(22) Derveni Papyrus of Orphism

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Chapter 6. Page 78 © 2006 Copyrights Author Kalki Gaur, “Da Vinci Code as Clash of Religion.”

(1) Orphism

Orphism believed that man's salvation depended on his knowledge of the truth. The book contains a philosophical treatise on a lost poem describing the birth of the gods and other beliefs focusing on Orpheus, the mythical musician who visited the underworld to reclaim his dead love and enjoyed a strong cult following in the ancient world. Derveni Papyrus is a philosophical treatise on ancient faith that is Europe's oldest surviving manuscript. The Orpheus cult revolved around the soul's fate after death. It raised the notion of a single creator god, as opposed to the multitude of deities the ancient Greeks believed in, and influenced later monotheistic faiths. ''In a way, it was a precursor of Christianity. In about 450 BC

(2) Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras was imprisoned for claiming that the Sun was not a god and that the Moon reflected the Sun's light. As to the structure of matter, Anaxagoras postulated an infinite number of elements, or basic building blocks. He claimed there is a portion of every thing that is of every elemental stuff in every thing, but each is and was most manifestly those things of which there is most in it. However, it was the power of Nous or Mind that not only created the world but also was the driving force in its day-to-day processes. For example, the growth of living things, according to Anaxagoras, depends on the power of mind within the organisms that enables them to extract nourishment from surrounding substances. Aristotle both found much to praise in Anaxagoras' theory of Nous (Mind). Both Plato and Aristotle, however, were critical of the fact that the driving force of the Nous (Mind) as proposed by Anaxagoras was not ethical.

The burnt remains of a 2,400-year-old scroll buried with an ancient Greek nobleman may help unlock the secrets of early monotheistic religion, using new digital technology. A team of U.S., British and Greek experts is working on a new reading of the enigmatic Derveni papyrus, a philosophical treatise on ancient faith that is Europe's oldest surviving manuscript. More than four decades after the papyrus was found in a grave in northern Greece, researchers said Thursday they are close to uncovering new text from the blackened fragments left after the scroll was burned on its owner's funeral pyre. Large sections of the mid-4th century B.C. document, a philosophical treatise on religion written in ancient Greek were read by scholars years ago. But now, archaeologist Polyxeni Veleni believes US imaging and scanning techniques used to decipher the Judas Gospel, which portrays Judas not as a sinister betrayer but as Jesus' confidant, will considerably expand and clarify that text. ''I believe some 10-20 percent of new text will be added, which however will be of crucial importance,'' said Veleni, director of the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum, where the manuscript is kept. ''This will fill in many gaps. We will get a better understanding of the sequence and the existing text will become more complete,'' Veleni told. The scroll, originally several meters (yards) of papyrus rolled around two wooden runners, was found in 1962. It dates to around 340 B.C., during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. ''It is the oldest surviving book, if you can use that word for a scroll, in Western tradition,'' Veleni said. ''This was a unique find, of exceptional importance.'' Greek philosophy expert Apostolos Pierris said the text may be a century older, ''It was probably written by somebody from the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras, in the second half of the 5th century B.C.'' Anaxagoras, who lived in ancient Athens, is thought to have been the teacher of Socrates and was accused by his contemporaries of atheism. Last month, experts from Brigham Young University in Utah used multi-spectral digital analysis to create enhanced pictures of the text, which will be studied by Oxford University papyrologist Dirk Obbink and Pierris, and published by the end of 2007. A separate, Greek team is also working to produce a new edition by the end of 2006.

