Actions performed to gods (1)

Text
Iamblichus, De Mysteriis 1.21:
They (= the humans) should not, after all, in the case of actions performed alike to gods and humans, such as acts of prostration, adoration, and the offering of gifths or of tithes, interpret these in the same way in both cases, but they should distinguish each on the basis of the difference in status of the recipients, and revere the former as divine, but regard the latter as of little account, as being human; to attribute success in the latter case to the exercise of passion on the part both of those who perform the actions and of those who are the recipients of them (for they are human and corporeal), while in the case of those which are performed with unswerving reverence and holy attitude of mind, with intellectual joy and firm will, to grant especial honour to their perfomance, since they are dedicated to the gods.

Source (list of abbreviations)
Iamblichus, De Mysteriis 1.21

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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