Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. II (the Corpus Hermeticum) — G. R. S. Mead (1906)

Cicero3 speaks of such a bible of the Veii. The Athenians, in the time of the Kings, possessed a similar

1 Grotius, ap. Jablonski, ii. 397 ; Lobeck, Aglaoph., p. 714.

2 Euseb., Chron. , 99 A. 3 De Div.t i. 44.

bible of logia1; and Dinarchus2 tells us that the safety of the State depended on this secret scripture (cnroppriTOV? SiaOrJKai)-

These occult sayings (airoQevTa eirrj) are further called by Suidas (s.v.) "withdrawn volumes" (/3iB\la avaKexwprjKOTa) — that is to say, books withdrawn from public perusal, or, in other words, apocryphal, hidden or secret (aTroKpvQa).

And not only was this the case with the ancient writings themselves, but also with the commentaries upon them, and by degrees with everything referring to them, until finally we find Themistius the rhetorician, in the fourth century, speaking of that "mass of Archaic wisdom not open to the public or in general circulation, but scarce and occult." 3

We have, therefore, translated the term by " secret " as conveying the proper meaning of the epithet in the title, and not by " apocryphal," a word that nowadays connotes the judgment of a theological canon.

THE THREE STAGES OF PROBATION

1. In the first paragraph Tat definitely refers to three Stages of Probation, before he is deemed fit to hear the Sermon on Eebirth.

(i) First there is the General or Preliminary Instruction contained in a collection of discourses called the General Sermons (TcviKol Aoyot).

(ii) Next is the Stage where Tat becomes the Suppliant of Hermes, a stage characterized by Conversation or Dialogue (SioXexOrjvai) ; that is to say, Tat was allowed to ask questions. This is further

1 Herod., v. 90.

2 Or. c. Demos., 91, 20.

3 Or., IV. 60 : " ffrtyos fy>xa2«* ffo<j>las, ov Koivijs ouSe cV /ue'o> KV\IV- Soi/fteVrjs a\\k fftraviov Kal airoderov."

symbolically described by a phrase, enl T?? TOV opov$ juera/Sacrea)?, which is difficult to translate, but which seems to mean either Passing up, or Wending up, the Mountain, or Wending over the Mountain. That is to say, that Hermes was gradually leading Tat to the top of the Mountain, in plain words, as far as his normal intellect could carry him ; the Top of the Mountain representing the highest point of unaided mental faculty.

This stage was, I believe, represented by the collection of Sermons to Tat, or Dialogues with Tat, known as the AiegoSiicol Ao'yo* — a term somewhat difficult to translate precisely.

The fundamental meaning of Sie£oSo$ is a "way through and out," a " pathway " or " passage," or " means of escape." It thus comes to mean the course of a narrative, or a detailed narrative, exposition, discussion. Hence also a " passage " of Scripture. As set over against yeviicos (General), therefore, StegoSucos would mean Detailed or Expository ; but at the same time it would to the Greek ear suggest the meaning of the Means of Escape or the Way out of Ignorance.

(iii) The third Stage is that of Moral and Mental Purification. "Wherefore I got me ready and made the thought (TO <f>povrjfJLa) in me a stranger to the world-illusion" (r/7? TOV KOO-JULOV awards) — the Error that in § 7 sums up the first six vices, and is in § 9 driven out by Truth.

Stage ii. may have been technically known as that of the Suppliant, though, of course, of this we cannot be sure. In any case the term must be considered in close connection with Philo's treatise On the Contemplative Life, which, as Conybeare tells us, most probably formed Book IV. of Philo's voluminous work, or rather apology, De Legatione. The alternative title of this work was The Suppliants. By " Suppliant " Philo tells us he means " one who has fled to God and taken refuge with Him." l

Here, however, the term is used in a narrower sense, as adapted to the personal relationship of disciple to master, who, during the time of probation, stands to him as the representative of God. The master is his spiritual father, the image of God the Father.2

THE HOLY MOUNT OF INITIATION