[130]
"Chrysippus, indeed, defines divination in these
words: 'The power to see, understand, and explain premonitory signs given to men by the gods.' 'Its duty,'
he goes on to say, 'is to know in advance the disposition of the gods towards men, the manner in which
that disposition is shown and by what means the gods
may be propitiated and their threatened ills averted.'
And this same philosopher defines the interpretation
of dreams thus: ' It is the power to understand and
explain the visions sent by the gods to men in sleep.'
Then, if that be true, will just ordinary shrewdness
meet these requirements, or rather is there not need
of surpassing intelligence and absolutely perfect
learning? But I have never seen such a man.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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