7/29/2019 Thomson, George_From Religion to Philosophy_1953_JHS, 73, Pp. 77-83 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/thomson-georgefrom-religion-to-philosophy1953jhs-73-pp-77-83 1/8 From Religion to Philosophy Author(s): George Thomson Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 73 (1953), pp. 77-83 Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/628238 Accessed: 07/01/2010 18:01 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=hellenic . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Hellenic Studies. http://www.jstor.org
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7/29/2019 Thomson, George_From Religion to Philosophy_1953_JHS, 73, Pp. 77-83
From Religion to PhilosophyAuthor(s): George ThomsonSource: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 73 (1953), pp. 77-83Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/628238Accessed: 07/01/2010 18:01
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=hellenic .
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Journal of Hellenic Studies.
THE starting-point of this article was Cornford's essay, 'A Ritual Basis for Hesiod's Theogony ,
recently published in The Unwritten Philosophy.1 He showed it to me soon after he had written itin I942. It is only a sketch, but it struck me at once as important, because it opens a new approachto the conclusion he had reached many years before in From Religion to Philosophy. I told him thisand begged him to pursue the subject, but he smiled and said, ' I leave that to you '. Hence thetitle of this article, which is a tribute to his memory.
His From Religion to Philosophy appeared in 19I3. In the same year Eduard Norden publishedhis Agnostos Theos : Untersuchungen ur Formengeschichte eligioser Rede. In this study, starting fromthe Sermon on the Areopagus, Norden shows that the Greek and Latin authors employ, in poetryand prose, certain forms of speech, liturgical in origin, which can be traced independently in theOld Testament. The two streams, the Hellenic and the Hebrew, drawn from Babylonia and Egypt,were reunited in Christianity, notably by St. Paul, who, in virtue of his birth and upbringing, wasequally well versed in both. Later, in the Byzantine liturgy, they were reinforced by a third stream,the Syrian, of the same ultimate origin.2
These two works, which appeared simultaneously, are complementary. Cornford was con-cerned with the content of Greek thought, Norden with the form; and both reached the sameconclusion. The roots of Greek philosophy lie in the ancient religions of the Near East.
I. THE SEPARATION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
The main thesis of Cornford's essay is that the cosmology of Anaximander is a scientificreinterpretation of the myth of the separation of Heaven and Earth as related by Hesiod. Thismyth is found in various forms all over the ancient East and in the Far East and in Polynesia. Inparticular, it is the main theme of the Enuma elish, or Epic of Creation-a hymn chanted annuallyin Babylon at the festival of the coronation, at which, after the world had been symbolically re-created, the king resumed his authority and ' fixed the fates ' for the year.3
A comparative analysis of this myth in all its forms is an important task which has yet to beundertaken. For the present it will be enough to identify the four main variants.
First, the idea of sexual union. In the beginning Heaven (male) and Earth (female) were one.4They were separated after the birth of a child or children, who forced them apart in order to makeroom for themselves, thereby creating light. The partners were afterwards reunited periodicallyin the sacred marriage, which made the earth fruitful. This, the oldest form of the myth, is inorigin simply a projection of the division of the primitive horde into two intermarrying moieties-the earliest form of organised human society.5
Secondly, the idea of water as the primary element. In the beginning there was a waterychaos, which divided and so left room for the formation of dry land. This reflects the fundamentalimportance of irrigation in Mesopotamia and Egypt, where the dry land was literally created byhuman labour out of the primeval swamp.6
Thirdly, the idea of the world egg, in which the two preceding ideas are combined and reinter-preted. Heaven and Earth are the upper and lower parts of an egg which has split open.7
Fourthly, the idea of a duel. A god slays a dragon, whose body he hacks into two parts, whichform heaven and earth. Such is the duel between Marduk and Tiamat as described in the Enuma
1 F. M. Cornford, The Unwritten Philosophy, 1950: see alsohis Principium Sapientiae 1952), published after this article wentto press. I wish to acknowledge my debt to the late N.Bachtin, with whom I discussed these problems many times,and to Mr. R. T. Rundle Clark, who drew my attention tothe Egyptian data cited in notes 4 and 7.
2 E. Norden, Agnostos Theos, pp. 207, 260-1; R. Cantarella,Poeti Bizantini (Milan, 1948), Vol. II, pp. 28-37.
3 S. H. Hooke, Origins of Early Semitic Ritual, 1938, pp.18-I9; I. Engnell, Studies in the Divine Kingship in the AncientNear East, 1945, pp. 15, 36.4 In the Egyptian version the sexes are reversed, presumablybecause in Egypt there is virtually no rain. The Egyptianp.t 'heaven' may be connected with wp.i, 'to separate':K. Sethe, Uebersetzung und Kommentar zu den altagyptischenPyramidentexten, ol. III, p. 1, IV, p. 117. For the latest
generalaccount of the
mythsee K.
Mar6t,'Die
Trennungvon Himmel und Erde', Acta Antiqua, Vol. I, pp. 35-63(Budapest, I951).
6 See my Studies in Ancient Greek Society, 1949, p. 58, and,
for further data relating to the 'dual organisation', S. P.Tolstov, 'Sovyetskaya shkola v etnografii', SovyetskayaEtnologiya, Vol. IV (1947) p. 25.6 See my note in The Modern Quarterly, 1949, Vol. IV,pp. 267-9.
7 Chandogya Upanishad 3. 19: 'In the beginning it wasnot; it came into being; it grew; it turned into an egg;the egg lay for a year; the egg broke open; one half was ofsilver, the other of gold; the silver half became this earth,the golden half the sky . . . And what was born from it wasAditya, the sun'. This corresponds to the Egyptian mythof Geb (earth) and Nut (heaven), forced apart by Shu (light).The cosmic egg figured in Egyptian ritual: G. Lefebvre,'L'oeuf divin d'Hermopolis', Annales du service des antiquites,Vol. XXIII, p. 65; Magical Papyrus Harris 6. Io, ed.H. 0. Lange, Danske Videnskabernes elskab, Hist. Fil. Med.
