CLASSICS 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Barter, Liver Of Piacenza, Croesus
22 Mar 2018
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Lecture 14: divination in greek and roman life. Looking for signs of a god"s will. Signs from the world or about the world. The ancients feel that if you look at the right signs, you can predict the future or find out things you would not know otherwise. Astrology could be similar to astronomy but astronomy is not considered divination. We think there is a clear line between speculation versus science . But the ancients see these two (astronomy and astrology) as a continuum. Natural phenomenons; observing the behavior of animals or plants. Observing one"s own body bleeds into divination. Medical diagnosis (fuzzy boundary for the ancients) For the ancients, there is more of a continuum between a doctor predicting or diagnosing an illness and what a diviner does. Magic 8 ball (modern example or oracles) People who watch birds, lightening, and other signs in the natural world for signs of the gods" will.
