 Within this profusion of cultural influences can still be seen classical Greek material, and perhaps even aspects of a more accessible "folk-religion" than those preserved in the mainstream literary texts.Sometimes the Greek gods depart from their traditional Olympian natures familiar to classicists, and seem far more chthonic, demonic and bestial.This is partly the influence of Egyptian religion, in which beast cult and the terror of the divine were familiar elements; equally the context of magical texts makes such sinister deities appropriate.