Not only does he injure his own kinsfolk of the
alphabet, but he has already attacked the human
race also; for he does not allow them to talk straight
with their tongues. Indeed , jurymen—for speaking of
men has suddenly put mein mind of the tongue—he
has banished me from this member too, as far as in
him lay, and makes glotta out of glossa. O Tau, thou
very plague o’ the tongue! But I shall attack him
another time and advise men of his sins against
them, in trying to fetter their speech, as it were,
and to mangle it. A man on seeing something
pretty (καλόν) wants to call it so, but Tau interferes
and makes him say something else (ταλόν),
 One would expect a pun here, but ταλόν is not in the
dictionaries. wanting
to have precedence in everything. Again, another
is talking about a palm-branch (κλῆμα), but Tau, the
very criminal (τλήμων), turns the palm-branch into a
crime (τλῆμα). And not only does he injure ordinary
people, but even the Great King, in whose honour,
they say, even land and sea give place and depart
from their own natures—even he is plotted against
by Tau, who instead of Cyrus makes him out something of a cheese (Κῦρος—τυρός).

 
That is the way he injures mankind as far as their



 

speech is concerned, but look at the material injury
he has done them! Men weep and bewail their lot
and curse Cadmus over and over for putting Tau into
the alphabet, for they say that their tyrants,
following his figure and imitating his build, have
fashioned timbers in the same shape and crucify men
upon them; and that it is from him that the sorry
device gets its sorry name (stauros, cross). For all
this do you not think that Tau deserves to die many
times over? As for me, I hold that in all justice
we can only punish Tau by making a T of him.
 Te, by crucifying him, Greek crosses being usually
T-shaped. MSS. add "for the cross owes its existence to
Tau, but its name to man” ; see critical note.