05_Biblica_1_H_Collins_Layout 1 05/11/12 12:19 Pagina 406 406 C. JOHN COLLINS caused the flood. In his Timaeus, however, he also refers to an ancient flood story, and names Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha as the subjects (22a-d). It is clear that this is the same tale as the one in the Laws, since both mention herdsmen and shepherds in the mountains, and both say that they were “saved” Plato may give just a 7 hint that the flood resulted from a moral defect in humankind, in say- ing (22d), “When the gods cleansing the earth flood it with waters” How- ever, it may be that he considered these disasters as simply the kind of things that happen from time to time, for whatever reason (cf. 22c, “many and divers destructions of humankind”). Another Greek work is called The Library, which was once at- tributed to Apollodorus (fl. c. 140 B.C.E.), but is now assigned to “Pseudo-Apollodorus”; the work is generally dated after the middle of the first century B.C.E. 8. This account (1.7.2) has features such as Deucalion following advice from Prometheus to build a great “ark” by which he and his wife Pyrrha escaped. It is unclear why Zeus wanted to destroy the people of the Bronze Age, but he sends a great rain so that “all peo- ple were destroyed” cf. Gen 6,13 LXX, The ark floated for nine days and nights, and once Deu- calion disembarked, he made a sacrifice to Zeus. This telling bears some resemblances to the Mesopotamian versions, and may ulti- mately have been influenced by them 9. Another Greek author who seems to have drawn on the Mesopotamian traditions is Lucian of Samosata (born c. 120 C.E.), who includes a flood story in his De Syria Dea, 12. The gods destroyed the people of the first generation for their wickedness; but they spared the A commentator such as A.E. TAYLOR, A Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus 7 (Oxford 1962) 52-53, takes the identity of the two referents for granted. Some date the work as late as about 200 C.E.; cf. J.N. BREMMER, “Near 8 Eastern and Native Traditions in Apollodorus’ Account of the Flood”, Inter- pretations of the Flood (eds. F.G. MARTINEZ ‒ G.P. LUTTIKHUIZEN) (Leiden 1999) 39-55, at 41. However, Feldman finds some terminological connections between The Library and Josephus’ flood account in Antiquities (see FELDMAN, Josephus, Antiquities, 29, nn. 184, 186), which would indicate that The Library or its sources predate Josephus. For fuller discussion, see BREMMER, “Near Eastern and Native Traditions 9 in Apollodorus’ Account of the Flood”.