Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011 ASSIGNMENT Search the internet for facts and information on the following topics. Send your answer thru this blog using the sa
Please research on the following and post through your blog or to this blog as comment.
1. Peloponnesian War
a) Brief account having the content of who are involved, what are the issues/reasons for the war, how it ended and its result.
2. Persian War
a) Brief account having the content of who are involved, what are the issues/reasons for the war, how it ended and its result.
3. Gods and Goddesses of Greece and Rome Compared
b)contests/events
c)Filipino winners to the Beijing Olympics
5. Great Greek Philosophers: Books written/Philosohies/contribution.
1. Peloponnesian War
a) Brief account having the content of who are involved, what are the issues/reasons for the war, how it ended and its result.
- This war begins with the conflict between Athens and Sparta.
- The issues or reasons for the war iswhen Athens concluded an alliance with Corcyra (modern Corfu) in 433, and started to besiege Potidaea, it threatened the position of Corinth. Sparta also feared that Athens was becoming too powerful but tried to prevent war. Peace was possible, the Spartans said, when Athens would revoked measures against Sparta's ally Megara. The Athenian leader Pericles refused this, because Sparta and Athens had once agreed that conflicts would be solved by arbitration. If the Athenians would yield to Sparta's request, they would in fact accept Spartan orders. This was unacceptable, and war broke out: Athens and its Delian League were attacked by Sparta and its Peloponnesian League. Diodorus mentions that the Spartans did not just declare war, but decided to declare war and ask for help in Persia.
- The result of the war was the crushing defeat of Athens and the end of its maritime empire. A more long-range result was the weakening of all the city-states. This made them vulnerable to a takeover by Macedonia several decades later. A brilliant account of the war was written by the historian Thucydides as events unfolded. His work still stands as a definitive source of information on the war.The Athenian Empire and the Spartan Alliance coexisted as long as a balance of power was maintained between them. A truce called the Thirty Years' Treaty had been signed by both powers in 445 BC. Within a decade the truce was breaking down as Athens sought to extend its empire. In 433 Athens allied itself with Corcyra, a colony of Corinth, but Corinth was an ally of Sparta. Incited by Corinth, Sparta accused Athens of aggression and threatened war. Athens, under the leadership of Pericles, refused to back down. War began in the spring of 431, when Thebes, a Spartan ally, attacked Plataea, an ally of Athens.The war fell into three phases. First came ten years of intermittent fighting, concluded by an uneasy truce in 421. This truce phase, named after the Athenian general Nicias, lasted until 415. The final phase began when Athens launched a massive and ill-fated assault against Sicily. This campaign was so catastrophic for Athens that the city barely recovered militarily. In 411 the democracy at Athens was also temporarily overturned, and the city remained in political turmoil for years. When the democracy was restored, its leaders could not agree on truce terms, and many wanted to continue the war at all costs. Fighting went on for the next six years. Athens rebuilt its fleet, while Sparta and its allies created their own navy. The end for Athens came in 405, when the Spartan navy under Lysander decisively defeated the Athenians in the battle of Aegospotami.
2. Persian War
a) Brief account having the content of who are involved, what are the issues/reasons for the war, how it ended and its result.
- The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and city-states of the Hellenic world that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus the Great conquered Ionia in 547 BC. Struggling to rule the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule each of them. This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike.
- In 499 BC, the then tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, embarked on an expedition to conquer the island of Naxos, with Persian support;[2] however, the expedition was a debacle and, pre-empting his dismissal, Aristagoras incited all of Hellenic Asia Minor into rebellion against the Persians. This was the beginning of the Ionian Revolt, which would last until 493 BC, progressively drawing more regions of Asia Minor into the conflict. Aristagoras secured military support from Athens and Eretria, and in 498 BC these forces helped to capture and burn the Persian regional capital of Sardis. The Persian king Darius the Great vowed to have revenge on Athens and Eretria for this act. The revolt continued, with the two sides effectively stalemated throughout 497–495 BC. In 494 BC, the Persians regrouped, and attacked the epicentre of the revolt in Miletus. At the Battle of Lade, the Ionians suffered a decisive defeat, and the rebellion collapsed, with the final members being stamped out the following year.
- Seeking to secure his empire from further revolts and from the interference of the mainland Greeks, Darius embarked on a scheme to conquer Greece and to punish Athens and Eretria for burning Sardis. The first Persian invasion of Greece began in 492 BC, with the Persian general Mardonius conquering Thrace and Macedon before several mishaps forced an early end to the campaign. In 490 BC a second force was sent to Greece, this time across the Aegean Sea, under the command of Datis and Artaphernes. This expedition subjugated the Cyclades, before besieging, capturing and razing Eretria. However, while on route to attack Athens, the Persian force was decisively defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon, ending Persian efforts for the time being. Darius then began to plan to complete the conquest of Greece, but died in 486 BC and responsibility for the conquest passed to his son Xerxes I. In 480 BC, Xerxes personally led the second Persian invasion of Greece with one of the largest ancient armies ever assembled. Victory over the 'Allied' Greek states (led by Sparta and Athens) at the Battle of ThermopylaeBattle of Salamis. The following year, the confederated Greeks went on the offensive, defeating the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea, and ending the invasion of Greece. allowed the Persians to overrun most of Greece. However, while seeking to destroy the combined Greek fleet, the Persians suffered a severe defeat at the
- The allied Greeks followed up their success by destroying the rest of the Persian fleet at the Battle of Mycale, before expelling Persian garrisons from Sestos (479 BC) and Byzantium (478 BC). The actions of the general Pausanias at the siege of Byzantium alienated many of the Greek states from the Spartans, and the anti-Persian alliance was therefore reconstituted around Athenian leadership, as the so-called Delian League. The Delian League continued to campaignBattle of the Eurymedon in 466 BC, the League won a double victory that finally secured freedom for the cities of Ionia. However, the League's involvement in an Egyptian revolt (from 460–454 BC) resulted in a disastrous defeat, and further campaigning was suspended. A fleet was sent to Cyprus in 451 BC, but achieved little, and when it withdrew the Greco-Persian Wars drew to a quiet end. Some historical sources suggest the end of hostilities was marked by a peace treaty between Athens and Persia, the so-called Peace of Callias. against Persia for the next three decades, beginning with the expulsion of the remaining Persian garrisons from Europe. At the
3. Gods and Goddesses of Greece and Rome Compared
- Gods of greece
Aeolus
Description: Keeper of the winds, but not always able to control them.
