Pherecydes of Syros

                            

Pherecydes of Syros (/fəˈrɛsɪˌdiːz/; Greek: Φερεκύδης ὁ 
Σύριος; fl. 6th century BC)
Pherecydes, ancient Greek philosopher. Born c. 580 BC Died
c. 520 BC He was a Greek thinker from the island of Syros. Pherecydes authored a cosmogony, derived from three divine principles, Zas (Zeus), Cthonie (Earth) and Chronos (Time), known as the "Pentemychos" (Πεντέμυχος, "of the five recesses"; sometimes the alternative title "Heptamychos", "seven recesses" is given). It formed a bridge between the mythological thought of Hesiod and pre-Socratic philosophy. His work is lost, but it survived into the Hellenistic period and we are informed on part of its content indirectly. Pherecydes was said to have been the first writer to communicate philosophical musings in prose. According to William (ca. 1896), Aristotle regarded him partly a mythological writer and Plutarch, as well as many other writers gave him the title of Theologus.

Life

According to tradition Pherecydes was a native of the island of Syros and flourished in the 59th Olympiad (544–541 BC). It was said that he was a son of one Babys. Schibli (1990) dates his birth in the 49th olympiad (584–581).

Anecdotes of "unknown reliability" place Pherecydes on the island of Samos, and in the city of Ephesus, where he is supposed to have been buried, although another tradition claims he was buried on Delos.

Aristotle wrote in his Metaphysics of Pherecydes being in part a mythological writer and Plutarch, in his Parallel Lives, instead wrote of him being a theologian. He was considered to have had the greater significance in teaching on the subject of metempsychosis.

His writings were extant in the Hellenistic period, although only fragments have survived to the present day. His works were written in prose rather than verse and he has been said to have been the first to have communicated or conveyed philosophical musings in this form. Tradition maintains that Pherecydes lived in two caves in the northern part of the island of Syros. His summer habitation remains a popular tourist destination to this day.

Cosmogony

Pherecydes’ Cave.

Some sources say that Pherecydes' book was entitled "Pentemychos" (Πεντέμυχος Pentemuchos) translated as five (πέντε) "recesses" (μυχός muchos, "nook, cranny, recess", also "sanctuary" as in "small domestic altar in a corner"). in some sources said to have been titled "Heptamychos" ("seven (ἑπτά) recesses"). There seems to be no complete agreement among scholars on which sources to trust regarding the title of Pherecydes' book, the standard survey reference on the Presocratic philosophers by Kirk, Raven and Schofield, opts for "Heptamychos". The author of the only modern scholarly book devoted entirely to Pherecydes, Hermann S. Schibli, argues that "Pentemychos" was the true title. In this work, Pherecydes taught his philosophy through the medium of mythic representations. Although it is lost, the fragments that survive are enough to reconstruct a basic outline.

In the older cosmogony of Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) the initial state of the universe is Chaos, a dark void considered as a divine primordial condition and the creation is ex nihilo (out of nothing). Pherecydes probably interpreted chaos as water and he does not place it at the very beginning. In his cosmogony there are three divine principles, Zas (Ζάς, Zeus), Cthonie (Χθονίη, Earth) and Chronos (Χρόνος, Time) who always existed.

The semen (seeds) of Chronos which can probably be considered as a watery chaos was placed in the recesses and composed numerous other offsprings of gods. This is described in a fragment preserved in Damascius' On First Principles.

A close relationship is thought to exist between these recesses and Chthonie. Hesiod described Tartaros as being "in a recess (muchos) of broad-wayed earth". Hermann S. Schibli thinks the five muchos were actually harboured within Chthonie, or at least were so initially when Chronos disposed his seed in the five "nooks".

Alongside Chthonie and Chronos, Pherecydes held a power called Zas. Zas (Zeus), comparable with the Orphic Eros in function, and as such a personification of masculine (sexual) creativity. Proclus said that "Pherecydes used to say that Zeus changed into Eros when about to create, for the reason that, having created the world from opposites, he led it into agreement and peace and sowed sameness in all things, and unity that interpenetrates the universe".

The act of creation itself (perhaps it is more accurate to say that Chronos creates and that Zas orders and distributes) is described mytho-poetically as Zas making a cloth on which he decorates earth and sea, and which he then presents as a wedding gift to Chthonie, and wraps around her. Yet, in another fragment it is not Chthonie, but "a winged oak" that he wraps the cloth around. The "winged oak" in this cosmology has no precedent in Greek tradition.

