[German version] A. Definition Derived from Greek ἀκούειν ( akoúein), ‘to hear’, acoustics in modern language use generally means the physics of sound phenomena (physical acoustics) and furthermore the totality of the physiological processes during hearing (physiological acoustics) as well as the subjective hearing phenomena occurring in consciousness and in artistic experience (psychological acoustics). In Greek and Roman antiquity too all three areas were known even if, as a rule, they were separated n…

(Ἀέτιος; Aétios). [German version] [1] Mythical king of Troezen Son of Anthas, mythical king of Troezen; his successors colonized Halicarnass and Myndus in Caria (Paus. 2,30,8 f.). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Doxographer of 1st cent. AD Doxographer of 1st cent. AD. Although historically elusive, A. played a central role in the doxographic tradition of antiquity, because he wrote the only detailed doxographic manual to have been handed down fairly complete ( Doxography). Large parts of the work can be quite accur…

[English version] The legacy of ancient natural philosophy (NP) unfolded its theoretical implications through the gradual mutual influences of the various sources of ancient thought on nature. For the concept of nature in Greek and Latin philosophy extended both to the phenomena of the visible world and to physis as the guiding background on the metaphysical plane. It was formulated in the following main currents of thought in a way that were, to some extent, competitive: 1. In Plato's model of the Timaeus, where both the action of a demiurge and a kind of numerical structure…

(Ἡράκλειτος; Hērákleitos). [German version] [1] H. of Ephesus Ionian philosopher, c. 500 BC Son of Bloson, outstanding personality within Ionian philosophy. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] A. The person H.'s main period of activity is estimated to have been about 503-500 BC (Diog. Laert. 9,1). He belonged to a leading family in the public life of Ephesus. The doxographic tradition records several anecdotes of H.'s arrogance and contempt for his fellow citizens and humanity in general, which are mostly based on fragments of H. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] B. La…

Iohannes of Stobi in Macedonia (Ἰωάννης Στοβαῖος/ Iōánnēs Stobaîos), author of an Anthology dated to the 5th cent. AD. His name Iohannes makes a Christian background likely [11. 197]. [German version] I. Work: content and structure The collection of excerpts, the Anthology (Ἀνθολόγιον/ Anthológion; Suda s.v. Ἰωάννης Στοβεύς), contained, according to Photius, 'extracts, sayings and teachings in four books' (Phot. Bibl. cod. 167) - bk. 1: physics (and metaphysics), bk. 2,1-6: logic (and epistemology), bk. 2,7 ff. and bk. 3: ethics proper,…

(ὧραι, hôrai; tempora anni). [German version] I. Asia Minor/ Egypt The definition of seasons and of a year as a unit of time was largely governed by regularly recurring natural events, such as the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (a short vegetation period and summer drought, the topic of the Sumerian poem about the dispute between summer and winter, see Kindler 19, 604) and of the Nile in Egypt (Nile inundation, vegetation period, summer heat, each lasting for four months). The prevalent…

(Ὄλυμπος/Ólympos). Geography: [1-13]. People: [14-15]. [German version] [1] Home of the ›Olympian‹ gods, highest mountain in Greece (Latin Olympus) (Latin Olympus). Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) [German version] I. Geography The highest mountain in Greece, regarded as the home of the 'Olympian' gods (twelve (Olympian) gods). Its altitude, overlooking all of its surroundings, creates a powerful impression, as do its massive size and density and its dramatic ascent, especially at the east and west, which …

I. Greece [German version] A. Terminology In ancient Greek, the term phýsis (φύσις, ‘nature’) is a nomen actionis derived from the root * bhu- (which probably implies the idea of coming into being, growth and development). It first of all denotes the state that results from the spontaneous development of a living being: hence the meanings of ‘size’, ‘stature’, or ‘appearance’, all of which point towards the more general meaning of ‘innate bodily characteristics’. Phýsis is thus opposed to téchnē (τέχνη, art), which refers to any competence acquired in various domains of human activity. P…

Kranz, Margarita [German version] A. Considering Antiquity (CT) “The legacy of Greece to Western philosophy is Western philosophy” [57. 202]. This sentence - more apt than Alfred North Whitehead's observation that the history of Western philosophy is but a series of footnotes to Plato [17. 63] - reflects the enormity of the task of describing philosophy in terms of the reception of Antiquity. Rather than specific content or forms, it was philosophy itself that was passed down. Virtually every aspect of philosophy for two thousand years, until something explicitly new began and us…

Erdbeer, Robert Matthias I. Concept (CT) A. Concept and Process (CT) [German version] 1. Myth and Mythology (CT) Different from ‘myth’, the term 'mythology' - an 'account' ( logos) of the deeds of gods and heroes - can either refer to the total store of traditional narratives ('myths') of an ethnic group; or, alternatively, it can refer to the 'reasoned knowledge' ( logos) of these mythical narratives and take the form of a scientific, critical examination and presentation, i.e. a 'theory of myth'. In reception history, however, the term 'mythos' (or 'myt…

