Looking beyond the other Stoics for a moment, Epictetus's devotion was profound. He was a monotheist, polytheist, and pantheist, as Oldfather pointed out.
I always wondered this: how could a mind as vibrant and probing as his not also ask if many of the myths were based on real people/events?
I think most of the Stoics firmly believed in Providence so Epictetus maybe isn't unusual in that regard, but I don't think he necessarily took the myths literally.
This is The same thing Jehovah told His people, the ancient Israelites pretty much. There is talk though of giants and heroes of old in the Old Testament. I do wonder why Greeks hated Jews so much yet were so accepting of other cultures and God's. The Greeks, Knowing their loyalty, used it against them in horrific tortures to force them to renounce their faith in A Loving, Protecting, and Guiding, One God. The laws helped people to thrive and the powers that be, came to recognize that eventually. Just like air is invisible yet life-giving, hard to explain yet it is, so is God Almighty. Our reason comes from that All Knowing light and his friend Wisdom. Thousands of years later and we're still not sure why we are here. We just wonder at it all. Even those who sound certain cannot be in reality.
Looking beyond the other Stoics for a moment, Epictetus's devotion was profound. He was a monotheist, polytheist, and pantheist, as Oldfather pointed out.
I always wondered this: how could a mind as vibrant and probing as his not also ask if many of the myths were based on real people/events?
Do you have an opinion?
I think most of the Stoics firmly believed in Providence so Epictetus maybe isn't unusual in that regard, but I don't think he necessarily took the myths literally.
Zeus, Hera and Vesta,
And all the gods and goddesses
Are not Gods, but names
Given to things that lack life and speech;
For Zeus is the sky, Hera the air,
Poseidon the sea, and Hephaestus fire.
This is The same thing Jehovah told His people, the ancient Israelites pretty much. There is talk though of giants and heroes of old in the Old Testament. I do wonder why Greeks hated Jews so much yet were so accepting of other cultures and God's. The Greeks, Knowing their loyalty, used it against them in horrific tortures to force them to renounce their faith in A Loving, Protecting, and Guiding, One God. The laws helped people to thrive and the powers that be, came to recognize that eventually. Just like air is invisible yet life-giving, hard to explain yet it is, so is God Almighty. Our reason comes from that All Knowing light and his friend Wisdom. Thousands of years later and we're still not sure why we are here. We just wonder at it all. Even those who sound certain cannot be in reality.
Much new food for thought!