No Time for Naps in Nafplio

6/4/15

Epidarus- Temple of Asklepios, younger god, half human, often has a dog in his iconography for its saliva that is good for wounds, stick for traveling with snake wrapped around it is a symbol for life and venom can be used for medicine, mankind has been searching for answers and with accumulated knowledge of anatomy and medicine- human interference could play a role, like Asklepios, in the middle, used similar tools that surgeons use today, Theatre, 4th c bc, 14k people, not a big city so it was a gathering place, festivals of asklepieia, thymele building with mix of Doric and Corinthian columns, labyrinth construction in basement with snakes, not a normal temple building, 

Mycenae- tomb of Agamemnons father, 13th c bc, beehive, disappears into landscape, covered by earth, relief triangle, they made a deity of Agamemnon with a temple, watch men's tower with fire posts on all the mountains, 

Social World I (Political Writings Books 5)

Augustine reaches the conclusion of the part of City of God where his main goal is to refute the prosperity associated with pagan gods. By showing that the Roman Empire has not been expanded because of those gods, he explains that it is actually because of the one true God. He rejects fate by instead looking to divine providence in accordance to free will. Augustine looks to God's plan for the Roman Empire's future. Cicero claims that no one, not even God, can predict the future. However, Augustine disagrees and sees that we must surrender some of our pride and admit that God foreknew our voluntary thoughts to actually be involuntary since He is all-knowing. If we are to take Cicero's perspective, if fate prevails, it is the ultimate ruler, and our laws, rewards, and punishments become an empty form of justice. Whereas everything happens through God, nothing happens by Fate. However, evil wills are not created by God because they are not in His nature, but those wills have no power unless he has given it to them. Therefore, God would not want nations such as the Roman Empire to think they were exempt from his providence. To compare the rewards of the Roman heroes to the saints, we see where worldly honor that has been given to them from human beings is incomparable to the endurance of the sainthood in the City of God. Taking a step back to look at the brevity of this life on earth, Augustine questions the role of a government of a man about to die. If the ultimate goal is true piety, necessary for true virtue, then the role of the earthly city is to not get in the way of that. While Rome has been rewarded because of their relatively honorable empire of the earth, those with true virtue cannot serve human glory; therefore, those a part of the eternal city are not truly a part of the earthly city. Emperors should follow this model of eternal citizenry to be truly happy by acting accordingly: fear and love and worship God, share their kingdoms power with His, be merciful, punish justly, modest in material things, and "if they do all these things from love of eternal happiness than ardor for empty glory." While Augustine directs this to the rulers specifically, I think it is a fairly good list to extend to all citizens of God that are temporarily visitors of this world. 

Biblical Heritage (2 Corinthians, Week in Corinth 6-10)

In A Week in the Life of Corinth, Paul is summoned to the Roman courts by a Jewish priest. He takes his trial-by-judge very nonchalantly as he feels secure when he has his wealthy friends to back him up. However, none of them are there because Erastos is still recovering from what seems like a coma, as he has been passed out for many days, as a result of being beaten up by some of Aumelion's hooligans in his way to fix his aqueduct. But since Paul is caught in a dispute with a Jew, the Judge Gallio shows little interest in Jewish law and states his job is only to cover Roman jurisdiction. So until they find that Paul has broken Roman law, they have no case. At work in this trial, the reader can see have the lack of consideration for the Jewish faith's legitimacy in the sight of the Roman government as well as the conflict caused by the strain of the Christian grounding in the Jewish synagogues and law. 

Next, they begin discussing whether or not you can eat sacrificial meat, a point of contention between Gentiles and Jews that convert to Christianity. Does it make you a bad Christian for eating the meat meant for pagan gods? Christian aristocrats are often a part of the political dinners that use this meat. Christians in the lower class are in no position to turn down food in whatever form it comes. Therefore, Paul advises that you can eat it because everythingh is the Lord's. He becomes unclear though as he states next that, unless you feel guilty or worried to offend, for the sake of conscience do not eat sacrificial meat. There must be a deeper principle to help believers find an answer because the Bible is quite ambiguous.  

