Book 1, Chapter 13

29 “If I were to search into ancient things and try to unearth from them what the writers of Greece have handed down, those very gods regarded as belonging to the highest rank would be found to have gone from here among us into heaven. Ask whose tombs are pointed out in Greece; remember, since you have been initiated, what is taught in the mysteries. Only then will you understand how widely this extends. But those early people, who had not yet learned the natural philosophy that <human beings> began to study many years later, were persuaded only of what they had come to know at nature’s prompting. They did not grasp the reasons and causes of things. They were often moved by certain visions, chiefly at night, so that those who had departed this life seemed to them to be living.

30 “Now the strongest reason offered for believing that gods exist seems to be that no nation is so savage, no person anywhere so brutal, that the idea of gods has not imbued the mind. Many hold wrong beliefs about the gods—that is the usual result of corrupt custom—but everyone believes that a divine power and nature exist. Nor is this brought about by people conferring or meeting together; the belief has not been established by institutions or laws. In every matter, the agreement of all nations must be considered a law of nature. In the same way, who does not mourn the death of his loved ones primarily because he thinks them deprived of life’s blessings? Remove that belief and you will remove mourning. No one mourns for his own loss: people may feel pain and anguish, but that sorrowful lamentation and grieving weeping arise because we think the person we loved has been deprived of life’s blessings and is aware of it. We feel these things with nature as our guide, without any reasoning or teaching.”

29 “Suppose I went searching through antiquity, unearthing the accounts left by Greek authors. Even the gods ranked among the greatest would turn out to have started here with us before going up to heaven. In Greece, find out which gods have tombs that people can show you. You’ve been initiated yourself: think back to the teachings of the mysteries. Then you’ll fully grasp the reach of this belief. Those early people, however, knew no natural science; humans only started studying it many years afterward. Nature had prompted them to recognize certain things, and that was as far as their convictions went. They had no grasp of the explanations or causes. Visions often affected them, especially dreams at night in which the dead appeared to be alive.

30 “One argument for the gods’ existence seems particularly solid: the belief in gods has made its way into every mind, however brutal the person, however savage the nation. Bad habits often give people distorted views of the gods. Still, everyone accepts some divine nature and power. People didn’t arrive at this by gathering together or talking it over; neither institutions nor laws secured the belief. Whenever the whole human race agrees on something, we must regard that agreement as nature’s law. Now, when we lose someone close to us, isn’t our first reason for mourning the thought that they’ve been robbed of the good things in life? Remove that thought and the mourning disappears. Our own loss isn’t what we mourn over. It may hurt and distress us, but the miserable tears and cries of grief come from believing that someone we loved is missing life’s benefits and feels that loss. Nature, not reasoning or teaching of any kind, leads us to feel this.”