The Interplay Between Greek Literature and Science in Creating and Destroying the Perception of God
Jin Chung
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The example portrays two different reasons for a plague in Athens according to Homer and Thuycidides. The Illiad by Homer, is an epic which recounts a tale about the valiance of Greek heroes who are inspired by the whims of the Gods. According to Homer, the plague is caused as Apollo answers the prayers of his priest Chryses. In eighth century B.C.E. , if the Greeks did not understand or could not explain something in their environment, they associated the phenomenon with the Gods. On the other hand, although Thuycidides clearly states that there was "no ostensible cause" apparent to the Greeks to explain the circumstances of the Athenian plague, the Greeks do not immediately attribute the plague to the Gods. The Greeks of the fifth century B.C.E. approach the plague in a more scientific manner by examining the symptoms and causes of the plauge.
Man must have acquired some intrinsically "scientific" mastery of his environment within the span of the four hundred years for them to discern the natural from the supernatural. This can be explained by the progression of events which occurred after Homer. Homer, the epic writer of ninth and eighth Century B.C.E., is probably the most influential writer of his time. Utilizing the forms of a long oral tradition at its climax, his literature is the catalyst and reference from which Greek's social structure, culture, education, and values are formed. Influenced by Homer, the epic poet Hesiod states an explanation about the origin of the Gods presented by Homer. In this way, Homer and Hesiod construct the perception of God through their literature. Scientific philosophers like Xenophanes and Anaxagoras address and question their predecessors template of God. Then, literature again reflects society by supplying a social and political commentary of society by including these situations in their literature. In this way, there is an interplay between literature and science. Represented in all the genres from epic poetry, philosophy, tragedy, and comedy, the Gods are constructed and destroyed in literature.
In his piece The Illiad (the work of our interest,) Homer represents the Gods as omniscent and irreverent supernatural entities who govern the fates of men. Homer intertwines the natural world of men with the divine world of the Gods in which the Gods are active participants in the lives of men. In this way, man is marginalized in that he is devoid of "human characteristics" such as free will and reason. There are over 553 references to "gods" in The Illiad while there are thirty-three references to the "gods" in Thuycidides' Histories. In the Histories, Thuycidides refers to the Gods in terms of rituals, devotion, oaths, and in very objective terms.
The "Homeric World which is presented in his literature, is a model of society which unites the citizens of Attica. This "Homeric World" depicts superhuman heroes who act in accordance with the values of time, aerate, aristeia, and pietas (honor, excellence in battle, endurance, and religious piety). But although man acts in accordance with this value system, he is driven by the will of the Gods. The first example of the prominence of the Gods is that, according to myths, the Trojan War was incited by the abduction of Helen after a contest of beauty amongst the Olympian Goddesses. In summary, the fates of thousands of men and two nations were dependent on the pretentious whims of the Gods.
There are several examples where man is stripped of his humanity which leaves him without any responsibility for his actions. After the duel between Paris and Menalaus in Book 4 of The Illiad, there is a possibility of a truce between the two parties. But rather than letting the war come to an end, Athena tempts Pandarus to shoot an arrow at Menalaus by promising him glory. Although the Gods are associated with human and "anthropomorphic" qualities, there is a distinct division between God and man and Homer seems to intentionally include this in his work. When Athena inspires Diomedes with exceptional courage and skill, he accomplishes many great feats as a warrior. Diomedes extends his bounds of courage when he goes after Aphrodite and Ares, which ultimately results in Diomedes being wounded. Homer makes a clear distinction between "mortal" and "divine" and states that the Gods are immortal and their wounds will heal differently than men's wounds.
From the three examples, one may recognize that the world of men and Gods are closely intertwined, but there is a difference. There is a cause and effect relationship, in that the actions of the Gods result in the actions of men. In all of the circumstances, the "human factor" is absent as man cannot utilize his ability to rationalize and reason, a characteristic which separates him from other animals. Homer is the greatest contributor to the creation of the ideology of "God" as an irreverent and supernatural entity and influential in establishing and embedding this conception into the psyche of the Greek citizens.
In the progression of epic tradition, Hesiod is an integal figure because he defines the terms Homer has introduced. Hesiod was a Boeotian poet ca. 800-700 B.C.E. and a probable contemporary and student of Homer and The Illiad and The Odyssey. In his piece Theogony, Hesiod supports Homer and sustains the reverent tone towards the Gods. Hesiod completes the creation of "God" full circle by "literally" creating the Gods which complements the "social" creation of the Gods by Homer.
In their analysis The Presocratic Philosophers, Kirk, Raven, and Schofield propose that Hesiod was unique in that he did not merely discuss the Gods through myths, but rather examined and analyzed concepts which are linked with more "direct, empirical, and non-symbolical way of thinking" (KRS. 7). Hesiod focused in defining the origins from the earliest history, starting from the actual birth or creation, and is successful because of his attempts "to systematize the manifold deities of legend by deriving them from a common ancestor or pair of ancestors at the beginning of the world" (KRS. 7). In accordance with Homer, Hesiod suggests the origin of the Gods began with Chaos. He discusses several myths in his discourse and states that while there was a origin, there was also a lineage associated with the Gods as evidenced in the Mutilation-Myth.
