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cause, and in common for all what is best for each, I thought it would set forth also the common good for all. And I would not have sold my hopes for a great price, but taking the books with great eagerness I began to read them as quickly as I could, so that I might know as quickly as possible the better and the worse. From a wonderful hope, my friend, I was carried away, when as I went on and read, I saw a man making no use of Mind and not assigning any causes for the ordering of things, but assigning as causes airs and aethers 14.15.6 and waters and many other strange things. And it seemed to me that he had had a very similar experience, as if someone were to say that Socrates does everything he does with his mind, and then, attempting to state the causes of each of the things I do, were to say first that I am now sitting here for these reasons, that my body is composed of bones and sinews, and the bones are solid and have joints separate from each other, and the sinews are able to be tightened and relaxed, surrounding the 14.15.7 bones together with the flesh and skin, which holds them together; therefore, as the bones are lifted in their own sockets, the relaxing and contracting of the sinews make it possible for me to bend my limbs now, and for this reason, having bent them, I am sitting here; and again, concerning my conversing with you, he might state other such causes, assigning as causes sounds and airs and hearings and countless other such things, while neglecting to state the true causes, that since it seemed better to the Athenians to condemn me, for this reason it has also seemed better to me to sit here and more just to remain and undergo 14.15.8 the penalty which they command; for, by the dog, as I think, these sinews and bones would long ago have been near Megara or among the Boeotians, carried by an opinion of what is best, if I did not think it more just and more noble, rather than fleeing 14.15.9 and running away, to undergo for the city whatever penalty this may be. But to call such things causes is extremely strange; but if someone were to say that without having such things, both bones and sinews and whatever else I have, I would not be able to do what I had decided, he would be speaking the truth; but to say that I do what I do because of them, and that I act with my mind in these matters, but not by the choice of what is best, would be a great and long carelessness of speech.” 14.15.10 Then he adds: “Therefore, one man, by placing a vortex around the earth, makes the earth stay put by means of the heaven, while another supports it with the air as a base, like a broad kneading-trough; but the power which causes them to be placed now as it is best for them to be placed, this they neither seek nor do they think it has any divine force, but they think they could find some Atlas stronger and more all-embracing than this, and they do not at all think that the good and the right bind and hold things together.” 14.15.11 So says Socrates concerning the opinion of Anaxagoras. Now Archelaus was the successor of Anaxagoras, both in his school and in his opinion, and Socrates is said to have been a hearer of Archelaus. But nevertheless, other natural philosophers also, Xenophanes and Pythagoras, who flourished at the same time as Anaxagoras, philosophized about the incorruptibility of God and the immortality of the soul; and from these and after these the schools of Greek philosophy arose, some having followed these men, others having followed others, and some having also devised their own opinions. Again, then, Plutarch writes of the conceptions of the same men concerning the gods in this manner:

14.16.1 16. OPINIONS OF PHILOSOPHERS CONCERNING THE GODS “Some of the philosophers, such as Diagoras of Melos and Theodore of Cyrene and Euhemerus of Tegea, say that there are no gods at all; and Callimachus of Cyrene also alludes to Euhemerus in his iambics. - And Euripides the tragic poet, though he did not wish to reveal himself, fearing the Areopagus, hinted