Rules Over: The Winds.
AdonisOther Names: Adon, Adonai.
Rules Over: Rebirth, the seasons, love and beauty.
AphroditeOther Names: Marianna or "La Mer" meaning "the Ocean."
Description: Beautiful, voluptuous, blue-eyed and light haired woman.
Rules Over: Love, beauty, joy of physical love, sensuality, passion, generosity, all forms of partnerships and relationships, affection, fertility, continued creation, renewal.
ApolloDescription: Extremely handsome, perfectly built male with light hair.
Rules Over: Prophecy, poetry, music, medicine, oracles, healing, reason, inspiration, magick, the arts, divination, harmony, spiritual goals gained through use of the arts, ravens, earthquakes, woodlands, springs.
AresDescription: Crested helmet, thought of as very rough and tough, insensitive, greatly concerned with his male image.
Rules Over: War, terror, uncontrolled anger, revenge, courage without thought, raw energy, brute strength, untamed passions, any situation where sheer stamina is needed.
ArtemisDescription: Tall, slim, lovely dressed in a short tunic. Chariot pulled by silver stags.
Rules Over: Singers, protector of young girls, mistress of magick, sorcery, enchantment, psychic power, women's fertility, purification, sports, exercise, good weather for travellers, countryside, the hunt, mental healing, dance, wild animals, forests, mountains, woodland medicines, juniper, healing.
AsclepiusOther Names: Asklepios, Aesclepius.
Description: Son of Apollo.
Rules Over: Snakes, revival of the dead, healing.
AtheneOther Names: Athena.
Rules Over: Writing, music, sciences, sculptors, potters, architects, wisdom, arts and skills, renewal, true justice, protection (both psychic and physical), prudence, wise counsel, peace, embroidery, horses and oxen, snakes, pillars, trees, olive boughs, battle strategy, weaving.
BendisDescription: Thracian Goddess.
Rules Over: Moon and fertility.
BoreasDescription: Depicted with a man's upper body and a serpent's tail, sometimes winged and with two faces looking forward and backward. God of the North wind.
Rules Over: North Wind.
BritomartisOther Names: Dictynna.
Description: Cretan virgin forest huntress.
Rules Over: Chastity.
CharitiesOther Names: Graces.
Description: Triad of Moon Goddesses. Aphrodite's companions. Nude and dancing.
Their Names: Aglaia, Thalia and Euphrosyne. (Shining One, flowering one/abundance, one who makes glad/joy)
CirceDescription: Moon Goddess, death-bird.
Rules Over: Physical love, sorcery, enchantments, evil spells, vengeance, dark magick, witchcraft, cauldrons.
CronusOther Names: Cronos, Kronos.
Description: Father Time.
Rules Over: Abundance, agriculture, earth's riches, prosperity, the arts and magick.
CybeleOther Names: Kybele.
Description: Phrygian goddess of the earth and caverns. Carried a scourge of knuckle bones and liked pearls and cypress.
Rules Over: Natural world and its formations, wild beasts (especially lions), dominion over wild animals, dark magick, revenge.
DactylsDescription: Divine spirits born from the fingerprints of Rhea. Five males from her right hand, five females from her left. They were blacksmiths, magi, founders of meter, inventors of magickal formulae. A form of earth elementals.
DemeterDescription: Matron with beautiful hair, wearing a blue robe and carrying a sheaf of wheat. She was crowned with ears of corn or ribbons and held a scepter.
Rules Over: Crops, corn, the plow, initiation, renewal, rebirth, vegetation, fruitfulness, agriculture, civilization, law, motherhood, marriage, maternal love, fidelity, magickal philosophy, expansion, higher magick, soil, all growing things.
DionysusOther Names: Dithyrambos.
Rules Over: Pleasure, ecstasy, total abandon, woodlands, nature, wine, initiation, rituals, rebirth, regeneration, civilization.
EosOther Names: Aurora.
Description: Shown riding on Pegasus in a purple or gold chariot.
Rules Over: Dawn.
ErinyesOther Names: Eumenides.
Description: Triad of Virgin Goddesses who tracked down those who wrongly shed blood, especially that of a mothers.
Their Names: Allecto, Tisiphone, Megaera. (Beginnings/unending, continuation/retaliation, death and rebirth/envious fury)
ErosDescription: Beautiful but wanton boy with a golden quiver of arrows of desire and physical attraction.
Rules Over: Erotic love.
EurusOther Names: Apheliotes.
Description: God of East Wind.
Rules Over: East, renewing, intelligence.
GaeaOther Names: Gaia.
Description: Earth-omnipotent.
Rules Over: Motherhood, agricultural fertility, marriage, dreams, trance, divination, oracles, healing.
The GraiaeOther Names: The Graeae.
Description: Triad of Mother Goddesses. Three goddesses who shared one all-seeing eye.
Their Names: Enyo, Pemphredo and Deino. (Fear, dread and terror)
Rules Over: War, retribution and divination.
HadesDescription: Mysterious and terrifying god of death and benign god of prosperity. House of Hades was the place of shades or the dead.
Rules Over: Crops, minerals, spring water, gem stones, material gain, elimination of fear of death, astral projection.
HecateDescription: She could change forms or ages and rejuvenate or kill.
Rules Over: Witches, waning moon, dark magick, prophecy, charms and spells, vengeance, expiations, averting evil, enchantments, riches, victory, wisdom, transformation, reincarnation, incancations, dogs, purification, prosperity, destruction, limit, ends, choices, crossroads, annihilation, curses, sky, earth fertility, victory, wealth, magickal charms, hauntings, destructive storms, revenge, change, renewal and regeneration.
HeliosDescription: Sun God. 9 (or 7 depending on who you ask) winged white fire-breathing horses pulled his golden chariot, he wore a golden helmet and breastplate.
Rules Over: RIches, enlightenment, victory.
HephaestusDescription: Magician of metal and gems for the Olympians.
Rules Over: Blacksmiths, metalworkers, thunder, lightning, fire, subterranean fires, volcanoes, industry, artisans, craftsmen, jewelry making, mechanics, micro electronics, manual dexterity, hard work, inventiveness, all creative crafts, engineering, building construction.
HeraDescription: Wearing a veil and a matron dress, exceedingly noble. Held a scepter and a pomegranate. Sometimes carried a sickle.
Rules Over: Fertility, renewal, purification, the Moon, the sky, flowers, willow, myrtle wreath, death, pain, punishment.
