Downfall of the Gods by K. J. Parker Page B

loss.”
    “True. And to be honest with you, I’m so bored I don’t much care. It’s no fun being god of wisdom when you’re a member of a race of idiots.”
    “In the kingdom of the stupid, the half-witted man is king.”
    He frowned. “Thank you,” he said. “I think. It’s the humans I feel sorry for. Without us, all they’ll have is Right and Wrong. They’ll get themselves in the most awful tangle.”
    “Still,” I said, “there it is. Our time is up. When you gotterdammerung, you gotterdammerung.”
    He gave me a pained look. “That’s truly awful,” he said.
    “Yes, well. I’m the goddess of laughter, all right?”
    I don’t think the pain on his face was just for the crummy joke. “Not for much longer, Sis.”
    Y OU MAY RECALL that Lysippus was an atheist.
    After Archias’ unexplained disappearance, Lysippus married Archias’ wife and lived a long and happy life, writing music. Among other notable achievements, he invented opera. His masterpiece, Twilight of the Idols , was a concerted attack on religion and the god delusion. It sparked off a wave of free thinking and made atheist both acceptable and fashionable. There will, of course, be a backlash and all copies of Lysippus’ works will be burnt (apart from the ones on my shelves, of course) but the true believers won’t be able to turn back the clock. Faith in the gods will gradually die out , and my family— well. I never liked them much, to be honest with you.
    My fault, I suppose. Or at least, my doing. My family always reckoned I was up to something. They were quite right.