Epicureanism Vs Stoicism Essay

Through the sampling of readings from The Norton Anthology of World Literature book, one could come to the realization that in a majority of those stories, the deities seem to influence or even control the outcomes of the heroes, often in a negative manner. In the first epic, Gilgamesh encounters the gods at various times, and in The Iliad, the gods manipulate the Greeks and the Trojans for their own desires and wants.

In ancient Greek culture the gods were seen as taking a very active role in the development and course of human history.  The entire Olympian pantheon, as well as many other less important divinities, meddles in human affairs to no end.  The people of the many city-states that composed Greece firmly believed that every aberration from normalcy was due to an act of the gods.  Homer, the author of The Iliad, coined the prevalent religious beliefs of the time in his epic poems, showing the gods as temperamental and willful, meddlesome and dynamic.  Homer’s entire poem is replete with instances of divine intervention in mortal lives, and no single major occurrence comes to pass unless it is the will of one of the many Olympian gods.  Few major decisions are made without consulting the gods first, and the handful of instances in which one leader or another takes initiative almost always fails miserably.  Life, according to the Greeks, is almost entirely rooted in their religion, as there is a god or goddess governing every aspect of the universe, and also because the gods so actively involve themselves in the everyday lives of mortals.

He interrogates his audience continually and each subsequent confrontation cheapens the last. Epictetus proves his habit, asking, “Is that shameful to you which is not your own act, that of which you are not the cause, that which has come to you by accident, as a headache or fever? [Moreover, this fever, if one is poor, will more than likely kill the individual in this era, thus justifying the rich’s fear of poverty.] If your parents were poor, and left their property to others, and if while they live, they do not help you at all, is this shameful to you” (537)? While true, Epictetus presents a valid argument when he explains that men should not fear what they cannot control. However, fearing the surrounding conditions of what one cannot control serves as the chief stressor for the rich. No hypothetical person that Epictetus describes prefers relegation to his or her social status, and those that are at the bottom, like himself, have nothing to value. Thus, Epictetus’ stoic ideology is born. Moreover, one might argue that the scenarios described in Epictetus’ quote does not quite align with the philosopher’s thesis. Likewise, his audience must consider all aspects that might make the rich frightful of hunger, poverty, and the death to which the lifestyle will

Over time philosophers have always fought the same moral dilemma, the meaning of life. In 370 B.C. Aristotle lived in an era where war was related to power and the only thing that was an escape to him was his virtues and a ways to be virtuous. On the other hand we have Epictetus from 55 A.D. With centuries of views apart, Aristotle, a well known aristocrat, and Epictetus, a former slave that found philosophy as a way of life. Even though you might expect them to have different points of views, both philosophers coming from different times and different backgrounds still agree that knowledge can overcome any boundary. Both Aristotle and Epictetus fit under Mill’s theory of utilitarianism as they both teach and write books to benefit the greatest amount of people.

The relationship between gods and mortals in mythology has long been a complicated topic. The gods can be generous and supportive, and also devastating and destructive to any group of humans. Mortals must respect the powers above them that cannot be controlled. The gods rule over destiny, nature, and justice, and need to be recognized and worshipped for the powerful beings as they are. Regardless of one's actions, intentions, and thoughts, the gods in Greek myth have ultimate power and the final decision of justice over nature, mortals, and even each other.

In ancient times, gods were a holy image in people’s mind. Each god had its own role in the universe. Such as the role of creation, the controller of the nature, and the role of the destiny control. The gods had extreme powers, and controlled everything in the world. Worshiped gods became a daily routine for ancient people. In the minds of people in ancient times, worshiped their gods were to prevent these gods became furious, and punished them with their extreme power. Even though the gods were extremely powerful, in many epic texts we could see they also had emotions and characteristics that were just like humans. However, there were still some major differences between the gods and humans.