Peloponnesian Road Trip

6/3/15

Beginning our trip through Eleusis- where people went to foretell future, peek into afterlife, temple of Demeter, where she gave her son the ability to farm grains, telesterion is the inner sanctuary, Elysian mysteries, regarded by Plato as reverential, sitting in darkness with symbol of flame, putting you out of you comfort zone to face fear so you no longer fear death, played Persephone and Demeter history, process here for 8 days, causes sacrifices and transformations of our mind and our life here, initiation into these mysteries is similar to initiation into philosophy, process of becoming and habituating, you're not going to emerge unchanged, there is an illumination in the darkness, seeing truth, aletheia, unconcealment, revel was, makes clear previous obscurities, hard to communicate what happened here with fullness or without suffering consequences, perhaps you can show them, full sanctuary and religious buildings for devout, some carry gifts on their heads for the gods, their holy trinity of Demeter, Persephone, and triptolimos, her son, immortal boy, burned him in her torch, represent burned crops, guarantees growth next, island of salamis across the way, 

Theseus in the shaping of democracy in Athens from the aristocratic Hercules- very similar to Hercules, linked to past, much like democracy to aristocracy

Peloponnesian separated by Corinth or isthmos canal

Corinth- St. Paul knew about elysinian mysteries, tries to explain what Christians believe, if Christ resurects, the dead are also raised, death is the final enemy, what is sown is perishable, what is risen is immortal, death where is your sting, references to grain much like Demeters symbol at Elysas, a mystery like no other, one you must speak about in the good news unlike the secrecy at Elysas, city begins 12th c bc with Doric tribes, warrior conquering mentality, think Spartan military state, rather than peaceful Corinthian trading tradition, 146 bc the city is devastated by Romans who made an example of them, it was a political center for the Greek world, for 100 years no one lived here until Julius Caesar gives his legioners his land, grows again to be multicultural city Paul arrives in, different backgrounds, sinful city, Paul reminds them not to fall back in old ways, must have a lot of money to live there, Korinth iasisthi(do everything God says not to do), temple prostitutuon, city high on a rock to spot all the vulnerable spots on the shores, where Sisyphus, bellephoron, and Jason and Medea have lived, ancient city is primarily temple of Apollo, Paul was here for 1 and half years, most successful, largest Basillica in early Christianity, strong Jewish community, mosaics demonstrate Arcadia, land of plenty, rural, roman personification of gods and cities, acts 18 Paul leaves Athens to come to Corinth, comes to stay with the Jews, Priscilla and Acilla, reasoned in synagogue with them but then went to Gentiles when he was opposed, made his living through tent making, trying to make his own way and be independent of others such as wealthy benefactors that he'd be indebted to, he can wander as wants

Ending in the lovely town of Nafplio

Biblical Heritage (Corinthian letters)

In A Week in the Life of Corinth, we are introduced two parallel stories that converge. One is the disciple Paul who wants to show the Corinthians a higher expression of love, agape not eros, leading them from a life of excess and materialism to sharing and faith in higher things such as God. The other story is of Nicancor, a freedman of an aristocrat Erastos, as he returns from sailing from Roma to Corinth across the Adriatic February to transact a business deal for getting Carerra marble on Erastos' behalf. He takes note of how uncivilized Romans were in comparison to Greeks. Then he introduces Paul's story line, describing it as a strange eastern religion that Erastos had been ascribing to in a house church. They "met under the cloak of darkness in a home without priests, temples, or sacrifices. And then there was all the singing and prophesying.... Wondered if they had the mania associated with the oracle at Delphi." The accusations continue as he describes Christianity partaking in cannibalism because they ate the body and drank the blood of Jesus Christ. However, these beliefs are from the outsider's perspective, and soon Nicanor will be face to face with the religion and gain a different belief. For now, Nicancor is more concerned with the conflict of loyalty to Erastos while being bribed by his political nemesis, Aumelion. He is faced with ratting out Erastos in partaking in Christianity to his political competition for aedile for his own social and monetary gain. Being enslaved by him and having served Erastos his whole life, Nicanor questions the obligation and mercy he should show him now as he is finally free. The slave trade is a prominent business in Corinth as it is the junction of two sea ports. The variety of people in Corinth were not determined only by skin color but more specifically nationality as there was prejudice surrounding citizenry, whether or not you were truly Roman. This location was ideal for Paul, not only because there was a large Jewish community there where he can begin to plant himself but also because this neck could connect him to many worlds, making Corinth an ideal outlet to begin the spread of the Good News. 

