Justin Martyr, First Apology 54

Those who pass on the myths invented by the poets offer no proof to the young people they instruct, and we demonstrate that these stories were spoken through the deceptive activity of evil demons to lead the human race astray. Having heard through the prophets that the Christ was about to come and that the impious among men would be punished by fire, the demons promoted the idea that many men were born as sons of Zeus, thinking they could pass off the facts about Christ as mere wonder-tales similar to the poets' fictions. This was done both among the Greeks and among all nations, wherever the prophets were most likely to be believed as heralds of the Christ. We will make clear that, although they heard the prophetic words, they did not understand them accurately but imitated the truths concerning our Christ while being led astray. Moses the prophet, as we have said, was older than all historians, and through him, as we previously indicated, it was prophesied thus: "A ruler will not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes to whom it is reserved; and he will be the expectation of the nations, binding his donkey to a vine, washing his robe in the blood of the grape" (Genesis 49:10-11). Having heard these prophetic words, the demons claimed Dionysus was a son of Zeus, handed down that he discovered the vine, wrote that a donkey is led in the mysteries, and taught that he was torn apart and ascended to heaven. Since Moses' prophecy did not clearly indicate whether the Coming One is the Son of God, whether he would remain on earth riding a donkey or ascend to heaven, and since the term used could signify either a donkey or a horse, the demons did not know whether the predicted figure would lead a donkey as a symbol of his presence or ride a horse, or whether he would be the Son of God or a son of man. Consequently, they said that Bellerophon, a mere man, ascended to heaven on the horse Pegasus. When they heard through the prophet Isaiah that he would be born of a virgin and ascend to heaven by his own power, they advanced Perseus as a counterfeit. And when they learned the words, "The strong one like a giant will run his course," as spoken in the earlier prophecies, they claimed Heracles was that strong figure who traversed the whole earth. When they further learned he was prophesied to heal every disease and raise the dead, they brought forward Asclepius.