ere were
"prophets" in the first rank of the clergy, who learnedly discussed
religion, but never taught a theological system that found universal
acceptance. The sacred scribe Cheremon, who became Nero's tutor, recognized
the stoical theories in the sacerdotal traditions of his country.[39] When
the eclectic Plutarch speaks of the character of the Egyptian gods, he
finds it agrees surprisingly with his own philosophy,[40] and when the
neo-Platonist {88} Iamblichus examines them, their character seems to agree
with his doctrines. The hazy ideas of the Oriental priests enabled every
one to see in them the phantoms he was pursuing. The individual imagination
was given ample scope, and the dilettantic men of letters rejoiced in
molding these malleable doctrines at will. They were not outlined sharply
enough, nor were they formulated with sufficient precision to appeal to the
multitude. The gods were everything and nothing; they got lost in a
_sfumato_. A disconcerting anarchy and confusion prevailed among them. By
means of a scientific mixture of Greek, Egyptian and Semitic elements
"Hermetism"[41] endeavored to create a theological system that would be
acceptable to all minds, but it seems never to have imposed itself
generally on the Alexandrian mysteries which were older than itself, and
furthermore it could not escape the contradictions of Egyptian thought. The
religion of Isis did not gain a hold on the soul by its dogmatism.

It must be admitted, however, that, owing to its extreme flexibility, this
religion was easily adapted to the various centers to which it was
transferred, and that it enjoyed the valuable advantage of being always in
perfect harmony with the prevailing philosophy. Moreover, the syncretic
tendencies of Egypt responded admirably to those that began to obtain at
Rome. At a very early period henotheistic theories had been favorably
received in sacerdotal circles, and while crediting the god of their own
temple with supremacy, the priests admitted that he might have a number of
different personalities, under which he was worshiped simultaneously. In
this way the unity of the supreme being was affirmed for the thinkers, and
polytheism with its {89} intangible traditions maintained for the masses.
In the same manner Isis and Osiris had absorbed several local divinities
under the Pharaohs, and had assumed a complex character that was capable of
indefinite extension. The same process continued under the Pto