Homer & Hesiod

(Originally Written August 30, 2006 in History I)

The Classical Mind by W.T. Jones

Chapter 1: Pre-Socratic Philosophy

When did western Philosophy begin? In the 6th century with Thales.
Thales was the father of Greek philosophy.

"But, the history of philosophy itself does not have a definitive starting point" (Jones, 1).

It's impossible to pinpoint a time when there was no philosophy, thus no pinpoint of a beginning. Philosophy began as a gradual continuum and exists that way presently.

God and Nature in Homer:

Zeus is not the omnipotent God of Christianity. He is dominated by the members of his household analogous to a human father of ten is.

The Homeric state was a monarchy, but no king was absolute. The nobles and the warriors played a part in limiting the kings' powers. But a king often overrode the wishes of the nobility and no one dared complain.

Nature was not seen as a cyclical event in Homer. Yes, there were regular occurrences, but when irregularities occurred they were attributed to the acts of the gods.

The gods were impulsive and they acted in some sort of rational manner, i.e. punishing Achilles for his excess.

Lack of moderation and hubris (insubordination) were the great iniquities in Homer. Arrogance came out of men of excess or hubris. Arrogant men were rarely tolerated by the gods.

In the Illiad, Achilles was punished for his lack of moderation. Agamemnon is not punished for his causing misery and suffering, but for his violation of the gods' regulations.

Homer does not make the gods to be moral role models. He does not believe the divine rules were established for man's benefits. The gods are egotistical, lustful, selfish, vain, unscrupulous and dishonest.

Homer's men worship the gods because they are powerful, not because they are good. Worship is a business transaction between a particular god and man.

Homer's gods are causal agents. They are the cause of the regular state of affairs and the cause of all the disruptive irregularities of life.

Above the gods is a blind will known as fate. Fate was above both gods and men, unresponsive to anyone's volition.

God & Nature in Hesiod:

Hesiod was probably from the 8th century B.C.

Hesiod wrote against the power grabbing of the nobility.

To Hesiod, Zeus was justice and justice would eventually punish the wicked and correct the abuse.

Homer saw the greatest iniquity of man as insubordination or not knowing one's place in life. Hesiod saw the greatest iniquity of man to be the oppression of the weak by the strong.

Zeus was moral and powerful enough to enforce the law in Hesiod. "Fate became the concept of a pervasive moral law" in Hesiod (Jones, 6).

Hesiod sets man apart from the rest of nature. The Greeks took pride in their humanity and believed that humans had to live up to a higher standard than animals, a human responsibility. Moderation is one of the great differentiating aspects between humans and animals.

Despite Hesiod's innovations, his cosmogony was very anthropomorphic.