37 Questions
What is a key difference between theogonic poetry and philosophical cosmogony?
The replacement of gods with physical elements or abstract principles
What was a consequence of the disappearance of the names of the gods in cosmogonic accounts?
The release of accounts from their former bonds and associations with religious worship
What did the Milesian philosophers use to set their language apart from that of tradition?
Appellatives
What was a characteristic of the theogonic poets' innovations?
The arrangement of statements within a framework of traditional narration
What is a key aspect of philosophical cosmogony?
The assumption that underlying cosmic events are purely physical processes
What did the Milesian philosophers create with their new mode of expression?
A new mode of expression
What is a key difference between theogonic poetry and the works of the Milesian philosophers?
The employment of traditional names of the gods
What was Empedocles' enduring contribution to the history of philosophy?
The identification of the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air
Why did Empedocles characterize the elements as gods?
To distinguish the elements from the four substances as they are perceptible to the senses
What are the two primal forces according to Empedocles?
Neikos and Philotes
What is the purpose of Empedocles' allegorical language?
To make a statement about physical reality
How does Empedocles describe the elements?
As eternal and indestructible
What is produced by the element water according to Empedocles?
Mortal springs
Why did Empedocles speak in the first person throughout his work?
To distinguish himself from Parmenides
In which century did the Greeks start questioning the cultural relevance of myth?
8th century
What facilitated the growth of the Greek world in the 8th century?
Rise of inland trade and travel to the East
What was the strongest single impulse behind the trend towards rational argumentation?
Emergence of the polis
Where was the earliest piece of evidence for the boulē, the democratic council, found?
Chios
Who wrote the poem 'On Nature' that offered a rational account of physical reality?
Parmenides of Elea
What was unique about the poem 'On Nature' by Parmenides of Elea?
It opened with a myth about the goddess Aletheia
What was the name of the goddess in Parmenides' poem 'On Nature'?
Aletheia
What is attributed to Thales?
The statement that all things are full of gods
What is implied about the Presocratic philosophers by some nineteenth-century scholars?
That they made a sudden leap from myth to logic
What is said to be an overstatement?
That Thales made a sudden leap from myth to logic
What is mentioned as a similarity between the theories of the Milesian thinkers and Near Eastern myths?
Their strong similarities in content
What is said to be a characteristic of the philosophers' descriptions of physical principles?
They came close to religious language
When did the scholars who reacted against the idea of a sudden leap from myth to logic live?
Twentieth century
What is said to be an irrational side of Presocratic thought?
The influence of Near Eastern myths
What is the origin of all things according to Near East myths?
Water
Where did Thales acquire data for his prediction of the solar eclipse?
Mesopotamia
What was Thales' perspective on water?
A physical element and a cosmic reality
What was being developed by Thales?
A model of the world explained on rational grounds
Why is Thales considered significant?
He abandoned the mythical mode of expression
What was the city where Thales lived?
One of the leading commercial cities of the day
What was Thales trying to explain?
The natural world
What influenced Thales' philosophy?
Near East myths
What did Thales predict?
A solar eclipse
pages 96-100
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