† According to the Greek philosopher Epicurus (c. 341-c. 270 B.C.), the gods existed only in the intermundia, or spaces between different worlds, and had no influence on the course of human affairs. Marx had studied Epicurus’s conception for his doctoral dissertation (Collected Works, Vol. 1, London, 1975, p. 51), and in Volume 1 of Capital he makes the identical double analogy that he does here (Pelican edition, p. 172).