From Olympus its divinities had disappeared; indeed, Olympus itself had proved to be a phantom of the imagination.
Hades had lost its terrors; no place could be found for it.
From the woods and grottoes and rivers of Asia Minor the local gods and goddesses had departed; even their devotees began to doubt whether they had ever been there.

If still the Syrian damsels lamented, in their amorous ditties, the fate of Adonis, it was only as a recollection, not as a reality.

Again and again had Persia changed her national faith.

For the revelation of Zoroaster she had substituted Dualism; then under new political influences she had adopted Magianism.

She had worshiped fire, and kept her altars burning on mountain-tops.