International issue NO. 5 2018 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK AND LATIN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK AND LATIN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS Aither is the scientific, peer-reviewed electronic journal published by the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University Olomouc in association with Philosophical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. It was established in the Department of Older Czech and European Philosophy – Institute of Philosophy in 2009. Aither publishes twice a year. Every fourth issue is international (papers appear mostly in English, but also in German and French). The journal is registered under ISSN 1803-7860. JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK AND LATIN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS CONTENT Eliška Fulínová 4 The Muses and Reflexive Nature of the World in Archaic Greek Thought Vojtěch Hladký 20 Transmigrating Soul Between the Presocratics and Plato Matúš Porubjak 50 Socrates as the Paradigmatic Figure of Practical Philosophy Pavol Labuda 66 Aristotle’s Theory of Language in the Light ofPhys. I.1 Maciej Smolak 78 Etymology and Meaning of προαίρεσις in Aristotle‘s Ethics Karel Šebela 98 Aristotle vs. Boole: A Case of the Universe of Discourse 4 ABSTRACT In Greek mythology, the Muses are not just The Muses and inspiring agents of poetical creation, but their role is first of all a cosmological one: Reflexive Nature their birth crowns the process of cosmogony, bringing the world into the manifestation. As we try to demonstrate primarily in the course of the World of Hesiod’s Theogony, the song of the Muses celebrates and thus manifests the cosmos in Archaic Greek or the world-order through its articulation by means of the musical speech. As the world enters a new domain of appearance, Thought new cosmological categories emerge. The first one being thebeauty of the cosmos: as a world-order as well as the ordered whole, ELIšKA FULÍNOVÁ it can now manifest itself as beautiful. The Center for Theoretical Study second one being the possibility of fiction, of Charles University – Czech Academy of Sciences a delusive appearance: the complex reality Husova 4 can manifest itself in many incompatible 110 00 Prague 1 ways, partial and thus potentially misleading. Czech Republic The third one being thereflexivity of the cosmos, founded on the reflexivity of the Department of Philosophy and History of Science musical speech itself. The Muses are capable Charles University, Faculty of Science to manifest themselves, and even their own Viničná 7 manifestation. By means of their song, the 128 44 Prague 2 world becomes manifest to itself, too, and Czech Republic the complex system of divine powers gains [email protected] a reflexive character. In the closing section, we sketch briefly what happens to this reflexivity in the domain of humans. Indeed, the mortals can gain immortality through the song of the Muses, expressed by inspired poets in human voice.*1 * This study is a slightly reworked and abridged version of a Czech article of the same author (or- cid.org/0000-0001-9147-1796), Luhanová 2014. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 5/2018 ELIšKA FULÍNOVÁ 5 THE MusES AND REFLEXIVE NaturE OF thE WORLD IN ArchaIC GREEK THOught The general image of the Muses Czech Classical scholar, follows in his tends to include some awareness of the footsteps when she claims: role these goddesses play in inspiring the works of literature, especially po- The idea that musical and poetic talents etry. The notion of a special divine power are divine, and art is used by gods is dedicated to this task is specific to Greek part of at least the Indo-European herit- myths: no parallels are found in the age. Only in Greece, however, do we find pantheons of other nations. The ancient a Muse who not only brings divine art Greek concept of a Muse or Muses is, and gives it to people, but also reveals however, much broader, and their most and declares that she herself and her important function is not to contribute work is part of the order of the world, to human artistic endeavours but to fulfil that it is part of its way of being.2 a certain cosmological task. This aspect of Muses was studied in detail by Walter Through a musical word, that which F. Otto,1 and Sylva Fischerová, a leading is can reveal itself and relate to itself in its manifestation. And more specifically, 1 Otto 1955. Of importance in this context are also some smaller works from the 1950s that treat the subject of Muses in a more gener- al context of mythic manifestation and self- (1955), Die Sprache als Mythos (1958), col- revelation of being, especially Der Mythos lated in Otto 1987. und das Wort (1952–1953), Der Mythos 2 Fischerová 2006a, p. 63. