[132]. Vid. Odys. Lib. xi. lin. 575. & seq. in which he speaks of the punishment of Tityus and Tantalus. In this, as well as many other things, he is imitated by Virgil. See Æneid. Lib. vi. lin. 595, & seq.

[133]. See this argument managed with a great deal of learning and judgment by Mede, in his apostasy of the latter times, who proves that the gods whom the heathens worshipped, were the souls of men deifyed or cannonized after death, from many of their own writers, chap. iv. and Voss. de orig. &c. idol. Lib. 1. cap. xi, xii, xiii. who refers to Lanct. Lib. 1. de fals. Relig. cap. v. his words are these; Quos imperiti, & insipientes, tanquam Deos & nuncupant, & adorant, nemo est tam inconsideratus, qui non intelligat fuisse mortales. Quomodo ergo, inquiet aliquis, Dii crediti sunt? Nimirum quia reges maximi, ac potentissimi fuerunt, ob merita virtutum suarum, aut munerum, aut artium repertarum, cum chari fuissent iis, quibus imperitaverunt, in memoriam sunt consecrati. Quod si quis dubitet, res eorum gestas, & facta, consideret: quæ universa tum poetæ, tum historici veteres, prodiderunt. Et August. de Civ. Dei, Lib. viii. cap. v. Ipsi etium majorum gentium Dii, quos Cicero in Tusculanis, tacitis nominibus videtur attingere, Jupiter, Juno, Saturnus, Vulcanus, Vesta, & alii plurimi, quos Varro conatur ad mundi partes, sive elementa transferre homines fuisse produntur. Et Cic. Lib. 1. de nat. Deor. Quid, qui aut fortes, aut potentes viros tradunt post mortem ad Deos pervenisse; eosq; ipsos quos, nos colere, precari, venerariq; soleamus?

[134]. Some have wondered how the Sadducees could deny angels, and yet receive the five books of Moses, in which there is so frequent mention of the appearance of angels; and it might as well be wondered how they could make any pretensions to religion, who denyed the immortality of the soul; but as to both these, it may be said concerning them, that they were the most irreligious part of the Jewish nation. To make them consistent with themselves, is past the skill of any who treat on this subject. Some suppose that they understand all those scriptures that speak concerning the appearance of angels, as importing nothing else but a bodily shape, appearing for a time, and conversing with those to whom it was sent, moved and actuated by the divine power, and then disappearing and vanishing into nothing.

[135]. In Phæd.

[136]. His words are these; Κεβης δε μοι εδοξε τουτο μεν εμοι ξυν χωρειν, πολυχρονιωτερον γε ειναι Ψυχην σωματος᾽ αλλα τοδε αδηλον παντι, μη πολλα δη σωματα και πολλακις κατατριψασα η ψυχη, το τελευταιον, σωμα καταλεπουσα νυν αυτη απολλυνται και η αυτο τουτο θανατος, ψυχης ολεθρος επει σωμα γ εξει απολλυμενον ουδεν παυεται.

[137]. Ὁποιεροι δε ημων ερχονται επι αμεινον πραγμα, αδηλον παντι πλην η τω θεω.

[138]. Vid. ejusd. moral. Lib. iii. cap. ix.

[139]. Vid. Diog. Laert. in Vit. Zen. Την ψυχην μετα θανατον επιμενειν, φθαρτον δε ειναι; upon which occasion Cicero says, That though they assert that they shall continue a great while in being, yet they deny that they shall exist for ever. Vid. ejusd. in Tusc. Quæst. Lib. 1. Stoici usuram nobis largiuntur, tanquam cornicibus; diu mansuros animos ajunt; semper negant.

[140]. Et ibid. Ea quæ vis, ut potero, explicabo, nec tamen quasi Pythius Apollo certa ut sint, & fixa quæ dixero, sed ut homunculus unus e multis, probabilia conjectura sequens; ultra enim quo progrediar quam ut verisimilia videam, non habeo; which Lactantius observes, speaking of him as in doubt about it. Vid. Lactant. de Vit. Beat. Lib. vii. § 8. And elsewhere he says, in Lib. de Amicitia. Sin autem illa vetiora, ut idem interitus sit animorum, & corporum, nec ullus sensus maneat: Ut nihil boni est in morte, sic certe nihil est mali; & in Lib. de Senect. Quod si in hoc erro, quod animos hominum immortales esse credam, libenter erro: Nec mihi hunc errorem, quo delector, dum vivo, extorqueri volo. Sin mortuus, ut quidam minuti philosophi censent, nihil sentiam; non vereor, ne hunc errorem meum philosophi minuti irrideant: Quod si non sumus immortales futuri, tamen extingui hominem suo tempore, optabile est.

[141]. Epist. 102. Credebam opinionibus magnorum virorum rem gratissimam promittentium, magis quam probantium.