14. 2, 1927, p. 53. See further M. W. Makemson, TheMorning Star Rises: an Account of Polynesian Astronomy, 1941,Chap. II.
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elish. The primitive form of the myth is here combined with the idea of an initiatory ordeal,symbolising the triumph of summer over winter, which was enacted at the coronation festival.8
All four variants can be traced in Greek. The first is the story of Ouranos and Gaia as told inthe Hesiodic and Orphic theogonies, with various modifications of detail, showing that its originalsignificance had become obscured.9 The second underlies the so-called Homeric theogony andthe cosmology of Thales.10 The third was taught by the Orphics.11 The fourth appears in Hesiod
as the duel between Zeus and Typho, after which Zeus becomes king, just as Marduk becomesking after the slaughter of Tiamat.12 Other Greek versions of the duel, also associated with thekingship, are Apollo's fight with Python and the fight between Kadmos and the Theban dragon.13
2. THE CALENDAR
At this point it is necessary to recapitulate some of the conclusions reached in my study of theearly Greek calendar.14
The Greek calendar was derived from the East through the Minoan-Mycenean priest-kings,particularly those of Delphi, Thebes, and Orchomenos. The Delphic Apollo, according totradition, came from Crete; and, as Nilsson has shown, he reached Crete from South-west Anatolia,while one feature of his cult-the sanctity of the number seven-points definitely to Babylonia.15So with Kadmos, who founded Thebes. Minos of Knossos was his sister's son, and he himself wasa native of Phoenicia, which he left in search of his sister, Europa, whom Zeus had carried off to
Crete. The myth of Zeus and Europa corresponds to the myth of El and Asherat, which has beenrecovered from the cuneiform texts of Ugarit.16 Typho was born in Cilicia,17 which includedSyria,18 and in one version his slayer is not Zeus but Kadmos.19 In Syria itself, at Antioch, therewas a tradition that he had been struck down at the mouth of the Orontes.20 Thus, both figures,Kadmos and Typho, lead us back to Syria. All this is in harmony with recent excavations there,which have shown that Ugarit and the neighbouring cities were in close communication with Creteas far back as the seventeenth century B.C.21 The myth of Kadmos contains a core of historicalfact. These Syrian cities were one of the main avenues through which Babylonian culture, includingthe calendar, was transmitted to the Aegean. This conclusion is important, for three reasons.
In the first place, the officer in charge of the calendar, without which irrigational agriculturewould have been impossible, was the king; and he, representing the god, was directly concernedin the annual re-enactment of the creation at the coronation festival. There was thus an inherentconnexion between the calendar and the creation. With this in mind, we see the two main themesof the Hesiodic poems-the farmer's almanac of the Works and Days and the creation myth of theTheogony-in a new light. They were drawn from a common source-the hieratic tradition ofthe priest-kings descended from Kadmos, which after the Dorian invasions was secularised andpopularised.22
In the second place, Thales and Anaximander devoted much of their attention to astronomicalproblems, which had a close bearing on the regulation of the calendar. That being so, there is anintrinsic probability in Cornford's view that their cosmological speculations were inspired by themyth of the creation.
In the third place-and this is a circumstance which has attracted very little interest-there isindependent evidence that they were the heirs of the Kadmeioi.
3. THE THELIDAI
Early in the second century B.C. the citizens of Miletos built a new town hall. In it they placeda statue of Anaximandros-evidently the great philosopher of that name. It was an old statue of
8 On Tiamat and the Sumerian Zu see S. Smith, BabylonianLegends of the Creation, 193I, p. 18; S. Langdon, The BabylonianEpic of Creation, 1932, pp. 19-20. Other examples of the duelare the slaying of Leviathan (Psalms 74, Isaiah 5 , cf. Job 26. I ),which is the Lotan of the Ugaritic texts: C. F. A. Schaeffer,Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra, 1939, pp. 65-6.
9 In Hesiod the idea that heaven and earth were one hasbeen overlaid by the notion of an original x&oS, orrespondingto the Egyptian Nu and the Babylonian Apsu; but it survivedin the Orphic tradition: A.R. I. 496-502, cf. E.fr. 484.10 Roscher, Lexikon, Vol. V, p. 1539.
11 W. K. C. Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion, I935, pp.92-5.
12 Hes. Th. 820-85. It is clear that 881-5 should followdirectly after the defeat of the Titans. The battle of the Titansand the slaying of Typho are alternative versions of the sametheme.
13 Plu. M.418a, Apld. 3. 4.
.14 'The Greek Calendar , JHS, LXII (1943), 52-65.15 M. P. Nilsson, Minoan-Mycenean eligion, I927, pp. 423-4.16 Schaeffer, p. 6o.17 A. Pr. 367, Pi. P. 8. I6.
18 Str. 627.19 Nonn. D. I. 481-534. The duel was also located inBoeotia itself: Hsch. Tupiov, Pi. 0. 4. I sch., Hes. Sc. 32.20 Str. 750.
21 Schaeffer pp. 10-I7, cf. p. 3: 'In order the better tounderstand the formation of ancient Minoan, it seems necessaryto reduce the influence hitherto accorded to predynastic andprotodynastic Egypt and to search rather in the direction ofAsia'. This is borne out by the comparative study of Greekmythology,
22 Other elements in the Hesiodic Theogony traceable toSyria are Aphrodite, whose Phoenician connexions are wellknown (see my Studies, pp. 507-14) and Eros, the PhoenicianPothos (Ph. Bybl. 1-2, Dam. I25). At Thespiai, where therewas a cult of Hesiod (IG. Sept. 1735, I760, 1763, cf. Paus.9. 31. 4), there was also a cult of Eros (Paus. 9. 27. I). Otherancient cults of this god are recorded at Leuktra in Laconia,founded from the Boeotian Leuktra (Paus. 3. 26. 4, Str. 36o),and at Parion (Paus. 9. 27. i), founded from Erythrai, one of theoriginal Ionian colonies and named presumably after theBoeotian Erythrai.
