Urgh. I know I’ve said it before … but some of these early-ish Christian ‘Against The Pagans’ efforts really do rather annoy me.

Why? Because they’re often pretty uh .. ‘bad faith’.

Tonight’s example? Clement of Alexandria in his Protrepticus (‘Exhortation’, ‘Urging’ ‘Pro-Turning/Converting’):

“Jupiter himself, when the of Lycaon the Arcadian, partook of a human table among the Ethiopians— a table rather inhuman and forbidden. For he satiated himself with human flesh unwittingly; for the god did not know that Lycaon the Arcadian, his entertainer, had slain his son (his name was Nyctimus), and served him up cooked before Zeus.

This is Jupiter the good, the prophetic, the patron of hospitality, the protector of suppliants, the benign, the author of omens, the avenger of wrongs; rather the unjust, the violater of right and of law, the impious, the inhuman, the violent, the seducer, the adulterer, the amatory. But perhaps when he was such he was a man; […]”
[Protrepticus II 8, Wilson translation]

Now … here’s the thing.

If you know anything about the mythology – that ain’t what happens.

There are, to be sure, several different prevalent ‘versions’ of the Lycaon myth … some which feature Nyctimus being killed in such a way, others which feature exactly the opposite (Nyctimus being the only one of Lycaon’s sons to survive … the wrath of Zeus with relation to the impiety of the House of Lycaon [Apollodorus, Bibliotheka III 8 1). And various, in any case, having some entirely different hapless mortal as the perverted ‘offering’.

Personally, I am rather persuaded (for a variety of reasons that we shall not delve into herein) by a constellation of those accounts wherein Lycaon isn’t the wrongdoer … albeit at least one of his sons is. [ref. one of the two versions provided by John Tzetzes at 481 of his commentary upon Lycophron; Hyginus, Fabulae 176; etc.]

But this is rather beside the point.

What I am getting at here is quite simple –

Clement asserts the following:

” For he satiated himself with human flesh unwittingly; for the god did not know that Lycaon the Arcadian, his entertainer, had slain his son (his name was Nyctimus), and served him up cooked before Zeus.”
[Wilson translation]

“Zeus himself shared a human table among the Ethiopians, and an inhuman and unlawful table when feasting with Lycaon the Arcadian; at least, he glutted himself with human flesh. Not wilfully, however, for the god was unaware that, as it appears, his host Lycaon the Arcadian set before him, as a dainty dish, his own child, Nyctimus by name, whom he had slaughtered.”
[Butterworth translation]

He then underscores his mocking by rattling off a list of Zeus’ / Jupiter’s ‘portfolio areas’ / theonymics of direct relevancy here:

“This is Jupiter the good, the prophetic, the patron of hospitality, the protector of suppliants, the benign, the author of omens, the avenger of wrongs;”
[Wilson translation]

” What a fine Zeus he is, the diviner, the protector of guests, the hearer of suppliants, the gracious, the author of all oracles, the avenger of crime! “
[Butterworth translation]

His claim is quite simple. Namely – and implicitly – how could a God that is supposedly … well, all of those things, particularly the perspicacious and presiding over avenging egregious wrongdoing and the sacred ‘Xenia’ [‘Guest-Rite’, ‘Sacred Hospitality’], etc. … how could this God really be a God (and of such nature) were He to have “satiated himself with human flesh unwittingly” (not, one assumes, via slipping Him a secretly-transubstantiated Communion wafer) – and then, implicitly, going by the line of jeering, neither noticed nor done anything about it.

Except here’s the thing.

That’s pretty much the exact opposite to how the myths – pretty much all of them – actually go.

What do they actually say upon the subject?

Well, let’s take a look.

Here’s the aforementioned Apollodorus [III 8 1]:

“[The Sons of Lycaon] exceeded all men in pride and impiety; and Zeus, desirous of putting their impiety to the proof, came to them in the likeness of a day-laborer. They offered him hospitality and having slaughtered a male child of the natives, they mixed his bowels with the sacrifices, and set them before him, at the instigation of the elder brother Maenalus. But Zeus in disgust upset the table at the place which is still called Trapezus, and blasted Lycaon and his sons by thunderbolts, all but Nyctimus, the youngest; for Earth was quick enough to lay hold of the right hand of Zeus and so appease his wrath.”
[Bibliotheka, Frazer translation]

“[Lycaon] having become king of the Arcadians, was shown to have fifty sons from many marriages. But an impious offspring of children was born, among whom were […] and others who all, as I said, excelled in impiety and arrogance. Zeus, disguised as a humble man, came to them, and they, inviting him to hospitality, slaughtered one of the local children, whose entrails they mixed and presented at the table. Zeus, disgusted, overturned the table, hence the place is now called Trapezeus in Arcadia, and he struck Lycaon and his sons with a thunderbolt, except for the youngest, Nyctimus. When Nyctimus took over the kingdom, the flood in the time of Deucalion occurred because of the impiety of Lycaon’s sons.

