[lit-ideas] Re: Greek To Me
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:50:43 EDT
Kant was wrong about the 'regulative idea of God' and in any case, he
didn't speak Greek. The concept of 'theos' was clear enough for the Greeks.
As the online Liddell/Scott notes 'theos' (while wrongly derived by
Herodotus 2 52 fr. from tithêmi ( [kosmôi thentes ta prêgmata]) Plato has it
just
right when he has Socrates hold, in Crayl, 397d, that the god is the
'runner' ('theos', "thein") isôs d' enia autôn kai hupo theioteras dunameôs ê
tês tôn anthrôpôn etethê.
SOCRATES: Is it not proper to begin with the gods and see how the gods are
RIGHTLY called by that name, 'theoi'?
ar' oun ou dikaion apo tôn theôn archesthai, skopoumenous pêi pote auto
touto to onoma hoi “theoi” orthôs eklêthêsan;
Hermogenes. Sure.
SOCRATES. Well, it is like this: the earliest men in Greece believed only
in those gods ('theoi') in whom many foreigners believe today -- the sun,
the moon, the earth, the stars, and the sky. They saw that all these were
always moving in their courses and running, and so they called them gods
(theous) from this running (thein) nature.
Hermogenes. But does the Earth 'run'?
SOCRATES. Yes. Only you are too idiotic to notice. Anyway, don't interrupt
me. Then afterwards, when they gained knowledge of the other gods, they
called them all by the same name. Is that likely to be true, or not?
toionde toinun egôge hupopteuô: phainontai moi hoi prôtoi tôn anthrôpôn tôn
peri tên Hellada toutous monous [397d] [tous theous] hêgeisthai housper
nun polloi tôn barbarôn, hêlion kai selênên kai gên kai astra kai ouranon:
hate oun auta horôntes panta aei ionta dromôi kai theonta, apo tautês tês
phuseôs tês tou daêmones “theous” autous eponomasai: husteron de katanoountes
tous allous pantas êdê toutôi tôi onomati prosagoreuein. eoike ti ho legô
tôi alêthei ê ouden;
Hermogenes. Yes, very likely. I can't find ways to contradict you,
Socrates.
panu men oun eoiken.
Socrates. Well said. So 'god' is the runner. What shall we consider next?
ti oun an meta touto skopoimen;
Hermogenes. "Shit". What is the right name for 'shit'?
Socrates. Well, surely you've heard the expression, "he has the runs".
Hermogenes. So it's again, the runner?
Socrates. Rightly so. You're learning the science, my beloved Hermogenes.
Cheers,
JL Speranza
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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