Folly states: “But just as Socrates taught in Plato's dialogue that we should create two Venuses by cutting off one. … It is the duty of dialecticians to distinguish one madness from another” (Erasmus 38). It is this disillusioned madness that Erasmus aims for through Folly throughout the text. The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church are the “most illustrious disciples of madness” (Erasmus 87). Erasmus is keen to emphasize that “the early founders of religion were great admirers of simplicity” (Erasmus 83). What does this have to do with Silenus? Simple. The point Erasmus is trying to make is that the Roman Catholic Church is very much like a Silenus where it may appear ugly and grotesque from the outside, but inside you can find a rare inner truth that can lead to something.