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αἰτίαν καὶ κοινῇ πᾶσι τὸ ἑκάστῳ βέλτιστον ᾤμην καὶ τὸ κοινὸν πᾶσιν ἐπιδιηγήσεσθαι ἀγαθόν. καὶ οὐδ' ἂν ἀπεδόμην πολλοῦ τὰς ἐλπίδας, ἀλλὰ πάνυ σπουδῇ λαβὼν τὰς βίβλους ὡς τάχιστα οἷός τ' ἦν ἀνεγίγνωσκον, ἵν' ὡς τάχιστα εἰδείην τὸ βέλτιστον καὶ τὸ χεῖρον. ἀπὸ δὴ θαυμαστῆς, ὦ ἑταῖρε, ἐλπίδος ᾠχόμην φερόμενος, ἐπειδὴ προϊὼν καὶ ἀναγιγνώσκων ὁρῶ ἄνδρα τῷ μὲν Νῷ οὐδὲν χρώμενον οὐδέ τινας αἰτίας ἐπαιτιώμενον εἰς τὸ διακοσμεῖν τὰ πράγματα, ἀέρας δὲ καὶ αἰθέρας 14.15.6 καὶ ὕδατα αἰτιώμενον καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ καὶ ἄτοπα. καί μοι ἔδοξεν ὁμοιότατον πεπονθέναι, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις λέγων, ὅτι Σωκράτης πάντα ὅσα πράττει νῷ πράττει, καὶ ἔπειτα ἐπιχειρήσας λέγειν τὰς αἰτίας ἑκάστων ὧν πράττω, λέγοι πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ἐνθάδε διὰ ταῦτα νῦν κάθημαι, ὅτι σύγκειταί μου τὸ σῶμα ἐξ ὀστῶν καὶ νεύρων καὶ τὰ μὲν ὀστᾶ ἐστι στερεὰ καὶ διαφυὰς ἔχει χωρὶς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, τὰ δὲ νεῦρα οἷα ἐπιτείνεσθαι καὶ ἀνίεσθαι, περιαμπέχοντα τὰ 14.15.7 ὀστᾶ μετὰ τῶν σαρκῶν τε καὶ δέρματος, ὃ συνέχει αὐτά· αἰωρουμένων οὖν τῶν ὀστῶν ἐν ταῖς αὑτῶν ξυμβολαῖς χαλῶντα καὶ ξυντείνοντα τὰ νεῦρα κάμπτεσθαί που ποιεῖ οἷόν τ' εἶναι ἐμὲ νῦν τὰ μέλη, καὶ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν συγκαμφθεὶς ἐνθάδε κάθημαι· καὶ αὖ περὶ τοῦ διαλέγεσθαι ὑμῖν ἑτέρας τοίας αἰτίας λέγοι, φωνάς τε καὶ ἀέρας καὶ ἀκοὰς καὶ ἄλλα ἄττα μυρία τοιαῦτα αἰτιώμενος, ἀμελήσας τὰς ὡς ἀληθῶς αἰτίας λέγειν, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ Ἀθηναίοις ἔδοξε βέλτιον εἶναι ἐμοῦ καταψηφίσασθαι, διὰ ταῦτα δὴ καὶ ἐμοὶ βέλτιον αὖ δέδοκται ἐνθάδε καθῆσθαι καὶ δικαιότερον παραμένοντα ὑπέχειν 14.15.8 τὴν δίκην, ἣν κελεύουσιν· ἐπεὶ νὴ τὸν κύνα, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, πάλαι ἂν ταῦτα τὰ νεῦρα καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ ἢ περὶ Μέγαρα ἢ περὶ Βοιωτοὺς ἦν, ὑπὸ δόξης φερόμενα τοῦ βελτίστου, εἰ μὴ δικαιότερον ᾤμην καὶ κάλλιον εἶναι πρὸ τοῦ φεύγειν τε 14.15.9 καὶ ἀποδιδράσκειν ὑπέχειν τῇ πόλει δίκην ἥντινα ταύτην. ἀλλ' αἴτια μὲν τὰ τοιαῦτα καλεῖν λίαν ἄτοπον· εἰ δέ τις λέγοι ὅτι ἄνευ τοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχειν καὶ ὀστᾶ καὶ νεῦρα καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἔχω, οὐκ ἂν οἷός τε ἦ ποιεῖν τὰ δόξαντά μοι, ἀληθῆ ἂν λέγοι· ὡς μέντοι διὰ ταῦτα ποιῶ, ἃ ποιῶ, καὶ ταῦτα νῷ πράττω, ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ τοῦ βελτίστου αἱρέσει, πολλὴ ἂν καὶ μακρὰ ῥᾳθυμία εἴη τοῦ λόγου.» 14.15.10 Εἶτα ἐπιλέγει· «∆ιὸ δὴ καὶ ὁ μέν τις δίνην περιθεὶς τῇ γῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ μένειν δὴ ποιεῖ τὴν γῆν, ὁ δὲ ὥσπερ καρδόπῳ πλατείᾳ βάθρον τὸν ἀέρα ὑπερείδει· τὴν δὲ τοῦ ὡς οἷόν τε βέλτιστα αὐτὰ τεθῆναι δύναμιν οὕτω νῦν κεῖσθαι, ταύτην οὔτε ζητοῦσιν οὔτε τινὰ οἴονται δαιμονίαν ἰσχὺν ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ ἡγοῦνται τούτου ἄν ποτε Ἄτλαντα ἰσχυρότερον καὶ μᾶλλον ἅπαντα συνέχοντα ἐξευρεῖν, καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ δέον ξυνδεῖν καὶ συνέχειν οὐδὲν οἴονται.» 14.15.11 Τοσαῦτα ὁ Σωκράτης περὶ τῆς Ἀναξαγόρου δόξης. ἦν δὲ Ἀναξαγόρου μὲν διάδοχος τῆς τε διατριβῆς ὁμοῦ καὶ τῆς δόξης Ἀρχέλαος, Ἀρχελάου δὲ ἀκουστὴς γεγονέναι λέγεται Σωκράτης. πλὴν ἀλλὰ φυσικοὶ καὶ ἄλλοι Ξενοφάνης καὶ Πυθαγόρας, συνακμάσαντες Ἀναξαγόρᾳ, περὶ ἀφθαρσίας θεοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς ἀθανασίας ἐφιλοσόφησαν· ἐκ τούτων τε καὶ μετὰ τούτους αἱ τῆς Ἑλλήνων φιλοσοφίας ὑπέστησαν αἱρέσεις, τῶν μὲν τοῖσδε, τῶν δὲ ἑτέροις ἐξηκολουθηκότων, τινῶν δὲ καὶ ἰδίας δόξας ἐπινενοηκότων. πάλιν δ' οὖν ὁ Πλούταρχος τὰς περὶ θεῶν ὑπολήψεις τῶν αὐτῶν τοῦτον γράφει τὸν τρόπον·

14.16.1 ιςʹ. ∆ΟΞΑΙ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΩΝ ΠΕΡΙ ΘΕΩΝ «Ἔνιοι τῶν φιλοσόφων, καθάπερ ∆ιαγόρας ὁ Μιλήσιος καὶ Θεόδωρος ὁ Κυρηναϊκὸς καὶ Εὐήμερος ὁ Τεγεάτης, καθόλου φασὶ μὴ εἶναι θεούς· τὸν δὲ Εὐήμερον καὶ Καλλίμαχος ὁ Κυρηναϊκὸς αἰνίττεται ἐν τοῖς ἰάμβοις. - καὶ Εὐριπίδης δὲ ὁ τραγῳδοποιὸς ἀποκαλύψασθαι μὲν οὐκ ἠθέλησε, δεδοι κὼς τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον, ἐνέφηνε