''Scholars were now able to read even the most carbonized sections, as there were pieces that were completely blackened and nobody could make out whether there were letters on them.'' The manuscript was thrown onto the funeral pyre that consumed its owner, and laid with his ashes in the grave. ''The fire actually saved it, as the papyrus would have been rotted away by damp if not burned,'' Greek papyrologist expert George Karamanolis said. The book contains a philosophical treatise on a lost poem describing the birth of the gods and other beliefs focusing on Orpheus, the mythical musician who visited the underworld to reclaim his dead love and enjoyed a strong cult following in the ancient world. Ancient legends tell how Orpheus, who could charm wild beasts with his lyre, met a brutal end at the hands of an outraged band of Thracian women who resented his fidelity to his lost sweetheart, Eurydice, and tore him to shreds and threw the remains into a river. The Orpheus cult revolved around the soul's fate after death. It raised the notion of a single creator god _ as opposed to the multitude of deities the ancient Greeks believed in _ and influenced later monotheistic faiths. ''In a way, it was a precursor of Christianity,'' Pierris said. ''Orphism believed that man's salvation depended on his knowledge of the truth.'' Veleni said the manuscript ''will help show the influence of Orphism on later monotheistic religions.'' The scroll's remains _ about 200 charred scraps are currently kept in the museum's storerooms sandwiched between glass panels. The Derveni grave, about five miles northwest of Thessaloniki, was part of a rich cemetery belonging to the ancient city of Lete. ''It belonged to a very rich man, a Macedonian nobleman, warrior and athlete who had a lot of very important and valuable artifacts in his grave.'' Finds included metal vases, a gold wreath and weapons.

(3) Anaxagoras of Clazomenae

Anaxagoras: Anaxagoras was Born in 499 BC in Clazomenae, 30 km west of Izmir, Lydia (now Turkey), and Died: 428 BC in Lampsacus, Mysia now Turkey. Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around 450 AD, described Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. After philosopher Pythagoras, philosopher Anaxagoras of Clazomenae dealt with many questions in geometry. Anaxagoras was an Ionian, born in the neighborhood of Smyrna in what today is Turkey. We know few details of his early life, but certainly he lived the first part of his life in Ionia where he learnt about the new studies that were taking place there in philosophy and the new found enthusiasm for a scientific study of the world. He came from a rich family but he gave up his wealth. As Heath writes “He neglected his possessions, which were considerable, in order to devote himself to science.

Although Ionia had produced philosophers such as Pythagoras, up to the time of Anaxagoras this new study of knowledge had not spread to Athens. Anaxagoras is famed as the first to introduce philosophy to the Athenians when he moved there in about 480 BC. During Anaxagoras’ stay in Athens, Pericles rose to power. Pericles, who was about five years younger than Anaxagoras, was a military and political leader who was successful in both developing democracy and building an empire that made Athens the political and cultural center of Greece. Anaxagoras and Pericles became friends but this friendship had its drawbacks since Pericles' political opponents also set themselves against Anaxagoras. In about 450 BC Anaxagoras was imprisoned for claiming that the Sun was not a god and that the Moon reflected the Sun's light. This seems to have been instigated by opponents of Pericles. Russell writes: The citizens of Athens passed a law permitting impeachment of those who did not practice religion and taught theories about 'the things on high'. Under this law they persecuted Anaxagoras, who was accused of teaching that the sun was a red-hot stone and the moon was earth.

We should examine this teaching of Anaxagoras about the sun more closely for, although it was used as a reason to put him in prison, it is a most remarkable teaching. It was based on his doctrine of "Nous (Mind)" which is translated as "mind" or "reason". Initially "all things were together" and matter was some homogeneous mixture. The Nous (Mind) set up a vortex in this mixture. The rotation began in the center and then gradually spread, taking in wider and wider circles. The first effect was to separate two great masses, one consisting of the rare, hot, dry, called the "aether", the other of the opposite categories and called "air". The aether took the outer, the air the inner place. From the air were next separated clouds, water, earth and stones. The dense, the moist, the dark and cold, and all the heaviest things, collected in the center as a result of the circular motion, and it was from these elements when consolidated that the earth was formed; but after this, in consequence of the violence of the whirling motion, the surrounding fiery aether tore stones away from the earth and kindled them into stars. There are remarkable insights in this description. The idea of differentiation of matter, which plays a large role in modern theories of creation of the solar system, is present. Anaxagoras also shows an understanding of centrifugal force, which again shows the major scientific insights that he possessed.