The stories are different but not mutually exclusive, because much is lacking in the fragments, but it seems clear that creation is hindered by chaotic forces.

Pherecydes, depicted as a medieval scholar in the Nuremberg Chronicle

Bust in Syros

Before the world is ordered a cosmic battle takes place, with Cronus as the head of one side and Ophioneus as the leader of the other. The same story is elsewhere enacted with Zeus and Typhon/Typhoeus as leading characters, and it also has close parallels in many myths from cultures other than the Greek (Marduk vs. Tiamat, etc.). Ophioneus and its brood are often depicted as ruling the birthing cosmos for some time, before falling from power. The chaotic forces are eternal and cannot be destroyed; instead they are thrown out from the ordered world and locked away in Tartaros in a kind of "appointment of the spheres", in which the victor (Zeus-Cronus) takes possession of the sky and of space and time.^[The locks to Tartaros are fashioned in iron by Zeus, and might hence have been associated with his element of aither, and in bronze by Poseidon, which might indicate a link to water (which was often conceived of as the "first matter"). Judging from some ancient fragments Ophioneus is thrown into Okeanos, not into Tartaros.

Exactly what entities or forces that were locked away in Pherecydes’ story cannot be known for sure. There may have been five principal figures. Ophioneus and Typhon are one and the same, and Eurynome fought on the side of Ophioneus against Cronus. Chthonie is a principal "thing" of the underworld, but whether she is to be counted as one of the five or the five "sum-total" is an open question. Apart from these it is known that Ophioneus-Typhon mated with Echidna, and that Echidna herself was somehow mysteriously "produced" by Callirhoe. If Pherecydes counted five principal entities in association the pentemychos doctrine, then Ophioneus, Eurynome, Echidna, Calirrhoe and Chthonie are the main contenders.

Cronus (or Zeus in the more popularly known version) orders the offspring out from the cosmos to Tartaros. There they are kept behind locked gates, fashioned in iron (associated with Zeus and his element of sky/space) and bronze (by Poseidon—the water force). We are told about chaotic beings put into the pentemychos, and we are told that the Darkness has an offspring that is cast into the recesses of Tartaros. No surviving fragment makes the connection, but it is possible that the prison-house in Tartaros and the pentemychos are ways of referring to the essentially same thing. According to Celsus, Pherecydes said that: "Below that portion is the portion of Tartaros; the daughters of Boreas [the north wind], the Harpies and Thuella [Storm], guard it; there Zeus banished any of the gods whenever one behaves with insolence." Thus the identity between Zeus' prison-house and the pentemychos seems likely.

Influence

Pherecydes' "Pentemychos" was thought to have contained a mystical esoteric teaching, treated allegorically. One ancient commentator said that:

Also, Pherecydes, the man of Syros, talks of recesses and pits and caves and doors and gates, and through these speaks in riddles of becomings and deceases of souls.

A comparatively large number of sources say Pherecydes was the first to teach the eternality and transmigration (metempsychosis) of human souls. Both Cicero and Augustine thought of him having given the first teaching of the "immortality of the soul". It is not surprising that some considered Pherecydes to have been the teacher of Pythagoras. That he was the first to teach such a thing is doubtful, but that he was among the first and that he did profess this teaching is certain. Hermann S. Schibli concludes that Pherecydes "included in his book ["Pentemychos"] at least a rudimentary treatment of the immortality of the soul, its wanderings in the underworld, and the reasons for the soul’s incarnations".

Pherecydes was occasionally counted among the Seven Sages of Greece.
A sun-dial (heliotropion), supposedly made by Pherecydes, was said by Diogenes Laërtius to be "preserved on the island of Syros."

Reconstruction

Basing himself on the extant fragments of Pherecydes' work, on testimonia from ancient authors regarding Pherecydes' philosophy, as well as on themes from Ancient Greek and Near Eastern mythologies, Hermann S. Schibli offers the following reconstruction of the main elements of Pherecydes' lost book:

CHRONOS and Zas always were, and also Chthonie (Ζὰς μὲν καὶ Χρόνος ἦσαν ἀεὶ καὶ Χθονίη). Once Chronos, alone and without a partner, cast forth his seed. From his seed he made fire, air, and water, and deposited these in five hollows. Lo, from the mixtures of fire, air and water in the hollows arose another generation of gods. The fiery gods dwelt in Ouranos and gleaming Aither, the gods of wind in gusty Tartaros, the watery gods in Chaos, and the gods of darkness dwelt in black Night.