HeraklesDescription: Greek Hero-Demigod.
Rules Over: Strength, courage, joy and wine.
HermesDescription: Slim athletic young man carrying a caduceus and wearing winged sandals and a helmet.
Rules Over: Roads, good luck, fortune, all kinds of profit, commerce, transport, thievery, liars, treaties, boxing, gymnastics, alphabet, letters, orthodox medicine, occult wisdom, measuring and weighing, astronomy and astrology, music, divination by dice, cunning, success, magick, travel, profits, gambling, mischief, crossroads, athletics, eloquence, merchants, speed, ingenuity, intelligence, diplomacy, finding the way when lost, journalism.
HestiaDescription: Virgin goddess. Oldest of the Olympians.
Rules Over: Circles, discipline, dedication to duty, humility, modesty, prudence, acceptance, continuity, service to others.
HoraeDescription: The Hours or Seasons. Guardian Goddesses of Nature and rain.
Their Names: Eunomia (order), Dike (justice), Carpo (fruit) and Irene/Eirene (peace_.
Rules Over: Law, justice, peace, protection of young people.
HypnosDescription: God of sleep. Caused sleep by touching the eyelidds with his fingers or fanning the person with his dark wings. Had three sons: Morpheus, Phoebetor and Phantasus. The sons occupied the mind of the dreamer while their soul traveled. Through their dreams they entertained, warned or punished.
Rules Over: Sleep. His sons rule over Dreams.
IrisDescription: Rainbow Goddess. Messenger between the Gods and humans. Had golden wings on her shoulders and carried the caduceus.
Rules Over: Telepathic communications between the gods and humans.
MoeraeOther Names: Moirai, The Fates.
Description: Three deities who decided teh destiny of each individual. Clothos spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured it out and Atropos cut it. Nemesis could interfere with Atropos to allow a longer life. Often accompanied by the Keres (Dogs of Hades) who were three beings with sharp teeth and robed in red.
Rules Over: Life, death, destiny, union.
The MusesDescription: Companions of Apollo. Goddesses of springs, memory and poetry. There were nine.
Their Names: Clio (history), Euterpe (flute playing), Thaleia (Comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dancing and lyric poetry), Erato (love poetry), Polyhymnia (mime), Urania (astronomy), Calliope (epic poetry).
Rules Over: The Arts.
NemesisOther Names: Adrasteia.
Description: Depicted with a wreath on her head, apple in her left hand and a bowl in her right.
Rules Over: Destiny, divine anger against mortals who broke moral laws or taboos.
NereidsDescription: A Greek general term for all fairies, nymphs, mermaids, female nature spirits. They were shapeshifters.
NereusDescription: God fo the sea.
Rules Over: Divination, shapeshifting.
NikeDescription: Goddess of Victory. Had 3 sisters: Bia (violence), Zelos (jealousy) and Kratos (force). Nike was winged and carried a palm branch.
Rules Over: Victory.
NotosDescription: God of South Wind.
Rules Over: South, happiness, change, passion, bringer of the rain.
NymphsDescription: Female spirits of water, plants and earth. Naiads were nymphs of brooks. Crenae/Pegae of springs. Limnads of stagnant waters. Oreads of grottoes and mountains. Dryads of forests and trees. Hamadryads of specific trees. The Napaeae, the Auloniads, the Hylaeorae and the Alsaeids of woods and valleys.
Rules Over: Prophecy, oracles, healing, flowers, fields, flocks.
OceanusOther Names: Oceanos.
Description: Ancient sea god who took part in creation of cosmos out of chaos. His power was later given to Poseidon. Invented arts and magick.
Rulses Over: Arts and magick.
PanDescription: Horned and hoofed woodland god. Ruler of all nature apirits.
Rules Over: All nature spirits, male sexuality, animals, fertility, Nature, woodlands, vocal powers, gardening, healing, plants, music, dance, farming, medicine, soothsaying, flocks, agriculture, bee-keeping, fishing, orchards, gardens, terror and panic.
PersephoneOther Names: Kore (before she became the wife of Hades).
Description: Depicted carrying a cornucopia.
Rules Over: Corn, the seasons, underworld, rest, winter, surviving, overcoming obstacles.
PoseidonDescription: Mature, bearded man. Supreme lord of inner and outer seas.
Rules Over: Storms, all marine life, intuition, human emotions, sailors, ships, hurricanes, rain, weather, revenge.
PriapusDescription: God of fertility and animals depicted with an enormous phallus.
Rules Over: Healing and also healing through sleep.
PrometheusDescription: The titan who stole fire from the forge of Hephaestus and gave it to humans.
Rules Over: Creation and fire.
RheaDescription: Cretan Universal Mother.
Rules Over: Plant life, fertility, arts and magick.
SeleneOther Names: Mene.
Rules Over: Beautiful woman with a gold crown. Moon Goddess who was the second astpect of the Moon.
Rules Over: Magick, spells, enchantments.
ThemisDescriptoin: Carried a pair of scales. Another form of the earth mother, personifying law and order.
Rules Over: Collective consciousness, social order, law, peace, settlement of disagreements, justice and righteousness, feasts, gatherings, oath-swearing, wisdom, prophecy, order, childbirth, courts and judges, arts and magick.
TritonsDescription: Mermen of the Mediterranean with fish-like tails and scales on the body. Had sharp teeth and webbed fingers with long claws. They could change their tails to legs to walk on land. It was the duty of the Tritons to harness dolphins to POseidon's chariot and blow conch horns as they swarmed before the Lord of the Ocean.
UranusOther Names: Ouranos.
Description: Original Great God, husband of Gaea and father of the twelve divine Olympians.
Rules Over: Sky and heavens.
ZephyrusDescription: God of West Wind.
Rules Over: Calm, peace of mind, love and emotions, west wind.
ZeusDescription: Supreme God pictured wearing a crown of oak leaves and a mantle with his chest and right arm bare. Carried a scepter in his left hand and a thunderbolt and eage at his feet.
Rules Over: All high things, clouds, rain, wind, thunder, lightning, mountain tops, wisdom, justice, popularity, law, honor, riches, friendships, health, luck, heart's desire.
Description: Keeper of the winds, but not always able to control them.
Rules Over: The Winds.
AdonisOther Names: Adon, Adonai.
Rules Over: Rebirth, the seasons, love and beauty.
AphroditeOther Names: Marianna or "La Mer" meaning "the Ocean."
Description: Beautiful, voluptuous, blue-eyed and light haired woman.