Anaxagoras proposed that the moon shines by reflected light from the "red-hot stone" which was the sun, the first such recorded claim. Showing great genius he was also then able to take the next step and become the first to explain correctly the reason for eclipses of the sun and moon. His explanation of eclipses of the sun is completely correct but he did spoil his explanation of eclipses of the moon by proposing that in addition to being caused by the shadow of the earth, there were other dark bodies between the earth and the moon, which also caused eclipses of the moon. It is a little unclear why he felt it necessary to postulate the existence of these bodies but it does not detract from this major breakthrough in mathematical astronomy. There is also other evidence to suggest that Anaxagoras had applied geometry to the study of astronomy.

As to the structure of matter, Anaxagoras postulated an infinite number of elements, or basic building blocks. He claimed, there is a portion of every thing that is, of every elemental stuff in every thing, but each is and was most manifestly those things of which there is most in it. However, it was the power of Nous (Mind), or mind, that not only created the world but also was the driving force in its day-to-day processes. For example, the growth of living things, according to Anaxagoras, depends on the power of mind within the organisms that enables them to extract nourishment from surrounding substances.

Aristotle both found much to praise in Anaxagoras’ theory of Nous (Mind). Both Plato and Aristotle, however, were critical of the fact that the driving force of the Nous (Mind) as proposed by Anaxagoras was not ethical. They wanted Nous (Mind) to always act in the best interests of the world. In fact the Nous (Mind) of Anaxagoras does provide a mechanical explanation of the world after the non-mechanical start when the vortex is produced. It is worth noting that Newton's mechanical universe would have more in common with Anaxagoras’ views than the continuing ethical intelligence proposed by Plato and Aristotle. We can obtain some clues to the mathematics that Anaxagoras studied but, unfortunately, very little remains in the records to allow us to know of definite results which he may have proved. While in prison he tried to solve the problem of squaring the circle that is constructing with ruler and compasses a square with area equal to that of a given circle. This is the first record of this problem being studied and this problem, and other similar problems, was to play a major role in the development of Greek mathematics.

One other intriguing piece of information comes from the writing of Vitruvius, a Roman architect, engineer, and author who lived in the first century BC. He records information about the painting of stage scenes for the plays that were performed in Athens and says that Anaxagoras wrote a treatise on how to paint scenes so that some objects appeared to be in the foreground while other appeared in the background. This fascinating comment must mean that Anaxagoras wrote a treatise on perspective, but sadly no such work survives. Anaxagoras was saved from prison by Pericles but had to leave Athens. He returned to Ionia where he founded a school at Lampsacus. This Greek city on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont was the place for the worship of Priapus, a god of procreation and fertility. Anaxagoras died there and the anniversary of his death became a holiday for schoolchildren. The best that we can hope to learn of Anaxagoras’ personality is from the story that when once asked what as the point of being born he replied - The investigation of sun. moon, and heaven. Even if this story is fictitious, it is likely to be based on the way that Anaxagoras lived his life and so tells us something of the personality of this remarkable scientist who gave a description of the creation of the solar system that took 2000 years to improve upon.

(4) Quotations by Anaxagoras.

There is no smallest among the small and no largest among the large, But always something still smaller and something still larger. Quoted in E Maor, To Infinity and Beyond: a Cultural History of the Infinite The descent to Hades is the same from every place. Quoted in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers

(5) Derveni Papyrus

The burnt remains of a 2,400-year-old scroll buried with an ancient Greek nobleman may help unlock the secrets of early monotheistic religion, using new digital technology. "I believe some 10-20 percent of new text will be added, which however will be of crucial importance." "This will fill in many gaps. We will get a better understanding of the sequence and the existing text will become more complete," The scroll, originally several yards of papyrus rolled around two wooden runners, was found in 1962. It dates to around 340 B.C., during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. "It is the oldest surviving book, if you can use that word for a scroll, in Western tradition" This was a unique find, of exceptional importance." "It was probably written by somebody from the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras, in the second half of the 5th century B.C." Anaxagoras, who lived in ancient Athens, is thought to have been the teacher of Socrates and was accused by his contemporaries of atheism.

Carbonized sections, as there were pieces that were completely blackened and nobody could make out whether there were letters on them. The manuscript was thrown onto the funeral pyre that consumed its owner, and laid with his ashes. "The fire actually saved it, as the papyrus would have been rotted away by damp if not burned."

