History of Western Philosophy, Russel: Ch-1: The Rise of Greek Civilization

3/5/2016:
The Rise of Greek Civilization:
- Rise of Greek Civilization
- Philosophy begins with Thales year 585BC
- Art of writing invented in Egypt 4000BC. And in Mesopotamia later.
- Egyptian theology preoccupied by DEATH.
- Babylonia Sumerians Cuneiform writing
- Fertility cults - Babylonia
  Earth -> Female
  Sun -> Male
  Bull God -> Male fertility
- Great Mother being worshipped
  Ishtar - Earth Goddess
- Religion by government influence and political motive.
- Gods also associated with morality
- Hammurabi, oldest legal code, Babylonia (2067 - 2025)BC.
- Hammurabi - delivered by Marduk to king
- Babylonian religion -> concerned with prosperity of world
  -> To science -> 24 hours, 360 degree
  -> Acquired by Thales
- Commerce flourished in island of Crete (2500 - 1400) BC
  -> Minoan culture advanced
- Palaces are magnificient
- Minoan religion
  -> Mistress of animal
  -> Master of animal
- Spread to mainland Greece 1600 BC
- In mainland of Greece
  Mycenaean civilization
- Greeks came to Greece in three waves
   1. Ionian
   2. Achaeans
   3. Dorians
- Agriculture in nearby island colonies
- Commerce/Piracy in Greece helped in acquision of art of writing
- Developed language
- Homer - Series of poets 750 - 550 BC
- Iliad and Odyssey took about 200 years
- Gods in Homer writing is completely Human
  - Immortal and superhuman power
- Homeric Gods of Aristocracy. Not fertility God.
- Olympians did not claim created earth
- Homer product of Ionia
- Inhabitants of agricultural rural community worshipped Hermes and Pan
- Dionysur or Bacchus - originally Thracian
  Disreputable god of wine and drunkeness
- less civilized, barbarian God
- More mystical, stimulated, intoxication - physical or spiritual
3/7/2016
- civilized man distinguished from savage by precedence or forethought.
- this checks impulse
- From civilization, impulse is checked by "law, custom and religion"
- Bacchic ritual promoted passion instead of prudence
- Sober civilization promoted science
- Orpheus, spiritualized form of Dionysius, ascetic
  A priest and philosopher
- Believed in transmigration of souls and rebirth
- Man held partly earth and partly heaven
- Europides -> Orphic
- Orphic tablet giving instruction to soul of dead person in his tomb - drink water from a specific stream.
- Mnemosyne . remembrance
- Orphism -> Pythogoras -> Plato
- Two tendency in Greek
  - passionate, religion, mystical, other-wordly
  - cheerful, empirical, rationalistic, acquiring knowledge diverse
- Orphic doctrine remained continue to narrow circle
- The rise of science, or existence of scientific school checked the progression of Greek religion which was comparable to religion of east/oriental.
- Similarity of beliefs prevalent in India to Orphic around some time.