The poem
Apollonius was talking about proper education and conduct with a young man who was building a luxurious house in Rhodes. "As for me" said the Tyanian at last, "when I enter a temple however small it may be, I very much prefer to see a statue of ivory and gold than a clay and vulgar one in a large temple".--
The "clay" and "vulgar"; the detestable: that already some people (without enough training) it deceives knavishly. The clay and vulgar.