Role of Philosophy in Ancient Greece - Essay Example

Titus Rock Manickam Order No. 236528 10 August 2008 Hesiod Works and Days Introduction At a time when Greece, as superpower, wielded enormous influence in every sphere of human activity, there was little indication in the beginning of the 800th century B.C. the turmoil and testing time Greece was headed to would lead to complete turn around for the worse in Greek as well as world history. (Greece in the making 1200-479 B.C) The Greeks had mastered literature, art, science, and their intrusive subjugation of their citizenry ensured that the state controlled not only the lives of its citizens but also their field of operations.

(Pomeroy, Sarah B.) Although Greece prospered as a super power, its iron fisted rule caused frustration and discontentment. The teachings and admonition of Homer, Hesoid, and other philosophers, thinkers, and other men of renown had an impact although they were neither taken seriously nor officially acknowledged. It would be incorrect to say that they were totally and exclusively rejected. However, at best, the ruling class’ opinion was divided. Thus, a conscientious section among learned men of the times deemed it necessary to invoke the gods, goddesses, the consequences of evil, and the trysts and involvement of the divine beings with the lives and affairs of men.

They exhorted the people in the name of their god, Zeus, and other gods including the deathless gods, that these great divine beings hated violence and injustice. Hesiod’s works Ancient inscriptions, texts and other archaeological evidence point to the greatness of the empire, its height of power, corruption and decline, and ultimate albeit temporary demise in the times of Hesiod. The empire was to resurrect a few centuries later. The political, economical, social and administrative structure of the great monolith was so powerful and wielded such influence that there was no way it could not find its way back.

Those who recorded the decrees and events, and the architects and sculptors who designed city and town structures conformed to the best information and technology available at that time. They did so under duress. However, the system was near perfect and all pervasive to the extent it left no stone unturned in ensuring a feasible, time and motion based planning and execution. The execution of administration itself was ruthless enough to quell insubordination. Obviously, the Greek rulers had in place some form of reward and punishment system in place to spur performance and forbid failure.

(Michael Arnush) Conclusions Greek philosophers like Hesiod made full use of divine sources and mythologies to score home the point that maladministration, injustice and corruption at high places inevitably invited divine justice from different divine hierarchical order who had specific and varied forms of retributions for different shades of ruling system. In other words, they preached the different types and intensity of divine wrath that the heavenly beings had decreed upon the rulers and the ruled without discrimination for the types of sins they committed.

Hesiod and his ilk understood the influence of the divine beings on the people and the rulers. Hence, they adopted ingenious theories with the hope that better sense would prevail at all quarters and sections of the society. Sources: Greece in the making 1200-479 B.C., Barnes & Noble, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Greece-in-the-Making-1200-479-BC/Robin-Osborne/e/9780415035835 Greece, The Gift of Prometheus, Sciences of Ancient Civilizations, http://library.thinkquest.org/C0122667/greece/war.

html Michael Arnush, The Epigraphic Database for Athenian Democracy, Center for Hellenic Studies, http://zeus.chsdc.org/chs/issue_2_-_arnush Pomeroy, Sarah B., Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=80438888