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I tried to track down more on the show. It was actually on “History International” and called “Ancient Monster Hunters”. From their listings, it looks like it isn't coming on again very soon. But I searched around and found the person they featured on that one:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_MayorShe mapped the sites mentioned in the ancient writings (I want to say 30 or so) and they matched up almost exactly to modern digs. Because of geologic activity in the region, fossils were at or near the surface in many areas.BTW, the Greeks may not be the only ones endeavoring to explain such things. See Genesis 6:4…I think they very much believed as well. They even had some fantastic relics and no science to tell them their assumptions were incorrect. Today many of us believe in things despite science that tells us otherwise, so this point definitely does not make us seem any more intelligent.
If you read Plato, he seems to indicate that the philosophers didn't buy into the mythology of the gods, but saw it as a civic religion beneficial to the structure and order of the state more than anything else. I'm sure many of the more educated Greeks saw it this way too, and only revered the gods as a cultural tradition more so than a true religion. The lower classes probably had greater faith in their gods I suspect. Probably because they were more dependent on the fortunes of nature because their livelihood was closely tied to the sea and land. Of course everything I just said would be difficult to prove.
If you read Plato, he seems to indicate that the philosophers didn't buy into the mythology of the gods, but saw it as a civic religion beneficial to the structure and order of the state more than anything else. I'm sure many of the more educated Greeks saw it this way too, and only revered the gods as a cultural tradition more so than a true religion. The lower classes probably had greater faith in their gods I suspect. Probably because they were more dependent on the fortunes of nature because their livelihood was closely tied to the sea and land. Of course everything I just said would be difficult to prove.
“We begin by telling children fables, and the fable is, taken as a whole, false, but there is truth in it also.” from Plato's “Republic”. A little further, referring to a couple of particularly vile stories he says “Even if they were true I should not think that they ought to be thus lightly told to thoughtless young persons.” I think that is what you are referring to; it is pretty obvious he doesn't believe it. The same sort of discussion goes on today – “These are the stories of our tradition. Whether they are explicitly accurate from a historical perspective is not as important as the underlying lessons they teach.”It sounds like there is no disagreement on the original point. I guess studying history with any depth at all will pretty quickly dispel the notion that the ancients did not have nearly the intelligence we do.
There is another of Plato's works (can't remember which one, but it may have been the Timmaeus) in which Socrates dismantles the idea of the gods. However, Plato was writing this perhaps in the mid-4th century B.C. I wonder if the Greeks believed before that time when Greece was more powerful, such as in the 5th century B.C.
Paul runs into this in the Book of Acts when he engages the sophists on the Areapagus. The Greeks didn't want to offend the gods (if they were indeed up there on Olympus) to the point that they erected a monument dedicated to the unknown god (basically whomever they might have left out). Paul marvels at the religiosity of the Greeks and then uses it as a segway into introducing the Gospel. My point is that even in Roman occupied Greece, devotion still held sway in Greek society.
I just noticed when flipping through upcoming shows to set the DVR that the show “Ancient Monster Hunters” is going shown a few times on the History Channel in the coming week. That is the one I referenced earlier that deals with the Greeks finding fossils. A sensationalist title and I am not sure it proves that the fossils are the source of the myths, but it offers pretty good proof that the ancient Greeks did find them.
I just noticed when flipping through upcoming shows to set the DVR that the show “Ancient Monster Hunters” is going shown a few times on the History Channel in the coming week. That is the one I referenced earlier that deals with the Greeks finding fossils. A sensationalist title and I am not sure it proves that the fossils are the source of the myths, but it offers pretty good proof that the ancient Greeks did find them.
You know, I may have seen that show before. At least, I did if it's the same one where they also talk about the Chinese seeing dragons and using dragon bones in different nutritional remedies.
I just noticed when flipping through upcoming shows to set the DVR that the show “Ancient Monster Hunters” is going shown a few times on the History Channel in the coming week. That is the one I referenced earlier that deals with the Greeks finding fossils. A sensationalist title and I am not sure it proves that the fossils are the source of the myths, but it offers pretty good proof that the ancient Greeks did find them.
You know, I may have seen that show before. At least, I did if it's the same one where they also talk about the Chinese seeing dragons and using dragon bones in different nutritional remedies.
I think they did tie that in, though also almost purely through speculation IMO. I thought the part about the Greeks and the fossils was the most interesting as it seem to actually be supported by sound research. Is that the source of the myths? Maybe; it seemed like a reasonable conclusion. But they didn't prove it. But I think they did prove the Greeks did find the fossils and give them some reverence.
