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[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Greco-Roman Antiquity – III. New Testament – IV. Dogmatics and Ethics – V. Practical Theology I. History of Religion The original meaning of the word, (divine) “joint knowledge, knowledge, consciousness, and self-consciousness” (Gk syneídēsis, Lat. conscientia), had already changed in antiquity to refer to an evaluative consciousness of one's own actions. Western philosophical and theological discourse formed various metaphors: the internal; the inner voiced ( daimónion; daimon), also interpreted as the voice …

[German Version] I. Study and History of Religion – II. Philosophy of Religion I. Study and History of Religion Greek ὕβρις, “pride, infringement, maltreatment, outrage.” The etymology of hybris is obscure (the second syllable may be related to βριαρός/ briarós, “strong”). The popular etymological derivation from ὑπέρ/ hypér, “exceeding (the correct amount),” common since the time of

[German Version] I. Term and Genre – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Liturgical Studies I. Term and Genre The Greek word ὕμνος/ hýmnos, whose etymology is obscure, originally meant, quite unspecifically, simply “song” (the verb ὑμνεῖν/ hymneín, “ to sing”; cf. Hes. Theog. 11.33; Hom. Hym. 3.178, etc.). Yet, from the ¶ 5th/4th century bce at the latest, it meant “song for a god” (cf. Plato, Leges 700 b 1–2; Xenophanes 21 B 1.13 DK; Xenophon, Cyrupaideia 18.1.23) and thence became the general term for “religious song,” and finally for “festival song,” “song o…

[German Version] from Greek εὐδαιμονία, meaning “happiness, bliss” (Lat. beatitudo). Originally a religious concept ( eudaímōn, “having a good daimon,” “blessed by God”; cf. Euripides, Orestes 667), it was often used in the sense of having great material wealth, and only entered the vocabulary of philosophical ethics in the 6th/5th century bce. The pre-Socratics were the first to strip the term of its material connotations and used the concept of eudaimonía to describe a good inner disposition of the human soul (cf. Democritus in: Vorsokratiker 68 B 77, …

[German Version] was a Hellenistic Jew, presumably from Alexandria, who authored a Greek tragedy, Exagoge ( The Exodus, i.e. from Egypt) following Exod 1–15 (LXX) sometime after 240 bce but surely before 100 ce. The extant fragments (a total of 269 verses) represent the largest ¶ preserved portion of Greek tragedy after Euripides and, simultaneously, the largest preserved portion of Judeo-Hellenistic poetry. The following scenes have been preserved: 1. Moses reports about his fate to this poin…

[German Version] (c. 700 bce), the oldest Greek poet of whom there is authentic information concerning his person. His father, a merchant, was forced to leave the Aeolian city of Cyme and settled down in Boeotian Ascra (Hes. Erga kai hemerai [ Erga] 635–640). After his death, an inheritance dispute broke out between Hesiod and his brother Perses ( Erga 35–39). A first prize in a poetry contest in Chalcis is also documented ( Erga 650–659). Tradition attributes the following works to Hesiod's authorship: Theogonia ( Theogony), Erga kai hemerai ( Works and Days), and the Aspis ( Shield). Signi…

[German Version] A Stoic philosopher and Egyptian priest of the 1st century ce, Chaeremon was probably a grammar teacher in Alexandria before becoming the tutor of the later emperor Nero in 49 ce. Chaeremon is the author of a grammatical essay on hieroglyphs ( Hieroglyphica), of an astrological treatise, and of a stoicizing work on Egyptian history ( Aigyptiakḗ historía). The latter was less a historical account than a mytholo¶ gizing description of the ancient Egyptian priesthood as the perfect embodiment of Stoic ideals. Lutz Käppel Bibliography Fragments: F. Jacoby, ed., Die Fragme…

[German Version] Greek δαίμων, may be etymologically related to δαίω “disperse” (i.e. the fateless?); originally “divine being, divine power” (= ϑεός, “god”) (Hom. Iliad 1.222 etc.), but already in Hes. Erga 121–126 it referred to the “soul of a deceased person.” The two concepts fuse in the image of daimons as punishing avengers (souls of the ¶ murdered execute vengeance as daimons). The concept of the “personal” daimon that influences the fate of the individual appeared from the 6th century bce (Theognis 161–164, Heraclitus 22 B 119 D.-K., Pindarus, Olympia 13.28, 105, Sophoc. Trachin…

[German Version] (c. 485/484 bce, Salamis – 407/406, Pella). With Aeschylus and Sophocles, Euripides was the third great tragedian of classical Greece. Historically reliable information about his life is scanty. He was probably the son of a landowner and a mother from a distinguished family. In Athens he is said to have been a pupil of the Sophists Anaxagoras, Prodicus, and Protagoras, as well as being a friend of Socrates. He first appeared as a tragedian in 455 bce. He went on to produce 92 plays. In his old age, he finally left Athens for the co…