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The Golden Verses of Pythagoras · 76 of 122 · tr. Florence M. Firth

Section 13 (part 43)

Οἳ δὲ θυγατρὶ φίλῃ μάλα μὲν κλύον ἠδ᾽ ἐπίθοντο, καί οἱ πεφραδέτην, ὅσα περ πέπρωτο γενέσθαι 475 ἀμφὶ Κρόνῳ βασιλῆι καὶ υἱέι καρτεροθύμῳ. Πέμψαν δ᾽ ἐς Λύκτον, Κρήτης ἐς πίονα δῆμον, ὁππότ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὁπλότατον παίδων τέξεσθαι ἔμελλε, Ζῆνα μέγαν· τὸν μέν οἱ ἐδέξατο Γαῖα πελώρη Κρήτῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ τραφέμεν ἀτιταλλέμεναί τε. 480 Ἔνθα μιν ἷκτο φέρουσα θοὴν διὰ νύκτα μέλαιναν πρώτην ἐς Λύκτον· κρύψεν δέ ἑ χερσὶ λαβοῦσα ἄντρῳ ἐν ἠλιβάτῳ, ζαθέης ὑπὸ κεύθεσι γαίης, Αἰγαίῳ ἐν ὄρει πεπυκασμένῳ ὑλήεντι. Τῷ δὲ σπαργανίσασα μέγαν λίθον ἐγγυάλιξεν 485 Οὐρανίδῃ μέγ᾽ ἄνακτι, θεῶν προτέρῳ βασιλῆι.
Themes
Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The text explicitly references the 'counsel of great Zeus' as the mechanism ordering the succession and outcome of divine affairs.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The deities described (Zeus, Cronus, Rhea, Gaia, Uranus) are portrayed as active, dynamic agents with wills and plans rather than abstract principles.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

[auto] The passage depicts divine beings like Zeus engaging in human-like familial relationships by listing his daughters and their associations.

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