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Full Idea
In the old days people regarded the sun, the moon, rivers, springs, and everything else which is helpful for life as gods, because we are helped by them, just as the Egyptians regard the Nile as a god.
Gist of Idea
People used to think anything helpful to life was a god, as the Egyptians think the Nile a god
Source
Prodicus (fragments/reports [c.423 BCE], B05), quoted by Sextus Empiricus - Against the Professors (six books) 9.18
Book Ref
'The First Philosophers', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 2000], p.249
| 1543 | He denied the existence of the gods, saying they are just exaltations of things useful for life [Prodicus] |
| 1554 | Contradiction is impossible, since only one side of the argument refers to the true facts [Prodicus, by Didymus the Blind] |
| 1555 | People used to think anything helpful to life was a god, as the Egyptians think the Nile a god [Prodicus] |
| 535 | The gods are just personified human benefits [Prodicus] |