Hermetica, Ὅροι Ἀσκληπιοῦ πρὸς Ἄμμωνα βασιλέα

ὁ δὲ λόγος τῇ πατρῴᾳ διαλέκτῳ ἑρμηνευόμενος ἔχει σαφῆ τὸν τῶν λόγων νοῦν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς φωνῆς ποιὸν ⟨...⟩, καὶ ἡ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὀνομάτων ⎡δύναμις⎤ ἐν ἑαυτῇ ἔχει τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῶν λεγομένων. ὅσον οὖν δύνατόν ἐστί σοι, βασιλεῦ,—πάντα δὲ δύνασαι,—τὸν λόγον διατήρησον ἀνερμήνεντον, ἵνα μήτε εἰς Ἕ λληνας ἔλθῃ τοιαῦτα μυστήρια, μήτε ἡ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ⎡ὑπερήφανος⎤ φράσις καὶ ἐκλελυμένη καὶ ὥσπερ κεκαλλωπισμένη ἐξίτηλον ποιήσῃ τὸ σεμνὸν καὶ στιβαρὸν καὶ τὴν ἐνεργητικὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων φράσιν. Ἕλληνες γάρ, ὦ βασιλεῦ, λόγους ἔχουσι κενοὺς ἀποδείξεων [ἐνεργητικούς]· καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ⟨ἡ⟩ Ἑλλήνων φιλοσοφία, λόγων ψόφος. ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ λόγοις χρώμεθα, ἀλλὰ φωναῖς με[γι]σταῖς [τῶν] ἔργων.

But the discourse, expressed in our ancestral language, keeps the meaning of its words clear; for the very quality of the sound ⟨...⟩, and the ⎡power⎤ of Egyptian names holds in itself the efficacy of what is said. As far as is possible for you, then, O king—and you can do all things—keep the discourse untranslated, so that such mysteries may not reach the Greeks, and the ⎡arrogant⎤, slack and, as it were, prettified diction of the Greeks may not make faint the solemnity and solidity and the effective diction of the names. For the Greeks, O king, have [effective] words empty of proofs; and this is ⟨the⟩ philosophy of the Greeks, a noise of words. But we do not use words, but sounds full of [the] deeds.

ὑπὸ τούτῳ δὲ ἐτάγη ὁ τῶν δαιμόνων χορός, μᾶλλον δὲ χοροί· πολλοὶ γὰρ οὗτοι καὶ ποικίλοι, ὑπὸ τ῀ιΗ τῶν ἀστέρων [[πλινθίδας]] ⟨ἡγεμονίᾳ⟩ τεταγμένοι, ἑκάστῳ τούτων ἰσάριθμοι. διατεταγμένοι οὖν ⟨κατὰ⟩ ⟨⟨πλινθίδας⟩⟩ ὑπηρετοῦσιν ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀστέρων, ἀγαθοὶ καὶ κακοὶ ὄντες τὰς φύσεις, τουτέστι τὰς ἐνεργείας· δαίμονος γὰρ οὐσία ἐνέργεια. [εἰσὶ δέ τινες αὐτῶν κεκραμένοι ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ.]

Under him is ranked the chorus of daemons, or rather choruses; for they are many and varied, ranked under the ⟨command⟩ of the stars, equal in number for each of them. Arranged, then, ⟨in⟩ ⟨⟨squadrons⟩⟩, they serve each of the stars, being good and bad in their natures, that is, in their activities; for the essence of a daemon is activity. [But some of them are mixed of good and bad.]

οὗτοι, πάντωΝ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς πραγμάτων τὴν ἐξουσίαν κεκληρωμένοι, ⟨.... αἴτιοι δέ⟩ εἰσι καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς θορύβων, καὶ ποικίλην ταραχὴν ἐργάζονται καὶ κοινῇ ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ. ἀναπλάττονται γὰρ καὶ ἀνθέλκουσι τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν εἰς ἑαυτούς, ἐγκαθήμενοι ἡμῶν νεύροις καὶ μυελοῖς καὶ φλεψὶ καὶ ἀρτηρίαις [καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ ἐγκεφάλῳ], διήκοντες μέχρι καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν σπλάγχνων.

