GRK 142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Greek Historiography, Xenophanes, Physis
Document Summary
Natural philosophers ask questions about nature: attempt rational thought, pre-socratic, scientists (loose term) Nomos (law/custom) vs. physis (nature) = nature vs. nurture. Pythagoras and many other mathematicians come from ionia. Created theories about which element (not real elements) made up most of the composition of the earth: air, earth, water, fire. Many theories about science and math come from this time period. Medicine starts to develop: hippocrates environment determines health (first doctor, asclepius god of medicine, epidaurus asclepius" temple where people pray to be healed. Intellectualism is accepted in ionia, southern italy, and athens but not nearly as much in the rest of greek. Hecataeus of miletus: begins historical writing and believes greek myths are ridiculous and have no use in explaining the world, writing is no longer written through divine influence, writes himself as the narrator, doesn"t believe greek mythology. Types of historical writing: world history, genealogy, local history.
