who provides the decisive proof that convinces “Aristotle.” Why did Clearchus describe the hypnotist as Jewish, of all nationalities? Because of a rumor that the Jews were descended from the Magi (Diog. Laert. 1. 9).52 Since magical deeds were attributed to the Magi, “the counterparts of the Jews among the Persians,” 53 and a belief in the survival of the soul was attributed to the Jews, Clearchus used these elements in his dialogue, portraying a Jew proving his belief by means of a magical deed. Why, then, did Josephus omit the episode? Because it would detract from the image of the Jews in the eyes of “enlightened Greeks” for whom he wrote the work, and because Jews, too, would criticize this portrayal as witchcraft prohibited by the Torah (Lev. 19.26; Deut. 18.10). Lewy had to deal with another problem arising from this interpretation: why Proclus failed to mention the name and nationality of the hypnotist, although he does so in other wonder stories appearing in his commentary on the Politeia. Lewy explains that the pagan Proclus, living when Christianity was gaining ground in Greece, had no wish to speak in praise of a Jew. For the same reason Proclus regularly failed to mention in his writings Jews and Christians and never cited the holy scriptures. He waged his polemic against the Christians without being too obvious and yet, despite his caution, was still exiled from Athens for a while under Christian pressure. At this stage, before making a close comparison of the fragment and the testimonium, it should be stated that the link between the hypnotist and the Jew is somewhat arbitrary. Clearchus would have cited many examples in his work to prove his claims. This is clear both from a comparison with fragments from his other works and from the general practice of Peripatetic argumentation. Aristotle’s followers for the most part used to collect examples for arguments and particular details under discussion. On Sleep, like any Aristotelian dialogue, dealt with one or more central subjects, and a large number of side issues. Examples were cited for all of these, of which only two examples, in addition to the passage on the Jew, have survived; both are preserved by Proclus in his commentary on Plato’s Politeia: the story about the anonymous hypnotist under discussion here, and another story about the death and resurrection of an Athenian named Cleonymus.54

50. Lewy (1938) 209 ff.
51. See Hengel (1973) 468; Momigliano (1975) 85–86; Stern (1974) 52; Troiani (1977) 115; Gabba (1989) 621; Kasher (1996) 170.
52. On this rumor, see note 124 below.
53. See, e.g., Diogenes Laertius 1. 1; Clement, Stromateis 1. 15–16, for the description of the Magi as the philosophers among the Persians.
54. See Wehrli (1948) fr. 8.