The work is, as its title suggests, an exhortation to the pagans of Greece to adopt Christianity, and within it Clement demonstrates his extensive knowledge of pagan mythology and theology. It is chiefly important due to Clement's exposition of religion as an anthropological phenomenon. After a short philosophical discussion, it opens with a history of Greek religion in seven stages. Clement suggests that at first, men mistakenly believed
the Sun, the Moon and other heavenly bodies to be gods. The next development was the worship of the products of agriculture, from which he contends the cults of
Demeter and
Dionysus arose. Man then paid reverence to revenge, and deified human feelings of
love and
fear, among others. In the following stage, the poets
Hesiod and
Homer attempt to enumerate the Gods; Hesiod's
Theogony giving the number of twelve. Finally, men proclaimed other men, such as
Asclepius and
Heracles, deities. Following
Plato, Clement is critical of all forms of visual art, suggesting that artworks are but illusions and "deadly toys". He suggests at some points that the pagan deities are based on humans, but at others that they are
misanthropic demons, and he cites several classical sources in support of this second hypothesis. Clement, like many pre-Nicene fathers, writes favourably about
Euhemerus and other rationalist philosophers, on the grounds that they at least saw the flaws in paganism. However, his greatest praise is reserved for Plato, whose
apophatic views of God prefigure Christianity. The figure of
Orpheus is prominent throughout the narrative, and Clement contrasts his song, representing pagan superstition, with the divine
Logos of Christ. According to Clement, through conversion to Christianity alone can man fully participate in the Logos, which is universal truth. == See also ==