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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (48910)	8/4/1999 11:52:00 AM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

I would argue that our mutual understanding with the ancient world would be closer where science is concerned than in the area of mythology. A wonderful topic for discussion which I wish I had time to get into in more detail, but the next few days and evenings are full of non-SI stuff. But on first reaction, I think I don't agree with you. Briefly: the Greek notion of the atomic theory is very far from our own. They had no understanding of the circulation of the blood or the germ theory of disease. Their astronomy posited the Earth as the center of the solar system, with the sun and planets orbiting around the earth. Their geographical knowledge, even of the areas they had explored, was rudimentary. Their geometry was quite similar to ours, and their idea of mathematical proof still stands. But their science was based on observation rather than experiment, a method which has long since been replaced in western science. Their myths, however, still touch our lives today. The Oedipus myth is enshrined in a psychological complex. Antigone is still performed to highly appreciative audiences. The Hercules myth is the basis of a modern TV series (not a very good series, but the myth of the mighty fighter for good who has god-given talents and abilities is still strong in our psyches). People who achieve great success are still spoken of as reaching olympian heights. The myth of Sisyphus is still trotted out regularly. All these and many other myths are engrained in us because they record verities which we continue to recognize today. Bullfinch's Mythology far outsells Aristotle's Physics. This is just a rudimentary skimming made without access to any of my library (I'm at work), but is a start. Maybe Neocon, also being steeped in the Greek tradition, and more recently than I, can step in here and contribute to this discussion.