What Heraclitus can agree with the Milesians on, is that everything is in flux. The Milesians explained the world and its phenomena as to how everything came from the original stuff, such as Thales' water or Anaximenes' air. Heraclitus follows this pattern of explanation when he refers to the world as "an everliving fire". Fire is constantly changing and so is every other stuff. One thing is transformed into another in what is a cycle of changes. What is constant is not some stuff but the overall process of change itself. There is a constant law of transformations, which can probably be identified with Logos
In retrospect he notes that God and nature are the same. Everything that exist is modified by
I will be now arguing the importance of the Theogony, in prompting rational thought in the later sixth century B.C.E. Historians will argue that the Greeks change in thought was a sudden shift from a mythical explanation, to a rational one, or the ‘Greek miracle’, as it often labelled. I however, will contest that there was no sudden, complete shift away from their mythical explanation. No, it was far too entrenched in their mind to have suddenly disappeared when a small number of
The properties of the cosmos, according to Plato, are the receptacle and the forms. The forms were the blueprint to all that the universe is. The physical universe therefore, is an imitation of these forms. The receptacle was that which contained the universe, for without it, the universe would proceed into chaos. The receptacle provides the boundaries needed in order to keep the universe in order.
Lucretius, a Roman philosopher, was greatly inspired by the teachings of Epicurus. In Lucretius’s book, On the Nature of Things, he expands on many Epicurean principles and at times even alters them. “Nothing comes from nothing”, the first principle that Lucretius endorses, is essential to his argument for the origin of the world. Using this principle, Lucretius against the accepted Roman religion by adding the concept that “divine intervention” is not the root of creation, instead he gives credit to atoms. These atoms, or beginnings of things, he reasoned, came together to form masses called bodies.
Lucretius wrote On the Nature of Things to disprove the idea that God is in control, he writes “From which alone all things created are, and how accomplished by no tool of Gods” ( ). His argument is that God did not create things; therefore, he did not create life. The general idea of his time, 60 BCE, was that God was a divine creator. To go against this brought turmoil to the religious world.
Ovid’s interpretation of the creation myth, begins the same way the Greek creation myth begins, with only chaos. A god or entity forms and orders the chaos into different elements of the earth. Here the world, or the universe itself is undergoing a metamorphosis, but Ovid implies through his works that the universe never truly moved beyond the essential chaos that predated the universe. In Book V of the Metamorphoses, Ovid uses the significance and the quantity of the transformations to demonstrate the idea of everything is operating in a state of constant flux. He then, uses the order of the stories, to develop his ideas about a hierarchical pattern of existence.
In this paper I will discuss Xenophanes’ criticisms against Homeric and Hesiodic portrayals of the gods, as well as the arguments that supported these criticisms and his positive theology that is devised as a solution to these arguments. In the works of Homer and Hesiod, the gods were characterized, first, by the fact that they were born or came to be in some way or another, second, that they are constrained in multiple ways, third, that they were interested in human affairs and meddled in them, and, finally, that they were anthropomorphic. These were criticized by Xenophanes and his criticisms fell into two distinct camps. The first camp of criticisms were derived from the contradictory nature of the depictions of the gods with his own
In Hesiod’s Theogony, Zeus displays sudden shifts in his behaviour, being reasonable in one paragraph and in the next becoming suddenly
The Stoic contribution to Christian theology was primarily with the concept of logos, or word, which is used in the Gospel of John to refer to the Word of God (John 1:1-3.) Plato contributed the idea of an incorporeal mind or soul which is separate from the body. Philo of Alexandria later used this concept to explain the two different creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, explaining that one relates to the world
Metamorphosis- a striking change in appearance, form, or structure. Change is viewed throughout Franz Kafka’s novel, The Metamorphosis. Kafka’s character, Gregor Samsa, goes through several changes and his transformation calls for change in his family. Everyone in the Samsa family undergoes some type of change throughout the novel, but one subject that did not change was Gregor’s feelings towards his family before and after his metamorphosis.
What might we learn from the tragedies of BOTH Salmacis and Hermaphroditus? Look at it from both sides.
Metamorphosis or the process of change can be utilized in a variety of ways. Some people resist metamorphosis because it offers them security, others embrace change as it means to experience growth. Metamorphosis can be a catalyst, it helps people who haven't gone through change, or for others who want to stay how they are, meaning their safe zone. Metamorphosis will give people a boost in life if they are suffering, which will help oneself proceed in a healthier way. Goethe embraces metamorphosis instead of resisting it, which leads to a more profound change.
beliefs. Sober uses the example of lightning. He points out that according to the Greeks,
This paper looks at two Greek philosophers, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. It examines their different theories as to how the universe was created, understanding of the universe, 'way of truth, ' 'way of opinion ' and the third way. The author explains that Parmenides, who came after Heraclitus, addressed part of his writings as a refutation of Heraclitus? views. He objected both to Heraclitus? view of the universe and how Heraclitus felt people could gain knowledge of it.
The universe: The ancient Greeks view earth as ‘a flat disk floating on the river of Ocean.’