CANTO III.]
HUDIBRAS.
239
Pythagoras, old Zoroaster,[1] 655
And Apollonius their master,[2]
To whom they do confess they owe
All that they do, and all they know.
Quoth Hudibras,—Alas, what is't t' us
Whether 'twere said by Trismegistus, 660
If it be nonsense, false, or mystick,
Or not intelligible, or sophistick?
'Tis not antiquity, nor author,
That makes Truth truth, altho' Time's daughter;[3]
'Twas he that put her in the pit, 665
Before he pull'd her out of it;[4]
- ↑ Little is known of Zoroaster, who is supposed to have lived six centuries before the Christian era. Many miracles are attributed to him by the ancient writers, and he is the legendary founder of the religion of the old Persians, and reputed inventor of magic. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher, flourished about the sixth or seventh century before Christ. He was the scholar of Thales, travelled in Egypt, Chaldea, and other parts of the East, and was initiated into all their mysteries; and at last settled in Italy, where he founded the Italic sect. He commonly expressed himself by symbols. Many incredible stories arc reported of him by Diogenes Laertius, Jamblicus, and others.
- ↑ Apollonius of Tyana lived in the time of Domitian. Many improbable wonders are related of him by Philostratus; and more are added by subsequent writers. According to these accounts he raised the dead, rendered himself invisible, was seen at Rome and Puteoli on the same day, and proclaimed at Ephesus the murder of Domitian at the very instant of its perpetration at Rome. This last fact is attested by Dio Cassius, the consular historian; who, with the most vehement asseverations, affirms it to be certainly true, though it should be denied a thousand times over. Yet the same Dio elsewhere calls him a cheat and impostor. Dio, lxviii. ult. et lxxvii. 18. The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, written by Philostratus, has been translated into English by Blount, 1680, and by Berwick, 1809. Sceptics of all ages have been fond of comparing the feats of Apollonius with the miracles of Jesus Christ.
- ↑ The Knight argues that opinions are not always to be received on the authority of a great name; nor does the antiquity of an opinion ever constitute the truth of it.
- ↑ Time brings truth to light, although it was time also which had concealed it. It often involves subjects in perplexity, and occasions those very difficulties which afterwards it helps to remove. Bishop Warburton observes, that the satire contained in these lines of our author is fine and just. Cleanthes said that "truth was hid in a pit." "Yes," answers the poet; "but you, Greek philosophers, were the first that put her in there, and then claimed so much merit to yourselves for drawing her out."
