Apsethus the Libyan (Greek: Ἄψεθος, 2nd century AD) was an occultist. Multiple accounts mentioned his mystic and occult skills. Apsethus attempted to prove that he was divine, leading to claims that he desired to become God. He was compared with Simon Magus.
Apsethus asserted himself to be God. He trained parrots that flew around Northern Africa, uttering the phrase "Apsethus is God". The Libyans sacrificed to Apsethus, as they started believing him to be a voice from Heaven. Later a Greek caught one of these parrots. He trained the parrot to say, "Apsethus having caged us, compelled us to say Apsethus is a god". Eventually, the Libyans burned Apsethus.
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References
- Koskenniemi, Erkki. The Old Testament Miracle-workers in Early Judaism. p. 9.
- Sir James Donaldson. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, v. 1 (1868). Princeton University. p. 197.
- G. R. S. Mead. Simon Magus: His Philosophy and Teachings. Book Tree. p. 12.
Ferreiro, Alberto. Simon Magus in Patristic, Medieval And Early Modern Traditions. BRILL. p. 42. - John Murray. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. VOL. LXXXIX. JUNE & SEPTEMBER 1851. Oxford University. p. 151.
Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1995). Ante-Nicene Fathers: Hippolytus. Cyprian. Caius. Novatian. Appendix. Hendrickson Publishers. p. 74. - David Stone Potter. Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire. University of Michigan Press. p. 115.
Hippolytus. The Refutation of All Heresies (Complete). Library of Alexandria. p. 260. ISBN 9781465527981.