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Many people will tell you that atheism is a modern phenomenon: this is a myth that has proven useful both to those among the religious who wish to see it as a pathological symptom of modern decadence and to those atheists who believe that "science and progress" has eclipsed the primitive fantasies of the ancients. In fact, doubt about the existence of the gods is attested in many ancient societies: Indian, Chinese, Israelite and Greco-Roman. It is, however, the ancient Greek material that survives most plentifully, and which gives us the best opportunities for exploring how a society very different to our own explored issues that are very similar to those we face now. Can we learn from the past? You bet.