After the generation of gods, born of the seed of Time, assumed their habitations, Zas became Eros and married Chthonie. The other gods built many large palaces for him; they provided all the necessary goods, the banquet tables, servants and maids, and when all the needful things had been accomplished, they performed the wedding. On the third day of the wedding, Zas fashioned a big and beautiful robe, and on it he embroidered Earth and Ogenos and the mansions of Ogenos. When he had finished his task, he presented the robe to Chthonie and said: 'Because I wish to marry you, I honour you with this robe. Rejoice and be my consort!' This they say was the first feast of unveiling, and hence arose the custom for both gods and men. And she responded as she received the robe from him: 'I take this as my honour, and henceforth I shall be called Ge...' The gods celebrated, feasting on ambrosia. And the Earth was like a winged oak, strong and mighty; its roots extended into the depths of Tartaros, its trunk was encircled by Ogenos, and its branches reached into Ouranos. The Earth flourished and Zas rejoiced.

But below the Earth, in a hollow of Tartaros, Ophioneus was born. He and his monstrous sons challenged Kronos. The battle-lines were drawn up, with Kronos the commander of one army and Ophioneus leading the Ophionidai. The terms of the battle were stated: whichever of them fell into Ogenos would be the defeated, while those who thrust them out and defeated them would possess Ouranos. A fierce conflict followed. Kronos had a strong ally in Zas; in single combat he overthrew Ophioneus. So Ophioneus and his brood were cast into Ogenos, and they dwell in the mansions of Ogenos to this day. Kronos, commander of the victorious army, was crowned by the other gods (from this arose the custom of the wearing of crowns by victors). Zeus honoured the victorious gods and assigned them their domains. Kronos had won Ouranos. These are the shares of the other gods: below Ouranos is the fiery Aither; below Aither the portion of Earth; below that portion is Tartaros; the daughters of Boreas, the Harpies and Thuella, guard it; there Zeus banishes any of the gods who behave with insolence. There also are the souls of men who have committed bloodshed. Their souls are borne through the portals and gates of Tartaros on an outflowing river to birth; the river is like the seed that leads to new life. And the souls of men depart from life and enter again the caves and hollows of Tartaros through its portals and gates. Alongside Tartaros is Chaos and the realms of dark Night.

THE 20 OLDEST OCCULT AND RELIGIOUS BOOKS OF ALL TIME.

If you were asked to name an old book, you would probably name something by Homer. Perhaps you might think of Beowulf. Someone religiously minded might mention Vedic texts, or perhaps the earliest writings found in the Hebrew Bible. While these literary classics are, indeed, old, a learned library science professional could probably tell you that the earliest books are from the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and the Middle East: Sumerian, Akkadian and Egyptian.

The earliest examples of literature that we have date from 2600 BC, during the early Bronze Age. This literature is interesting, and offers a look at the thought process of early civilization. (A look at examples of the earliest literature might warrant a library science grant or fellowship.) Examples from these early writings are often found inscribed on clay tablets, and, in some cases, in other mediums. And, of course, the language used is very different from modern Western languages. But, in the end, these oldest books represent the cultural heritage of us all. Here are the 20 oldest books of all time with links included in description for each:


SUMERIAN

No one is exactly sure where the Sumerians came from, but they may have come from Iran or India. Their language was different, though, from the Semitic peoples inhabiting Mesopotamia when they arrived. Sumer occupied the area we know as southern Iraq — the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Sumer was composed of city-states, each with its own ruler. However, these city-states comprised a civilization. Many consider Sumer the first cohesive civilization.

Even though examples of writing from Egypt predate some of the writing in Sumer and other permanent settlements were established prior to the cities of the Sumerians, many scholars agree that the Sumer’s general code of law and its culture and systemic writing and mode of exchange puts Sumer in the running as the world’s oldest civilization.

