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Single Idea 22729

[filed under theme 29. Religion / A. Polytheistic Religion / 2. Greek Polytheism ]

Full Idea

Aristotle said that the conception of gods arose among mankind from two originating causes, namely from events which concern the soul and from celestial phenomena.

Gist of Idea

The concepts of gods arose from observing the soul, and the cosmos

Source

report of Aristotle (works [c.330 BCE], Frag 10) by Sextus Empiricus - Against the Physicists (two books) I.20

Book Ref

Sextus Empiricus: 'Against the Physicists/Against the Ethicists', ed/tr. Bury,R.G. [Harvard Loeb 1997], p.11

A Reaction

The cosmos suggests order, and possible creation. What do events of the soul suggest? It doesn't seem to be its non-physical nature, because Aristotle is more of a functionalist. Puzzling. (It says later that gods are like the soul).

The 13 ideas with the same theme [early Greek religion, centred on Zeus and others]:

1742 Thales said the gods know our wrong thoughts as well as our evil actions [Thales, by Diog. Laertius]
15659 Purifying yourself with blood is as crazy as using mud to wash off mud [Heraclitus]
1522 It is wretched not to want to think clearly about the gods [Empedocles]
12097 There are as many eternal unmovable substances as there are movements of the stars [Aristotle]
22729 The concepts of gods arose from observing the soul, and the cosmos [Aristotle, by Sext.Empiricus]
9287 Bruno said that ancient Egyptian magic was the true religion [Bruno, by Yates]
14827 The Greeks saw the gods not as their masters, but as idealised versions of themselves [Nietzsche]
7208 Paganism is a form of thanking and affirming life? [Nietzsche]
14864 The Greeks lack a normative theology: each person has their own poetic view of things [Nietzsche]
7348 The Jews sharply distinguish human and divine, but the Greeks pull them closer together [Johnson,P]
20666 Most polytheist recognise one supreme power or law, behind the various gods [Harari]
20667 Polytheism is open-minded, and rarely persecutes opponents [Harari]
20665 Mythologies are usual contracts with the gods, exchanging devotion for control of nature [Harari]