5/21/15
Acropolis (highest point) of Pergamum, administration area, theatre next to temples, to Zeus and Trajan and Dionysus, excavations easier, palace walls protected kings then governors when Romans invaded, counsel house, Greek theatre created in hills, less circular, whereas Romans made semicircle out of nothing, protected by Dionysus, temple of theatre dedicated to him, wine and sex sacrificed there, all male actors, well paid, only entertainment in Greek, place of sin when Christianity came, library, 2nd largest of ancient world, so big cleopatra stopped sending them papyrus, so they created parchment out of animals, used both sides of page, mirror today's codices, Ephesus is 3rd, schools as gymnasiums, 2 main streets north to south, east to west, built from 5th century bc plan called grid plan, copied by modern cities today, to build on steep land, build platforms as we saw in the Trajan temple built by Hadrian, dedicated to an emperor, roman emperors were seen as gods after Augustus, cities with these temples got preference as temple keeper cities, neocoris city, first three of this Anatolian region was angora (today's capital), Pergamum and something else, then Ephesus gets the title, became a competition, during Pax Romana, maintained peace, Corinthian columns, bishop of Izmir at the end of the 2nd century refused to make sacrifice and was executed, going to his church tomorrow, temples had food, made sacrifices, 1st century AD, Paul made his journeys through all these lands, didn't use sacrifices, big issue, each were converted as people conquered with different religions, fleterius is founder of this city, atelid family, until roman takeover, their family was the first art collector, statues from 3rd cent bc copied by roman artists, it was a kingdom, satans throne is here at alter of Zeus, made sacrifices 24/7, world heritage site in 2014, always one step ahead (we've visited thermopolis, old Istanbul, Troy)
Izmir, 3rd largest city after Istanbul and Ancora
Biblical Heritage (Amos, Micah, Kamm 2)
In the time of captivity and exile, the Mediterranean world is emerging from their dark ages around 1200-800 BC. Homer is writing at this time. The collapse of the Northern Jewish kingdom, Israel, occurs in 721 then the Southern kingdom of Judah falls in 586. Around this time we are getting great philosophers, with Aeschylus in 500, Plato and Socrates in 400. The role of prophets becomes important among this reemergence of cultures and new thinking in the world and for the Israelites' experience with all these bad king. Before they had a kingdom of priests in their holy nation, the prophets try to recover these priests as radical preachers. Judgement is always a part of their message, but they also provide hope for redemption. Among the people's sin, abandonment, neglecting, and idolatry, but they could repent and God will save them. The prophets are examples of this. God made an example of Hosea when he told him to marry whore, symbolic of the people of Israel, who are breaking their half of covenant. The interesting part is that he chooses loves her, despite her being a faithless adulterer. This provides an image of God's relentless love for His people. Likewise, His people need to share that relenting love by being full-time followers rather than making sacrifices to make up for purposeful mistakes. The prophet Micah tries to get rid of this mentality of a cycle of sinning and sacrificing. Instead of paying a debt, he prompts them to just do justice, pay kindness, and walk humbly with God, independent of how grand the sacrifice they make.
Social World (Euthyphro)
Euthyphro and Socrates run into each other outside of king archon's court in an ironic meeting. Euthyphro is there to undertake the unconventional job of indicting his own father for murder for the because he believes this to be pious. Meanwhile, Socrates is under indictment for being impious by not ascribing to the gods of Athens and instead being concerned with things above and below. While they do not reach a definition of piety despite both of their involvements, the character of these two can give insight into what piety is. While Socrates is self-examining and more than often irritating for this criticalness, Euthyphro is confident in what he thinks he knows as a priest, self-satisfied, complacent. As Socrates begins to question him on what exactly IS piety rather than an example of a pious action, the reader can tell that Euthyphro hasn't really thought it through. If we take Socrates' character as genuine piety, we can see his tendency to be afraid to talk about his divine sign and to be open with others about his communication with god. This god he receives messages from is a personal and singular god, who is engaged with his people and guiding me them to make the right decisions. This example of divine interaction comes with a modesty that is unlike Euthyphro's. With a reluctance to know about god, perhaps a true definition of piety must be incomplete if he is so different that our language is inadequate. God by nature is unknowable, and a sense of humility and wonder come with this mystery. If we look to examples of martyrs such as Polycarp, it is their differential, referential, respecting, and submissive attitudes that they reserve for no one but God that I believe is piety. Piety gets them killed. Piety perhaps also gets Socrates killed in the Apology. The definitions prompted in Euthyphro are not limited to the actions prosecuting the wrong doer and impiety its opposite. It also not only what is dear to the gods because piety is not the way it is because it is loved by the gods but rather it is because the gods happen to love piety. Why do we have to define piety in order to understand what it looks like in our society and ourselves?
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