GEORGE THOMSON78
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the sixth century, which they had removed from its original site on the Sacred Way running fromthe city to the temple of Apollo at Branchidai. Several other statues of the same date have beendiscovered on the Sacred Way. One is a marble lion dedicated to Apollo by Thales, Pasikles,Hegesandros, a fourth whose name is illegible, and Anaxileos, all sons of Archegos son of Python;another is dedicated by the sons of Anaximandros son of Mandromachos; a third, also to Apollo,by Histiaios.23
The Thales and Anaximandros of these inscriptions cannot have been the philosophers, buttheir names suggest that they belonged to the same clan. Anaximandros the philosopher was ason of Praxiades and a kinsman of his master, Thales.24 Thales, a son of Examyes by Kleobouline,belonged to the clan Thelidai, which was a branch of the Kadmeioi.25 That is what Herodotusmeans when he says he was ' of Phoenician extraction '.26 We know that Kadmeioi from Thebeshad taken part in the colonisation of Ionia,27 and that Priene, across the bay from Miletos, wassettled by a contingent from Thebes under Philotas.28 There were certainly Kadmeioi at Priene,29and Philotas was probably one of them, because we are told that in his honour the city was some-times called Kadme.30 These traditions may have been derived from Kadmos of Miletos, who wasremembered as an early historian of the city and whose name speaks for itself.31 At Mykale, acrossthe bay, there was a cult of the Potniai-that is, Demeter and Persephone-which had evidentlybeen brought there from Potniai near Thebes.32 The Theban cult of Demeter had once been apalace cult of the Kadmeioi.33 And finally, in view of their ancestral ties with the Delphic Apollo,the Thelidai may well have held a special place in the worship of the other Apollo at Branchidai.34
That would explain why their statues were erected along the Sacred Way.Set against this background, Cornford's main thesis, cogent in itself, is confirmed. Thecosmogony of Hesiod and the cosmology of Anaximander are offshoots of a Minoan hieratic tradition,which reached Greece from the East.
4. HERAKLEITOS AND GORGIAS
The earliest of the philosophers whose writings have survived in sufficient quantity to give animpression of his prose style is Herakleitos; and he was famous for his style.
Herakleitos belonged to the royal family of Ephesos, descended from the founder, Androklos,whose father, Kodros, had been king of Athens.35 He would himself have held the regal office,had he not resigned it in favour of his brother.36 Among the royal privileges that survived wasthe priesthood of Demeter Eleusinia.37 This, we may presume, had been acquired by the Kodridaias kings of Athens; for the Athenian officer responsible for the Eleusinian Mysteries was the apXcovpoaacEAevs.38 is family must also have officiated in the worship of the Ephesian Artemis, which waspre-Hellenic,39 possibly Hittite in origin.40 He deposited a copy of his writings in her temple.41And so Herakleitos too belonged to a family of priest-kings.
The central doctrine of his philosophy is contained in what he calls the Xoyos, which he presentsas though it were indeed a mystery, like the Eleusinian AEyo6pEva nd the Orphic iEpoi Xoyot. Itmay be defined in modern terms as the principle of the interpenetration of opposites; and it providesthe key to his style. Just as his thought is dialectical, so his style is antithetical. Words and clausesare abruptly counterposed so as to lay bare the contradictions inherent in the ideas which theyconvey. The effect, as Plato describes it, is like a series of volleys from a band of archers.42 In ahighly inflected language like Greek such a style is necessarily accompanied by constant rhymesand assonances, and to these Herakleitos adds the use of punning-a universal characteristic ofprimitive speech, designed to invest it with a mystical or magical significance.
TEeVCE.)TES.(66) TOU PIoU ovvopa p3ios, Epyov 8E O&vacros.Being so closely wedded to the subject, this style cannot be described as rhetorical; yet it exhibits
all those features which later became so familiar in the schools of rhetoric that technical terms wereinvented for them: avTiOEcns, ao vSErov, TroapiacoasS, Trapopoifcoois, Trapovopcaaia.43
The founder of Greek rhetoric, in the accepted view, was Gorgias of Leontinoi. In 428 B.C.
23 SIG. 3. For the name Pasikles cf. Hdt. 9. 97. For other 33 Paus. 9. i6. 5. There are signs that at the Boeotiannames in pav5po see SIG. 3g (Miletos), Supp. Epig. Gr. 4. 461. 4 Orchomenos, too, and at Andania, the worship of Demeter(Branchidai), Apul. Fl. I8 (Priene), SIG. 960. 5, 1079 (Mag- had been a palace cult: see my Studies, pp. 125, I93.nesia), i068. 3 (Patmos), Hdt. 4. 88 (Samos). 34 The cult at Branchidai was older than the Ionian
24 Suid. s.v., Str. 7, D.L. 2. i. colonisation (Paus. 7. 2. 6), yet Branchos was said to be25 D.L. I. 22 6 Eafis* .. EK TrV e9sAi5X,v, 0 ai OOiVIKES, descended from Delphos (Str. 421). This is what we should
EuyEVo-racoi TrCV Or K&Spou Kal 'Ay&vopos. expect if the Ionian settlers reorganised the cult under Delphic26 Hdt. I. I70. 3 OaXico v6p6s MiXlalov ... TO cVEKaOEV ykvoS supervision.
