P. 135. G. I. Voss; _De Theologia Gentili_, lib. i. (published, 1642)—Voss’s view is in the main that idolatry as a whole is the work of the Devil. What is worshipped is partly the heavenly bodies, partly demons, partly (and principally) dead men; most of the ancient gods are identified with persons from the Old Testament. Demon-worship is dealt with in ch. 6; it is proved among other things by the true predictions of the oracles. Individual Greek deities are identified with demons in ch. 7, in a context where oracles are dealt with. On older works of the same tendency, see below, note on p. 140; on Natalis Comes, _ibid._ A fuller treatment of Voss’s theories is found in Gruppe’s work, § 25.—Thomas Aquinas: _Summa theol._ P. ii. 2, Q. 94, art. 4; comp. also Q. 122, art. 2.—Dante: Sommo Giove for God, _Purg._ vi. 118; his devils: Charon, _Inf._ iii. 82 (109 expressly designated as “dimonio”); Minos, _Inf._ v. 4; Geryon, _Inf._ xviii. (there are more of the same kind).—“Dei falsi e bugiardi”: _Inf._ i. 72. (Plutus, who appears as a devil in _Inf._ vii. was probably taken by Dante for an antique god; but the name may also be a classicising translation of Mammon.) P. 136. Mediaeval epic poets: Nyrop, _Den oldfranske Heltedigtning_, p. 255 and 260; Dernedde, _Ueber die den altfranzös. Dichtern bekannten Stoffe aus dem Altertum_ (Diss. Götting. 1887).—Confusion of ancient and Christian elements: Dernedde, p. 10; the gods are devils: Dernedde, pp. 85, 88.—Euhemerism: Dernedde, p. 4.—I have tried to get a first-hand impression of the way the gods are treated by the old French epic poets, but the material is too large, and indexes suited to the purpose are wanting. The paganism of the original is taken over naïvely, _e.g._, by Veldeke, _Eneidt_, i. 45, 169.—On magic I have consulted Horst’s _Dämonomagie_ (Frankf. 1818); and his _Zauber-Bibliothek_ (Mainz, 1821-26); Schindler, _Der Aberglaube des Mittelalters_ (Breslau, 1858); Maury, _La magie et l’astrologie dans l’antiquité et au moyen âge_ (Paris, 1860). These authors all agree that mediaeval magic is dependent on antiquity, but that the pagan gods are superseded by devils (or the Devil). The connexion in substance with antiquity, on which Maury specially insists, is certain enough, but does not concern us here, where the question is about the theory. In the _Zauber-Bibl._ i. p. 137 (in the treatise _Pneumatologia vera et occulta_), the snake Python is put down among the demons, with the remark that Apollo was called after it.—Magic formulae with antique gods: Heim, _Incantamenta magica_ (in the _Neue Jahrbb. f. Philologie_, Suppl. xix. 1893, p. 557; I owe this reference to the kindness of my colleague, Prof. Groenbeck). Pradel, _Religionsgesch. Vers. u. __ Vorarb._ iii., has collected prayers and magic formulae from Italy and Greece; they do not contain names of antique gods.