and of Cronos and Rhea were born Zeus and Hera and all those who are , as we know , called their brethren ; and of these again , other descendants .
Now when all the gods , both those who revolve manifestly and those who manifest themselves so far as they choose , had come to birth , He that generated this All addressed them thus :
" Gods of gods , those works whereof I am framer and father are indissoluble save by my will . For though all that is bound may be dissolved , yet to will to dissolve that which is fairly joined together and in good case were the deed of a wicked one . Wherefore ye also , seeing that ye were generated , are not wholly immortal or indissoluble , yet in no wise shall ye be dissolved nor incur the doom of death , seeing that in my will ye possess a bond greater and more sovereign than the bonds wherewith , at your birth , ye were bound together . Now , therefore , what I manifest and declare unto you do ye learn . Three mortal kinds still remain ungenerated ; but if these come not into being the Heaven will be imperfect ; for it will not contain within itself the whole sum of the hinds of living creatures , yet contain them it must if it is to be fully perfect . But if by my doing these creatures came into existence and partook of life , they would be made equal unto gods ; in order , therefore , that they may be mortal and that this World-all may be truly All , do ye turn yourselves , as Nature directs , to the work of fashioning these living creatures , imitating the power showed by me in my generating of you . Now so much of them as it is proper to designate ' immortal , ' the part we call divine which rules supreme in those who are fain to follow justice always and yourselves , that part I will deliver unto you when I have sown it and given it origin . For the rest , do ye weave together the mortal with the immortal , and thereby fashion and generate living creatures , and give them food that they may grow , and when they waste away receive them to yourselves again . "
Thus He spake , and once more into the former bowl , wherein He had blended and mixed the Soul of the Universe , He poured the residue of the previous material , mixing it in somewhat the same manner , yet no longer with a uniform and invariable purity , but second and third in degree of purity . And when He had compounded the whole He divided it into souls equal in number to the stars , and each several soul He assigned to one star , and setting them each as it were in a chariot He showed them the nature of the Universe , and declared unto them the laws of destiny , —namely , how that the first birth should be one and the same ordained for all , in order that none might be slighted by Him ; and how it was needful that they , when sown each into his own proper organ of time , should grow into the most god-fearing of living creatures ;

ἐκ δὲ Κρόνου καὶ Ῥέας Ζεὺς Ἥρα τε καὶ πάντες ὅσους ἴσμεν ἀδελφοὺς λεγομένους αὐτῶν , ἔτι τε τούτων ἄλλους ἐκγόνους : ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οὖν πάντες ὅσοι τε περιπολοῦσιν φανερῶς καὶ ὅσοι φαίνονται καθ᾽ ὅσον ἂν ἐθέλωσιν θεοὶ γένεσιν ἔσχον , λέγει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ τόδε τὸ πᾶν γεννήσας τάδε—
‘θεοὶ θεῶν , ὧν ἐγὼ δημιουργὸς πατήρ τε ἔργων , δι᾽ ἐμοῦ γενόμενα ἄλυτα ἐμοῦ γε μὴ ἐθέλοντος . τὸ μὲν οὖν δὴ δεθὲν πᾶν λυτόν , τό γε μὴν καλῶς ἁρμοσθὲν καὶ ἔχον εὖ λύειν ἐθέλειν κακοῦ : δι᾽ ἃ καὶ ἐπείπερ γεγένησθε , ἀθάνατοι μὲν οὐκ ἐστὲ οὐδ᾽ ἄλυτοι τὸ πάμπαν , οὔτι μὲν δὴ λυθήσεσθέ γε οὐδὲ τεύξεσθε θανάτου μοίρας , τῆς ἐμῆς βουλήσεως μείζονος ἔτι δεσμοῦ καὶ κυριωτέρου λαχόντες ἐκείνων οἷς ὅτ᾽ ἐγίγνεσθε συνεδεῖσθε . νῦν οὖν ὃ λέγω πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐνδεικνύμενος , μάθετε . θνητὰ ἔτι γένη λοιπὰ τρία ἀγέννητα : τούτων δὲ μὴ γενομένων οὐρανὸς ἀτελὴς ἔσται : τὰ γὰρ ἅπαντ᾽ ἐν αὑτῷ γένη ζῴων οὐχ ἕξει , δεῖ δέ , εἰ μέλλει