Or to make use of skins, and clothe their bodies With spoils of wild beasts; but inhabiting Woods, mountains, caves and forests, they would shelter Their squalid limbs in thickets, when compelled To shun the buffeting of winds and rains.
No regard could they have to a general good, Nor did they know how to make use in common Of any laws or customs. Whatsoever Fortune might set before him, that would each Take as his prize, cunning to thrive and live As best might please him, each one for himself.
And in the woods Venus would join the bodies Of lovers, whether a mutual desire, Or the man’s violence and vehement lust Had won the woman over, or a bribe Of acorns, arbute-berries or choice pears.
Endowed with marvellous strength of hands and feet They chased the forest-roaming tribes of beasts; And many with flung stones and ponderous club They overcame, some few they would avoid In hiding-places. And like bristly swine Just as they were they flung their savage limbs Naked upon the ground, when night o’ertook them, Enveloping themselves with leaves and boughs.
Nor did they call for daylight and the sun Wandering terror-stricken about the fields With loud wails through the shadows of the night, But silently, buried in sleep they lay Waiting until the sun with rosy torch Brought light into the sky. For since from childhood They had been wont to see darkness and light Alternately begotten without fail, Never could they feel wonder or misgiving Lest night eternal should possess the earth And the sun’s light for ever be withdrawn.
But ’twas a worse anxiety that wild beasts Often made sleep unsafe for these poor wretches.
For driven from their homes in sheltering rocks They fled at the entrance of a foaming boar Or strong lion, yielding up at dead of night Their leaf-strewn beds in panic to fierce guests.
Yet no more often in those days than now Would mortal men leave the sweet light of life With lamentation. Each one by himself Would doubtless be more likely then than now To be seized and devoured by wild beasts’ teeth, A living food, and with his groans would fill Mountains and forests, while he saw his own Live flesh in a live monument entombed.
But those whom flight had saved with mangled body, From that time forth would hold their trembling hands Over their noisome scars, with dreadful cries Invoking death, till agonising throes Rid them of life, with none to give them aid, Ignorant of what wounds required. But then A single day did not consign to death Thousands on thousands, marshalled beneath standards, Nor did the turbulent waters of the deep Shatter upon the rocks both ships and men.
At that time vainly, without aim or result The sea would often rise up and turmoil; Nor could the winsome wiles of the calm deep Lure men on treacherously with laughing waves, While reckless seamanship was yet unknown.
Moreover lack of food would then consign Their fainting limbs to death: now rather plenty Sinks men to ruin. Often for themselves Would they pour poison out unwittingly: To others now with subtler skill they give it.
Afterwards, when they had learnt the use of huts, And skins, and fire; when woman, joined with man In wedlock, dwelt apart in one abode, And they saw offspring born out of themselves, Then first the human race began to soften.
For fire made their chilly bodies now Less able to endure the cold beneath The roof of heaven: Venus impaired their strength: And children easily by their blandishments Broke down the haughty temper of their parents.
Then too neighbours began to join in bonds Of friendship, wishing neither to inflict Nor suffer violence: and for womankind And children they would claim kind treatment, pleading With cries and gestures inarticulately That all men ought to have pity on the weak.
And though harmony could not everywhere Be established, yet the most part faithfully Observed their covenants, or man’s whole race Would even then have perished, nor till now Could propagation have preserved their kind.
But it was Nature that constrained their tongues To utter various sounds; and need struck out The names of things, in the same way almost As impotence of tongue is itself seen To teach gesture to infants, prompting them To point at things around them. For all creatures Divine by instinct how far they can use Their natural powers. Thus before horns are born And stand out on the forehead of a calf, When he is angry, he butts and charges with it.
Then panther cubs and lion whelps will fight With claws and feet and teeth, even at a time When teeth and claws have hardly yet been formed.
Also we see how the whole race of birds Trusting their wings, will seek a fluttering succour From new-fledged pinions. Therefore to suppose That somebody once apportioned names to things, And that from him men learnt to use words first, Is mere folly. For why should this one man Be able to denote all things by words And with his tongue form varied sounds, yet others At the same time be deemed incapable To have done the like? Besides, if others too Had not made use of words among themselves, Whence was the preconception of their usefulness Implanted in this man, and whence was given him The primal power to know and comprehend What he desired to do? Again, one man Could not subdue by force the wills of many And compel them to learn the names of things.
It is no easy labour to convince Deaf men, and teach them what they ought to do; Since not for long would they endure his voice, Nor suffer unintelligible sounds Fruitlessly to be dinned into their ears.
