The Theology of Plato, in six books — trans. Thomas Taylor

immortal Gods be honoured first as (hey are disposed by law ; afterwards the illastrious Heroes), under which appellation, the author of the verses comprehends also angels and daemon* property v to called : and in the last place the terrestrial damons, i. e. such good men as transcend in virtue the But to honour the Gods as they are disposed by taw, is, as Hieroele* observe*, i they are arranged by their fabricator and father j and this ia to honour them a* beings superior to man. Hence, to honour inert, however excellent they may be, as Gods, is not to honour the Gods according to the rank in which they are placed by their Creator, for it is confounding the divine with the human nature, and is thus acting directly contrary to the Pythagorie

• " Diogenes Laertius says of Pythagoras, Tkat he charged kit ditcipUt net to grot equal drgreu of honour I* Ms iiodt and heroes. Herodotus (in Euterpe) says of the Greeks, Thai they worthtpptd Ucrtvlu two meyt, mimjs imnurtal dcxty and to they HfriSrtJ to Mik : ami another at a Hero, and to they celebrated hit memory. Isoerata*

(Enoom. Helen.) distinguishes between the honours of heroes and Gods, when he speaks of Menelaus and Helena. But the distinction is no where more fully expressed than in the Greek inscription upon she statue of RegUla, wife to Herodes Atticu*. as Salmasiua thinks, which was set up in his temple at Triopium, and taken from tha statue itself by Sirroondus; where it is said, That tka had ntUhar tka konour of a mortal, nor ytt that which vat proper to the Goth : n>i turn •»»*•<;, m*~f *«•»'» It usilll by the inscription of Herodes, and by the testament of Epicteta extant in Greek in the Collection of Inscription*, that it was in the power of particular families to keep festival days in honour of seme of their own family, and ra give ktroiaU konourt to th.-m. In that noble inscription at Venice, we find three days appointed every year to be kept, and a confraternity established for that purpose with the laws of it. The first day to bo observed in honour of die Mutes, and sacrifices to be ofJcred to them as dritiej. The second and third days in honour of the Scroti <>f the family ; between which honour and tkat of deities, the/ shewed the difference by th? distance of time between them, and tho preference given to the other. But wherein soever the differmca lay, that there w n mttincliun acknowledged among them spears by this passage of Valerius in his excellent oration extant in i>iouyaius llalicainass. Antiq Roiu. lit>. 11. p. 694.

en them, and tho preference given to the other. But wherein soever the differmca lay, that there w n mttincliun acknowledged among them spears by this passage of Valerius in his excellent oration extant in i>iouyaius llalicainass. Antiq Roiu. lit>. 11. p. 694. I call, says Ua,the Godt toaUxtt,mhou tem/>letand oitareamr ■amUy hat, uurthipped a ilk conmnn tocrifcet; and next after them, J eoil tka Ganii of our natation, to whom . e give lHT.r{ f^ij, the tetond honenrt nest to the Gods, as Celsus calls those w^ tka duo honmri that belong to the lower damom. From which we take notice, that the Heathens did not confound all '"'greet of' divina wonkip, giving to the lowest object the same which they supposed to be due to the calnttai deities, or the supreme Gad. So tnat if the distinction of divine worship will excuse from Idolatry, the Heathens were not to blame for iL" See StilttngHeefs answer to a book entitled Catholic* bo Idolater*, p. 510,8 18,&c.

xnv'di INTRODUCTION.

precept. Plutarch too in his above-mentioned treatise most forcibly and clearly shows the impiety of worshipping men as Gods, as is evident from die following extract :

" Those therefore, wbo tliink that things of this kind [i. e. fabulous stories of the Gods as if they were men] are but so many commemorations of the actions and disasters of kings and tyrants, who through transcendency in virtue or power, inscribed die title of divinity on their renown, and afterwards fell into great calamities and misfortunes, these employ the most easy method indeed of eluding the story, and not badly transfer things of evil report, from the Gods to men ; and they are assisted in so doing by the narrations themselves. For the Egyptians relate, that Hermes was as to his body, with one arm longer than the other; that Typhon was in his complexion red; but Orus white, and Osiris black, as if they had been by uature men. Farther still, lliey also call Otiria a commander, and Canopus a pilot, from whom they say the star of that name was denominated. The ship likewise, which the Greeks call Argo, being the image of die ark of Osiris, and which therefore in honour of it is become a constellation, they make to ride not far from Orion and the Dog ; of which they consider the one as sacred to Orus, but the other to Isis.

which the Greeks call Argo, being the image of die ark of Osiris, and which therefore in honour of it is become a constellation, they make to ride not far from Orion and the Dog ; of which they consider the one as sacred to Orus, but the other to Isis.

" I fear, however, that this [according to the proverb] would be to move things immoveable, and to declare war, not ouly, as Simouides says, against a great length of time, but also against many nations and families of mankind wbo are under the influence of divine inspiration through piety to these Gods; and would not in any respect fall short of transferring from heaven to earth, such grta! and venerable names, and of thereby shaking and dissolving that worship and belief, which has been implanted in almost all men from their very birth, would be opening great doors to the tribe o# atheists, who convert divine into human concerns; and would likewise afford a large license to the impostures of Eucuicrus of Messina, who devised certain memoirs of an incredible and fictitious ' mythology,* and thereby spread every kind of atheism through the globe, by inscribing all the received God», tvithout any discrimination, by the names of generals, naval-captain*, and kingt, who lived iu remote perituh of time. He further adds, that they arc recorded in golden characters, in a certain country called Panchoa, at which neither any llarburian or Grecian ever arrived, except Euemcnis alone, who, as it beems, sailed to the Pnnchuaus and Tiiphyllians, that neither have, nor ever bad a being. Ami though the gnat actions of Semiramis are celebrated by the Assyrians, and those of Scs-jstris in Egypt ; and though the Phrygians even to the present time, call

' B .Hi Arnobius therefore- and Mimrci-.:* Felix wtrc very- unfortunate in .;i:e:;-g this impov.or to prove that ir.e4.i<rti»Af the ancients i*d formerly lean men. Vid. Artw/b. lib. -t. .V>r:;«i Cem«, « .Mlnxii Fc«:«;» O.-is-i.i, J>. 3j0. 8vo. r*i'W'-, KH'j.

INTRODUCTION.

tltoir ancient king*, whom some call Masdes, was a brave and powerful man ; and farther atill, though Cyrus among the Persians, and Alexander atnon^ the Macedonians, proceeded in their victories, almost at far as to the boundaries of the earth, yet they ouly retain the name of good king*, and arc remembered as such, [and not as God*.]

" But if certain persons, inflated by ostentation, as Plato soys, having their soul at one and the same lime inflamed with youth and ignorance, have insolently assumed the appellulion of Gods, and had temples erected in their honour, yet this opinion of them