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[German Version] I. The God Aion – II. Philosophy I. The God Aion Αἰών/Aiōn, the Greek god of eternity in the sense of immeasurable, unbounded return is attested from Hellenism onwards. Aion never had a uniform character; sometimes he appears as a (linearly) eternal, sometimes as a (cyclically) ever-renewing god. Origins in the Semitic or Egyptian realm are likely. Alexandrian coins (2nd cent. ce) portray Aion as a self-rejuvenating phoenix. According to the Greek “Alexander Novella” (I 30–33), Aion is…

[German version] I. Meaning Etymologically, neither the English world nor the German Welt correspond to the Greek κόσμος ( kósmos), but to αἰών ( aiṓn) in its Hellenistic meaning of 'lifetime' . The etymology of 'world' is clearly evident in the Dutch wereld: wer (Latin. vir) - eld (cf. old), 'man-age'. The world is the place where we are after we 'have come into the world' and before we 'have left this world', i.e. our present conditions of life amongst fellow humans. This modern concept associated with world is thus alien to the ancient Greek notion, as is the modern use of the …

[English version] I. Wortbedeutung Sprachgeschichtlich entspricht das dt. “W.” (wie engl. world) nicht dem griech. κόσμος ( kósmos), sondern αἰών ( aiṓn) in seiner hell. Bedeutung von “Menschenalter”. Die Etym. ist klar ablesbar im niederländischen wereld: wer (lat. vir) - eld (“Lebensalter”, vgl. engl. old). Die W. ist, wo wir uns befinden, nachdem wir “in die W. gekommen” sind und noch nicht “die W. verlassen” haben, d. h. die jetzigen Lebensverhältnisse unter Mitmenschen. Die mod. Begrifflichkeit, die um “W.” kreist, ist daher dem ant.…