I have explained before how I differentiate between mythology and philosophy, where I feel myth was inspired by the Theoi Themselves, while philosophy was created by humans who saw society and drew conclusions from it. These conclusions often included a religious aspect because society was religious (even though the ancient Hellenes didn't have a word for 'religion'), but at its core, they deal not with religious matters. They deal with the influence of religion on humanity and society.
An example: the ancient Hellenic philosophers and mythographers were pretty much in agreement, however, that the Gods, indeed, created the universe--or are the universe itself. The most famous account of how everything came to be comes from Hesiod. His 'Theogogy' is a complete recounting of the story, starting with Khaos:
"Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next
wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all the deathless ones who
hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the
wide-pathed Earth, and Eros, fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the
limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within
them. From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born
Aether and Day, whom she conceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And
Earth first bare starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side,
and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth
long Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess-Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of
the hills. She bare also the fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus,
without sweet union of love. But afterwards she lay with Heaven and bare
deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea,
Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was
born Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated
his lusty sire." [ll. 116-138]
He goes on to list a great many deities, cutting out a rough shape of the cosmos while doing so. There are many variations of this family tree, and in the ancient writings, there are also creation stories that range beyond this basic framework. Many of them match very well with science, though.
I believe in the theory of the Big Bang, where the universe was in an extremely hot and dense state and began expanding rapidly. After the initial expansion, the universe cooled sufficiently to allow energy to be converted into various subatomic particles, including protons, neutrons, and electrons. Giant clouds of these primordial elements later coalesced through gravity to form stars and galaxies, and the heavier elements were synthesized either within stars or during supernovae (courtesy of Wikipedia, because of ease). I see no issue in overlaying this theory with Hesiod's cosmology, however. The Big Bang theory does sound like first there was Khaos, and from that, matter came into being to eventually form the Earth as it is now. So as far as the creation of the universe and the Gods goes, I will go with Hesiod and his explanation, although a variation of his work is also fine by me.
As for how we came to be, I believe in evolution. I don't think we were put on the Earth ready-made by the Gods. That said, the proposal that one type of animal could descend from an animal of another type goes back to some of the first pre-Socratic Hellenic philosophers, such as Anaximander and Empedocles, so it's not an odd frame of mind to have for a Hellenist; even the ancient Hellenes flirted with the idea that at least animal species evolved from one another. I love the myth of Prometheus, but no, that is not how I think we came to be, although I won't rule out that the Gods had a hand in our formation through evolution.
All in all, I think Hellenismos and science go together very well. Most (if not all) scientific breakthroughs either work with Hellenic mythology or don't detract from it. Hellenic scientific research and philosophy often forms the base of our modern understanding of the world around us. The ancient Hellenes made great contributions to the field of 'science'. So yes, Hellenismos is 100% compatible with science and evolution, and that is something I find very appealing.
There is an exception to this view " ancient Hellenic philosophers and mythographers were pretty much in agreement, however, that the Gods, indeed, created the universe"
ReplyDeleteHeraclitus (fragment DK30) says
Neither did any of the gods nor did any man make this universe which is the same for all but it always was and is and will be an ever living fire which is constantly being ignited and extinguished in proportion.
This more aligns with the steady state universe but with the proviso that new matter could not be created although it could be transformed between fire, water and earth.