gov-ros OiviKoS, cf. 5.57. oi E rEupao i .. ..aav (DoiviiKES T&V 35 Str. 632-3. 36 D.L. 9. 6. 37 Str. 633.auv K&Spc, &TlIKOpEVCOV s y?iv T-rV vOv Boticoriv KCxAEOpiVTlV:ee my 38 Arist. AR. 57. I. 39 Paus. 7. 2. 6.Studies, pp. 123-4. 40 W. R. Lethaby in JHS XXXVII, io.
he visited Athens on a diplomatic mission and created a sensation by his flamboyant oratory. Thefollowing is the only surviving passage from one of his funeral orations. It must be quoted in full,because it is important for my argument: Ti yap a'rrlv TroIS cvpa&a TOUTrotS av 8Et -rpoCatvac; Tr 68Kai TTpoOfOv 2v ou SETT'rpocaTvaoc; EiTETv Vvaiprlv a& 3ouAopiia, povAoiprLv 8' & 6El,acbav pIV TT'VOEiavvEpacriv, q(puvyv STVv cepcdObrivov pO6vov. oOroi yap rEKKT'r TO EvOEov piV T7rV dpETrlv, vOepcrrivov
E TOOV'rTOV, WroXXa? V 86 T6O rpaov tnWEi1Ks TOV au0ea6ouvs 5KadlOU -rrpoKpivoVTES, rTroXc& E vopou
dCp PEias AXycov 6peO6TTa, TTOOVo1 voopV3TE Es6'0TaTOV Koa KOlvOTaCrov vO6ov, TO 8Eov v -rC Sov-riKCai EyEv Kal iayav Kai rrotEiVKai Eav, Kali Stiaac dacTKincravrES d6cio-ra )Bv sET, vcbrpv Kai pd'rTlv, TrlvPEV pvOUAXEOVTES, 'lV 8' &cTTOEvTAoUvES, EpcTrovTrES pEV TCOV&SKCOS suvoJTVuXOVTcov, KoXaocTal 8E Tr&v&daiKco EJTUxovr covTc, aUOcaXSES rpOS TO curVp?Epov, E?V6pyfrTOI TPOS TO rrpEiTOV, TCO ypovipL TflS yvcorIlsTraUOVTES O aCqpov TS pbjpIS, tPo-rair S TOrjsi-r,63piri E TOS 3prs, KO6CpIO1 S TOS Koo'iioUS, &popoi EiS TO
This style has been aptly described by Diodoros (12.53): T-pCO'TOScXp EXpnaaCrTO lroT rS EXcoSCrXTlpccrrtciaoS rEpiTTOTSpoIs caiTi (piqtoT?EXvi(a iaEpouciv, aVTTniTOis KaCi aOK6cbAO Kai TrapicroI Kai
6pOIOTEEiTroIs Kai TICTIVTrpotS TOIOtOIS, & TOTr pIEV ta TO vov Tris Korrac-KexfIS ooXs OXfS tIOOTO,Vov 8 -EptiEpyiav EXE1V OKETKat 9aiVa?at KaTrayEAaca TXrAov6ai KiKa r aKpcos TteO?gEva.
The difference between Herakleitos and Gorgias lies in the relation between form and content.In Herakleitos they are in perfect unity; in Gorgias the form has been elaborated for its own sake.
What was the historical relation, in regard to their style, between Herakleitos and Gorgias?Before pursuing this question, a few words must be said about the subsequent history of Greekrhetoric.
The influence of Gorgias on Greek prose has been studied by Norden in his Die antike Kunstprosa(1898). Of his immediate effect we have a striking example in the encomium of Love which Platoputs in the mouth of Agathon in the Symposium. It will be enough to quote the peroration (i97d-e):oOro5 8' flp5 &s 'XoTpt6'TlTro pEv KEVOI, OiKtEioTTTOS 6S TrArXpoi, Tas TOiaCSE7 ouv65ous 1ET' dcaAAXAcovTraaoas TitOis oa'viEVal, V Eop-raI,v XopopT ,Vv Ovaioaiat yiyvo'6pEvoS nyEpcbv-' rrp6TrMTa P.EV Trwopicov,ayptoT6nTa 6' &opif3Cv ItX668copoS EOPEVEaSias,Scopos SuCOPEVEiaS- iESco5 &yae6o, eEaT6s aoq)oi5,ayao-ros OOT5, 3ricoTs a&oipo0s, KTITOS EvUOipois5* TpVJfs appOTTnTOS X'Si) XaPiTIv ippou oroufTraTrip- ?TrItE?AS &yaOcov, a&PXES KOKCOV- v TrOVC, ?V p6O3cp, ?V 7r60ec, ?V X6yCp Kup3pvrTMs, wt'3ipaTrrs,TrapaoOirrTri TE Kai cCOTTrPp piCros, oVP.TrTaVTcov E OeEOV ai &vOpc37rcov KO6CHOS, yE1jpcbv Ka&?aTros Kaila&picros, co XPh ETrEaiat TravTa avSpa Eu1vpvouvTa KaAcoS, coSfiS PErTEXovTra lV Set OeEXycov ravTcovOEcOVEKai avOpcOwTcovo6rpta.
In Thucydides the influence is strong, especially in the speeches, but in Plato's own style, asdistinct from his imitations of other authors, like the passage just quoted, it is much less so. Thesame is true of Xenophon, Isokrates, Demosthenes, and all the Attic orators. They use Tr ropyietaoXiqpoara on occasion, but with restraint.
In the meantime, however, towards the end of the third century B.C., the so-called Asiaticstyle had been inaugurated by Hegesias of Magnesia-under-Sipylos. It flourished for severalcenturies, especially in the recently Hellenised cities of the East. It is simpler than that of Gorgias,but essentially similar. Three examples may be given.