Another version: Zeus dined as a guest with the Arcadian Lycaon. His sons, making an attempt to see if he was a god, butchered Nyctimus and mixed his flesh with the other meats and presented it to Zeus. He, being angry, overturned the table, hence Trapezousa is a city in Arcadia, and he killed the sons of Lycaon with a thunderbolt and continuously struck Arcadia with thunderbolts, until the earth, begging Zeus, extended her hand, hence they say that the first truce was made among the Arcadians. He also transformed some of Lycaon’s sons into wolves. […]”
[Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem; 481, Hartzler & Kiesling translation]

“An infamous report
of this unholy age had reached my ears,
and wishing it were false, I sloped my course
from high Olympus, and—although a God—
disguised in human form I viewed the world.
It would delay us to recount the crimes
unnumbered, for reports were less than truth.
“I traversed Maenalus where fearful dens
abound, over Lycaeus, wintry slopes
of pine tree groves, across Cyllene steep;
and as the twilight warned of night’s approach,
I stopped in that Arcadian tyrant’s realms
and entered his inhospitable home:—
and when I showed his people that a God
had come, the lowly prayed and worshiped me,
but this Lycaon mocked their pious vows
and scoffing said; ‘A fair experiment
will prove the truth if this be god or man.’
and he prepared to slay me in the night,—
to end my slumbers in the sleep of death.
So made he merry with his impious proof;
but not content with this he cut the throat
of a Molossian hostage sent to him,
and partly softened his still quivering limbs
in boiling water, partly roasted them
on fires that burned beneath. And when this flesh
was served to me on tables, I destroyed
his dwelling and his worthless Household Gods,
with thunder bolts avenging. Terror struck
he took to flight, and on the silent plains
is howling in his vain attempts to speak;
he raves and rages and his greedy jaws,
desiring their accustomed slaughter, turn
against the sheep—still eager for their blood.”
[Ovid, Metamorphoses I, 212-235, More translation]

“For Kekrops was the first to name Zeus the Supreme god, and refused to sacrifice anything that had life in it, but burned instead on the altar the national cakes which the Athenians still call pelanoi. But Lycaon brought a human baby to the altar of Lycaean Zeus, and sacrificed it, pouring out its blood upon the altar, and according to the legend immediately after the sacrifice he was changed from a man to a wolf (Lycos). “
[Pausanias VIII 2 3; Jones & Ormerod translation, as edited by Nagy]

I could provide a few more, but you get the idea.

Clement has, clearly, twisted the telling torturously – a fine ‘Pro-Trepticus”, indeed !

His claim had been for Zeus / Jupiter to allegedly have “satiated himself with human flesh unwittingly”.

As we can see – that does not happen in the various actual recountings for the myth. Which instead have the wrongdoer(s) (whether Lycaon, or his son(s)) seek to serve up the most improper offering to their Guest … and for this to be very very emphatically rejected, with thunderous disapproval by the God.

There is no mention made for Him to have eaten the human flesh thusly presented, wittingly nor otherwise. And, indeed, it can hardly be the case that the God was “unwitting” to the subterfuge of the sinner(s) – as if He were, then He would not have carried out such sanction upon them.

Indeed, this just goes to show how stupid Clement’s take on these things is. We know – just as the Classical communities would have – the mythology around Lycaon and his sons – precisely because it’s a punishment of woeful transgression narrative. Which requires the Divinity in question to be very much aware for the wrongdoing … and very, very incensed about it.

Clement proffers the following :

“This is Jupiter the good, the prophetic, the patron of hospitality, the protector of suppliants, the benign, the author of omens, the avenger of wrongs;”
[Wilson translation]

What a fine Zeus he is, the diviner, the protector of guests, the hearer of suppliants, the gracious, the author of all oracles, the avenger of crime!”
[Butterworth translation]

To which I say … Yes. Yes He Is.