• Instructions of Shuruppak: Representing what is known as Sumerian wisdom literature, the Instructions of Shuruppak was meant to teach virtue and community standards.
• Code of Urukagina: This is a book of law. The rules in the Code of Uruagina were part of an effort to combat the corruption under a previous ruler.
• Epic of Gilgamesh: You’ve probably heard of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, following the exploits of this great hero of literature.
• Curse of Agade: Tells the story of the fall of the Akkadian empire, due to the cursing of the king, Agade.
• The Debate Between Bird and Fish: A philosophical essay, postulating a debate between a bird and a fish. A number of these literary essays exist in Sumerian literature.
• Code of Ur-Nammu: Pre-dating the Code of Hammurabi by three centuries, the Code of Ur-Nammu has the most complete set of laws of old books.
• Lament for Ur: When the great Sumerian city of Ur fell to the Elamites, the literary Lament for Ur was written to express the sorrow of the patron goddess of the city.
• Enmerkar and the Lord of Arrata: A great, legendary account of the conflict between two great kings. Many scholars have drawn parallels between some of the themes in Enmerkar and the Lord of Arrata and the Tower of Babel story.

AKKADIAN

The culture of Akkad rose side by side with that of Sumer, although located originally further south. However, the Akkadians eventually became what many historians and scholars consider the first true empire. At least, it was the largest empire seen up to that point. Unlike the Sumerians, who were not Semitic, the people of Akkad were Semitic. As the Akkadians moved north, they conquered the Sumerians, and absorbed them into what became the Akkadian empire.

After the Sumerians were conquered, Akkadian culture flourished. Arts and language grew to great heights. Eventually, the capital of the Akkadian empire became the well-known city of Babylon. The Akkadian empire eventually fell, but a rich history was left behind.

• Legend of Etana: Interestingly, the Legend of Etana tells the story of the Sumerian king Kish, and how he obtains a son with the help of Eagle — and what happens after.
• Enheduanna’s Hymns: Are you looking for an example of women in early literature? The hymns of the priestess Enheduanna, an important woman in Ur, offers you a look.
• Laws of Eshnunna: The city state of Eshnunna had its own set of laws. There are differences between the laws in this book, and the famous Code of Hammurabi, are instructive about the development of law in ancient times.
• Epic of Gilgamesh: This made it to the list twice. Why? Because the Akkadians, centuries after the first stories of Gilgamesh were told, fashioned the stories into one of the earliest examples of epic poetry.
• Kultepe Texts: These texts represent some of the first writings found in Anatolia. The Kultepe Texts include Histories of rebellions against the Akkadians.
• Enuma Elish: The Akkadian creation epic, the Enuma Elish, can help you understand the Babylonian worldview.
• Atra-Hasis: Tablets containing the Atra-Hasis contain an account of how the humans came to be, as well as an account of the Great Flood.

EGYPTIAN

The foundation for what we recognize as Ancient Egyptian culture had been developing for centuries, even before recorded history. However, things really picked up during the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt, when the government of Egypt — with divine kings at the center — and other portions of Egyptian culture were established.

The Early Dynastic Period was punctuated by a move to cities, as well as a flourishing artistic scene. Some of the earliest examples of writing are from Ancient Egypt, following this period and moving into the Fifth Dynasty. It is little surprise, then, that some of the oldest books of all time are from Egypt.

• Pyramid Texts: You’ve probably heard of the Pyramid Texts. These prove that a book can even be inscribed on the walls of an edifice.
• Palermo Stone: Chronicles the rise of legendary rulers before the god Horus. The Palermo Stone is a an example of legendary history.
• Maxims of Ptahhotep: This ancient text, a literary work ascribed to the ruler Ptahhotep, sets out proper rules governing human relationships.
• Coffin Texts: The coffin texts, written on (as you might expect) coffins, provide a look at the evolving Egyptian view of the afterlife.
• Story of Sinuhe: Perhaps one of the finest examples of Egyptian literature — or any literature — the Story of Sinuhe offers a moving story of divinity and mercy and other universal themes.