Rules Over: Love, beauty, joy of physical love, sensuality, passion, generosity, all forms of partnerships and relationships, affection, fertility, continued creation, renewal.
ApolloDescription: Extremely handsome, perfectly built male with light hair.
Rules Over: Prophecy, poetry, music, medicine, oracles, healing, reason, inspiration, magick, the arts, divination, harmony, spiritual goals gained through use of the arts, ravens, earthquakes, woodlands, springs.
AresDescription: Crested helmet, thought of as very rough and tough, insensitive, greatly concerned with his male image.
Rules Over: War, terror, uncontrolled anger, revenge, courage without thought, raw energy, brute strength, untamed passions, any situation where sheer stamina is needed.
ArtemisDescription: Tall, slim, lovely dressed in a short tunic. Chariot pulled by silver stags.
Rules Over: Singers, protector of young girls, mistress of magick, sorcery, enchantment, psychic power, women's fertility, purification, sports, exercise, good weather for travellers, countryside, the hunt, mental healing, dance, wild animals, forests, mountains, woodland medicines, juniper, healing.
AsclepiusOther Names: Asklepios, Aesclepius.
Description: Son of Apollo.
Rules Over: Snakes, revival of the dead, healing.
AtheneOther Names: Athena.
Rules Over: Writing, music, sciences, sculptors, potters, architects, wisdom, arts and skills, renewal, true justice, protection (both psychic and physical), prudence, wise counsel, peace, embroidery, horses and oxen, snakes, pillars, trees, olive boughs, battle strategy, weaving.
BendisDescription: Thracian Goddess.
Rules Over: Moon and fertility.
BoreasDescription: Depicted with a man's upper body and a serpent's tail, sometimes winged and with two faces looking forward and backward. God of the North wind.
Rules Over: North Wind.
BritomartisOther Names: Dictynna.
Description: Cretan virgin forest huntress.
Rules Over: Chastity.
CharitiesOther Names: Graces.
Description: Triad of Moon Goddesses. Aphrodite's companions. Nude and dancing.
Their Names: Aglaia, Thalia and Euphrosyne. (Shining One, flowering one/abundance, one who makes glad/joy)
CirceDescription: Moon Goddess, death-bird.
Rules Over: Physical love, sorcery, enchantments, evil spells, vengeance, dark magick, witchcraft, cauldrons.
CronusOther Names: Cronos, Kronos.
Description: Father Time.
Rules Over: Abundance, agriculture, earth's riches, prosperity, the arts and magick.
CybeleOther Names: Kybele.
Description: Phrygian goddess of the earth and caverns. Carried a scourge of knuckle bones and liked pearls and cypress.
Rules Over: Natural world and its formations, wild beasts (especially lions), dominion over wild animals, dark magick, revenge.
DactylsDescription: Divine spirits born from the fingerprints of Rhea. Five males from her right hand, five females from her left. They were blacksmiths, magi, founders of meter, inventors of magickal formulae. A form of earth elementals.
DemeterDescription: Matron with beautiful hair, wearing a blue robe and carrying a sheaf of wheat. She was crowned with ears of corn or ribbons and held a scepter.
Rules Over: Crops, corn, the plow, initiation, renewal, rebirth, vegetation, fruitfulness, agriculture, civilization, law, motherhood, marriage, maternal love, fidelity, magickal philosophy, expansion, higher magick, soil, all growing things.
DionysusOther Names: Dithyrambos.
Rules Over: Pleasure, ecstasy, total abandon, woodlands, nature, wine, initiation, rituals, rebirth, regeneration, civilization.
EosOther Names: Aurora.
Description: Shown riding on Pegasus in a purple or gold chariot.
Rules Over: Dawn.
ErinyesOther Names: Eumenides.
Description: Triad of Virgin Goddesses who tracked down those who wrongly shed blood, especially that of a mothers.
Their Names: Allecto, Tisiphone, Megaera. (Beginnings/unending, continuation/retaliation, death and rebirth/envious fury)
ErosDescription: Beautiful but wanton boy with a golden quiver of arrows of desire and physical attraction.
Rules Over: Erotic love.
EurusOther Names: Apheliotes.
Description: God of East Wind.
Rules Over: East, renewing, intelligence.
GaeaOther Names: Gaia.
Description: Earth-omnipotent.
Rules Over: Motherhood, agricultural fertility, marriage, dreams, trance, divination, oracles, healing.
The GraiaeOther Names: The Graeae.
Description: Triad of Mother Goddesses. Three goddesses who shared one all-seeing eye.
Their Names: Enyo, Pemphredo and Deino. (Fear, dread and terror)
Rules Over: War, retribution and divination.
HadesDescription: Mysterious and terrifying god of death and benign god of prosperity. House of Hades was the place of shades or the dead.
Rules Over: Crops, minerals, spring water, gem stones, material gain, elimination of fear of death, astral projection.
HecateDescription: She could change forms or ages and rejuvenate or kill.
Rules Over: Witches, waning moon, dark magick, prophecy, charms and spells, vengeance, expiations, averting evil, enchantments, riches, victory, wisdom, transformation, reincarnation, incancations, dogs, purification, prosperity, destruction, limit, ends, choices, crossroads, annihilation, curses, sky, earth fertility, victory, wealth, magickal charms, hauntings, destructive storms, revenge, change, renewal and regeneration.
HeliosDescription: Sun God. 9 (or 7 depending on who you ask) winged white fire-breathing horses pulled his golden chariot, he wore a golden helmet and breastplate.
Rules Over: RIches, enlightenment, victory.
HephaestusDescription: Magician of metal and gems for the Olympians.
Rules Over: Blacksmiths, metalworkers, thunder, lightning, fire, subterranean fires, volcanoes, industry, artisans, craftsmen, jewelry making, mechanics, micro electronics, manual dexterity, hard work, inventiveness, all creative crafts, engineering, building construction.
HeraDescription: Wearing a veil and a matron dress, exceedingly noble. Held a scepter and a pomegranate. Sometimes carried a sickle.
Rules Over: Fertility, renewal, purification, the Moon, the sky, flowers, willow, myrtle wreath, death, pain, punishment.
HeraklesDescription: Greek Hero-Demigod.
Rules Over: Strength, courage, joy and wine.
HermesDescription: Slim athletic young man carrying a caduceus and wearing winged sandals and a helmet.
