30. I confess that, in
reflecting on such monstrous stories in my own mind, I have long been
accustomed to wonder that you dare to speak of those as
atheists,4474
| 4474
Lit., “to speak of any one as atheist…of those who,”
etc. |
impious,
sacrilegious, who either deny that there are
any gods at all, or
doubt
their existence, or assert that they were men, and have
been numbered among the gods for the sake of some
power and good
desert; since, if a true
examination be made, it is fitting that none
should be called by such names, more than yourselves, who, under the
pretence of showing them
reverence, heap up in so doing
4475
| 4475
So the ms. and edd., reading in
eo, for which we should perhaps read in
eos—“heap upon them.” |
more
abuse
and
accusation, than if you had conceived the idea of doing this openly
with avowed
abuse. He who doubts the existence of the gods, or
denies it altogether, although he may seem to
adopt monstrous opinions
from the audacity of his conjectures, yet refuses to credit what is
obscure without insulting any one; and he who asserts that they were
mortals, although he brings them down from the exalted place of
inhabitants of
heaven, yet heaps upon them other
4476
| 4476
Subsicivis laudibus. |
honours, since he supposes that they
have been raised to the rank of the gods
4477
| 4477
Lit., “to the reward (meritum) of divinity.” |
for their services, and from
admiration of their virtues>
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