Clement of Alexandria

Where to even begin?

In the 7 Epistles written by Ignatius you can find the essence of the Catholic Church. He speaks of bishops, of the Eucharist, of confessions, of staying obedient to the clergy. He warns of the dangers of schism.

"They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ...Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. But it were better for them to show more treat it with respect, that they also might rise again." Ch.3 To the Smyrnaens. show less

Protrepticus (προτρεπτικὸς πρὸς Ἕλληνας: Exhortation to the Greeks) is the first in the great trilogy by Clement of Alexandria.
The Protrepticus forms an introduction inviting the reader to listen, not to the mythical legends of the gods, but to the "new song" of the Logos, the beginning of all things and creator of the world. He denounces what he claims to be the folly of idolatry and the pagan mysteries, the role of the erotic in pagan religion, the shamefulness of show more the pederastic practices of the Greeks, and the horrors of pagan sacrifice, and argues that the Greek philosophers and poets only guessed at the truth, while the prophets set forth a direct way to salvation; and now the divine Logos speaks in his own person, to awaken all that is good in the soul of man and to lead it to immortality.

Besides the great trilogy, Clement's only other extant work is the treatise Salvation for the rich. Having begun with a scathing criticism of the corrupting effects of money and misguided servile attitudes towards the wealthy, Clement discusses the implications of Mark 10:25.[71] The rich are either unconvinced by the promise of eternal life, or unaware of the conflict between the possession of material and spiritual wealth, and the good Christian has a duty to guide them towards a better life through the Gospel.[71] Jesus' words are not to be taken literally – we should seek the supercelestial [ὑπερουράνιος] meaning in which the true route to salvation is revealed.[72] The holding of material wealth in itself is not a wrong, as long as it is used charitably, but men should be careful not to let their wealth dominate their spirit. It is more important to give up sinful passions than external wealth. If the rich man is to be saved, all he must do is to follow the two commandments, and while material wealth is of no value to God, it can be used to alleviate the suffering of our neighbor.[73] show less

Early leader of a new cult, Clement's book is valuable for his descriptions, not found elsewhere, of the rites and practices of pre-adulterated Greek culture.

My opinion, for what it may be worth, is that nobody who claims an interest in Greek literature should fail to read and consider clement's exhortation to the Greeks. You ought to know how it came out.