The book contains a philosophical treatise on a lost poem describing the birth of the gods and other beliefs focusing on Orpheus, the mythical musician who visited the underworld to reclaim his dead love and enjoyed a strong cult following in the ancient world. Ancient legends tell how Orpheus, who could charm wild beasts with his lyre, met a brutal end at the hands of an outraged band of Thracian women who resented his fidelity to his lost sweetheart, Eurydice, and tore him to shreds and threw the remains into a river. The Orpheus cult revolved around the soul's fate after death. It raised the notion of a single creator god — as opposed to the multitude of deities the ancient Greeks believed in — and influenced later monotheistic faiths.  Orpheus cult in a way, it was a precursor of Christianity." Orphism believed that man's salvation depended on his knowledge of the truth." Derveni papyrus manuscript will help show the influence of Orphism on later monotheistic religions." The scroll's remains, about 200 charred scraps, are currently kept in the museum's storerooms, and sandwiched between glass panels. The Derveni grave, about five miles northwest of Thessaloniki, was part of a rich cemetery belonging to the ancient city of Lete.

''We were now able to read even the most carbonized sections, as there were pieces that were completely blackened and nobody could make out whether there were letters on them.'' The manuscript was thrown onto the funeral pyre that consumed its owner, and laid with his ashes in the grave. ''The fire actually saved it, as the papyrus would have been rotted away by damp if not burned.'' The book contains a philosophical treatise on a lost poem describing the birth of the gods and other beliefs focusing on Orpheus, the mythical musician who visited the underworld to reclaim his dead love and enjoyed a strong cult following in the ancient world. Ancient legends tell how Orpheus, who could charm wild beasts with his lyre, met a brutal end at the hands of an outraged band of Thracian women who resented his fidelity to his lost sweetheart, Eurydice, and tore him to shreds and threw the remains into a river. The Orpheus cult revolved around the soul's fate after death. It raised the notion of a single creator god, as opposed to the multitude of deities the ancient Greeks believed in and influenced later monotheistic faiths. ''In a way, it was a precursor of Christianity,'' Pierris said. ''Orphism believed that man's salvation depended on his knowledge of the truth.''

Greek philosopher of nature remembered for his cosmology and for his discovery of the true cause of eclipses. He was associated with the Athenian statesman Pericles. About 480 Anaxagoras moved to Athens, then becoming the center of Greek culture, and brought from Ionia the new practice of philosophy and the spirit of scientific inquiry. After 30 years' residence in Athens, he was prosecuted on a charge of impiety for asserting that the Sun is an incandescent stone somewhat larger than the region of the Peloponnese. The attack on him was intended as an indirect blow at Pericles, and, although Pericles managed to save him, Anaxagoras was compelled to leave Athens. He spent his last years in retirement at Lampsacus.

(6) Doctrine of Anaxagoras

Only a few fragments of Anaxagoras' writings have been preserved, and several different interpretations of his work have been made. The basic features, however, are clear. His cosmology grows out of the efforts of earlier Greek thinkers who had tried to explain the physical universe by an assumption of a single fundamental element. Parmenides, however, asserted that such an assumption could not account for movement and change, and, whereas Empedocles sought to resolve this difficulty by positing four basic ingredients, Anaxagoras posited an infinite number. Unlike his predecessors, who had chosen such elements as heat or water as the basic substance, Anaxagoras included those found in living bodies, such as flesh, bone, bark, and leaf. Otherwise, he asked, how could flesh come from what is not flesh? He also accounted for biological changes, in which substances appear under new manifestations: as men eat and drink, flesh, bone, and hair grow. In order to explain the great amount and diversity of change, he said that, "there is a portion of every thing, i.e., of every elemental stuff, in every thing," but "each is and was most manifestly those things of which there is most in it."

