...to sow seeds in cultivated fields, and finally to convert the harvested fruits in their season into food. Furthermore, she taught those who were wandering and almost wild to gather together, and having given them laws, to live in a civil manner. Also—what is far more remarkable in a woman—by applying her intellect to its full power, she showed the characters of the letters Isis was often credited with the invention of the Egyptian alphabet or hieroglyphs. by which language might be joined together.

These things (to say nothing of the rest) seemed so wonderful to unaccustomed men that they easily believed Isis had not come from Greece, but had fallen from heaven. And because of this, they established divine honors for her while she was still breathing Meaning while she was still alive.. Indeed, her divinity—the devil deceiving the ignorant—grew into such great and famous veneration after her death that at Rome, now the mistress of the world, a massive temple was built for her, and a solemn annual rite was established according to the Egyptian custom. Nor is there any doubt that this error The author, writing from a Christian perspective, views the worship of Isis as a "pagan error" inspired by demons. penetrated even to the Western and barbarian nations.

Furthermore, the husband of this so-famous woman was Apis, whom erroneous antiquity believed to be the son of Jupiter and Niobe, the daughter of Phoroneus. They say that after yielding the kingdom of Achaia to his brother Aegialeus, and having reigned at Argos for thirty-five years, he withdrew into Egypt. There, he ruled together with Isis, and was held as a god, named Osiris or Serapis. Let it be that there are those who say Isis had a certain theologian as a husband, and by her begot Epaphus, who later ruled the Egyptians and was esteemed as the son of Jupiter by her.

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XI. Concerning Europa, Queen of the Cretans

Some believe Europa was the daughter of Phoenix, but far more say she was the child of Agenor, King of the Phoenicians. She was of such wonderful beauty that Jupiter, the King of Crete In this historical interpretation, "Jupiter" is not a god, but a mortal king of Crete who shared the name of the deity., was seized with love for her. When this powerful man was preparing a plot for her abduction, he wanted it done through the seductive words of a certain person, so that the playful maiden might follow her father's herds from the mountains to the Phoenician shore.

And then, having been snatched away immediately, she was placed upon a ship which had a white bull as its figurehead original: "albus thaurus erat insigne." The author explains the myth of Jupiter turning into a bull as a misunderstanding of a ship's decorative emblem. and carried away to Crete. I judge it least commendable for maidens to wander with too much freedom and to offer easy ears to the words of anyone. For I have often read it happened that, while acting in this way, shameful marks were sometimes impressed upon their honor, which even the glory of perpetual chastity could not later wipe away.