(θεωρία; theōría). [German version] [1] Legation from Greek cities to shrines Designation for one of the best-documented forms of pilgrimage [1], whereby the Greek póleis sent official legations to non-local shrines. The official sent on such a mission was called theoros (θεωρός; theōrós). It is assumed that the term comes from the fact that the theōroí 'looked upon' with their own eyes ( horân; on the word's disputed etymology see [1.433f.]) the sacrifices and celebrations in those sanctuaries, or beheld a 'god' ( theós), in contrast to all those who remained at home or consu…

I. Social History A. Greece [German version] 1. Private Friendship For the Greeks, friendship was one of the most important social relationships, generally egalitarian and guided by two main norms of behaviour, the duty of  reciprocity and a thinking guided by agonal competition (Thgn. 105ff.; 857ff.; 1263ff.; Eur. Or. 449ff.; 646ff.; Xen. Mem. 2,6,35). Political actions and the idea of justice were largely based on the desire of helping one's friends and harming one's enemies to the best of one's ability…

[German version] I. Preliminary remark Physics in the ancient sense, as developed by Aristoteles [6], differs from modern physics in its subject and the scope of its questions. Here it is presented without basing it on modern notions. Heinemann, Gottfried (Kassel) [German version] II. Concept and assumptions The expressions 'physics' (φυσική/ physikḗ sc. ἐπιστήμη/ epistḗmē or φιλοσοφία/ philosophía, synonymous with περὶ φύσεως ἐπιστήμη/ perì phýseōs epistḗmē, that is, the 'science of nature' or 'philosophy of nature') and 'physicist' (φυσικός/ physikós) were first introdu…

(Θεόφραστος/ Theóphrastos). Peripatetic philosopher, c. 371/0-287/6 BC, pupil and successor of Aristotle (Aristoteles [6]). [German version] I. Life Peripatetic philosopher, c. 371/0-287/6 BC T., born in Eresus on Lesbos, is said to have been a pupil of Alcippus. If he also studied in Athens with Plato [1], he must have had contact not only with Aristotle (Aristoteles [6]), but also with Speusippus and Xenocrates. After Plato's death (347), T. followed Aristotle to Asia Minor, then to Macedonia when Aristotle was summ…

[German version] I. General The most important foundations of later European conceptions of law were laid in OT Judaic law, in Greek law as practical counterpart to the beginnings of philosophical reflection on justice ( Pre-Socratics; Justice), and above all in Roman law as the defining authority for the development of secular European jurisprudence since the late Middle Ages ( Reception). Law always comprises regulation on the part of a sizeable community for the settlement of conflicts between…

[German version] A. Routes and media of transmission Graeco-Roman literature has come down to us through a multiplicity of strands of transmission. Besides the direct transmission of complete texts, we also have the indirect transmission through quotations from other authors, anthologies, scholia, lexicons (Lexicography) and texts in translation. Direct and indirect transmissions usually depend on mediaeval manuscripts. In addition, there are papyri or wooden tablets, or inscriptions, ostraka or graffit…

(Πυθαγόρας/ Pythagóras). [German version] [1] Fictitious Spartan and adviser to Numa Pompilius Fictitious person, supposedly from Sparta, victor at the Olympic Games in 716 BC, emigrated to Italy where he became an adviser to king Numa Pompilius. It seems this person was constructed to establish a connection between P. [2] and Roman religion (Plut. Numa 1,2-3). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography F. Ollier, Pythagore de Sparta, REG 59/60, 1946/7, 139-149. [German version] [2] Philosopher, c. 600 BC Natural philosopher and charismatic teacher from the 6th and early 5th cent…

I. Greek [German version] A. Aesthetic experience and discursive practice In Graeco-Roman antiquity, literary theory (LT) is the realm of poets, their best-kept secret and a supplement to other disciplines. It is expressed implicitly rather than explicitly even by the literary critics and readers of antiquity. Since LT does not appear as an autonomous field with a claim to universality until the 20th cent., we can find (or at least sense) what we today consider the LT of antiquity in various contiguous di…

Suntrup, Rudolf (Münster RWG) I. Linguistics and Literary Studies (CT) [German version] A. Introduction : The Concept (CT) In recent linguistic and literary-historical studies, as in theology, allegorism designates the methodically reflective development of a multiple meaning that goes beyond the literal meaning of religious, poetical, and other normative texts. As a hermeneutic-interpretative procedure, allegorism is to be distinguished from the grammatical, rhetorical, and productive-poetic forms (cf. below, ad finem) of allegory. Like the latter, it proceeds a…

(Σωκράτης; Sōkrátēs). [German version] [1] Sculptor from Thebes, c. 470 BC Sculptor from Thebes. He created a cult statue of Meter Dindymene for Pindar [2] in Thebes (Paus. 9,25,3) and therefore must have worked in the 'Severe Style' around 470 BC. Paus. 1,22,8 attributed a relief of the Charites and a Hermes Propylaios on the Acropolis in Athens to the philosopher S. [2] as the alleged sculptor. The relief of the Charites is identified as the model of a much-copied type. Because it is dated to around 470,…