Great Zeus, as demons,[5] raised them from the ground;
Earth-hovering spirits, they their charge began—
The ministers of good, and guards of men.
Mantled with mist of darkling air they glide,
And compass Earth, and pass on every side;
And mark, with earnest vigilance of eyes,
Where just deeds live, or crooked ways arise,
And shower the wealth of seasons from above.”[6]
The second race—the “Silver Age”—inferior to the first and wholly innocent people, were, nevertheless, guiltless of bloodshed in the preparation of their food; nor did they offer sacrifices—in the poet’s judgment, it appears, a damnable error. For the third—the “Brazen Age”—it was reserved to inaugurate the feast of blood:—
“Strong with the ashen spear, and fierce and bold,