Poets And Heaven

Καὶ ποιηταὶ μὲν καὶ φιλὸσοφοι οὐκ ἔδοξαν ἄθεοι, ἐπιστήσαντες περὶ Θεοῦ. Ὁ μεν Εὐριπίδης ἑπὶ μὲν τῶν κατὰ κοινὴν πρόληψιν ἀνεπιστημόνως ὀνομαζομένων Θεῶν διαπορῶν· Ὤφειλε δ' εἴπερ ἔστ' ἐν οὐρανῳ Ζεὺς, μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν δυστυχῆ καθιστάναι. Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ κατ' ἐπιστήμην νοητοῦ, ὡς ἐκεῖνος δογματίζων· Ὀρας τὸν ὑψοῦ τόνδ ἄπειρον αἰθέρα, Καὶ γῆν πέριξ ἔχονθ' ὑγραῖς ἐν ἀγκάλαις; Τοῦτον νόμιζε Ζῆνα, τόνδ' ἡγου θεόν. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ οὕτε τὰς οὐσίας, αἵς ἐπικατηγορεῖσθαι τὸ ὄνπμα συμβέβηκεν, ὑποκειμένας ἑώρα. Ζῆνα γὰρ ὅστις ἐστὶ Ζεὺς, οὐκ οἴδα πλὴν λόγῳ. οὔτε τὰ ὀνοματα καθ' ὑποκειμένων κατηγορεῖσθαι πραγμάτων· ὦν γὰρ αἱ οὐσίαι οὐχ ὑπόκεινται, τί πλέον αὐτοῖς τῶν ὀνομάτων; Τὸν δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων ὄψει τῶν ἀδήλων νοῶν  τὰ φαινόμενα, ἀέρος, αἰθέρος, γῆς. Οὖ οὖν τὰ ποιήματα, καὶ ὑφ οὖ τῷ πνεύματι ἡνιοχεῖται, τοῦτον κατελαμβάνετο εἶναι Θεὸν, συνᾴδοντος τούτῳ καὶ Σοφοκλέους, Εἰς ταῖς ἀληθείαισιν, εἶς ἐστιν Θεὸς. Ὅς οὐρανόν τ' ἔτευξε καὶ γαῖαν μακρὰν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φύσιν τοῦ κάλλους τοῦ ἐκείνου πληρουμένην, ἐκάτερα, καὶ ποῦ δεῖ εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὅτι ἕνα δεῖ εἶναι διδάσκων.  Ἄθηναγορος Πρεσβεια Περὶ Χριστιανων Migne PG 6 900-901

And neither poets nor philosophers have been deemed atheists for enquiring concerning God. Euripides, speaking of those who, according to popular preconception, are ignorantly called gods, expresses this doubt:     'But Zeus, although he is in heaven,     Should not on him ill impose.' But speaking of Him who is apprehended by the understanding, the same poet determines:   'See Him on high who boundless air And earth embraces with damp arms? Think Him Zeus and hold him as God.' For as to the substance of these beings, to which a name is usually given, he saw not the existence. 'Who Zeus is I know not, but by report.' Nor were the names given to realities that actually do exist, for to things which have no existence what use are names? But through his works he saw Him, considering things unseen by the things which are manifest in air, in ether, on earth. Him, therefore, from whom are all things made, and by whose Spirit they are governed, he grasped as God; and with this Sophocles agrees:  'In truth there is but one God  Who heaven made and broad earth,' which refers to the nature of God, the beauty of which fills both, and how God must be, and that He must be One. Athenogoras, Plea For The Christians