Lastly what should there be to wonder at So much in this, that mankind, when their voice And tongue were in full vigour, should name things By different sounds as different feelings bade them, Since dumb cattle, and even the wild beasts, Are wont to emit distinct and varied sounds, When they feel fear or pain, or when joy moves them.
This indeed may be learnt from manifest facts.
When the large soft mouths of Molossian dogs Begin to growl, angrily laying bare Their hard teeth, then far different is the tone In which they threaten, savagely thus drawn back, From the clear sound which, when they bark outright, Fills the whole neighbourhood. And when they essay In gentle mood to lick their cubs, or when They toss them with their paws, and snapping at them Tenderly make as though they would devour them With half-closed teeth, thus fondling them they yelp With a quite different sound from their deep bay When left alone in houses, or from the whimper With which crouching they shrink away from blows.
Furthermore does not a young stallion’s neigh Seem different, when he rages among the mares Pierced in his flower of age by winged love’s goads, From when with wide-stretched nostrils he snorts out The battle signal, or when at other times Perchance he whinnies trembling in all his limbs?
Lastly the race of fowl and varied birds, Hawks and ospreys and gulls that seek their living In the salt waters of the ocean waves, Utter at different times quite different cries From those they make when they fight over food, Or struggle with their prey. And some will change Their harsh notes in accordance with the weather, As do the long-lived tribes of crows, and flocks Of rooks, when they are said to call for rain, Or sometimes to be summoning wind-storms.
Since therefore various feelings can compel Animals, speechless though they be, to utter Such varying sounds, how much more natural Is it that in those days men could denote Dissimilar things by many different sounds!
In answer to your silent questioning here, I say it was the lightning first brought fire Down to the earth for men; and from that flame All other flames have spread. Thus we behold Many things blaze forth, lit by fire from heaven, When the sky’s stroke has charged them with its heat.
Yet when a branching tree, tossed by the wind, Chafing the branches of another tree, Sways to and fro, then fire may be forced out By violent stress of friction; and at times Hot flames are kindled and flash forth from boughs And stems rubbing together. Of these two chances Either may first have given fire to men.
Next the sun taught them to cook food, heating And softening it with flame; since they would note Many things mellowing about the fields Smitten and conquered by his scorching rays.
And more and more each day men who excelled In subtlety and power of mind, would show them How by new methods and by using fire To improve their former means of livelihood.
Kings began to found cities and build forts As refuges and strongholds for themselves, Dividing cattle and lands, and portioning To each his share according to his beauty, His strength and intellect; for comeliness Was much esteemed, and strength was paramount.
Afterwards property was devised, and gold Discovered, which with ease robbed both the strong And beautiful of their honours: for most men, However brave and beautiful by birth, Follow the fortunes of the richer man.
But whosoever by true reason’s rule Governs his days, for him plain frugal living And a contented spirit is mighty wealth; For of a little never is there lack.
Yet men wished to become renowned and powerful, That so their fortunes on a stable base Might rest, and they, being wealthy, might have power To lead a tranquil life: in vain! For while They strove to mount to the highest pitch of honour Their path was perilous: and even although They have reached the summit, envy will sometimes Strike like a thunderbolt and hurl men down Contemptuously to noisome Tartarus: Since highest things, lifted above all else, Are most wont as by lightning to be blasted By envy; so that quietly to obey Is better than to crave sovereign power And lordship over realms. Therefore let men Sweat drops of blood, wearying themselves in vain, Struggling along ambition’s narrow road; Since from the mouths of others comes their wisdom, And ’tis from hearsay rather than their own Authentic feelings, they pursue such aims: Nor does this happen now, nor will it happen Hereafter any more than once it did.
Kings therefore being slain, the ancient majesty Of thrones and haughty sceptres was laid low.
The glorious symbol of the sovereign head, Trodden bloodstained beneath the people’s feet, Mourned its proud honour lost; for that is greedily Trampled down which before was too much feared.
Thus to the very lees of anarchy The whole state was reduced, while each man grasped At lordship and dominion for himself.
Then some among them taught how to create Magistrates, and established codes, that all Might learn to obey laws. For now mankind, Utterly wearied of a violent life, Lay languishing by reason of its feuds.
Therefore the sooner of its own free will Did it submit to laws and stringent codes.
For seeing that each, when anger prompted him, Strove more severely to avenge himself Than just laws now permit, for this cause men Grew tired of a life of violence.
