Hence we inherit such a life as this, / Dead of itself to paradisic bliss.

The magical element is the belief in the power to control gods, who are thereby reduced to the status of genielike forces […]

The author, who knows the answer, beworks his brains to give it in a satisfactory and intelligible form to his audience; …

It doesn't matter if the stuff is true in the scientific sense, ie, has any objective, publicly vettable evidence supporting it. What matters is that it sounds good, appeals to intuition.