Two

WHY THE GREEKS?

Finding one definite reason for the appearance of theoretical, or speculative, knowledge (theoria) as a new domain of culture is difficult. The other civili- zations were of a sacral and practical character. In these civilizations knowledge was completely immersed in mythology. The two were united, not distinguished. Knowledge served the ends of individual and social life and resembled practical skills more than knowledge considered as such. Among the Greeks, theoretical science arose as a sphere distinct from mythology and art. What were the circumstances of the appearance of “free thought,” of thought seeking the truth for its own sake? Theoria started in Ionia, a Greek colony in Asia Minor. From that culture grew the independent culture of the Greeks, whose center later became Athens. Three cultures existed in and around the Egyptian Sea in the second millennium B.C.: Cretan, Minoan, and Helladic. Mycenean culture, a variety of the Helladic culture, was close to Cycladic culture. Around 1200 B.C., the Dorians from the north reached Pelopponesia, Crete, Rhodes, Cos, and the shores of Asia Minor. In the ninth-century B.C. the Ionians from the north pushed the Dorians south. The Ionians then took control of the coast of Asia Minor. Greek Culture was born in Asia Minor, not in Athens, in the late ninth- and early eighth-century B.C.. The first great works of this culture were Hesiod’s Works and Days and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. The Ionians had a feeling of individuality and independence. They loved to travel, especially to Egypt and the lands of the Near East. They were keen observers. Besides Homer and Hesiod, some other Ionian figures who lived during at least three centuries of that civilization were Thales, Epimenides, Pherecydes, Archelaus, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. Only Empedocles of Acragas was non-Ionian. Aristotle observed that the Greeks were psychologically opposite the other peoples of Asia and Europe:

Those who live in a cold climate and in Europe are full of spirit, but wanting in intelligence and skill; and therefore they retain comparative freedom, but have no political organization, and are incapable of ruling over others. Whereas the natives of Asia are intelligent and inventive, but they are wanting in spirit, and therefore they are always in a state of subjection and slavery. But the Hellenic race, which is situated between them, is likewise intermediate in character, being high-spirited and also intelligent. Hence, it 10 SCIENCE IN CULTURE

continues free, and is the best-governed of any nation, and, if it could be formed into one state, would be able to rule the world.1

Historians of culture say that the Ionians were a society with no central state, organized by tribe around courts. In Homer’s time no monarchy yet existed. The rationalization of mythology played a crucial role in the emergence of theoria. We can see the rational treatment of mythology in Homer, and especially in Hesiod. The Ancient Greeks interpreted mythology first in theological, then philosophical, terms. Aristotle describes Homer and Hesiod as the protoi theologesantes (first who reasoned about the gods).2 Instead of being content to repeat the old myths, they were the first theologizing thinkers who tried to approach the question of the gods in a rational way, with the help of rational thought (hence theos—god, logos— reason). They still provided no sufficient rational justification for their views. The rational justifications of these first theologians were mythological considerations (mythikos sophizomenoi). They cloaked philosophical thoughts in mythology. Werner Jaeger notes that Hesiod rationalized the myths more than did Homer, since Hesiod searched for coherence among the myths.3 Hesiod’s work sought to reveal the origin of the gods and the generation and order in the physical universe:

His work shall reveal the origin of all gods now reigning upon Olympus; he will also tell us how the world has come to be, with all its present order. He must, therefore, record all the relevant myths and show how they fit together; he may perhaps have to eliminate many versions that strike him as incorrect, or devise new connections where tradition has not supplied them.

In short, Hesiod (1) presented a genealogy of the gods, (2) explained how the world arose, and (3) showed why the world is now in this state.4 Hesiod provided a theogony (the origin of the gods) and a cosmogony (the origin of the world). His work was a crucial prelude to the rise of philosophy.5 While the religions of Egypt and Babylon were centralized, the religion of the Ionians was not. The Ionians had no priestly caste that would lock away its knowledge for itself and make it an instrument for domination. They had no state religion that would be imposed on all from above. Orphism was the religion that had the greatest influence on their philosophy. And they regarded Orpheus, the mythical singer, as its author. Orphism influenced philosophy with its ideas, especially the immortality and transmigra- tion of the soul, and its attitude that religion could be a search for truth for its own sake. Orphism influenced the Pythagorean school. And the Pythagoreans were renowned for their investigations in mathematics and philosophy. While the Orphic movement was esoteric and only for initiates, within it scientific