The most original aspect of Anaxagoras' system was his doctrine of nous ("mind," or "reason"). The cosmos was formed by mind in two stages: first, by a revolving and mixing process that still continues; and, second, by the development of living things. In the first, all of "the dark" came together to form the night the fluid came together to form the oceans, and so on with other elements. The same process of attraction of "like to like" occurred in the second stage, when flesh and other elements were brought together by mind in large amounts. This stage took place by means of animal and plant seeds inherent in the original mixture. The growth of living things, according to Anaxagoras, depends on the power of mind within the organisms that enables them to extract nourishment from surrounding substances. For this concept of mind, Anaxagoras commented upon by Aristotle. Both Plato and Aristotle, however, objected that his notion of mind did not include a view that mind acts ethically that is acts for the "best interests" of the universe.

Philosopher Anaxagoras (500 BC- 428 BC) argued that change in matter does not occur, even though it appears to. Anaxagoras assumed that all things are made up of an immense number of tiny seeds of different kinds of matter. These seeds never change, but they exist mixed together in different combinations. Apparent changes in matter are simply recombination of the changeless seeds. For these recombination to occur, motion is needed. Anaxagoras believed that a force in the universe called Mind moves the seeds. Anaxagoras was the first Greek philosopher to use Mind to explain the moving force in the world. Anaxagors was born in Asia Minor and taught in Athens for 30 years. His single surviving philosophy book also includes ideas on astronomy, meteorology and biology. Anaxagoras held that an all-pervading Nous (World-Mind) ordered the physical world by combining particles from the undifferentiated mass of the Universe.

(7) Philosopher Socrates (469 BC-399 BC)

Philosopher Socrates (469 BC-399 BC) was born and lived in Athens. Socrates theory of Forms, tried to identify the quality in an object or idea that remains constant and unchangeable. Socrates taught by showing listeners how inadequate their answers were. Athenians were angry because of his unorthodox views on religion. Socrates made enemies among influential Athenians. Socrates was brought to trial, charged with corrupting the young and showing disrespect for religious traditions. Socrates defended himself by stating that clear knowledge of truth is essential for the correct conduct of life. Action equals knowledge. Thus virtue can be taught because correct action involves thought. Socrates implied that rulers should be men who know how to rule, not necessarily those who have been elected. The Athenian jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death. Socrates carried out the sentence by calmly drinking a cup of hemlock poison. Socrates showed people that many things they assumed to be true were false.

(8) Socrates Dialectics.

Socrates believed that the correct method of discovering the common characteristics was by inductive means that is, by reasoning from particular facts to a general idea. This process took the form of dialectic (philosophic) conversation, which became known as Socrates Method, and later on adopted by Philosopher Hegel and became known as Hegelian dialectic. In Socrates dialectic two or more people would begin a definition of some key term, the conversation first showed that their assumptions were different, and then showed that the assumptions were inadequate to claim true knowledge. In this way, Socrates dialectic proceeded from less adequate to more adequate definitions. Dialectic proceeded from less adequate to more adequate definitions. Dialectic progressed from definitions that applied from only a few particular examples to universal definition that applied to all examples. Although, dialectic may often reach no satisfactory conclusion, its goal is always the same – to gain a true and universal definition. Dialectic showed Athenians that many things they assumed to be true were false. Socrates equated virtue with the knowledge of one’s true Self. Socrates looked upon the Soul as the seat of both waking consciousness and moral character and held the universe to be purposely mind-ordered. In 399 BC Socrates was tried for corrupting the morals of the Athenian youth and for religious heresies.

(9) Orphism – Orphic Mysteries

Orphism is a religious cult of ancient Greece, ascribed to Orpheus. The Orphic affirmed the divine origin of the Soul, but also the dual aspect of human nature as good and evil. Orphism believed that through initiation into the Orphic mysteries and through the process of transmigration, the Soul could be liberated from its inheritance of evil and achieves eternal blessedness. Orpheus in Greek mythology was a Thracian musician, son of the muse Calliope by Apollo or by Oeagrus, a king of Thrace. Orpheus married the nymph Eurydice and when he died he descended into the Hades to search for her. Orpheus was allowed to return with Eurydice on condition that he not look back at her, but he disobeyed and lost her forever. Orpheus worshipped Apollo above Dionysus, and Dionysus caused Thracian women to tear him to pieces.

Chapter 6. Page 82 © 2006 Copyrights Author Kalki Gaur, “Da Vinci Code as Clash of Religion.”

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