Rules Over: Roads, good luck, fortune, all kinds of profit, commerce, transport, thievery, liars, treaties, boxing, gymnastics, alphabet, letters, orthodox medicine, occult wisdom, measuring and weighing, astronomy and astrology, music, divination by dice, cunning, success, magick, travel, profits, gambling, mischief, crossroads, athletics, eloquence, merchants, speed, ingenuity, intelligence, diplomacy, finding the way when lost, journalism.
HestiaDescription: Virgin goddess. Oldest of the Olympians.
Rules Over: Circles, discipline, dedication to duty, humility, modesty, prudence, acceptance, continuity, service to others.
HoraeDescription: The Hours or Seasons. Guardian Goddesses of Nature and rain.
Their Names: Eunomia (order), Dike (justice), Carpo (fruit) and Irene/Eirene (peace_.
Rules Over: Law, justice, peace, protection of young people.
HypnosDescription: God of sleep. Caused sleep by touching the eyelidds with his fingers or fanning the person with his dark wings. Had three sons: Morpheus, Phoebetor and Phantasus. The sons occupied the mind of the dreamer while their soul traveled. Through their dreams they entertained, warned or punished.
Rules Over: Sleep. His sons rule over Dreams.
IrisDescription: Rainbow Goddess. Messenger between the Gods and humans. Had golden wings on her shoulders and carried the caduceus.
Rules Over: Telepathic communications between the gods and humans.
MoeraeOther Names: Moirai, The Fates.
Description: Three deities who decided teh destiny of each individual. Clothos spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured it out and Atropos cut it. Nemesis could interfere with Atropos to allow a longer life. Often accompanied by the Keres (Dogs of Hades) who were three beings with sharp teeth and robed in red.
Rules Over: Life, death, destiny, union.
The MusesDescription: Companions of Apollo. Goddesses of springs, memory and poetry. There were nine.
Their Names: Clio (history), Euterpe (flute playing), Thaleia (Comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dancing and lyric poetry), Erato (love poetry), Polyhymnia (mime), Urania (astronomy), Calliope (epic poetry).
Rules Over: The Arts.
NemesisOther Names: Adrasteia.
Description: Depicted with a wreath on her head, apple in her left hand and a bowl in her right.
Rules Over: Destiny, divine anger against mortals who broke moral laws or taboos.
NereidsDescription: A Greek general term for all fairies, nymphs, mermaids, female nature spirits. They were shapeshifters.
NereusDescription: God fo the sea.
Rules Over: Divination, shapeshifting.
NikeDescription: Goddess of Victory. Had 3 sisters: Bia (violence), Zelos (jealousy) and Kratos (force). Nike was winged and carried a palm branch.
Rules Over: Victory.
NotosDescription: God of South Wind.
Rules Over: South, happiness, change, passion, bringer of the rain.
NymphsDescription: Female spirits of water, plants and earth. Naiads were nymphs of brooks. Crenae/Pegae of springs. Limnads of stagnant waters. Oreads of grottoes and mountains. Dryads of forests and trees. Hamadryads of specific trees. The Napaeae, the Auloniads, the Hylaeorae and the Alsaeids of woods and valleys.
Rules Over: Prophecy, oracles, healing, flowers, fields, flocks.
OceanusOther Names: Oceanos.
Description: Ancient sea god who took part in creation of cosmos out of chaos. His power was later given to Poseidon. Invented arts and magick.
Rulses Over: Arts and magick.
PanDescription: Horned and hoofed woodland god. Ruler of all nature apirits.
Rules Over: All nature spirits, male sexuality, animals, fertility, Nature, woodlands, vocal powers, gardening, healing, plants, music, dance, farming, medicine, soothsaying, flocks, agriculture, bee-keeping, fishing, orchards, gardens, terror and panic.
PersephoneOther Names: Kore (before she became the wife of Hades).
Description: Depicted carrying a cornucopia.
Rules Over: Corn, the seasons, underworld, rest, winter, surviving, overcoming obstacles.
PoseidonDescription: Mature, bearded man. Supreme lord of inner and outer seas.
Rules Over: Storms, all marine life, intuition, human emotions, sailors, ships, hurricanes, rain, weather, revenge.
PriapusDescription: God of fertility and animals depicted with an enormous phallus.
Rules Over: Healing and also healing through sleep.
PrometheusDescription: The titan who stole fire from the forge of Hephaestus and gave it to humans.
Rules Over: Creation and fire.
RheaDescription: Cretan Universal Mother.
Rules Over: Plant life, fertility, arts and magick.
SeleneOther Names: Mene.
Rules Over: Beautiful woman with a gold crown. Moon Goddess who was the second astpect of the Moon.
Rules Over: Magick, spells, enchantments.
ThemisDescriptoin: Carried a pair of scales. Another form of the earth mother, personifying law and order.
Rules Over: Collective consciousness, social order, law, peace, settlement of disagreements, justice and righteousness, feasts, gatherings, oath-swearing, wisdom, prophecy, order, childbirth, courts and judges, arts and magick.
TritonsDescription: Mermen of the Mediterranean with fish-like tails and scales on the body. Had sharp teeth and webbed fingers with long claws. They could change their tails to legs to walk on land. It was the duty of the Tritons to harness dolphins to POseidon's chariot and blow conch horns as they swarmed before the Lord of the Ocean.
UranusOther Names: Ouranos.
Description: Original Great God, husband of Gaea and father of the twelve divine Olympians.
Rules Over: Sky and heavens.
ZephyrusDescription: God of West Wind.
Rules Over: Calm, peace of mind, love and emotions, west wind.
ZeusDescription: Supreme God pictured wearing a crown of oak leaves and a mantle with his chest and right arm bare. Carried a scepter in his left hand and a thunderbolt and eage at his feet.
Rules Over: All high things, clouds, rain, wind, thunder, lightning, mountain tops, wisdom, justice, popularity, law, honor, riches, friendships, health, luck, heart's desire.
