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THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
The Greek philosophers and what they thought about cosmology, myth, and the gods, by Stefan Stenudd. Click the image to see the book at Amazon. by Stefan Stenudd. Qi, prana, spirit, and other life forces around the world explained and compared. Click the image to see the book at Amazon. The Taoism of Lao Tzu Explained. The great Chinese classic, translated and extensively commented by Stefan Stenudd. Click the image to see the book at Amazon.
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Cosmos of the Ancients![]() The Greek Philosophers on Myth and CosmologyHerodotus
Indeed, wellnigh all the names of the gods came to Hellas from Egypt. For I am assured by inquiry that they have come from foreign parts, and I believe that they came chiefly from Egypt. He lists some few exceptions: Poseidon, the Dioscuri, Hera, Hestia, Themis, the Graces and the Nereids - names of which the Egyptians had no knowledge, when Herodotus inquired. Those he believed instead to have been named by the Pelasgians, with just one exception, Poseidon, whose name he claims to have Libyan origin. He makes it very clear in his text that he speak of the names of the gods as being imported, but is hesitant to say anything definite about the gods themselves: But whence each of the gods came in to being, or whether they had all for ever existed, and what outward forms they had, the Greeks knew not till (so to say) a very little while ago; for I suppose that the time of Hesiod and Homer was not more than four hundred years before my own; and these are they who taught the Greeks of the descent of the gods, and gave to all their several names, and honors and arts, and declared their outward forms.
According to what he states earlier in his text, the deed of Homer and Hesiod was not that of the inventor, but of the messenger, since the names of the gods had already been given by the Egyptians. This Egyptian origin includes also the practices and rituals in connection with the gods: "the Greeks learnt all this from them. I hold this proved, because the Egyptian ceremonies are manifestly very ancient, and the Greek are of late origin." He certainly has a point - in his days Greek culture could still be measured in centuries, while the Egyptian civilization spanned several millennia. Afore this, Hesiod expressed humble admiration in his book, not only in regard to the gods and their worship.
© Stefan Stenudd 2000
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Stefan Stenudd
![]() About me
I'm a Swedish writer and historian of ideas, researching the thought patterns and cosmology in creation myths. I've also written books about ancient Chinese and Japanese traditions, as well as fiction. Google Profile
Creation stories from around the world, and the ancient cosmology they reveal. Click the image to visit.
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