The First Apology

And, secondly, because we—who, from every race of people, used to worship Bacchus the son of Semele, and Apollo the son of Latona (who in their loves with humans did things too shameful to mention), and Proserpine and Venus (who were infatuated with love for Adonis, and whose mysteries you also celebrate), or Æsculapius, or some other of those who are called gods—have now, through Jesus Christ, learned to reject these, even under threat of death, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impossible God; of whom we are convinced that he was never driven by lust for Antiope, or other women, or for Ganymede, nor was he rescued by that hundred-handed giant whose help was secured through Thetis, nor was he concerned that her son Achilles should destroy many of the Greeks because of his concubine Briseis. We pity those who believe these things, and we know those who invented them to be devils.