Jupiter - King of the Gods
Neptune - God of the Sea
Pluto - God of Death
Apollo - God of the Sun
Venus - Goddess of Love
Mercury - Messenger of the Gods
Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom
Ceres - The Earth Goddess
Proserpine - Goddess of the Underworld
Bacchus - God of Wine
Saturn - God of Time
Vesta - Goddess of the Home
Uranus and Gaia - Parents of Saturn
Flora - Goddess of Flowers
Plutus - God of Wealth
- *Most of the Roman and Greek Gods and Goddesses share enough attributes to be considered roughly the same, but with a different name -- Latin for the Roman, Greek for the Greek.however the roman gods namely like planets
4. Olympics
a)brief history
a)brief history
- The Olympic Games begun at Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. The Greek calendar was based on the Olympiad, the four-year period between games. The games were staged in the wooded valley of Olympia in Elis. Here the Greeks erected statues and built temples in a grove dedicated to Zeus, supreme among the gods. The greatest shrine was an ivory and gold statue of Zeus. Created by the sculptor Phidias, it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Scholars have speculated that the games in 776 BC were not the first games, but rather the first games held after they were organized into festivals held every four years as a result of a peace agreement between the city-states of Elis and Pisa. The Eleans traced the founding of the Olympic games to their King Iphitos, who was told by the Delphi Oracle to plant the olive tree from which the victors' wreaths were made.
- According to Hippias of Elis, who compiled a list of Olympic victors c.400 BC, at first the only Olympic event was a 200-yard dash, called a stadium. This was the only event until 724 BC, when a two-stadia race was added. Two years later the 24-stadia event began, and in 708 the pentathlon was added and wrestling became part of the games. This pentathlon, a five-event match consisted of running, wrestling, leaping, throwing the discus, and hurling the javelin. In time boxing, a chariot race, and other events were included.
- The victors of these early games were crowned with wreaths from a sacred olive tree that grew behind the temple of Zeus. According to tradition this tree was planted by Hercules (Heracles), founder of the games. The winners marched around the grove to the accompaniment of a flute while admirers chanted songs written by a prominent poet.
- The Olympic Games were held without interruptions in ancient Greece. The games were even held in 480 BC during the Persian Wars, and coincided with the Battle of Thermopylae. Although the Olympic games were never suspended, the games of 364 BC were not considered Olympic since the Arkadians had captured the sanctuary and reorganized the games.
- After the Battle of Chaironeia in 338 BC, Philip of Makedon and his son Alexander gained control over the Greek city-states. They erected the Philippeion (a family memorial) in the sanctuary, and held political meetings at Olympia during each Olympiad. In 146 BC, the Romans gained control of Greece and, therefore, of the Olympic games. In 85 BC, the Roman general Sulla plundered the sanctuary to finance his campaign against Mithridates. Sulla also moved the 175th Olympiad (80 BC) to Rome.
- The games were held every four years from 776 BC to 393 AD, when they were abolished by the Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I. The ancient Olympic Games lasted for 1170 years.
- The successful campaign to revive the Olympics was started in France by Baron Pierre de Coubertin late in the 19th century. The first of the modern Summer Games opened on Sunday, March 24, 1896, in Athens, Greece. The first race was won by an American college student named James Connolly.
b)contests/events
- The Olympic Games program consists of 35 sports, 30 disciplines and nearly 400 events. For example, wrestling is a Summer Olympic sport, comprising two disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. It is further broken down into fourteen events for men and four events for women, each representing a different weight class.[102] The Summer Olympics program includes 26 sports, while the Winter Olympics program features 15 sports.[103] Athletics, swimming, fencing, and artistic gymnastics are the only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been featured at every Winter Olympics program since its inception in 1924. Current Olympic sports, like badminton, basketball, and volleyball, first appeared on the program as demonstration sports, and were later promoted to full Olympic sports. Some sports that were featured in earlier Games were later dropped from the program.[104]
- Olympic sports are governed by international sports federations (IFs) recognized by the IOC as the global supervisors of those sports. There are 35 federations represented at the IOC.[105][106][107] During such revisions, sports can be excluded or included in the program on the basis of a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the IOC.[108] There are recognized sports that have never been on an Olympic program in any capacity, including chess and surfing.[109] There are sports recognized by the IOC that are not included on the Olympic program. These sports are not considered Olympic sports, but they can be promoted to this status during a program revision that occurs in the first IOC session following a celebration of the Olympic Games.
- In October and November 2004, the IOC established an Olympic Programme Commission, which was tasked with reviewing the sports on the Olympic program and all non-Olympic recognized sports. The goal was to apply a systematic approach to establishing the Olympic program for each celebration of the Games.[110] The commission formulated seven criteria to judge whether a sport should be included on the Olympic program.[110] These criteria are history and tradition of the sport, universality, popularity of the sport, image, athletes' health, development of the International Federation that governs the sport, and costs of holding the sport.[110] From this study five recognized sports emerged as candidates for inclusion at the 2012 Summer Olympics: golf, karate, rugby union, roller sports and squash.[110] These sports were reviewed by the IOC Executive Board and then referred to the General Session in Singapore in July 2005. Of the five sports recommended for inclusion only two were selected as finalists: karate and squash.[110] Neither sport attained the required two-thirds vote and consequently they were not promoted to the Olympic program.[110] In October 2009 the IOC voted to instate golf and rugby union as Olympic sports for the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games.[111]
- The 114th IOC Session, in 2002, limited the Summer Games program to a maximum of 28 sports, 301 events, and 10,500 athletes.[110] Three years later, at the 117th IOC Session, the first major program revision was performed, which resulted in the exclusion of baseball and softball from the official program of the 2012 London Games. Since there was no agreement in the promotion of two other sports, the 2012 program will feature just 26 sports.[110] The 2016 and 2020 Games will return to the maximum of 28 sports given the addition of rugby and golf.[111]
c)Filipino winners to the Beijing Olympics
Medal | Name | Games | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bronze | Teofilo Yldefonso | 1928 Amsterdam | Swimming | Men's 400 metre breaststroke |
| Bronze | Simeon Toribio | 1932 Los Angeles | Athletics | Men's high jump |
| Bronze | José Villanueva | 1932 Los Angeles | Boxing | Men's bantamweight |
| Bronze | Teofilo Yldefonso | 1932 Los Angeles | Swimming | Men's 200 metre breaststroke |