Although he presents a relationship between God and man, Hesiod separates the natural from the supernatural by presenting the beginning traces of scientific thought. If Homer and Hesiod's contributions can be compared to a party, Homer brings the Gods to the party while Hesiod introduces them and talks about their backgrounds. Therefore, Hesiod explains the references to the Gods which stem from Homer's literature and provides a biographical endorsement which serves as a template of systematic thinking in reference to the Gods. In Ancient Greece, where there were over 700 city-states and each city-state had different myths and rituals where the local practices were dictated by geography, the texts of Homer and Hesiod provided written literature which united the city-states through a common thread of beliefs, culture, language, and literature into a new type of community, the Hellas community.
Xenophanes of Colophon ca. 570-475 is known as a poet and a singer, inventor of Silloi, but is most noted for his criticsm of contemporary ethics and theology, specifically the theology of Homer and Hesiod.
Xenophanes first criticizes the immorality and the anthropomorphic nature of the Gods by arguing that Homer and Hesiod attribute all of man's vices and shame onto the Gods because their literature represents man without any personal will or fate. Xenophanes attacks the shrugging off of responsibility when men commit acts of adultry and deception. According to Xenophanes, this can be explained because man makes the Gods in his own image and supports his thesis by giving examples from the Ethiopian and Thracian cultures. An example of deception and adultry is evident in Book 14 of The Illiad. In the passage, Hera seduces Zeus into sleep so that she can devise her own deceptive plans. After Xenophanes questions and disproves earlier theological ideas, he states his own beliefs. Xenophanes submits that there is only a single non-anthropomorphic deity. This omniscent God bears no resemblance to any man in body or in thought and remains motionless in one place at all times. His third point is that man will never know the truth about the Gods because of the limitations of human knowledge. Xenophanes is "scientific" in that he questions the old beliefs of anthropomorphic Gods and presents his own beliefs by using scientific inquiry in a search for truth, a hypothesis, and observation. His contribution is essential in breaking down old beliefs and establishing a new more "scientific" method of logical thinking.
In conjunction with Xenophanes' methodogical way of thinking, Anaxagoras of Clazomenae ca. 500-428 B.C.E. stresses the importance of "the Mind." Xenophanes has suggested that men take responsibility for their actions, and Anaxagoras takes this one step further by presenting the value and power in the human intellect. Anaxagoras utilizes a naturalistic approach by examining natural phenomenon and disregarding the Gods. He submits that the mind is the purest and finest of all things, and encompasses great power because it controls all things as a result of knowledge. While Homer and Hesiod marginalize man of his "human characteristics," Xenophanes and Anaxagoras are integral in that they "humanize" man by re-establishing man's ability to rationalize and reason.
As the first great Athenian tragic poet, Aeschylus from Eleusis in Attica ca. 524-456 B.C.E. presents some of the contemporary scientific philosophies in his piece The Agamemnon. Aeschylus is not as quick to criticize the ideologies presented by Homer and Hesiod, but rather incorporates both trains of thought. The plot of The Agamemnon feeds off of Homer's Illiad as Agamemnon is the main character of the tragedy. He also follows the epic traditions of Homer and Hesiod by showing the lineage of the Gods in a subtle manner. Yet, while the Gods are mentioned in a positive manner, the Gods are not active participants in the text. The majority of the references to the Gods concern Thanksgiving, shrines, and fates so that there is a distinct division between the natural and the supernatural world.
On the other hand, Aeschylus also manages to support the new scientific beliefs espoused by Xenophanes and Anaxagoras. Although other Gods are mentioned in the text, Zeus is the supreme God who rules over all of the other Gods. In this way, Zeus is indirectly presented as a single-deity. Aeschylus also introduces the idea that wisdom can be acquired through suffering. The wisdom he speaks of is similar to "the Mind" which Anaxagoras submits. Yet while he introduces the idea of the Mind and wisdom, Aeschylus clearly states that this wisdom can only be given through the grace of Zeus. It may be that Aeschylus was not yet ready to abandon his piety and religious beliefs because there are several warnings against hubris in the texts as well.
In a different perspective, Aristophanes the most famous Athenian comic playwright ca. 450-385 B.C.E. seems to abandon any semblance of piety or respect for the Gods which previous authors have shown. In his comedy The Birds, Aristophanes presents the play on a humane level by not criticizing the Gods but by criticizing man and his "own" vices. While there are Gods in the play, they are subordinant characters who serve as parodies of Homer's Gods. Contrary to Xenophanes, the play is not a criticism of the Gods but rather a critique of man's extreme industriousness which leads to the downfall of Greek civilization. At the beginning of the text, we are introduced to the two characters of Euelpides and Pithetaerus who leave Athens because of the social problems prevalent in Athenian society. They plan to build a new city without greed and vices, but end up thinking of a scheme by which to get tribute from the Gods. Pithetaerus convinces the Birds that they should challenge Zeus because the Birds are the original Gods. These examples are important because Aristophanes is playing off of Hesiod and his interpretation about the origins of the world. Aristophanes does not show any reverence to the Gods but rather introduces ideas of challenging and succeeding the Gods, ideas which are entirely unconvential in comparison to earlier beliefs. Yet Aristophanes doesn't totally condemn the Gods, but rather he seems to be condemning man and his ability to reason which he attributes to the downfall of Greek society.
In our society, we are confident in our ability to discern the natural from the supernatural. There was a bomb which exploded in Oklahoma city and scientists understand the cause of the explosion. They know how the bomb works and how it was detonated but no one can seem to explain the purpose. No one can answer the question, why? In our increasingly scientific world of technology and science it seems pertinent that we understand that there are some things which are above our understanding and reasoning, and that some things are better left as unresolved mysteries.
Kirk, Raven, and Schofield. The Presocratic Philosophers. Cambridge University Press, 1957.