To Autolycus

And that evil-doers must necessarily be punished in proportion to their deeds, has already been, as it were, oracularly uttered by some of the poets, as a witness both against themselves and against the wicked, declaring that they shall be punished. Æschylus said:—

And Pindar himself said:—

So, too, Euripides:—

And again:—

And, similarly, Archilochus:—

And that God sees all, and that nothing escapes His notice, but that, being long-suffering, He refrains until the time when He is to judge—concerning this, too, Dionysius said:—

And that God’s judgment is to be, and that evils will suddenly overtake the wicked,—this, too, Æschylus declared, saying:—

And may we not cite Simonides also?—

Euripides again:—

Once more Euripides:—

And Sophocles:—

That God will make inquiry both concerning false swearing and concerning every other wickedness, they themselves have well-nigh predicted. And concerning the conflagration of the world, they have, willingly or unwillingly, spoken in conformity with the prophets, though they were much more recent, and stole these things from the law and the prophets. The poets corroborate the testimony of the prophets.