Social World (Nic Ethics Book 9) 

Aristotle makes the claim that one can only have so many friendships of virtue. So what kind of friendships are your 1000 Facebook "friends"? Most of them are not of virtue, where their desires should be the same as ours and aiming for the same good. For a mythological example of this, Odysseus and Penelope exhibit the same cunning mind and loyalty to one another. For a Christian example, one characteristic of the church is being of one mind in Christ- one good that is in sharing God's kingdom. With this Christian perspective in mind, it is important to note that Aristotle forgets forgiveness and grace in his requirements of friendship. Perhaps those are characteristic of a New Testament framework, rather than a Roman or Greek perspective of justice. Aquinas completes Aristotle's philosophy with the Christian perspective. Aristotle continues his discussion of friendship by stating that self love is the foundation of all true friendships. As you must do what you believe is good for your friends sake, you must also do what is good for yourself. If you live well together by sharing each other's joys and pains, you must be able to endure your own joys and pains. The good man is a friend to themselves because they will extend this love with themselves. My question is: Does the love for yourself have to be equal to the love you give? Or is the mark of a generous person when your love for yourself is less than your love for others?If the virtue of this self-love is generosity and the vice is narcissism, you must be conscious to avoid the other vice that completely neglects who you are. "Now if you're not sure of who you are, you are defined by your relationships" as Ellen said so wisely. Relationships with others are subject to change, but your relationship with yourself is the longest and surest one you're going to have in this life. The golden rule extends both ways, it involves loving yourself in the right way. 

Recently I tried out a therapist at Baylor's Counseling Center because I was struggling with exhausting physically and emotionally (per usual for the college student I suppose). The instant I pleaded my case to her she diagnosed me with "being a caretaker." I was guilty of the second vice. By giving too much time to others, I was not exhibiting Aristotle's virtue of generosity and was instead acting like a doormat. Because of this, I was also attracting the type of people that took advantage of caretakers. My exhaustion was caused by having too many friendships of inequality, whether either of us realized it or not. 

This prompted a reflection of whether or not you can be friends with bad people and how to you identify unhealthy relationships. Aristotle brings up the danger of being corrupted by people with lesser virtue and, therefore, they should be avoided. But perhaps as a Christian we must adopt of policy of being a friend to them but not necessarily with them, because they are going to relationships of inequality. If bad people are filled with too much self love with their own interests at heart, a noble person will extend an unselfish love, with eudaimōn as the end accomplished by unselfish means. As Christians, loving ourselves is achieved through loving God and, therefore, loving His people. 

New Friends, Old Lessons

6/2/15

Biblical Heritage (Acts 18-28)
With Peter as the first martyr, which means "bearing witness" in regards to Jesus' resurrection, the evangelism of Paul begins in Acts. He has a notable difference from Peter in that he relies heavily on Levitical code. He aims to open the mind of the Jews to incorporate thr Gentiles in the church. Paul was once himself a Pharisee and very learned in the Old Testament, until his conversion on the Damascus road. He determines an expansive view of the Bible and contributes to the ecumenical council that determines that Gentiles don't need to do all the steps of a Jew in order to become a Christian. In a Thessalonian synagogue, Paul preached about the messianic promise of the Old Testament and proved that the Messiah “had to suffer and rise from the dead," i. e. Jesus (17:2-3). Hostile Jews accused him of preaching Jesus as a king, and Paul went to his next town where he would write his Letter to the Thessalonians. Luke as well is emphasizing that Christianity is thoroughly rooted in the Old Testament. This is something his Gentile readers would need to know before converting and knowing with codes to obey. It is also something Roman officials would need to know when they were asked to judge whether it was legal to preach the gospel. Since Judaism was legal, Luke records the judgment of Gallio, a Roman proconsul, that Christianity was a branch within Judaism and therefore outside the jurisdiction of Roman courts (18:14-15). From Athens to Corinth, Ephesus to Miletus, and his final journey to Jerusalem to face his end, Paul spreads the good news of the Old and New Testament. Before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, Paul summarized his conflict with the Jewish leaders: his “hope in the resurrection of the dead” (23:6). That is a crucial element of the gospel that there will be a resurrection, and the resurrected Jesus is the way in which people can be given eternal life in that resurrection. He preached repentance and good deeds, stressing that his message was in complete conformity to the Old Testament, which predicted the suffering and resurrection of the Christ, and the preaching to Gentiles (26:22-23). It is a message of salvation given not only to Jews who accept it, but also to Gentiles who listen (28:29). Together Peter's, Paul's, and other disciples' evangelist efforts mentioned in Acts opened Christianity beyond the confines of the synagogue and its laws, defined the "kingdom" delivered through God, and showcased the grace and mercy Christian's should extend to each other around the world.

