The irony of the eighteenth century enjoyed taking up the old sceptical themes of the Renaissance, and Fontenelle is in a tradition of philosophical satire still close to Erasmus when, in the prologue to his Pygmalion, he has madness say: Mydominion is constantly strengthened Men of today are madder than their fathers; And their sons in turn will be madder still Their grandchildren will see more chimera Than their eccentric grandparents.