er to the First Cause to be One--for unity precedes
multitude--and to surpass all things in power and goodness. Consequently
all things must partake of it. For owing to its power nothing else can
hinder it, and owing to its goodness it will not hold itself apart.

If the First Cause were Soul, all things would possess Soul. If it were
Mind, all things would possess Mind. If it were Being, all things would
partake of Being. And seeing this quality (i. e. Being) in all things,
some men have thought that it was Being. Now if things simply _were_,
without being good, this argument would be true, but if things that are
_are_ because of their goodness, and partake in the good, the First
thing must needs be both beyond-Being and good. It is strong evidence of
this that noble souls despise Being for the sake of the good, when they
face death for their country or friends or for the sake of
virtue.--After this inexpressible power come the orders of the Gods.

VI. _On Gods Cosmic and Hypercosmic._

Of the Gods some are of the world, Cosmic, and some above the world,
Hypercosmic. By the Cosmic I mean those who make the Cosmos. Of the
Hypercosmic Gods some create Essence, some Mind, and some Soul. Thus
they have three orders; all of which may be found in treatises on the
subject.

Of the Cosmic Gods some make the World _be_, others animate it, others
harmonize it, consisting as it does of different elements; the fourth
class keep it when harmonized.

These are four actions, each of which has a beginning, middle, and end,
consequently there must be twelve gods governing the world.

Those who make the world are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hephaistos; those who
animate it are Demeter, Hera, and Artemis; those who harmonize it are
Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hermes; those who watch over it are Hestia,
Athena, and Ares.

One can see secret suggestions of this in their images. Apollo tunes a
lyre; Athena is armed; Aphrodite is naked (because harmony creates
beauty, and beauty in things seen is not covered).

While these twelve in the primary sense possess the world, we should
consider that the other gods are contained in these. Dionysus in Zeus,
for instance, Asklepios in Apollo, the Charites in Aphrodite.

We can also discern their various spheres: to Hestia belongs the Earth,
to Poseidon water, to Hera air, to Hephaistos fire. And the six superior
spheres to the gods to whom they are usually attributed. For Apollo and
Artemis are to be t