knowing ones," the civilized.

Plato puts into the mouth of Socrates these words ("Dialogues,
Cratylus," p. 397): "My notion would be that the sun, moon, and stars,
earth, and heaven, which are still the gods of many barbarians, were the
only gods known to the aboriginal Hellenes. . . . What shall follow the
gods? Must not demons and heroes and men come next? . . . Consider the
real meaning of the word demons. You know Hesiod uses the word. He
speaks of 'a golden race of men' who came first. He says of them,

But now that fate has closed over this race,
They are holy demons upon earth,
Beneficent averters of ills, guardians of mortal men.'

He means by the golden men not men literally made of gold, but good and
noble men; he says we are of the 'age of iron.' He called them demons
because they were dah'mones (knowing or wise)."

This is made the more evident when we read that this region of the gods,
of Chronos and Uranos and Zeus, passed through, first, a Golden Age,
then a Silver Age--these constituting a great period of peace and
happiness; then it reached a Bronze Age; then an Iron Age, and finally
perished by a great flood, sent upon these people by Zeus as a
punishment for their sins. We read:

"Men were rich then (in the Silver Age), as in the Golden Age of
Chronos, and lived in plenty; but still they wanted the innocence and
contentment which were the true sources of bu man happiness in the
former age; and accordingly, while living in luxury and delicacy, they
became overbearing in their manners to the highest degree, were never