Thenceforward fear of punishment infects The enjoyment of life’s prizes: for the nets Of violence and wrong entangle all those Who inflict them, and most often they recoil On such as used them first: nor is it easy For him to pass a quiet and peaceful life, Whose deeds transgress the bonds of public peace.
For though he should elude both gods and men, Yet he must needs mistrust whether his guilt Will remain veiled for ever, since ’tis said That many often by talking in their dreams, Or in delirious sickness have betrayed Their secrets, and revealed long-hidden crimes.
Now what may be the cause that has spread wide The cult of deities over mighty nations, And filled cities with altars, and prescribed The observance of such sacred rites as now At solemn times and places are performed, Whence even now is implanted in men’s minds Religious awe, that over the whole earth Raises new temples to the gods, and prompts Worshippers to frequent them on feast-days-- Why this should be, ’tis easy to explain.
For in those early times mortals would see With waking mind the glorious images Of deities and behold them in their sleep Of size yet more gigantic. To these then They would attribute sense, because they seemed To move their limbs and utter stately speech Worthy of their noble aspect and great powers.
Also they deemed eternal life was theirs, Because their images continually Would reappear, and their form did not change, But most because they could not well conceive How beings who seemed gifted with such powers Could lightly be subdued by any force.
And they believed that their felicity Must be beyond compare, since none of them Was ever troubled by the fear of death, Because moreover in sleep they beheld them Performing without effort many miracles.
Again they saw how the orderings of heaven And the year’s varying seasons would return According to fixed law, yet could they not Discover from what causes this took place.
Therefore they found a refuge from such doubts In handing all things over to the deities And deeming all to be guided by their nod.
The abodes of their divinities they placed In heaven, because they saw night and the moon Progressing through the sky, moon day and night, The severe constellations of the night, The sky’s night-wandering meteors and gliding fires, Clouds sun and snow, lightning and winds and hail, Thunder’s swift crash and mightily threatening murmurs.
O unhappy race of men, that could assign Such functions to the deities, and thereto Add cruel wrath! What groans then for themselves Did they beget, what wounds for us, what tears For our children’s children! ’Tis no piety To be seen often with veiled head to turn Towards a stone, visiting every altar, Nor to fall grovelling with outspread palms Prostrate before the temples of the gods, Nor sprinkling altars with much blood of beasts To add to votive offering votive offering; But this rather is piety, to have power To survey all things with a tranquil mind.
For when we lift our eyes to the celestial Temples of the great universe, and the aether Studded with glittering stars, and contemplate The paths of sun and moon, then in our breasts, Burdened with other evils, this fear too Begins to lift its reawakened head, Lest perchance it be true that with the gods Resides a boundless power, which can move Upon their various courses the bright stars.
For ignorance of cause troubles the mind, So that it doubts whether there ever was A birth-time and beginning for the world, And likewise whether there shall be an end; How far the world’s walls can endure this strain Of restless motion, or whether by the gods With eternal stability endowed They may glide on through endless lapse of time, Defying the strong powers of infinite age.
Again whose mind shrinks not with awe of gods, Whose limbs creep not for terror, when beneath The appalling stroke of thunder the parched earth Shudders, and mutterings run through the vast sky?
Do not the peoples and the nations quake, And proud kings, stricken with religious dread Sit quailing, lest for any wicked deed Or overweening word, the heavy time Of reckoning and punishment be ripe?
Also when the full violence of a wind Raging across the sea, sweeps o’er the waves The high commander of a fleet, with all His powerful legions and his elephants, Does he not supplicate the gods with vows For mercy, and with craven prayers entreat them To lull the storm and grant propitious gales?
But all in vain; since often none the less, Seized by the violent hurricane, he is whirled Onto the shoals of death. Thus evermore Some hidden power treads human grandeur down, And seems to make its sport of the proud rods And cruel axes, crushed beneath its heel.
Lastly, when the whole earth rocks under them, And cities tumble with the shock, or stand In doubt, threatening to fall, what wonder is it That mortal creatures should abase themselves, Assigning vast dominion to the gods, And wondrous powers to govern all below?
Now must be told how copper gold and iron, And weighty silver also, and solid lead Were first discovered when on the great hills Fire had consumed huge forests with its heat, Kindled either by lightning from the sky, Or because men waging some forest war Had carried fire among their enemies For terror’s sake; or else because, drawn on By the soil’s goodness, they would wish to clear Fat lands and turn them unto pasturage, Or to kill beasts and grow rich with the spoils.