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 5/2018 6 archaic thoughts expressed in the A similar ‘ancient story’ (παλαιὸς works of inspired poets can, thanks to λόγος, τῶν παλαιῶν μῦθος) is also re- this divine gift, relate to themselves, counted by Philo of Alexandria.4 In his express themselves in speech, and version, the creator of the world, after apprehend themselves in a particular finishing the whole cosmos ὁ( σύμπας manner. Thanks to the Muses, there κόσμος), asked one of his assistants thus arises the primary ground of cos- whether there was something missing mic reflexivity that makes self-relating among the things arisen. The assistant and self-understanding possible. In the then replied: following study, we trace the cosmologi- cal aspect of this phenomenon. In doing … that everything was perfect and so, we rely especially on the treatment fully completed, but that there was of this subject presented by Hesiod in just one thing missing, namely a word his Theogony. praising it, which should not so much praise as announce (οὐκ ἐπαινέσει THE WORLD MANIfeSTS μᾶλλον ἢ ἐξαγγελεῖ) the pervasive ex- ITSELF In a MUSICAL SPeeCH cellence … because the narrations of We can take as our starting point the god’s deeds represent their fully suffi- story of the birth of the Muses, a point cient praise, since they do not need any which W.F. Otto believes to be the key to external addition as an embellishment a better understanding of the Muses and (προσθήκης οὐδεμιᾶς ἔξωθεν εἰς κόσμον their role in the world of ancient Greece. δεομένων).5 The story of their birth is attributed to Pindar and its shortened version appears Zeus liked this idea, which is why he in the writings of Aelius Aristides: begat with Mnemosyne, embodied Mem- ory, a generation of Muses, goddesses Pindar went so far that he says that in who celebrate and thereby complete the the marriage of Zeus, upon Zeus asking whole of the ordered world. the gods if they desired anything, they Where Pindar according to Aelius requested that he create for himself gods says that what the finished world needs who would honour (κατακοσμήσουσι) in for its completion is to be honoured, words and music these great deeds and Philo emphasises that it is not about all of his preparations.3 praise (ἐπαινεῖν) or adding something to what there already is. What the world 3 Aelius Aristides, Πρὸς Πλάτωνα περὶ needs to be complete is an account, or ῥητορικῆς, 106: Πίνδαρος δὲ τοσαύτην more precisely a narration (διήγησις) ὑπερβολὴν ἐποιήσατο ὥστε ἐν Διὸς γάμῳ that would announce (ἐξαγγέλλειν), that καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτούς φησιν ἐρομένου τοῦ Διὸς εἴ του δέοιντο αἰτῆσαι ποιήσασθαί is, express and tell in words, the divine τινας αὑτῷ θεοὺς, οἵτινες τὰ μεγάλα ταῦτ’ ἔργα καὶ πᾶσάν γε δὴ τὴν ἐκείνου κατασκευὴν κατακοσμήσουσι λόγοις καὶ 4 Philo Judaeus, De plantatione, 127–130. μουσικῇ. Translation Behr 1986, P. 145. 5 Philo Judaeus, De plantatione, 127–128. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 5/2018 ELIšKA FULÍNOVÁ 7 THE MUSES AND REFLEXIVE NATURE OF THE WORLD IN ArCHAIC GREEK THOUGHT deeds and order of the world as it already above.7 Naratio achieves this either by is. Philo points out that divine actions telling a story from the life of the divine do not require that anything be added: power celebrated by the hymn, a story as soon as they are spoken, spelled out, that captures the god’s nature, or by ap- they are their own tribute and praise. plying a diachronic genealogical per- The world thus not only exists but thanks spective, that is, by telling how the god to a musical speech also manifests itself, was born and eventually found his or her whereby musical speech does not add place in the divine order. A hymn thus anything to reality. It just makes real- expresses the reality it celebrates in two ity explicit, expressed, and apparent in distinct ways: by describing its essential what it is, even in its dynamic aspect, nature and by recounting the process that is, in capturing the events thanks to that led to its establishment. which reality acquired its definitiveness. Hesiod’s Theogony represents a cul- Manifestation thus conceived therefore mination of the hymnic form thus becomes, through the Muses, the way of defined. The monumental construction being of the world and the song of the of this work is unique, but its basic struc- Muses is a cosmogonic act because it ture is analogical to some other longer represents a constitutive culmination hymns preserved as part of the Homeric of a process it celebrates. 7 The distinction between descriptio and A BeAUTIFUL WORLD naratio was proposed in the context of ana- lysing the structure of hymns in Miller 1986. IN BeAUTIFUL, BUT POSSIBLY Similarly, Richard Janko draws a distinction DeCEPTIVE WORDS between a ‘myth’, i.e. a story told in the past Hymn is an ancient literary genre that tense, and ‘attributes’ in the sense of a de- scription of properties of a divine being, re- celebrates and ‘praises’ divine realities counted in the present tense; see Janko 1981.