The first is from Maximos of Tyre (3.9): o6SupETai 2?pgrnS 'rTTrcb|iEvos, rrEvEt Kap3pucrns rTpCOrKO-pEVOS, pc3cbt3E
apSav&rrawsaCo5'T1inprpapEvos, &viaTat
pIvrpvSupi58qS&1Tauv6Opevos, SaxKpiEt KpoTaoSkap3axvo6pEvo S,XvETrrTTat 'A?'avSpos pu pc6axOpEvoS' t 8 AtoyEvovs fl?ovai otpwyqfiS&rreipot, &orovot,adBKpvrot, &ATrrot.
The second is from Libanios of Antioch (Laud. Const. I7' -= Foerster 3.294): ptia pEV fiTrEipos,pja S O&XrraTTa, olvai SE ai vcraot, avec,ytevoIt XItpvEs, dcvaTrETrrTapEval r0ual. 6OKa&SESE TwraVTaXT aTravTax6eEv Kopi3oucOat crrEvoxcopovCI TOUS Oppous* oavrvyupiS &8KOIVl Stiw&raS tKpoU Tris Cyp' 'A'cX
TrTcrat, TCOV EV Kac' ioropiav, TrCv 8E KaT' &2C?aS rrpoqact5s, T-rV p.Ev TErAayri rEpaioup?vcov, TOOV6 8' 'TrrEipou OEOVTrcov.
The third is from Daphnis and Chloe (Long. 1.14): vUv ?ycO voacO pEV, TI 56 il v6ao &ayvoo-'day&o, Kai ?AKOS O01KEOrrTt o01. kIT-rOUvpat, Kai ouS'v TCOV Trpop3rcov adTrO6XoA o01-KaOCiat, Kal ev r<iaTOCaaTtTi) KdrIpCat. rr6oaot 'rot p[etoEATaKis mputvav, ati OVK EKACauaaC rrWaat pE7rTTat KVT-rpa -nKav,O&V' O0K EKpCyOV.
Lastly, the same style, with further modifications but still recognisably the same, reappears inparts of the New Testament and blossoms later into the distinctive idiom of the Byzantine liturgy.44
44 The ensuing quotations from the Greek Orthodox 1863 (EM); ')poX6yiov Tr6 Miya, Venice, 1876 (OM); S.Liturgy are cited from 'H 'IEp& uvowts Kal ri Mey6aa TlTa[q, Antoniadis, La place de la liturgie dans la tradition es lettresAthens, 1938 (abbreviated s IS); ECXoXo6yov6 Miya, Rome, grecques, eiden, i939; R. Cantarella, PoetiBizantini,Vol. I.
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From the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (6.9): cos TrAavoi, Kal a&rOTis bs ayvooUpEvoi, KaiETrtylvcoCKO6pEVOv bs a,-OVrlOiKOVTrE, Kai i8ou 30Cev cos TraI8Eu6OpvoI, Kadi Pq aVaTOvproEvoI coX,TroVpeVOI, aEi 6E XaipOVTES obs TrTCOXOi,'TOX,OoS8 TrrAouoTirro vTES cos prJ6EV EXOVTES, Kai TravTaKaT?xovTEs. From the KaTcXlITIKOS Aoyos of John Chrysostom (IS, p. 498): f1 Tpa&rTTEa yEPEi,TpUvq)pilaTE TraVTrE. 06 poCXoS TrOV\S' ri8EsIS EEXri, TrEIVC)V. iTravTES aTr0XOVETE TOU ouVprTrooiou TrisTrioTEcoS TrraVTES &CrroXacaaT-r TOi' TrAov,TOv TTrS XpTlrrTTITos0. pUlSEis prTVEliTCo TrEViav av yap rlKOIV!
This is the style to which Norden gave the generic name of Satzparallelismus. It can be traced,as he showed, from the beginnings of Greek prose through classical Greek and Roman rhetoricinto the writings of St. Paul and the Christian liturgy, where it was joined by the correspondingJewish and Syrian traditions, derived independently from a common oriental origin. Beingpreoccupied with the Christian period, he made no attempt to investigate in detail the earlierhistory of the Greek tradition; and it is from this point that my argument proceeds. Acceptinghis general conclusion that, in Greece as in Judaea, this style is in origin liturgical, we look forcorroborative evidence on the Greek side in the historical circumstances and in the style itself.
In regard to Herakleitos the case is plain. As one of a family of priest-kings, he wrote, naturally,
in a hieratic style. His writings were probably designed in the first instance as discourses for hisdisciples, the Herakleiteioi, who no doubt were organised, like the Pythagoreans and Orphics, asa religious society.46
The case of Gorgias is not quite so simple. The possibility of direct influence may be ruled out,since it is very unlikely that the writings of Herakleitos became current in Sicily so soon after hisdeath. Moreover, Gorgias was not the founder of the Sicilian school of rhetoric, having beenpreceded by Korax and Teisias of Syracuse.47 The alternative is to suppose that they too haddrawn on liturgical sources. They did for rhetoric what Stesichoros did for choral lyric.48 Theytook over the ancient liturgical form, divested it of its ritual setting, and secularised it as an artform; and it was this sensational novelty that Gorgias brought to Athens.
It is fortunate that one of his surviving fragments is from a funeral oration. With this to guideus, the proposition just enunciated is, I think, capable of proof.
5. THE RITUAL BASIS
The funeral oration (TriTlTpios) was related to the dirge (epfivos), from which it differed inbeing spoken, not sung.tung. It was also related to the encomium (EyKcb[uov), which was a speech inpraise of the living; and the encomium was related to the hymn (ouvvos), from which it differedin being spoken, not sung, and addressed to a man, not a god. 49 These conventions rest on a commonritual basis, which can be reconstructed from a study of the numerous examples that survive, inprose and verse. Running through them all we find a few simple ideas which were evidentlytraditional.
