Ancient Greek Cosmogony (original) (raw)
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The cosmology of the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers
The views of the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosophers from Ionia opened new paths for the study of nature using human logic. Starting from the worship of the Earth as a goddess, they proceeded to examine its position in the Cosmos (Universe), proposing a spherical shape for our planet. They pioneered the unifying approach for the physical world, assuming one element as the basis for everything in the Universe (this was water for Thales, air for Anaximenes, infinity for Anaximander, fire for Heraclitus). The genesis and the decay of worlds succeed one another eternally. Anaximenes believed, like Anaximander, that our world was not the only one that existed. Heraclitus believed that, of the vast richness of the natural creation with its unpredictable changes, nothing remains stable and motionless. There is not constancy, but only an eternal flow, a perpetual motion. This is exactly what we accept today in quantum physics; the apparent stability and immobility is an illusion of our limited senses. According to Heraclitus, matter is constantly transformed. All the natural philosophers of Ionia distanced God the Creator from nature and history, keeping always a respect for the beliefs of their fellow people; most probably they, too, kept a form of God in an area of their minds, in his spiritual and moral dimension.
Colloquium 2: Two Stages Of Early Greek Cosmology
Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy, 2013
It is generally held that Presocratic cosmologies are sui generis and unique to their authors. If, however, a division is made between sixth-century and fifthcentury BC cosmologies, some salient differences emerge. For instance, heavenly bodies in sixth-century cosmologies tend to be light, ephemeral, fed by vapors, and located above the earth; those in fifth-century cosmologies tend to be heavy, permanent, heated by friction, and to travel below the earth. The earlier cosmologies seem to embody a meteorological model of astronomy, the latter a lithic model. The change in models can be accounted for on the basis of Parmenides’ discovery that the moon is illuminated by the sun and hence is a spherical, permanent, opaque or earthy body. This insight generated empirical evidence to confirm itself and rendered obsolete earlier cosmologies.
Cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi, 2013
Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only of that order, but also of the mind or reason behind it. In antiquity, the cosmos was usually understood religiously, such that the cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world were either religious in nature or constituted a reaction to a religiously conceived understanding of the structures of the universe. The oldest form in which ancient cosmologies occur is myth, which, owing to its elasticity as a form, enabled them to be appropriated, adapted and used by different groups. In addition, different cosmologies co-existed within the same ancient culture, each having an authoritative status. This article provides an introductory overview of these cosmological myths and argues that a comparative approach is the most fruitful way to study them. Emphasis is given to certain prominent cosmological topics, including theogony (the genesis of the divine) or the relationship of the divine to the cosmos, cosmogony (the genesis of the cosmos), and anthropogony (the origin of humans within the cosmos). Although these myths vary greatly in terms of content and how they envision the origin of the cosmos, many of them depict death as part of the structure of the universe.
Philosophy and cosmology, 2018
Abstract. The political dimension of Plato’s cosmological thought has been extensively explored as such and in its relation with Greek culture, but there remains a question of methodology. Which context will be more appropriate for Plato’s works? Shall we focus on their metaphysical features (most conspicuous in Aristotle and Plato’s immediate heirs in the Old Academy), or, alternatively, place them in a dialectical context (as in the case of the Skeptical Academy of Arcesilaus and Carneades)? Or, maybe, we have to plunge them in the depth of Greek cultural life and compare with technological advances of Greek civilization? This latter approach, having done properly, would be a real innovation, capable of, as it appears, presenting a fresh look at the familiar matters. This is exactly the task of a new project launched by Dominic O’Meara in the book under review. Plato’s cosmological and political ideas are successfully discussed here in their relation with ancient crafts, arts, and various peculiarities of social life of the Greek polis. Keywords: philosophical cosmology, creationism, myth, religious festivals, western legal tradition.
In this paper the views related to nature, Mother-Earth and the natural environment in the ancient Greek world are discussed, from the Оrphic Hymns and the Homeric world, through the works of Hesiod and Sophocles, and the theories and works of the pre-Socratic philosophers, the Ionian School, Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Neo-Platonists, with a particular emphasis on Plotinus. The common elements in the teaching of the pre-Socratic Ionian philosophers and of the latter ancient Greek natural philosophers were the observation of living environment and nature, the corresponding relations, changes and cyclic periodic variations. We note the attempts of Anaximander to formulate the need for the conservation of a dynamical equilibrium in nature and in ecosystems; also, his views on evolution of the leaving creatures and the humans.
