The Parliament of the Gods (16-19)

“AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each ply

that the philosophers be warned not to make up empty names or talk nonsense about matters of which they know nothing;

that in the case of those who already have been vouchsafed temples or sacrifices, their images be pulled down and those of Zeus or Hera or Apollo or one of the others be substituted; but the city shall raise a funeral-mound for them and set a gravestone upon it instead of an altar; that if anyone shall fail to comply with this proclamation and shall be unwilling to appear before the deputies, judgement by default shall be rendered against him.” There you have the resolution.

ZEUS It is most equitable, Momus ; so let everyone who is in favour of the resolution hold up his hand—but no! I declare it carried, as those who will not vote for it will be the majority, I know. Well, you may go now; but when Hermes makes the proclamation, present yourselves, and let each of you bring unmistakable means of identification and clear proofs— his father’s name and his mother’s, why and how he became a god, and his tribe and clan. For if anyone shall fail to put all this in evidence, it will make no difference to the deputies that he has a huge temple on earth and that men believe him to be a god.