Christianity and Greek Philosophy Part 11

In Homer there is a perpetual blending of the natural and the supernatural, the human and divine. The _Iliad_ is an incongruous medley of theology, physics, and history. In its gorgeous scenic representations, nature, humanity, and deity are mingled in inextricable confusion. The G.o.ds are sometimes supernatural and superhuman personages; sometimes the things and powers of nature personified; and sometimes they are deified men. And yet there are pa.s.sages, even in Homer, which clearly distinguish Zeus from all the other divinities, and mark him out as the Supreme. He is "the highest, first of G.o.ds" (bk.

xix. 284); "most great, most glorious Jove" (bk. ii. 474). He is "the universal Lord" (bk. xi. 229); "of mortals and immortals king supreme,"

(bk. xii. 263); "over all the immortal G.o.ds he reigns in unapproached pre-eminence of power" (bk. xv. 125). He is "the King of kings" (bk.

viii. 35), whose "will is sovereign" (bk. iv. 65), and his "power invincible" (bk. viii. 35). He is the "eternal Father" (bk. viii. 77).

He "excels in wisdom G.o.ds and men; all human things from him proceed"

(bk. xiii. 708-10); "the Lord of counsel" (bk. i. 208), "the all-seeing Jove" (bk. xiii. 824). Indeed the mere expression "Father of G.o.ds and men" (bk. i. 639), so often applied to Zeus, and him _alone_, is proof sufficient that, in spite of all the legendary stories of G.o.ds and heroes, the idea of Zeus as the Supreme G.o.d, the maker of the world, the Father of G.o.ds and men, the monarch and ruler of the world, was not obliterated from the Greek mind.[167]

[Footnote 167: "In the order of legendary chronology Zeus comes after Kronos and Uranos, but in the order of Grecian conception Zeus is the prominent person, and Kronos and Uranos are inferior and introductory precursors, set up in order to be overthrown, and to serve as mementos of the powers of their conqueror. To Homer and Hesiod, as well as to the Greeks universally, Zeus is the great, the predominant G.o.d, 'the Father of G.o.ds and men,' whose power none of the G.o.ds can hope to resist, or even deliberately think of questioning. All the other G.o.ds have their specific potency, and peculiar sphere of action and duty, with which Zeus does not usually interfere; but it is he who maintains the lineaments of a providential government, as well over the phenomena of Olympus as over the earth."--Grote, "Hist. of Greece," vol. i. p. 3.

Zeus is not only lord of heaven but likewise the ruler of the lower world, and the master of the sea.--Welcher, "Griechische Gotterlehre,"

vol. i. p. 164. The Zeus of the Greek poets is unquestionably the G.o.d of whom Paul declared: In him we live and move, and have our being, as certain of your own poets have also said--

"'For we are his offspring.'"

Now whether this be a quotation from Aratus or Cleanthes, the language of the poets is, "We are the offspring of Zeus;" consequently the Zeus of the poets and the G.o.d of Christianity are the same G.o.d.

"The father of G.o.ds and men in Homer is, of course, the Universal Father of the Scriptures."--Tyler, "Theology of Greek Poets," p. 171.]

"When Homer introduces Eumaios, the swineherd, speaking of this life and the higher powers that rule it, he knows only of just G.o.ds 'who hate cruel deeds, but honor justice and the righteous works of men' (Od. xiv.

83). His whole life is built up on a complete trust in the divine government of the world without any artificial helps, as the Erinys, the Nemesis, or Moira. 'Eat,' says the swineherd, 'and enjoy what is here, for _G.o.d_[168] will grant one thing, but another he will refuse, whatever he will in his mind, for he can do all things' (Od. xiv. 444; x. 306). This surely is religion, and it is religion untainted by mythology. Again, the prayer of the female slave, grinding corn in the house of Ulysses is religious in the truest sense--'Father Zeus, thou who rulest over G.o.ds and men, surely thou hast just thundered in the starry sky, and there is no cloud anywhere. Thou showest this as a sign to some one. Fulfill now, even to me, miserable wretch, the prayer which I now offer'" (Od. xx. 141-150).[169]

[Footnote 168: No sound reason can be a.s.signed for translating _?e??_ by "_a_ G.o.d" as some have proposed, rather than "_G.o.d_." But even if it were translated "a G.o.d," this G.o.d must certainly be understood as Zeus.

Plato tells us that Zeus is the most appropriate name for G.o.d. "For in reality the name Zeus is, as it were, a sentence; and persons dividing it in two parts, some of us make use of one part, and some of another; for some call him ???, and some ???. But these parts, collected together into one, exhibit the nature of the G.o.d;... for there is no one who is more the cause of living, both to us and everything else, than he who is the ruler and king of all. It follows, therefore, that this G.o.d is rightly named, through whom _life_ is present in all living beings."--Cratylus, -- 28.

Te?? was usually employed, says Cudworth, to designate _G.o.d_ by way of pre-eminence, ?e?? to designate inferior divinities.]

[Footnote 169: Muller, "Science of Language," p. 434.]

