9. What, then, shall we
say? That gods beget and are begotten?3948
| 3948
Lit., “that gods are born.” |
and that therefore they have received
organs of generation, that they might be able to raise up
offspring,
and that, as each new race springs up, a substitution, regularly
occurring,
3949
| 3949
Lit, “recurring,” “arising again.” |
should make up
for all which had been swept away by the preceding age? If, then,
it is so,—that is, if the gods above
beget other gods, and
are subject to these conditions of sex,
3950
| 3950 Lit.,
“make trial of themselves by these laws of sex.” |
and are
immortal, and are not worn out, by
the chills of age,—it follows, as a consequence, that the
world3951
| 3951 Lit.,
“all things,” etc. |
should be full
of gods, and that countless heavens could not contain their multitude,
inasmuch as they are both themselves ever begetting, and the countless
multitude of their descendants, always being increased, is augmented by
means of their
offspring; or if, as is fitting, the gods are not
degraded by being subjected to sexual impulses,
3952
| 3952
Lit., “if the impurity of sexual union is wanting to the
gods.” |
what cause or reason will be pointed out
for their being distinguished by those members by which the sexes are
wont to recognise each other at the suggestion of their own
desires? For it is not likely that they have these
members
without a purpose, or that
nature had wished in them to make sport of
its own improvidence,
3953
| 3953 So
the first five edd. |
in
providing them with members for
which there would be no use. For as the
hands,
feet, eyes, and
other members which form our body,
3954
| 3954
Lit., “the other arrangement of members.” |
have been arranged for certain uses,
each for its own end, so we may well
3955
| 3955 Lit.,
“it is fitting to believe.” |
believe that these members have been
provided to discharge their office; or it must be confessed that there
is something without a purpose in the bodies of the gods, which has
been made uselessly and in vain.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