Social World I (Nicomachean Ethics 8)
In Aristotle's famous chapter on friendship, he logically defines what kinds of friendships there are and what comprises of them. With these descriptions he begins to fulfill the question of why we really need friendships, not necessarily to survive but to live well. Taking every movie about a person stranded on a deserted island as examples, even if you fulfill all your bare necessities, there are still needs to find a companion. These come in three kinds: pleasure (physically drawn to each other), utility (benefit each other), and virtue (admire and/or motivate each other). While the first two are temporary because needs and pleasures change, the last is much more meaningful and long-lasting. It is complete, modeling either a friendship of equality with similar virtues or of mentoring with an inferior learning virtues. When I imagine the requirements of friendship, I think of intimacy, affection, and endurance. When Aristotle thinks of friendship, he states it is comprised of time spent together, correction and advisement, and consistency because they are not base respect to themselves and others. Due to this specific criteria, one can only have a small number of very good friendships. The degrees of friendship from strangers to acquaintances, from friends to best friends, is hard to define. Even strangers in the Christian tradition are supposed to be treated as if they are family. If we are by nature social animals, a variety of relationships are needed and, therefore, need to be understood. Aristotle's definition can be put simply as to love and be loved and to be a friend for the friend's sake. According to him, this can be done in three ways: wishing good for the sake of the other, reciprocity, and being purposeful or conscientious with that friendship. As Christians, we are charged to be friends to all, loving even our enemies. Therefore, we must adopt these codes of friendships as life virtues, acting intentionally and graciously to all we meet as a reflection of God's love for us.

Philosophy at Home

6/1/15

Biblical Heritage (Acts 1-17)

In order to awaken faith by showing the successful progress of Jesus' word delivered by the disciples through the world and to help avoid the perception of the Christians from being destructive to the empire and the Jewish institutions, Luke begins our church history in Acts. He is a historian at heart, a Christian in spirit, and seeks to help readers understand the truthfulness of the Christian faith. Namely, it is the charge that Lord has sent his disciples in Acts 1:8 that they shall be His witnesses from Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Most of this is done through the Holy Spirit, speaking and directing the Good News. This first half is about Peter's evangelical efforts. First they are halted by the definition of the "kingdom" that God promises, where Peter puts the deliverance of this kingdom in reference to Jesus' resurrection and redemptive qualities. This obviously is not the kingdom that the Jews expected. Peter's first sermon reveals the Pentecost, the Spirit-caused tongues as fulfillment of Scripture and a sign that the “last days” had begun and people can be saved (2:16-21). This sermon and the next one Peter gives of healing and repentance are responded to with enthusiasm and acceptance by the crown of Jews, setting off a successful streak of evangelism that would soon be tested and meet with much harder to convince audiences. The Sanhedrin trials are evidence of this as the Sadducees attempt to not only jail but kill the disciples for their miracles. Salvation from this fate comes in a Pharisee that convinces that if their activities are of the world, it will fail- but if they are of God, nothing the Sanhedrin does can stop them (5:38). This is an interesting intersection of the two faiths as they both recognize the supremacy of the same God, but time and time again the Jews didn't listen to His prophets that foretold Jesus' coming. Stephen's scathing sermon that accused the Jews of this became his end, beginning a history of martyrdom in the Christian world.

