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But at present we are speaking of those beings whom he described as
being properly intermediate between gods and men, in nature animals,
in mind rational, in soul subject to passion, in body aerial, in
duration eternal. When he had distinguished the gods, whom he placed
in the highest heaven, from men, whom he placed on earth, not only by
position but also by the unequal dignity of their natures, he concluded
in these words: "You have here two kinds of animals: the gods,
widely distinguished from men by sublimity of abode, perpetuity of
life, perfection of nature; for their habitations are separated by so
wide an interval that there can be no intimate communication between
them, and while the vitality of the one is eternal and indefeasible,
that of the others is fading and precarious, and while the spirits of
the gods are exalted in bliss, those of men are sunk in miseries."
Here I find three opposite qualities ascribed to the extremes of
being, the highest and lowest. For, after mentioning the three
qualities for which we are to admire the gods, he repeated, though in
other words, the same three as a foil to the defects of man. The
three qualities are, "sublimity of abode, perpetuity of life,
perfection of nature." These he again mentioned so as to bring out
their contrasts in man's condition. As he had mentioned "sublimity
of abode," he says, "Their habitations are separated by so wide an
interval;" as he had mentioned "perpetuity of life," he says, that
"while divine life is eternal and indefeasible, human life is fading
and precarious;" and as he had mentioned "perfection of nature," he
says, that "while the spirits of the gods are exalted in bliss, those
of men are sunk in miseries." These three things, then, he
predicates of the gods, exaltation, eternity, blessedness; and of
man he predicates the opposite, lowliness of habitation, mortality,
misery.
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