[30,25] ταῦτα μέν τις εἶπεν ἀνὴρ δυσάρεστος, ὡς ἐγὼ δοκῶ, καὶ πολλὰ λελυπημένος κατὰ τὸν βίον, ὀψὲ παιδείας ἀληθοῦς ᾐσθημένος, οὐ μὴν ἀληθῆ γε οὐδὲ πρέποντα θεοῖς. ἕτερος δὲ βελτίων ἐστὶ τοῦδε λόγος, ὃν πολὺ ἂν εἴποιμι προθυμότερον. ἤκουσα δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπου γεωργοῦ ἐν ἀγροίκῳ τινὶ ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει· πλὴν τοῦτο μὲν ἴσως οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν αὐτὴν ἀπομνησθῆναι πειρασόμεθα. ἔλεγε δὲ ὑμνῶν τόν τε Δία καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς ὡς ἀγαθοί τε εἶεν καὶ φιλοῖεν ἡμᾶς, ἅτε δὴ ξυγγενεῖς ὄντας αὐτῶν. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν θεῶν ἔφη τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι γένος, οὐκ ἀπὸ Τιτάνων οὐδ´ ἀπὸ Γιγάντων. ὅτε γὰρ τὰ σύμπαντα ἔσχον, ὥσπερ ἀποικίαν τινὰ αὑτῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐρήμῃ οὔσῃ κατοικίσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐφ´ ἥττοσι τιμαῖς καὶ ὄλβῳ, δικαίοις δὲ καὶ νόμοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς· ὥσπερ αἱ μεγάλαι πόλεις καὶ εὐδαίμονες τὰς μικρὰς κατοικίζουσι· καί μοι ἐδόκει λέγειν οὐ προστιθεὶς αὐτὸς τὰ ὀνόματα, οἷον Ἀθηναῖοι Κυθνίους ἢ Σεριφίους ἢ Λακεδαιμόνιοι Κυθηρίους τὸ παλαιὸν ἐπὶ νόμοις τοῖς αὐτοῖς ᾤκισαν· καὶ μιμήματά γε παρ´ ἑκάστοις τούτοις ἰδεῖν ἔστι τῶν ἐθῶν καὶ τῆς πολιτείας, ἣν οἱ κτίσαντες ἔχουσιν, ἀσθενῆ δὲ πάντα καὶ χείρονα. τὴν (27) μέντοι διαφορότητα οὐκ ἴσην εἶναι. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἅτε ἀνθρώπους ἀνθρώπων διαφέρειν, τὴν δὲ τῶν θεῶν ὑπεροχὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἄπειρόν τινα εἶναι. μέχρι μὲν οὖν ἔτυχε νεοκατάστατος ὢν ὁ βίος, τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτούς τε παραγίγνεσθαι καὶ πέμπειν ὥσπερ ἁρμοστὰς παρ´ αὑτῶν {ἄρχοντας} τοὺς ἐπιμελησομένους, οἷον Ἡρακλέα τε καὶ Διόνυσον καὶ Περσέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, οὓς ἀκούομεν θεῶν παῖδας, τοὺς δὲ ἐκγόνους, γενέσθαι παρ´ ἡμῖν· ἔπειτα ὕστερον ἐᾶσαι δι´ αὑτῶν οἰκεῖν ὅπως ἂν δυνώμεθα. καὶ τότε δὴ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα καὶ τὰς ἀδικίας ξυμβαίνειν. (28) ᾖδε δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ μὲν κόσμος οἶκός ἐστι πάνυ καλός τε καὶ θεῖος ὑπὸ θεῶν {τε} κατεσκευασμένος· ὥσπερ ὑπὸ τῶν εὐδαιμόνων τε καὶ πλουσίων καλουμένων ἀνδρῶν οὕστινας ὁρῶμεν κατεσκευασμένους σταθμοῖς καὶ κίοσι, καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ γραφαῖς τήν τε ὀροφὴν καὶ τοίχους καὶ θύρας εἰργασμένους· ὁμοίως γεγονέναι τὸν κόσμον εἰς ὑποδοχήν τε καὶ εὐφροσύνην ἀνθρώπων, εὐειδῆ καὶ ποικίλον ἄστροις τε καὶ ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ φυτοῖς, ἃ δὴ τοῦ θεῶν πλούτου καὶ τέχνης τῆς ἐκείνων ἐστίν. (29) παραγίγνεσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς αὐτὸν ἑορτάσοντας, ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν θεῶν κεκλημένους ἐπ´ εὐωχίαν τινὰ καὶ θοίνην λαμπράν, ἁπάντων ἀπολαύσοντας τῶν ἀγαθῶν. κατακεῖσθαι δὲ ἄλλους ἀλλαχῇ, καθάπερ ἐν δείπνῳ, τοὺς μὲν ἀμείνονος χώρας, τοὺς δὲ φαυλοτέρας τυχόντας. εἶναι δὲ πάντα ὅμοια τοῖς παρ´ ἡμῖν γιγνομένοις ἐν ταῖς ὑποδοχαῖς, πλὴν ὡς μικροῖς καὶ ἀγεννέσι θεῖα καὶ μεγάλα εἰκάσαι. φῶς τε γὰρ {παρ´} ἡμῖν παρέχειν τοὺς θεοὺς διττὸν διὰ λαμπτήρων τινῶν, τοτὲ μὲν πλεῖον, τοτὲ δὲ ἔλαττον, τὸ μὲν νυκτός, τὸ δὲ ἡμέρας·

