Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 68 (part 1)

διὸ δεῖ μάλιστα πρὸς ταῦτα λόγον ἐκ φιλοσοφίας μυσταγωγὸν ἀναλαβόντας ὁσίως διανοεῖσθαι τῶν λεγομένων καὶ δρωμένων ἕκαστον· ἵνα μή, καθάπερ Θεόδωρος εἶπε, τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ τῇ δεξιᾷ προτείνοντος, ἐνίους τῇ ἀριστερᾷ δέχεσθαι τῶν ἀκροωμένων, οὕτως ἡμεῖς ἃ καλῶς οἱ νόμοι περὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ἔταξαν ἑτέρως ὑπολαμβάνοντες ἐξαμάρτωμεν. ὅτι γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον ἀνοιστέον ἅπαντα, καὶ παρʼ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων ἔστι λαβεῖν. τῇ μὲν γὰρ ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς ἑορτάζοντες τῷ Ἑρμῇ μέλι καὶ σῦκον ἐσθίουσιν, ἐπιλέγοντες γλυκὺ ἡ ἀλήθεια τὸ δὲ τῆς Ἴσιδος φυλακτήριον, ὃ περιάπτεσθαι μυθολογοῦσιν αὐτήν, ἐξερμηνεύεται φωνὴ ἀληθής. τὸν δʼ Ἁρποκράτην οὔτε θεὸν ἀτελῆ καὶ νήπιον οὔτε χεδρόπων τινὰ νομιστέον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ περὶ θεῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις λόγου νεαροῦ καὶ ἀτελοῦς καὶ ἀδιαρθρώτου προστάτην καὶ σωφρονιστὴν διὸ τῷ στόματι τὸν δάκτυλον ἔχει προσκείμενον ἐχεμυθίας καὶ σιωπῆς σύμβολον ἐν δὲ τῷ Μεσορὴ μηνὶ τῶν χεδρόπων ἐπιφέροντες λέγουσιν γλῶσσα τύχη , γλῶσσα δαίμων τῶν δʼ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ φυτῶν μάλιστα τῇ θεῷ καθιερῶσθαι λέγουσι τὴν περσέαν, ὅτι καρδίᾳ μὲν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῆς, γλώττῃ δὲ τὸ φύλλον ἔοικεν. οὐδὲν γὰρ ὧν ἄνθρωπος ἔχειν πέφυκε θειότερον λόγου καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ περὶ θεῶν, οὐδὲ μείζονα ῥοπὴν ἔχει πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν. διὸ τῷ μὲν εἰς τὸ χρηστήριον ἐνταῦθα κατιόντι παρεγγυῶμεν ὅσια φρονεῖν, εὔφημα λέγειν.

Wherefore in the study of these matters it is especially necessary that we adopt, as our guide in these mysteries, the reasoning that comes from philosophy, and consider reverently each one of the things that are said and done, so that, to quote Theodorus, who said that while he offered the good word with his right hand some of his auditors received it in their left, we may not thus err by accepting in a different spirit the things that the laws have dictated admirably concerning the sacrifices and festivals. The fact that everything is to be referred to reason we may gather from the Egyptians themselves; for on the nineteenth day of the first month, when they are holding festival in honour of Hermes, they eat honey and a fig; and as they eat they say, A sweet thing is Truth. The amulet of Isis, which they traditionally assert that she hung about her neck, is interpreted a true voice. And Harpocrates is not to be regarded as an imperfect and an infant god, nor some deity or other that protects legumes, but as the representative and corrector of unseasoned, imperfect, and inarticulate reasoning about the gods among mankind. For this reason he keeps his finger on his lips in token of restrained speech or silence. In the month of Mesorê they bring to him an offering of legumes and say, The tongue is luck, the tongue is god. Of the plants in Egypt they say that the persea is especially consecrated to the goddess because its fruit resembles a heart and its leaf a tongue. The fact is that nothing of mans usual possessions is more divine than reasoning, especially reasoning about …