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Craig White's Literature Courses
Critical Sources
Classical
Greece and Judeo-Christianity
in Oedipus at Colonus &
Samson Agonistes
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The relations between Classical Humanism
and Judeo-Christianity are sometimes most apparent in contrast or conflict, as in modern
America's "culture wars" between "lifestyle liberals" and "the religious right."
However, the "worldly" and the
"godly" are deeply intertwined
traditions in Western Civilization's institutions and values. Sometimes one is more apparent than the other, and individuals may
prefer to exclude either tradition, but
empirical reason and faith traditions always co-exist in some dialogue
with each other.
from Aeschylus,
The Eumenides
of the Oresteia Trilogy
[The scene shifts to
the
Areopagus,
the high court of Athens.
Athena enters with a herald and ten
citizens, the jury she has selected. A crowd of citizens enters with
her. Orestes moves to the place where the accused stands]
ATHENA:
Herald, blow the call for order in this court.
720
from Sophocles, Oedipus
at Colonus
CREON: Not deeming this city void of men
Or counsel, son of Aegeus, as you say
[son of Aegeus = Theseus]
I did what I have done; rather I thought
Your people were not like to set such store
by kin of mine and keep them against my will.
Nor would they harbor, so I stood assured,
A godless parricide, a reprobate [parricide = parent-murderer;
reprobate = troublemaker]
Convicted of incestuous marriage ties.
For on her native hill of Ares here [hill of Ares = Mars Hill,
where Paul later preached; Acts 17.16-34]
(I knew your far-famed Areopagus)
[Areopagus = chief
homicide court of Athens]
Sits Justice, and permits not vagrant folk
To stay within your borders.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Acts
17:16-34
Paul in Athens
16
Now
while Paul was waiting for them at
Athens, his spirit was provoked
within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.
17
So
he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout
persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be
there.
18
Some
of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And
some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems
to be a preacher of foreign divinities"—because he was
preaching
Jesus and the resurrection.
19
And
they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we
know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20
For
you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore
what these things mean."
21
Now
all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their
time in nothing except telling or hearing
something new.
Paul Addresses the Areopagus
22
So
Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of
Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
23
For
as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also
an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What
therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
24
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven
and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
25
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything,
since
he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
26
And
he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of
the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of
their dwelling place,
27 that
they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward
him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
28
for "'In him we live and move and have our
being'; [Bible Gateway note: Probably
from Epimenides of Crete]*
as even some of your own poets have said,
"'For we are indeed his offspring.'
[Bible Gateway note: From Aratus’s poem
“Phainomena”]**
29
Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being
is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and
imagination of man.
30 The
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent,
31
because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world
in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has
given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
32
Now
when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others
said, "We will hear you again about this."
33
So
Paul went out from their midst.
34
But
some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the
Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Copied from
Bible Gateway, 25 June 2008
*28
for "'In
him we live and move and have our being'; [Bible Gateway note: Probably from
Epimenides of Crete]*
Epimenides was a semi-mythical 6th century
philosopher, poet, and prophet. Paul's quotation is from his poem
Cratus.
The following passage refers to Zeus, king of the Greek gods.
They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and
high one—
The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts,
idle bellies!
But thou art not dead: thou livest and
abidest forever,
For in thee we live and move and have
our being.
Coincidentally, the second line of this
verse is cited elsewhere in the New Testament, in Titus 1:12:
"One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own,
said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."
The "prophet" in Titus 1:12 is identified by
Clement of Alexandria as Epimenides (Miscellanies,
chapter 14).
("Epimenides," Wikipedia 25
June 2008)
"'For we are indeed his offspring.'
[Bible Gateway note: From Aratus’s poem “Phainomena”]**
Let us begin with Zeus, whom we mortals
never leave unspoken.
For every street, every market-place is
full of Zeus.
Even the sea and the harbor are full of
this deity.
Everywhere everyone is indebted to Zeus.
For we are indeed his offspring...
(Phaenomena 1-5).
From John Milton's foreword to
Samson Agonistes, "Of that sort of
Dramatic Poem which is called Tragedy"
Philosophers and other gravest Writers .
. . frequently cite out of Tragic Poets, both to adorn and illustrate their
discourse. The Apostle
Paul himself thought it
not unworthy to insert
a verse of
Euripides into the Text of Holy Scripture, I
Cor. 15.33 . . . .
1 Corinthians 15:33 (English Standard Version)
33 Do not
be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."
[Bible Gateway note: From Aratus’s poem “Phainomena”]
King James Version
1 Corinthians 15:33
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company
corrupts good habits.”
Broader connections between St. Paul and
Greek culture
Paul was a Roman citizen, and especially
after the Emperor Constantine, the western church and the Roman
Empire became more or less united, as in "Roman Catholic."
Greek culture remained a powerful
force throughout the Mediterranean world in which Paul traveled,
preached, and wrote. The Roman Empire itself admired and
supported Greek culture, as Greeks were known as people of
intellectual and artistic training.
Paul wrote in Greek. The entire New
Testament was composed in Greek (with some passages in Aramaic,
which Jesus spoke).
Paul was from Tarsus, a highly
cultured community known as the "Athens of the East."
One of Paul's strongest (and
richest) churches was in Ephesus--another wealthy
Greek and Roman community where the Temple of Artemis was the
largest Temple in the world at that time.
(http://www.city-data.com/forum/religion-philosophy/237951-saul-paul-roman-greek-diaspora-jew.html,
25 June 2008)
Summary:
connections b/w secular Greeks and mystic Christians:
people were often
both—that is, Christ began as a Jewish messiah, but afterward
Paul extended Christianity to the Gentiles or Greeks
divisions: many Greeks remained sceptical of the supernatural
aspects of Christianity and instead committed themselves to
worldly or empirical learning.
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