Such being his nature, deservedly did he go mad, and deservedly did he light the funeral pile and burn himself to death. Of Asklepius, Hesiod says:
"The mighty father both of gods and men
Was filled with wrath, and from Olympus top
With flaming thunderbolt cast down and slew
Latona's well-lov'd son—such was his ire."[1]
And Pindar:
"But even wisdom is ensnared by gain.
The brilliant bribe of gold seen in the hand
Ev'n him[2] perverted: therefore Kronos' son
With both hands quickly stopp'd his vital breath,
And by a bolt of fire ensured his doom."[3]
Either, therefore, they were gods and did not hanker after gold—
"O gold, the fairest prize to mortal men,
Which neither mother equals in delight,
Nor children dear"[4]—
for the Deity is in want of nought, and is superior to carnal desire, nor did they die; or, having been born men, they were wicked by reason of ignorance, and overcome by love of money. What more need I say, or refer to Castor, or Pollux, or Amphiarus, who, having been born, so to speak, only the other day, men of men, are looked upon as gods, when they imagine even Ino after her madness and its consequent sufferings to have become a goddess?
"Sea-rovers will her name Leucothea,"[5]
And her son:
"August Palæmon, sailors will invoke."
Chap. xxx.—Reasons why divinity has been ascribed to men.
For if detestable and god-hated men had the reputation of being gods, and the daughter of Derceto, Semiramis, a lascivious and blood-stained woman, was esteemed a Syrian