These, having been allotted authority over all affairs on earth, ⟨.... and they are the causes⟩ also of the disturbances on earth, and they work manifold confusion, both publicly for cities and nations and privately for each person. For they reshape our souls and draw them over to themselves, sitting in our sinews and marrow and veins and arteries [and in the brain itself], reaching even to the very entrails.

γενόμενον γὰρ ἡμῶν ἕκαστον καὶ ψυχωθέντα παραλαμβάνουσι δαίμονες οἱ κατ᾽ ἐκείνην τὴν ⟨σ⟩τι⟨γ⟩μὴν τῆς γενέσεως ὑπηρέται, οἳ ⟨ὑπ⟩-ετάγησαν ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀστέρων· οὗτοι γὰρ κατὰ στιγμὴν ἐναλλάσσονται, οὐχ οἱ αὐτοὶ ἐπιμένοντες, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνακυκλούμενοι. οὗτοι οὖν εἰς τὰ δύο ⟨ἄλογα⟩ μέρη τῆς ψυχῆς δύντες διὰ τοῦ σώματος στροβοῦσιν αὐτὴν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἐνέργειαν. τὸ δὲ λογικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς ἀδέσποτον τῶν δαιμόνων ἕστηκεν, ἐπιτήδειον εἰς ὑποδοχὴν τοῦ θεοῦ.

For when each of us has been born and ensouled, he is taken over by the daemons who are on duty at that ⟨instant⟩ of birth, who were assigned ⟨under⟩ each of the stars; for these change from instant to instant, not the same ones staying on, but revolving in turn. These, then, entering through the body into the two ⟨irrational⟩ parts of the soul, whirl it about, each towards his own activity. But the rational part of the soul stands free of the daemons' mastery, fit to receive God.

⟨ὅ⟩τῳ οὖν ἐν τῷ λογικῷ ἀκτὶς ἐπιλάμπει [διὰ τοῦ ἡλίου] ⟨ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ⟩, [[οὗτοι δὲ πάντες ὀλίγοι εἰσί,]] τούτῳ[ν] καταργοῦνται οἱ δαίμονες· οὐδείς γὰρ οὐδὲν δύναται οὔτε δαιμόνων οὔτε θεῶν πρὸς μίαν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ θεοῦ. ⟨⟨οὗτοι δὲ πάντως ὀλίγοι εἰσί⟨ν⟩·⟩⟩ οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι πάντες ἄγονται καὶ φέρονται καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τὰ σώματα ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων, ἀγαπῶντες καὶ στέργοντες τὰς ἐκείνων ἐνεργείας· καὶ ὁ λόγοΝ οὐκ ⟨ἔχων⟩ ἔρως ⟨...⟩ ἐστίν, ὁ πλανώμενος καὶ πλανῶν. τὴν οὖν ἐπίγειον ⎡διοίκησιν⎤ ταύτην πᾶσαν διοικοῦσι δι᾽ ὀργάνων τῶν ἡμετέρων σωμάτων. ταύτην δὲ τὴν διοίκησιν Ἑρμῆς εἱμαρμένην ἐκάλεσεν.

⟨For whomever⟩, then, a ray shines on the rational part [through the sun] ⟨from God⟩, for him the daemons are made powerless; for no one, whether of daemons or of gods, can do anything against a single ray of God. ⟨⟨But these are certainly few.⟩⟩ All the others are led and carried along, both souls and bodies, by the daemons, loving and cherishing their activities; and love not ⟨having⟩ reason ⟨...⟩ is, the one that strays and leads astray. This whole earthly ⎡government⎤, then, they govern through the instruments of our bodies. And this government Hermes called Fate.