| Bronze | Miguel White | 1936 Berlin | Athletics | Men's 400 metre hurdles |
 Silver | Anthony Villanueva | 1964 Tokyo | Boxing | Men's featherweight |
| Bronze | Leopoldo Serantes | 1988 Seoul | Boxing | Men's light flyweight |
| Bronze | Roel Velasco | 1992 Barcelona | Boxing | Men's light flyweight |
| Silver | Mansueto Velasco | 1996 Atlanta | Boxing | Men's light flyweight |
5. Great Greek Philosophers: Books written/Philosohies/contribution.
 | We know almost nothing about Thales of Miletus. Later generations told many anecdotes about this wise man, but it is difficult to verify the reliability of these stories. What seems certain, however, is that he predicted the solar eclipse of 28 May 585, which was remembered because the Lydian king Alyattes and the Median leader Cyaxares were fighting a battle on that day. Another reliable bit of information is that he did geometrical research, which enabled him to measure the pyramids. However, his most important contribution to European civilization is his attempt to give rational explanations for physical phenomena. Behind the phenomena was not a catalogue of deities, but one single, first principle. Although his identification of this principle with water is rather unfortunate, his idea to look for deeper causes was the true beginning of philosophy and science. Thales died after 547. | |
 | Thales was not the only one who was looking for a first cause. Pythagoras of Samos (c.570-c.495) did the same. According to legend, he left his country and studied with the wise men of Egypt, but was taken captive when the Persian king Cambyses invaded the country of the Nile (525). He now became a student of the Chaldaeans of Babylon and the Magians of Persia. Some even say that he visited the Indian Brahmans, because Pythagoras believed in reincarnation. At the end of the sixth century, he lived in southern Italy, where he founded a community of philosophers. In his view, our world was governed by numbers, and therefore essentially harmonious. | |
 | Heraclitus was a rich man from Ephesus and lived c.500, during the Persian occupation of his home town. His philosophical work consists of a series of cryptical pronouncements that force a reader to think. Unfortunately, a great part of his work is lost, which makes it very difficult to reconstruct Heraclitus' ideas. It seems certain, however, that he thought that the basic principle of the universe was the logos, i.e. the fact that it was rationally organized and therefore understandable. Bipolar oppositions are one form of organization, but the sage understands that these oppositions are just aspects of one reality. Fire is the physical aspect of the perfect logos. | |
 | Parmenides of Elea was a younger contemporary of Heraclitus of Ephesus, but he lived at the opposite end of the Greek world: in Italy. Both men were intrigued by the immense variety of phenomena, but where Heraclitus discerned order in the chaos, Parmenides pointed out that the endless variety and eternal changes were just an illusion. In a long poem, which partially survives, he opposed 'being' to 'not being', and pointed out that change was impossible, because it would mean that something that was 'not being' changed into 'being', which is absurd. In other words, we had to distrust our senses and rely solely on our intellect. The result was a distinction between two worlds: the unreal world which we experience every day, and the reality, which we can reach by thinking. This idea was to prove one of the most influential in western culture. | |
 | One of the solutions to the problem postulated by Parmenides of Elea, was the hypothesis of Democritus of Abdera: matter is made up from atoms. There was no real evidence for this idea (which was not completely new), but it explained why change was possible. The atoms were always moving and clustering in various, temporary combinations. Therefore, things seemed to change, but 'not being' never changed into 'being'. (It was assumed that 'not being' was a vacuum, which means that it is in fact not a 'not being' because a vacuum exists in four dimensions.) The consequence of this idea is that we are allowed to use our senses, although Democritus warns us to be careful. | |
 | Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Democritus had been trying to explain the diversity of nature. The object of the studies of the AthenianSocrates (469-399) was altogether different: he was interested in ethics. It was his axiom that no one would knowingly do a bad thing. So knowledge was important, because it resulted in good behavior. If we are to believe his student Plato, Socrates was always asking people about what they knew, and invariably they had to admit that they did not really understand what was meant by words like courage, friendship, love etc. Socrates was never without critics. The comic poet Aristophanes ridiculed him in The clouds, and when his pupil Alcibiades had committed high treason, Socrates' position became very difficult. He was forced to drink hemlock after a charge that he had corrupted the youth. Among his students were Antisthenes, Plato and Xenophon. philosopher | |
 | In the decade after the death of Socrates, Antisthenes (c.445-c.365) was the most important Athenian philosopher. Like his master, he tried to find out what words mean, but he was convinced that it was not possible to establish really good definitions (which brought him into conflict with Plato). He did only partially agree with Socrates that someone who knew what was good, would not do a bad thing. Antisthenes added that one also had to be strong enough ("as strong as Socrates") to pursue what was good. Therefore, Antisthenes recommended physical training of all kinds, and wanted his students to refrain from luxury. His most famous pupil was Diogenes of Sinope. | |
 | The Athenian philosopher Plato (427-347) is usually called a pupil of Socrates, but his ideas are no less inspired by Parmenides. Plato accepted the world of the phenomena as a mere shadow of the real world of the ideas. When we observe a horse, we recognize what it is because our soul remembers the idea of the horse from the time before our birth. In Plato's political philosophy, only wise men who understand the dual nature of reality are fit to rule the country. He made three voyages to Syracuse to establish his ideal state, both times without lasting results. Plato's hypothesis that our soul was once in a better place and now lives in a fallen world made it easy to combine platonic philosophy and Christianity, which accounts for the popularity of Platonism in Late Antiquity. One element, however, was not acceptable: the idea of platonic love - a homosexual relation with pedagogical aspects. | |
 | Diogenes of Sinope (c.412-c.323) was a student of Antisthenes. Both men are called the founder of the school that is known as Cynicism. The essential point in this world-view is that man suffers from too much civilization. We are happiest when our life is simplest, which means that we have to live in accordance with nature - just like animals. Human culture, however, is dominated by things that prevent simplicity: money, for example, and our longing for status. Like his master, Diogenes refrained from luxury and often ridiculed civilized life. His philosophy gained some popularity because he focused upon personal integrity, whereas men like Plato and Aristotle of Stagira had been thinking about man's life and honor as member of a city state - a type of political unit that was losing importance in the age of Alexander the Great. However, we can not return to nature. The Cynics became some sort of jesters, accepted at the royal courts because their criticism was essentially harmless. | |
 | Plato's most famous student was the Macedonian scientist Aristotle of Stagira (384-322). After the death of his master, he studied biology and accepted a position as teacher of the Macedonian crown prince Alexander at Mieza. When the Macedonians subdued Greece, Aristotle founded a school at Athens. Most of his writings are lost; what remains are his lecture notes, which were rediscovered in the first century BCE. During the last decades, scholars have started to re-examine the fragments of the lost works, which has led to important changes in our understanding of Aristotle's philosophy. However, the accepted view remains that he replaced his master's speculations with a more down-to-earth philosophy. His main works are the Prior Analytics(in which he described the rules of logic), the Physics, the Animal History, the Rhetorics, the Poetics, the Metaphysics, the Nicomachean Ethics, and the Politics. All these books have become classics, and it is not exaggerated to say that Aristotle is the most influential philosopher of all ages and the founder of modern science. | |
