_But who in Godlike strife Have dared to keep their secret souls from sin, Thrice tried in either life, E’en to old Saturn’s tower their bright way win. There with melodious din Light breezes, East and West, Fan with soft breath the Islets of the Blest; And golden flowerets breathe, Some from the Island-trees, Some floating on the ambient seas, With which their twinèd arms and brows they wreathe._ Perhaps it would hardly be untrue to say that the whole of Plutarch’s daring speculation owes its origin to the words of Heraclitus, with which the fragment closes, as to the surprises which await man after death. There is one distinct note of date, in the Sibylline prophecy quoted in c. 22, that the emperor of that day should die in his bed. Vespasian, who was doubtless meant, died in June, A.D. 79, and the great eruption of Vesuvius (by which, however, Puteoli does not appear to have suffered specially) took place in August of the same year. The Dialogue must have been written later than these events. On the whole, if we may venture a conjecture where all is uncertain, we may perhaps suppose it to have followed the _Symposiacs_ at a comparatively short interval, and to have been an early attempt to apply the method of dialogue to elaborate discussion of great themes. It has characteristics of its own which enable us to understand how Erasmus (_Adagia_)[200] felt doubts as to its genuineness, though we have the confident assurance of Wyttenbach that there is Plutarch’s seal upon it. Readers should consult Mr. Oakesmith’s pages on this work (_The Religion of Plutarch_, pp. 103 foll.), and, on the myth, Bishop Westcott’s Essay on _The Myths of Plato_ (reprinted in _History of Religious Thought in the West_), or Professor J. A. Stewart on _The Myths of Plato_. ON THE INSTANCES OF DELAY IN DIVINE PUNISHMENT A DIALOGUE THE SPEAKERS PATROCLEAS, Plutarch’s son-in-law. PLUTARCH. TIMON, Plutarch’s brother. OLYMPICUS, a friend (see _Sympos._ 3, 6).