τέλεος ἱκανῶς εἶναι . δι᾽ ἐμοῦ δὲ ταῦτα γενόμενα καὶ βίου μετασχόντα θεοῖς ἰσάζοιτ᾽ ἄν : ἵνα οὖν θνητά τε ᾖ τό τε πᾶν τόδε ὄντως ἅπαν ᾖ , τρέπεσθε κατὰ φύσιν ὑμεῖς ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ζῴων δημιουργίαν , μιμούμενοι τὴν ἐμὴν δύναμιν περὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν γένεσιν . καὶ καθ᾽ ὅσον μὲν αὐτῶν ἀθανάτοις ὁμώνυμον εἶναι προσήκει , θεῖον λεγόμενον ἡγεμονοῦν τε ἐν αὐτοῖς τῶν ἀεὶ δίκῃ καὶ ὑμῖν ἐθελόντων ἕπεσθαι , σπείρας καὶ ὑπαρξάμενος [ 41δ ] ἐγὼ παραδώσω : τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ὑμεῖς , ἀθανάτῳ θνητὸν προσυφαίνοντες , ἀπεργάζεσθε ζῷα καὶ γεννᾶτε τροφήν τε διδόντες αὐξάνετε καὶ φθίνοντα πάλιν δέχεσθε . ’ ταῦτ᾽ εἶπε , καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν πρότερον κρατῆρα , ἐν ᾧ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ψυχὴν κεραννὺς ἔμισγεν , τὰ τῶν πρόσθεν ὑπόλοιπα κατεχεῖτο μίσγων τρόπον μέν τινα τὸν αὐτόν , ἀκήρατα δὲ οὐκέτι κατὰ ταὐτὰ ὡσαύτως , ἀλλὰ δεύτερα καὶ τρίτα . συστήσας δὲ τὸ πᾶν διεῖλεν ψυχὰς ἰσαρίθμους τοῖς ἄστροις , ἔνειμέν θ᾽ ἑκάστην πρὸς ἕκαστον , καὶ ἐμβιβάσας ὡς ἐς ὄχημα τὴν τοῦ παντὸς φύσιν ἔδειξεν , νόμους τε τοὺς εἱμαρμένους εἶπεν αὐταῖς , ὅτι γένεσις πρώτη μὲν ἔσοιτο τεταγμένη μία πᾶσιν , ἵνα μήτις ἐλαττοῖτο ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ , δέοι δὲ σπαρείσας αὐτὰς εἰς τὰ προσήκοντα ἑκάσταις ἕκαστα ὄργανα χρόνων φῦναι ζῴων τὸ θεοσεβέστατον ,

deinceps Iovem atque Iunonem , reliquos , quos fratres inter se agnatosque usurpari atque appellari videmus , et eorum , ut utamur vetere verbo , prosapiam . Quando igitur omnes , et qui moventur palamque se ostendunt , et qui eatenus nobis declarantur , qua ipsi volunt , creati sunt , tum ad eos is deus , qui omnia genuit , fatur : ‘Haec vos , qui deorum satu orti estis , attendite : quorum operum ego parens effectorque sum , haec sunt indissoluta me invito ; quamquam omne col- ligatum solvi potest ; sed haudquaquam boni est ratione vinctum velle dissolvere . Sed quoniam estis orti , inmortales vos quidem esse et indissolubiles non potestis , neutiquam tamen dissolvemini , neque vos ulla mortis fata periment nec fraus valentior quam consilium meum , quod maius est vinculum ad perpe- tuitatem vestram quam illa , quibus estis tum , cum ’ gignebamini , conligati . Quid sentiam igitur , cogno- scite : Tria genera nobis reliqua sunt , eaque mortalia ; quibus praetermissis caeli absolutio perfecta non erit . Omnia enim genera animalium complexu non tenebit ; teneat autem oportebit , ut ex eodem ne quid absit . Quae a me ipso effecta si sint , deorum vitam possint adaequare . Ut igitur mortali condicione generentur , vos suscipite , ut illa gignatis imiteminique vim meam , qua me in vestro ortu usum esse meministis . In quibus qui tales creabuntur , ut deorum inmortalium quasi gentiles esse debeant , divini generis appellentur teneantque omnium animantium principatum vobisque iure et lege volentes pareant ; quorum vobis initium satusque tradetur a me , vos autem ad id , quod erit inmortale , partem attexitote mortalem . Ita orientur animantes , quos et vivos alatis et consumptos sinu recipiatis . ’ Haec ille dixit . Deinde ad temperationem supe- riorem revertit ; in qua omnem animum universae na- turae temperans permiscebat superiorisque permixtionis reliquias fundens aequabat eodem modo ferme , nisi quod non ita incorrupta , ut ea , quae semper idem , sed ab iis secundum sumebat atque etiam tertium . Toto igitur omni constituto sideribus parem numerum distribuit animorum et singulos adiunxit ad singula atque ita quasi in currum universitatis inposuit com- monstravitque leges fatales ac necessarias et ostendit primum ortum unum fore omnibus , eumque modera- tum atque constantem nec ab ullo inminutum , satis autem et quasi sparsis animis fore uti certis tempo- rum intervallis oreretur animal , quod esset ad cultum deorum aptissumum .