| All philosophers are confident that rational thinking is the road to truth. Except for Pyrrho of Elis (c.360-c.270BCE), who entertained some doubts about the quest for knowledge. He argued that we can not fully comprehend nature, do not know for certain whether a statement is true or false, and are unable to build an ethical system on so weak a fundament. People would be happier if they gave up these useless intellectual exercises and postponed their judgment. The result was a conservative political philosophy, because Pyrrho recommended that, even though we had no moral absolutes, we should live by time-honored traditions. The weakness of his system is, of course, twofold: in the first place, one can not postpone a judgment forever, because sometimes action has to be undertaken; in the second place, how can you be certain that certain knowledge is impossible? Pyrrho's world-view is called Skepticism, and may be compared to the postmodernist philosophy of the 1980's. | ||
 | We live happiest when we are free from the pains of life, and a virtuous life is the best way to obtain this goal. This is, in a nutshell, the view of the Samian philosopher Epicurus (342-271). In his opinion, we are unable to understand the gods, who may or may not have created this world but are in any case not really interested in mankind. Nor do we know life after death - if there is an existence at all after our bodies have decomposed. Therefore, we must not speculate about gods and afterlife. In Antiquity, Epicurism was the most popular of all philosophical schools, a popularity which it partially owed to the fact that its founder had explained his thoughts in several maxims, which even the illiterate could remember. Predictably, Christian philosophers attacked Epicurus' ideas about the afterlife and divine providence. | |
 | After the conquests of Alexander, the world was larger than ever, and the city-state had ceased to be an important political unit. Like Diogenes of Sinope and Epicurus, Zeno of Citium (336-264 BCE) ignored traditional values like prestige and honor, and focused on man's inner peace. In his view, this was reached when a person accepted life as it was, knowing that the world was rationally organized by the logos. A man's mind should control his emotions and body, so that one could live according to the rational principles of the world. It has often been said that Zeno's ideas combine Greek philosophy with Semitic mysticism, but except for his descent from a Phoenician town on Cyprus and an interest in (Babylonian) astronomy, there is not much proof for this idea. This philosophy, called Stoicism, became very influential under Roman officials. | |
 | Zeno of Citium was succeeded as head of the Stoic school at Athens by Cleanthes, who was in turn succeeded by Chrysippus, a native of Soli in Cilicia (c.279-c.206). His contributions to the development of philosophy can especially be found in the field of logic, where he studied paradoxes and the way an argument should be constructed. He also reflected upon the use of allegoresis, which is a way to read a text metaphorically and find hidden meanings (or construct them). From now on, philosophers started to use the epics of Homer and the tragedies of Euripides as if they were philosophical treatises. Finally, Chrysippus was the man who concluded that if the rational principle of the universe, the logos, was divine, the world could be defined as a manifestation of God. | |
 | We are ill-informed about the development of philosophy after the origin of the Stoa, Epicurism, Skepticism, Cynicism, Aristoteleanism, and Platonism. For several reasons, nearly all texts are lost. This was also the fate of the works of the Stoic sage Posidonius of Apamea (c.135-51), but his books are often quoted by other authors. As a philosopher, he was not an innovator, but applied the theory to science and scholarship. For example, his HistoriesWorld History of were a philosophical continuation of the Polybius of Megalopolis. Among his other publications were treatises in which the Stoic world view was applied to everyday subjects: On anger, On virtue, and Consolation. Being more interested in educating the masses than in theoretical purity, he often borrowed ideas from other schools. Philosophy after Posidonius often was a cross-fertilization between viewpoints (e.g., Plutarch of Chaeronea and Plotinus). | |
| The charismatic teacher and miracle worker Apollonius lived in the first century AD. He was born in Tyana and gave a new interpretation to Pythagoreanism, which was essentially a combination of ascesis and mysticism. In his books On astrology and On sacrifices, he demanded bloodless offerings to the One God, who needs nothing even from beings higher than ourselves. This brought Apollonius into conflict with the religious establishment, but he was recognized as a great sage and received divine honors in the third century. Although the Athenian Philostratus wrote a lengthy Life of Apollonius, hardly anything is certain about the man who was and is frequently compared to the Jewish sage and miracle worker Jesus of Nazareth. | ||
 | In his own age, the Delphian oracle priest Plutarch of ChaeroneaPosidonius of Apamea, able to explain philosophical discussions to a general audience. Among his Moral treatises are treatises like Checking anger, the useful The art of listening, the fascinating How to know whether one progresses to virtue, and the charming Advice to bride and groom. Plutarch also wrote double biographies, in which he usually compared a Greek to a Roman (e.g., Alexander and Julius Caesar). In the epilogue, he analyzed their respective characters. The result is not only an entertaining biography, but also a better understanding of a morally exemplary person, which the reader can use for his own progress to virtue. (46-c.122) was immensely popular because he was, like | |
| Born in Phrygia, Epictetus (c.50-c.125 CE) became a slave of the emperor Nero's courtier Epaphroditus. When he was old, useless and therefore "freed" from slavery, he had to make a living and started to teach the Stoic philosophy, first at Rome and (after the emperor Domitian had expelled the philosophers in 89) at Nicopolis in western Greece. Because Epictetus was able to explain Stoicism in a systematic way and with an open eye to its practical applications, he had many students from the rich senatorial order, which ruled the Roman empire. Among these men were the future emperor Hadrian and the historian Arrian of Nicomedia, who published several of his conversations. Epictetus wrote a Handbook, which is arguably the most popular book on philosophy that was ever written. | ||
 | After the age of Posidonius of Apamea, it was not uncommon that philosophers from one school borrowed concepts and ideas from other branches of philosophy. Slowly, the schools were merging, and a new synthesis (called Neo-Platonism) was created by Plotinus(205-270). Like Plato, he accepted that our world was a mere shadow of the world of the ideas, which was in turn -and this was a novel idea- a shadow of an even higher world, which was again a shadow of the One God. In other words, the world has four levels of reality: God was the highest level, and then there were the levels of the intellect, the soul, and matter. (That matter is more real than the speculative levels of existence, was an unusual idea in Antiquity.) According to Plotinus, the wise man would try, by means of ascesis, to free his soul from matter and unite it with God. Plotinus achieved this mystical unity several times. His philosophy was adopted by the fathers of the church Ambrose and Augustine, and was to remain the philosophical school par excellence until Aristotle of Stagira was rediscovered in the twelfth century. |
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