THE SENSE OF FATE AND FREEDOM IN THE ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY
Abstract
Freedom is a fundamental human attribute. Other human qualities derive from it. The whole history of the world is essentially nothing but the history of the development of the idea of freedom.
The consciousness of freedom first emerged in ancient Greece. The ancient East failed to grasp the notion of freedom, hence, it was absent. For the first time in history, the ancient Greeks comprehended that man is in fact free, that freedom is the natural state of humanity, that human is not a product of nature that merely exists. Man creates himself, making him a free being.
The Greeks perceived the phenomenon of freedom in a dialectical relationship with destiny. In relation to man, destiny appears as fate. Every person has his own destiny, that is, his place and purpose in the world, which no one and nothing can change.
The mythical hero is assigned his fate, stands on the threshold of his voluntary implementation, he silently and tirelessly submits to fate and becomes the executor of its sentence.
The Hegelian definition of freedom - "freedom is a known necessity" finds its best confirmation in a mythical hero.
Ancient Greek philosophers: Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle rationally understood the phenomenon of fate and demystified it. In their thinking, destiny, as a transcendental and unknowable force, moved into a person and became an immanent force determining the "inner" fate of a person. The thesis put forward by Heraclitus "man's destiny is his character" has never lost its power.
The Hegelian definition of freedom - "freedom is a known necessity" finds its most compelling exemplification in a mythical hero.
Ancient Greek philosophers: Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle rationally understood the phenomenon of fate and demystified it. In their philosophical discourse, destiny, as a transcendental and inscrutable force, transmuted into an intrinsic force shaping the "inner" fate of individuals. The thesis put forward by Heraclitus "man's destiny is his character" has never lost its power.
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle made great efforts to demonstrate that man can change his character through "Logos", wisdom, subdue and eliminate the passions of his nature and become the creator of his own destiny. They thoroughly elaborated such hypostats of the phenomenon of freedom as spiritual freedom, freedom of choice and free will. They reasoned that true freedom does not exist without responsibility, the freedom left without responsibility will turn into arbitrariness, extreme freedom, which destroys freedom.
Key words: Mythos, destiny, freedom, logos, inevitability, cosmos, transcendent, immanent.
