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And let us equally refuse to believe, or allow to be repeated,

the tale of Theseus son of Poseidon, or of Peirithous son of

Zeus, going forth as they did to perpetrate a horrid rape; or of

any other hero or son of a god daring to do such impious and

dreadful things as they falsely ascribe to them in our day: and

let us further compel the poets to declare either that these acts

were not done by them, or that they were not the sons of

gods;-both in the same breath they shall not be permitted to

affirm. We will not have them trying to persuade our youth that

the gods are the authors of evil, and that heroes are no better

than men-sentiments which, as we were saying, are neither pious

nor true, for we have already proved that evil cannot come from

the gods.

Assuredly not.

And further they are likely to have a bad effect on those who

hear them; for everybody will begin to excuse his own vices when

he is convinced that similar wickednesses are always being

perpetrated by-