The Greek tragedians were the great religious instructors of the Athenian people. "Greek tragedy grew up in connection with religious wors.h.i.+p, and const.i.tuted not only a popular but a sacred element in the festivals of the G.o.ds.... In short, strange as it may sound to modern ears, the Greek stage was, more nearly than any thing else, the Greek pulpit.[170] With a priesthood that offered sacrifice, but did not preach, with few books of any kind, the people were, in a great measure, dependent on oral instruction for knowledge; and as they learned their rights and duties as citizens from their orators, so they hung on the lips of the 'lofty, grave tragedians' for instruction touching their origin, duty, and destiny as mortal and immortal beings.... Greek tragedy is essentially didactic, ethical, mythological, and religious."[171]

[Footnote 170: Pulpitum, a stage.]

[Footnote 171: Tyler, "Theology of Greek Poets," pp. 205, 206.]

Now it is unquestionable that, with the tragedians, Zeus is the Supreme G.o.d. aeschylus is pre-eminently the theological poet of Greece. The great problems which lie at the foundation of religious faith and practice are the main staple of nearly all his tragedies. Homer, Hesiod, the sacred poets, had looked at these questions in their purely poetic aspects. The subsequent philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, developed them more fully by their didactic method. aeschylus stands on the dividing-line between them, no less poetic than the former, scarcely less philosophical than the latter, but more intensely practical, personal, and _theological_ than either. The character of the Supreme Divinity, as represented in his tragedies, approaches more nearly to the Christian idea of G.o.d. He is the Universal Father--Father of G.o.ds and men; the Universal Cause (pa?a?t???, Agamem. 1485); the All-seer and All-doer (pa?t?pt??, pa?e???t??, ibid, and Sup. 139); the All-wise and All-controlling (pa???at??, Sup. 813); the Just and the Executor of justice (d???f????, Agamem. 525); true and incapable of falsehood (Prom. 1031);

?e?d????e?? ??? ??? ?p?stata? st?a t? d???, ???? p?? ?p?? te?e?,--

holy (?????, Sup. 650); merciful (p?e?????, ibid. 139); the G.o.d especially of the suppliant and the stranger (Supplices, pa.s.sim); the most high and perfect One (t??e??? ???st??, Eumen. 28); King of kings, of the happy, most happy, of the perfect, most perfect power, blessed Zeus (Sup. 522).[172] Such are some of the t.i.tles by which Zeus is most frequently addressed; such the attributes commonly ascribed to him in aeschylus.

Sophocles was the great master who carried Greek tragedy to its highest perfection. Only seven out of more than a hundred of his tragedies have come down to us. There are pa.s.sages cited by Justin Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, and others which are not found in those tragedies now extant. The most famous and extensively quoted pa.s.sage is given by Cudworth.[173]

??? ta?? ????e?a?s??, e?? ?st?? ?e??, ?? ???a??? t? ?te??e ?a? ?a?a? a????, ???t?? te ?a??p?? ??da, ?????? ?a?, ?. t. ?.[174]

This "one only G.o.d" is Zeus, who is the G.o.d of justice, and reigns supreme:

"Still in yon starry heaven supreme, Jove, all-beholding, all-directing, dwells-- To him commit thy vengeance."--"Electra," p. 174 sqq.

This description of the unsleeping, undecaying power and dominion of Zeus is worthy of some Hebrew prophet--

"Spurning the power of age, enthroned in might, Thou dwell'st mid heaven's broad light; This was in ages past thy firm decree, Is now, and shall forever be: That none of mortal race on earth shall know A life of joy serene, a course unmarked by woe."

"Antigone," pp. 606-614.[175]

[Footnote 172: Tyler, "Theology of Greek Poets," pp. 213, 214.]

[Footnote 173: "Intellectual Syst.," vol. i. p. 483.]

[Footnote 174: "There is, in truth, one only G.o.d, who made heaven and earth, the sea, air, and winds," etc.]

[Footnote 175: "Theology of Greek Poets," p. 322.]

Whether we regard the poets as the princ.i.p.al theological teachers of the ancient Greeks, or as the compilers, systematizers, and artistic embellishers of the theological traditions and myths which were afloat in the primitive h.e.l.lenic families, we can not resist the conclusion that, for the ma.s.ses of the people Zeus was the Supreme G.o.d, "the G.o.d of G.o.ds" as Plato calls him. Whilst all other deities in Greece are more or less local and tribal G.o.ds, Zeus was known in every village and to every clan. "He is at home on Ida,[176] on Olympus, at Dodona.[177] While Poseidon drew to himself the aeolian family, Apollo the Dorian, Athene the Ionian, there was one powerful G.o.d for all the sons of h.e.l.len--Dorians, aeolians, Ionians, Achaeans, viz., the Panh.e.l.lenic Zeus."[178] Zeus was the name invoked in their solemn nuncupations of vows--

"O Zeus, father, O Zeus, king."

In moments of deepest sorrow, of immediate urgency and need, of greatest stress and danger, they had recourse to Zeus.

"Courage, courage, my child!

There is still in heaven the great Zeus; He watches over all things, and he rules.