I. The speaker expresses anxiety lest he may fail to find words adequate to the occasion. Gorg. 6E'lT?TV SuvaiLrJv & pouT oitai, povSoiuivi'v 8' & T P. Sym.ym. 8od IyC ouvTrErpaojuat TOUTO ETravop-OcoaaaOal, TCrpCoTOV Ev "EpcoTa (ppacaat 6v SET1ETraivETv, ETrElTa aivcrai a VicoS) OU OEoU. Ib. 194e Eyc)o8E 5 poUXOlt apat TOV ,lEV ElTrEiV Cos Xp [' EiTrElV, ETrEIT EiTrltv. Mnx. 236e 6ST 6} TOIOUVTOU TrVOSX6you O6CTIS OUS ,IlV TETEEvTrilKOTaS iKavcos ?raivEaErTai, TOIS &E3COCSV VUEVCOs rapaivECrETat. Th. 2.35. 2 XaETr6Ov yap TO teTpiCA)S iTTEIV, eV C) omIS KoaI a sOKTIlIS Tfin aXr iEias P3sE3alOrTai. D. 6o. i
TOI5oyoiS, &rropco Ti TrwpTOVv 'lwrco. P1. Mnx. 236e TiS oOv &v 'mIv TOIOUTOSo6yos ravEirl; wTrOEvav opOcos &pcaiLOGa avSpac &yaeooS ETratvo0vrTES; Lys. 2. 1-2. A. Ch. 854 ZeU ZEU, Ti ?Eyco; Tro6evapvcoctaT, Ta65' TewuxojC?vrE Karrtac3ouc va TtO 8' Evoias TrCO)S cov EiTToo1 avu -cotPai; cf. 314, 417.Ag. 775 ays 8ri, pacyAEuv, TpoiaXs TrToXiTrop, 'ATpcoS ysvEOov, TrsT& rpoo-EiTrco; TrCOS EEs i3co, pKTvurrepapas ic rlTOroKaJgcas KalpovxaprTos; 1490)vo acclAEUcaatyEU, TCAoS CE saKpUcoo; 9pEv6Os EK
45 The xaip6Tiaroi of the 'AKIcO-rTosecall the use of XaipE n Allusions in the Oresteia', JHS LV, 20-34, 228-30), so modernthe ancient mysteries (Call. HCer. I-2, Orph. fr. 32f); and Greek has borrowed many phrases from the Christian liturgy:we may recognise an echo of the same in the cries of xaips see Antoniadis, pp. 240-6.which recur throughout the Oresteia (see my edition, Vol. I, 46 P1. Tht. i8oa, D.L. 9. 6. The author of the Hippocraticpp. 17-18). There are many more connexions of this kind Trepi Tpoqqs ay have been one of the Herakleiteioi.yet to be discovered. Just as ancient Greek, especially Attic, 47 Quint. 3. I. 8. 48 See my Studies, p. 466.drew on the language of the mysteries (see my article, ' Mystical 49 Aristid. Ars Rh. I. I60 = Rhet. Gr. Vol. V, p. 60.
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KaTaKavuccoaPat; Anaximenes Ars Rhet. 35. Menandrus Trepi TrtEr1KTIKCOV I T'rhv TifToXv TO1Opq1vou rrOEv dp0cojciai; I17 rr6OevE XP1'1rTpV &pxvorolcaoait; Liban. Laud. 3. i 'TOOEV 0va&paao'la KaAov; Andreas Cretensis MEyas Kavcbv (Cantarella vol. i, pp. ioo-I) 5 VTTcspcocxaiOpriVEiv rTas TOOU &iov pou 3iov -rpcaEsI; wroiav &wrrapXv w-Orioaco, XptorrE, rn vOv OpTrvco5ia;
Cantarella XLI (vol. i, p. 77) = IS p. I25 TToiov caoi EyKcbpIlov pocaayayco Ew'rraov; Ti 5E ovopa&coOE; 'Arropc) Kai ior' Iaa' S6 cos rrpoaETaTriv Po aoi, Xcp,ap KExapiTcrpAvr1. These passagesmay be compared with many hymns, which begin with the singer at a loss to find the right namefor invoking the god: Norden, Agnostos Theos, pp. I44-7.
3. This hesitation springs from the primitive superstition that praise may provoke envy: P1.Lg. 8o2a 'TOs yE phv ETIC3VTraS EyKcopiOiS TE Kai vUvois Titpiv OvK &acayqE, cf. Hdt. I. 32. 7. Gorg. 6NaOcov pIEV TrAV OEiav vEPCETV, qpuy&cv 5E TOV avOpcowTvov q)O6vov. P1. Hp. Ma. 282a E'lcoea pE'VTOEycoyE TOUS TracXciUS TE Kai cwpoTpous ip&v wTpOTEpOV E KalaXTov EyKcoTpaEE1vi TOUS vuv,EvAapOUVPEVOSEV pQO6vov TroV COVTCOV, pOpOUiOpEVOSS piqviv T -ZV TrETEAEUTTIKOTcV. . Ag. 894'otoIICO8 TOt viv atco wpoopyQEypacnv 9Qe6vos 8'--rroo. Ba. 3. 67 E EyEiV TrapECTIV, 6o0IS pT
(p6vo riaivETal,5.
I87 XPf 6' &aXa0iac Xp cviv,iv?1v vov TrcoaaEvov, E. TlS E? 'rrpacoit ppOTrOv,12. 199 Ei pfi Tlva Epc-TrrS Ooe6vos ptaTal, ciVEiTCA uoq96v a&vpa aiuv i'Ka. Pi.O. 8. 54 EI 8' ycAMEXrlcia E &yEVEicov KU6OS dcvESpcapovjvcp, , PhTc aETCco MEXicp, TpacXE pO6vos. Th. 2. 35. 2 6 TEyap iuvEiScbs Kal EUVOVS KpoarrlS TaX av TI Ev6EEoETpcos wrpos
&poUAErTa TE Kal%ETiaTa'rt vopio-aE
r8iAoU0Oalt, T' &a-rrpos Eo-rVa
Kal TrAEov&aEaOeat, i& i8o6vov. D. 60. I4 i 65E TOrVXoycov TrEteC TnSTCa)VKOUOVTCOV EUvoias wTpo6Ei-rTal.
