Very interesting history. I had no idea the Phoenicians were considered a Semitic people and were possibly descendants of the Canaanites? That bit about St. Paul was fascinating as well. Thanks for the history lesson, Prof! 😃
Totally agree! The history is fascinating and Donald's inclusion of the maps, brought the whole article to life. I have now embarked on exercise to find out more about the Phoenicians! By coincidence, I had started reading Adam Nicholson's "How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks", which I am finding fascinating. He references a number of the Presocratic philosophers - Thales, Anaximander, Anaximendes, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Zeno both of Elea, Empedocles... I also have David Abulafia's "The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, on the bedside table, ready to go! It has a whole chapter on the Phoenicians, "The Purple Traders, 1000 - 700 BCE" - but I haven't got there yet!
Another way that Stoicism is related to Canaanite/Phoenician religion is by way of Stoic determinism. One of the Canaanite gods was El who also appears in the Hebrew bible. El was identified with Cronus the god of time. Stoics also believed in astrology and divination which was big in the Levant and also South Asia. In fact, when the Greeks visited India, they identified the main god of South India with Saturn/Cronus. This is accurate when you consider that Lord Shiva is the master of the Dance of Time - Shiva Nataraja - One of my favorite spiritual images of all time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja . Within the Dance of Time all is created and destroyed - Panta Rhei and Heraclitus says.
So Zeno's critics were possibly 'zeno'-phobic! 🤭
Very interesting history. I had no idea the Phoenicians were considered a Semitic people and were possibly descendants of the Canaanites? That bit about St. Paul was fascinating as well. Thanks for the history lesson, Prof! 😃
Totally agree! The history is fascinating and Donald's inclusion of the maps, brought the whole article to life. I have now embarked on exercise to find out more about the Phoenicians! By coincidence, I had started reading Adam Nicholson's "How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks", which I am finding fascinating. He references a number of the Presocratic philosophers - Thales, Anaximander, Anaximendes, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Zeno both of Elea, Empedocles... I also have David Abulafia's "The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, on the bedside table, ready to go! It has a whole chapter on the Phoenicians, "The Purple Traders, 1000 - 700 BCE" - but I haven't got there yet!
Yes! A truly amazing (and truly unique) essay!
Another way that Stoicism is related to Canaanite/Phoenician religion is by way of Stoic determinism. One of the Canaanite gods was El who also appears in the Hebrew bible. El was identified with Cronus the god of time. Stoics also believed in astrology and divination which was big in the Levant and also South Asia. In fact, when the Greeks visited India, they identified the main god of South India with Saturn/Cronus. This is accurate when you consider that Lord Shiva is the master of the Dance of Time - Shiva Nataraja - One of my favorite spiritual images of all time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja . Within the Dance of Time all is created and destroyed - Panta Rhei and Heraclitus says.