For hunting with the pitfall and with fire Came into use before woods were enclosed With nets or drawn by dogs. Howe’er that be, From whatsoever cause the heat of flame With terrible crackling had devoured whole forests Down to their deepest roots, and throughly baked The soil with fire, forth from the burning veins There would ooze and collect in cavities Streams of silver and gold, of copper too, And lead. When afterwards men found these metals Cooled into masses glittering on the ground With brilliant colours, they would pick them up, Attracted by their bright smooth loveliness; And they would then observe how each was formed Into a shape similar to the imprint Of the hole where it lay. Next it would strike them That, melted down by heat, these could be made To run into any form and mould they pleased, And further could by hammering be wrought Into points tapering as sharp and fine As they might need, so furnishing themselves With tools wherewith to cut down woods, hew timber And plane planks smooth, to drill and pierce and bore.
And this they would attempt with silver and gold No less than with stout copper’s mighty strength.
But in vain, since their yielding force would fail, Being proved less fit to endure toil and strain.
In those days copper was more highly esteemed; Gold lay despised as useless with its dull And blunted edge: now copper lies neglected, Whereas gold has attained the pitch of honour.
Thus Time as it revolves is ever changing The seasons of things. What was once esteemed Becomes at length of no repute; whereon Some other thing, issuing from contempt, Mounts up and daily is coveted more and more, And, once discovered, blossoms out in praises, Rising to wondrous honour among men.
Now, Memmius, you will easily of yourself Understand in what way were first discovered The properties of iron. Man’s earliest weapons Were hands nails teeth and stones, and boughs torn off From forest trees, and flame and fire, as each Became known. Afterwards the force of iron And copper was discovered. And the use Of copper was known earlier than of iron, Since it was easier to be worked, and found More copiously. With copper they would till The soil of earth, with copper they stirred up The waves of war, and dealt wide-gaping wounds, And seized on lands and cattle: for all else, Being naked and unarmed, would yield to those Who carried weapons. Then by slow degrees The sword of iron made progress, while the type Of the copper sickle came to be despised.
With iron they began to cleave the soil, And through its use wavering war’s conflicts Were rendered equal. Earlier was the custom Of mounting armed upon a horse’s back And guiding it with reins, and dealing blows With the right arm, long before men dared tempt The risks of battle in the two-horsed car.
And they would learn the art to yoke two steeds Earlier than to yoke four, or to mount armed Upon scythed chariots. Next the Poeni taught The uncouth Lucanian kine,[H] with towered backs And snake-like hands, to endure the wounds of war, And rout great troops of martial chivalry.
Thus miserable discord brought to birth One thing after another, to appal Mankind’s embattled nations, every day Making addition to war’s frightfulness.
Also in warfare they made trial of bulls, And sought to drive fierce boars against the foe.
And some sent mighty lions in their van With armed trainers and savage guardians To govern them and hold them in with chains; In vain, for heated with promiscuous carnage They put to flight whole squadrons in their rage Without distinction, tossing on every side Their terrible crests; nor could the horsemen calm Their horses, panic-stricken by the roaring, Or turn them by the bridle against their foes.
The she-lions would spring fiercely on all sides Right in the faces of their adversaries, Or from behind seizing them off their guard Would clasp and tear them wounded down to the earth, Gripping them with their strong teeth and hooked claws.
The bulls would toss and trample underfoot Their own friends, goring the horses from beneath In belly and flank, tearing the soil up savagely.
Fierce boars would rend their allies with strong tusks.
Staining the broken weapons with their blood, And put to rout both horse and foot together.
The steeds, to escape from the tusk’s cruel push, Would swerve aside or rearing paw the air, In vain, for with severed tendons they would crash Heavily down to the earth and lie stretched out.
Beasts, by the keepers deemed to have been tamed Sufficiently at home, they now would see Heated to madness in the hour of battle, By wounds and shouts, flight panic and uproar.
No portion of all the different kinds of beasts, Once scattered in wild flight, could they recall.
So often nowadays the Lucanian kine, Gashed cruelly with the steel, will fly dispersed, Inflicting ruinous havoc on their friends.
Thus might these men have acted: yet I scarce Can think they were not able to foresee And calculate how horrible a disaster Was certain to befall both sides alike.
But men chose to act thus, not in the hope Of victory so much, as from the wish, Though they themselves perished, to give their foes Cause to lament, being desperate through mistrust Of their own numbers, or through lack of arms.