A POPULAR HISTORY OF RELIGION

Robert Howard, dramatist, brother-in-law to Dryden, staunch Whig and Privy Councillor was described by John Evelyn as, 'a gentleman pretending to all manner of Arts and Sciences'. In the History of Religion (1694) he exhibited both his wide variety of reading and his inherent distaste for priest-craft. The original subtitle of the work, 'The History of Religion, as it has been abused by Priest-craft', indicated his anticlericalism. The premise of the work was that while all societies had some form of religious institution (it was this that distinguished man from beast) in many cases a variety of folly had been substituted for a correct pattern of theology. Howard suggested that religion (almost from the beginning) had been corrupted by priestly artifice, mystery and metaphysical obscurity. This was illustrated by a series of historical case studies. Arguing for a euhemeristic interpretation of the origin of religion (that is that the heathen gods were originally deified men) Howard presented the reader with a collection of pagan examples of penates or 'household gods'. The pagan priests had fabricated gods to serve their own purposes. The point was extended into a Christian context by Howard's repeated parallel of pagan worship with Catholic equivalents. The pagan Hades was the Catholic purgatory, heathen demonology was the pattern for Christian worship of saints, and gentile sacrifices were a model for Christian practice. Priests of all types had employed the two instruments of 'mystery' and 'persecution' to establish their false dominion. Drawing a comparison between contemporary practice and the Egyptian temple of Isis and the god of silence, Harpocrates, Howard followed Grotius in insisting that theological mystery was the essential 'art' of deviant religion. The History of Religion argued for the continuity of heathen and Christian priest-craft.

Howard was insistent that his text was only directed at the modern paganism evident in the Roman Catholic Church. Both the work and its reception belie this claim. Although reviling popish priests in particular, Howard made the general point that all priests tended to create doctrinal obscurity to ensure their own interpretative monopoly. The priesthood alone was to be the interpreter of the 'dark subtleties' of religion. This was a contemporary issue, he explained, 'the learned now a days have for their obscure writings, and dark gibberish even to keep the (profane) vulgar from daring to use their own understandings about matters which they do see to be so perplexed and intricate'. The prime example was the doctrine of the Trinity. Francis Atterbury pounced upon these subversive implications in a sermon before Queen Mary at Whitehall, The Scorner Incapable of True Wisdom (1694). He rebutted Howard's 'pretended histories of religion' arguing that he was 'so possess'd with the notion of priest-craft, and pious frauds, as to apply it indifferently to all religions, and to everything in religion'. Charles Leslie in his Charge of Socinianism against Dr Tillotson Considered (1695) echoed this complaint, 'he ridicules all reveal'd religion, and turns it into what he calls priest-craft'. According to Leslie, Howard implicated not only popish doctrines like transubstantiation but also true doctrines like 'the Trinity, Incarnation, Divinity, and Sacrifice of Christ'. Importantly, Leslie suggested that Howard had plagiarized his arguments from the infidel Charles Blount who, in his Great is Diana (1680), had ridiculed the Christian priesthood under the 'cobweb veil' of the heathen priests. In his account of the original of sacrifices and idolatry Howard followed Blount. Leslie noted that both men reduced religious action to the level of 'inward repentance' and morality.

Although Howard had reviled contemporary Christianity in his History of Religion he did not deny the value of religious experience but prescribed a model for reformation. Citing with approval the example of Archbishop Tillotson, he argued that Christ had established 'a religion which consults not only the eternal salvation of men's souls; but their temporal peace and security, their comfort and happiness in this world'. Howard proposed a theology of practice rather than proposition. The nature of religion necessarily linked it to 'moral righteousness' and could be resolved into the social injunction to do 'as we would be done by'. In his Twofold Vindication (1696) Howard re-emphasized these points. His concern was to promote the 'moral religion' and the 'moral Gospel' of Christ. Morality and revelation were much the same thing, simply 'diverse names, under which the same things are denoted'. Christianity was a 'perfect system of all the laws of nature'. With the corruption of the Mosaic law Christ had been sent to restore the 'old moral religion'. Importantly in this defense Howard acknowledged some of the works which had formed the foundations of his own. Charles Blount was an influence, although Howard pointed out that he hoped his own research was presented in a more temperate and respectable manner. The other named text was John Spencer's De Legibus Hebraeorum (1685), a massive work of erudition comparing pagan and Judaic ritual. Spencer's work was employed by Howard to argue that sacrifices were no part of divine religion, 'the true religion which is acceptable to God on its own account dwells in the mind, exerts itself in praises of, and prayers to God, in acts of temperance, justice, and mercy, this needs not multitudes of pompous rites to recommend it'.

Howard's work is important not as original research but because it acts as a neat summary of previous polemic and erudition. Without being directly plagiaristic it relies heavily on an extensive corpus of prior investigation of which Blount's Great is Diana and Spencer's De Legibus Hebraeorum are notable examples. It is to this bulk of infidel scholarship that we will now turn.