Commit thy exceeding bitter griefs to him, And be not angry against thine enemies, Nor forget them."[179]

[Footnote 176: "Iliad," bk. iii. 324.]

[Footnote 177: Bk. xvi. 268.]

[Footnote 178: Muller, p. 452.]

[Footnote 179: Sophocles, "Electra," v. 188.]

He was supplicated, as the G.o.d who reigns on high, in the prayer of the Athenian--

"Rain, rain, O dear Zeus, on the land of the Athenians and on their fields."

It has been urged that, as Zeus means the sky, therefore he is no more than the deep concave of heaven personified and deified, and that consequently Zeus is not the true, the only G.o.d. This argument is only equalled in feebleness by that of the materialist, who argues that "spiritus" means simply breath, therefore the breath is the soul. Even if the Greeks remembered that, originally, Zeus meant the sky, that would have no more perplexed their minds than the remembrance that "thymos"--mind--meant originally blast. "The fathers of Greek theology gave to that Supreme Intelligence, which they instinctively recognized as above and ruling over the universe, the name of Zeus; but in doing so, they knew well that by Zeus they meant more than the sky. The unfathomable depth, the everlasting calm of the ethereal sky was to their minds an image of that Infinite Presence which overshadows all, and looks down on all. As the question perpetually recurred to their minds, 'Where is he who abideth forever?' they lifted up their eyes, and saw, as they thought, beyond sun, and moon, and stars, and all which changes, and will change, the clear blue sky, the boundless firmament of heaven. That never changed, that was always the same. The clouds and storms rolled far below it, and all the bustle of this noisy world; but there the sky was still, as bright and calm as ever. The Almighty Father must be there, unchangeable in the unchangeable heaven; bright, and pure, and boundless like the heavens, and like the heavens, too, afar off."[180] So they named him after the sky, _Zeus_, the G.o.d who lives in the clear heaven--the heavenly Father.

[Footnote 180: Kingsley, "Good News from G.o.d," p. 237, Am. ed.]

The high and brilliant sky has, in many languages and many religions, been regarded as the dwelling-place of G.o.d. Indeed, to all of us in Christian times "G.o.d is above;" he is "the G.o.d of heaven;" "his throne is in the heavens;" "he reigns on high." Now, without doing any violence to thought, the name of the abode might be transferred to him who dwells in heaven. So that in our own language "heaven" may still be used as a synonym for "G.o.d." The prodigal son is still represented as saying, I have sinned against "_heaven_." And a Christian poet has taught us to sing--

"High _heaven_, that heard my solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily hear," etc.

Whenever, therefore, we find the name of heaven thus used to designate also the Deity, we must bear in mind that those by whom it was originally employed were simply transferring that name from an object visible to the eye of sense to another object perceived by the eye of reason. They who at first called G.o.d "_Heaven_" had some conception within them they wished to name--the growing image of a G.o.d, and they fixed upon the vastest, grandest, purest object in nature, the deep blue concave of heaven, overshadowing all, and embracing all, as the symbol of the Deity. Those who at a later period called heaven "_G.o.d_" had forgotten that they were predicating of heaven something more which was vastly higher than the heaven.[181]

[Footnote 181: See "Science of Language," p. 457.]

Notwithstanding, then, that the instinctive, native faith of humanity in the existence of one supreme G.o.d was overlaid and almost buried beneath the rank and luxuriant vegetation of Grecian mythology, we can still catch glimpses here and there of the solid trunk of native faith, around which this parasitic growth of fancy is entwined. Above all the phantasmata of G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses who descended to the plains of Troy, and mingled in the din and strife of battle, we can recognize an overshadowing, all-embracing Power and Providence that dwells on high, which never descends into the battle-field, and is never seen by mortal eyes--_the Universal King and Father,--the "G.o.d of G.o.ds_."

Besides the direct evidence, which is furnished by the poets and mythologists, of the presence of this universal faith in "_the heavenly Father_," there is also a large amount of collateral testimony that this idea of one Supreme G.o.d was generally entertained by the Greek pagans, whether learned or unlearned.[182] Dio Chrysostomus says that "all the poets call the first and greatest G.o.d the Father, universally, of all rational kind, as also the King thereof. Agreeably with which doctrine of the poets do mankind erect altars to Jupiter-King (???? as?????) and hesitate not to call him Father in their devotions" (Orat. x.x.xvi.). And Maximus Tyrius declares that both the learned and the unlearned throughout the pagan world universally agree in this; that there is one Supreme G.o.d, the Father of G.o.ds and men. "If," says he, "there were a meeting called of all the several trades and professions,... and all were required to declare their sense concerning G.o.d, do you think that the painter would say one thing, the sculptor another, the poet another, and the philosopher another? No; nor the Scythian neither, nor the Greek, nor the hyperborean. In regard to other things, we find men speaking discordantly one to another, all men, as it were, differing from all men... Nevertheless, on this subject, you may find universally throughout the world one agreeing law and opinion; _that there is one G.o.d, the King and Father of all, and many G.o.ds, the sons of G.o.d, co-reigners together with G.o.d_"(Diss. i. p. 450).