The Power of Pagan Gods

In pagan society, where power is the dominant axis, it was consistent for a powerful being to be both good and evil. What defines pagan gods are not their morality, but their forcefulness. Dionysus is at one and the same time the most terrible and the most gentle of gods. There's a Zeus who hurls thunderbolts and a Zeus as sweet as honey. In fact, there is no ancient divinity who does not have a double face.

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