26. Those therefore who follow many Gods, commit, as children in soul, a grievous mistake when they make into Gods the (constituent) parts of the Universe, and (virtually) divide the one world into many¹⁸. As if one should take from the person of a man the eyes only, and then affirm that these were the man ; and again, that the ears were another; and so again, the head (another); or, should gradually sever the neck, the breast, the shoulders, the feet, the hands, or the rest of the members; or, that he should (so) divide the faculty of sense by

process of reasoning, and then affirm on this one man, that these (portions) really were many men: he would deserve nothing better of the wise, than the ridicule due to folly. Such as this man would be, would he likewise be who fabricated for himself many Gods out of the (constituent) parts of the one Universe, and would sever into many sections those Bodies of all, whose nature is fleeting and dispersive, and which are fabricated out of one primary material; and then again, would by an effort of reason make these his Gods^?.