Lesson 3

Religion and Philosophy

Giving life meaning

Greek Myth

Myths: a usually traditional story of historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view

of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon

Religious beliefs: multiple interpretationsGreeks: polytheistic (believed and worshiped

multiple gods)

Greek Myth

In the beginning, Chaos (a gaping endless void) and a vast flowing blanket of water (Oceanus) covered all of the universe.

Greek Myth

Eurynome: was the Goddess of All Things, and desired to make order out of the Chaos. She “merged” with a powerful snake, Ophion and she gave birth to Eros, god of Love, also known as Protagonus, the "firstborn".

Greek Myth

Also born out of Chaos were Gaia, called Earth, or Mother Earth, and Uranus, the embodiment of the Sky and the Heavens, as well as Tartarus, god of the sunless and terrible region beneath Gaia, the Earth.

Greek Myth

Gaia and Uranus married and gave birth to the Titans, a race of formidable giants, which included a particularly wily(crafty, clever) giant named Cronus.

Greek Myth

Gaia and Uranus warned Cronus that a son of his would one day overpower him. Cronus therefore swallowed his numerous children by his wife Rhea, to keep that forecast from taking place.

Greek Myth

Zeus made himself Supreme God over all and lived on Mount Olympus, in Thessaly. All the others were left to fend for themselves in lands below Mount Olympus.

Greek Myth

Greek Myth

Prometheus, one of the Titans not vanquished in the war between Zeus and the giants. It is said in many myths that Prometheus had created d a race of people from clay…The Common People

Greek Myth

The gods of Greek myth were how a lot of citizens understood the ways of life. They had a creation story to tell and explain their existence.

This gave comfort, but the gods where also very distant beings:

Immortal vs. Mortal

Supreme Beings(Mount Olympus) vs. Common People (Prometheus)

Roman Myth

For the most part, the Greek and Roman myths were about the same.

The Romans were more interested with Power than the Greeks ideas of equality, so this aspect changes the myths .

Roman MythIndo-European Regions

Roman MythCastor and Pollux

Roman Myth

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Roman Myth

Philosophy

Philosophy: pursuit of wisdom b: a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means

Philosophy

Socrates Plato

Aristotle

Philosophy

Stoics: practiced moderation, led to a happy life

example: eating, sleeping, working (doing all of these moderately

one apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain

Philosophy

Skeptics: a group of philosophers whose main idea was that we can't really know anything for certain about the world around us, or about ourselves

Philosophy

Epicureans: believed that the best way to be happy and not sad was to not want anything. It's wanting things that leads to pain.

Philosophy

Early years.

Socrates: (469 B.C.-399 B. From Athens, Sculptor, soldier

Philosophy

Later Years: Sought to answer life questions:

What is wisdom? What is beauty?

What is piety? What is the right thing to do?

Wished for his questions to bring forth logic

Philosophy

Logic- The science of the formal principles of reasoning

Reason- are the steps one might take in creating an opinion, or an answer to a question.

Philosophy

What is beauty?

Philosophy

Court System: The Juries decided the verdict, very democratic. Socrates was sentenced to death by one of these Juries: for impiety.

Philosophy

Plato: wrote down Socrates’ thoughts

Dialogues: Euthyphro (what is piety), Apology (Socrates’ defense speech, Crito(being faithful to governed rules)

Republic vs. Democracy: Let educated aristocrats decide on government officials instead of the general public.

Republic vs.Democracy

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Philosophy

Plato’s Cave

Philosophy

Aristotle: was not from Athens, studied at Plato’s academy, was more interested in science, nature, and finding order scientific order in chaotic nature.

Science looked away from the gods and sought fact through nature, and tests.

Philosophy

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Scientific Method

Philosophy

Next Week

Christianity: Reforming the MythPlease read 51-55, 73-76,83-86