To attempt to rationalise with such an one was merely to excite the insane part of him.
"Witch-Doctors"
Charles Beadle
1805. Eve'merus or Euhemerus, a Sicilian author of the time of Alexander the Great, who sought to rationalise religion, and treated the gods as dead heroes.
"A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations"
Joseph Mazzini Wheeler
Later ages regarded the myths themselves with a good deal of scepticism, and were often disposed to rationalise them, or to find for them an allegorical interpretation.
"The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI."
Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton