Why is everything full of gods? Metaphysical and theological explanation of divine presence in the cosmos according to Proclus and other late Neoplatonic authors.

The paper aims to examine the revival of the utterance traditionally attributed to Thales: "everything is full of gods." It explores the perspectives of authors from the late Neoplatonic tradition, beginning with Proclus, who use this phrase to illustrate the divine nature of the whole and how the divine permeates every level of existence. The paper highlights how the concept of cosmic sympatheia (a kind of universal and mutual entanglement between all levels of reality) can be traced back to this perspective in pagan Neoplatonism. Additionally, it shows that the idea of the immanent presence of the divine in the cosmos is also present, albeit from a radically different perspective, in the works of some Christian Neoplatonists, such as Johannes Philoponus.