To Him who Father is, and Lord of all;
Sole maker and preserver of mankind,
And who with all good things our earth has stored.”
The same also in the Piscatores:—
“For I deem that which nourishes my life
Is God; but he whose custom ’tis to meet
The wants of men,—He needs not at our hands
Renewed supplies, Himself being all in all.”846
The same in the Fratres:—
“God ever is intelligence to those
Who righteous are: so wisest men have thought.”
And in the Tibicinæ:—
“Good reason finds a temple in all things
Wherein to worship; for what is the mind,
But just the voice of God within us placed?”
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And the tragedian in Phrixus:—
“But if the pious and the impious
Share the same lot, how could we think it just,
If Jove, the best, judges not uprightly?”
In Philoctetes:—
“You see how honourable gain is deemed
Even to the gods; and how he is admired
Whose shrine is laden most with yellow gold.
What, then, doth hinder thee, since it is good
To be like gods, from thus accepting gain?”
In Hecuba:—
“O Jupiter! whoever thou mayest be,
846 The words from “but” to “all” are assigned by Otto to Justin, not to Menander.
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Chapter V.—The vain pretensions of false gods.