{"id":2872,"date":"2011-08-09T00:34:57","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T04:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?p=2872"},"modified":"2020-08-09T07:51:55","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T11:51:55","slug":"fate-in-the-ancient-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?p=2872","title":{"rendered":"Fate in the Ancient City"},"content":{"rendered":"

He who does not justly perform his appointed duty may appear as a violator of the whole order of the Universe. ~ Pythagoras<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In The Ancient City<\/cite>, Fustel de Coulanges<\/strong> begins in the middle of things, at the point when religion had already been established. To get to the beginning we have to turn to the poets. The Olympic gods with whom we are most familiar, were not even the first gods, but arose in time. Prior to the gods, the world was divided into three parts: Sky, Sea, and Earth. We can immediately see the relation to the Great Triad, as in the Taoist division into Heaven, Man, and Earth (the Sea represents the soul). Each of those parts was assigned to a god: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. This geographical apportionment of jurisdictions is carried over to the city. Each city has its god, as does the tribe, clan and family.<\/p>\n

Since the god as founder of the city is its lawgiver, so the three brothers ruled their realms until Zeus claimed ultimate authority. Zeus then set down the law for all the gods and for men; the law was the result of the will of a god. Yet, there is a more primal principle. The Fates preceded the gods, who were even powerless against them. Even Zeus could not undo what the fates had destined for man.
\n<\/p>\n

Moira<\/h2>\n

Before the gods, there was Moira, which we can understand as Destiny and is equivalent to the Tao or Dharma. Even the gods are limited by Destiny. Schopenhauer revived this idea with the notion of Will as the blind, purposeless, and determining force behind the phenomenal world. Nevertheless, that is only part of it. Moira is not just Fate, it is also Law in the sense of Right. Not only does it determine what must be, but also what ought to be, there is not only Destiny, but also Justice which involve the Will. These two meanings of law is dealt with in The Metaphysics of Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Therefore one\u2019s destiny is not merely an external limitation, but also the result of one\u2019s will: to fulfill one\u2019s duty or not. Thus, a man may be punished for his sins, but that is his own fault, not that of the Fates. The ancient Greeks did not have the notion of impossibility, but rather that of what lies beyond one\u2019s power, i.e., Privation<\/a>. This privation may be a self-limitation due more to a moral obligation than mere physical impossibility. This pagan understanding of the world is fundamentally moral. So the fundamental order of the world is not just the consequence of Destiny, but also of Will. Any action of men that disturbs this order, will have consequences. We can see the continuity of these notions with some Christian dogmas, properly understand, even though they are often denied by neopagans.<\/p>\n

\n
Hereditary Guilt<\/dt>\n
Aeschylus<\/strong> wrote of the “taints and troubles which, arising from some ancient wrath, existed in certain families.” These were transmitted by blood from generation to generation. This notion served the Solidarity of the City; everyone ought to do, and must do, his duty. Otherwise, the family, or even the city, is affected unto later generations. (Some neopagans falsely deny that the ancient pagans could even experience guilt!)<\/dd>\n
Moral corruption and nature<\/dt>\n
Just as the fall of Adam altered the natural world, so did the pagans believe a similar thing. Hesiod wrote that when men do justice, their city flourishes and they are free from war and famine. Thebes was punished by the sin of Oedipus, according to the play by Sophocles<\/strong>.<\/dd>\n
Vicarious sacrifice<\/dt>\n
The ancient Greeks offered animal sacrifices to appease the gods. Some northern peoples even performed human sacrifices.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n


\nPart II will address the rise of philosophy and the twilight of the gods.
\nReference: From Religion to Philosophy<\/em> by F. M. Cornford<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He who does not justly perform his appointed duty may appear as a violator of the whole order of the Universe. ~ Pythagoras In The Ancient City, Fustel de Coulanges begins in the middle of things, at the point when religion had already been established. To get to the beginning … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tradition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2872"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12566,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions\/12566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}