yea, and thou dost so elsewhere, and according as thou thinkest, to wit, in these passages of thine:—
The gods, removed from all that men doth grieve,
A quiet and contented life do live.
Herein the immortal gods forever blest
Feel endless joys and undisturbed rest.
The gods, who have themselves no cause to grieve,
For wretched man a web of sorrow weave.
(Ibid. vi. 138; "Odyssey," vi. 46; "Iliad," xxiv, 526.)
For these argue sound and true opinions of the gods; but those other were only feigned to raise passions in men. Again, when Euripides speaks at this rate,—
The gods are better than we men by far,
And yet by them we oft deceived are,—
may do well to quote him elsewhere against himself where he says better,—
If gods do wrong, surely no gods there are.
So also, when Pindar, saith bitterly and keenly,
No law forbids us anything to do,
Whereby a mischief may befall a foe,
tell him: But, Pindar, thou thyself sayest elsewhere,
The pleasure which injurious acts attends
Always in bitter consequences ends.