the vanishing of their habitation, the gods disappeared, both
those of the Ionian type of Homer and those of the Doric of
Hesiod.

EFFECTS OF DISCOVERY AND CRITICISM. But this did not take place
without resistance. At first, the public, and particularly its
religious portion, denounced the rising doubts as atheism. They
despoiled some of the offenders of their goods, exiled others;
some they put to death. They asserted that what had been believed
by pious men in the old times, and had stood the test of ages,
must necessarily be true. Then, as the opposing evidence became
irresistible, they were content to admit that these marvels were
allegories under which the wisdom of the ancients had concealed
many sacred and mysterious things. They tried to reconcile, what
now in their misgivings they feared might be myths, with their
advancing intellectual state. But their efforts were in vain, for
there are predestined phases through which on such an occasion
public opinion must pass. What it has received with veneration it
begins to doubt, then it offers new interpretations, then
subsides into dissent, and ends with a rejection of the whole as
a mere fable.

In their secession the philosophers and historians were followed
by the poets. Euripides incurred the odium of heresy. Aeschylus
narrowly escaped being stoned to death for blasphemy. But the
frantic efforts of those who are interested in supporting
delusions must always end in defeat. The demoralization
resistlessly extended through every branch of literature, until
at length it reached the common people.