[30,25] "Now this explanation was given, in my opinion, by a certain morose man who had suffered a great deal in his life and only late had gained true education ; but it is not the right explanation, nor one that befits the gods. There is another one better than that, which I am much more eager to give. I heard it from a peasant who spoke with a very rustic drawl and accent. However, perhaps there is no need for us to imitate this, and we shall attempt merely to record his thought. (26) "He said, in reciting the praises of Zeus and the other gods, that they are good and love us as being of kin to them. For it is from the gods, he declared, that the race of men is sprung and not from Titans or from Giants. For when they got the universe into their power, they established mankind upon the earth, which was hitherto uninhabited, as a sort of colony made up of their own people, on the basis of inferior honours and felicity, but with the same righteous laws as their own; precisely after the fashion in which great and prosperous cities found the small cornmunities. And I thought that he meant, without expressly adding the proper names, just as Athens colonized Cythnos and Seriphos, or Sparta founded Cythera in ancient times, giving them the same laws as they themselves had. And in these various colonies you may behold copies of the customs and the form of government which their founders enjoy, but all are weak and inferior. However, the superiority of the colonizers over their colonies is not as great ; for in the one case it is the superiority of men over men, whereas the greater excellence of the gods as compared with ourselves is an infinite one. Now, as long as life was but newly established, the gods both visited us in person and sent harmosts, as it were, from their own number at first to look after us, such as Heracles, for example, Dionysus, Perseus, and the others, who, we are told, were the children of the gods, and that the descendants of these were born among us. Afterwards they permitted us to manage for ourselves as best we could. And then it was that sin and injustice began. (28) "The peasant also chanted a second monody, telling how the universe is a house very beautiful and divine, constructed by the gods ; that just as we see houses built by men who are called prosperous and wealthy, with portals and columns, and the roof, walls, and doors adorned with gold and with paintings, in the same way the universe has been made to give entertainment and good cheer to mankind, beauteous and bespangled with stars, sun, moon, land, sea, and plants, all these being, indeed, portions of the wealth of the gods and specimens of their handiwork. (29) "Into this universe comes mankind to hold high festival, having been invited by the king of the gods to a most splendid feast and banquet that they may enjoy all blessings. They recline in different places, just as at a dinner, some getting better and others inferior positions, and everything resembles what takes place among us at our entertainments, except that we are comparing the divine and great with the small and mean. For the gods furnish us with light of two kinds by means of lamps as it were, at one time a brighter and at another a dimmer light, the one at night and the other by day ;