Revisiting 'Think as a mortal'

"Would you mind writing a bit about the eleventh delphic maxim? "Think as a mortal". Have you already written about that one? I just find it very interesting, but I would like to hear your thoughts on it as well..... :))"

I actually wrote about this maxim in my third post ever on this blog, although I didn't go very deep into it then. The post boiled down to the following meaning: remember your place, especially in relation to the Gods. Porphyrios (Πορφύριος) (234 - 305 AD), a Neoplatonist, said in his 'Introduction to the logical categories of Aristotle' that:

"...difference is that by which each singular thing differs, for man and horse do not differ as to genus, for both we and horses are animals, but the addition of rational separates us from them; again, both we and the gods are rational, but the addition of mortal separates us from them." [Ch 3, par 4]

Human kind is said to be a step above animals because we have the ability to think about our actions and predict the consequences of those actions, but we are below the Gods, because we are mortal, and the Gods are deathless. As such, we are encouraged to use our ability to think logically about our actions and choose wisely, but always to keep in mind that life is ending for us, and we have only a limited span in which to accomplish what we want to accomplish. Unlike the Gods, we do not plan centuries ahead; we have only a limited number of years, and our goals should reflect this.

'Think as a mortal' is a reminder that we must not overstep our bounds. Like Arachne in the post I wrote before on this topic, we must remember our place and be content with it. We have been given a mind to think, and years to spend on this earth before Haides claims us, and we should make the most of that, without ever aspiring to be like the Gods. We are not Gods, we are human, and we must never, ever, forget that or risk hubris. Hubris--to recap--can be described as the act of willful or ignorant refusal to comply by the will of the Gods. It's a serious offense to the Theoi, and the Theia Nemesis had and has a full time job in punishing those who commit it.

The Theoi are always greater than us, and when we step out of line, They will put us back into it. Fear of the Gods has become something dirty--outdated--in the Pagan world, but within Hellenismos, fear of the Gods is not outdated at all; it's a cornerstone of the faith. Fear of the Gods, here, is not meant in the Christian sense where any sin committed is seen by God, and jeopardizes you place in heaven; here it is meant as a reminder of kharis: that the Gods look favourably upon those who honour Them properly. The implication here is, of course, that they do not look favourably upon those who do not honor Them properly, and this is correct, yet, committing hubris does not automatically mean that you will be punished by the Theoi; it simply means a drop in kharis.

Remembering our place as 'mortal rational animals' is exactly the goal of the maxim, in my opinion, and of all the maxims, I think it's one of the most important because it ties into both kharis and hubris; cornerstones of Hellenismos.