irst and eldest of gods that are in the
interior of heaven. Vain would be the labour of telling all the
figures of them, moving as in dance, and their juxta-positions and
approximations, and when and where and behind what other stars they
appear to disappear--to tell of all this without looking at a plan of
them would be labour in vain.

The knowledge of the other gods is beyond us, and we can only accept the
traditions of the ancients, who were the children of the gods, as they
said; for surely they must have known their own ancestors. Although they
give no proof, we must believe them as is customary. They tell us that
Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven; that Phoreys,
Cronos, and Rhea came in the next generation, and were followed by Zeus
and Here, whose brothers and children are known to everybody.

When all of them, both those who show themselves in the sky, and those
who retire from view, had come into being, the Creator addressed them
thus:--'Gods, sons of gods, my works, if I will, are indissoluble. That
which is bound may be dissolved, but only an evil being would dissolve
that which is harmonious and happy. And although you are not immortal
you shall not die, for I will hold you together. Hear me, then:--Three
tribes of mortal beings have still to be created, but if created by me
they would be like gods. Do ye therefore make them; I will implant in
them the seed of immortality, and you shall weave together the mortal
and immortal, and provide food for them, and receive them again in
death.' Thus he spake, and poured the remains of the elements into
the cup in which he had mingled the soul of the universe. They were no
longer pure as before, but diluted; and the mixture he distributed into
souls equal in number to the stars, and assigned each to a star--then
having mounted them, as in a chariot, he showed them the nature of the
universe, and told them of their future birth and human lot. They were
to be sown in the planets, and out of them was to come forth the most
religious of animals, which would hereafter be called man. The souls
were to be implanted in bodies, which were in a perpetual flux, whence,
he said, would arise, first, sensation; secondly, love, which is a
mixture of pleasure and pain; thirdly, fear and anger, and the opposite
affections: and if they conquered these, they would live righteously,
but if they were conquered by them, unrighteously. He who lived
well would return