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[9]
περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν θεῶν τί χρὴ καὶ λέγειν; ὅπου τοῖς μὲν ἀριθμός τις ὁ θεὸς ἦν, οἱ δὲ κατὰ χηνῶν καὶ κυνῶν καὶ πλατάνων ἐπώμνυντο. καὶ
οἱ μὲν τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας θεοὺς ἀπελάσαντες ἑνὶ μόνῳ τὴν τῶν ὅλων ἀρχὴν ἀπένεμον, ὥστε ἠρέμα καὶ ἄχθεσθαί με τοσαύτην ἀπορίαν θεῶν
ἀκούοντα: οἱ δ᾽ ἔμπαλιν ἐπιδαψιλευόμενοι
[p. 282]
πολλούς τε αὐτοὺς ἀπέφαινον καὶ διελόμενοι τὸν μέν τινα πρῶτον θεὸν ἐπεκάλουν, τοῖς δὲ τὰ δεύτερα καὶ τρίτα ἔνεμον τῆς θειότητος: ἔτι δὲ οἱ μὲν
ἀσώματόν τι καὶ ἄμορφον ἡγοῦντο εἶναι τὸ θεῖον,
οἱ δὲ ὡς περὶ σώματος αὐτοῦ διενοοῦντο. εἶτα καὶ προνοεῖν τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς πραγμάτων οὐ πᾶσιν ἐδόκουν οἱ θεοί, ἀλλ᾽ ἦσάν τινες οἱ τῆς συμπάσης ἐπιμελείας αὐτοὺς ἀφιέντες, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς εἰώθαμεν ἀπολύειν τῶν λειτουργιῶν τοὺς παρηβηκότας:
οὐδὲν γὰρ ὅτι μὴ τοῖς κωμικοῖς δορυφορήμασιν
ἐοικότας αὐτοὺς εἰσάγουσιν. ἔνιοι δὲ ταῦτα πάντα ὑπερβάντες οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶναι θεούς τινας ἐπίστευον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀδέσποτον καὶ
ἀνηγεμόνευτον φέρεσθαι τὸν κόσμον ἀπελίμπανον.
Lucian. Works. with an English Translation by. A. M. Harmon. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1915. 2.
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