Once upon
a time the Gods divided up the Earth between them - mot in the
course of a quarrel; for it would be quite wrong to think that
the Gods do not know what is appropriate to them, or that, knowing
it, they would want to annex what property belongs to others.
Each gladly received his just allocation, and settled his territories;
and having done so they proceeded to look after us, their creatures
and children, as shepherds look after their flocks. They did
not use physical means of control like shepherds who direct
their flocks with blows, but brought their influence to bear
on the creature's most sensitive part, using persuasion as a
steersman uses the helm, to direct the mind as they saw fit
and so guide the whole moral creature. The various Gods, then,
administered the various regions which had been allotted to
them. But Hephaestos and Athene, who shared as brother and sister
a common character, and pursued the same ends in their love
of knowledge and skill, were allotted this land of ours as their
joint sphere and as a suitable and natural home for excellence
and wisdom. They produced a native race of good men and gave
them suitable political arrangements. Their names have been
preserved but what they did has been forgotten because of the
destruction of their successors and the long lapse of time.
For as we said before, the survivors of this destruction were
an unlettered mountain race who had just heard the names of
the rulers of the land but knew little of their achievements.
They were glad enough to give their names to their own children,
but they knew nothing of the virtues and institutions of their
predecessors, except for a few hazy reports; for many generations
they and their children were short of bare necessities, and
their minds and thoughts were occupied with providing for them,
to the neglect of their earlier history and tradition. For an
interest in the past and historical research came only when
communities had leisure and when men were already provided with
the necessities of life. That is how the names but not the achievements
of these early generations came to be preserved.
