When people today think of Greek philosophy, most think of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Yet when ancient Athenians educated their children, they'd teach them Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. These were the national poems of the culture, and were not only used for education, but also for divination and protection (a spell in the PGM entails writing a certain verse on a tiny scroll and concealing it in an amulet).
These philosophers, however, may not have agreed with that. Plato's Republic describes his version of an ideal city in which children are raised to be ideal citizens and philosopher-kings. In this "ideal city," however, he bans poetry because, in his view, poets have the power to distort reality with their words.
Would Plato have banned the Illiad and Odyssey, two epics so important to the Athenian culture? Hard to say, but one thing that's clear is that Homer and Plato had some pretty different ideas about what the Gods were like. Plato also goes further and articulates what he believes to be a "quarrel between poetry and philosophy," which is a much wider disagreement than whether the Gods have feelings or not. His argument cuts to the heart of how people determine truth. In a nutshell, he believes that only philosophy in all its rigor can deliver Truth with a capital T, and poetry such as Homer writes are dangerous fantasies that are too often mistaken for truth.
Oh, dear. That's a heavy charge, and one worth considering. If Plato were to come to a modern Pagan circle and listen to our modern, poetic invocations and stories of the Gods, would he scoff? Would he accuse modern Pagans of believing too much in fantasy?
In Homer's defense, though, Sannion made a blog post a few weeks ago in which he provided samples of helpful teaching quotes from these great epics.
What do you think? Have you read the Illiad, the Odyssey, or another Pagan epic? Can poetry such as this be trusted to contain truth?
I was fortunate to commucinate with Sannion once or twice. He is so nice and his writings/blogs offer so much insight into the Hellenist Recon Movement. I think he is absolutely wonderful! But to comment on your blog, I think Plato was a good philospher but lacked the imagination of his people and more importantly the insight the epic poets of his time had. I like to argue he suppositioned too much and grossly sought the scientific connections for things, taking away from the human/spirit factor. Truth for one may not be truth for an other (spoken like a true philosopher I guess). However, the epic poems reveal so much about the human spirit and psyche unravelling at the time. Sannion's quote sums it up for me “All men (women too) have need of the gods.” (Od. 3.29. Is that not the truth? What is wrong with the fantasy I ask? Nothing, especially if it can help you connect with the meaning of life, morality, spiritual attunement and invalauble lessons learned through the tales of the Olympian Gods/Goddesses, Heroes, and fantastical adventures. Especailly if it makes you feel alive again! I think if we all looked at life with wonderment and the unlimited possibilites that can be discovered in the mysteries we would have a bettter appreciation and zest for living. This could be a wondeful truth could it not? The truth is that pagans of many paths are returning by the droves to the fold of a more spiritual life be it recon, solitary, Wicca, Celtic, Shaman, Voudon, Asatru, Hedge/Kitchen, etc and the list goes on. It is those epic stories I believe from many cultures and different countries near and far, that hold a certain truth and bring us back from a mundane, regimented life! I whole heartedly believe the story has more fact than fiction if it can make one look too life with zest and passion for life again. Take for example this very Covenspace community, when I joined in March it was fairly new, now it has almost 9000 members in less than 6 months. I bet if we asked all the members what epic stories stick out in their mind that rang some semblance of 'the truth' to them, a good majority would say "I do believe" and I would have to tell Plato how can this many people be wrong? Wow I went off in a tagent here, sorry but your question really stirred me! BB MysticDawn
Bia'Aletheia01:11 AM EST