Dialogues of the Gods

By the time of Lucian popular religion had ceased to hold much influence over the hearts of the cultured classes. Philosophy was the new God but there were efforts in some circles to divert men's minds from the philosophical sects and restore a sort of unorthodox faith in the old religion. Against this artificial revival of mythological faith Lucian pitted the influence of his tremendous satirical powers. In the Dialogues of the Gods he pulls the curtain aside-exposing the Gods as they engage in private disputes domestic brawls and love affairs with their jealousies and scandals their paltry strifes and petty motives. The lesson is simple: Can one worship beings with such weaknesses such foibles and such scandalous and immoral lives? This new translation by Baudelaire Jones breathes fresh life into ancient deities such as Zeus Hera Hermes Aphrodite Poseidon and Athena revealing complex contradictory sex-obsessed creatures that modern mortals can surely relate to.