The plaited garment came before the dress Of woven stuff. Weaving comes after iron, Since weaving tools need iron to fashion them.
By no means else can such smooth things be made As heddles, spindles, shuttles and clattering yarn-beams.
Men before womankind did Nature prompt To work wool; for in general the male sex Is by far the more skilful and ingenious: Till the rough peasants chided them so sternly That at length they consented to resign Such lighter tasks into the hands of women, And themselves took their share in heavier toils, Hardening with hard labour limbs and hands.
But Nature, the creatress, herself first Taught men to sow and prompted them to graft.
For berries and acorns dropping from the trees Would put forth in due season underneath Swarms of seedlings: and hence the fancy came To insert grafts upon the boughs, and plant Young saplings in the soil about the fields.
Next they would try another and yet another Method of tilling their loved piece of land, And so could watch how kindly fostering culture Helped the earth to improve its own wild fruits.
And they would force the forests day by day To retreat higher up the mountain-sides And yield the ground below to husbandry, That so meadows and ponds, rivulets, crops, And glad vineyards might cover hill and plain, While grey-green boundary strips of olive trees Might run between the fields, stretching far out O’er hillock, valley and plain; as now we see Whole countrysides glowing with varied beauty, Adorned with rows of sweet fruit-bearing trees, And enclosed round about with joyous groves.
But the art of imitating with their mouths The liquid notes of birds, came long before Men could delight their ears by singing words To smooth tunes; and the whistlings of the zephyr In hollow reeds first taught the husbandman To blow through hollow stalks. Then by degrees They learnt those sweet sad ditties, which the pipe, Touched by the fingers of the melodist, Pours forth, such as are heard ’mid pathless woods, Forests and glades, or in the lonely haunts Of shepherds, and the abodes of magic calm.
Thus would they soothe and gratify their minds, When satiate with food; for all such things Give pleasure then. So often, couched together On the soft grass, beside a waterbrook Beneath a tall tree’s boughs, at no great cost They would regale their bodies joyously, At those times chiefly when the weather smiled, And the year’s seasons painted the green herbage With flowers. Then went round the jest, the tale, The merry laugh, for then the rustic muse Was in full force: then frolick jollity Would prompt them to enwreathe their heads and shoulders With plaited garlands woven of flowers and leaves, Or dancing out of measure to move their limbs Clumsily, and with clumsy foot to beat Their mother earth; whence smiles and jovial laughter Would rise; since the more novel then and strange All such sports seemed, the more they were admired.
And they would find a salve for wakefulness In giving voice to many varied tones Of winding melody, running with curved lip Over the reed-pipes: and from them this custom Is handed down to watchmen nowadays, Who, though they have better learnt to observe time, Yet not one whit more pleasure do they enjoy Than once that silvan race of earth-born men.
For what is present, if we have never known Anything more delightful, gives us pleasure Beyond all else, and seems to be the best; But if some better thing be afterwards Discovered, this will often spoil for us all That pleased us once, and change our feelings towards it.
Thus it was acorns came to be disliked: Thus were abandoned those beds of strewn grass And heaped leaves: the dress too of wild beast’s skin Fell thus into contempt. Yet I suppose That when it was invented it would rouse Such envy, that the man who wore it first Would be waylaid and slain: yet after all It would be torn to pieces among the thieves And with much bloodshed utterly destroyed, So that it never could be turned to use.
Therefore skins then, now gold and purple vex Men’s lives with cares and wear them out with war.
And here, I think, the greater guilt is ours; For the cold would torment these earth-born men Naked without their skins; but us no harm Whatever can it cause to go without A purple robe broidered with large designs In gold thread, so we have but on our backs A plain plebeian cloak to keep us warm.
Therefore mankind is always toiling vainly, Fruitlessly wasting life in empty cares, Doubtless because they will not recognise The limits of possession, nor the bounds Beyond which no true pleasure can increase.
And so by slow degrees this ignorance Has carried life out into the deep seas, And from the bottom stirred up war’s huge waves.
But those vigilant watchers, sun and moon, That circling round illumine with their light The vast revolving temple of the sky, Taught mankind how the seasons of the year Return, and how all things are brought to pass According to fixed system and fixed law.
And now men dwelt securely fenced about By strong towers, and the land was portioned out And marked off to be tilled. Already now The sea was white with flitting sails, and towns Were joined in league of friendship and alliance.
