The Man-Shaped Root.

Epithets, Dignities, and Offices

Men, who are the living images of virtue and the perfect examples of true praise, are undoubtedly adorned with countless epithets. First, they are called blessed (*beati*), as if "richly endowed" (*bene aucti*), since they possess all they desire. They are also termed *theoglossoi* [God-tongued], because they speak with the language of God; indeed, *theoglossos* is widely used by the Greeks as a descriptor for the Holy Scriptures. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that Clement of Alexandria calls man a "celestial plant," or that some Greeks call him *ouranoskopos* [heaven-watcher]—not only because he walks upright and gazes toward the heavens, but also because his thoughts are fixed on divine things. Furthermore, men are called *meropes* [articulate-speaking], perhaps because they use various