4. After these preliminaries the speaker opens his main theme by referring to the ancestry ofthe persons concerned. Th. 2. 36.
5-. The person concerned is addressed or described in a series of arresting images. P1. Sym.
I97d-eKuP3Epv'TrrT, EwtraTTs, Trp
r'TaTrisKaiKacoTtnp dpla-ros.
A.Ag.
887 ;EyoIt' &v dvSpa TOV8E'TCOV -raetOpv Kuva, ocoT-ipa vaosTwp6Tovov, UyAlfis aT-ryriS 0rUXov wTro6TpIP, pOovoyEVES TEKVOVTrarpiKai yfiv qpavEcuav vauriXAos Trap' XribSa. E. And.89I cb vau-riAoiOi XEi'aTcaroS ,ipv opaVEis,AyacEpi-vovos Tral. Antoniadis, p. 354 (Liturgie de Saint Basile) v y&p El, KCUpiE,
cpoieEiOaa TCr)Vpo3i8TTCA)ov,
T 7a1TriS COVdaTrwTrl;cripvcov, 6 TCOVXEipa30OPVcov C0OT-)p, 06TCr V T.EOVTCOV XItilV, 6 TCO)V OUCOUVTCOViaTpos. G. Valetas, 'Aveo\oyia TSjs SrjpoTrKqS TrrE3oypacicas, I947, vol. i, pp. 88-9 (Lament)XEAiXt6vIt
aEpaKI riXEAEuOEpia TOU, xpoUSCrO aETOs i Trrapprc aiia TOVU,XpUca T'rEpap Tl Tipq TOV. IS p. 37 (Servicefor the Fourth Hour) Ti OcEacAE'coipEv, cb KEXapicTcorE?vri; O'pavov; OTI avrTEiXas TOV "'HAlov rjSStKaioCvrlS. TTapa8ElCYov; OTIEfpXaOCTES OvOos TrS &peOapoaias.
6. Lastly, the memory of the dead is imperishable; or simply, the dead live. Gorg. 6Troiyapov v al'T&v aroOa6vTCov o6 Troos ov o'uvaTreOavEv, aW' d&OvaTros OVK EV &eavaTrois ccbipat 3ifouv cbvOTov. Lys. 2. 79-80 Kai y&p TOIt ayipaTrot pUv aiTcov a iiVt, a.a TcoTai'UTtO TwvTcovavepcoov al Tiritai o0 TrEveOovTart Ev it& T'qv qvotiv cosOvv-rToi, JipvoOvTrat cbs&aOvacroi it T7V
apET'TV. Simon. 121Ov58 TEOViU' OeavovTES. A. Ch. 502OVTCo yap o0 TEOv)Kas oW85 TEp Oavcbv.IS p. 124 (Service for Easter Saturday) KvpiE, EE [IouV, E65tov vpVOV Kal ETr-Taq)tlov c58iv aoia0op.at, T-rCTri Traci) oaou 3cofis ot racS Eica6ous StiavoiCav-ri tKa Oavarc TOVevaTrov avaTcraavTit.
This last is as forceful as Herakleitos himself: deavarol 0vr'Troi, Oviro a'0aovarot.This is enough to show that for the content of his funeral oration Gorgias was drawing on ritual.Let us now turn to its form. If we examine from this point of view the compositions from which
we have been quoting, we shall find that they exhibit in an exceptional degree that Satzparallelismuswhich is so conspicuous in Herakleitos and Gorgias. The following passages are a few among manythat might be added to those already quoted: Th. 2. 40. i q9i;AoKaooOp[v-r TE yap pET'0TE?XEIas, Kac iqpiocropo0pEv avEV aoaKia.KiaS. D.0. 337 rvTrcp6V ctivravolpvo yEyEvfijOat TrraTpps, KaXov E yEKNripovoPEiV TWraTpcsas EvOSoias. Simon. 5 -TrCV V OEppo-TrvcAait avovTcv EVKEfIS [pEVa Tv.Xa, Kaco.s
rTjrraar sl EV I?IlKlas, Trrarlj S BiET-XTI S EaE0E TilV Kap8iav. A. Ok. 326 -roToTjTCIr 8'
OvTUKCA)V,
avaqpalVE-rTcic
Pf3O'.TTCQV. Th. 91 -Tts &pap P'J'aETai, -Tts a'p' E'TiTapKEc l eECA)V Fi OE&v; Per. 702lEjIal [IEV Xiapi'aaaoGcl, 8fE.IEa 8' &VTic( qp&aeat, 2EcaiS SJaNEKTra pL\oiaiv. S. Tr. 947 Tr6TEPa
TrpoTEpov E1TaOTvc), Tr6-rEpa TrEAEa rrEpatT-rEpw, cIcoKplT i.IEoYE 8vo-r'avo. El. 197 56'oS ijv 6cppxaa,ilpos 6) KTE1vaS, 8etv&v 8ElVO TrPOq1JTEIJUaVTES 1OP~CV. E. Ba. I153 VXOPEUvaXE V B&KXlov,v varoa-CYCO[EV V1JvptOpaV.