2007
The second issue of the fifth volume of the journal is entirely devoted to ancient cosmology and astronomy. It includes lectures by Michael Chase, "Discussions on the eternity of the world", delivered in May 2011 at Novosibirsk, a Russian translation of a chapter on ancient astronomy from Walter Burkert's "Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism", and a commented Russian translation of the Elementa astronomiae by Geminus. These texts are prepared for the participants of the international school "ΤΕΧΝΗ. Theoretical Foundations of Arts, Sciences and Technology in the Greco-Roman World" (August 2011, Siberian Scientific Centre) organized by the "Centre for Ancient philosophy and the classical tradition" and sponsored by the "Open Society" Institute (Budapest). Next issue of the journal (January 2012) will be dedicated to Ancient Music. Interested persons are welcome to contribute. Studies and translations are due by November 2011.
Cosmogonies and Theogonies, Oxford Classical Dictionary (Online ed. 2016)
and Keywords Early Greek cosmogonies and theogonies are mainly preserved in the form of hexametric poetry, rarely in systematic accounts, such as Hesiod's, but more often within texts of broader mythical scope, as in Homer's Iliad and the Homeric Hymns. The differing assumptions about the origins of and relations among the gods in these poems demonstrate the wide variety of cosmogonic traditions available in the Greek world and the poetic freedom to express or emphasize aspects of them. This is also evident in other sources for Greek theogony /cosmogony, such as the longer of the Homeric Hymns, which focus on specific gods, sometimes including their birth stories and framing their familial relations with other gods and with humans. The strand known as " Orphic " cosmogony or theogony runs parallel to the mainstream epic tradition (not without intersections), and underscores the connection between cosmogonic ideas and spiritual and philosophical movements. These alternative cosmogonies also served as a narrative and theological framework for mystery cults, which revolved around the figures of Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus (e.g., Eleusinian and Bacchic groups). Other forms of expression of cosmogonies/ theogonies (e.g., lyric poetry, tragedy, iconography) tend to follow the Homeric and Hesiodic traditions, which become a pan-Hellenic point of reference, but local and regional idiosyncrasies were always possible. A salient feature of Greek cosmogony/ theogony is its intersection with the creation stories of the Near Eastern world, especially in the Mesopotamian, Anatolian, and NorthWest Semitic traditions. The study of Greek cosmogonies in recent decades has focussed heavily on disentangling and understanding the intimate relation between common motifs and the importance of adaptation and innovation. In turn, in the Roman world we see two main strands: the reception and creative adaptation of Greek cosmogonies (e.g., Ovid's Metamorphoses), and the elaboration of different cosmogonic narratives driven by philosophical enquiry (e.g., Stoicism, Epicureanism), a movement that had in part already begun with the Presocratics and Plato.
Archelaus on Cosmogony and the Origins of Social Institutions
Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 51 (2016): 1-40
The paper argues that joining a narrative about the origins of social institutions to a narrative about the origins of the cosmos and of living organism was not a customary feature of Presocratic accounts, but was an innovation introduced around the time of Socrates. There is, moreover, some evidence to the effect that Archelaus of Athens, who is customarily presented as belonging to the circle of Anaxagoras and a companion and teacher of Socrates, was one of the first authors to offer such a unified narrative. The paper offers reasons why the conjunction of the two narratives could have been seen by contemporaries as posing a particularly strong threat for traditional theological conceptions. The paper then examines two key texts, Aristophanes’ Clouds and Plato’s Laws 10, in which these new types of accounts are attacked for their deleterious effects. It is suggested that Archelaus theory has a more important role in these texts than customarily recognised. Keywords: Archelaus of Athens; Socrates; Anaxagoras; Plato, Laws 10; Plato, Timaeus; Plato, Critias; Aristophanes, Clouds; Democritus; Antiphon; nomos–physis; cosmogony; origins of culture; theology; ancient atheism; physics and ethic
Anthropomorphic Motifs in Ancient Greek Ideas on the Origin of the Cosmos
In our article, we will focus on an analysis of the relationship between man and the cosmos, set against the backdrop of ancient Greek ideas about the origin of the world. On the one hand, we will deal with the images of the creation of the world provided in Greek mythology and the religious tradition associated with it (in particular Hesiod); on the other hand, we will approach the anthropomorphic elements within the framework of philosophical cosmogonies (Plato's dialogue, the Timaeus). Our aim is to show that Greek philosophical thought was never able to fully relinquish this anthropomorphism but nonetheless it did move away from a purely mythological tradition (as found in Hesiod and the pre-Socratics) and, in some measure towards a more scientific interpretation of the cosmos (as found in Plato).