Page:Apollonius of Tyana - the pagan Christ of the third century.pdf/56

Rh his knowledge to mankind. He is ingenious, learned, and, generally speaking, there is a something at once lively and original in his language when he does not indulge in too long an oration—something which is admirably suited to the character of a popular reformer; but when we have admitted all this, what a strange character we have before us, and frequently how ridiculous he seems! In the midst of his attempts to reform a religion which, according to his own statement, is disfigured by foolishness and ignorance, he is himself superstitious to a degree. He believes in omens, in female vampires, in elephants who hurl javelins in battle, in the stone which eagles place in their nests to protect their young from serpents, in talismans. Pages might be filled with the enumeration of all the silly details which he records with all the seriousness of a new revelation. If his disciples admire him, they cannot exceed his admiration of himself. He is constantly in an attitude—he becomes intolerable. He is full of mannerisms, and is artificial from head to foot. Ever boastful, his controversies are