Two further points remain,and the
argumentwill be
complete.First, a conspicuous feature of the dirges is that in many of them the antithetical structure isnot merely formal, as in Gorgias, but determined by the content, as in Herakleitos. A. Th. 941A. -rra0-8E TraiaS.-I. o, 8' EeavES KaT-rK-ravCAv.-A. 8opi 8' EKaVES.-I. Sop' 8' 9OavES.-A. PENEo-'irrovos.-I. 1EAEo-rrae's.j-A. 1TCr) ooS.-I. ITco) 8aKPV.-A. I. rP6KE:iaal KaTraK-r'. S. Ai. 394 tc4aK6TOS EiOV qaOS, EPEPOS J) qpaEVV6OTCTOV S EP01i, E'NEO-e'E'NEo06 ' oiiKlT-ropa.50
Secondly, in the Christian liturgy, under Semitic influences, this feature renews its vitality.There are many examples, of which perhaps the finest are in the 'AK&Otlaor IS p. 1I2 - Cantarellapp. 90-i): XaTpE, 8EoD a&XCoPTITOV cAcpa XaipE, CETrTOV [VYTlJOTpiov e'ipa. Xat-pE, 7CoV aTriTo-rcovalpiyfo2.ov &KOVa[a. XapE TCA)VT-m~Tcov ava[qif3OAOV KavJXT.la . . XaIpE, -rTcvav-ri'a EtS TraCIT6
aya-yoxcca XaTPE, f1 -apeEviaV Ka'l 2OxEi'av 3EVyVVaca. Hail, uniter of opposites!' In thismagnificent passage the principle of the Heraclitean A6yos is triumphantly reaffirmed.
6. THE MYSTERIES
The suggestion, made earlier in this article, that the A6yos of Herakleitos was akin to the OrphictEpol A6yoi and the Ele-usinian AEy6[1Eva, is well-founded. The principle of the unity of oppositeswas familiar to the Orphics and Pythagoreans. Indeed, as Norden has shown, it can be tracedright through Greek philosophy and reappears in the Gospels.5' The doctrine that life is deathand death is life is a reformulation of the primitive concept of the totemic cycle of birth and death. 5
It was equally well known to the Orphics and Pythagoreans, and they expressed it in the sayinguc'$opa &apa.5 This is a pun of the same type as the Heraclitean PliosPIo's. The truth is that all theelements of his dialectics are imbedded in primitive religion. That is too large a subject to beinvestigated here; but in conclusion, remembering that his family held a hereditary priesthoodof the Eleusinian Demeter, let us consider three liturgical formulas that have survived from theGreek Mysteries.
First, EK Tv1JITravoU E(payov, K KVIJ[13?\UETrOV' EKEpVOqPppT1aa, (u rro rov Traa-rov ciTrE8uvClem. Pr.2. 14). That was the Eleusinian formula. A similar declaration was made in the Mysteries of
Attis (Firm. Mat. Err. i8): E'K -ruv-rravov 3PcoiPWa, EiK KVJI.f3cOlJ -M'rOa yEyova i.tUrTris WATTECO).These are instances of Sat zparallelismus.Second, Eqpuyov KaIK6V,Ev~poviiEIVOV. This was used in the Mysteries of Attis (D. i8. 259) and
also at Athenian weddings (Plu. Prov. i 6). It is another Satzparallelismus, and in content it corre-sponds to the Eleusinian a2TraXayT' ro6vcovnd the Christian ' Deliver us from evil 'J54~
Third , (E, KU'E (Prod,. in Tim. 293c, Hippol. Ref. Omn. Her. 5j. 7). Another pun. The initiateslooked up to the sky and cried, ' Rain! 'Then they looked down to the earth and cried, 'Teem!'Aeschylus 'must have had this little ceremony in mind when he wrote (fr. 44) 'PE v'v c&yvos ovpav6sTrpCO'al Xeo6va Epo E~cdav 2~a1.4a&vEta&j.ov VXEIV.5 It conveys in two words the whole story of thecreation-the separation and reunion of Heaven and Earth-and so provides further corroborationof Cornford's thesis that Anaximander and Hesiod were joint heirs to the mythical traditions of theMinoan priest-kings.
7. CONCL~USION
Dr. Cyril Bailey has written: ' The connexion of theology and physical science in the earlyGreek philosophers is well brought out in Mr. F. M. Cornford's From Religion to Philosoph,togI . . . think that he overrates the importance of the religious element in the philosophers of the"scientific tradition " '*5 There is some truth in this criticism. In seeking to discern what Greek
philosophy was ceasing to be it is easy to lose sight of what it was in process of becoming. Let mesay, therefore, in conclusion, that, in my opinion, the work of these men-especially Pythagoras,Herakleitos, and Parmenides-marked a revolution in human thought. This-the analysis of whatwas new-is of course the major task, and a study of origins should be seen as a contribution tothat end. As such, it is legitimate and necessary; for we cannot identify the new without firstrecognising the old.
GEORGE THOMSON
510This seems to be the origin of the figure of speech known (fr0aai ~p&&r6 toO-rrovT1po0), but this may have been deliberateas oxymoron, which is a conspicuous feature in the style of (ibid. Vol. II, P. 206), and the original phrase survives in theAeschylus, reflecting his profound sense of dialectics. service of baptism: EM p. 156 Els&-rraA?saAivOcaxv w&r6v-rcovro!S
5' Agnostos Theos, pp. 240-50. 52 See my Studies, PP. 45-9. Xp10iopvos -rio-TE.-5 PI. Grg. 492-3, Crat. 400c, E.Jr. 638, Philol.fr. 14. C. Pau s. i10. i12. 10o ZesOs v, ZisC ia-r,ZC~ga-a i54 On the Eleusinian dTa\?Xaylh r6vcv ee'my Oresteia, Vol. I, vEy&?soEQ)F&KapTroius vis, 516KX?O3E-rETyTipa Faciav'.
Pp). 14-i6. In the Lord's Prayer the wording is different 56 C. Bailey, The Greek Atomists and Epicurus, i928, p). o.