Social World I (Nicomachean Ethics 1-4)
When I came home from college during Christmas Break, I was greeted with many relatives curious to see how my first semester went and many stories from my friends about their's. The first question they always asked was simply: How was it? And I always answered just as simply: I'm happy. You'd think that would suffice but contentment didn't fit nor did it do the last 4 months justice. I had a lot of troubles academically and socially; it was not easy; it was not always fun; it was certainly not always happy. It was exhausting, but I was fulfilled, or at least on the right track. Much like Aristotle's eudaimōn, happy does not begin to cover it. It involves a flourishing of self, formative in character and actions, not coincidentally, but by your own efforts. His Nichomachean Ethics introduces this term to answer the question: What's the supreme good, our telos, and what are the means to that end? By well being and well doing, through physical and moral health, we can accomplish this through the guidance of virtues. Of the two kinds of virtue, the intellectual is taught and the moral is habituated. In Dr. Hibb's lecture, three perspectives are brought to light in which we can read philosophy. Khan's universability, that necessitates an obligation of moral consistency with the rest of the world, then utilitarianism, that aims to calculates and maximize the greatest good, and then Aristotle's, that looks neither at calculating consequences or universal applicability. Rather, he focuses on individual choice within the context of a universal rule has to be applied to the individual in a unique way. To understand how this works, we are called to examine the individuals we admire and what it is about them we admire. Aristotle claims we admire people because of virtues and the opposite due to vices. The notion of virtues and vices fits the universal ticket, where virtue is the correct fulfillment of a moral obligation and specifically the intentions behind it. It is important to note that you can do virtuous things, yet not be a virtuous person. We think about how to have a good human life through virtues and we stray from that with vices. If we strive for these virtues, happiness is a side effect of doing these successfully. This is a challenge to Socrates' view, where a virtuous person is not necessarily happy but is completely dependent on circumstance. Aristotle gives the individual some power over fate; setting virtue as the goal, we can ideally overcome any obstacle.

A Symphony in Stone

Running Man made of glass sheets in Athens running towards the new Olympic stadium

View from the Areopagus

Also known as Mars hill- a mythological location for a trial for theocide, mythological basis for convention of trials for high crimes, above we see the Acropolis with Temple to Nike, Poseidon's Temple with carotids, and the Parthenon, with the agora below from 5th century Athens, Temple of Hephaestus, most intact temple of Greece, across the ways is the hill with Orthodox Church where you can see Piraeus, the Athenian port, the placa, flat place, where rich and famous live, site of the third play in Oresteia, won first prize in Dionysus festival, only trilogy intact, where Orestes was tried, ends play in a flattering sort of way, celebration of Athenian superiority, locus of ancient drama and theatre, St. Paul marks evangelism here, moving across Greece to Piraeus across remnants of walls, making way to agora, reasoned with epicureans, stoics, Jews, they called him a teacher of forge in divinities, bring him to trial at the Areapagus, acknowledges how religious Athens was, can't help but notice how many idols and temples they have, found altar that said to the unknown God, states that God is not in temples or on this earth bit determined everything on this earth and that they should seek him because we have our being within him, stresses that his image is not of stone or gold, but justice, appointed Jesus to deliver this, many mocked him, some listened, then Paul goes to Corinth, irony of justice being served as seen in Oresteia but what about Plato, Socrates and others? Paul had to combat this reason, not only of the believers in the synagogues but also the philosophers.

The caryotids of the Elgin Marbles

View of the Acropolis from the Acropolis Museum, which is made as kind of modern model to this ancient site 

Weather spout 

Man of reason vs Beast of passion

Hadrian's Gate

Zeus' temple 

Theatre of Dionysius, where theatre began

Temple of Asklepios

Hello, Parthenon

Temple of Poseidon with Carotids

Temple of Poseidon next to Athena's olive tree, the "first" in Athens

Easily the most copied door in Athens

Ionic columns for this Ionic city 

Doric columns to signify grandeur to all, not just Athens 

Notice the Golden Ratio, eye tricks, all used to make it seem bigger 

Temple of Hephaestus

Agora