NOTES TO PYTHAGORAS.
Note A, Page 162.
Be this thy first, thy best, and fondest care,
The immortal Gods to worship and revere.
Throughout all the writings of the ancient philosophers, the doctrine of a plurality of Gods continually occurs, notwithstanding that many of the most eminent of them really believed in the existence of one only Supreme Being, Creator of the Universe, and of man. In my notes to Epictetus I have already remarked on this peculiarity in the Grecian Sophists, or Philosophers. Among the most distinguished of those who believed in the existence of one Supreme Being, were Socrates and Plato; yet, in the writings of even these we find interspersed frequent allusions to the Gods (θἐὸι), with an apparent belief in the polytheistic doctrine. In the case of Socrates, it is maintained by his biographers, that this frequent recurrence to the system of Godheads, to be found in his discourses even to the latest moment of his existence, was chiefly owing to his respect for the established opinions of his times, and his unwillingness to risk any danger to the peace of society by the introduction of novel doctrines into the religion of the State.
