Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 47 (part 1)

οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνοι πολλὰ μυθώδη περὶ τῶν θεῶν λέγουσιν, οἷα καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐστίν. ὁ μὲν Ὡρομάζης ἐκ τοῦ καθαρωτάτου φάους, ὁ δʼ Ἀρειμάνιος ἐκ τοῦ ζόφου γεγονώς, πολεμοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἓξ θεοὺς ἐποίησε (τὸν μὲν πρῶτον εὐνοίας, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον ἀληθείας, τὸν δὲ τρίτον εὐνομίας· τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τὸν μὲν σοφίας, τὸν δὲ πλούτου, τὸν δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς καλοῖς ἡδέων δημιουργόν)· ὁ δὲ τούτοις ὥσπερ ἀντιτέχνους ἴσους τὸν ἀριθμόν. εἶθʼ ὁ μὲν Ὡρομάζης τρὶς ἑαυτὸν αὐξήσας ἀπέστησε τοῦ ἡλίου τοσοῦτον, ὅσον ὁ ἥλιος τῆς γῆς ἀφέστηκε, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄστροις ἐκόσμησεν· ἕνα δʼ ἀστέρα πρὸ πάντων οἷον φύλακα καὶ προόπτην ἐγκατέστησε, τὸν σείριον. ἄλλους δὲ ποιήσας τέσσαρας καὶ εἴκοσι θεοὺς εἰς ᾠὸν ἔθηκεν. οἱ δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀρειμανίου, γενόμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ τοσοῦτοι, διατρήσαντες τὸ ᾠὸν γαν ὅθεν ἀναμέμικται τὰ κακὰ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς. ἔπεισι δὲ χρόνος εἱμαρμένος, ἐν ᾧ τὸν Ἀρειμάνιον λοιμὸν ἐπάγοντα καὶ λιμὸν ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνάγκη φθαρῆναι παντάπασι καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι, τῆς δὲ γῆς ἐπιπέδου καὶ ὁμαλῆς γενομένης, ἕνα βίον καὶ μίαν πολιτείαν ἀνθρώπων μακαρίων καὶ ὁμογλώσσων ἁπάντων γενέσθαι. Θεόπομπος δέ φησι κατὰ τοὺς μάγους ἀνὰ μέρος τρισχίλια ἔτη τὸν μὲν κρατεῖν τὸν δὲ κρατεῖσθαι τῶν θεῶν, ἄλλα δὲ τρισχίλια μάχεσθαι καὶ πολεμεῖν καὶ ἀναλύειν τὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου τὸν ἕτερον· τέλος δʼ ἀπολείπεσθαι τὸν ᾍδην, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀνθρώπους εὐδαίμονας ἔσεσθαι, μήτε τροφῆς δεομένους μήτε σκιὰν ποιοῦντας·

However, they also tell many fabulous stories about their gods, such, for example, as the following: Oromazes, born from the purest light,and Areimanius. born from the darkness, are constantly at Avar with each other; and Oromazes created six gods, the first of Good Thought, the second of Truth, the third of Order, and, of the rest, one of Wisdom, one of Wealth, and one the Artificer of Pleasure in what is Honourable. But Areimanius created rivals, as it were, equal to these in number. Then Oromazes enlarged himself to thrice his former size, and removed himself as far distant from the Sun as the Sun is distant from the Earth, and adorned the heavens with stars. One star he set there before all others as a guardian and watchman, the Dog-star. Twenty-four other gods he created and placed in an egg. But those created by Areimanius, who were equal in number to the others, pierced through the egg and made their way inside; hence evils are now combined with good. But a destined time shall come when it is decreed that Areimanius, engaged in bringing on pestilence and famine, shall by these be utterly annihilated and shall disappear; and then shall the earth become a level plain, and there shall be one manner of life and one form of government for a blessed people who shall all speak o ne tongue. Theopompus says that, according to the sages, one god is to overpower, and the other to be overpowered, each in turn for the space of three thousand years, and afterward for another three thousand years they shall fight and war, and the one shall undo the works of the other, and finally …