If there’s one thing one can count on when it comes to Greek gods, it’s that they’re critically flawed. Anyone reading Homer’s The Iliad can see the Greek gods act just like humans, constantly bickering, deceiving and throwing fits. The only people who can’t see through this facade of glorious immortality are the Greeks themselves. Throughout Homer’s entire epic, the gods continuously help the mortals based upon their own motives, and yet, the humans still worship them, ask them for help and forgiveness and blessings. Any reader would throw up their hands, disgusted that the humans glorify these beings that possess all the character flaws that mortals do. Homer is very successful in portraying humanity throughout his text, both through the perspective of the gods, and the perspective of the humans. While readers are allowed insight to both worlds, the characters themselves only see one dimension, resulting in the unequal nature of the humans constantly working to please the gods, sometimes to no avail. The Iliad exposes the fatal character flaws of the gods to readers, while also maintaining the mortal Greek perspective that gods are perfect beings, looking out for the greater good of mankind.

    Prehistoric man did not question his existence and reality - he just lived as one with nature. When prehistoric man awakened from this simple existence into the world of intelligence, he began to question his existence and reality. Homer’s The Odyssey demonstrated man’s attempt to cope with their own nature through the illusion of the gods, by using them to carry their burdens of hopelessness, helplessness, and fallibility.

In ancient Greece, the two poets Hesiod and Homer wrote dramatic stories outlining the nature of the Greek gods with their main works Theogony and The Iliad. They each offer descriptions of order, morality, and justice in the world, but there is a stark difference between each author’s work; Homer’s mythology features much more authoritative deities than Hesiod’s, ultimately establishing a more political, absolutist social order. The gods’ interactions with each other and with the human world are what define these properties alongside each poet’s ethical approach.

The fact that the gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh act a lot like humans, their power is minimal. For example, Ishtar, the goddess of live and war, falls in love with Gilgamesh and longs for him sexually. The craving for sex is a very human-like trait. Gilgamesh later denies Ishtar, which shows how degraded the gods really are.

The personalities of the gods are as broad as there are stars in the heavens, and as such the ways that these gods interact with mortals vary. The purpose of gods intervening with the days of man comes down to two things, good or bad; there are gods who are caring and loving towards mortals while others view man as pawns which they can use for their own personal agenda. A few gods that capture and exemplify the various personalities of the gods can be found in Ovid: The Metamorphoses of Ovid and Homer: The essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although the ways man and the gods communicate and get each other’s attention are different, there are reoccurring and overarching themes such as desire, and loyalty that make each intervention between gods and mortals similar.

At the same time, it reminds us that these myths do not really constitute the religion of the Greeks. These myths are more similar to proto-scientific stories that are meant to explain usual phenomena, such as thunderstorms or the setting of the sun. Some myths are pure amusement and are not meant to explain anything. On the whole, the later myths appear more religious, as Zeus, the primary god, begins to resemble the sort of omnipotent God--figure familiar to modern readers—in the Iliad, he is very human and moody, but by the Odyssey he is more wise and sympathetic. Zeus changes so much from the old philanderer he once was that he begins to look very much like the Judeo-Christian concept of God. These all concepts relate to the myths and if in today’s world one were to think of it as reality one would laugh on this.

In ancient poetry, gods were people too; early epic was history but a history adorned by myth. This fantastical, mythical element came via the gods, envisaged as anthropomorphic deities. In Virgil’s Aeneid these gods function in epic as literary vehicles and as characters no less detailed and individual than the people in the poem. In this world where the mortal and the supernatural not only coexist but interweave with one another, the Aeneid follows the mortal Trojans as their world moves from war to peace and as they attempt, often unsuccessfully, to overcome the supernatural obstacles put in their path.

The gods and goddesses are powerful beings capable of super-human powers, but nevertheless are characters fraught with very human frailties and flaws. In this way they created gods that had similarities with the common man in the society. This made the gods more tangible and easier to identify with. I think that this was necessary because they were not yet at the societal maturity level to have a single god on a cosmic plane.

In the realm of Metaphysics, Stoics were essentially materialists(Ecole). They adopted from Plato the idea that reality is marked by the ability to act or be acted upon. To this they added that only a body can do this. "Thus, only bodies exist"(Stanford). God must, then, be material. The Stoic vision of God is as a Cosmic order, also referred to as Reason, Logos, and a Creative Fire(Ecole). The Stoic God is, then, Pantheistic, one with the universe. Matter is inert, there to be acted upon by this universal plan. This plan is crafted from the inside, and God acts not as external deity but as a living seed from which the universal order is grown(Stanford).