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[German version] A. Problems of definition In view of the usually familial links between women philosophers (WP) and known thinkers, in classical sources what is usually reported is their relationships to the latter (as lovers, concubines, wives and daughters). It is only in the rarest of cases possible to form a balanced judgment of the life and achievements of WP. Feminist theory goes as far as to designate as WP all women whose philosophical ambitions are in any way documented [6.XIII-XV]. Harich-Schwarzbauer, Henriette (Graz) [German version] B. Historical overview Literary sour…

[German version] The Christian Faltonia Betitia ( contra, [1]) P. (d. before 380), b. into Roman senator's partly pagan family, wrote a poem, since lost, on the usurpation of Magnentius (351-353). In her Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi ('Virgilian Cento on the Benefactions of Christ'; cf. Cento ) she presents episodes from the OT and NT (Genesis to Christ's death) in the manner of Virgil. Hieronymus [8] (Jer. Ep. 53,7) criticized P.'s poem, concluding that P.'s dogmatic errors and poetic deficiencies stemmed one from the other. The Decretum Gelasianum (Decretum Gelasianum 287…

[English version] Die Christin Faltonia Betitia (dagegen [1]) P. (gest. vor 380), aus einer teils paganen röm. Senatorenfamilie gebürtig, verfaßte ein nunmehr verlorenes Gedicht über die Usurpation des Magnentius (351-353). In ihrem Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi (‘Vergilcento über die Wohltaten Christi; vgl. cento ) stellt sie Episoden des AT und NT (von der Genesis bis zum Tod Christi) im sprachlichen Gewand Vergils dar. Kritik an P.s Gedicht äußert Hieronymus (epist. 53,7), für den dogmatische Irrtümer und poetische Mängel P.s einander zu bedingen scheinen. Das Decretu…

[English version] A. Probleme der Definition Aufgrund zumeist familiärer Bande von Ph. zu namhaften Denkern wird in ant. Quellen vorzugsweise über ihr Verhältnis (als Geliebte, Hetäre, Gattin, Tochter) zu diesen berichtet. Leben und Leistung von Ph. ausgewogen zu beurteilen, ist also in den seltensten Fällen möglich. Die feministische Theorie geht soweit, alle Frauen, deren philos. Ambitionen dokumentiert sind, als Ph. zu bezeichnen [6. XIII-XV]. Harich-Schwarzbauer, Henriette (Graz) [English version] B. Historischer Überblick Die lit. Quellen berichten bevorzugt üb…

[German Version] (314, Antioch – c. 393, Antioch) was the most significant orator and teacher of rhetoric (I) of the late imperial period. Working in Antioch, he had Julian the Apostate as well as famous Christian preachers such as John Chrysostom among his students. Libanius advocated a form of Hellenism in which language, style, and content, including the basic religious outlook, would be inseparably interwoven. Christian education was not to be granted access to the Greek paideia (Education, Theory of: II), and especially not to rhetoric. The conceptual proximity of …

[German Version] (born in Leptis, North Africa) was active as a Stoic philosopher in Rome and was exiled under Nero between 63 and 65 ce. In addition to diverse scholarly commentaries, Cornutus authored an Overview of the Greek Doctrine of the gods (᾽Επιδρομὴ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ῾Ελληνικὴν ϑεολογίαν παραδεδομἑνων/ epidromḗ t#o->;n katà tḗn Hellēnikn theologían paradedoménôn). As ¶ an aid to elementary instruction in philosophy, the Overview offers a selection of the doctrines of the early philosophers. Cosmogony, important gods, their attributes and e…

[German Version] For Greco-Roman antiquity, we need a more extended concept of nature mythology than the understanding that took shape in the 19th century. As the sum of all nature myths (Myth: II, 2), nature mythology covers a broad spectrum of popular narrative from the past that represented the interaction of gods and nature as well as the mutual interaction of various realms of nature (Nature deities). Nature mythology documents the need to explain how nature functions, but also attests to the…

[German Version] I. Greco-Roman – II. Old Testament I. Greco-Roman The word is formed from the Greek αἴτιον/ aition (reason, ground) and λόγος/ lógos (doctrine). Aristotle ( Metaph. 982b–983a) sees the first steps toward a “scientific” explanation of the world in the curious astonishment to which one feels compelled in the face of the phenomenal world before one's eyes. The question concerning the why, the aetion, that gives rise to the aetiology encompasses all aspects of life, from the appearance of the plants to the search for t…

[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] Greek see  Ps.-Callisthenes Harich-Schwarzbauer, Henriette (Graz) [II] Latin [German version] A. Concept The Latin concept of the Alexander Romance (AR) includes both Latin versions of Pseudo-  Callisthenes as well as writings with similar content that were distributed along with them, which contained mostly descriptions of foreign lands or (based on Cynicism) criticisms of western civilization articulated predominantly by Christian interpreters. Within the history of literature (Alexander…

[English version] [I] griechisch s. Ps.-Kallisthenes Harich-Schwarzbauer, Henriette (Graz) [II] lateinisch [English version] A. Begriff Unter dem lat. A. werden die beiden lat. Versionen des Ps.Kallisthenes sowie mit diesem in Umlauf gebrachte, inhaltlich verwandte Schriften verstanden, in denen Fremdlandschilderungen oder (auf den Kynismus zurückgehende) Kritik der westl. Zivilisation, die vornehmlich durch christl. Interpreten formuliert wurde, überwiegen. Lit.- (Alexanderhistoriker) und gattungsgesch. (Herk…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Greco-Roman Antiquity – III. Old Testament – IV. China – V. India – VI. Missiology I. Religious Studies All ancestors that are worshiped are dead, but not all dead people are ancestors, and not every mortuary ritual represents an ancestor cult. For an ancestor cult, there must be a consciousness of a familial and genealogical connection with the ancestors over one or more generations, …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Ethics – VI. Judaism – VII. Indian Religions I. Religious Studies 1. Greece and Rome. The term “asceticism,” the Western meaning of which was shaped by Christianity, derives from Gk ἄσκησις/ áskēsis, a noun denoting activity; ἄσκεῖν/ askeîn originally meant “to craft/to decorate.” In the 5th century bce, the primary meaning became “to train/to exercise.” The exercise was mostly physical (gymnastics, …

[German Version] I. Concept – II. Philosophy – III. Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Bible – V. Church History – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology and Pedagogy – VIII. Judaism – IX. Islam I. Concept Traditionally, “education” has denoted the intentional interaction of adults with the younger generation in order-usually-to influence them positively; whether it makes sense to speak of education when negative goals are deliberately pursued is …