Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chronology
- Map of the ancient Mediterranean
- 1 Mapping the territory
- 2 Language, logic and literary form
- 3 Cosmologies
- 4 Pagan monotheism
- 5 Souls and selves
- 6 Believing, doubting and knowing
- 7 Leadership, law and the origins of political theory
- 8 Ethics, goodness and happiness
- Epilogue
- Appendix: Sources for Greek philosophy
- Glossary of Greek philosophical terms
- Notes
- Further reading
- Index of passages
- Index
4 - Pagan monotheism
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chronology
- Map of the ancient Mediterranean
- 1 Mapping the territory
- 2 Language, logic and literary form
- 3 Cosmologies
- 4 Pagan monotheism
- 5 Souls and selves
- 6 Believing, doubting and knowing
- 7 Leadership, law and the origins of political theory
- 8 Ethics, goodness and happiness
- Epilogue
- Appendix: Sources for Greek philosophy
- Glossary of Greek philosophical terms
- Notes
- Further reading
- Index of passages
- Index
Summary
The existence of divinity was generally accepted in the ancient world, and one piece of evidence put forward for this acceptance was that over centuries, and throughout the known world, there was widespread agreement on this issue, as summarized by Cicero:
Nothing but the presence in our minds of a firmly grasped concept of god could account for the stability and permanence of our belief in him, strengthened by the passing of time and maturing over the centuries. In other cases unfounded opinions have faded away over the years. Who thinks that the Hippocentaur or Chimaera once existed, what old woman is so silly as to be afraid of the horrors of the underworld that were once believed in? Time obliterates imaginative fiction, but strengthens innate judgments. So in our own country and elsewhere religious practice and acknowledgement of the divine grows stronger and is more widespread as time goes by.
(On the Nature of the Gods 2.5)Even the Epicureans approved in that they believed that images of gods sometimes appear in dreams, which would emanate from actual originals although from distant regions of outer space. The attitude to Greek religion adopted by the philosophers shows a criticism of traditional gods of myth and ritual, and their replacement by a “natural theology”. The divine attribute of deathlessness was complemented by that of being ungenerated, and the concepts of intelligence, perfection, power and control were transferred to cosmic forces.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Introducing Greek Philosophy , pp. 85 - 106Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2009