Then first poets made record in their songs Of men’s deeds: for not long before this time Letters had been invented. For which cause Our age cannot look backward to things past, Save where reason reveals some evidence.
Shipping and agriculture, city-walls, Laws, arms, roads, robes and other suchlike things, Moreover all life’s prizes and refinements, Poems and pictures, and the chiselling Of fine-wrought statues, every one of these Long practice and the untiring mind’s experience Taught men by slow degrees, as they progressed Step after step. Thus time little by little Brings forth each several thing, and reason lifts it Into the borders of the light; for first One thing and then another must in turn Rise from obscurity, until each art Attains its highest pitch of excellence.
BOOK VI, lines 1-95 In ancient days Athens of glorious name Was first to spread abroad corn-bearing crops Among unhappy mortals, and to frame Their lives in a new mould and give them laws.
She also first bestowed a kindly solace For life, when she gave birth to one endowed With so great intellect, that man who once Poured forth all wisdom from truth-telling lips; Whose glory, even when his light was quenched, Because of his divine discoveries Undimmed by time was noised abroad, and now Is lifted high as heaven. For when he saw That well nigh all those things which need demands For man’s subsistence had been now provided, And that so far as it seemed possible Life was established in security, That men through wealth and honours and renown Had attained power and affluence, and grown proud In their children’s good name, yet that not one At home possessed a heart the less care-stricken, But ceaselessly despite his wiser mind Tormenting all his days, could not refrain From petulant rage and wearisome complaint; Then did he understand it was the vessel Itself that was the cause of imperfection, And by its imperfection all those things That came within it, gathered from outside, Though ne’er so excellent, were spoiled therein; In part because he saw that there were holes Through which it leaked, so that by no means ever Might it be filled full; partly that he perceived How as with a foul savour it defiled All things within it which had entered there.
And so with truthful words he purged men’s hearts, And fixed a limit to desire and fear; Then setting forth what was the highest good Which we all strive to attain, he pointed out The path along which by a slender track We might in a straight course arrive at it; Likewise he showed what evils there must be In mortal affairs on every side, arising And flying this way and that, whether it were By natural chance or force, since it was Nature Which has ordained it so; and by what gates To meet each evil men must sally forth: Also he proved how mostly without cause Mankind set darkly tossing in their hearts The sad billows of care. For just as children In the blind darkness tremble and are afraid Of all things, so we sometimes in the light Fear things that are no whit more to be dreaded Than those which children shudder at in the dark, Imagining that they will come to pass.
This terror then and darkness of the mind Must needs be scattered not by the sun’s beams And day’s bright arrows, but by contemplation Of Nature’s aspect and her inward laws.
And now that I have shown you how the sky’s Mansions are mortal, and that heaven is formed Of a body that had birth, and since of all That takes place and must needs take place therein I have unravelled most, give further heed To what remains. Since once I have made bold To mount the glorious chariot of the Muses,[I] I will now tell how in the upper air Tempests of wind arise; how all sinks down To rest once more: the turmoil that has been Vanishes, when its fury is appeased.
And I will explain all else that mortals see Coming to pass on earth and in the sky, Such sights as often hold them in terrified Suspense of mind, humiliating themselves With fear of gods, and bow them grovelling Down to the ground, because they are compelled Through ignorance of the causes to assign All such things to the empire of the gods, Acknowledging their power to be supreme.
For those who have learnt rightly that the gods Lead a life free from care, if yet they wonder By what means all things can be carried on, Such above all as are perceived to happen In the ethereal regions overhead, They are borne back again into their old Religious fears, and adopt pitiless lords, Whom in their misery they believe to be Almighty; for they are ignorant of what can And what cannot exist; in fine they know not Upon what principle each thing has its powers Limited, and its deep-set boundary stone.
And therefore all the more they are led astray By blind reasoning. So that if you cannot Fling from your mind and banish far away All such belief in falsehoods that degrade The deities, and consist not with their peace, Then, thus by you disparaged and profaned, Oft will their holy godheads do you hurt; Not that their sovereign power can be impaired, So that in anger they should stoop to exact Fierce penalties, but because you yourself Will fancy that those placid beings throned In serene peace, can verily be tossed By great billows of wrath: nor will you enter With a calm breast the temples of the gods, Nor yet will you be able to receive In tranquil peace of spirit those images Which from their holy bodies, heralding Their divine beauty, float into men’s minds.
And to what kind of life these errors lead May be imagined. Such credulity The most veracious reasoning alone Can drive far from us. And though to that end I have set forth much already, yet more still