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Petronius, the Arbiter Elegantiae Fragment XXVII
Fear invented the gods.
Lightning flashed from a high heaven,
Walls riven by the flame,
Athos kindled beneath the blow,
Phoebus descending beneath the traversed earth
For his new risings,
The decay of the moon and its glory recovered,
Stars scattered over all the world,
And the year divided into changing months.
The vice took hold -vain superstition
Bade farmers offer first fruits to Ceres,
Bind Bacchus with full palms,
Let Pales rejoice at the shepherds' hand.
A hazard to every sailor,
Neptune from the depths claims the waters,
Pallas the streets and inns.
Every guilty wish, every venal instinct
Invents its own gods in greedy competition.
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