tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post8557220873561241193..comments2024-03-27T09:04:12.454-07:00Comments on Baring the Aegis: 'Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.'Elani Temperancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05611003885755154591noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-11127887824863906892014-08-19T10:28:12.074-07:002014-08-19T10:28:12.074-07:00In Hellenismos, the problem of theodicy does not s...In Hellenismos, the problem of theodicy does not stand as in Christianity because Hellenic gods rarely have any claims to benevolence (or to omnipotence, for that matter). E.g. Hesiod's Zeus wishes to take at least half of the meat produced by humans, and when his plan is frustrated at the Mecone "conference", finds comfort in the thought that now at least he has a nice excuse to inflict evil on humans. (Though there is no hint that humans had asked Prometheus to secure protein-rich food for them, the idea was entirely his.) What good can be found in Zeus' systematic rapes, or in Hera's relentless persecution of the victims? When the Earth got overpopulated, couldn't the gods apply better methods of population control than war? Probably they could, but it does not bother them when humans die before their time, unless they are their own children.<br />As you said in a post devoted to Niobe, Hellenic gods are not cuddly.Maya Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10877457709995369246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2382184804747180588.post-40749592191623269092014-08-18T19:10:51.483-07:002014-08-18T19:10:51.483-07:00I think you're right regarding the alleged quo...I think you're right regarding the alleged quote and Hellenismos; personally, I find the famous theodicy at the beginning of the Odyssey more helpful in understanding the existence of evils. Some things are predestined by Zeus for reasons of His own, and some things we create through our own actions that were not predestined.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01903823641908600078noreply@blogger.com